“Because you make it a big haughty point to declare your staunch atheism to me every other time you drink. But whatever, I just want to be clear on this. The God, that you don't believe exists, mocks you by giving you everything you could ever want and more.”
“That's about the jist of it, I suppose.”
“Well, I have to give you some credit then. You've reached a whole new plateau of stupid.”
But it had been quick-thinking stupidity, clever enough to derail her train of thought from reaching its logical endpoint. It needed more though… it needed him to go in a direction so inane that would make her forget so entirely that it would elude a later retrospective analysis. And he knew just the thing.
“You know, the only reason I've never bested you hand to hand is that you're a woman. If I were to unleash on you as my equal, as I would another man, all that silly martial arts dancing would fall very flat, and very quickly.”
Mei was of course having none of that. He could see her wheels turning as she stood up in offense. An avid student and master of combat arts, it had been her lifelong pursuit, and her prowess in this area was not to be challenged.
“I know it emasculates you, moonman, to be bested by a woman. Or maybe there's some part of you that craves it. It's hard telling with you sometimes.”
Aru arose in turn, unsteadily clutching his drink. “We can settle this right now if you like.”
“You already fuck me.... or at least you used to. Isn't that enough?”
“I'm waiting...” he chided, gulping down his seventh or eighth neat drink, nearing what he knew was his upper limit.
Mei started in with a sigh that quickly morphed into laughter. Aru joined her and plopped himself back down. Mission accomplished.
“Try that when you're sober,” she threatened. “I'm going to hold this over you, you know. Behavior most unbecoming...”
The chamber lights flashed suddenly as an alert chime interrupted them.
“Commander, an alien signal has been detected,” System declared.
Mei quickly reaffixed her mind to duty. Aru stood and clumsily made his way to the central holographic display.
“What...” she started into query. “A signal, here? Are you sure it isn't an echo of one of our own?”
“I'm absolutely certain, Commander,” replied System. “Requesting authorization to launch tracking probes.”
“Which... which probe is this coming from?”
Aru found this alert bewildering. As expected, there had been no signal reception of any sort since the ship entered the corona, and it was doubtful any could pass through it. It should be completely silent here. “Mei, launch now. Authorize the launch!”
Mei looked at him briefly and with some suspicion, but shook it off. “Yes... yes, Kinny, authorization granted. Proceed at once, as you see fit.”
“Proceeding. Four tracking probes have been launched,” System informed them. It then brought up a top-down graphic of the Kinetic's descent path. A second nearly perpendicular line intersected it just behind their current position. “The signal was intercepted by our onboard sensors 23 seconds ago when I sounded the alert, Commander. As you can see there was only a very brief period of reception before it was lost, slightly less than 2 seconds, during which 42.2 terabytes were obtained.”
That was a lot of data for such a brief reception window. “Strength?” he queried.
“High. 11 gigavolts from our position. Since we only intersected tangentially, the main transmission ray should be significantly stronger. Pending further analysis, I would estimate it at around 50 gv. It also shows low levels of quantum acceleration, indicating that this signal has been hyper-relayed and amplified multiple times at low-end tachyonic speeds.”
“So... it was not directed at us?” Aru couldn't afford to be the least bit uncertain on this point.
“Negative, Captain. We intersected it by purely by chance. As you can see it's running parallel to the ecliptic, thereby indicating a point of origin and a point of reception both within the chromosphere. We have launched three tracking probes along its path toward the reception point, and one in an opposite vector towards its origin. They should start transmitting more of the signal to us shortly.”
“Talk about fortuitous!” exclaimed Mei, perhaps prematurely. The signal was passing between two points at a far higher altitude than the mystery orb they sought should be. The Kinetic had not even reached GSO yet in their descent.
“System, what can you make of the data?” he asked.
“It is highly encrypted Captain, beyond my capability to decipher.”
“Meaning it was composed by an L-2 superintelligence or higher...” Aru reasoned.
“It's quite unlike any Mnemtechian or Occitanian encryption I've ever encountered. My estimation, Captain, is that it is Logosian in origin. Based on the composition of the encryption code and our proximity to the Emperor's domain, I think we can say that it’s nearly certain.”
“Yes,” agreed Mei. “It's got to be Logosian. But how?... Is it a ship? Nothing material survive in here for very long.”
Aru tried to rub away his double vision and stared into the hologram. “System, expand that signal line... keep going... more.... pan out.”
The line grew as the holograph zoomed out until the curve of Ignis Rubeli became distinct. “Ok, stop there,” Aru commanded. “Put a marker on each end of that. Those points are where you'll find the transmission and reception vehicles. What we're looking at here is a satellite communication ring.”
System extrapolated the concept out with a ring of fifty-four equally spaced satellites on the specified orbit around The Red Star. Aru knew he was correct about this, and so did Mei.
“Dang, Aru, I believe you're right!” she remarked. “But why would anyone need a communication ring within a star? One or more of the satellites must be receiving outside transmission through the corona. Otherwise, I mean, what would be the point?”
An even more relevant question was what kind of materia could survive in this environment for any extended length of time to propagate these signals? Even the Kinetic, the very pinnacle of Mnetechian space technology, which had been heavily outfitted for this specific mission, could not hope to endure here for more than a handful of days.
“System, display proposed orbital paths for our search target,” Aru ordered.
A number of lower altitude curves appeared on the display, marking the best deductions for where an object “on the ecliptic traversing a sunspot over 20 minutes” sixty-four days ago would be now.
They both stared into the display intently. “Refill,” Aru added. Mei must have deactivated the autorefill via halo.
“This theorized satellite configuration...” Mei pondered aloud, “Those intervals would be optimal for maintaining constant, uninterrupted communication with an object in our target's supposed orbit.”
Aru recognized that she was speaking in conjecture upon conjecture, but he also recognized that it all fit together with an undeniable elegance. He took this lateral reasoning approach another step forward.
“System, pan out all the way to the orbit of The Stones.”
There were two stones, The White and The Black, on opposite ends of a shared orbit around Ignis Rubeli. Little was known of these dwarf planets, as they were the seat and exclusive domain of the Emperor, Logos. Their bare surfaces hid a buzzing hive of machine world activity, the brain and the mind of the Emperor. They were also forbidden space. Any ship or object that approached within a quarter million kilometers of their positions was met with certain obliteration by an unerring particle beam, which is why on entry they'd taken great care to penetrate the corona from the star's southern tropic, giving that domain a wide berth. The inner space of Ignis Rubeli was presumed forbidden as well, but never explicitly stated as such. In gearing up for this mission quite a few eyebrows had been raised, since even Mnemtech himself, who had learned the hard way, never meddled in any space north, south, or within the Stones' orb
it.
Panning out that far had the effect of reducing what had just been a curvature of the star to a full red circle at the center with the Stones' orbit displayed at the edge of the holograph. It had also melded their position, the theorized satellite ring, and their target's orbit into a single undifferentiated circle hugging the red disk.
Magnify the center? No, that wouldn't do. “Convert to 2D full floor display,” he ordered.
The holograph collapsed to the floor and exploded out in all directions flush to the walls of the chamber, with Aru and Mei left standing upon it. Aru stumbled forward a few steps spilling his drink a bit, unprepared for the sudden dizzying effect. Mei was quick to grab and steady him with a girlish giggle.
She looked down and around at the broad display, and an understanding came over her face with a grin. Taking over, she ordered, “Kinny, animate all objects’ orbital motion, 10000x speed.”
The predicted low altitude orbit of the target began whizzing around the star, with the high altitude satellite ring turning more slowly, and the dwarf planets at the edge of the display inching along slower still.
“I see it.... yes!” she exclaimed. “The Stones, The Stones would have the power to broadcast a signal through the Corona.”
System also saw where this was headed and put the final touches on the picture they were hashing out. Dotted heavy beams shot straight from each Stone into the satellite ring, which amplified and relayed them along itself. As each satellite moved out of range, the next picked it up. From there another signal was cast from the satellite ring toward the target object.
Aru looked at Mei. “I believe you now. There is something down there, something significant.”
“Yeah, this configuration matches a continuous transmission relay for that orbit, not the solar surface. But I have to wonder. We only observed a one-way lateral signal, one that had been reconstituted and relayed from a weaker one, presumably, incoming from one of the Stones. So... so which Stone or both are transmitting? And is there a return signal? I mean there'd have to be… and what could be powering that back out of the corona?”
Aru drank down the last of his glass mulling her questions. “There may not be a return signal at all.”
“Why? What would be the point of transmitting data into a star without receiving feedback?”
“Why hide anything inside a star at all? Whatever this is, it's something the Emperor needs hidden and preserved, but doesn't want reaching back at him by any channel of communication.”
Mei digested this notion. “That's rather frightening in itself! I suppose what we need to do is get a look at one of these relay satellite stations, and try to find an incoming signal from the corona, which means rendezvousing with the satellites coming into range with one of Stones. We could start arching the Kinetic back...”
“No. Absolutely not. It would burn too much of the fuel we'll need to achieve escape velocity when we exit this star. No. We stay on course for the inner orbit, and our prize. What you need to do is reallocate the bulk of the probes set for the second launch and dedicate them to forming a relay network spanning from the satellite ring to the inner orbit.”
“There aren't nearly enough probes to cover all that area, and it would take months to search the orbit of this supposed satellite ring without them. No, Aru, please let me direct all our resources to searching the smaller target orbit. I still think that's our best shot.”
“In light of what we've just discovered, I'm inclined to disagree. I realize this is a drastic departure from the original sweep strategy. We don't need to cover the entire satellite ring, just the two stations that will be coming into range of the Stones' transcornonal broadcasts. Diverting the probes to relay that data will be worthwhile, and give us our best odds of pinpointing our target, assuming our theory is correct -and I have to believe that it is.”
Mei processed this with all her mental might. He could see her wheels turning to refute it somehow, as it would have her replotting the probe sequences for hours. Her face relaxed in resignation as she reasoned herself beyond that hump. She glared at him playfully, then hit him on the chest in feigned agitation.
“You said “transcornonal” you drunken twit.” And she started to laugh.
“I did, I did. I was going for “transcornonal” -no, damn it, I just did it again.”
He'd done that on-purpose that time, more humor to ease her into accepting his superior reasoning, which he could tell from her demeanor she already had.
“Transcoronal?” she mused. “I guess I never even realized that was a word.”
“Neither did I til I found myself in need of it,” he agreed with a yawn.
She leaned in and kissed him, but only briefly. “You know, I have to a say I'm impressed at how quickly and thoroughly you managed to pull your head out of your ass for that alert. Whatever else you may decide you want or don't want out of this mission, when it's done, you're getting everything you could ever want out of me.”
“I might just take you up on that.” He considered taking her now, but then thought better of the notion. “System, pod,” he ordered.
A relaxation pod glided across the floor to his position. He dropped back and nestled into it as Mei again donned her halo to commune with System for another long session of vector plotting.
“Get some downtime yourself when that's done,” he suggested. “System, if anything else demands my attention, shoot me up with whatever serums are required to get me lucid and functional.”
“Aye Captain,” confirmed System.
He sank deeper and deeper into the warm quiet comfort of the pod. His mind instinctively started into race with thoughts of the mission at hand but slumber quickly won out in spite of it.
A Fallacious Middle Ground
Sitting in a cell in the Tulan jail was not someplace Gahre had ever imagined he would find himself, and it irked him to no end to be treated like a criminal in his own hometown, to have his movement unjustly restricted, to be caged like a feral animal too dangerous to be loosed. The guards here were his peers and they looked after him as best they could. They brought him books, which he read intently for lack of any more productive activity to fill his time. He read Azweel's Treatise on Wild Botanicals for the second time. He hoped to get it entirely committed to memory as it was one of the most useful texts he'd ever encountered, spelling out how to forage herbs for poultices and other medicinals in the southern wilds. They also brought him a copy Savery's “Corruption of Karnica” a firsthand account of the origin of the cult takeover of the Far West with all the vices and horrors it summoned there that remain to this day. It was quite germane to the present situation as these bandits had fled from that same nation.
The younger bandit he had apprehended was being held in the cell beside him. At first Gahre refused to even acknowledge the boy, but the boy persisted in recounting his tale to him. He hailed from, of all places, Karnica in the Wicked West. The older man was his uncle and brother-in-law to the dread and sinister Har Darox. He described a violent world of gambling dens and cathouses, brutal torture and gang-rule. Har Darox was the most infamous of bandits and had last year made the mistake of turning his robbing efforts on the caravan of a powerful slave lord and making off with a sizable piece of his ill-gained fortune.
The slave lord had tasked all his men and a small army of paid mercenaries to track down and kill not only the bandit Har Darox but all of his kin. The boy described the bloody raids that had taken nearly his entire clan to their graves. Har Darox had come to the rescue of the boy and his uncle and insisted they must flee together to the east. For lack of other options, the boy followed him. Under the cover of night and foul weather, they crossed through the southern pass into the eastern world two months ago. They raided two wagons on their way, the first assault resulting in the death of a merchant. The boy however swore that no blood had ever been drawn by his hand, and that he had only stayed in the company of Har Darox and his uncle because they told him he was now an ou
tlaw by way his association with them, and they were his kin looking out for him in a foreign land.
Sympathetic to the boy’s story, Gahre felt compelled to write a statement to the courts outlining the case that the boy was unduly influenced beyond his control and urged leniency in his sentence. For his own legal troubles, however, Gahre gruffly refused to talk to anyone in the system, not the sheriff and not the investigators who already had his statements, not even his own appointed barrister. He felt the very system was corrupt and that he should do nothing to legitimize it. He would not sign a document, answer a single question, or cooperate in any way. He only answered them with the loud clank of his foot on the cell door and a shout of “Begone!” before slumping onto this bunk to devote his attention back to his reading.
He stewed in his incarceration and contemplated escape more than once. They had to open the door eventually, and there would be little they could do then to stop him from simply barging out. Raised as he was under the charge of his uncle, a tinker, he understood enough of the inner workings of the lock that he might pick it should he acquire the right tool to do so. He was being guarded by lifelong acquaintances and could probably press one for the favor.
On the third day the Karnica boy was transferred to the capital for his trial, leaving Gahre alone to hum tunes and count the cracks in the wall whenever he needed a break from his long stretches of reading and daydreaming.
On the morning of the fifth day the guards opened his cell and took him to wash. He was not escorted back to his cell but to the interrogation room he'd been held in recounting his tale to grueling infinity the week before. Gahre sat alone in the bare room with the bare table expecting his appointed barrister or the sheriff or the Elder Panthus to come and receive his rebuke.
It was no small surprise to him then when the daunting figure of Indulu darkened the doorway. Indulu, the enigmatic leader of The Order, whose mysterious role in the governance of nations was ever presumed but never verified; his godfather; and the only man Gahre had ever known who could look him square in the eye for any length of time.
DUALITY: The World of Lies Page 6
