‘Okay… Well, I don’t think this is terrorism, domestic or otherwise,’ Cygnus said. ‘The targets are… I mean, the loss of life is terrible, but the targets are inconsequential. A university library in Scottsdale. A burger restaurant in Colorado Springs. They don’t make sense. Add in an empty house… And if these suicide bombers exist, it’s hard to believe no one’s seen them wandering around with their twelve-hundred-pound thermobaric backpacks.’ Hart raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s what Hugh says you’d need to get the explosive effect at the burger place. No one’s seen anyone suspicious prior to these explosions, and they would look really suspicious.’
‘So, you think this is an Ultra?’ Hart asked.
‘Yes. No. It’s hard to see how it could be. Again, no one’s seen anyone doing anything odd. It seems like it must be an Ultra. If it is… it’s a really weird one. Anyway, the FBI have Hugh’s analysis. What they do with it is up to them.’
‘Okay.’ Hart paused, pressing her lips together. ‘Nothing much else to be done then. Second thing. You know, of course, that an alien vessel, an asharem spaceship, crashed in Maryland recently.’
Cygnus nodded. ‘I stopped it crashing too hard.’
‘Exactly. Well, when I was briefed on it, it turned out that various government scientists have been pulling it apart and trying to figure out how it works for months.’
‘They didn’t send it to Fullerton Technologies?’
‘Apparently they wanted to avoid any possibility of technical information leaking to foreign powers. Well, they’ve basically got no technical information. Specifically, they’ve been trying to work out the antigravity gizmo aboard the ship and getting nowhere. I gave them until this coming Friday to achieve something, or I’d have it sent to FTI. Turns out that FTI have a problem. I called Bianca today and they lost their best quantum physicist recently. That would make working with an antigravity system hard, I’m told.’
‘Depends how it works. If it’s something to do with gravitons, then probably. Or it could be a quantum gravity thing. That would probably make it hard too. I, uh, watch science documentaries. The scientists are still arguing about exactly what gravity is.’
Hart flashed a smile. ‘Here’s the ask. Doctor Ultimate worked with FTI once before on the ship they found in the Antarctic Ocean. If we ship this one to San Francisco, could we get him to go out there again to look at this one?’
‘I can ask,’ Cygnus replied. ‘He’ll say yes, of course. “Hey, Hugh, do you want to take a look at a working antigravity unit?” He’ll bite your hand off. The only issue will be how the information gets used.’
‘Ask if he’ll do it and what the provisos would be. We’ll work it out. Uh, the other thought was, well, would the asharem on Mars be willing to just tell us how it works?’
‘I… have no idea. You know, we could probably get Madvedant to come down here to discuss it. Have a semi-official visit by the asharem Guardian. I think she’d go for it and it would cement a few ties, open some channels of communication.’
‘All that good diplomatic stuff. I thought the asharem found Earth pretty uncomfortable to live on. I was figuring that I might have to visit them. Wasn’t looking forward to that.’
‘Asharem can barely move in our gravity and can’t breathe our air without lung damage,’ Cygnus agreed, ‘but Madvedant’s a Guardian. If she wants to come to Earth, she just needs a power configuration that lets her live here. Guardians can adapt to just about anything.’
‘And you wonder why the security services are worried about you,’ Delphine said. She was grinning.
‘Oh, I don’t need to wonder. I’m quite well aware of why.’
San Francisco, CA, 24th March.
‘Do you see what you’ve got me into, oh great and powerful Guardian of Humanity?’
Cygnus looked at the horde of armed Army and UID personnel and nodded. ‘Yes, oh great and powerful billionairess,’ she said to Bianca. They were outside the same warehouse which had been used for Rho Ashigna’s ship. The dock in front of it was lined with men in uniform – even if that uniform was sometimes just a blue suit – most of them with assault weaponry.
‘They’re acting like this is Area Fifty-One or something. My people have to go through a UID ID check, then an Army ID check, just to get to the building. Then we have to apply our own checks, obviously. The Army wanted to seal off the entire campus! Thankfully, Hugh put his foot down at that point, and you know what he gets like when he feels the need to assert himself.’
‘Threatened them with a Union withdrawal?’
‘Actually, he threatened them with you.’
Cygnus’s eyes widened. ‘Me?’
‘He pointed out that President Hart had personally asked you to set this up. So, if they’d wait a short while, he was quite sure you’d be willing to get the president on the phone so they could explain what the problem was.’
‘Oh. Actually, that is probably what I’d have done. I’ll mention the excessive security to her and see if she can’t persuade them to back off a bit. I think she’s still a little hamstrung by being new in the office. Nominating Montrose to be her Secretary of State has not made her popular in political circles and her current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn’t like having a woman as his boss.’
‘Huh. Well, I can’t help with the first one, but the second… She needs to put her foot on Woodley’s neck. Preferably in higher heels than she usually wears. He’s an asshole, but if she stands her ground, he’ll start respecting her.’
‘I’ll pass it along. Should we go in and watch Hugh and Elaine cooing over the alien tech?’
‘Yeah. That might have calmed down Hugh’s temper a little.’
~~~
Apparently, it had not.
‘What did they use to open this up? Explosives?!’ Hugh Last, Doctor Ultimate, was not stammering, or confusing thought streams, or speaking too fast, or any of the other indications that he was happily engaged in analysing some problem. No, he was fixed upon one idea, and that idea probably involved surgical equipment and the team who had previously worked on Quillant Vedro’s spaceship.
‘I’m thinking laser cutters,’ Elaine Ellis replied. ‘I don’t think they’d have got through the housing with much less.’
‘It’s closed with bolts. Just because they didn’t have the right tool, they decided to use entirely the wrong one?’
‘Uh… This is the military we’re talking about.’
‘That… is a gross generalisation,’ Ultimate said, deflating a little. ‘We’re going to have to rebuild several of these external connectors. Probably some of the circuit boards. We’re lucky we have the materials analysis from the previous ship.’
‘Ships,’ Bianca said. ‘We did analysis on the ship brought down over the Pentagon. I take it things are not all rosy?’
‘Seems like they disassembled the ship with as much care as a kid opening presents at Christmas,’ Elaine replied. The ship had arrived by land in three containers. That might have been a sign that things were not going to be good, but everyone had remained hopeful until the contents of the containers were revealed. ‘We haven’t found any documentation indicating how everything was connected together. Yet. We might still find it.’
‘I am not holding out hope,’ Ultimate said.
‘I’ll get onto them about that,’ Bianca said.
‘And if you have no luck,’ Cygnus added, ‘I’ll ask President Hart. And you’ll have Madvedant here next week. She may be able to help.’
‘She’s coming here?!’ Elaine squeaked. ‘She’s going to see the mess they made of one of her ships?’
‘Not one of hers. She’s not their queen or anything. They treat her like a leader, but there’s no official title and she’s hoping that they’ll get over it soon and set up a proper government.’
‘Still…’
‘She’ll be here on Tuesday afternoon, staying through Wednesday. You’ve time to make yourself look competent.’
Elaine looked at the chunk of machinery she was standing beside and grimaced. ‘Well, I won’t be sleeping this weekend.’
New Millennium City, MD, 26th March.
‘That is not such a pleasant way to travel,’ Madvedant commented as Cygnus brought them in to land in front of the house.
‘The warp conduit? No, no one likes them, but they’re a lot faster than doing it the long way.’
The alien Guardian nodded. ‘And now that I have seen you create one, I believe I could do the same. Thank you for providing the transport. I could have adapted myself to space, but using your… What did you call it?’
Cygnus grinned. ‘My air cargo configuration. Actually, I have three. One’s really for cargo. I don’t provide protection for passengers.’
‘You are a more powerful Guardian than I am. However, travelling in your arms was most convenient.’ As predicted, Madvedant was having no trouble with the gravity and atmosphere; she could concentrate on her surroundings, not just on survival. ‘This is a beautiful world. The trees grow so tall and broad. On Ashari Mastada, trees are tall and thin, and there are fewer of them.’
‘Well, we don’t have trees everywhere. Come on inside. I know Andrea and Jacob are keen to meet you.’
Madvedant’s head and eyes swivelled constantly as she took in the architecture of the house, the furnishings, and her general surroundings. That was until Jacob stood up from one of the sofas to greet her and she just stood there and gawped.
‘I think you broke her,’ Andrea commented.
‘Apologies,’ Madvedant said. ‘I am considered tall for a woman. For an asharem woman. I am equal in height to most men, but…’
Andrea giggled. ‘Jacob’s tall for a human male. Hi, I’m Andrea.’ She started to hold out her hand and then changed it to the ‘high five’ greeting Cygnus had shown her.
Madvedant grinned and touched her hand, then she held out her hand for a handshake with Jacob. ‘If we use your form of greeting, I will not have to fly.’
Jacob chuckled and enveloped Madvedant’s small hand in his own. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madvedant. You’re my first ever alien. Well, I probably could’ve got to meet a hodrite, but I doubt we’d have been on speaking terms.’
Madvedant grimaced. ‘Few other species are on speaking terms with the hodrites.’ She looked around and saw June waiting. Her eyes narrowed. ‘I feel like I should know you…’
‘I was wearing a blonde wig last time we met,’ June replied. ‘This is the real me. I’m June.’
‘Ah, I see. And the reason for the disguise?’
‘Not every Ultra wants their real identity known. Having a secret identity makes having a normal life possible, or easier. Some do it to protect their families and friends.’
‘Okay. Um, you said that not every human has abilities, but it seems that everyone here does…’
‘This is not a typical household,’ Cygnus said. ‘June used to be normal, and Jacob only moved in here recently. But we used to have one normal person in the building. Then June went and let us down…’
June shrugged. ‘It did suck a little bit being the only one who couldn’t do anything.’
‘Nonsense, June,’ Denny said. ‘You helped me coordinate things. Good afternoon, Madvedant Mareko. Welcome to my interior.’
‘And that’s Denny, our house,’ June explained.
‘I wasn’t aware that humans had developed that level of artificial intelligence,’ Madvedant said.
‘I was not built by humans,’ Denny replied. ‘I was the computer aboard Cygnus’s predecessor’s ship. I was successfully transplanted to this building since my original vessel was no longer operable.’
‘Which is one reason you’re staying here tonight,’ Cygnus said. ‘Along with Denny, we got some of the best security on the planet. I’m not saying we will have any problems, but if there are any, we have more or less everything covered.’
‘And since we have everything covered,’ Andrea said, ‘we can settle down and chat. I know I want to know all about your people and I’d imagine you have questions about humans. I say we put the coffee on and start talking.’ She frowned. ‘Uh, anyone know whether an ashar can drink coffee?’
‘Biologically,’ Cygnus said, ‘there’s no reason why not. It is a bit of an acquired taste…’
‘I wish to try this “coffee,”’ Madvedant announced. ‘I am quite sure it will not be a problem.’
~~~
‘No more coffee for you, young lady.’ Cygnus looked pointedly at the alien woman sitting on the sofa, her back ramrod straight and her hands fidgeting in her lap.
‘I feel fine,’ Madvedant said in something of a rush.
‘Caffeine is a stimulant, and one you’re obviously not used to. Three mugs is enough.’
‘Aww,’ Andrea said, grinning. ‘You’re no fun, Cygnus.’
‘Are you channelling Twi?’
‘Maybe.’ Andrea had been watching Madvedant’s slide into a state of ‘wired maniac’ with the kind of glee reserved for children watching some form of disaster unfolding.
‘My heart rate is a little high,’ Madvedant conceded. ‘I don’t believe we have this form of stimulant at home. We have stimulants of various kinds, but not this one.’
‘What about alcohol?’ Andrea asked. ‘Do you have alcohol?’
‘We have alcohol. It’s believed that our ancestors discovered the principle of making it through the consumption of fermented fruit, thousands of years ago. I know exactly what happens when I drink alcohol.’
‘Great,’ Andrea replied, grinning wider. ‘Wine with dinner then.’
~~~
‘By profession, I’m a xenobiologist,’ Madvedant said. She was looking a lot more relaxed, whether from the wine or by virtue of the caffeine wearing off. ‘That’s how I knew about the Fenaldas. That’s our ship. It was being prepared for our next colony effort and I was supposed to be aboard as a passenger, in stasis, when it left. Our surveys suggested a basic ecosystem on the world we were going to, and I was going to study that. As well as becoming a colonist, obviously.’
‘Sounds exciting,’ Jacob said.
‘And scary,’ June added.
‘It was both,’ Madvedant agreed. ‘Instead, we ended up running for our lives with whoever we could get aboard the ship. I suppose that was a lot more exciting and scarier. Now we are making a new colony, as planned, but without the carefully selected colonists, not as planned.’
‘Is that going to be a problem?’ Jacob asked.
‘Well, we appear to have most of the skills we need. The difficulties will stem from the personalities of our people. We had planned to do thorough psychological tests to ensure that the people heading for the new world would be… team players. I think that’s the right term. We will need to be watchful, but everyone is in the same boat, so to speak. Everyone aboard the Fenaldas has lost their home with no real hope of returning. They are all awakening to a new world where they need to work to put together a new life for themselves.’
‘Not wishing to sound cynical,’ Andrea said, ‘but any random group of humans would include a bunch who will try their best to do as little as they could for the most personal gain.’
‘Yes,’ the alien agreed. ‘The same is true of asharem. We will have our work cut out for us, I am sure, but I believe we can build a new world for our people.’ She grinned. ‘I hope to get some time to study the biology of Earth as well. Here I have an entire ecosystem to study and learn about. We have found little to indicate any form of life on Mars.’
‘That’ll make some people unhappy,’ Andrea said. ‘You’ll love talking to Hugh Last. I think he’s as eager to study the asharem as you seem to be to study us.’
‘I know he’s already done some genetic work on Quillant and some of the other alien species we’ve been exposed to recently,’ Cygnus said.
‘That sounds like something I would be very interested in,’ Madvedant said, smiling broadly.
‘Okay,’ June said,
‘I’ve been wondering about the names for a while… You’re Madvedant Mareko, and he’s Quillant Vedro. Do all your names end in “ant” and “o?”’
Madvedant nodded. ‘Our personal names end in the “ant” sound. Children indicate their lineage by using their mother’s name with the last sound replaced by the “o” sound. My mother was Marekant Selano. She, um, was killed before I could get her to the Fenaldas.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’
‘Why should you be sorry? You didn’t kill her.’
‘It’s just an expression of commiseration.’
‘Cops tend to use it a lot when delivering bad news,’ Jacob said. ‘“I’m sorry for your loss.” It’s kind of what we say when we don’t really know someone we’re supposed to be empathising with.’
‘Ah, I see,’ Madvedant said. ‘Well, thank you.’
‘It must have been horrible,’ June said. ‘To have to decide to save everyone you could. Losing your world. I guess we got lucky.’
‘You had a method of killing a Guardian permanently. To my knowledge, no one has ever done that before.’
‘I thought so too,’ Cygnus agreed. ‘Except the way we did it wasn’t exactly that clever. It’s just a matter of using a lot of cosmic energy tuned to the right frequency. Well, frequency, phase, and a few other factors. Every user of cosmic energy has a specific, um, profile, right?’
The alien looked blankly at Cygnus. ‘Perhaps I am not understanding the language correctly. I am not sure what this “cosmic energy” is.’
‘The energy that powers Guardians, and Ultras, and your natural ability to fly?’
‘Oh! You have explained that? It has long been understood that our ability to generate lift required an energy source which our basic biology could not supply. We used studies of the power to build antigravity devices, but we have never explained where the energy comes from.’
Cygnus grinned. ‘Well, I was thinking that an exchange of knowledge between our scientists would be pretty one-way. Your technology is obviously more advanced than ours. I guess humans have got something to teach the asharem after all.’
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