Mike, I need some gold. Where is the most likely place for me to find some in here?
How much gold do you need, Steven?
Enough to make an engagement ring for Tatiana.
I see. There is probably enough gold in the computer on the office desk.
Okay, take it. I put my hand on the computer and a few seconds later I had a small lump of gold metal in my hand. The computer would no longer work, but from the dust on it, it looked like nobody ever used it anyway.
I added a bit of other metals to it to make it stronger, Steven, but there was enough gold.
Take the carbon in the pencil and make a diamond out of it.
Okay, Steven.
Mike and I went through several different designs and the pencil and lump of metal morphed from one type of engagement ring to the next. I finally settled on a design and had Mike make me a little ring box for it. When Tatiana returned I got down on one knee and popped the question.
"Tatiana, will you marry me?" I held up the ring box with the lid open.
Tatiana took the box and put the ring on her finger and then held her hand out and looked at the ring. I used a four-carat solitaire diamond setting in a gold ring with the inscription "A match made in heaven" on the inside of it in tiny, tiny letters. I knew that Tatiana's advanced senses would be able to see and feel it.
"Oh, Steven, I thought you were never going to ask. It's beautiful and I love the inscription. And I love you. Yes!" She kissed me and hugged me and kissed me again.
Finally somebody came to get us just when we were in the midst of a deep, passionate embrace. We both freshened up and then went to meet her father at the President's reception. It didn't seem to impress our guide that Tatiana and I changed to formal attire in a minute or so each. The changes actually only took a second or two, but we had played around with styles and colors for another minute.
It was fun meeting the President and all of the various foreign dignitaries at the reception. Tatiana and I showed off a bit by speaking to each of them in their native tongues. It made them more at ease with us. What we found out was startling. Ninety-seven percent of the U.N. Security Council, the President of the United States of America, almost all of the leaders of nations present, and the Russian Ambassador to the U.N. were isolatees.
It was official, isolatees ruled the Earth!
We had no idea what that meant either.
CHAPTER 20
We really had only been able to develop one plan of attack: go ask the Grays or Teytoonis just what the hell they were doing abducting us and experimenting on us. Tatiana and I thought of using Mike to connect to the universal Framework, but we were afraid that the Grays might have some safeguard to keep us from getting in information through Mike. And even worse, the Grays might have a means of attacking Mike at a distance through the Framework. So, we decided to keep Mike off of the alien internet for the time being.
Yep, it looked like we would just have to go see the Grays. We spent a good deal of time going through as many records as we could dig out of Mike—Mikhail helped also. We conducted various statistical analyses and finally decided that there was no way in hell that we could figure out where the Teytoonis's present homeworld or central headquarters was. We would fly out there to one of their worlds and land and say, "Take me to your leader!" We had no better plan. We did plan to be loaded for bear before we left, however.
The nearest planet well within Gray space appeared to be about two hundred and twelve light years away. With the new warp drive modifications that Tatiana, Anson, Jim, and I had developed, we could push close to four thousand times the speed of light—which meant a trip time of about twenty days or so. The repair of the Phoenix's alien quantum fluctuation drive wasn't complete yet, and wouldn't be for another few weeks even if we devoted all efforts toward its repair.
We decided to spend our time building new squeeze-play warp missiles instead. We loaded the bay of the Phoenix with the Einstein, the Avenger, and the repaired and warp drive retrofitted smaller Gray ship. We also added a full complement of a hundred and three warp missiles. Our plan was to launch the missiles out of the bay doors so no new missile tubes would have to be constructed. Tatiana and I modified the interior of the Gray ship as much as possible so that it would be more accommodating to humans. We redesigned and humanized the bridge with new high-g couches for all of the crew members. More human-friendly computer controls and monitors were added. We set up the nanomachine room as a manufacturing and repair facility as well as a stockroom. Anything anybody needed, Michelle—copy of Mike number three—would be in charge of administering. Mike could always override Michelle's decisions if need be.
Tatiana and I also had to redesign a room for our quarters. It was much smaller than our previous suite design but it was comfortable. We had to give up the whirlpool tub and settle for a shower. Manipulating the alien hull materials was a bit time consuming and it wasn't long before we planned to ship off. In fact, the Clemons and the Daniels kids were on their way to grandma and grandpa's house in Florida. Our plan would be to leave as soon as their parents returned. We were going to take the fight to the aliens and, if we had to, we might even abduct a few of them. In order to maintain a chain of command, I relinquished control of the Phoenix to Tabitha. I would follow her orders—at least until she ordered us to do something really stupid. I had gotten to know and trust her judgment of late and I didn't expect that to occur.
On the ninth day into the flight General Tabitha Clemons, Captain of the USS Phoenix, married Tatiana and me in the observation deck of the alien ship. The observation lounge (as we called it) was a room with a large window the size of a triple-car garage door. Tabitha stood with her back to the window as Tatiana and I stood facing each other in front of her. At warp velocity all we could see out the window was the eerie streaks of Cerenkov radiation that would occasionally occur as particles within the warp bubble would get too close to the expansions or contractions in spacetime at the edge of the bubble and get accelerated to warp speeds relative to us. All I really remember is that Tatiana was absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress, saying "I do," and hearing Tabitha tell me that I could kiss the bride.
Tatiana and I spent the next two days in our quarters. Most married folks usually get asked, "Where did you two go on your honeymoon?" We could answer that in many ways. One answer might be, "To our room." Another answer might be, "About two hundred and twelve light years away to an alien planet." We were still about eight days from the quarantine zone and had nothing to do but honeymoon anyway. So that is what we did.
Steven?
Yes, Mike?
We are being shadowed by four Gray vessels.
Open channel, Mike.
Okay, Steven.
Tatiana. I nudged her awake.
What, are we there yet?
Mike, how far are we?
We are about a day and a half from the target star system.
Mike, are we out of the quarantine zone yet? Tatiana asked.
Yes, Tatiana.
When did we pick up the tail? I asked.
I am not sure, Steven, but I detected them just a few seconds before alerting you.
Okay, Mike. Where is Tabitha?
She is in her quarters.
What time is it?
It is about three in the morning Luna City time, Mike responded.I touched the intercom switch on the nightstand and keyed in the Clemons's quarters. A grumpy-sounding Anson answered.
"Ahem, hello?"
"Anson, this is Steven. Is the general available?"
"I'm here, Steven. What is it?" she replied.
"Mike has detected four Gray ships trailing us. He just alerted me to this a few seconds ago," I told her.
"Okay, thanks, Steven. Meet us on the bridge in five minutes," she ordered.
"Yes ma'am." I saluted the intercom. Tatiana giggled at me.
"You know, you are kind of goofy sometimes," she said in her thick Russian accent.
"Yeah, but
you know you love it," I laughed.
We got up and stepped into the shower for about a minute and a half. With the nanomachines we didn't really have to shower, but we enjoyed it anyway. On the way to the door of our room we each had the nanomachines fix us up and dress us. Without missing a stride we were dressed and ready. Tatiana insisted on wearing the molecule-thick—or thin I should say—condensed matter suit and sky-blue camouflage U.S. Air Force battle dress uniform pants. She wore black canvas combat jump boots. Just above her right breast was a name tag reading Montana, on her left shoulder was an American flag and on her right was the W-squared insignia. Her hair was pulled up behind her head and held together by the deadly metal throwing pins that she so preferred. I followed suit and wore the same outfit, minus the hair pins of course. Both of us had miniaturized warp armor belts and double shoulder-harnessed nine-millimeter semiautomatic pistols—we both preferred Glocks.
Tabitha announced over the intercom of the ship that all hands were to report to the bridge battle-ready. A few minutes later the crew filtered in. The total crew complement including Tatiana and myself was twenty-four. Interestingly enough, the whole crew had adopted the uniforms, although some of the crewmembers wore the camouflage battle dress uniform top or the black Air Force sweater vests as well. Tabitha and Anne Marie, of course, wore the complete official Air Force battle dress uniform, although they had the armor underneath their uniforms and their sleeves were rolled up military style. Tabitha had the uniform requirements for the W-squared mission teams modified to allow for the under armor. Everybody was also wearing their warp armor belts and I did notice that most of them had either shoulder-holstered or belt-clip-holstered pistols.
Tabitha barked orders to several of the crew and had them take their battle stations. She sent the night crew to bed and told them to be prepared to alternate on eight-hour rotations. There would be eight members active at all times from here in. Before, only a skeleton crew of four was on duty at all times. So, shift one started and the others were put on standby. We weren't sure what the aliens were planning or what they could actually do to us while we were in warp.
"Mike, display the locations of the alien vessels with respect to our own on the main monitor please," Tabitha ordered.
"Yes, Tabitha," Mike acknowledged.
The image of our warp bubble and the Phoenix in the middle setting in the flat-space region of the modified Alcubierre warped spacetime appeared on the monitor. Flanking the Phoenix's warp bubble were Gray spacecraft immediately in front, behind, above and below us. The ships were just outside the van den Broeck warp bubble region and were maintaining our velocity.
"How did they detect us, Mike?" 'Becca asked.
"They detected the variation in the spacetime energy density in and around the warp bubble. The expansion in the spacetime behind the Phoenix causes an increase in the quantum fluctuations, while in front there is a decrease. SuperAgents like myself likely detect this through changes in data rate flow in this region," Mike explained.
"Uh, Mike, that sounds like they are simply measuring the curvature of the spacetime to me," Jim said.
"You say tomayto and I say tomahto," Mike offered. He must have been investigating humor again. Or perhaps that was the best way to explain it. After all, some of Earth's physicists have quibbled over quantum theory versus General Relativity for more than a century now and they both say basically the same thing—if you do the math correctly.
"I understand, Mike," Anson interrupted. "But tell me this: How the hell are we detecting them through the warp field? We've always had to stop to detect them before."
"I am detecting them by sending out pings through the alien Framework and timing the return. I'm not actually reading the return information so returning data cannot compromise my programming. Rather, I am simply timing the return like a radar system that actually sends a standing wave out through the . . . there is no human equivalent explanation here . . . but I think that Hilbert space is similar . . ." Mike paused for a second.
"Allow me, Mike." I knew what he was trying to say. "Anson, the Grays have some other model of the universe that is not really in line with our so called Standard Model. All of the universe is tied and connected through the infrastructure for this alien Framework. Their universal internet isn't artificial, it actually is part of the fabric of the universe. The Grays just figured out that it was there and how to use it."
"Is this Infrastructure something like Superstrings or quantum filaments?" Anson asked as he stared at the alien ships on the monitor. The ships looked pretty much the same size and type as the Phoenix.
"As far as I can tell, superstrings are a very very distant cousin to the concept," Tatiana added. "The interesting thing is that the Infrastructure and the Framework do require many more dimensions, like the infinite orthogonal dimensions of Hilbert space or of string theory."
"I see." Anson nodded and thought for a second. "You know, this is no different than the concept of quantum consciousness. Physicists have been considering the idea for decades. Basically, what you said was that there is some underlying 'connectedness' or Infrastructure throughout the universe that ties everything together. Well, this is no different than claiming that the universe is—one thing—and then writing down a quantum mechanical wave function for it. Granted, the Hamiltonian would be a bear, but I think I even remember reading something by Wheeler and something by Penrose about this. It isn't specific to the aliens. In fact, the quantum consciousness of the universe would explain the instantaneity of passing information through this Infrastructure. The wavefunction for the universe would be in a reference frame that is atemporal, and therefore time wouldn't even be a factor. Think about it. Most observations we make in this universe take some finite amount of time to complete. But if you try to measure whether you are 'self-aware' or not, does that measurement occur instantly? It is at least at the speed of thought. How fast is that? Hell if I know." Anson shrugged, then continued.
"If I recall correctly—and with this new-fandangled memory that your nanomachines gave me, I do—then I recall reading a paper that showed mathematically that if consciousness is a real part of the universe's wavefunction, and it should be, then it would be instantaneously connected throughout the universe. These little Gray guys must have figured this out to the nth detail and have determined how to implement and use it.
"Boy, I sure would like to get hold of that alien Infrastructure router hardware." Anson sounded excited.
Mike, download me all info on this quantum consciousness, I thought.
Okay, Steven, here it comes.
It was a very exciting concept. However, I think it was annoying Tabitha a little bit since there were more pressing things at hand.
"Ahem," Tabitha cleared her throat. "Steven, can the Gray ships penetrate the warp field?" she asked.
"Well, Mike, Tatiana, and I have been debating that for a few weeks now and we do not believe that matter can be passed through the warp bubble via the quantum connectedness. Information can be quantum teleported back and forth through the bubble as Mike is doing via the Framework radar pings. But sending matter through is a completely different question."
"Yeah, it is possible that a teeny tiny bit of matter the size of like a Planck distance could surf on the front of an information packet and be teleported across the Framework," Tatiana stated.
"That is possible, Tatiana, but to my knowledge it has never been attempted or even experimented with before. And it is possible to build regions of quantum fluctuations so violent on the surface of the warp bubble that it would become impenetrable even to that concept," Mike contributed.
"Okay. So they can't fire a missile in here at us, but they could bombard us with annoying infomercials if they wanted to." Sara smiled as she adjusted the nametag on her alien armor top. Tatiana noticed she was having problems with it and put her hand on it and had the nanomachines fix it. "Thanks," Sara said.
"No problem."
"Mike, is there an
y way they could get through your firewall and take control of you?" Al asked.
"I don't think so. But I will keep a continuous watch for intruders," Mike said.
We used every sensor that Mike had and all of the sensors the W-squared team had brought on board in an attempt to determine as much information about our tag-alongs as possible. We found out very little. Jim and 'Becca went down to the landing bay to make certain that the warp missiles were ready while the rest of us tried to find things to do that might help. There wasn't much to do except wait.
Four eight-hour shifts later, we were approaching the target star system. It was time to slow down and come out of warp. If we kept the bubble on we wouldn't be able to see out. If we turned the bubble on and off quickly with the so called "lights off, lights on" maneuver, or oscillated the amplitude of the bubble, the Gray ships might be able to time it right and pass through the bubble.
"Use the images that Mike gets by pinging the Infrastructure. Why don't we just use the alien sensors to study the star system while we leave the warp bubble on full?" Tatiana didn't understand why we were even considering turning off the bubble in the first place.
"Mike, scan this system and give us as much visual data on inhabitants as you can. Also, bring us to a star-centric orbit at about the midpoint of the solar system," Tabitha ordered.
"Yes, Tabitha," Mike replied.
The alien ships followed with us and soon fourteen others joined our convoy. We were completely surrounded by Gray ships the size of the Phoenix. But there were only eighteen of them and we had a hundred and something missiles.
"Shouldn't we be trying to hail them or something?" Jim said. "That's what they would do in the movies."
"We will follow the protocols we have put together," Tabitha said. "We will answer them back if they call us. After we are certain there are no hostilities planned, then we will consider hailing them."
"Are you certain that protocol is the right approach?" I asked.
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