by Hylton Smith
Chapter 29
The ‘propulsion’ unit was always going to be the most compelling stage. Van de Ende was therefore allowed to progress the more mechanical elements. Dan and Yamamoto had been presented by the computerised inventory provider with a host of cubes and plates. The black cubes were just under 0.5 of a metre each side. They were mirror-like, hard, lightweight units. To the human eye they were totally opaque; however the Symbiant vision apparatus determined they were composed of a myriad of tiny cubes, each with an oscillating plate inside. The attitude of these plates was always different to all six of its neighbouring mini-cubes. The large black ‘parent’ cubes were to be set between two grey plates which were described as particle emitters, targeted at two opposite faces of the cube. The schematic explained that the other four faces were to be complimented with receptor plates. This was called a cell. The resulting energy beam from each cell was to be focussed into a confined section to be prepared for exhaust. This section was to be calibrated with astonishing precision to the inlet section in terms of pulsed operation. At this point and throughout the rest of the schematic it was stressed repeatedly that under no circumstances must the cubes be activated until the craft was leaving orbit. There was a clue in this activation sequence of the Rabo knowledge level at the time. The inlet of ‘empty’ space to fuel this procedure was highlighted as a change in understanding. Prior to this project there was no conception that the ‘vacuum’ in the Cosmos was anything but nothingness.
The firing up of the emitter plates caused the mini-cubes to return a statistically regulated percentage of the level one excited particles to those plates, and the rest were directed to the receivers. As this was repeated, a controlled build-up of increasingly excited particles would cause the parent cube to become ‘white hot’. The monitoring software would then synchronise the dimensionally opposed receiver plates in each cell to deliver their output to the exhaust section. When the velocity of the craft – powered by its conventional propulsion method reached the targeted value spatial distortion would commence. Telemetric data would categorise the unfolding picture as ‘Active 1’. Further incremental velocity jumps would denote possible wormhole coordinates. Inlet – exhaust frequency had to increase commensurate with velocity. It was explained that wormholes were not necessarily permanent phenomena and consequently origin and destination could vary. This was all empirical stuff – there was a distinct lack of delineation of particles and energy calculations. Bearing in mind that it was recorded almost three million years ago, and assuming the Rabo had avoided extinction, it would be interesting to see if the caretakers had advanced in their understanding of the technology.
Alex 2 and Nielsen had done well. The production of the outer shell of the sphere had been achieved. Modulating the increasing density of the polymer to the specification had proved time consuming. The exterior had to be rigid to fit with the housing requirements, but it had to conform to a gradient of flexibility towards the interface with the inner core. At the intersection, the freedom for the core to absorb shock was critical and the inner surface of the outer shell was rigorously scanned for any defect. The inner core was injected, as polymer foam, to predetermined pressure targets against a protective and reactive membrane which separated the inner and outer components. Then it was allowed to reach a highly specific cure point to become a honeycomb structure. The bowling ball analogy came to the fore again as the three ‘finger holds’ were used as ports to fire mild repetitive energy bolts through the honeycomb to ‘neutralising’ points on the periphery. The almost contradictory ‘random specification’ resulted in internal conduits being created for the meandering blue spinal fluid to be introduced. Once this had reached saturation, one of the critical time factors demanded that the finger holds were plugged by robotic arms with nodes to control the digestion, respiratory and movement command architecture. They had to be sealed without leakage or free space for gaseous occupation and with absolute precision in terms of surface protrusion.
Keriakis and Red were almost finished their study of the molecular granulator for cellulose. The first phase was achieved with a technology which had also been developed on Earth. Nanoprobes were employed to separate off clusters of the order of twenty molecules; step two involved the release of bacteria to fix nitrogen intake by breaking down individual molecules from the clusters and producing nitrates. This led to a familiar human reaction culminating in amino acids and subsequently proteins. Reprogramming of nanoprobes facilitated the distribution to the nodes at the joints, and motion enabling structures together with parallel in-feeds from the command node in the sphere. They were ready to move on to the respiratory function.
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The meeting in St. Petersburg developed in a very similar way to the one in Germany. Tsiolovsky handed the bogus print outs to Andrei Novotny. He only had seconds to scan them before Koppelt introduced himself. He was asked to hand over Tsiolovsky’s contract money and acquainted with the story so far. It proved difficult at first to get Novotny to say anything. They then bundled both of them into an awaiting car which was already occupied by first contact – Ledovskaya and her gorilla who were ready to take them to Moscow. Negotiation began by Koppelt emphasising his only interest was for Novotny to make the call to Korolev to verify the data, and for an explanation of what was supposed to happen next. Novotny’s plea bargaining would be with Ledovskaya. “I may have some influence here but I will not exercise it unless we make the call.”
Novotny said he was to have a meeting with Korolev to determine where to synthesize the crystal. Fortunately the meeting was scheduled in St. Petersburg one week from now. Because Korolev knew he was continually watched, it would be a mock birthday party for one of his sons. Some two hundred people would be invited and loud music arranged in the grounds of his opulent residence. Novotny declined to make the call before discussing his fate with Ledovskaya. The stalemate persisted for several hours.
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As Xiang was receiving daily updates on Echus Chasma from Pascal 2, he now faced two major decisions. The one involving keeping the lid on mankind’s possible discovery of a means of interstellar travel was far reaching and needed careful deliberation. The other was to put forward three people from his organisation for geological surveys in China, then after the medical scans, expertly substitute the permit identities to allow Mike, Finn and Dane to hunt down more red crystal. Both caused him unease. He decided to do nothing about either for now. He was deep in contemplation when Koppelt rang. “We have isolated the people concerned with the synthesis scam and retrieved the data Beth Eisentrager was going to pass on. The main man from the Russians’ point of view has yet to be set up but we expect progress soon. That will allow the Russians to save face and your knowledge is preserved. Can I suggest you find a way to let Radmanov know he is off the hook, without names? I’ll be heading back to Switzerland shortly, Roberto. It was good to work with you again.”
Xiang acknowledged the good news and thanked him profusely. “One last favour, Karl….who do you know in Chinese Intelligence that I could talk to over a delicate matter of joint security with Beijing?”
Koppelt thought for a minute or so. “I know people, but unless I know what we are talking about it would be risky in picking the wrong one. In any case there could be acrimony if both your own intelligence and theirs have to discuss boundaries. Let’s not talk on the phone, I will come to Beijing and we can discuss this.”
“Excellent, I look forward to seeing you again.”
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The work groups at Echus Chasma had discussed their individual findings. There were common features. The space travel trio had no idea what the black cube was made from; they had no analytical equipment and even if they had, they seemed unable to prise samples from the cubes. The sphere duo, similarly, had not been able to find information on the chemical constitution of any of the three main components. Red and Keriakis had the same difficulty with the blue fluid function at the nodes and the ty
pe of proteins which were delivered to them. They all agreed that this knowledge had no hallmarks of having been developed by the Rabo assembly technicians who had produced the schematics. They consequently halted further fabrication until they thought through the implications of any third party’s benevolence.
The Symbiants repeated their dismissal of the Interference being involved merely because of the plight of the Rabo. That meant they had to come up with the Rabo being incidental in a far greater task for the Interference, or consider another species ‘controlling’ the Rabo evolution for whatever purpose. A repetition of such divine assistance for humanity may not be so attractive unless the terms of the relationship were known. As disappointing as this was they agreed they had to go back to the Rabo historical dynasties, to look for evidence other than simple technical transfer. Mythology might contain more obtuse references, which could be found with the new search criteria.
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The crew for Columbus had been finalised. Carvalho had been asked to command the mission and he felt he had unfinished business with the red planet. Three engineers were selected, all charged with projects to gradually lower the colony’s dependence on Earth supplies. A medical officer was included to help Pascal 2 and have first-hand experience with the unfolding Rabo physiology. A top astrophysicist was selected – this had been a contentious point because most humans who had gone to Mars had been replicated. This underlined the lingering mistrust of the Symbiants by some powerful lobbyists. Park made up the team. His geology and computing expertise was a good fit with the increasing Mars populous. The construction of Colossus, a large cargo vessel, had commenced and Newton was undergoing a refit. Radmanov had heard the news from Pascal 2 that there seemed to be a satisfactory conclusion to the Beth Eisentrager episode. He responded with sarcasm. “You mean you were able to salvage a face-saving situation from the shambles you created. If I had been permitted to return with her, nobody would have ever known there was a plot.”
Pascal 2 asked him if he was ready to help out again in the forestation. “You can’t be serious. I only came on this mission to contain a potentially damaging event for my country and what do I get? An extended vacation on Dustville. I’m not allowed to communicate to anyone back home so I’ll reciprocate here on this hellhole.” Pascal 2 could understand his anger but suggested he was inflicting more misery on himself by not mixing with others. “Your enforced stay has nothing to do with them; that decision was the exclusive province of Beijing. I was only thinking that your remaining time would be more enjoyable if you were at least part of social interaction.”
Radmanov half-apologised for his rant and said he would consider some of what Pascal 2 had highlighted, but he did not want to be involved with forestation as it was now a Symbiant only operation.
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The stalemate was eventually broken when Koppelt got up to leave Novotny with Ledovskaya, declaring that he did not want to miss his flight. Novotny made the call, but unknown to anyone except himself and Korolev, they had devised a code whereby the oligarch would know whether or not to keep the St. Petersburg appointment. The contingencies covered in the code were that the information was insufficient or false, the operation had been infiltrated, or one of the links in the chain simply could not deliver. As the conversation was in Russian, Ledovskaya was able to comment. Novotny had introduced himself as ‘night watchman’ and reported that the lighthouse was operational. This seemed reasonable, but Ledovskaya asked him to explain. “It means that we have a green light situation.”
She quickly followed up with, “What was the alternative code?”
He had several hours to make sure he would avoid a hesitant reply. “The ship is in dry dock.”
Koppelt left and Ledovskaya felt her long awaited promotion was on the way. They kept Novotny under close arrest until the scheduled arrival of Korolev.
Chapter 30
When the Echus Chasma group had reviewed more mythology there were references to the scientist, prior to his Master of Fate entitlement, in which he was slightly different in his physiology, not just his views, from the rest. This difference was not only evident among his scientific peers; it was noticed by the wider population. Keriakis was suddenly hit with a bolt of lateral thinking. “If this person was revered so much, he should be included in those to whom statues or ‘mummies’ would be accorded. As the collection we have here is post sphere era, we would not expect to find him.” Alex 2 waited for him to continue, and when he did not said, “What is the point you are making?”
“I’m not making a point so much as trying to get us out of circular, self-reinforcing thought. One of the ways he could be different from the others is by being a replicant. What if he was the product of the Continuance, in its randomly statistical contact potential, replicating a Rabo in 55 Cancri? It is a long shot but it gets us away from the tendency to translate all the Rabo library content too literally. If there is any substance to this line of reasoning we would have to expect that their homeworld was seeded with crystal.” Red said this was highly likely when life already existed there.
Keriakis continued, “In that case, with all of the mummified exhibits here and at Utopia Planitia there must be knowledge retained. You Symbiants have said on several occasions that although you cannot replicate long-dead life forms or fossils you can extract information which our palaeontologists cannot.”
They all suddenly got his point. Although it would mean a slight disruption to the sacred status of these particular Rabo, it could be rewarding. The Symbiants of course did not have human hang-ups about such matters and agreed.
Alex 2 contacted Pascal 2 to let him know that they needed some amorphous form to carry out this evaluation. Pascal 2 recalled one of the Symbiants from the forestation work and asked him to deliver the powder in a closed container. “Take a spare Hindenburg and then return with a full report please.”
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When Koppelt arrived in Beijing he had flashbacks of the awful day when he was part of the force charged with the task of causing Alex 2’s reversion. The presence of Carvalho in Xiang’s office brought even sharper focus to the déjà vu, as his replicant Dan had been instrumental in preventing this injustice. The official forces had thought it was Carvalho, and they had fired on him. The whole fiasco had not endeared Koppelt to the Commander, and he made only eye contact as he left for Columbus departure countdown.
As Koppelt was being debriefed on the requirements for the Symbiants to get past the Chinese permit screening, he had to take a call from Ledovskaya. “I did not really buy into Novotny’s coded message to Korolev being a green light, so after you left I allowed Igor (the gorilla) some persuasive time with him. The code was actually to warn him we had uncovered the plan, so he will not now keep his appointment. We will be charging Novotny with sufficient criminal acts to keep him in prison for a long time but we have lost Korolev for now. This means I will not get my reward yet again, however I can tell you that Novotny also coughed up another interesting piece of information in a plea for leniency. Radmanov was in on this and was to eliminate Beth and Elke Eisentrager in Germany. We will get another chance at Korolev if you can hand over Radmanov to me for an ‘interview’ when you get him back.”
Koppelt thanked her and said he would discuss this with Xiang and get back to her. They resumed the task of getting permits for the Symbiants. Koppelt advised Xiang to keep Beijing intelligence out of this altogether. “They will certainly want to control things if you ask their opinion, but they will also be difficult to handle if the Chinese counterparts take over. They will be even more vociferous if anything goes wrong and they are involved, even though they had wanted to be. You are better off going to the Chinese directly and hoping it all passes off without incident. If it does not, Beijing intelligence will be quietly smirking.”
Xiang shook his head. “I never fail to be amazed at you people Karl. However I guess you’re right. Can you set it up? I’ll introduce you to the three candidates.”<
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“No,” said Koppelt, “not yet – I want to talk to the right person in generalities first, skirting around the subject. It may take a couple of lunches. I’ll contact you then.” Xiang thanked him and ushered him out of the office so he could turn his attention to gathering more data from Mars – Echus Chasma specifically.
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The amorphous form arrived. Both Red and Alex 2 had each chosen an individual ‘mummy’ with which to begin the procedure. Yamamoto asked why they had not considered Keriakis’ theory themselves. It was Alex 2 who acknowledged his question. “It is a consequence of our stranded programming. The Symbiant of Earth origin called Mike is a replicant of a geology graduate. Although he had retained data of interaction with the Sumerian people, and I was on Earth at the time of Park’s replication, I knew nothing of this contact several millennia ago. I only know of it now because we updated one another when we met in Beijing. Reciprocally he now knows about Martian experiences of the Continuance. With respect to the Rabo, we did not have any registration of contact on Mars, otherwise Red and the rest of us would have known about it from the moment we achieved the completion. Logically, if there was no contact with them on Mars – and bear in mind their screens at Candor Chasm were perfectly situated for such contact to occur, we did not believe they would have previous knowledge of the crystal. We relied on a logic sequence rather than considering the probable association of seeding strategy with promising life potential. Mr. Keriakis was not encumbered with our evaluative ranking of evidence. He is to be congratulated, even if these tests prove negative.”
