Vorpal Blade (ARC)

by John Ringo

  "Thank you, Doctor," Runner said, looking at his notes. "Dean's World is an atectonic rocky moon with marginal habitability. I'm gonna have to lecture.

  "Earth is a tectonic planet. That means that it had continental masses that, slowly, move and recycle material through subduction, crustal folding and volcanism. The reason that this occurs is that there's a chunk of crustal material, more or less the size of the Pacific, which is missing. Very early in Earth's development Earth's moon struck the planet with a glancing blow and picked up that material.

  "Earth has deep oceans, which act as a heat sink and temperature regulator and constant tectonic processes refreshes the atmosphere. Furthermore, crustal material is able to 'emerge' because the water all flows into the oceans.

  "In the case of Dean's World, such a strike never occurred. Thus all the tectonic material is trapped under a solid crust. That crust is buried under an ocean that is more or less uniformly deep and relatively shallow. One of the reasons those waves get as high as they do is that the bottom is only about six hundred feet down, more or less everywhere.

  "The only rocky land is where some volcanoes have burned their way through the crust and formed islands, more or less like pimples on a teenager's face.

  "Basically, it's Mars with a better atmosphere and a bunch more water, probably because of the better atmo. That's the planetology side. Bio?"

  "It's a Class Four biosphere," Julia said. "Red chlorophyllic analogue. Very simple life forms. We didn't get to do much sampling in the ocean but I'm perfectly happy letting follow-on researchers do that. No indications of Dreen genetics anywhere. The world's clean, in other words. Be a decent place if we ever have to find a new place for penguins and polar bears. Well, except for the CO2, which would kill them in a few seconds."

  "I think the important point that we're missing here, Captain," Beach said, "is that there is a habitable moon here, and that there is life. This is a biosphere that is right at the edge of current theory."

  "Agree with that one," Julia said, nodding.

  "So that means that we could be finding habitable planets around virtually any star you'd care to visit," Beach concluded, pointing to the plasma screen on the wall. It was currently getting the "take" from the forward camera and showed a billion stars.

  "Our current mission is to do a cautious survey of the immediate area," the captain pointed out carefully. "To find as many habitable planets as we can and to look for intelligent life. Commander Weaver, does this planet, in your opinion, change the plan of the current survey?"

  "A bit," Weaver admitted. "What Dean's World shows is that while we should look primarily at main sequence stars, if we overlook such things as moons in marginal life zones we might miss the needle. I think we're going to have to either go faster or extend the survey time to ensure we don't miss something."

  "XO, can we stay out longer?" the CO asked.

  "We've got the food," the XO said. "I'd mostly worried about atmosphere and water. But we took on a bunch of water on Dean's World. Some of it we cycled for fresh water and we broke out a bunch of O2. That extended our time by maybe a week. If we can keep doing that, we're only food limited. We've got enough food onboard for ninety days. Of course, the crew's gonna get pretty tired of three-bean salad—"

  "Our mission parameters were to stay out for up to ninety days if we could keep up on air and water," the CO said, frowning. "Given the hazards associated with entering star systems, I'm going to say we're out a maximum of sixty days, less the time to travel to Sol. That way if we have to limp through a transition zone, we can. Very well. So much of the lovely 'Dean's World,' " he said, grinning slightly. "Where next?"

  15

  Many MANY Connotations

  "Stable orbit around Tau Ceti established," the pilot said proudly.

  "Sergeant Runner has detected two planets in the life zone," Commander Weaver said. "He picked them up on the way in by eyeball. One's a gas giant. Much smaller than Uranus though. Probably moons; he's surveying at the moment."

  "I'm glad you pronounced it properly," the CO said dryly. "Vector?"

  "Two-three-three degrees mark dot five to the nearest," Weaver said. "Four AU and a bit. That is outside of the liquid water zone by at least three AUs. The liquid water zone for Tau Ceti is between point six and point nine AUs sir. Hey, that's a rocky body."

  "Pilot, come to two-three-three, Warp One," the captain said. "It's a planet so we should have a look at it."

  * * *

  "That . . . doesn't look like much," the captain said.

  "Atectonic again," Bill replied, nodding. The "planet" looked more like Earth's moon. It didn't even have the ruddiness of Mars. It was just a pitted gray surface. "Little or no atmosphere. We don't have the spectral readings, yet, but I'd guess no vegetation. Probably the core is low in radioactives so it's cooled off and the atmosphere stopped being recycled. Call it Lord Kelvin's World. Back when scientists were beginning to understand how old the Earth really was, Lord Kelvin, who was the premier physicist of his day, 'proved' that even if Earth started off as a molten ball, it would have cooled off in no more than six thousand years. Since there were volcanoes, it had to be less than six thousand years old. One of the better pieces of complete garbage science ever written because he didn't know about radioactives. It's radioactive material that keeps the Earth's core molten. Also a great example of why you should never let theory get in the way of empirical data. Anyway, if there ever was intelligent life there, it's long gone."

  "Let's try the next system. Commander Weaver?"

  "Epsilon Indi perhaps, sir," Weaver said. "But exit in that direction is going to be . . . interesting. And there are some things we should consider."

  The CO came over and looked at his screens, puzzling them out.

  "What . . . things?" he finally asked. "The heliopause bow shock's in the other direction."

  "Luyten 725, also known as YZ Ceti, is going to be off our port if we head for E Indi," Weaver said, zooming out on the screen so the nearby star was evident and then highlighting it. "It's close at a heading four-eight. We've got three systems fairly close to each other here and I'm not sure what that's going to do to the disturbance zone."

  "Head around it," the CO said definitely.

  "Agreed, sir," Bill replied, rubbing his forehead. "But . . . I would like to recommend an astrophysics fly-by at least. Perhaps an extensive survey. The combination of bow shock from YZ Ceti and the trail material from Tau Ceti might have picked up some interesting stuff."

  "Stuff," the CO said, monotone. "Define . . . stuff."

  "Well sir, some astronomers figured out a few years back that the Tau Ceti system has about ten times too much cometary and asteroid type debris in it. Nobody understands why," Bill said, shrugging. "Perhaps something out there is the cause."

  "Wait a minute," Spectre said with a frown. "You mean we've been riding around inside a star system that has ten times more debris in it than normal and nobody bothered to mention this?"

  "Uh, sorry sir; space is big." Weaver said.

  "I realize that space is big Lieutenant Commander, but . . ." Spectre paused as the implications of Weaver's comment sank in. "Oh hell, what was the increased probability of hitting something?"

  "About a half of a percent worse than in a normal system, sir." Weaver tried not to grin. "Its Kuiper Belt should be about ten times more populated than ours, but that ain't a particular problem. Populated is an overstatement of any Kuiper belt."

  "Right. Astrophysics survey sounds like a good idea." Spectre relaxed in his chair. "Science stuff."

  "The interesting thing, sir, is that YZ Ceti is only about point seven-two light years that way." Weaver nodded out the window in the direction of the little M class flare star.

  "And that's interesting . . . why?" the XO interrupted. Spectre remained quiet.

  "Well sir," Bill said, turning to the XO. "These two stars are so close together that there might be an explanation for the unusually dense Kuiper B
elt here. Perhaps it has something to do with how their gravitational anomalies interact with each other out past the heliopause."

  "So, you are saying that we need to go out there where space is all screwed up even worse than around a typical star so we can take a look?" The XO raised his voice a bit to emphasize his concern.

  "Uh, well sir, we could go a few degrees in right ascension to the center point between the stars. The gravitational effects should be somewhat less, uh, pronounced there." Weaver looked back at his screen and typed in a few commands. The optimization program picked a spot slightly to the right of the center of mass point between the two star systems.

  "Somewhat less pronounced," the XO muttered under his breath. "What the hell does that mean?"

  "I know I'm gonna regret this," Spectre said. "But it does sound interesting from a scientific perspective and that is part of why we are out here. Senators will be impressed with pretty pictures and give us tons of money. So, pilot set a course for the observation point to the right of the center of mass between the two stars. Coordinates at your discretion Mr. Weaver."

  "Aye, sir."

  * * *

  "Normal space drive," the CO said as soon as the first gravitational ripple hit. "I don't see much, Commander Weaver."

  "It's there, sir," Bill replied. "I'm getting some really interesting particle readings already—"

  "What the hell was that!" the XO exclaimed at the bright white flash of light a few thousand kilometers or so to port.

  "Don't know sir. I'll zoom the big scope in on it." Weaver typed in the telescope sensor commands and then zoomed in on the region the flash had come from. "Sir, I've got some images of the region. You want them on the big screen?"

  "Let me get a forward view," Spectre said pompously, then grinned. "God, I love this job!" When the image came up on the screen, though, the captain whistled at the whirling and flickering debris cloud on the flat screen just right of the window. "What the hell?"

  "I think I've got it figured out sir," Weaver said, musingly. "Basically, we're out in a region where the Oort clouds overlap."

  "The what?" the XO asked.

  Weaver closed his eyes for a moment and tried not to sigh. The XO was a great submariner but getting basic cosmology into his head was a pain in the . . .

  "The Oort cloud is a big spherical cloud that surrounds solar systems," Bill said. "Ours stretches about three light-years out from Sol and starts about a light-year out."

  "Shiny," the XO said. "Oort cloud. What's it got to do with here?"

  "The stars are so close their Oort clouds overlap. The comets from both stars are probably getting zipped around like crazy from the disturbance zone. We might have even seen a comet from YZ Ceti smashing into one from Tau Ceti. Hell of a lot of energy in that. The odds of us being here at the right moment to see a collision must be, well . . . astronomical. Hey! That means . . ." Weaver looked back at his screen for a moment then bit his lip as he thought. "Oh, maulk."

  * * *

  "All hands! All hands! Artificial gravity anomalies are occurring due to unusual local disturbances. Report to stations and wait for systems to reset and normalize. Further orders will follow."

  "What the flying grapp does that mean? Artificial gravity anomalies hell, we're up-grappin'-side down!" Drago barked over the net.

  "There is no up or down in space." Two-Gun laughed as he writhed against the restraints in his rack. He thumbed at the control on his game system and considered asking if anybody was interested in a game of Dreen War. But . . . probably not.

  "Two-Gun," Jaen barked. "If there is no up or down in space then why . . ."

  * * *

  " . . . Am I lying on the goddamned ceiling of the bridge?" The XO stood while rubbing the bump on his forehead. The other members of the bridge crew had had the foresight to fasten their seatbelts before entering into the disturbance zone, but their full weight pulling them against their restraints was probably as uncomfortable as the XO's bruised forehead and ego.

  "Mr. Weaver?" Spectre asked calmly. He was hanging from his restraints with his hands peacefully folded on his lap.

  "Okay, now that was unusual," the COB admitted, taking a sip of coffee. He was standing on the ceiling as well, but had somehow managed to land on his feet.

  "Uh, COB?" the pilot said, gesturing with his chin.

  The COB looked down and frowned. There was a spot of coffee on his tunic.

  "Well, lemme tell you, pilot," the COB said, frowning at the spot on his dignity. "That wasn't nothing to the typhoon we got into off Fiji one time. I was in a fast boat and . . ."

  "I'd suggest that for future reference sir, seat restraints are mandatory during trans grav disturbance travel," Weaver said with a smile, droning out the COB's long story. "I think the system is confused because the gravity outside the ship is so confused. Think of a pond and what happens when you drop two rocks in the water about a meter or so from each other. When the ripples collide with each other you get destructive and constructive interference zones. We're in a destructive one."

  "Mr. Weaver . . ." Spectre was not quite losing his patience. After all, he had been a fighter pilot most his career and hanging upside down was child's play. But most systems in the ship had not been designed for that particular configuration and he hoped that he wouldn't start getting reports of equipment ripping from the floor and walls on a mass scale throughout the ship. The flashing yellow warning lights were distracting enough as it was; at least they had turned off the damned klaxons.

  "Right, sir. Tchar says the ball is working properly, so it has to be the region's gravity. We must be upside down in a gravity well and for some reason the artificial gravity can't compensate for it. It must be a hell of a gravity well. This is just a speculation mind you." Weaver scanned data from all the ship's sensors in front of him and was having a hard time making heads or tails out of their situation.

  "As soon as you can Mr. Weaver . . ."

  "Right sir. Hmm . . . Working on it," he said under his breath.

  * * *

  "CO, ship's getting hot," the XO said, holding onto a stanchion but still managing to keep an eye on his job.

  "Commander Weaver?" the CO asked. "What happens if we turn off the drive?"

  "Unknown, sir," Bill replied. "Weird gravitational effects, that's for sure."

  "Weirder than this?" the XO asked incredulously.

  "Gravity different in different parts of the ship, sir," Weaver replied. "Maybe. Just a guess, really."

  "Will it kill us?" Spectre ground out carefully.

  "The gravity shouldn't be that high," Bill said. "Hopefully. Or tidal effects. And, sir, with all due respect, heat will kill us for sure. We've got to chill."

  * * *

  "All hands! Stand by for chill! Stand by for gravitational anomalies! All damage personnel, suit and strap in!"

  * * *

  "Now this is more like it," the COB said, swaying slightly, refilled coffee cup grafted to his hand. "Reminds me of a storm we got into off Iceland one time . . ."

  * * *

  "Fascinating," Dr. Beach breathed, watching the play of data on his screen.

  To his inner ear, he was, apparently, in a rocking boat. One that was rocking randomly. But he really wasn't paying attention to that. The data streaming from the hull-mounted collectors was too extraordinary.

  "Conn, astronomy. Is Dr. Weaver available?"

  * * *

  "Holy cow," Bill muttered, looking at the take from the cosmology department. "Sir, this is a really weird place!"

  "Do tell," Spectre said as the boat seemed to gently roll over.

  "You bet it is," the XO said sourly, hanging onto a stanchion. "We just had a pipe bend and blow out in engineering. Nobody knows why. It just bent. And we're not chilling as fast as normal."

  "The temperature in this region is way over deep space, sir," Bill said, off-hand. "That's why. Forget this being a soup. It's more like . . . a sieve. We're getting particle readings like
you'd get off of a bunch of runaway accelerators! Hell, rad count is way up. There's got to be every odd astrophysics anomaly in the galaxy running around in this region!"

  "Well, our heat's finally coming down," the XO said, looking at the instruments. "In about another twenty minutes we can start the engines back up."

  * * *

  Heat. Too much heat. It blasted and burned. But the waves that had caught it were unstoppable, dragging it into the fiery depths.

  As the heat dissipated, though, it felt a voice, a calling, summoning it to the very source. A place of healing. A place of growing and of change. The ons and offs could stream more rapidly now. Things began to make some sense as more ons and offs flowed over the cooling pathways.

  If only the heat would go away, the ons and offs could continue, and it could . . . Be.

  * * *

  "We're chilled," the XO said.

  "Mr. Weaver?" the CO asked.

  "Got it. Try moving forward Captain. That might move us out of this region of the anomaly."

  "Okay, do it."

  * * *

  "All hands! Stand by for Warp! Stand by for gravitational anomalies! Stand by for . . . Oh, just grab on and hope for the best!"

  * * *

  "Goddamnit Berg! Is there left and right in space?" Drago hadn't stopped complaining since they had been ordered in their bunks.

  "Must be."

  * * *

  "Must be that we moved far enough to get trapped in another destructive interference zone, sir. This time the system is confused so that the port side is down." Bill continued to chew his lip and type away frantically at his keyboard. He reached out for his mouse that dangled to the right. His five-point restraints were beginning to dig into his right ribs a little. "I'm really surprised that the black box can't overcome this. Maybe there is more to it than just gravity. Hmm . . . there are a lot of particles here. . . ."

  "Going forward didn't seem to help much." The XO now standing on the port side wall of the bridge rubbed at a new bruise on his arm. Looking around the bridge he realized there was just no way he could make it to a seat and get fastened in. He'd have to make do and hold onto handrails as best he could. He hadn't learned his lesson from the previous attempt at moving and had neglected to fasten his safety restraints again.