by Jason Kent
"But nothing from outside the Milky Way," Kate said, finishing Tivon's thought.
"Until now," Garrett remarked.
Kate turned back to Tarun. "What if the Acerbus were called something else, how would we find it in the Archives?"
"Since you cannot provide a physical description of the Acerbus, we have no parameters with which to begin such a search," Tarun said matter-of-factly.
"How about a glowing globe?" Kate said, trying to recall the details of the ironclad engine room. She held her hands out in front of her, a little more than shoulder-width apart. "Say, about this big?"
Tarun opened his mouth then shut it again as he considered the new data. He admitted, "That should be enough to begin a search."
"The Tallinn power core," Merrick said softly, nodding.
Tivon tilted her head. "The cores powering Tallinn ironclads are based on an artifact recovered by the earliest Tallinn explorers."
"Yeah," Sparrow said. She had been lounging on a couch during the discussion. Kate had asked her here, hoping her intimate knowledge of the Archive's mechanical data storage devices would come in handy. "An artifact referred to by the Tallinns as the 'Aether Source'."
"Tral," Kate muttered. "I was kind of hoping the vision came from the distant future. If the Aether Source and the Acerbus are one in the same, and the Tallinns recovered this artifact generations ago, the Ater may be coming after them right now."
"Oh, they're here," Tivon said. "A small group of them anyway."
"Reconnaissance?" Merrick postulated.
"Possibly, Master Sergeant Merrick," Tivon replied. "Scouts for the main force most likely. Your description of the aliens from Nemus' vision reminded me of a species I'd seen years ago during my work with Knowl. They are space faring, but as I recall, seem to have relatively few ships. I'd forgotten about them until this very discussion."
"You need to find them again," Kate said, "with Nemus. If they are here and are looking for the Aether Source, we need to get to it first. Sparrow..."
"I'm on it," the Link Sprite said and closed her eyes and delved into the relevant data stacks. With her upgrades, Sparrow could effortlessly navigate the mechanical devices favored by the Tallinn archivists and quickly search for information relevant to their conversation, no matter how obscure.
"I'm in," Sparrow reported. She opened one eye and looked at Kate. "This may take a few minutes..."
Clickity-clack, clickity-clack...
Sparrow always felt as if she'd fallen into an ancient typewriter each time she delved into the Archives' data stacks. The computational engines relied on switches and relays as the clockwork wonder searched its database in order to determine the location of the information she was seeking. She'd attempted to convince the archivists they needed to move their technology up a few centuries to no avail. The Link Sprite sighed, already dreading the headache she was likely to have after her immersion within the Archives' machines.
'ENTER SEARCH PARAMETERS'
The image of the glowing filaments of the question floated across Sparrow's vision. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose. Sparrow wasn't sure why, but every time she engaged in a direct feed from the data stack, she caught a whiff of burnt insulation and ozone. She wondered for the hundredth time if there was something shorting out in her implants or mechanical interface upgrades. Hopefully, it was nothing important. Sparrow pushed the thought away and sent a command to the data engine.
'SEARCH ALL RELAVANT FILES; TALLINN AETHER SOURCE'
Chu-lunk!
Sparrow shuddered at the sudden loud noise echoing in her head. It sounded like someone had shifted down to first gear from fifth while driving a car at high speed. After a moment, the frantic, familiar sound of the engine switches opening and closing started up once more.
Click, click-clack, clickity-clack...
'INCOMPLETE DATA. DID YOU MEAN TALLINN ANTHEM? Y/N?'
'NO,' Sparrow sent to the interface. She thought for a moment before giving her next instructions. 'SEARCH TALLINN TECHNICAL REFERENCE FILES; IRONCLAD POWER CORE AND AETHER.'
'SEARCHING...'
As Sparrow stared at the glowing letters flicking across her vision she could not help but compare the Archive's mechanical computational engines to a digital network. Within the hi-tech world of micro-processors, data nets, and mass storage devices, she navigated the information flows as if she were swimming through light. All the while, harmonious tones played in over-lapping symphonies, accompaniment during her travels through ever-changing virtual landscapes. Sparrow had been hooked on the experience ever since the first time she'd tried out a cheap VR set-up at a friend's house. She'd decided then and there she would get the implants she needed to become a Sprite, despite the inherent dangers of the procedure. Sparrow had forged her mother's digital signature on the permission form, she thought of it merely as a test to prove she really wanted to be a Sprite, and went ahead with the life-altering choice to live in both the real and virtual worlds. She hadn't looked back. Now, she found she could easily navigate any mechanical miracle the Tallinns cared to dream up. The Mainspring Prime Server was just such a wonder.
Ding!
The tinny sound of the notification bell set Sparrow's teeth on edge. The Prime Server had completed its search of the indices located on its data drums.
'376 REFERERNCES LOCATED FOR IRONCLAD, POWER, CORE, AND AETHER. NARROW SEARCH PARAMETERS? Y/N?'
'YES,' Sparrow thought. 'USE LAST SEARCH, NARROW PARAMETERS TO AETHER USED AS POWER CORE.' She should have done that first, she certainly didn't need all the design specification for the Tallinn ironclads. She filed the tidbit away, sure that Georges would find the information very interesting.
Click, click, clack...chu-lunk!
Sparrow thought the equipment sounded like an unoiled mech.
'12 REFERENCES LOCATED FOR AETHER USED AS POWER CORE. PROCEED TO ARCHAEOLOGY STACK SUB-SERVER? Y/N?'
Sparrow wasted no further time refining the search. The Prime Server had determined the data was in one of the Mainspring Sub-Servers located deep within the Archeology Data Stack. The Prime Server had no more details, it was meant to direct the archivists. It was like finding out what town she should start in if she were looking at a map. The Sub-Server would have to give her the street and address number.
Sparrow's stomach rose into her throat as the Prime Server sent her data request to the lower level server. Her mouth filled with the taste of copper as she was routed along the thick cables used to connect the machines located in various sections and on multiple levels of the Archives.
'WELCOME TO THE ARCHEOLOGY VAULT SUB-SERVER. CONTINUE WITH PREVIOUS SEARCH? Y/N?'
'YES...' Sparrow sent. She silently added, that's why I came all the way down here you silly machine.
'SEARCHING...'
Click...click...thump!
It sounded as if the Archeology Data Stack computational engine had opened a large, heavy book. Sparrow concentrated harder and she smiled. Was that the sound of someone rustling through crisp, dry pages made of parchment? The machine's response broke through her train of thought.
'EXACT MATCH FOUND FOR AETHER USED AS POWER CORE. PROCEED TO ARCHAEOLOGY DATA STACK 167 INDEX? Y/N?'
Although the Prime Server knew there was data about the ironclad power cores and the Aether Source in the Archaeology Data Stack, it took the stack server to find what she was looking for. Since it contained refined definitions and was dedicated to tracking the complete physical inventory as well a list of the data files stored in this particular storage tunnel, this device understood exactly what she was looking for. To find the actual file, she needed to transfer to yet another search engine deeper in the stack. Sparrow sent an affirmative response; she needed to see what was in Data Stack 167.
Sparrow held her breath as her mind abruptly whooshed through the heavy grade wires leading to the Index Server. The coppery taste filled her mouth again as she was shunted deeper into the data stack. Tiny incandescent numerals popped up in her vis
ual display. The digits flashed by rapidly as the Index worked to find a match for the Sprite's request.
Clack, clack, ding!
The numbers '31415' hovered in front of Sparrow's vision. She wished she could take a drink to clear her mouth. Without warning, Sparrow was shunted to the search engine with direct access to the data drum containing Mainspring Archives File 31415.
The trip was much shorter than her previous transfers. Sparrow knew she was getting close.
Click. Flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip...
Sparrow listened to the new sound and smiled.
Flip, flip, flip, flip...
It was if someone were shuffling a deck of cards. In this case, she knew the engine was sorting through the thousands of index cards contained in row after row of bins attached to the outer frame of the device. From there, the diligent archivists could add cards as data and artifacts were deposited into this section of the extensive series of underground chambers.
Flip, flip...
Sparrow thought it was ironic the Tallinn archivists were using metallized versions of the punch cards developed in the earliest days of the computer.
Flip.
The silence after all the clicking, clacking, and flipping was intense. The incandescent display glowed with a notice.
'ACCESSING...'
Sparrow rolled her neck. She felt a vertebra pop as she waited for the computational engine to perform the task of retrieving the appropriate data cylinder.
'ACCESSING...'
The Link Sprite held back the urge to tap her toes. In the digital world, the speed of data retrieval was so fast that, for all intents and purposes, it was instantaneous. In the clockwork-electro-mechanical world of the Archives, the same operation sometimes took...longer.
'DATA LOCATED...'
This was progress, at least. Sparrow's palms heated up and her arm twitched sympathetically as she sensed one of the mechanical arms roll along on its rails then reach high up into the correct wall of racks. A metal hand unfolded with smooth precision and fastened its delicate fingers around a data cylinder. The drum was dropped into a wire-mesh basket which whisked its payload along a series of hanging tracks back to the computational engine.
'DATA DRUM LOADING...'
Cha-clunk!
The data drum was dropped into a feeder bin. Another, smaller arm picked up the shiny brass cylinder and inserted it into the engine's replay devices. A whirring sound filled Sparrow's head as the drum began to spin against the read mechanism.
'DATA REPLAY IN PROGRESS...'
Sparrow perked up and focused on a view of the output display. A single data drum could hold reams of information and hundreds of diagrams. Viewed using the engine's output devices, an archivist could spend hours reading the complete contents. Luckily, Sparrow wasn't a normal archivist. She instructed the computational engine to run the display lines past her vision at blinding speed. Anyone else watching the output would have just seen a blur of glowing symbols.
Sparrow had all she needed in seconds.
The whirring stopped.
'DATA REPLAY COMPLETE.'
Sparrow considered what she'd just seen. She instructed the analytical engine to replace the data drum to its assigned rack then broke the connection.
This might be harder than we thought, Sparrow sighed to herself.
Sparrow blinked and gazed back at the others with her silvery eyes. Kate was leaning toward her, eager to hear her report.
Tivon made a show of depressing the large button on the gold stopwatch in her hand. She looked at the face of the clock and grinned.
"Two minutes, forty-six seconds!" Tivon laughed. "That's a new record!"
"If she found the correct data within the Data Stacks," Tarun sniffed.
"Don't spoil it, Tarun!" Tivon replied. "You're just jealous because it'd take you days to find anything down there, even with the analytical engines."
Tarun remained unimpressed as he turned his glowing violet eyes to Sparrow. "Were you able to locate the appropriate data file?"
Tivon rolled her eyes. "Of course she did. When has our resident Link Sprite failed?" She looked expectantly at Sparrow, her eyebrows raised.
"The Aether Source is incomplete," Sparrow stated.
It took a moment for the importance of the information to register with Kate. "You mean there are more pieces of this orb, or whatever we're going to call it, out there?"
"Yes," Sparrow replied.
"How many?" Dagger growled when Sparrow paused. "Come on, girl! You're getting as bad as this guy!" The pilot hooked her thumb at Tarun.
"Give her a chance to catch her breath," Tivon said.
Dagger shot the archivist a dangerous look then leaned back with her arms crossed. "Fine. Whenever you're ready, jack-head."
Tivon gasped, "You can't speak to Sparrow like that!"
"Just did."
"You should apologize!" Tivon insisted still looking aghast.
"There is no need," Sparrow said. "I once took offense at the title but have recently made the decision to claim it as my own. Especially since Dagger utilizes it as a term of affection."
"See," Dagger said with a laugh. "Of all of us, the Sprite here is the one who is the most comfortable in her own skin. She knows who and what she is!"
Kate looked from Sparrow to Dagger then back again. She thought back to her and Sparrow's conversation in the airship engine room during the Olympus mission. Sparrow's silver eyes and expression gave no trace that anything Dagger said was untrue. Kate thought she knew better.
"The Tallinns and Knowl knew of three components to the Aether source," Sparrow explained, turning the conversation back to the business at hand and holding up three fingers. The circuitry embedded in her palms glowed with a golden light. Thin slivers of wiring traced intricate patterns around each finger. "There is the orb, a key, and a tablet. When the orb was discovered, it became apparent it could draw energy from the fabric of space, what the Tallinns call the Aether. I'm sure a few dozen courses in quantum mechanics could begin to explain how this is possible." She looked at Tarun as if assigning him the task before continuing, "The potential of the orb as a new power source was immediately recognized. Reverse engineering allowed Tallinn scientists to create crude imitations of the original orb."
"That's what we saw aboard the ironclad," Kate commented. She looked to Merrick for support. "They used it to power their engines."
Merrick nodded in agreement then turned to Sparrow. "You said 'crude'. How much more powerful is the original Aether Source?"
"The data drum only contained a summary of the work with the original artifact," Sparrow answered. She tilted her head and her mechanical eyes became unfocused. Everyone held their questions as it was obvious the Link Sprite was reviewing the information. "There was no exact number, possibly because the Tallinn scientists had no way to measure the full output. But, they speculated the orb copies were tapping approximately one ten thousandth of the original's latent capabilities."
"Tral," Dagger muttered. "Moving one ironclad with a copy was impressive enough."
"What about the other components?" Kate asked. "The key and the tablet?"
"Apparently, the tablet was found along with the original orb," Sparrow replied. "The tablet was theorized to contain the instructions on how to operate the orb. Unfortunately, it was lost during some sort of incident during the Tallinn expedition to recover the orb."
"Incident?" Tivon wondered. "What happened?"
"The data I found was unclear."
The image of a Watcher, his emerald eyes gleaming, flashed through Kate's mine. He was clutching the Aether Source to his chest and fleeing a desperate battle aboard an early ironclad. He looked back at a crate. Kate gasped as she realized she knew what was inside.
Tivon reached out and laid a comforting hand on Kate's forearm. "Nemus?"
Kate took a breath then looked around the table slowly. "I think I know what happened to the tablet."
"Easy to g
et to?" Dagger asked brightly.
"Not at all," Kate replied with a mirthless laugh. Nemus touched her mind again, this time without any images. Kate sensed an immense distance filled with nothing but cold and darkness between her and the drifting, lifeless ironclad. And something else; a danger he could not clearly see, lurking aboard the dead vessel.
"Didn't think so." Dagger replied.
Nemus seemed upset by his inability to provide the details Kate needed. Neither Kate nor the archivists completely understood Nemus' limitations and whether or not they were due to his young age. Whatever the case, Kate sent the giant tree a soothing, wordless thought. She imagined laying a comforting hand against his rough bark. In response, leaves rustled in Kate's mind.
"And the key?" Merrick asked.
"With the key, you can do lots of things," Sparrow said.
"Such as?" Dagger asked, annoyed.
Sparrow eyed the pilot with her gleaming eyes. "Unlock the full potential of the Aether Source."
Chapter 8
Coffee with Dagger
Sparrow knocked lightly on the door to Dagger's apartment. Yesterday's discussion concerning the Aether Source had droned on late into the night and still the team had not decided what they were going to do about it. Dagger had ducked out after less than an hour and told the others to come and get her when they 'made up their freaking minds.'
Tarun wanted to go after the tablet first. He argued that with the tablet in hand, he would know how to safely handle the orb when they finally retrieved it. Ross and Merrick wanted to go after the orb itself. After all, if this was the main component the Ater were after, then it should also be their primary target. Kate suggested they go after the key first. She wasn't sure why, but it was the object which seemed to be calling to her.
Sparrow shook her head. She knew they couldn't let the Ater get any of the pieces. Despite the difference of opinions, Sparrow knew the team needed to act. She was hoping Dagger's decisiveness might help. For the hundredth time, Sparrow wished Lieutenant Colonel Georges were back. He would have listened to everyone's arguments, weighed the pros and cons of each course of action, and then made a decision. End of story. Unfortunately, he was still gone on his mission to make contact with the Stellar Union Fleet. Sparrow would have to do her best without her old friend and get the others moving.
