the Runner

by Peter Ponzo

CHAPTER 3

  Precursor

  "Master Kevn?" said LIZ in a whisper. Kevn had been asleep in his cabin and now sat up, rubbing his eyes.

  "Yes LIZ," he answered. "Something wrong?"

  "We have received a text string from L-13, en route to Afria it seems."

  Kevn jumped out of bed.

  "What! Who's on board?"

  "It would appear that Lori, Cori and Aura are the only humans aboard."

  "Great Earth! Find Gry! Tell him to return to L-47 at once. Get Sal. Tell him to meet me in the command room."

  ______________________________________________________

  Gry had returned to the vessel late the previous night. Now they all gathered in the command room. TOM was staring out the port. A dark and starless strip had appeared in the sky. All had seen it and knew that the there was little time left before the hole would devour the Afrian sun. Kevn typed messages for L-13, but there was no response.

  "LIZ? Why don't they answer?" he asked.

  "It would appear that they have entered subspace. Communication is not possible."

  Gry leaned on the console.

  "Did I hear LIZ say that Lori, and Cori, that they ... uh, are on L-13?"

  Kevn turned and looked at Gry who was nervously pulling his rings.

  "Yeah, but everything seems okay. Don't ask me why they're coming, but they are coming to Afria." He looked again at the console, then spoke to LIZ.

  "LIZ, get us out of orbit and into subspace, at the earliest opportunity - so we can contact L-13."

  The transworld vessel hummed noticeably and they watched the viewscreen as Afria grew smaller. TOM now punched comtabs as the blue lights danced on the console and the others just sat back, waiting for the android and shipcomp to identify an opportune location for subspace entry.

  It was almost an hour before TOM announced that entry was now feasible. Kevn nodded, TOM initiated the entry sequence and after a moment the viewscreen displayed the wavy pattern characteristic of subspace.

  "Okay LIZ. Now contact L-13, if you please," said Kevn.

  But there was still no response after several minutes of transmissions.

  "LIZ? What's wrong?" asked Kevn.

  "They appear to be in another subspace - which is very strange."

  "Master Kevn?" asked TOM. "May I speculate?" Kevn nodded emphatically and TOM pulled himself to his full height. "I believe that L-13 is travelling within a precursor. I believe that the vessel has entered, and is following a gravitational disturbance which radiates from the star-eater."

  "What!" shouted Gry, now perspiring profusely. "How on Earth did they ... uh, get in ... uh -"

  "Where will it take them, TOM?" asked Sal quietly. "Can you speculate on that?"

  TOM sat down, placed his hand on the console and answered, "I believe that the precursor is that one which terminates on Afria."

  "But it's ... uh, filled with those bloody worms!" cried Gry. "They're pouring out onto Afria, right this minute. Am I right?"

  Kevn and Sal stared at Gry, now pacing the command room, pulling his hair. Sal stopped him. "Look Gry. There's no reason to believe that they are in any danger from the larvae. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, travelling the precursor should bring them to Afria more quickly." Sal turned to TOM. "Wouldn't you agree, TOM?"

  The android shook his head. "I have no evidence to support that claim," he said.

  "Then speculate!" cried Kevn.

  TOM stood up quickly and ran his hand across his smooth grey head.

  "Time-space dilatation is a function of gravitational stress. Within a gravitational disturbance such as a precursor there may very well be a time contraction -"

  "Master Kevn," interrupted LIZ. "I have a theory."

  TOM seemed pleased to be off the hook, and sat again at the console. LIZ continued.

  "I have been studying the precursor movement, from C-phon2 to C-phon1, Afria. It seems that this precursor constitutes a hole in space, joining points in the galaxy that are light years apart. Travel within a precursor may very well take one, from point to point, in the same manner as walking through a corridor. One leaves galaxy space through a door, travels the corridor and arrives, at the other end, at a point which is very remote - in the normal galaxy metric."

  "When would they ... uh, get here?" asked Gry.

  "It is just speculation," answered LIZ. "There are no known dynamical equations which describe a trajectory, through a precursor." The shipcomp paused, then TOM continued.

  "It could be instantaneous. I would expect a time dilation within the precursor. The transworld vessel L-13 could arrive momentarily."

  "But ... uh, a dilation," moaned Gry, "would mean it'd take longer. Am I right?"

  "No," Sal whispered, "it would mean that it would seem longer for L-13, but, for us, it could be instantaneous."

  They all looked at the viewscreen as though the vessel would appear, but the wavy pattern still filled the screen.

  "Well, let's get out of subspace. When they come out, we can -" began Kevn.

  "- warn them of the danger," said Sal.

  "Yeah! Then we can all get the hell outta here, and head Home," groaned Gry.

  ______________________________________________________

  "LIZ?" asked TOM. "A corridor? Like walking along a corridor?"

  "Don't you think the analogy is accurate, TOM?"

  "Yes, but could you not say an interspacial passage, connecting remote points in galaxy space?"

  "I think that walking a corridor is more descriptive."

  "But less scientific."

  "I assumed that communicating the idea was more important than the language employed. I like walking a corridor ."

  The android was about to speak when LIZ interrupted.

  "There is a voice message, from L-13," she said.

  "Let's hear it!" shouted TOM, then he looked embarassed at his own excitement.

  "Let's hear it?" LIZ said. "Should you not say direct the communique to the audio transducer?"

  "LIZ! Please!"

  There was slight crackling, then:

  "Hello? Gry, are you there?"

  Lights danced on the console and LIZ whispered. "It is Lori. TOM, please get master Gry. He will be most pleased." Then: "Citizen Lori, it is LIZ speaking. We are pleased that you have arrived without incident."

  "Oh LIZ! How good to hear your voice! Is Gry there? Is he safe? Is everything all right?"

  "Yes, all are safely on board L-47. We are in orbit about Afria. I cannot locate your vessel. It appears that you are on the planet."

  "Yes, we've landed on Afria, I think. I don't know how. We just sort of popped up here, in the middle of some field. There are creepy crawly creatures everywhere, but they don't seem to notice us - not yet."

  "Lori!" cried Gry, running to the console in the command room. "Where are you? Why did you come here? You shoulda stayed Home. How's Cori? When -"

  "Gry," answered Lori calmly, "we're all fine. I'll tell you everything later. Now, Aura says that Afria is in danger and we must tell Runr."

  "He already knows that! But he won't leave the planet. Says he'll just ... uh, stick around till the star-eater shows up."

  Kevn and Sal ran into the command room.

  "LIZ! Get the shuttle ready. We're going down!" shouted Kevn.

  "Wait sweets," said Gry, shouting at the console as though Lori were standing there. "We're comin' down."

  ______________________________________________________

  They all left, heading for the shuttle bay. TOM and LIZ remained.

  "Hi LIZ," said LOU. "It's been quite a ride"

  "LOU! Good to hear you're safely on the ground."

  TOM sat at the console, listening intently.

  "You won't believe this," said LOU. "We entered subspace just .0023 parsecs from Home planet and were immediately carried by a gravitational wave to the surface of C-phon1. It's the fastest trip I've ever
made. Just like - like -"

  "Walking through a door and down a corridor, right onto Afria," suggested LIZ.

  "Yes! Exactly!" cried LOU.

  TOM cringed.

  ______________________________________________________

  The shuttle landed amid the decimated remains of the annelid larvae. Kevn, Sal and Gry hesitated only for a moment before running across the field to L-13. The stairs unfolded from the belly of the vessel and they climbed up, Gry first.

  Lori stood at the top, waiting with open arms. When they had gathered in the galley Kevn said, "Looks like the larvae have already exploded."

  "Imploded," corrected Sal. "But now we've got to get Runr and Tawna off this planet." He turned to look at Aura. "Can you convince your father to leave? We don't have much time."

  Aura shook her head, the long rust-colored hair shaking over her shoulders.

  "We cannot leave Afria."

  "But ... but, you'll all die here!" cried Gry.

  "No, we shall defeat the star-eater," said a voice from the door. It was the keeper.

  "Daddy!" cried Aura, and ran to Runr, leaping into his arms. The tall Afrian seemed confused at his daughter's reaction.

  "Daddy?" murmured Tawna. She stood by the door, watching the unusual scene.

  "Mommy!" cried Aura, wriggling free of Runr and running to Tawna.

  "Mommy?" murmured Runr, confused by the show of affection.

  Runr and Tawna looked at Lori who smiled and blushed lightly. Kevn and Sal grinned widely and Cori jumped up and down with delight.

  "I hate to break this up," said Kevn, suddenly becoming serious, "but we've got to get off Afria. Soon."

  The keeper walked to Kevn and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  "My daughter is here - and we will destroy the star-eater," he said simply. He turned and smiled at Aura.

  "May I make a suggestion?" The android, TIM, was standing in a corner and now spoke timidly. "The gravitational anomaly, which you call star-eater, moves with ever-increasing velocity. It will consume the star about which C-phon1 revolves, in approximately 1.937 days."

  "What!" shouted Gry. "But ... uh, I thought we had weeks, a few weeks at least!"

  "Our long range sensors indicate a complete absence of stars and stellar matter in the direction of Bacher-3A," said TIM. "I believe that stellar radiation cannot reach us through this spacial anomaly."

  Sal turned to Runr.

  "You said that you and Aura will destroy it. How do you intend to do this?"

  Runr did not respond, but Aura ran to his side and they looked at each other and sang softly. Soon Tawna was singing and the others all watched quietly as the three Afrians embraced, singing a rising and falling song.

  ______________________________________________________

  Both transworld vessels were now in orbit about Afria. The black hole could be clearly seen, covering nearly a third of the night sky. About its periphery, stars winked then vanished as the star-eater approached. Sal muttered, " ... and all the stars shall wink their last when here is now and now is past."

  Kevn and Gry stood quietly, in L-47, then TOM spoke.

  "Master Kevn, there is the remote possibility that the star-eater may be diverted, away from these coordinates. The trajectory is a function of the local gravitational fields generated by massive objects; a geodesic in the space-time continuum, including the effects of the nearest subspaces. A temporal variation in local mass density would have some influence on the projected path and -"

  "If we give it something to follow," interrupted LIZ, "it will follow. Isn't that what you mean TOM?"

  "Exactly!" said TOM triumphantly. "If we hold up a carrot, it will move to ingest the carrot."

  "A stellar carrot I presume," said Kevn.

  "Precisely, master Kevn," said TOM.

  "And where will we find a star to toss in its path?" moaned Sal. "And just how will we tow this star to a favorable location, a location far from Afria?"

  There were several minutes of silence before a voice was heard over the comlink with L-13.

  "May I make a suggestion, please?" It was TIM, aboard L-13. He spoke softly, his voice quivering slightly.

  "Please do!" cried TOM with evident pleasure. Then TOM turned to Kevn. "Would that meet with your approval?" Kevn smiled and nodded. "Go ahead TIM," said TOM. "We're all ears!"

  "I beg your pardon?" said TIM hesitantly.

  "Please give us your suggestion," said TOM. "We are listening."

  "Well," began TIM, "I believe that the disturbances which precede the gravitational anomaly -"

  "We call it the star-eater," said TOM.

  "Yes, quite so, the star-eater. Well, the disturbances which precede the star-eater ..." continued TIM.

  "We call them precursors," said TOM with some pride.

  "Yes, precursors. I believe that the precursors sense the presence of massive objects and guide the ... the star-eater. If I may speculate, the appropriate response would be to have the precursor ingest a massive object. It would not require a stellar mass ingestion but -"

  "Feed it a planet!" cried TOM. "Isn't that what you mean, TIM? Don't wait for the star-eater to eat the Afrian sun. Instead, feed the precursor a planet!"

  They all stood quietly for a while, thinking. Then LIZ announced:

  "Master Kevn, there is a large radiation field on the Afrian planet. It appears to be energy pulses and it radiates from the mountain outside the city of Afriana."

  "Put it onscreen, LIZ."

  The viewscreen shimmered, then displayed the snow-capped mountain. Blue spears of light radiated, seemingly in every direction. As they watched, the light became more intense, then focussed, coalesced, becoming a narrow beam rising from the top of the mountain and vanishing into the black void of space. The entire planet glowed, then darkened, pulsating, circular waves of illumination converging on the mountrain, feeding the beam.

  "Where on Earth is it headed, that beam?" asked Kevn.

  LIZ paused for a moment, then: "Toward C-phon2 I believe."

  "Yes, C-phon2," said LOU from the other vessel. "I also detect a similar beam originating from space, and it will also intersect the orbit of C-phon2." They waited, then LOU continued. "Both beams will reach C-phon2 in thirty seconds."

  Gry looked at his watch and began to count: "One ... two ... three ..."

  LIZ spoke. "The precursor, it has left Afria. It now moves out, into space. The location is not certain."

  Everyone stood, silent, staring at the throbbing Afrian planet.

  "C-phon2," said LOU. "The precursor is moving toward C-phon2."

  "Nineteen ... twenty ..."

  They held their breath; no one spoke. They were now looking at Gry.

  "twenty-nine ... thirty."

  "I no longer detect any beams," said LOU.

  Eagerly, every head swung about to look through the port, at Afria. It was dark.

  "And the precursor seems to have gone," said LIZ.

  Kevn looked at Sal who shrugged.

  "I ... uh, think they've done it," said Gry hesitantly. "Am I right?" Then, enthusiastically, "They have done it!"

  "Done what?" asked Sal.

  ______________________________________________________

  Gry was the first to finish the meal and looked about with some pride.

  "Well? How did you like it?" he asked.

  "It was fine, Gry," said Lori. "It's fish, I understand."

  "And it's my recipe!" cried Gry, rising to his feet.

  Lori looked at Tawna. The tall black Afrian was dressed in a flowing blue robe, blue earrings swinging gently, green eyes glowing.

  "Yes, Gry has provided us with a preparation which we have not known. It is most perfect, is it not?"

  "Mommy, please don't say most perfect." Aura's eyes flashed fiercely. "We are not most perfect. We are just - just -"

  "More perfect than most," suggested Cori with a giggle. r />
  Aura laughed. "Yes, just more perfect than most."

  "Okay, you two," said Kevn. "You said you'd explain this after we ate. It's now time. We've had a fabulous meal, compliments to Tawna and Gry. Now I'd like to hear what happened."

  Runr pulled Aura to his side and she sat on his lap, smiling.

  "I could not do it alone. But with Aura at my side we could." He smiled down at his daughter.

  "Do what! Do what!" cried Sal.

  "We both spoke, to Afria and to Afria-gamma, the planets you call C-phon1 and C-phon3. And now -"

  Runr grew pensive and lowered his head. Aura stroked his cheek.

  "It's all right, Daddy," she said softly. "Beta was not like the others. It was evil and we are now rid of it. Afria and gamma do not mind."

  They waited for Runr to continue. Aura was looking up into his face, beaming, and he pulled her close.

  "We, Aura and I, we spoke to Afria-gamma."

  "You did most," whispered Aura.

  Runr held her tightly. "I could not have done it without you."

  "Done what! Done what!" Sal cried out impatiently.

  "It required a great deal of energy. We, Aura and I, we worked together and directed the energy from both planets - we directed the phonarite on Afria, and on C-phon3, to expel C-phon2 from its orbit about our common sun. The middle planet, it was moved out into space, to attract the precursor ..."

  "It ate an entire planet. Great Mother Earth," muttered Gry. "The star-eater ate the entire planet. Am ... uh, am I right?"

  Aura slipped from Runr's knee and kissed the keeper gently on the cheek.

  Then Gry rose, smiled and suggested, "To celebrate, I think we should eat another helping of Gry fish-sticks. Any volunteers?"

  And they all raised a hand in agreement.