by George Deeb
“I... wait a minute!” she started to reply, then realized she was naked and wet. “These things don't have video, do they?” she said, aiming the top of her wrist to the wall while looking around for a towel.
“Wish they did. That would be ideal. I think we were given the economy model. Just talk and translate functions. Where are you?”
“Just finishing my shower.”
“You are? Are you still wet?”
“Uh, yeah. I am. Where do they keep the towels in these rooms?”
“Oh you're gonna love this! Just stand in the middle of the stall, and say 'Dry' or 'Dry off' or anything like that – AND CLOSE YOUR EYES!”
“O...K...” she said, while looking at the walls for an opening where the towel would be shot out at her. “Dry!” she said loudly.
Immediately, intense jets of warm air came from the walls, starting above her head and traveling downward. She had just remembered to close her eyes when the pressure hit them. She could feel the high pressure air hitting her from every direction, as it moved down over her body, pushing off the water and effectively squeegeeing her dry.
“ALLRIGHT!” she said. “I like that!”
“It's part of the water recovery system. Water is a precious commodity on the ship. It's easier to process for re-use if they can capture it in liquid form. Harder to recover in vapor state.”
“OK. But my hair is still damp.”
“Now comes the really neat part.” said Travellor. “Go sit at the dressing table, and look at the wall.”
Marisa did as instructed. There was a small counter against one of the walls, with a chair in front of it. She sat down and faced the wall. It was just a blank wall – and then it wasn't. In front of her, looking back at her, was herself – in three dimensions and full color. Even the room behind her was represented in the image. It was like having an exact mirror image twin looking back at her. When she turned her head, the image also turned, and kept turning until it turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees. She found that even though she was sitting still, she could turn the image in any direction and in any amount just by the movement of her eyes.
“That's amazing.” she said, while looking at the scar on the back of her neck – or rather on the back of the image's neck.
“Now tell it what you want.” said Travellor.
“Tell what what I want? The image?”
“You're actually talking to the computer that controls the image. Say 'hair'.”
“Alright...” said Marisa, “... hair!”
“Style choice.” came a female voice from nowhere, and she jumped up before realizing it was a computer generated voice.
“Holy ... ! Style choice? What are my options?” she said, sitting down again.
Now you're getting the hang of it.” said Travellor. “When you're dressed, ask for directions to the dining area. We're having an introductory meeting with the ship's captain.”
“OK. Shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes.” she replied.
In front of her, her 3D image split into six smaller ones, each with a different hair style appropriate for the short length of her hair. She could turn each one around to see how it looked from all angles.
“I could make a fortune with this back on Earth.” she said to herself. “How about it computer? Want to go into business with me?”
There was no reply.
“Ohhh..., holding out for a bigger cut, huh?” she said as she pointed to her choice. “I'd like that one.”
The six images disappeared leaving only her face with the still damp hair. She felt something moving from the back of the chair. Behind her image she could see a dozen slender arms extending upward, each with a shining oval plate on the end. They positioned so that the plates defined the shape of a bowl around her head, and about eight inches away. Then she felt a tugging on her scalp and every strand of her hair stood directly out from her head, each one separate from the others. The oval plates now looked as if electrical worms were crawling over their surface. As she looked at her 3D representation she couldn't help thinking that she looked like a Chia pet. Her hair then separated into two sections, and strands folded themselves into place. A mist was sprayed onto her hair from the plates, and then they dropped back into the chair. Her image now showed her with the hair style she had selected. She touched her hair lightly and wished she had a mirror, not yet trusting the 3D image, which slowly rotated in front of her.
“Is there a mirror in the room?” she queried.
The 3D image disappeared and the wall in front of her became a highly reflective surface.
“Computer,” she said, “you are hot stuff.”
She turned her head to see her reflection from different angles. She looked exactly like the image she had selected.
On the bed were new under clothing, and a suit similar to the ones the crew of the Orysta wore – their idea of a jumpsuit, although she didn't recognize the material it was made of. Probably some kind of synthetic. It didn't take her long to dress, and she wasn't happy with the fit. It was a little long in the arms and legs, and baggy everywhere. She instinctively looked around for her purse and keys, then smiled at herself when she remembered she had left those in a locker back on Earth. 'Habits.' she thought.
“How do I get to the dining area?” she asked.
4
Farber-Chatwell walked around the hangared X37, deep in thought. It was the fourth time he had circled the ship, scrutinizing every detail his eyes could discern and alternating between shock and surprise. It had taken two weeks for the ship's return trip – possibly the worst two weeks of his life. Two weeks of wondering if he had sent six people he knew and liked to their deaths. From the blood painted splatter he could tell which hole was the entrance and which was the exit of the projectile. It could only have been caused by a solid object traveling at tremendous velocity. He didn't want to go back inside the ship until the tech team had finished, and it was cleaned up.
He had been the first to enter the ship – against the advice of the safety team - when it had landed and the door was opened. What he had found both amazed him and made him a little sick. There were pieces of dessicated flesh, and bone scattered around the middle of the cabin. One side had been painted with splatters of blood and one of the bunks was covered in it. He knew this had been Vargas' bunk, and wondered if the man had survived.
He surmised that that at least one crew member had been injured severely – hoped that only one had. DNA testing would tell him who it was – he had already ordered a priority on that. He could also tell that the rest of the crew were able to secure the ship and make it to the moon – that was made clear by the fact that no bodies were in the ship. They had landed and disembarked, then closed the ship up for the return flight. The flight profile that had been programmed into the ship's computer was written with plenty of tolerance on the safe side, and the ship took off and made its way back without incident. But it had been two weeks and still there was no communication from the Trailblazer team. That had him worried.
It was a dangerous mission from the start, and each person on the team knew they may not survive to return home. Now the question was were they still alive? If they were, why hadn't they contacted him? On the positive side of the equation, if there was one, Farber-Chatwell could put off family notifications until more was determined. It would be a terrible cruelty to inform a family of a team members death and then have them show up alive a year from now. For now, he had to find out who's blood, flesh and bone were in the ship. He would update Ramsdel as soon as he got back to the office. Ramsdel had wanted to come with him to notify the families – now maybe they wouldn't have to. But where the hell was the crew?
5
Mersuul-sil-Vaana stood in front of the conference room that held all of the Trailblazer crew members. This was mandatory education, as agreed to by Mission Commander Travellor and Grilik Artau-sil-Munen. Travellor wanted this because any information learned from a civilization with technology as
advanced as the Ganaphe's would benefit his team and 361. Grilik Munen wanted this because keeping the Trailblazer team alive would benefit his own people. Contact with the people of the inhabited planet Earth – initiated by their own actions – gave Munen the legal right to trade with them, and trade meant fresh supplies and a chance to rest his crew on a habitable planet. Under the IGT this would have been illegal for them to do otherwise. They had been stuck on this moon for too long a period. And also, within the short period of time the two peoples had been together they had found a mutual trust and understanding. They worked well together, the Ganaphe' helping the Trailblazer team construct their surface dwelling, and the humans helping the Ganaphe' with repairs and modifications to the ship.
There was much for the Trailblazer team to learn, including survival in space, familiarity with much of the Ganaphe' technology (which they were now using on a daily basis), use of Ganaphe' equipment, and the part both crews seemed to enjoy most – exposing the Earth crew to Ganaphe' foods. The Ganaphe' were looking forward to trying foods from Earth, and spending time there. With each day, and the nearing completion of the Trailblazer habitat, this goal came nearer. The human's communication equipment and some other items had been damaged during bad landings of some of the crates, and although it would be illegal to allow them to use Ganaphe' communication equipment to contact Earth, it wasn't illegal for the Ganaphe' to assist the humans in repairing theirs. Today, the class was on space travel and navigation and, as the navigator of the Orysta, Vaana was the best qualified person for teaching this lesson.
Hanging in the air behind Vaana was a three dimensional depiction of several galaxies with bright colored lines indicating travel routes. The image was so real it gave the impression of looking through an opening in the ship, out at the universe. It made you want to reach out and grab the planets shown.
“Just as you have designated air travel routes on your planet, inter-galactic travel also requires designated routes for safety and efficiency. Traveling these routes increases your chance of survival if anything happens to your ship.” lectured Vaana.
Normally this type of education would be handled by IGT instructors delegated to introducing these subjects to newly contacted peoples, but the unique situation between the crews of the Orysta and mission Trailblazer had made it imperative to quickly raise the knowledge level of the Earth crew to a basic understanding of galactic travel and law. The classes on law (there would have to be many of them) would be the hardest to grasp. Even though the Earth team was not bound by IGT law, the Ganaphe' were. The humans could do some things that the Ganaphe' were legally prohibited from doing. Grilik Munen was planning on taking advantage of these legal anomalies.
“Routes are generally categorized as Local or short navigation routes, Galactic or intermediate navigation routes, Inter-galactic or extended navigation routes, and Explorative or unknown and uncharted routes.” said Vaana. “The Local routes are used for travel within a solar system. Your journey from Earth to this moon is considered a local route. When you travel to other planets in your solar system, you will also be using local routes. Although you do not have any formalized routing system established yet, you will discover that when space travel becomes more common for your people, formalized routes will be the safest way to travel.” she continued. “When you travel to other solar systems within your galaxy you will be using galactic routes. Both of these types of routes will be designated and controlled by your people. When you begin to travel inter-galactic routes you will find that there is an established system already in place, and controlled by the Interconnected Galaxies Treaty Organization. When your people travel to these far locations outside your own galaxy you will probably use this system. Although you may choose not to use these established routes, you would be giving up the added safety that comes with using them. These routes are regularly patrolled by IGT security ships manned by mixed crews from every signatory galaxy or planet. There are a lot of dangers in inter-galactic travel, including many you have not been made aware of yet, but that subject if not for this lecture.”
Tonio listened to the lecture as he sat in his wheelchair. 'Wheelchair?' he thought, 'Can't exactly call this a wheelchair since it has no wheels, and floats above the ground.' His attention drifted to thoughts of his medical treatment. Although Ganaphe' medical technology can rebuild bone and soft tissue in real time, those reconstructed parts are as weak as a new born baby's. Physical therapy is then needed to strengthen muscle and increase bone density. Tonio's therapy was going quite well, right up until the time he was sure he could push beyond the programmed therapy. Unfortunately he forgot how effective Ganaphe' pain control was – he was causing damage to himself but wasn't feeling it. He pushed the new muscle beyond its capabilities and now was chair bound (floating seat bound?). To make her point that Tonio is to follow her program EXACTLY as she directs, doctor Toisae-sil-Blin removed his pain control leg band and now Tonio was feeling every jab, twinge, ache, and scream of pain – lesson learned! At the time she seemed angry at him – in a professional, controlled way – for setting his recuperation back. Still, he couldn't be mad at her. Every time he thought about the beautiful doctor he found himself smiling. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen – and the fact that she had saved his life didn't hurt his opinion of her at all. He only worried that he had damaged her opinion of him. They had been spending a lot of time together, during and after therapy, and he thought she enjoyed his company. He could only hope he hadn't screwed it up. Maybe he was being too critical of himself – he always had been his own severest critic.
His leg reconstruction procedure had been video recorded, and Tonio had viewed the video. He was shocked to see what his leg had looked like, and how much of it was missing when he was brought into the operating room. Hamburger was the only way he could describe it. Anyone from Earth watching that recording would have thought there was no way to save the leg, or even his life. He knew he had to be the luckiest person alive. If the Ganaphe' hadn't been here he would probably be dead. Slowly his attention drifted back to the lecture. He focused his attention on Vaana, knowing that even this basic level class was an introduction to an unimagined universe – one that was way beyond any previous expectations. Before leaving the Earth he had thought that Operation Trailblazer would open the doorway to the future. Now he knew the future held much, much more.
“Then there is the Explorative routes. These are undocumented and untraveled routes. In your language, these might be called 'Trailblazer' routes.” she said smiling as she looked at the Earth crew. “Filing a travel plan with your home authority is the intelligent action to accomplish for all travel outside your own solar system, and is especially important for explorative travel. If something happens to affect your safety, this plan will give rescue teams a good reference for their search. You have something similar on your planet. I believe you call them flight plans. It is the same concept.”
“I have a question.” said Yimka. “This is all probably good to know as general knowledge, but I don't think our technology will reach the level of yours for fifty to one hundred years - if we are lucky. Your laws don't allow you to teach us what you know concerning the scientific principles involved in faster than light travel. You have ships that can travel safely through meteor storms, and engines powerful enough to exceed the speed of light by many times. Our scientists don't even believe that is possible. So why are we spending time on this subject?”
“I will answer that question!” came Munen's voice from the rear of the room. He walked to stand beside Vaana. “In all histories, of all the peoples of the known universe, the hardest part of achievement is knowing something can be done. Now YOU know that it CAN be done. Your contact with us, by your own actions, initiates the right of trade, of not only materials, but of ideas as well. Under the laws of the IGT, this moon legally belongs to you as of the moment you landed here with the intent to colonize it. Your moon contains a valuable mineral that your people d
o not know about yet. We came here to mine that mineral on an unoccupied moon, which under our laws it was legal for us to do. Since your arrival it is no longer considered unoccupied. That means we have two options to obtain that mineral – buy it from you or trade for it. If the value of the mineral on this moon is as great as our surveys have indicated, trading for a ship that is capable of inter-galactic travel is not out of the question. Your people could be traveling to other galaxies much sooner than you might think. This is what has been done in the past. Of course some of the crew members on such a ship would have to posses the knowledge to maintain it, so you would have to hire personnel from outside your own solar system. There are also the legal aspects of the Interconnected Galaxies Treaty that must be learned about before you will be allowed to freely travel to other occupied galaxies. Learning and understanding those laws will be more difficult than the traveling through the universe.”
The noise level in room increased slightly as the Trailblazer team tried to comprehend what Munen had just said. There eyes were wide, and more than a few expletives escaped their mouths.
“So you're saying that we can buy technology from you, even though you can't teach us about it – is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“You can teach us how to use it, but you can't teach us how it works?”
