by Ken Pence
“Score another for the home team. That worked pretty well as long as the IFF (Identify friend foe) doesn’t target us. Okay…everyone…let’s try the special we came up with. Notify the Odin to try out the special on the drone…sensors on everyone?” Andrew said and everyone on the Junior moved to a display showing the still heavily shielded target drone.
“Hold on, Odin. We need to retrieve our penetrator. Desiree…okay…Odin…Give us two minutes and then its all yours… There is the special…let’s get aligned right behind it. It will be going to 740 lights…” Andrew said hoping all their guesswork was going to pay off. “Recording?”
“Yes sir. Recording,” Ling said.
There was a sudden, blinding flare of light, and the target drone disappeared. A collective gasp could be heard all over the ship.
“Let’s go to the galley and play that back,” Andrew said and the command crew started to move to the conference room. “Mister Cutcher. You have the conn.”
The group set up in the conference room. Tod sped the images back to when the attack weapon, the special, was initialized. Playing in ultrafast mode, the weapon was seen to get smaller and then there was the flare of light. Slowing those images down and zooming in, the flare showed a sequence of bright stellar structures, layered one after the other. “Computer,” Tod said. “Identify the approximate location of any of the images and alert when you have done so.”
“Three locations are known past the initial launching point,” the computer announced.
“Display the starting point and display a connection between the known locations,” Tod said.
The computer displayed the starting point in our solar system and then the next three recognized locations.
“My god,” Ling said, “Betelgeuse – 433 light years from Earth, 23 Orionis – 649 light years, Psi Orionis – 1,091 light years away and five more not recognized. They are almost in a straight line. What was that? What happened?”
Tod smiled and walked to the center of the room. “I want the person who came up with the idea for this weapon to explain what it is and how it works…Lee Post. Please come here and explain to your friends.”
Lee Post looked truly shocked. He seemed stunned. He was obviously evaluating a lot of data.
“Come on, Lee. As I said…you are among friends,” Tod said.
Lee came to the front of the room. “The weapon on the Allung vessel gave us the clues we needed. We took the drive from a shuttle. That shuttle drive has a top speed of about 740 lights. We built a sturdy but compact hull around the drive. All it has is a strong shield and the Allung device on the front. We lined it up toward the target drone and turned on the field. We accelerated the hull to 740 lights and it apparently transported the center of the target at least 1091 light years away. We have one of these devices with us. We extended the support brackets so this ship could also do the same as the weapon. We do not intend to go 1,000 plus light years. The images on our weapon showed many systems past Psi Orionis. It must have gone thousands of light years. We know the Ylee drive works but not how to control it yet. The Ylee drive used higher light speed multiples for smoother trips,” Lee said and then quietly moved back to the corner he was standing in earlier.
Tod came back to the front. “The Ylee equations showed us some contradictions – we thought. This test suggests the equations are correct and our preconceived notions of multiple dimensions are seriously flawed. Slower threshold speeds cover the longest distances. We think faster threshold speeds will cover shorter distances and should be less rough,” he said.
Ling said, “Rough?”
“Lee said he heard that velocities of 700 lights caused shearing effects and that didn’t sound good to me,” Tod said.
“Sorry. Did you say – he heard? We are basing this on a – he heard?” Ling queried.
“Yes, Ling. The equations and this last test bear him out. We weren’t lined up exactly with Betelgeuse with this test. We are sending our reports to the Odin and Kitty Hawk and prepping for our test with continuous communications with the Odin,” Tod looked at Andrew who nodded and took over the discussion.
“Get a light meal and we’ll run the first test in two hours at 1800 hours. I’d say to get some rest but you’ll all need to be in suits by that time,” Andrew stated, “Okay folks…back to business. Let’s get this ship squared away. Move it people,” he said and looked at Xilatoi who was looking dejected. Andrew walked over to him.
“What’s the matter?” Andrew asked.
“I realize how poorly I was treated on the Allung ship and what I was missing after being here. It is depressing,” he said.
“It is going to get pretty dicey here soon.”
“Dicey?” Xilatoi asked.
“We will have trouble soon,” Andrew said.
“Exactly. We will have trouble and you include me in that we. I am not afraid of trouble. I feel upset that I am alive after many of my friends died.”
“Humans call that survivor’s guilt and we consider it normal. Your survival helped most of your friends stay alive. You kept many humans alive. We will always remember your service and bravery,” Andrew said and he could see Xilatoi’s countenance brightening.
The time passed swiftly as a million little details were finalized. Tod and Andrew had a serious disagreement when Tod had tried to push testing at top speed. It was Shiv that saved the day with her to the point analysis.
“But it doesn’t make sense. It seems that going faster should make us go further,” Andrew said with a raised voice.
“We have the smoothest transition that way according to Lee,” Tod said quietly.
Shiv leaned in between. “We can hit 1,500 lights for a tenth of a second. Lee Post says that there is a transition effect going through the threshold and coming out. Going slower is supposed to be rougher,” Shiv said.
“I want the shortest burst at 1,500 lights then. That is the closest we can get to max. Where do we point our ship for this? Directly at a star or near one?” Andrew asked in a quieter voice.
“A point off Bellatrix… at least we have friends there. Let’s do it,” Andrew said.
The married couples that could manage it were together, though it wasn’t as romantic in a spacesuit. The communications were constant from the Odin to the Junior as they counted down. The full hull rings were deployed fore and aft and the Ylee field was functioning. Suddenly the moment arrived.
“1,500 lights – engage,” Andrew said and there was a brief flash and the drive shut down. “It didn’t work,” Andrew said.
“You better look again at our position Captain,” Steve said. “We’ve traveled a little over a light year from our start position.”
“What happened to communications?” Andrew said.
“Just a short gap skipper,” Ling said beaming.
Tod and Shiv obsessed over their data and Susan and Joel reported that the health of the crew and ship were nominal. LeiLei said that they should now calibrate their jumps by doing transitions at five light decrements and noting final positions. The computer might be able to correlate coordinates if is not too complex.
“Notify Odin of our position. Tod, I owe you a drink. We are going to jump now on a slightly different vector at 1495 lights for the same duration. Engage,” Andrew ordered and again there was a short flash.
“Distance and vector,” Andrew said. “Read them out.”
“Same heading, Captain. One point zero five light years,” reported Steve.
“Okay. Back to original heading toward Bellatrix and 1,490 lights. Engage,” he ordered.
“Same heading. One point one zero two five light years,” said Steve.
***
This testing went on for three hours until they hit 1270 lights and the communication with the Odin stopped.
“What happened?” Andrew asked.
“We are out of range,” Steve answered.
“How far do we travel that last time?” Andrew asked.
“A bit ove
r 9.4 light years but we have traveled over 102 light years of cumulative travel,” Steve said. “Using the exact same duration gives us a linear plot so far. I’m not sure what it would be if we changed duration but we have a good feel for distance so far at this transition velocity,” he stated.
“What transition velocity would we need to travel back to our starting point in one jump?” he asked.
“That’s easy,” Steve said, “Transition at 1031 lights.”
“Okay then. Hold on everyone. This may be rough. Head us back to Earth at 1031 lights,” Andrew ordered, “Engage.”
Steve set it up as close as he could and engaged. There was a thump – thump sound like when you hit a little debris with a ground car. Communications came back with the Odin demanding what had happened.
Steve read the output of his sensors and reported, “Captain. We’re almost to the orbit of Neptune,” he said.
“Send all the data to the Odin and have everyone stand down from alert status. Have them put up suits and take an hour sleep break. Senior officers to the conference room in an hour and Steve – get some relief. Master Chief – you have the conn,” Andrew said and marched off bridge before he fell down with fatigue. The tension had drained the life force right out of him. He went to his cabin and collapsed on his bunk. Susan came in, kissed him and collapsed in bed next to him.
Andrew woke up and worried that he had not set his relative time field and had slept in real time. For eight hours, he had slept like the dead but a bit less than an hour had passed in normal time. He looked around and realized that Susan was still asleep and he sat back on the bed and gently shook her.
“Beast,” she said. “I was having a dream and I was just about to be ravished by a handsome prince.”
“Would you settle for a Captain?” he asked.
“Umm – might be persuaded – lucky I set your relative time. We have an extra hour plus some freshen up time.”
***
The crew trickled back to duty. Many seemed in sparkling moods after a good – rest. They all knew their breakthrough would change everything. It meant that interstellar travel would truly mean they could travel to other stars in hours instead of weeks or months. It was going to make distant stellar neighborhoods much closer and bring distant trouble to Earth’s doorstep.
The ES at Bellatrix
Locals had met the ES troops with luxurious ground transportation to the Eugene Hotel from the landing area. The ES Captain led his crew bravely into the strange looking edifice. He didn’t realize this was pretty standard fare for architecture on Earth. He had left nineteen of the crew in two ships, while their third ship stayed in orbit, as an overwatch. The ES Captain felt a bit out of place as the stomped through the lobby of the hotel. The floor was some type of polished rock or ceramic. Stomping did no good on such a floor. Who would waste the effort of stomping on a stone floor? This type floor would need to be cleaned continually but he admitted to himself, it did look pleasant.
ERF Lieutenant Commander Will Castellano and the senior diplomat to Bellatrix approached the entourage at the front desk warily. At least they had showed up, Will thought. Diplomat Beasley was not the usual sort – he was laid back and was not easily shocked. Will and Donald had become friends when Donald Beasley had a run in with the local criminal gang trying to pressure the embassy staff into paying protection money. Castellano had the miscreants thrown off the premises. The retaliation against the embassy ended when some invisible entities showed up in the criminal headquarters and tore it the shreds along with the head criminal. Castellano thought they could have benefited from one of the sayings from his grandfather from Sicily: È gran pazzia lu cuntrastari cu du' nun pô vinciri né appattari which means…It's insane to oppose when you can neither win nor compromise. Will had shared the videos of the event with Donald. Donald had – enjoyed them.
It was easy for the diplomat to determine who was in charge of this crew. The big Ullumff Captain was followed by a gaggle of Tros with bags. “Welcome Captain. I am Donald Beasley, Chief Diplomat of the Earth mission here,” he said in Ullumff.
The Exploration Service Captain may have been surprised by the diplomat’s use of his language but he didn’t show it in the least. The Captain said, “I am Umma. Who is this other?” he asked indicating Will.
“This is Lieutenant Commander Will Castellano,” Beasley said as Castellano saluted.
Captain Umma snorted. “What was that? Is that a military uniform? You realize this planet is under Exploration Service authority do you not? What was the hand gesture?”
“Captain, you outrank me and it is called a salute. It is our method of showing our subordinate status. My mission here is only to protect Earth citizens and trade routes. We do not challenge your legitimate authority in any way. We are only here for our citizens’ protection,” Castellano said.
Beasley spoke, “Captain, this is not the setting for this discussion. We are here to welcome you and make sure you have no trouble getting your rooms.” He turned to the receptionist at the front desk. “These people are our guests. Nothing is too good for them: room service, drinks, entertainments are all on our bill at the embassy,” he said in Trade so there would be no misunderstandings. Beasley turned back to the Captain as local porters came around to the ES troops with rolling carts and offered to carry their bags as they were escorted to their rooms. “These beings will show you to your rooms and explain the services offered at this hotel. The bar is over there,” Beasley said and pointed to one of the two bars.
“We’d like to meet you at our embassy after you have awakened and eaten in the morning. I will send an escort in the morning to show you the way.”
Captain Umma snorted and turned to the locals who were trying to get the crew to put their bags on the rolling cart. The crew wanted to carry them themselves and didn’t like the idea of someone else carrying their possessions. Captain Umma growled and said, “Let them carry them for you.” He thought these Tros must have been raised on a farm. He marched off without a word.
Will decided that the alien, Rett, had behaved similarly but the Ullumff Captain, UmBllatt, had been more sophisticated. He decided to leave each his own and went with Beasley to get a drink.
***
Captain Umma had his own room…and what a room! It was huge. The Captain had traveled to over thirty-five planets with the Exploration Service and none were close to this hotel. This was beautifully decorated. The restroom was designed for Ullumff! How could that be? The lighting was in a spectrum favored by Ullumff? What floored him was when the local porter explained the controls to adjust the gravity and humidity in his room. He was stunned with that but the porter went on to explain how an electronic device called a computer would monitor when he addressed a panel in the wall. He learned he need only say computer and speak in Trade and ask for food, drink, or assistance and the computer would send what he requested.
The porter asked him to tell the computer when he wished to be awakened in the morning.
“I wish to…” the Captain said but the porter asked him to wait and say, ‘Computer’ first.
“Computer. Wake me five divs after sunrise,” he said.
“Yes, Captain. Wake you five divs after sunrise…acknowledged. Would you like anything to eat or drink before sleep?”
“Yes…I would like some of the wine,” he said remembering the delicious sample he had from the Osprey.
“What type and quantity? We have the following categories: white, red, sparkling, and rose. We have many subcategories of each.”
“I am not sure. Could I have a little of each?” Umma said.
“Of course, Captain…Demi bottles of our house wine to your room right away…Demi means half our standard size bottle. Anything else?” the computer asked.
“I am a little hungry. Could you send some non-meat items also?” the Captain asked.
“Your species is noted. I will also send a sampling of Earth vegetables and fruit that are favorites with other Ullum
ff.”
“You have had trade with other Ullumff?” the Captain queried.
“Not on this planet but Earth has much trade with Ullumff. They are on the preferred trade list and get the best prices on trade items,” the computer said.
“Were you programmed to tell me this information?” he asked.
“No,” the computer answered. “This information is not on my restricted list and you are listed as a law enforcement official.”
“Tell me what is on your restricted list and what does law enforcement mean regarding information access?” Umma asked.
“I cannot give you any details of the restricted list but I can give you general categories. Do you want to hear general categories?” the computer asked.
“Tell me the restricted categories,” he said.
“I cannot give you wholesale costs of any items you consume or profits from private sales. I cannot explain details for security outside of general details of security for you and your crew. I cannot give specific details of any other guests or visitors other than your own crew. I cannot describe prohibited consumables for other guests. That is a general summary. You are listed as law enforcement meaning this hotel and the Earth government recognizes you as a legal authority – an enforcer of Exploration Service laws.”
“What do you know of Exploration Service laws?” he asked.
“Those entries are lengthy and contain all signatory codes for the Exploration Service member planets. Do you wish to find any particular regulation?” the computer asked.
Umma head was spinning. This was so much information but, at least, these Earthers appeared to be on their side – not opposing them anyway. He heard a knock on his door.
