by Frank Carey
Nancy perched on the edge of her chair while wading through a stack of very old technical specs that I could translate into Standard with Mykla’s help.
“Yeah, typical pulse-fusion rig. It looks like our ancestors were very thorough. Our generators usually crap-out in less than a century.”
“What do you think the problem is?” I asked, not that I had a hope of understanding anything she said. Our Nancy thought on levels far above those of mere mortals.
“There are three areas that concern me. First, there’s an oscillation in the fuel pellet injector that is causing an imbalance in the sodium blanket temperature…”
See, I told you. I looked over at Hiram and watched him give Nancy his “please, tell us more” look.
In her element, Nancy continued: “The timing monitor should have picked up on the oscillation and corrected for it but didn’t, so I’m thinking the main transtator circuit took a dump. All we need to do is either find a spare in the plant’s storeroom or borrow one from the Tailtiu, and use it to replace the faulty one. Hers are auto-adapting, so there’s no problem there.”
Of course not. Everyone one knows that, even us historians.
“Finally, there’s the load distributor. It looks like it just needs to be re-calibrated. Yeah, I think that covers everything…” She stopped when she noticed the silence around her. Looking up she saw everyone staring at her slack-jawed. “What?” she asked.
We all broke out in good-natured laughter.
“Nancy, what happens if we can't fix the problem?” Joshua asked as he sat down at the table across from her.
“We would have to scram the reactor—shut off the fuel feed and begin a cool-down of the sodium blanket. Right now, the blanket is beginning to over-heat due to the instabilities. If the blanket gets too hot, it could breach its containment vessel, which is very, very bad. We're talking about thousands of tons of radioactive, chemically reactive, molten metal a short distance away from the ocean.”
“And sodium--especially hot sodium—reacts violently with water,” Hiram noted.
“Exactly. We would need to stop the fusion side before we can begin the cooling of the blanket. We would need power to do that.”
“Where do we get that power?” I asked. Even fusion reactors are dangerous, but for reasons different from those associated with old style nuclear-based ones.
“Normally we would get it from the grid, but there's no grid, so…”
“Go on,” Joshua said as he leaned closer.
“We unship one of the Tailtiu's reactors and use it to replace the old one. Each of our reactors has more than enough capacity to replace this one and they're all modular.”
“Would it adversely affect the operation of the ship, or the safety of the crew?” Joshua asked.
“No. We run the engines off one plant while ship's operations run off the other. The third plant is a spare.”
I watched the gears turn in Joshua's head as he weighed the possibilities. Finally, he said, “Nancy, I don't pay you nearly enough. We'll keep the use of the Tailtiu's reactor as a contingency plan, assuming Max approves. What do you think, Alchemist Raina?”
A tall dark guardian with hair as black as ink looked at Joshua with a thoughtful gaze. “You would willingly give up part of your wonderful conveyance to help us? Why?”
A dozen responses came to mind, but none was as appropriate as the one Joshua gave. “Because I can.”
Raina smiled and bowed her head. “The Leader has chosen well.”
Hiram leaned over and whispered, “What the hell is she talking about?”
I didn't have a clue. I was about to ask when the captain's voice came over the radio. “We're here. We'll be landing outside the gate. Prepare for disembarkation.”
“Everyone strap in,” Taliss said as she fastened her seatbelt.
Minutes later, we landed. Hopefully, we had thought of everything that could go wrong.
Right. Like that ever happens.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gail read the executive summary in shock while more lawyers walked into her office. “Jacob, tell me this isn't happening,” she said as she sat back in her chair.
“Sorry, Gail, but you're running the show now. You'll need to designate a Head of Security to replace you. Now, sign here, and here,” Jacob said, pointing to flagged areas on a set of documents.
“What am I signing?”
“Your new contract. You've been promoted to the positions of President and CEO of the corporation.”
With a sigh, Gail signed the forms and handed them back to Jacob. “Anything else?”
“Yes, this form starts the process where Venlanta becomes a protectorate of Earth. In a nutshell, this is a petition to the Earth World Council. Pangaea is big enough to have a lot of sway with the council.”
Gail signed the papers and handed them back to the counselor. “Jacob, I don't know if I can handle all this responsibility, all this power.”
“Nothing to it. Just do like your brother does.”
“Which is what, exactly?”
“Never use the power unless you absolutely, positively have to. Think of it as a nuclear warhead. You plan on never setting it off, but it's nice to have around if the need ever arises.”
“I think I need a bottle of wine and a bath. Is there anything else?”
“A few things. First, you need to sign this,” he said, handing her a single sheet of paper.
“What is it?”
“A petition to declare Joshua dead. We'll fill in the blanks later when he sends us further instructions.”
Gail stopped and stared at the paper. “I c…c…can't sign this!”
“It's a formality. He needs to be dead so that his will can be executed, making you, Nadia, and Penny beneficiaries. How's Penny doing, by the way?”
“She's stable, but running out of time.”
“Nadia must be in a state. Joshua's will sets Penny up with a trust fund while her mother gets everything she tried to get in the divorce. You get everything else.”
Gail signed the paper and handed it to him.
“Last, but not least, an agreement with Dr. Syron's University giving it a grant for one hundred million credits, and giving her an additional grant for twenty million credits to continue work on your people's history. According to Joshua, there's still a lot of history missing, and he knows no one better qualified to find it than Dr. Shanna Syron.”
Gail signed the papers and handed them back to Jacob. “Jacob, I thought we were broke,” she said, referring to the cost of the expedition.
“No, we're fine, you’re fine, hell even Nadia's fine. I can call Accounting and have them send someone down to brief you, if you want. It's Joshua who is broke. He sold everything he had to fund this trip. Didn't he tell you?”
“No, he seems to have forgotten to mention that fact. Jacob, are you aware of what happened to him?”
“I saw the vid he sent before I came up here. You know, he's still the same guy he was when he left, except for a couple of extras. Shit happens, youngster. Deal with it and move on. Keep in mind that your brother has given up everything to keep this place going while curing his daughter. I don't care how many eyes he's grown. He's still a damn hero in my book,” Jacob said as he put the paperwork in his briefcase and headed to the door. “Sleep well, kiddo. Tomorrow will be a new day.”
“Yeah. Can't wait,” Gail said as she turned off her desk lamp and followed him out the door.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I stared in awe at the two massive stone gates that blocked our way to the power plant. Each door was twenty feet wide and forty feet tall with massive hinges attaching them to the stone wall in which they were inset. On the right door, about three feet up from the ground, was a plain metal plate. I looked to either side and saw the wall disappear into forest on either side of the road. Off in the distance the ocean crashed onto the rock-strewn shoreline.
“Hiram, work your magic,” I said. In moments, Hiram wa
s at the gate, scanning it while rolling one of his lock picks between the fingers of his free hand.
“No can do,” he reported. “I can detect no locking mechanism, no tumblers, no keyholes, not even a latch. The hinges are just that, massive mechanical hinges made from some unknown and very tough metal. I can't find any trace of whatever is holding this gate closed.” To make his point he put away the lock pick and pulled out his blaster. Setting it to full power, he fired at the nearest hinge. The metal soaked up the intense energy beam like a dry sponge soaking up water.
“Alchemist, has anyone ever tried climbing the wall?” Hiram asked as he ran his fingertips over the smooth stone surface.
“Many have tried, but only a few succeeded, and they've never returned.
Lovely, just lovely.
“Shanna, could you look at this?” Hiram asked as he ran a fingertip along the top edge of the metal plate.
“What’ya got there,” I asked as I pulled out my big magnifier from my field bag.
“I think it’s writing,” he said as he gave me room to examine the plate.
I looked at the inscription, but it was still too dusty to make out, so I ran my finger over it.
The plate turned blue as a voice boomed out. “Captain Fiona Syron recognized. Access granted. Welcome back, Capt. Syron, it has been three thousand one hundred thirty years, four months three days and eighteen hours since your last visit. Have a nice day.”
In shock, I jumped back as the gate and sections of wall next to it and above it, lowered into the ground leaving a smooth road leading to a large power plant. In the distance, we could see the ocean shore.
“Okay, I’m confused,” Hiram said as he surveyed the roads surface for any sign of the gate and wall section it was attached to. “Who the hell is Fiona Syron?”
I remembered that several of my team had not heard the story of the days leading up to the diaspora, so I told them.
“Wait a minute; this facility’s security system thinks you’re Fiona Syron? That would mean…”
“She was on the arkship that came to Earth, and I’m her ancestor.”
“I always knew you were an ass kicker,” Hiram said as he gave up his search. “Imagine the odds of one of her ancestors being aboard the first Earth expedition to Venlanta.”
I can’t. The symbol for infinity keeps appearing.
“We should get inside. We’re running short of time,” Hiram said.
We boarded the ramblers and headed to the building.
###
Once more, we found ourselves facing a metal plate, so I pressed my hand against it. Again, it turned blue as a voice boomed its greeting. “Computer, can you accept voice commands?” I asked, getting sick of all this hoopla.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Can you give my people full, unfettered access to the building and all systems?”
“Yes ma’am,” the computer replied.
“Good. Do so.”
“Yes, ma’am. Task completed. You may proceed.”
That’s better. I’ve always hated fanfare of any kind. Put your head down and get the work done, that’s what I say. I’d rather be in a library examining ancient scrolls than attending a banquet and getting some strange-ass award.
“Smart move, Shanna,” Hiram said as he walked behind me through the door. Lights came on as we entered.
“Thanks, Hiram. You look deep in thought, what’s up? Worried about this place going up before we can initiate a shutdown?”
“Naw. Nancy's a top shelf engineer. No worries there. No, just some squirrels running around the old noggin.”
“Are we okay?”
“Damn skippy,” he replied. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way. I promise.”
Yeah, I know he will, but I’m the one who keeps screwing things up. It’s like I want our relationship to fail for some unfathomable reason. I wonder if the guardians have a truth-teller floating around whom I could borrow for an afternoon. I was about to fall deeper into a mung when I saw a bank of screens against the far wall. “Over there,” I said, pointing to what I assumed was a control area.
“Bingo,” Nancy said. She ran over and sat down as the screens in front of her activated and filled with status displays, all in Standard thanks to Mykla who had infiltrated the system centuries ago. “Thank you, Mykla. Yep, just as I thought. Okay, all the problems are with the main reactor core. Luckily, there are two secondary reactor cores we can bring online, while we fix the main. Initiating switch-over, mark!” The lights flickered once before stabilizing. “Perfect, now we can send the main into maintenance mode…”
“Warning, authorization required,” a different computer voice said as an access plate in the control panel began to flash blue.
I hate those plates.
“Mykla, is that you?” I asked.
“No, Shanna. I do not have access to that system. It may be a security daemon. I suggest you place your palm on the plate.”
Fine. I placed my hand on the plate and waited. In a moment, the light went out.
“Access granted. Please proceed,” the voice said as alarms went off around the building.
“What the hell is that?” I yelled over the racket.
“I don’t know,” Nancy yelled as she pressed buttons. The din subsided but not the flashing strobes.
“So, you’ve returned to the scene of the crime, Capt. Syron. As you can see, I have a gift waiting for you.”
I looked at Nancy who shrugged while she shook her head. “I’ve set the main reactor to standby. It looks like there’s a rogue program running in the system. Oh shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Joshua asked while leaning over Nancy’s shoulder.
“Self-destruct in T minus twenty minutes and counting,” the station's computer said over the public-address system.
“Mykla?” Nancy asked while her hands flew across the controls.
“I am unable to access that system. Self-destruct can only be canceled by Shanna using the security control console three levels down.
“You and Hiram go!” Joshua said as his new tail flicked like an agitated cobra.
“I’m coming along,” Taliss said as she threw weapons to Hiram and me.
A light appeared above a nearby doorway. “I will guide you,” Mykla said as we ran for the door and headed down into the depths of the plant.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dr. Surrey, and the rest of the biological scientists from the Tailtiu, worked feverishly with their guardian counterparts to find a cure for the Syndrome, but so far, they found only more questions.
“Jackie, I could spend the rest of my life here studying just the apothecary down the hall,” Gabe, the team’s pharmacologist, said as he sipped a cup of hot tea. “Did you know the oldest person in this complex is over three hundred years old? Okay, part of it is due to the genetic modifications, but a lot of it is due to their diet and the extracts they take on a regular basis. I’m going to ask the leader if I could stay a while. Any news on the Syndrome front?”
“We’ve isolated it to something environmental,” Surrey replied. “The ancient texts in the database mention travelers to distant planets falling ill to an affliction, which was cured by their return to Venlanta. Unfortunately, there was no mention of what planet they went to, or if they were given something when they got back here, dammit!” she said, before throwing her pencil into a wall. She looked over at Gabe and saw him staring at her with a frown. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Maybe we’re approaching this all wrong. Jacks, you, and I’ve been friends for what, twenty years?”
“Yeah. Where’s this going?”
“Remember that one night you and I... frolicked?”
That got a blush out of the biologist. “How could I forget?”
Gabe got up, walked over, and kissed his friend. For a moment, she didn’t try to stop him as memories of the past filled her mind, then she pushed him away, her eyes wide. “What the hell was that all
about?”
“You relapsed, right?”
“Yes…”
“Which is why you stopped dating humans, right?”
“Yes…”
“I’m human, and we’ve been on Venlanta for better than two days, right?”
She stopped dead in her tracks as the scientist in her pushed the mortified Venlanten woman out of the way. “Shit! I should have tried to feed off you! You moron, I could have killed you.”
“But you didn’t. For the briefest of moments, you were in that place where your relapse should have kicked in. Why didn’t it? Why am I still alive?”
She squinted as she absentmindedly rubbed her cheek. “Because something here fixed the problem. It must be something we’ve all been exposed to, yet it’s subtle. Maybe it’s the food, or perhaps the water. You know, you’re pretty smart for a moron.”
“I have my moments. Listen, you’re not going to tell David about this, are you?”
She tilted her head. “Are you really that afraid of him?”
“Yeah. I once went to the gym with him. It left a lasting impression.”
She walked over to her friend and hugged him. “Your kiss will remain our secret, okay? We’ll figure out something to tell the historians later. For now, we have to find out what’s doing the changing and see if we can synthesize it.”
“Copy that,” he said with a relieved smile.
He doesn’t worry about me exsanguinating him, yet he fears my husband’s displeasure at a little kiss, she thought, shaking her head as she and Gabe walked off to find their colleagues.
###
Several hours later Gabe, Rex, Jacks, the other life scientists, and guardian healers, sat around the room. It was very quiet. They were stumped.
“Okay, what have we missed?” Dr. Surrey asked as she rubbed her face with her palms.
“Young Penny's condition sounds to me like it is nutritional in nature,” Healer Lorna observed. “Has her diet changed? You say you've been eating our local foodstuffs. Could you, Dr. Surrey, and the young girl both be missing something in your diet back on Earth?”
