Koban

by Stephen W Bennett

  The K’Tal spoke again, and Parkoda translated. “He says you know what he means, and you call that a rotation. The new twist is not a rotation to leave our space but a second one, inside a different space where tachyons live. All ships do the first rotation. Then Krall ships do another rotation, but I do not understand how. The new rotation makes Krall ships move faster than if you do not do that.”

  He summarized, “Krall ships do a second rotation and human ships do not.”

  It might be a sort of progress, but Mirikami couldn’t see how they could figure out how to do the second rotation inside Tachyon Space, when hundreds of years of human experimentation had not stumbled onto this.

  However, as long as Parkoda was at least willing to consider how to have his cake and eat it too, Mirikami was willing to keep the discussion going. It gave them a chance to think of another way out of their dilemma.

  “Parkoda, I also do not know details of Jump Holes or entering Tachyon Space, but will I ask the human version of a K’Tal that works in our Drive Room. That person is who was ordered to fix the Traps, and tuned them as you ordered.”

  “This is taking long,” Parkoda warned. Clearly killing two hundred humans wasn’t his main concern, just the speed of the process that achieved his final goal of getting to Koban in time.

  “Sir, if we can move our ship faster, then you will win everything you want. We have not yet caught the powerful tachyon we need anyway, so we lose no time as we wait.”

  “Talk to your K’Tal,” he ordered.

  Desperate times called for desperate and risky measures. Mirikami moved to his console, and punched for the Drive Room, but started speaking before anyone could answer. “Jake, just listen and reply only by transducer, I have some questions to ask and I need an opinion.” Just then, Ms. Willfem answered “Drive room, Willfem.”

  It was a relief when Jake acknowledged him by transducer only, and not on speaker. He switched to speaker. “Nan, I have you on speaker for the Krall to hear, please listen to what I have to explain, and only then reply. Please share this with the Chief and your Drive Rats on speaker. A couple of hundred lives may depend on this discussion, and any one of you listening might have an answer we need.”

  Relax, there’s no pressure here he thought, feeling sympathy for the burden he was placing on her.

  He quickly explained the Jump Hole speed issue and the travel time problem and consequences. Then he described the two rotations that Krall ships made into Tachyon Space. It didn’t take very long to tell because he didn’t have any details to share.

  As he spoke, the idea of somehow “fixing” the Flight of Fancy’s Field generators to do a second mysterious new space rotation struck him as very outlandish. Particularly for a ship’s drive crew to try to accomplish something that had eluded our own the best scientific minds so far.

  When he was done with the verbal and visual descriptions, he gave them time to think about it and to toss ideas around. There were a couple of questions, which he asked Parkoda to try to explain to Delktor.

  Delktor’s reluctance increased, and its true cause was only gradually revealed. It turned out that everything the Krall knew about Jump Holes, Tachyon Space, and the second rotation that was described, came from other advanced races the Krall had killed off or enslaved thousands of years ago. This was a fact that Parkoda nearly had to challenge Delktor to get him to admit. The math and theory behind it was beyond at least this K’Tal. He had hated revealing his ignorance to Parkoda.

  Mirikami knew they were standing on the verge of defeat; his stalling was at an end. In desperation, he asked if anyone had any idea at all of how to get the Flight of Fancy to move as fast as the Krall Clanship did in Tachyon Space. It grew quiet as death.

  Out of thin air, he heard “There is one possibility, Sir.”

  It was a comment sent from Jake, via Mirikami’s transducer.

  The Captain clutched at the straw in the wind and promptly parroted those words aloud, “There is one possibility,” and then added, “And I want both Noreen and the Drive crew to hear this so I’ll state it out loud as we go along.” To a human this phrasing would sound crazy. How else would they hear his thoughts? Noreen, having heard Jake addressed earlier, knew the AI was somehow involved.

  “Let us please proceed with the proposal and I’ll repeat my thoughts aloud, a little at a time as I think.” Jake proved his worth as a top of the line AI as he resumed explaining to Mirikami, who awkwardly parroted him aloud after each sentence.

  “Adjusting the software that controls the Trap field emitters is probably not something that can be done for the Flight of Fancy.”

  Mirikami repeated the words, but thought where the hell is Jake going with this? They didn’t have much time, and this started with a negative.

  “However,” Jake went on, “another solution may prove more practical.”

  Mirikami repeated this, and couldn’t wait to hear what his mouth would say next.

  “A Jump Hole’s event horizon, when created with high enough tachyon energy, can be large enough to enclose a much larger volume of space than the ship that generates the Jump Hole actually requires.”

  As that was repeated aloud, Mirikami realized it was essentially what he had said to Parkoda, when questioning what use they would have for the ultra-high energy tachyon. Making a larger event horizon didn’t make them move faster. Jake was aware that Mirikami was repeating what the AI said, so it separated the sentences for the Captain to have time to say them.

  “When a Jump Hole’s event horizon is rotated into Tachyon Space, everything that is inside the radius of the Jump Hole goes with it.

  “Particles of dust near the ship’s hull, tools, and even docked shuttle craft have been moved with larger ships into a Jump Hole in the past, and arrived with the larger ship.”

  Now the Captain thought he knew what his mouth was about to tell him.

  “Perhaps the same thing happens when the second rotation is made through yet another dimension inside Tachyon Space.”

  Mirikami parroted Jake’s words sounding a bit more assured.

  “If the Krall Clanship can include the Flight of Fancy in a large enough radius Jump Hole of its own making, and performs both rotations, then it may take both ships to Koban together.”

  Here was a proposal that might possibly work, assuming the Krall would give it consideration.

  Damn, he realized Jake wasn’t done talking yet, “I cannot predict if the second described rotation will work as the first one does, if all of the contents of the Jump Hole moved into Tachyon Space will stay with the Clanship.”

  When the AI paused for Mirikami to repeat his words, all Mirikami said was “I’m thinking this is enough information for us to discuss for now.” He damn well wasn’t going to parrot the AI’s uncertainty.

  Looking at Parkoda, “Does Delktor know if this idea would work? Can your Clanship pull this ship into the Jump Hole with you and then tow us to Koban?”

  Parkoda apparently described to Delktor what he believed Mirikami himself had thought of, and it was clear the K’Tal didn’t like an animal proposing something that the Krall themselves had never considered. They talked silently for some time.

  It was Parkoda, who apparently ended the discussion. He turned to the humans, and seemed almost eager to tell of experiences he knew of first hand. He described previous raids he had been on, where single ships docked by inexperienced novice pilots were improperly attached to the outside of Clanships. They were not always stowed inside the Clanships, for faster release on arrival.

  In one case, an empty single ship had become detached at some point, but still had arrived at the White Out, drifting nearby. Parkoda didn’t know at what point the empty smaller ship had detached.

  In the second case, they found a luckless novice dead in his drifting single ship. He had not properly docked before the Jump Hole was initiated. By then the external docking ports were locked. He couldn’t exit his small craft in vacuum, and even had he
tried to gain attention, he would not have been deemed genetically worthy of rescue.

  Parkoda thought the incompetent novice probably took many days to die. He made a snort sound that seemed to show amusement.

  From that point on, Parkoda was perfectly willing to roll the dice to see if the Clanship could drag the human ship along. Of course, he didn’t intend to be inside the Flight of Fancy for that experiment, since his position would be safely in the control room of the Clanship. Telour and three other translators would stay aboard, along with a hand of warriors. None of the eight was from Tanga clan, naturally.

  If this piggyback trick worked, then everyone would live to see Koban. Mirikami wouldn’t learn what the coordinates were for Koban in advance, but Jake could figure that out when they arrived. He didn’t know what good that knowledge would do him, but there was always use for information.

  In an effort to discover how long the trip might be, he asked Parkoda before he left if human rations would be needed to feed the Krall staying on the captured ship, and how many days’ worth would they require. Parkoda told him they already had four days of supplies onboard, and they would not eat human food.

  Mirikami didn’t know if the four days were Krall home world days or Earth Standard days. Probably Krall days, of which he had no clue as to their length in hours. However, it didn’t sound like a very long time. The Krall speedier Jump method wouldn’t help him estimate the distance from Newborn anyway.

  Mirikami and Noreen were on the bridge when Telour arrived to relieve Parkoda as their translator. He didn’t appear bothered to be staying aboard for an experimental ship tow that they had never deliberately tried.

  “Use thrusters to get close to Clanship,” Telour ordered. “If we are too far away we will be cut open when the Jump Hole is made.”

  That was actually the reverse of the normal human civilian procedure, where there was at least twenty miles between ships or between ships and a station before a Jump was initiated. The Navy allowed closer positioning, but not like this. Jake would have not have allowed this closeness for a Jump initiated by the Fancy. Clearly, the Krall accepted more risks. They slowly closed to within two hundred feet.

  Mirikami checked with Telour. “How close am I allowed get to…, uh, what is the Clanship’s name?”

  Telour answered, “We do not name Clanships. They are made by slaves, and are shared by all clans. I believe we are at a safe distance, but move closer.”

  Telour’s previous apparent lack of concern for the never before tried towing was belied by that order. Mirikami allowed Jake to move the hulls to within twenty-five feet of touching. That was extremely close for two sizeable ships that were not going to hard dock.

  Ms. Willfem had called Mirikami right after Parkoda had departed on the Krall shuttle for his Clanship. They had not caught even one of those high-energy tachyons yet, but the Traps were still tuned for that ridiculous high energy, and might still snag one at any time. The unstated obvious inference was that they might suddenly discover they had the means to escape into a Jump Hole.

  “Thank you Nan. Our eight visitors are standing by for the Jump.” He knew she would understand his meaning. Unfortunately, with eight fully armed Krall aboard, dropping into a Jump Hole wouldn’t save them, not even with a hundred to one odds against the warriors.

  At least with the overrides removed it gave them the means to destroy themselves along with the Krall aboard, and probably the Clanship. If they elected to give up and die, that is.

  He certainly didn’t tell her to change the Trap settings. Those fields still functioned when a ship was in the Hole. After all they were used for reaching into Tachyon Space in the first place and frequently caught other tachyons while in Jump status. They possibly could catch tachyons even after the additional dimensional rotation that the Krall used. That could be worth knowing.

  The Captain thought it proved interesting that Parkoda, distracted by his pleasure at keeping his prize intact, had not thought to order them to detune the Traps before he left the ship. Telour, who was now the ranking Krall aboard didn’t appear to care about this either, or more likely had not been briefed very well by Parkoda. The thought “more muscle than brains” came to mind.

  It had been a long night for everyone. The ambush had happened at dinnertime, and as incredible as it now seemed, it was still early morning by ship’s time. His passengers surely needed rest, as did his crew. He didn’t know how much longer it would take the Clanship to catch the appropriate high-energy tachyon, but he was going to send them to their cabins or lounge couches early, to wait for the Jump.

  “Telour, with your approval, I want to tell my people to return to their cabins and allow them to eat if they are hungry. Are we allowed to do what we normally do until we reach Koban? I have told them to obey any Krall.”

  In the same near instant decision-making Parkoda had usually exhibited, Telour showed no hesitation. “You are under Ra Ka Endo. The human animals on Koban live as they chose until we take them for testing. If you obey and offer no challenge, I will not be your herd master. After we Jump you cannot stop or delay delivery to Koban, so you are your own herd master.”

  “Thank you. I will release them to do as they would normally do. May I ask for a warning before the Jump, to also warn them and my crewmates?”

  “There will be no warning. We Jump when we are able, no delay. That is not a Graka Clanship, but Tanga clan is not poor at this. My clan would be ready to Jump when the raid leader reached his position of command. Parkoda, arrogant as he behaves, is efficient. He should have reached his Clanship, so we will Jump very soon.”

  “Doesn’t the capture of a tachyon with enough energy for your needs take a longer time?” Noreen asked.

  As he started to speak, Telour paused as the ship vibrated an instant, a hull ping rang softly, and a soft alarm sounded on the Bridge. “We have Jumped” he concluded with simplicity.

  The external view screens lost their images and were completely dark. They couldn’t even see the Clanship, nearly in contact with them before the Jump.

  Startled, Mirikami moved to his console to silence the automatic alarm, and initially he thought the six external screens had been switched off because they didn’t show the fitful random snow they normally did in the Hole. Nevertheless, he could call up internal images and status displays on each of them. The Jump had apparently been as swift as predicted, and thankfully had been very smooth.

  The absence of the customary countdown and a warning to all aboard went against routine, but he couldn’t deny it was efficient.

  He checked with the Drive Room. “Nan, the Krall Clanship apparently Jumped and took us with them, as…”, he didn’t want to say Jake, “As I thought.”

  “So I see Sir. My external sensors show us in the Hole, but the Traps of course don’t show that we created the event horizon, but” she paused, and a sense of wonderment filled her voice. “They do both indicate a sudden ‘event’ happened as I mentioned we were waiting for a few minutes ago. It was right after we translated out of Normal Space. That was very, very coincidental.” Willfem concluded.

  Mirikami knew she could only be obliquely describing a capture of extremely high-energy tachyons. Probability was a fickle thing, but he had anticipated an hour or two more might pass before catching even one of the monsters they had been told to capture. Very coincidental indeed, that it happened exactly after they entered the Hole.

  The second spatial rotation in Tachyon Space apparently gave them quick access to a much more crowded and energetic regime of tachyons. That was probably why the Krall never had to wait long to initiate a Jump.

  “Thanks Nan. Just hold what we have for now. I’ll get back to you.” He switched off.

  Telour appeared mildly surprised as he made a comment, “The towing of this ship by Parkoda’s Clanship worked as you predicted.” The explanation of why he was surprised came promptly.

  “Delktor though this ship would be left behind, and would have to J
ump slowly on its own to Koban. A late arrival for this prize would remove some of Parkoda’s arrogance. Without this proof, he could not gain enough status to lead one of the new larger raids, but he could go as a sub-leader. He would never wait for us and miss the first wave of new raids.”

  Mirikami noticed that Telour’s Standard was now sounding more fluent and less accented, sounding much better than Parkoda’s.

  “Noreen, please tell our passengers and crew we are in Jump Hole, where we are being taken, and explain they are free to do what they need to do, with the respect due and caution around every Krall kept firmly in mind at all times. Allow some rest for the crew that has worked hardest all night, all of the Stewards and your work crew first. Work out some watch standers.

  You and I are as tired as they are, but we need to meet with the passengers before we rest. Grief counseling will have to be The Board’s problem as soon as we can tell them who was lost. We can get relieved here when that’s done.”

  “Yes Sir.” and she settled into her command seat.

  He then faced Telour, and fixed his eyes on the Krall’s chest. “Telour, will you permit me to satisfy my curiosity concerning how much improved your Standard has become, just after Parkoda departed?”

  Telour answered indirectly and in surprising detail, his words clearer as his tone raised slightly from the gruff base notes he had used previously. “Parkoda is of Tanga clan, a very powerful and old clan. I am of Graca clan, great and old, but not quite as powerful. A raid leader earns status and breeding points by his success, as do all who join the raid. However, many clans join together for exploring raids like this one, where the raid leader picks those that do more important work.

  “This raid was not true combat so more work for greater breeding points is work like I do now. The raid leader picks who does this work. If you do the task very well, you earn more points to compete with the raid leader and his clan. He will not want to give important work for earning more points to anyone like that.”