by S A Pavli
They focused on the work and James put his concerns to the back of his mind. A half hour later, Melanie and Le Blanc joined them and they reviewed the new material and put it together into a single video. It was disjointed but Melanie knew that her father's team back on Adelphi would massage the material into a more professional form.
"When do we expect the official expedition to arrive, by the way?” asked Walters, remembering Leslie's earlier irritation and thinking that perhaps some new arrivals may distract her.
"My father's last estimate was that they would finish kitting out and depart about now," said Melanie. “So we can expect them in about ten days.”
"Will we continue to be part of the exploration team?” asked Walters. Melanie looked doubtful.
"Good question James," she said. “I really don't know. I mean, we obviously have official rights to explore the system at the moment, but the discovery of an alien civilisation may change all that.”
"We may no longer have sole rights, but there is no reason why we can't continue to be part of the exploration team," said Walters. “I'm thinking here, that when they turn up, I don't want to be pushed to one side. I guess none of us do?” asked Walters looking enquiringly around him. There were nods from LeBlanc and Melanie, but Leslie looked noncommittal.
"Absolutely not," said Melanie firmly. “And there is no reason why we should be.”
"Might be an idea if your father got that in writing," said Walters pointedly. “Don’t want to be cynical and all that, but this will have got to Earth and all the colony worlds by now. A lot of people are going to want a piece of this pie.” Melanie looked thoughtful. The idea that they could be elbowed out of the way in the rush to explore the alien civilisation filled her with anxiety. It's not the fame she assured herself. She felt a personal connection to the planet and it's unfortunate inhabitants, a sadness and sense of loss that such a great and obviously successful civilisation should have come to such an abrupt end.
"I'll include a personal and private message to my father to that effect," she said.
"Very strongly worded,” added Walters. Melanie smiled and nodded.
"Very strongly worded,” she agreed.
Later that afternoon, they made their first attempt to talk to the alien robot. Melanie, as expedition scientific leader, was designated spokes-woman.
"Does it speak English, or er Elpidan?" she asked.
"Alden has learnt Elpidan," said Andy. “It speaks Elpidan and Alden translates. That way, we can modify the meaning as we go along.”
"Modify the meaning?” asked Melanie.
"Well, we can't be one hundred percent sure of our translation at this point. As we accumulate more and more Elpidan, we can become surer. So let's keep it simple at first," said Andy.
"Talk about the weather,” suggested Le Blanc.
"Or football,” added Walters. “We're bound to have that much in common.”
"I think I'll avoid the weather and football," said Melanie firmly.
"Actually, Alden has already conducted quite lengthy conversations with him," said Andy. “As part of the learning process.”
"What have they talked about?” asked Walters, with a look of disbelief.
"Oh, just neutral nonsense stuff," said Andy. “Like, you know, la plume de ma tante est sur la table de ma uncle.”
"Really bad French accent Andy,” remonstrated Le Blanc.
"Not my best subject at school," said Andy apologetically. “Anyway, the exchanges were designed as a means of confirming the meaning of words, not as an exchange of information as such. If that makes any sense.”
"I think so," said Melanie with a grimace.
"But we do know certain things about it," said Mark. There was a ripple of interest. "It has a name; 739556ZAC.”
"How can you translate the letters?” asked Melanie.
"We've just taken the same relative place in their alphabet," said Andy.
"Appropriate," said Walters. “Well hello ZAC. What else do we know?”
"It is a maintenance robot," said Mark. “That's why it was on the moon. It was responsible for maintenance of some of the machinery there.”
"That could be very useful," said Le Blanc.
"Anyway, try simple questions first Melanie,” suggested Mark. Melanie nodded and paused for a few moments.
"O K, Alden, this is my first question to ZAC. Ask him, what happened to his builders. How did their civilisation die?”
"Yes Melanie, I understand," replied Alden. There was a long pause during which the comms screen facing the robot flashed colours and made clicking, whining and various other odd noises.
"Not a language we could use unaided,” whispered Le Blanc to his neighbour.
"Not unless you have a fluorescent forehead,” retorted Walters. The delay went on for a minute, then stretched into two.
"Is there a problem Alden?” asked Melanie.
"No, he is giving me a long and complicated reply," said Alden. “I would like to organise it before I present it to you.”
"Carry on," said Melanie. The delay went on for five minutes.
"This is a fantastic amount of time for two computers to converse,” observed Andy to Mark. “They could communicate gigabytes of information in this time.”
"Clearly it's not quantity that's the problem,” retorted Mark in a whisper. “Doing the translation must be causing Alden a great deal of difficulty.”
"I think I have the gist of it now," said Alden. There was a stirring of anticipation around the room. “If I understand correctly, the demise of all intelligent life on the planet and its moon must have been due to the entities you call the Virtuals.” There were shocked gasps and exclamations around the room.
"How awful!” gasped Anja.
"Hardly a surprise though," said LeBlanc “Damn the wretched things!”
"How does ZAC know that?” asked Melanie. “How can it be sure?”
"Being a maintenance robot, it has the instruments to detect their presence.” replied Alden.
"Alden, does it have any idea where they came from?” asked Melanie.
"Yes," said Alden. They waited as the ominous silence stretched out. Melanie could swear that Alden was purposefully building up the tension. “It is certain that they came from the Trans-Gates.”
"What!” gasped Le Blanc. “That's impossible. How can life forms exist in the space between universes? There's nothing there.”
"The robot has no knowledge of that," replied Alden.
"But, how do they get through the trans-Gates?” asked Melanie.
"The gates operate by setting up a focal point outside our universe that acts as a link between the two gates," replied Alden. “That focal point can be seen as a hole in the fabric of Space-Time. A hole which sucks the Virtuals through by their millions.”
"So as soon as the gate was switched on, these things just flooded through?” exclaimed Le Blanc.
"No," said Alden. Le Blanc looked taken. “In fact they are not uniformly present in Hyperspace. They exist in clumps. So the Trans-Gates worked without mishap for some time. Years in fact. This made the eventual crisis much worse because when it did happen there were a number of gates in operation. If there had been only two, they may have been able to contain the Virtuals.” There were groans of dismay from around the room. Le Blanc's face gradually took on an expression of frozen horror. His friend Walters squeezed his shoulder supportively and he turned to him.
"What is it Ray?” asked Walters. Le Blanc's face unfroze suddenly.
"Sorry, I haven t got around to telling anyone yet,” he croaked. “They are building these things on Earth. In fact, if I'm correct, they are already built and working.
"Already built and working ?” repeated Walters blankly.
"Yes, yes," said Le Blanc impatiently. “I asked Alden to get the latest abstracts on the subject from the Adelphi library a few days ago, when we made the connection with the alien artefacts. There are a number of projects on Earth to build Tran
s-Gates and initial testing is under way now.”
"You mean there's a chance the same thing may happen to Earth?” asked Leslie, her eyes wide with alarm.
"Look, the robot did say that the alien Trans-Gates were in operation for some time,” pointed out Walters.
"But that is completely unpredictable," said Andy. “Earth could be unlucky and open a gate into a clump of them. Earth will be flooded by billions of Virtuals. We'll never get help to them on time. Billions of people will die.”
Chapter 35
When Carstairs received the latest Hyperspace message from his daughter showing their success in communicating with the alien robot, he was delighted. The further news of the role of the Virtuals in destroying the alien's civilisation was deflating and sobering. It meant nothing to him that the Virtuals had originated in Hyperspace, sucked in by the alien's Trans-Gates. Until he read the final part of Melanie's long message, containing her panic stricken request to communicate the danger to Earth. He was left staring blankly at the screen, his mind in turmoil. Once the authorities learnt of the staggering potential danger that the Virtuals posed to Earth, he was sure that his ownership of the project would come to an immediate and drastic end. His team would be told to stand off the planet and the whole system would be quarantined by the military.
He realised quickly that had no choice now; he could not play down the nature of the Virtuals anymore. Mind destroying alien life forms loose on Earth? There would be panic he decided. He mulled over the best way to release the information. First of all, that Professor Chan individual had to be told immediately he decided. All experiments on the Trans-Gates must stop immediately. As it was, a Hyperspace message would take a couple of days to reach Earth, at maximum power so he must act quickly. His calculating and creative mind suddenly came up with another thought. There is another angle to this he thought ; we can present ourselves as the saviours o f the human Race. Well life on Earth anyway. And after all, it's true ; had we not discovered the role of the Trans-Gates in transporting the Virtuals, experiments on Earth may well have led to a massive tragedy. May still do so if I don't get off my arse and do something he scolded himself. He dialled the head of the team that was handling the publicity for the Elpida project, Dan Phillips. The video call was answered by Dan's secretary.
"Jennifer, must talk to Dan. Matter of urgency,” barked Carstairs. The sharp faced blonde woman didn't bat an eyelid.
"Certainly Mister Carstairs. He's at a meeting, but I'll interrupt him. Hold on please.” Carstairs nodded approvingly. In a few seconds the youthful features of Dan Phillips appeared on the screen. .
"Mister Carstairs. I was about to call you. We were meeting to look at the latest transmission from Elpida. It's dynamite.” Phillips looked shaken.
"I know Dan, I've been looking at it myself,” re plied Carstairs. “Look, we’ve got to handle this carefully.”
"We have to let Earth know immediately,” interrupted Phillips.
"I know Dan, relax," said Carstairs quickly. “There's no question of that. I want you to prepare a number of different releases. I'm coming into the office now to work with your team.”
"What did you have in mind?” asked Phillips looking curiously at his boss.
"We need to present this as a crucial discovery by our team which may save Earth from destruction. The last thing we want is to appear as if we have personally stirred up a hornets nest with these bloody Virtual things. Get me?” He looked keenly at the younger man who nodded thoughtfully. “And another thing,” continued Carstairs. “They are going to want my team out of there. We need to emphasise how professional and qualified they are. They are the best, and everyone must know that. It's important they stay on the job until the full expedition arrives. We don't know what else they may find there. I'll see you in a few minutes.”
With Phillips off the line, Carstairs got dressed quickly and dialled a hover car. It was another hot and humid day in Adelphi, but the traffic lanes were lightly populated. It was only then that he realised that it was a Sunday and no doubt everyone was in the country or on the beach. Adelphians took their recreation seriously and it was a tribute to his staff that they were in the office so early on a Sunday. In minutes he was landing on the roof of the Carstairs Corporation headquarters building in the business district of New Athens.
He was expected and two security men hurried over to escort him from the hover car to the building.
"Nice day mister Carstairs. Shouldn’t you be on the beach?” said the older of the two, a grizzled paunchy individual almost as broad as he was tall. Carstairs chuckled ironically as they entered the air conditioned building and the younger of the two security men leapt forward to dial the lift.
"Someone's got to keep things running George," he said with a wink. George had been with the Company as far back as Carstairs could remember, and there was an easy comradeship between the boss and one of his lowliest employees. It was typical of the egalitarianism that characterised the new frontier and Carstairs would not have had it any other way. One floor down was the executive wing and he stepped out into the cool smart foyer with its wood panelled reception desk. During the working week there would have been a number of attractive but ferociously efficient young ladies occupying the reception, but today it was manned by a solitary young security guard.
"Mister Carstairs, Dan Phillips said to go to number one conference room," said the young man.
Dan Phillips was waiting outside the room, the door open.
"Geremy, there's been a development," he said, ushering Carstairs into the room. From the frown on his face, Carstairs guessed it was not good news. “We received news today that they are pushing ahead with testing the Trans-Gate technology on Earth. The Americans have had a successful test. Both them and Chan's lot in London are stepping up their testing. We've also had a communication from Professor Chan.”
"Professor Chan? How does he know us?” asked Carstairs.
"Apparently he's seen a news item of the exploration and spotted our video of the alien Trans-Gate technology. He wants as much info as we can give him.” Phillips handed Carstairs an email. “It's from Chan,” he added. The email from Chan was addressed to the Carstairs Corporation.
Subject ; The exploration of the Elpida System.
I believe that your Corporation has sole rights to the exploration of the Elpida system at present. We at the Universities of London and Princeton are involved with advanced research into Trans-Gate technology. Having seen some of the pictures and video from your exploration team, it is apparent to us that the aliens of Elpida had also built Trans-Gates. We recognise the technology. We would be interested in more detailed pictures and video from your team.
We are sending a number of our own scientists and engineers to examine the sites. Since we have the monopoly of knowledge on this technology, I think you will agree that we are the right people to examine it. My people will be on the first Space flight out of Earth to Adelphi, and from there to the Elpida system.
Regards
Professor Chan, Dept of advanced Physics, University of London.
"He doesn't waste any time,” muttered Carstairs.
"That's not all," said Phillips apologetically. “There is a meeting of the Science Research Council today to finalise plans for the expedition. They want you at the meeting.” Carstairs grunted. He was getting the feeling that things were spiralling out of his control
"When is the expedition due to leave?" he asked.
"I think in two days," said Phillips. “The military has allocated three ships under the control of a General. Every university on Adelphi is battling to get their people on the expedition. And every planet in the Federation is equipping their own expedition.”
"It's going to be like a Chinese market place out there," said Carstairs.
There were five people around the conference table, three women and two men, each with a multi media screen in front of them. They had all been engrossed in studying their screens when C
arstairs had entered, but were now listening keenly to the conversation. Carstairs favoured them all with an amiable g’day all as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"Thanks for coming in on a Sunday guys,” he began. “Now, what's your take on this stuff?”
"Panic, panic, panic," said the young lady to his right.
"Don’t just sit there, panic,” agreed the young man next to her, looking around at his colleagues . The others around the table nodded.
"The Virtuals?" said Carstairs, with a question in his voice.
"Yeah of course,” agreed Phillips, taking the spare seat at the table next to Carstairs. “A whole civilisation with a level of technological development not far behind ours, destroyed by aliens from another dimension. Christ it's the stuff of science fiction.” Carstairs grunted his agreement.
"We've already agreed that we get an urgent Hyperspace message to professor Chan. But no one else is experimenting with Trans-Gates so there's no need for panic.” Carstairs held his hands open to demonstrate the obviousness of what he was saying. “And remember, this is the first conversation we’ve had with the alien robot. There's no guarantee that there hasn’t been a misunderstanding. The aliens language is horrendously complex, involving a combination of sounds, colours and patterns. Maybe the Bounty Hunter's AI hasn’t quite got it right?”
"Are you saying we keep this quiet boss?” asked Phillips. The others around the room exchanged glances. Their concern was clear on their faces.
"No, of course not," said Carstairs quickly. “I've already said that the Earth has to be warned. But for us, it's a question of how we present this stuff. For now, I suggest we present it as just one possible interpretation of what the alien robot may have meant. An interpretation that we are taking seriously, by warning Earth, but one that could still be wrong or garbled.”
