“Are you all right there, Masthan?” Billy Caudwell asked the flustered and heavily perspiring Senior Integration Officer.
“Oh, yes, sir, thank you, sir.”
“Very well, let’s get started then,” Billy announced and turned to Senior Engineering Officer Magriennen. “Engineer, how are the repairs progressing?”
“Sir, believe it or not, we are actually on schedule for the repair and replacement of the micro-circuitry. The Proto-Star reactors are still locked down and secure, however, we are on the point of running tests on the new circuitry to the high-yield pulsar-cannon.”
“Do you mean a controlled release of Main Power to the main armament?”
“Yes, sir. First and foremost, we are a ship of war, plus the pulsar-cannon circuits have the largest number of failsafe systems. If anything goes wrong with the test, we can easily shut down before we do any further damage.”
“That sounds sensible, how are your people holding up?”
“Well, sir, they’re tired, frustrated and homesick, but then aren’t we all, however, we’re making progress so morale is surprisingly high.”
“Please convey to your teams from me that their efforts and professionalism have not gone unnoticed.”
“Thank you, sir, the troops will appreciate that.”
“Are we any closer to sorting out the force-shielding generators?”
“The force-shielding system circuitry is a complete mess, sir; relays and couplings are almost all burned out. We’re replicating new components as fast as the portable synthesisers can produce them, but constructing and testing the new ones is desperately time consuming.”
“But we are still on schedule for that repair to happen?”
“Yes, sir, another two weeks of round-the-clock should get us there if it all goes to plan.”
“Well, at least we know that the end is in sight, thank you,” Billy praised and turned to the black uniformed Landing Trooper Officer in charge of Security.
“Sir, Gentlemen,” the muscular Cerador named Musgdall Garn addressed the meeting a bit more formally than his colleagues, “Overall, security is at an acceptable level owing to the current circumstances,” he began and shuffled a series of folio sheets on the top of the War Table.
“We have adequate force-shielding to protect us against any attack from the locals, but that’s about as far as it goes. Our routine ground patrols report no unusual activity, whilst our Eagle patrols report no unusual or threatening activity, except for what appears to be reinforcements at Acre. Troop ships have been arriving for the past four days or so.”
“The Knights Templar had a big military facility at Acre. Is it something we should be concerned about?” Billy asked.
“Any build-up of forces bears watching, sir, but without any even remotely credible intelligence about their intentions, we’re kind of stuck out on a limb.”
“What about any other military build ups, Garn?”
“Nothing, sir, no troop build ups in Syria, Egypt or anywhere else in Jerusalem.”
“Keep an eye on them Garn, these Templars were tricky customers, they might be up to something. What’s our situation for Eagles?
“In terms of Eagles, we have fifteen fully functional fighters out of our complement of sixty...”
“That’s not so good, Musgdall, can we save any of the others?” Billy asked.
The losses from the crash had been heavy.
“Well, sir, of the forty-five that are unserviceable at present, eighteen are total write-offs that we can cannibalise for spares, the other twenty-seven are repairable, but the Technicians being allocated to the Engineering department means that the Eagles will just have to wait for now.”
“Well, as I don’t envisage any large scale attacks from space, we’ll just have to make do with fifteen Eagles at present.”
“As you wish, sir, one of the Eagle patrols has deployed a group of four low-level surveillance satellites into orbit as standard procedure. We’re keeping an eye on the major military installations in the area just in case, but we can easily see off anything they can throw at us in this time.”
“Anything from the phenomenon that brought us here?” the Engineer asked.
“All the data has been sent to my colleague at Integration for analysis,” Garn indicated to Officer Gummell.
“Any progress with that Officer Gummell?” Billy asked.
“Erm, yes, sir, I believe that we may have a breakthrough, but can we hear the other reports as I believe we should discuss what I have in more depth.”
“Very intriguing, Masthan, as you wish, please continue Officer Garn.”
“There’s not much more really, sir, my colleague at Integration can give us details on the estate defences later. Training the local men in weapons handling is progressing; several of them are old soldiers, but they join in quite handily with the Troopers for physical training sessions. We have no major issues with discipline; everyone is too busy and too tired to cause any real trouble, and that concludes my report.”
“Thank you,” Billy concluded, “and once again, please convey my thanks for all their efforts to your teams.”
“Thank you, sir, they’ll appreciate it coming from you,” Garn said with sincerity.
“Right,” Billy turned to the Ship’s Commander, a Thexxain named Mudrus Garviennen, “Commander?”
“Sir, Gentlemen, Crew morale is holding steady with the Engineers working flat out to repair the circuitry. Repairs to the War Room, as you can see, are progressing, with an expected completion sometime next week...”
“Well, that is some good news,” Billy praised.
“The external Scanners are almost all back to functionality, but without Main Power they are limited in their range and efficiency, the major systems controls have been tested under simulation, so when Main Power is restored we will at least be ready, thank you.”
“Yes, thank you, Mudrus, some good progress. Please thank your people from me for their efforts.”
“Sir,” the Ship’s Commander nodded his acknowledgement as Billy turned to the Medical Officer.
“Ullit, Medical Report?”
“Medical report. First order of business is to record in the Medical log that Scanner Technician Shula Tethriennen succumbed to her injuries just over two hours ago, bringing the death toll to eleven. All the other seriously injured are out of danger.”
“Very well, please enter those details in the Ship’s log and send condolences to the next-of-kin, does she have any family?”
“Her mother died when she was young, but I know her father,” Ship’s Commander Garviennen announced sadly, “he’s going to be devastated.”
“Can you organise a Memorial Service for her, Mudrus?” Billy asked.
“Sir.”
“Generally, the rest of the crew are exhausted, stressed and overworked,” Radkor continued, “accidents are up by sixteen percent, fortunately, nothing serious, but some serious R and R is advised when we get away from here.”
“I think we’re all going to need some of that!” Billy smiled weakly.
“With the thirty former slaves from the estate and the fifty lepers from the Jerusalem colony, we now have almost ninety new medical commitments, which are keeping my teams very busy. The leprosy sufferers have been medicated with anti-bacterial drugs which has cleared their systems of the disease, however, many of them still require ongoing physical therapy support and there is an urgent need for some form of cosmetic procedure to deal with their, sometimes extensive scarring.”
“What about surgery?”
“Some of them would require years of external surgery, sir, and we just do not have the resources for that.”
“Well, I’m sure your people will come up with something,” Billy said.
“I am working with Senior Engineer Magriennen on some kind of DNA-based bio-filter, but it’s very time-consuming and meticulous work.”
“Well, we do have plenty of time on our hands, how is your Royal p
atient progressing?”
“His Majesty is recovering well, sir, his body is extensively scarred, however, he is young and strong, and so he should have a long and functional lifetime. He has also asked me to provide a clinic for the people of Jerusalem, which I would like to discuss with you later, sir.”
“Good. Once again, please convey my thanks to your teams.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Masthan, are you ready to tell us about your breakthrough now?” Billy turned to the Senior Integration Officer.
“Sir, I have the rest of the Integration Team report to deliver first as it impacts on several other departments.”
“Very well, proceed.”
“First of all, I would like thank all my colleagues around the Table for their help and support. The daily patrol to the Jerusalem leper colony continues to bring in the odd waif and stray which brings our total of new recruits up to fifty-eight. We can easily accommodate these newcomers on the estate, bringing us closer to self-sufficiency for labour.”
“How many more people does the estate need?”
“Another twenty or so, plus we need to consider natural wastage, like deaths and people moving on, so maybe another thirty just to be on the safe side, sir.”
With a nod, Billy indicated him to continue.
“The new Citadel is taking shape thanks to the modified Synthesisers and equipment from the Engineers. The pre-stressed concrete blocks make wall building so much easier. The graveyard was consecrated yesterday, just in that shaded area beneath the cliffs to the east of the Citadel. The water Synthesiser has been activated now that the laser drills have completed the underground pipe work.”
The heavy laser drills had cut through tonnes of rock, searing and melting their pathways into natural pipes. The network to supply the eight wells on the estate was now complete, and the water was flowing rapidly.
“Now, Gentlemen, the phenomenon that brought us here,” Gummell announced excitedly.
“Yes, Masthan, what have you got?” Billy asked expectantly.
“Sir, having scanned the Garmaurian records, I believe that we arrived here in what they called a ‘Trion Conduit’!”
“A ‘Trion Conduit’ is what exactly?”
“Well, sir, basically, I scanned the Garmaurian scientific records for anything to do with time travel and found exactly zero with the exception of some crazy theoretical ramblings that could never ever be tested. So I then looked at Garmaurian activity on Terra in the late twelfth century; again nothing beyond the odd surveillance and their regular interference patrols. It was then that I decided to think laterally and throw out all of our previous assumptions. Suppose we are not on Planet Terra after all, sir?”
“Go on.”
“During the time of what you call the Roman Empire on Terra, during the reign of an Emperor called Augustus, the Garmaurians; under a commander named Tega Dellaz, were deeply involved in a secret project named ‘Geminus’, the goal of which was to transport large, life bearing celestial bodies such as planets from one location to another. The military were interested in moving their installations to and from sensitive areas, and the Colonies Office were keen to move life-bearing bodies to uninhabited galaxies.”
“So, how does this effect Terra?” Medical Officer Radkor asked.
“Earth was always an experiment planet,” Billy interrupted, “it was a dump planet for their failed genetic engineering adventures, so it would be an ideal candidate for such a transportation experiment.”
“That’s right, sir,” Gummell praised, “the Garmaurians had some success moving lifeless bodies over many parsecs, and wanted to test their mechanism on a life-bearing planet.”
“So, what happened, Masthan?”
“The Trion Field that shifted such a huge body, required a massive expenditure of energy, as you can imagine. An expenditure several million orders of magnitude greater than our largest Proto-Star reactors on New Thexxia and Garmauria, so, they decided to boost the Trion Field with Lissian radiation.”
“Lissian?” Billy asked, remembering the solar flare weapon. “Just like the Badromil used to try to fry Earth last year?”
“Yes, sir” Gummell responded. “The Garmaurians were using huge amounts to boost the Trions in Terra’s upper atmosphere and access the Trionic Web.”
“So, did something go wrong?”
“In a word, ‘Yes’, sir. The Garmaurians miscalculated; damaging the Trion Field mechanism. The Trion Field, already loaded with Lissian, became unstable just at the critical moment. And, instead of shifting Planet Terra to a new location, the planet was replicated and shot off into the Trionic Web, landing here.”
“Officer Gummell, that is absolutely astonishing! So, how did this ‘duplicate’ manage to stay in the twelfth century?”
“Well, sir, the Trion Field boosted by the Lissian dragged the duplicate planet into the Trionic Web, but the Lissian radiation was like someone swallowing a red-hot coal. It seared a path through the Web causing it to warp.”
“The Trionic Web warped!? Surely, it would tear itself apart under that kind of impossible stress?”
“No, sir, the Lissian seemed to scorch the Trionic Bonds, sealing them like a cauterising iron and preventing the Trionic Bonds from being torn apart. The bending and warping actually created a ‘wrinkle’ in the Trionic Web.”
“What kind of wrinkle?”
“Well, it’s more of a tunnel, sir, running from close to Terra, through wherever we entered the conduit, to wherever we are now. According to the Garmaurian records, we are trapped in a pocket in that ‘wrinkle’ in the Web close to the Atriponian system.”
“You mean we’re in another galaxy from Planet Terra?” Garn asked.
“At the moment, sir, we’re still confirming that. We’re still downloading and analysing the star-field data from the last Eagle, which only landed about twenty minutes ago. But we do know that this planet is stealthed and shielded with the same technology as Garmauria was before the last of the inhabitants perished.”
“So, for all we really know, we could be in the middle of hostile space?” Garn continued.
“Yes, sir, but with us being in the Conduit, and with the Garmaurian stealth and protective shields in place, nobody could get through to the planet.”
“At least we are protected,” Billy speculated. “So, assuming we‘re buying this idea of a duplicate Earth, what about the time differential?”
“The ‘duplicate’ Terra was caught in the wrinkle at the exact moment of its creation, the snapshot of Terra from the time of your Roman Empire was held in that split-second of creation for nearly eight Terran centuries until the residual energy from the Lissian enriched Trion Field became sufficiently depleted, after the Garmaurians had broken into the pocket that surrounded the duplicate planet.”
“So, hold on, let me get this straight. If the Garmaurians got back into this ‘Conduit’ thing, then obviously they got back out again?” Billy asked the million dollar question.
“Yes sir. It was very much like a permeable membrane; it didn’t take them long to figure it out. The real delay was waiting for the residual energy to run down sufficiently for, to put it simply, ‘time’ to re-start again. The Garmaurians correctly predicted that a short burst of high-intensity pulse Lissian radiation and sufficient momentum would break through the skin, which they believed was only a few dozen Trions in depth,” Gummell continued, “and once through, the pocket would seal up again.”
“The Lissian we can generate. How fast did they need to go to break out?” the Ship’s Commander asked.
“The records show that the Garmaurians required to be travelling at one-third of light speed.”
“We can probably achieve that once the Thrust Engines are repaired and Main Power is back, but we’ll have to use the planets gravity to sling shot us out of here,” the Engineer confirmed.
“So, how did we get through the stealth and shielding?” Radkor asked. “We should have been squashe
d against it like a bug.”
“We’re on a Garmaurian-built ship, Doc,” Garn answered. “We still use the old Garmaurian identification signals and codes to get us into their disused installations.”
“We were lucky,” the Engineer commented. “We only had enough force-shielding to fend off the atmosphere as we came down. If we hadn’t been Garmaurian-built we would have been squashed.”
“But, if I remember my Trionic Theory correctly, surely the pocket around the planet would have collapsed?” Billy queried.
“Well, no, sir,” Gummell fielded the question. “The Trions were enriched with the Lissian radiation, which somehow prevented the usual processes of Trionic Attraction and Repulsion and held them in place here.”
Sitting back, Billy remembered the basic rules of Trionic Theory, and that the fundamental particles of the universe were linked together in a web. Trions resonated at particular frequencies, in particular areas, owing to effects like gravity or radiation. Similarly resonating Trions were drawn to each other, whilst Trions with different frequencies repelled each other. Hence, the Trionic Web was a dynamic, constantly ebbing and flowing, and at times, dangerous element to deal with. With nature abhorring a vacuum, Billy could see that the ends of the tunnel could theoretically seal up making the structure undetectable.
“So, how did we manage to break into this Conduit?” Radkor asked.
“There was probably some weakness in the structure of the Conduit,” the Engineer speculated. “The huge force shielding on the Space Dock may well have included a lot of energy in the Lissian spectrum and disrupted the boundary integrity, creating an opening.”
“Then, we came along and fell into it. Just our luck,” Radkor said, raising a laugh from the senior officers.
“But what about Earth’s moon?” Billy changed the conversation. “I’ve seen the moon out there, and the gravity of this planet would be shot to bits without that natural satellite.”
“The records say that a natural satellite was transported here to maintain the gravitational, tidal and seismic equilibrium, and then they loaded the area up with a holographic projector array to fool the star-gazers, just like the holographic star-field, sir. The records also indicate that there is a yellow dwarf star somewhere in the region of one hundred and fifty million kilometres away, beaming radiation down to the surface.”
The Master of Muscigny (The First Admiral Series Book 5) Page 12
