“I accidentally discovered those flat foot pads of theirs are surprisingly sensitive, with enough nerve endings for decent Tap use. I know for a certainty that the tips of their trunks, and particularly their entire tentacles, are as flush with nerves as our hands and fingers are.”
“I assume you found that out by forcing them to let you touch those.”
“Nope, they actually thought they were forcing me to let them touch me.” She shed her tired expression with a brief smile.
She explained. “They assumed they were stronger than I was, from our relative sizes I suppose, and there were two of them against one. I’d previously told Grumpy to cut back the gravity on deck six, our visiting alien deck, to make it possible for them to stand and use water from the Torki soaking station to help them finish cleaning. From that they assumed that was my own preference, and didn’t realize we’re a high gravity people, let alone suspect our genetic enhancements.”
“I presume they know better now.” He winked at her. “Did you hurt them much in their lesson?”
“No, No. At first, I let the puny shits try to pull my arms and legs off, while I sensed their visual images through their trunks and tentacles. I couldn’t understand much of what they were shouting at me in their dual and angered trumpeting, even with the translator. The noisy Captain Halder had exceedingly violent images of beating me to death with one of my ripped off limbs. Gory, but actually milder than many Krall thoughts I’ve experienced, when questioning some of those captives.
“They never once considered biting me, which probably would hurt and be damaging. These herbivores are repulsed by the thought of eating meat, or even of putting my hand or foot in their mouth for a chew.”
“Anyway, they quickly realized I wasn’t coming apart for them, so I tied their trunks together so I could talk to them via the translation program Pholowela gave us. Aside from their trunk pain, and forced to mouth breathe around the constricting knots, I detected that they were hugely offended to be addressed in the Imperative mode, as if I considered them to be subservient to me. They nearly became sick with revulsion when I touched their tentacles, so I hit upon a different interrogation strategy.
“I decided I could get more cooperation by catering to their self-importance, and at the same time teach our software the grammar mode that subservient species use in their own translator software to speak to the Thandol. That’s when I discovered how sensitive their feet were, when they tried to stomp me. They didn’t object as strongly to my touching them there, when I shoved their feet away.”
“What? Now you play footsies with them while you talk like a servant?”
“Close, you sorry excuse for a detective that can’t see obvious clues. I ask questions, they answer me, and they download samples of the servant level grammar to me, which I wanted to learn. In return I wash or massage their feet, as an alien personal household servant does, allowing them to feel they’re superior to me. They don’t know I’m Mind Tapping them, of course.”
“I’m damned if I’d do that.”
“That’s exactly what I assumed, about you and the rest of the macho male crew. That would slow down our learning more about them. Which is why I decided to be the one to learn other grammars for our translator programs, and in the process I pulled some minor secrets out of them.”
“What minor secrets are worth debasing yourself for these smug bastards? Besides, they wouldn’t give you anything useful for free.”
“You’re right. I first offered them a secret in trade, something that we knew about them. I told them we knew the Empire had long-range Tachyon Space communications, as did the Olt’kitapi.”
“What the hell? Why give that knowledge away?”
He felt a sudden bolt of alarm. “Wait! They’re in Tachyon Space right now. They can phone home and tell them. Shit! We need to cut those chips out of their heads!”
“Easy there, slow thinker. I know what I’m doing. Their embedded chip circuits don’t have the same capability as our Comtaps, and I don't mean only our telepathic sharing between Kobani. They can’t directly modulate tachyons, for long distance instantaneous communications with their personal devices. Their name for them translates into something like a memory cache, but they use an abbreviation in their own language. Let’s just call it a memcache so we don’t have to use a damned bugle to say the word.”
“But we know the Empire does have long range communications capability. They may even have copied it from Olt’kitapi technology.”
“Most likely, and I’m certain they know we have that capability for the same reason. I asked them leading questions, well before we Jumped, while you others finished searching that piece of the Crusher. I assumed we needed to extract or disable those memcache gadgets in their heads first. They hated my impolite grammar, but couldn’t help thinking about what I asked them. They don’t have full-fledged mind enhancers or Olts, like we and our allies have. They never mastered the miniaturization technology for those quantum entanglement devices, and didn’t know the Olt’kitapi could do that with their personal devices. Thiers are used primarily for data storage and memory help, although they do have medium range radio communications with them.
“If not for the Olt’kitapi, I’m all but certain the Raspani or Torki would not have developed their own mind helpers, and we are the ones that taught them that long-range communications were possible with what they were given. With us, it was because of our unique nervous systems and telepathy. The Olt’kitapi did it based on theory, not accident. We certainly wouldn’t have Comtaps if the Olts and mind enhancers hadn’t existed first. We’re using variations of the original mind assisting technology given to the two species they helped evolve into higher intelligence. Although, the devices now have been improved because of our discoveries with our own nervous systems, and the Torki expanded the hardware’s sensitivity.
“Frankly, according to max Born, it was a mathematical masterstroke by the Olt’kitapi to have ever discovered the physics applications which suggested that weak tachyons, in an alien and hostile alternate Universe, could be used that way. I doubt the Empire would have the capability right now if they hadn’t learned the Olt’kitapi possessed it first, and must have obtained examples of the technology they left behind to study. Knowing something is possible is a powerful inducement to conducting the research to learn how it works.”
“Then how do the Thandol talk instantly over light years of distance, if not the way we do?”
“They built something equivalent to what our devices can do in Tachyon Space, but it’s not small enough to carry inside their heads. Their monitor ships for detecting travel in Tachyon Space, their Crushers, and probably most of their large ships, have devices installed in consoles for that type of instant communication, but it only works if they’re in a Jump Hole, and the receiver they want to address has to be in a Jump Hole at the same time. The way it was for us at first.
“The two high ranking Thandol we caught do have embedded devices, which are much more elaborate than a transducer, because they also have data storage, computational capability, and a much stronger radio transmitter and receiver. With the large size of a Thandol skull, and their thick necks, they carry a larger chip and a more powerful power supply than a transducer uses. They can communicate electromagnetically in Normal Space, out to a range of about a million miles or so, to reach a nearby Jump capable communications station on a ship, or preferably to the one on their own ship, as Captain Halder and Lieutenant Temthra did previously on their Crusher.
“However, the ship with the tachyon modulation console has to enter Tachyon Space to have long-range instant communications. These two don’t have the means to communicate beyond our ship while we’re in a Jump Hole. We’ll want to block their transmissions, or reduce the signal strength when we get back to Haven, so they’ll not be able to reach one of their ships, if one should ever come close enough to them. Perhaps we can put them inside a Faraday cage.”
“OK. Then they h
aven’t learned that we have embedded Comtaps. That’s a relief.”
“Uh. Not exactly. Didn’t you hear me say I downloaded the grammar I wanted? I exchanged link addresses with them, to let their memcache devices contact mine. And before you have another panic attack, they only know my personal link address, out of the nearly infinite number of them possible. I’m certainly entertained by those wild-eyed purple faces you make, but you can rest easy.”
“Rest easy? You’re giving them too damned much information about us, and all you know is they don’t mind if you wash dung off their feet.”
“How about what I managed to get from them so far? I learned the public link address to the Emperor himself, those of most of his court, his Military High Commander, many other military and political leaders, and a ton of Farlol family nobles and functionaries. There’s a lot more in their implanted gadget’s databases than the rules of grammar for their alien flunkies to use.
“Unfortunately, they both seem to have a predilection for collecting and sharing elephantine pornography, and I’ll be a long time erasing those images from my wolfbat matrix. You won’t believe what they can do with two trunks, at least one tentacle, and another unmentionable part of their anatomy.”
“You’re right. I won’t believe, and I refuse to learn. How’d you get them to send you the links? And why would they share the porno with you?”
“You surprise me, Sarge. I thought you might have named your ship after yourself. You aren’t the only sneaky bastard, my friend. All their data is passphrase protected, and in the Thandol language that’s complex as hell to replicate in their own voices. If I’m Mind Tapping them, and I tell one of them my own data is password protected, what do you think is the next thing they think about?”
He was incredulous. “You stole their passwords and have been sneaking in and grabbing files from their artificial memory?”
“It wasn’t that straightforward and easy. I used my Comtap to record what the elaborate phrase was they each thought of when I mentioned we used simple passwords. Then later, I played them back repeatedly using my Comtap translator software, fed it to Grumpy, and he passed them through his audio sensory suite. He verified when what the translator sent him finally matched the original phrase exactly. I had to adjust it repeatedly, based on Grumpy’s feedback, until the translation software had a stored copy of each audio passphrase to use that sounded identical to the one I recorded from their minds.
“I was afraid they might have an unrealistic sounding impression of their own voices, as we humans do. It turns out that their complex tonal language is possible because they do have excellent hearing, the means to detect very slight tonal differences, and to repeat their words precisely, with all of the subtle aspects intended to be heard.
“It’s no wonder they’re so fussy about their language and its grammar modes. They put the former French people to shame, with their snobbery over improper usage of their nearly dead language. That snobbery ended when the conglomeration now called Standard replaced all local languages, after the Collapse.”
“So you’re telling me you simply downloaded all of their data?”
“Again, you’re a slow learner. Not quite that easily, and certainly not everything. A secret download has to happen simultaneously when they’re feeding me grammar downloads, which I asked them to parcel out in short segments, pretending I’m too slow and dimwitted to save and assimilate it in one dump. I actually do need time to study what they want me to learn, but my real goal in getting it piecemeal is to analyze what I’m finding that they didn’t intend to share. I’m trying to steer my searches to where I can find important stuff in their memcache chips. Similar to how we store classes of data, there are organized libraries in their heads.
“From their minds, I know they at least believe they have effective security protocols that can’t be defeated, which I don't want to risk tripping. Their data transfer rate is considerably less than our superconducting nerves and Comtaps can accept, so it’s been a trickle from my viewpoint.
“I’m trying to think of an excuse to ask them about their tougher security protocols for getting into their restricted files, such as specifications on combat ship capabilities, or weapons or ship types we haven’t seen yet. Only, I’d have to explain how I knew they had restricted files in the first place. I’d also like to know what the Captain has stored about the Empire’s plans concerning us. If I trigger their security software by mistake, I imagine they’ll know it, and I could effectively be locked out by a device address change. I think the most important data is encrypted anyway, and I don't know if we could crack one of those files without their active cooperation and the quantum key. There’s a security module for that, which seems to require their direct activation to use.”
Reynolds nodded in approval. “Well, just having the link addresses could be useful, particularly if the idea proposed by Carson and Ethan, to try to duplicate the address on a second device worked, and see if it allows us to monitor what is exchanged on the original device. It works for our devices, but we can also sense when there is another device with the same address, because of an echo-like effect. Regardless, I had doubted we’d even get that much out of them.”
He tried to sound begrudging, to maintain his usual pretense when dealing with Maggi, but offered her a sincere complement. “Good work, I guess.”
****
President MacDougal offered an apology, but not for himself. “Aldry, Rafe, I know you wanted Tet at this kuttlefish briefing, but the Sneaky Bastard has just returned. Tet needed to be there with Fred Saber’s parents, for his transfer to the hospital.
“Fred was roused from his induced med lab sleep just before arrival, and he used Comtap to link to Tet. He asked if Tet could escort his parents to meet the ship, and to help reassure his anxious parents that Bill didn’t feel any pain when the bomb hit, and that Fred will recover. Tet will visit with you later.”
“We understand, Stewart. Rafe and I didn’t even know about the mission before last night, let alone that it was returning with a casualty and prisoners. However, Thad’s mission report was shared with all of the technology teams on R&D this morning. We have biological and gene results to share, but not anything that will produce as quick an application for the war effort as what the hardware people have.”
Rafe added, “When Tet’s free, if he drops by we can brief him, although he may be satisfied with the overview you can provide after you leave.”
“Good. In that case, let me hear what you’ve learned. I too heard Thad’s report, and it’s clear the Empire intends to increase its number of Stranglers, which means they learned how effective the Debilitaters were against us Kobani.
“Thad’s mission set that plan back considerably, but they have two other massive repair stations in their other security sectors, and they have shipyards for new production. We can’t possibly stop them from placing Debilitaters on as many ships as they want. We need to know if there’s a way to make us impervious to that radiation. Is there?”
“Wow. No pressure there, Mr. President.” Aldry, frowned, but took the anticipated question in stride.
They and their team had immediately grasped the implication of the clustering of Stranglers at Meglor. And what the numerous conversions of older Smashers into the Strangler class meant. The Empire intended to send fleets of Debilitater equipped ships into Federation Space, seeking worlds where the Kobani lived.
She didn’t sugar coat things. “We hope we can genetically engineer an effective resistance for ourselves to Debilitater radiation, or perhaps a functional tolerance is a better term.”
MacDougal raised his eyebrows, in an expression evoking a question and his concern. “What do you mean by functional tolerance? That doesn’t sound like a yes, we can do it sort of answer.”
“Because we don’t think we can say, yes, we can do it. We think we can produce partially what we desire, but it will not be pain free under the ray’s effects.”
“I don�
��t know if that will be enough.”
“We don’t either,” Rafe acknowledged, “but let me describe an analogy to you.
“Picture a group of people on a beach, in swimwear, and they suddenly experienced a sudden onset of moderate to severe sunburn. There’s shelter nearby, do you think they could run for that cover?”
“Sure. That would hurt, but it wouldn’t be completely debilitating. Is that how you envision our resistance to that ray, if you succeed? That isn’t what we hoped for.”
“No, but it isn’t death either.” Rafe rebutted. “However, could you envision exposed people fighting back, despite the discomfort? Mind you, unlike real sunburn, the pain effectively vanishes when shaded by shielding more substantial than clothing, and it doesn’t have a lasting effect, or increased damage with time of exposure. You might not want to continue your volley ball game, but you could get behind a sheltering wall and shoot at the source of radiation.”
“That’s what you meant by functional tolerance. Partial protection, but still able to function, without long lasting effects. Is that what you mean?”
Aldry held her hands up to the sides, and shrugged. “It’s what we think, based on our preliminary genetic studies. We don’t have any live animal subjects to modify yet, and no Debilitater ray to test on them.”
MacDougal mused, “I wonder if we can capture a functional Debilitater projector?”
Rafe said, “We have some Kobani analogue animals to test if you do, provided we can develop the multipart virus modifications for them, and nanites to deliver the carbon nanotubes.”
“That sounded like a lot of conditionals, Rafe. Who do you plan to test this with?”
“Not who, exactly. Our Koban pigs, from our initial gene mod experiments. They have continued to breed, and we have hundreds of the fast suckers over by Prime City, on Koban.”
Koban 6: Conflict and Empire Page 10
