“This is excellent, I suspect you have been smuggling in fresh produce and meat and that is something I will not tolerate, no matter how good it is.” Murphy replied, “This meal is thanks to our friends on the Panther, they have given us a mana-maker. This device will soon be producing enough to feed the entire station so this quality of food will be available from now on, our food service people are thrilled.' Jalbahn smiled and said, “Now I have something that proves theses aliens are not our enemy.“ He had another bite and added, “Hmm, so what is this mana stuff, do I want to know.” Murphy replied, “Mana is a fungus or as our food service chief calls 'magnificent mushroom' it's got just about everything a body needs.” “And what about captain Johns and captain McCord” asked Jalbahn. Murphy replied, “They are both 'super human' using my wife, Mira's words, which is interesting since Mindy McCord is from earth. They both act like they have spent a lifetime together. You know, Mira summed it up best after we had dinner with them, she said, 'we are like infants barely able to talk and feed ourselves compared to what the other worlds must be.” First Admiral Jalbahn nodded and then stated, “Yes, well, perhaps it is time we grow up then ,eh?”
“What you are saying is quite impossible.” said the captain of the Cyrillium explorer ship. Uhr replied, “By all measurements of your scientists and tested thoroughly, if that buoy went straight, it is now one hundred twenty light years away. And by estimate trajectory puts it out on the Sagittarius arm.” Everyone were nodding their heads in affirmative and were silent for a few minutes before Dihr spoke up, “If this is a quantum singularity it would be the discovery of the millennia.“ Junes added, “Potentially the most dangerous discovery too, other than the possibility of Zak on the other end we could be unleashing god knows what.” They all were silent for a while when the captain said, “We have no absolute proof though, so can we safely send one more buoy though in hope of verifying this possibility?” The question weighed heavily on them.
Professor Hicks had two holograms of the milky way galaxy up before them one from earth and one from the core with the two gray nebula clearly marked. The distance between the two represented the one hundred twenty light year void in between. Hicks had been introduced to Ling and was not surprised that she was an AI or 'artificial intelligence' and had suspected it from the beginning stating, “No one from earth is that intelligent.” Hicks was fascinated by Panthers recognition of Giraffe's voice print since she was from earth, but there was no answer. Hicks and Panther had been talking for days now with Giraffe sitting in when she had time.
Now they had some conclusions which were startling. The galaxy is in constant motion, solar systems rotate around suns. But in this instance it seemed, these two gray nebula were in sync and created a quantum singularity, something that was, until now, only a theory. Hicks stated, “As you can see on the holographic maps, this phenomenon is stable.” He added lines and measurements to show this then said, “This could be proven by sending a probe though to verify it.” Zak brought up, “Would it be safe to send a probe through?” They all looked at him with curiosity as he clarified, ”We could be inviting someone though who would not be so honorable.” 'Ah, that is a real good point if what you encountered with Federated is any indication.” Giraffe concurred. Panther added, “A probe can be programmed for stealth and to self destruct if hostile is encountered.” Hicks responded, “Very good dear, and we should leave a communications receiver here at the station with Murphy for early warning as a fallback.” Giraffe stated, “We can have our new engineer Marx set it up on station, Panther, are your system all checked out one hundred percent?” Panther replied, “All systems are go, shall I plot a jump to the nebula then?” Giraffe used an old saying she had heard somewhere, “Make it so.”
Out beyond Pluto the earth warning buoy sent a signal and then went silent. The earth battleship en route would receive that signal five days later. At the same time the buoy sent though from the Cyrillium explorer ship collided with the solar array of the earth buoy. Both the alien and earth buoy shorted out and while frying together quit sending signals.
On station three, EDF First Admiral Jalbahn was feeling out of the loop, His report to the presidents should have been good news but was met with indifference. The station administrator Murphy, was not forthcoming with information on the Panther. General Murphy in fact, had excellent communication with the Panther including a new communication system, discretely installed, which would provide almost instant communication even from the edges of the solar system. All he had reported to the Jalbahn was that the Panther would be departing soon and that no return time or date was given.
On earth the the presidents were in discussion about the news from space, clearly disappointed with the gift that the alien left them. Solving the looming food shortage was not really a big thing to them, what they hoped for was some sort of tech that would help them consolidate and hold power. With the alien leaving, hopefully for good, things would get back to normal and the possibility of a superior class of alien humans just a fleeting memory. The Panther was ready to depart along with it's two new earth members, engineer Marx and professor Hicks. The presidents went on to more important matters.
Two things happened almost simultaneously, the signal from the buoy stopped and a signal came in from a Federated ship requesting a meeting. The captain listened patiently as the Federated badgered them to leave this area of space followed by how it was costing Federated so much money to keep an eye on them, 'for their protection'. In the end a fee was negotiated for 'protection while in location', still there was a lingering feeling that Federated was becoming suspicious. “Let's get that third buoy launched as soon as Federated is out of range, hopefully we will find something out soon.” said Junes. Captain Jings of the Cyrillium explorer replied, “Yes, and soon, I am not authorized to create any conflicts with Federated and they seem quite nervous right now. If we have no results in another five days we will be leaving, sorry.”
With a minor adjustment from what the last buoy was launched the third was sent and they knew that if true, it would be three days before a return signal would reach them from 120 light years away. Federated was suspicious of the ship hanging at the nebula but did not consider it a threat at present. They were busy on Edahni having lost patience with that colonies failure to cooperate. The colony was now under new Federated management and in the process there was a significant reduction in population. A bombardment from space 'softened the will' of the people on this isolated planet. This made the operation much more manageable. Azurite, the super rare mineral which was the start of all this would later be found in abundance, on a planet in the earth solar system.
12
The Panther had jumped to the location where it first appeared in earths system near the gray nebula. The scans immediately found two buoys tangled together. The earth buoy was missing a chunk of it's solar array and the other alien buoy was missing it's antennae grid, neither showed any signs of life. Young engineer Marx was sent out to retrieve the guts from both. The Panther maneuvered right on top of the buoys and Marx took his first walk in an alien space suit, he found it much better than the earth made ones.
Zak was excited to see the alien buoy as were they all, the earth buoy could wait. The buoys were brought into the aft engineering shop and the alien core was examined, it was determined to be of Cyrillium make of the type used on their explorer ships. However, it was fried. Professor Hicks suggested that the memory module be pulled and connected to Panther for analyzing and they agreed. A message was sent to Murphy at station three that the earth buoy was found not working due to being hit by space debris. This was mostly true not wanting to mention the alien buoy. Hicks suggested that they could configure one of theirs to replace it. They all had high hopes to see if any information would come off the alien buoy. Zak was insistent that someone had come looking for him. “If this is from your side of the galaxy then this could indeed be a quantum singularity, if we can find trajectory we could send one bac
k through.” Said Hicks. Giraffe asked, “How much time would it take to travel 120 light years through this gateway?” They all looked at her for a moment then Hicks spoke up, “Well old girl, I guess we have our work cut out for us answering that question don't we.” “Indeed we do.” replied Panther. The professor and the ship AI had come to talk to each other like an old married couple.
An hour later Murphy replied to the message on the 'private' line from Panther. He hopped that they could get a buoy working as fast possible as the number three battle cruiser was en route. He suggested that there would be less questions if it was back online before it got to there position, then, thanked them for the update. Marx was busy getting a buoy configured for dual use as an earth warning system at low frequency as well as a relay for the high frequency communications the Panther used. Then getting it placed right in with the fried earth buoy solar array.
Three days passed before they figured out the data from the damaged alien buoy memory core and configure one to send through to hopefully, the other side of the galaxy. They had also been tracking the earth battleship coming their way on long range radar and noticed that it's speed had been varying so they could not determine when it would arrive. Panther would be alerting them if it stopped at any point which would indicate it was in trouble and a hail was put out to it but it would take time for them to get it and respond on the slow earth systems.
A persistent beeping was getting louder as the lights flashed in Giraffes cabin till she finally acknowledged, “Panther turn that off I hear you, what is wrong.” “The earth ship has stopped moving and I am detecting some radiation leakage,” replied Panther Giraffe was wide awake now getting up and pulling on her suit, also giving alert to Zak. She asked, “How far out is it” Panther replied, “Too close to jump, but just an hour on thrust, they are not answering our hail.” Giraffe was on the bridge and in her seat in short order then gave the command, “All hands, all hands we are moving max thrust get suited and ready for rescue mission, Panther, execute, best speed . “Zak was just getting in his chair and said, “Good morning captain, not wasting any time are you?” She replied, “There seems to be a problem with the earth ship's reactor, There is a flaw in the design of the earth battle cruisers in reactor containment over long periods, their captain was probably running near one hundred percent after losing signal from the buoy, their comms are out too.” Marx chimed in from engineering, “The comms would be out if they had to eject the core, the antennae are right over that area.' Giraffe asked, “Panther are you detecting any separation of the radiation signature?” Then she added, “All hands put your thinking caps on, we will need solutions as soon as we are there.” Panther came back, “There is separation so the core has been ejected” Marx broke in, “There will be minimum life support as the backup power on those ships is only good for a couple of hours and the secondary reactor will take a day to start.” Zak shook his head in disbelief, “Earth is really not ready for space!” Giraffe replied, “You probably started the same way Zak so shut up” Panther added, “Yes Zak, shut up,” The AI had developed a weird personality since Hicks came aboard.
On board earth battle cruiser three there was silence, Commander Smyth had issued orders to suit up and minimize movements and energy use. The bridge crew and engineers were trying to find a way to keep them alive long enough for the secondary reactor to come on line and, coming up short. Half the engineering staff died when the reactor lost containment and some were lost to the void when the core was ejected. Most of the ship was shut down but the radar operator was still watching the screens when he detected something coming at then at what looked like near light speed. Then he and he screamed, “Something incoming fast, and it can't be one of ours!” The commander was just about to tell him to shut it down to save energy when the man had screamed. Instead Smyth barked, “What is it any ideas?” Several were gathered around the radar screen looking when the operator said, “Unknown, but it is three times our size and will be on us in about twenty minutes at it's present speed.” No one said a word, no one blinked, after all, who knew what it was, a missile? An alien ship?
Giraffe asked,“Panther, can we brute force their communications or their radar system?” Hicks answered first, “Back feed their radar in Morse code dear.” Panther replied, “Good idea, captain shall I try that?” Giraffe responded, “Make it so, what is Morse code Hicks?” “Ancient earth electronic language.” Hicks said.
All eyes were on the radar screen when the display started blinking, and it was following a distinct pattern which confused them until the navigator yelled, “Morse code!” He then shoved the radar man out of the way. After a minute of watching the blinking screen, “It's the Panther coming to render assistance.” The commander said, “Damn that thing is spooky, came out of nowhere and how did they know were in trouble?
Zak was already working things out, Panther had full diagrams of the battle cruiser, no doubt pinched right out of the ships computers so configuring a grapple to the smaller ship was straight forward although the other part might be a little harder.. Marx, Can you configure a power conduit into that thing?” Marx replied, “Already working on the physical end but we will need access to their control systems and that is above my level.” Giraffe stated “Their captain may freak out but, Panther you have permission for hack and control but only after we make in person contact,” then she added, “Zak you are the diplomat so go make nice on their ship once you have us connected, all hands, look sharp!”
In short order the Panther parked over the side of the battle cruiser and and grappled on solid, then extended a docking tunnel over an air lock while those on the cruiser could only listen and wait. Zak was banging on the cruiser airlock for a full minute before he saw a face looking out at him and the guy was a little freaked so it took him a moment to open the door. The tube was already sealed so when the door opened the pressure equalized almost instantly and he walked on through. Well he almost, sort of, he had forgotten that the earth ships had no gravity on board and it took a second to orient but then he said. “To the bridge please”
Zak was a commanding figure at seven feet tall and Nordic looks so when he came on to the bridge he encountered wide eyes. A quick scan turned him to commander Smyth. “Heard you had a bit of trouble out here so we came to help.” Zak paused, then added, “If you could have a couple of your engineers,” He consulted his arm tablet, “Go to external main power conduit bay forty two we will get you some power.” The ships second asked, “Do you have any idea how much power this ship takes?” Zak replied, “No but our engineer and captain both know so that's enough for me and while we are setting this up we'll be in some of your systems for a bit also.” “Ah Commander?” Smyth was a little intimidated and that did not happen often. “Ah yes, radio down to engineering and thank you captain Johns.” Zak then stated, “It's all yours captain McCord we'll wait and have coffee till the lights are on.”
Smyth looked at Zak and asked, “How did you even know we were in trouble?“ Zak replied, “Yes well, that was Giraffe ah, captain McCord who explained what happened and how bad it was, we have been monitoring your ship for awhile now and set an alert if your speed, or direction changed radically.” Zak frowned, “When your ship stopped power and was leaking radiation she just knew, and she sends her condolences on your loss of crew, how many was it?” “We lost sixteen and ten more in sick bay with radiation poisoning.” Commander Smyth shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, “It could well have been all of us.”
The wait was not long but seemed longer as the temperature had dropped to thirty before the hum of air movement and lights and systems started coming on. All around the ship there was cheering that could be heard all the way to the bridge. Giraffe was then heard ship wide, “Looks like you are back in business Commander, our condolences on your losses, standby and we will let you know when we'll be underway so be prepared.'” Smyth replied, “Many thanks to you and your crew captain McCord.” Giraffe knew Zak would want to get
back to the nebula as soon as possible but it would take awhile because the earth ship had no inertial dampers. Because of this they could only move at four gees for the five hours it would take to get there. Zak said he would stay on the earth ship for the trip so with a command.
“Attention all crews, all crews secure for four gee sustained travel commencing in five minutes.” It had been decided that this was as much as the earth crew could handle and Giraffe was surprised that Zak was willing to endure it. Smyth said to Zak as they strapped into bridge seats, “You know that is almost twice our normal cruise speed?” Zak shrugged, “We want to get back to the nebula as fast as possible but this is about as fast as your crew can tolerate and please, do not ask, just be happy we go got here in time.” Zak visited with the earth crew over the hours making many friends. Giraffe went back to sleep. Several hours later Panther started reading a signal from the nebula, a standard multi language hail.
On the Cyrillium explorer ship captain Jings had been alone in his office for several hours decoding and encoding messages from the home world and other points. It was true that he captained an explorer ship but also he was responsible for information. The Cyrillium government did not involve itself directly with other worlds business but it did have a keen interest in the goings on around the galaxy. Jings was part of a formidable, discrete network for information. Jings was particularly interested in the conditions reported on Edahni. Under one hundred fifty were left from a colony of over a thousand settlers mining on the less than hospitable planet, they were a hardy bunch but no match for Federated. Had they not found Azurite they would have been left alone to live hard but simple lives in peace and quite, it is why the group of humans and hegmons had chosen Edahni. Now the small group was back to living in the container homes they started out with and worked for no reward beyond staying alive under the watchful eyes of Federated supervisors. Federated was in the protection business but now it seemed they were in the mining business looking for huge profit from the rare mineral Azurite.
Panther and Giraffe Page 8
