Far Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  Ximon said, “Well, at least it’s what we thought. Perhaps I should have made contact, but I didn’t want to risk trouble this close to dropping off our passengers.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me,” Shao said.

  Ximon headed for a jump point and they made the two jumps necessary to get to Onzarhat. They had yet more rest during those jumps. In addition to their normal relaxing, Ximon tried to improve himself by taking some different courses and reviewed the relatively scant information they had on Onzarhat. Unfortunately, however, he had mixed luck at concentrating.

  One day he gathered the crew before lunch and laid out a topic he’d been considering.

  Ximon said, “As you know, it’s going to be a while before we get back to civilization. However, I would like y’all to start thinking about what upgrades might benefit us in the future. I’ve got a couple ideas, but I want your thoughts. Here’s a couple things I’d like you to ponder, discuss, and research:

  - Shao, work with Elsbeth and Mantis to look at the sensor systems. Try to think of reasonable-cost options for improving our sensor range, fidelity, etc.

  - Elsbeth, you and Peter look at our engines. Look for anything we might reasonably consider for improving our range or efficiency. Remember, buying the latest, shiny, expensive toy to coming off the assembly line probably isn’t an option.

  - Raiza and Peter, we should consider additional training upgrades if you find any that would be useful

  - Raiza, also identify if there is any additional medical or robot care equipment that we should consider

  - Peter, study whether there’s anything we should do to improve our cargo handling capability

  - Mantis, identify any other potential areas for improvement. In particular, are there hardware or software upgrades that would help you?

  Does that all make sense?”

  Elsbeth quickly replied, “So, we’ll certainly look, but am I going to have a decent budget to do this?”

  “Don’t go treating this like some government acquisition project. Basically, I want to build an organized ‘wishlist’ of things we’ll look at when we’re at the right place and have the time and money. We still have some money from that salvage recovery, and we should get a pretty good chunk of change when we report completion of all this stuff. We’ll consider what makes sense.”

  “Sounds good,” Elsbeth said. “Remember we’ve still got to deal with that air raft when we get back.”

  “Right. That’s on the list. If any of you have questions, let me know. Otherwise, try to look at this in your spare time. Some of this may have to wait until we get back to Tixaya, but we will hit some points of civilization on our way back there and might get some done along the way.”

  After a few days of quiet jump, they came out in the Onzarhat system. There were no populated planets other than the main planet, Onzarhat-4. It, too, looked fairly nice as they approached, though it definitely had less green and less blue than Irapce-3 had.

  Onzarhat-4:

  Diameter: 11,500 km

  Surface Water: 50%

  Distance from sun: 1.3 AU

  Atmosphere: Moderate density, breathable

  Gravity: 1.1 G

  Temperature Range: -40 to 40 C

  Magnetic Field: Moderate

  Lifeforms: 300M humans, diverse flora and Fauna

  Ximon asked Douhat to join him on the bridge as they neared the planet. Ximon had Shao conducting a full range of scans of Onzarhat-4 and longer-range scans of the rest of the system. He also has Mantis analyzing radio signals to judge their technology levels.

  When Douhat arrived, looking like he was ready to throw on a coat and tie, he had his team with him.

  Ximon said, “Okay, it’s pretty much your show now. How do you want to play this?”

  “Ximon, the information we have from the Eon Explorer and others is that the planet is balkanized into several major and many minor nation states. They do have an extra-national organization, called the Federation of Nations, to resolve disputes and address issues of broad importance. However, it appears that its power is quite limited. So, we need to reach out to contacts for both the Federation of Nations and several individual nations. I believe it’s quite likely that we’ll need to visit several nations to establish contact and then we’ll arrange a permanent ‘home’ for our little delegation and continue working after you leave.”

  “Okay, if you have contact information, you can send asynchronous messages in video, audio, or text. Or you can make a connection and carry on a two-way conversation. You have small screens in your cabins that you could use, we could set you up screens in the galley, or you could do a few messages from the bridge here.”

  Douhat said, “We’ll start with sending asynchronous messages first and then go from there. We’ll try both textual and audio initially. Once we progress to video conversations, we’ll want to do them here to add gravitas.”

  Ximon, “Okay, we’ll enter an orbit. Start making your connections and we can go from there.”

  “Very well, Ximon. We’ll get right on it and let you know how we progress.”

  Mantis interrupted, “Before you go, Ambassador Douhat, you might find my initial analysis of the communications useful. The majority of the transmitted information is audio or video, most of it one way. There is some data traffic in an ancient format. They also have some communication bouncing off of orbiting satellites.”

  Douhat said, “Thank you, Mantis. We will factor that into our attempts.”

  When he left, Ximon asked Shao what she was seeing.

  “Still working on planetary scans,” Shao said. “However, their low and moderate orbits contain dozens of satellites, but also a substantial amount of what appears to be junk or debris. They also have some items in geosynchronous orbits. I’m not detecting any active vehicles.”

  “Mantis, ensure collision avoidance is set for small objects.”

  “It is, but we will be particularly vigilant given the debris.”

  “Thank you both,” Ximon said.

  Ximon sat back to wait. Based on the conversation with Douhat, he thought they’d hear something in an hour or so. Ximon finally queried him after a couple hours of silence.

  Douhat had a flippant response, “Oh, Ximon, we’re making great headway. We’ve gotten through a couple levels of functionaries already. With any luck, we’ll get to the ‘movers and shakers’ within a few hours.”

  Ximon rolled his eyes, but just said, “Very well. Please, continue.”

  Ximon left Shao and Mantis on watch and took a break. Raiza got him a nice lunch and sat with him.

  “Ximon,” Raiza said, “I have started to compile a list of courses and medical equipment that would be useful. I will continue adding to it.”

  “Thanks, dear. I was sure that you already had some stuff in mind.”

  “Rest assured that I do.”

  Ximon headed for their cabin, intending to take a nap.

  Raiza asked, “My love, would you like me to accompany you?”

  “I always enjoy your company, but I was thinking of a nap.”

  “Nevertheless, I will come and lay with you.”

  He took her hand and led her on. He seriously considered other activities but gave into the nap.

  Raiza gently woke him a couple hours later. “My dear, Ambassador Douhat informs us that he’s made some progress and would like to discuss a plan.”

  Ximon awoke groggily, “Douhat?” He rubbed his eyes.

  “Yes, the Ambassador would like to talk to you.”

  “Oh, let him know I’ll meet him in a few minutes.”

  Raiza said, “He will meet you in the galley in five minutes.”

  Ximon got up, got dressed, and ran his fingers through his hair. He had Raiza join them when they met. Douhat, of course, had his team.

  Ximon said, “So, what’s the verdict.”

  Douhat started somewhat excitedly. “We got through all of the junior ministers and most of the undersecretarie
s. When I reached the ‘people in the know’ they were aware that we would be coming at some point. I’ve told them of our plan and they’re generally supportive of the endeavor. I think we’ll wind up meeting directly in the nations of Olexita, Medesides, and Crobham. Baeda is unsure and is posturing. The Federation of Nations is also trying to put us on the agenda there. If we meet there, we’ll likely meet with several smaller nations privately after the general session.”

  “So, when are the appointments?”

  “Oh, Ximon. We don’t have appointments yet. Our progress is getting the right people to study the ministerial calendars and try to arrange something.”

  “So, when?”

  “Oh, there’s no telling exactly. However, once one of those nations sets something up, the others will likely be quick to follow suit. The Federation should be within the week. It’s just a matter of what groups we meet with there.”

  “So, nothing for days?”

  Douhat was almost dismissive. “Ximon, proper diplomacy takes time. Ministers do not like to be rushed. We will, of course, have some conversations of substance before we meet—seating arrangements, decorum, that kind of thing.”

  Ximon shook his head in dismay. “We’re happy to help, but we can’t just sit here forever.”

  “Not to worry. Just a few short days and it’s for the good of the Republic.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  After weeks of quiet in jump, they now faced days of quiet orbiting a planet.

  On reflection there were some good points. Shao was creating very detailed scans and maps of the planet and Mantis was thoroughly mapping communications patterns. Shao noted that they were also monitoring atmospheric air travel and estimating capabilities.

  After a couple days, Mantis alerted them when Ximon and Shao were off the bridge. She had detected a rocket launch. Ximon only got there to see the rocket insert a satellite into orbit, but Mantis has captured the entire thing on video.

  Mantis noted, “Simple liquid-solid fueled rocket, deploying a single, large satellite. From an analysis of the other satellites in orbit, it appears that they have only recently developed the miniaturization necessary to develop capable small cube satellites (cubesats). Based on the satellites and rockets used, it would appear they’ve only developed organic space launch capability within the last few decades.”

  Shao added, “I did note what appears to be a very small space station in orbit. However, it does not appear to be functioning so it might just be used for short visits. I have detected no weapons in space thus far.”

  Ximon said, “Well, that’s comforting, though it’s hard to say whether they’ve decided against them or just haven’t got them deployed yet.”

  Mantis said, “Correct. It is impossible to be sure with the information we have thus far.”

  Douhat cornered Ximon the next day, smiling broadly. “Ximon, it’s just as a I said. We’ve got a meeting set in Olexita in four days. As soon as it became public knowledge that was arranged, Crobham all but insisted we meet with them first, so we’re seeing them in three days. We’re on the Federation agenda in five days and then seeing Medesides in six. Still no word on Baeda, but it appears they will want to host a meeting as well. See, it’s as I said, once things get going, they can move with blinding speed.”

  Ximon was non-committal. “Yes, blinding speed. So, are there any preparations to make before those meetings?”

  “Oh, of course, thousands. However, we’ll take care of all that. We’ll get you exact coordinates of where they want us to land and where we’ll meet. I’d like to have you and a couple of your crew accompany us, preferably in uniform. This will be primarily for show. They may want to ask you some questions and they’ll be interested in your ship, but we’ll try to keep the discussion focused on the larger issues.”

  “Okay, just get us the info and we’ll be ready to join you.”

  Ximon gathered the crew and told them what the plan was. They weren’t thrilled to be just floating around for several days, but they made the best of it. Shao and Mantis kept improving the scanning and mapping of the planet. Elsbeth and Peter tweaked a few things and Ximon and Raiza spent some time relaxing and they all played various games. Lain and Sarah, who were apparently ‘back together’ joined them for a few games, but Douhat had them pretty busy planning protocol-type things for the meetings.

  The next day Mantis contacted Ximon and asked him to come to the bridge. Ayah stood by the co-pilot seat, holding Euclidia’s disembodied head to her breast almost as a mother might hold an infant. The image was somewhat surreal because she still lacked an arm and skin on her head, shoulder, and other breast.

  Mantis displayed several charts and graphs on the main screens. “Captain, I have assembled our scanned data with voluminous data gathered from stray planetary transmissions. Euclidia and I have compiled this information to the beginnings of an encyclopedia regarding the planet. It is imperfect and incomplete, but far better than what we had available. I believe it can be of use to Douhat and his team.”

  Ximon studied the visible data for a couple minutes and was impressed. “That’s awesome. I’m sure it will be useful.”

  “Captain, we will keep working to refine what we have.” Euclidia interjected. “However, we need more information.”

  Mantis said, “Yes, Captain. We can probably vastly improve the available information if we intentionally intercept data going to and from some of the satellites.”

  “You want to read their mail?” Ximon asked.

  “Captain, what we have assembled here is based, in part, on the contents of their broadcast transmissions. Since they are openly broadcast, one cannot reasonable claim they are private. The transmissions to and from the satellites are, necessarily, very specifically targeted and are, arguably, therefore more private.”

  “Well, we can’t go busting the beam and disrupting their planetary communications.”

  “Understood.” Mantis said. “What we propose is that get closer to one of the major communication satellites. If we’re close enough, we can intercept sidelobes of those targeted communications with absolutely no disruption to the satellite’s operation.”

  “I see, but won’t the transmissions be encrypted?”

  “The entire communication streams are generally encrypted en masse. However, the encryption is relatively primitive. I believe I have the computational power to break the encryption in a timely manner. I can distribute some of the calculations to Euclidia, Raiza, and Peter if necessary, to assist. It is my opinion that, if messages within that communication stream are separately encoded, then we should not try to decrypt them at this time as that demonstrates a greater intent at privacy. In any case, the data we need for this project is probably not thus protected. There is precedent in Republic case law that establishes that bulk, link encryption does not imply the same level of privacy that a specifically encrypted message does.”

  “How close would we need to be?”

  “We can’t be entirely sure, but I believe ten, or even twenty, kilometers should be close enough.”

  “Okay, let’s try it. Do you have a satellite in mind?”

  “Yes, Captain, I have a prioritized list. One is only a few degrees forward within our present current orbital rotation.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Should we discuss with Ambassador Douhat first?” Mantis asked.

  Ximon pondered for just a moment. “No, I don’t think so. This is part of our data mapping of the planet, which we’re only doing to this depth because of the length of his coordination process. However, do be careful and let me know if you think we’ve done anything to hinder their communications.”

  “Absolutely, Captain. We will be cautious.”

  Ximon moved Mantis closer to the targeted satellite and Mantis began her work.

  Later that evening, Mantis requested that Ximon come to the bridge. Ximon went and Mantis explained that the effort had succeeded as predicted. Mantis and Euclidia h
ad dramatically enhanced the data available for constructing the encyclopedia and were compiling an updated version with much greater detail.

  Ximon reviewed their work briefly. “Great work, you two, and a good job on coming up with the sidelobe idea.”

  “Thank you, Captain.” Mantis intoned. “If I may say so, that idea originated with one of my communication instances. The decision weighting values suggest that the idea may be a product of the enhanced independence.”

  “When do you think you might have an updated version available?”

  “Tomorrow morning, I believe.”

  “I see. Well, I’m glad that’s going well. Let’s call that encyclopedia version 1.0. If you get other data that can substantially enhance or refine it, do so and we can create updated versions. I will share this with the Ambassador and I’m sure he’ll find it useful.”

  Mantis said, “We will do so, Captain. Please, let us know if Ambassador Douhat provides any feedback we should be aware of.”

  “Absolutely and thank you both, or rather, the three of you.”

  When Ximon presented the encyclopedia to Douhat he was both impressed and a bit concerned as to where they had gotten the info. “Captain, I marvel at the work, but am concerned that, perhaps, there has been some, er, impropriety that might offend our hosts. How was all this information obtained and in such a timeframe?”

  “If you must know, we monitored some of the transmissions they’re sending through the open air or space. We didn’t look at any messages that were individually encrypted.”

  “But did this process interfere with their communications? We can’t be hindering them to get information we desire.”

  “No, we just became an additional recipient. If they were sending it to someone, it still got to them. I felt that this information would aid you in your mission and it is ‘for the good of the Republic’ after all. Our hosts will likely never know and would have little reason to object if they did.”