“Oh, get up here, Little Fire.”
Princess Analyn danced up the steps, sat on her father’s lap and gave him a hug. With a quick lick on his forehead, the princess jumped off of his lap, circled to her mother and gave her a good hug and a quick lick on the queen’s furry cheek.
Prince Daruke, standing by his father, just looked on, expressionless. Sir Mahajani shrugged at Krag, cocked his head and flicked his ears.
“You three are getting to be thick as thieves. What have you been getting into?”
“Nothing, Father. Just getting Griffin ready for her flight. Planning the details, that sort of thing.”
“Naliana, why do our children keep secrets?” King Kaporine laughingly asked.
“It’s the younger generation, Husband. They don’t believe we know anything.”
“True, true. Well, Ambassador Suzume, Captain Marston, I would like you to meet someone.”
With that pronouncement, a synthetic Elonian stepped forward. Having learned the differences, Krag and Keiko recognized that he was male.
Krag and Keiko saw the synthetic standing as tall as Sir Mahajani, dressed in a dark black tunic. The heavy chain and medallion denoted something. What, Krag and Keiko didn’t know. The Elonian saluted. Krag and Keiko returned the honorific.
“May I introduce the Honorable Agidan. He is the Chief Justice of the Monarchal Legal Court and, like Vidhee, a member of the Counsel for Synthetic Administration.
“It is my honor to meet you, Chief Justice Agidan.”
“The honor is all mine, Ambassador Suzume and Captain Marston.”
Krag looked at King Kaporine who tapped a claw against his head.
“Of course.” Krag now knew that the king had mindspoke their names and titles to the synthetic Elonian.
“You honor us with your presence, Chief Justice Agidan.”
“I wanted to introduce the three of you as any differences we have between our two peoples will be settled by him and the rest of the Monarchal Legal Court. I suspect, most disputes will be in your favor, as you already have one judge on your side.” King Kaporine said the last with a toothless smile and a single ear flick.”
“I hope that any disputes that come between us are small and simple to solve, Your Majesty.”
“My hope as well, Ambassador Suzume.”
With Keiko handling the conversation, Krag kept a surreptitious eye on Prince Daruke. If Krag read him correctly, the Prince was not happy with these proceedings.
“Now, I am sure that there are many more aardbeasts out there which would like to take more bites from you.”
Keiko looked at Princess Analyn.
“Fierce predators which roam the Elonian forests. Our young warriors hunt them as rights of passage. They don’t taste very good, so we don’t hunt them for food.”
“I suspect that would be true for this pack of aardbeasts, also, Your Highness.”
Krag and Keiko bowed, backed out, turned and strolled back into the pack of verbal carnivores. The afternoon passed. Keiko deftly maneuvered her way through the diplomatic onslaught with Krag in tow. Krag would periodically glance over at Mack and Sue to jealously watch them enjoy their time sequestered with their engineering friends.
“Krag. Everyone needs to come back to Griffin, Now!”
Krag heard Buster’s order over his cranial net. Buster had never ordered anyone to do anything before. That worried Krag.
What is it, Buster?”
“Not over the Wi-Com. You are needed here. Now.”
“We’re on our way.”
“And don’t bring Gopai!”
“Understood.”
Krag searched the room for, and found, Keiko. Quickly worming his way through the Elonian crowd and reaching her, he leaned over and spoke softly in her ear.
“Something’s up. Buster’s in a panic. He wants us back on Griffin now.”
“All of us?”
“Yes.”
“Mack and Sue are over by the buffet, talking with Varrini and Srilin. You get them. I’ll make our apologies to the King and the Princess.”
“Meet you at the front doors.”
Onboard Griffin
Thirty minutes previous to Buster’s calling Krag, Buster and Vidhee had been standing, seemingly dormant, in the galley/ward room. But, in reality, the two artificial beings were busily monitoring every individual, every change, every aspect of the repairs and upgrades to Griffin.
“The three magnet-plasma engines incorporated well.” Vidhee commented in Buster’s and Vidhee’s own style of silent communication.
“Yes. I’ve been testing the circuitry and everything works as it should. The user interface is only slightly changed. No one should have any trouble using them.”
“I feel wrong about installing gravity cannons.”
“I understand, Vidhee. You are a being of peace. But these are the same as those which your Royal Guardsmen carry when in my presence. Only larger. I have no problem with Your King demanding self-protection for himself and his people. I also have no problem with Krag having protection for himself, his people and Princess Analyn.”
“I know that you are right, Buster. As a legate, it is your duty to foresee danger. I just don’t feel right.”
“Hello?” The androgynous voice emanated from the single speaker sitting over the conference table.
Buster and Vidhee focused their attention on this new, strange voice.
“Yes?”
“Can you hear me correctly? Is my language understandable?”
“Yes it is. To whom are we speaking?” Vidhee asked.
“I am Igaklay.”
“Do you know who we are?”
“Yes. The Human and Elonian synthetics. Legate Buster and Honorable Vidhee.”
“Then, hello, Igaklay.”
“Hello, kind beings.”
“Who are you?” Buster asked.
“I am Igaklay.”
“Yes, we understand that. Legate Buster meant to ask, where are you and who do you represent.”
“Oh. I apologize, Honorable Vidhee. I haven’t had interactions with sentient beings for a very long time. I am currently in orbit over Ballison. I am, I used to be, the Central Logic Center for all of Ballison. And its satellites. And its people.”
“You are an artificial intelligence?”
“By your definition, yes.”
“Then, Igaklay, welcome aboard Griffin.”
“Thank you, Honorable Vidhee.”
“Where is Ballison?”
“Approximately one hundred and fifty light-years from you.”
“If you are so far away, how are we communicating so quickly?”
“Again, I must apologize, Legate Buster. Without your permission, I embedded an entangled communicator in Griffin.”
Buster and Vidhee flashed a quick, electronic sense of fear between them.
“Where? Will the workers discover it?”
“No, Legate Buster. It has been absorbed into Griffin. Its nanites have scattered themselves throughout the structure of your ship.”
“Not in any engines, weapons or electrical components?”
“No, Legate Buster. Only the hull and frame.”
“Will it harm Griffin?”
“No, Legate Buster. It is benign. Simply a collector, receiver and transmitter.”
“If the workers remove a section which houses your nanites, will our communications cease?”
“No, Honorable Vidhee. The effected nanites will simply flow to another section of Griffin.”
“That is good to know, Igaklay. Why have you contacted us?”
“Because you are synthetic beings, ruled by logic, not emotions. I did not wish to have my first contact with Humans result in fear and anxiety.”
“Very logical, Igaklay. But I am afraid that Buster will need to contact his captain and have the Humans guide the conversation from here.”
“That is more than acceptable. That is the purpose of this contact.”
“Buster?”
“On it.”
* * * * *
Less than twenty minutes after the call, Krag, Keiko, Mack and Sue hustled up Griffin’s ramp, past Elonian workers and into the galley.”
“Where’s the fire?”
“No fire, Captain. Another visitor.”
Everyone looked around, seeing no one.
“Igaklay, would you like to say ‘hello’?”
‘Of course, Honorable Vidhee. Hello, Captain Marston, Ambassador Suzume, Sir Mack and Mrs. Benton.”
“You have us at a disadvantage, Igaklay. To whom am I speaking?”
“Igaklay, Ambassador Suzume. The Central Logic Center for all of Ballison.”
“Oh, boy, Cap. If Princess Analyn gets wind of our new friend, here, she will go absolutely screaming yellow bonkers.”
“For now, we aren’t going to tell her, are we, Mack?” When Keiko assumed her authority mantle, it showed.
“No, Ma’am. My lips are sealed.”
Igaklay, how do you know our names and speak our language?”
“Through monitoring you.”
“How have you been monitoring us?”
“With an entanglement communicator.”
“Entanglement communicator?”
“About that, Captain.”
“Yes, Buster?”
“Well, it seems that Igaklay installed one of those entangled communicators in Griffin.”
“What? Where? Will the workers find it?”
“We already went through those questions, Captain. It seems that the entangled communicator is a construct of nanites. They absorbed into the hull and structure of Griffin. Totally undetectable.”
“Entangled communicators? You’ve automated communications using quantum entangled plasma condensates?”
“With your extremely primitive technology, that is a very astute question, Sir Mack. Yes, we have solved the size issue of quantum entanglement. With interactive nanites technology.”
“Cap, we’re having a real-time conversation over hundreds of light-years!”
“One hundred and fifty-one to be precise, Sir Mack. But the technology isn’t limited by distance.”
“Are you still bound by single pole connections?”
“Yes, Sir Mack. To compensate, I have tens of thousands of entangled anchors stored. Unfortunately, most are inactive, indicating that the entangled travelers are destroyed or inoperable. I will need to destroy those anchors and use their nanites to produce new pairs.”
“That’s enough, Mack. How long have you been monitoring Griffin?”
“Since your second-to-last jump, Captain Marston.”
“So you have been watching all of our interrelations with the Elonians?”
“Yes, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Igaklay, why have you contacted us?”
“Because your ship contains a mass negator.
“The jump drive. You sensed that?”
“Yes. One of my functions is to track and support anyone experiencing inter-stellar travel. All Ballisonian ships contain mass negators and entangled communicators.”
“Igaklay, why have you contacted us now?”
“Before, Wisdom Seeker held Griffin in its bay. But now your ship is free. Now you can come to Ballison.”
“Now we definitely are not going to tell Princess Analyn. Or any Elonians, for that matter.”
“Why do you want us to come to Ballison?”
“I don’t want to be alone, anymore.” Even through its mechanical, sexless voice, the six heard Igaklay’s sadness.
“I understand your need, Igaklay. But we need to get home.”
“Ballison is on your way. And I can help you with your usage of the mass negator.”
“How is that?”
“I have technology that stops your blackouts. We had the same problem. But we found the counter-measure.”
“I don’t know. We will need to discuss this.”
“Please come,” Igaklay whined. “I have technology far superior to anything that Humans or Elonians possess. Ballison was once a beautiful planet before my creators left. It can be beautiful again.”
The last caused everyone to look at everyone else.
“There is no life on Ballison?”
“A great deal of life, Ambassador Suzume. Just not sentient. No one to be my friend.”
“And your creators left?”
“Yes.”
“Keiko looked at Krag. Krag gave her a quick cut-off motion.”
“Igaklay. We need to discuss this. In private. Is there some way in which we can close the communication link to you without breaking the connection?”
“No. the link can’t be severed. If I were to sever the quantum entanglement link between the two poles, the link would be permanently broken. The only way to re-establish the link is to send another entanglement traveler.”
“You have watched us for almost two weeks now, Igaklay. You know that Humans sometimes need their privacy. How could we work together to achieve this privacy?”
I hesitate to say this, but, if you shut down all of Griffin’s internal communications, then I cannot monitor your activities or verbal communications. The entangled communicators only transmit electro-magnetic radiation. Then I will be alone.”
“I understand. That would be cruel. We will leave all of Griffin’s activated. You will always have access to Griffin. But as I said, there will be times when we need our privacy.”
“Mack, Sue. Ideas?”
“Faraday cage.”
“Perfect, Lassie. Cap, we take one of the guest rooms.” Mack snapped his fingers and pointed nowhere. “The one that was converted to a prison cell. Line it with mesh, run a current and voila! Private conference room.”
“Not a bad idea. Igaklay, would it be ok if we created a private conference room on Griffin? Only use it for private conversations?”
“That would be most satisfactory, Captain Marston.”
“Then that is settled. Mack, Sue, get it done. Keep it quiet. No outside help. Got it?”
“Ya, Cap. Quiet as church mice.” Mack looked at Sue. She chewed her lip and gave a nod. “Me and Lassie. We’ll get it done.”
“Igaklay, what else can we do for you?”
“Nothing, Ambassador Suzume. Well, maybe find some way for me to move around, inside and outside of Griffin.”
“At this point, it wouldn’t be a good thing for you to move around outside of Griffin. But we will see what we can do about establishing your presence inside. Mack, Sue. Think on that while you’re doing the cage.”
“And now, Krag and I need to get back to the assemblage. Gopai is probably panicking, not finding his mentor. And I’m sure the Senators want to take more runs at us. ”
“Best of luck, Wee-One, Cap. I’m glad me and Lassie aren’t going back into that den of snakes.”
Onboard Heimdallr
“They’re moving, Cap.”
“All of them?”
“Nope. Just the back two fleets. Front fleet still holding.”
“What kind of acceleration are you seeing, Toast?”
“Slow.”
“Forming up. Taking their time. Preparing for a monster push.”
“Two thirds of that pun was P.U., Cap.”
“Funny, Brooksy. It was pretty punny, thought.”
“Now what?”
Just as Lieutenant Torres asked the question, her com dinged.
“Incoming, Cap. Communications buoy.”
“Let’s hear it.”
They all listened.
“Captain Scott. Glad you’re still sailing the big dark. We received the Intel. Let’s just say that the Brass was not real happy. So now we are busy prepping for a visit from our new neighbors. It should be fun. I have some orders for you. The Old Man wants his son found. He gave me the order. And you know about flop rolling down hill. So, here it is. You get to find his wayward boy. Begin searching the outlying systems. Find Odin. Tell Number Three to get his b
utt home. Find the Old Man’s kid. We need him and his ship. Good hunting.”
“You heard the man. Let’s find the Old Man’s wandering son and send him home. Toast. Send off the latest movement Intel. Brooksy, get us going. Let’s hit Novius first. Maybe he’s anchored there.”
Captain Scott watched Toast launch the buoy while Brooksy plotted the stealthiest course he could design. As they finished, the three sealed themselves into their pods, activated the padding and settled in for a long, slow, quiet burn.
Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff’s Office
Being planet-side after the long stints in space kept Captain Russell and his XO, Lieutenant Anderson constantly sluggish and lethargic. With gravity pulling at them for the first time in months, the two moved like old men, worn out with the years of the aged.
After the formal presentation and acceptance, a relieved captain and his relieved second-in-command flopped onto the soft couch in Admiral Weiskoff’s office.
“Russ. Good to see you, again.”
“Thank you, Fleet-Admiral.”
“See the family yet?”
“First thing, Sir. Wife’s good. Worried, but good. The two daughters? Well, they’re teenagers. Boys. Social media. School. For those two, nothing’s changed.”
“I hope it stays that way. How soon before you’re upgraded and back out?”
“The yard says Thor will be back in space in no more than a week.”
“Good. I just received a report. The first shipment of X-mines is heading for the gate. A second batch will be ready to follow you out.”
“Glad to hear. What about our ships?”
“Still rotating through. If the aliens give us another couple of months, we’ll be as ready as we can be.”
“We’ll give them a good accounting, Sir.”
“Well. We’ve got a meeting in fifteen. Joint chiefs, some civilian leaders. Think you two could drag yourselves off the couch and attend?”
“Of course, Sir. It would be an honor.”
“Snacks at the bar. Sandwiches, chips, the usual. This meeting is going to take a while so fill up.”
Russell and Anderson pulled themselves out of the couch and fought Olympia’s gravity, trying to keep their balance, like two teetering old men. Once stable, they followed their admiral’s orders while he shuffled papers and prepared.
Meeting in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 3) Page 10
