Delphi Challenge

by Bob Blanton

  “Too many jumps in that,” Liz said.

  “The wormhole goes to the lowest gravity point in the area. The jump drives create gravity voids, so that’s where the wormhole wants to be. And if you open two wormholes to the same system, they combine into one between the two source systems. I think we can build a set of gates that will allow us to jump directly from Sol to Artemis Prime.”

  “That’s huge,” Blake said.

  “It is. That will take five days off of the transition,” Liz said. “And skipping all that low gravity time will make the trip more comfortable.”

  “I’m thinking about the combat strategy options it opens,” Blake said. “If we can choose exactly where the Victory comes out, it gives us a major advantage.”

  “Okay, put it in your simulation,” Marc said. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “Just one last thing,” Blake said. “How many jump ships do we have?”

  “We have four, but Ajda is making it a top priority to make another four.”

  “Good. I’d like to have more than that. Marc, do you agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “Catie?”

  “I’ll tell Ajda to make it a priority to get, what, twelve more built?”

  “That will work for now,” Blake said. “I assume this will work with the drives in the Roebuck and the Sakira.”

  “Yes, you just can’t send another ship through,” Catie said.

  “Okay. Back to you, Marc.”

  “Thanks. With our current situation, I think we want to skip any further mods to the Victory and get her fully crewed and out here,” Marc said.

  “I agree. Do you want us to pull out the cabins that we’ve installed in the flight bay?” Blake asked.

  “No, let’s just not have any delay before we get it out here, we can pull those cabins later and use them.”

  “Okay. What about the Paraxean carrier?”

  “I don’t see any reason to change their plans. But we should think about whether we want to bring the Enterprise over here as well.”

  “Let’s see what we learn in the simulation,” Blake said. “The security council will have apoplexy if we take the Enterprise out of Sol.”

  “We’ll do what we must, but I’m okay with waiting until we learn more,” Marc said. “Everyone should have the script for the reply to the aliens. Let me know if you want changes. I plan to record it and send it out tomorrow or Wednesday.”

  “There's a big celebration planned by the U.N. to commemorate the discovery of Artemis,” Fred said. “It’ll be Blake’s and my first chance to be the big cheeses at the party.”

  “You can have it,” Marc said. “How are our friends doing?”

  “We’ve finalized the language on the treaty about cross-system sharing of intellectual property. It looks like China and Russia are on board,” Blake said.

  “That’s good to hear; what changed their minds?” Marc asked.

  “For the Russians, it’s probably the new lubricant they developed. It reduces friction by another twenty percent over standard oil. So you get a big increase in engine efficiencies,” Fred said. “I suspect they think they’ll find customers in other systems for it.”

  “Developed on Delphi Station?”

  “Yes, seems you can get strong hydrocarbon bonds in microgravity,” Fred explained.

  “And the Chinese?”

  “I think they see the writing on the wall. They’ve also asked for space on Delphi Station.”

  “Good, same rules as we used for the Russians,” Marc said. “Kal, do we have enough security up there?”

  “We will,” Kal said. “I’m going to add another full squad of Marines.”

  “Admiral Michaels?” Marc prompted.

  “I seemed to have picked up interfacing with Maggie. It makes sense since there’s crossover with the alliance. Anyway, there is serious discussion about doing something in Africa. I’ll have more next month. But the U.N. wants to prove that it can do something about these failed states,” Admiral Michaels said.

  “It’s about time,” Samantha said.

  “They’re actually cutting off all arms shipments to the various countries around the world that are having civil wars.”

  “To both sides?”

  “Yes. Everyone figures if they’re reduced to throwing rocks, they might sit down and talk. It also paves the way for a peacekeeping force to step in.”

  “How are they cutting off the arms shipments?”

  “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re not worried about prosecution. They’re just interdicting the shipments on the water. And with no official governments supplying the arms, that has been pretty effective.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Governor Paratar, we should make orbit in three days. How are your preparations going?” Liz asked.

  “Captain Farmer, we have all of the cargo pods ready for you. Unfortunately, one third of them are empty.”

  “I understand. It takes time to establish a new world. I hope you’re ready for all of your new colonists.”

  “We are eagerly awaiting their arrival.”

  “I’ll call again just after we make orbit. Good day.”

  “To you also, Captain.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Lieutenant Payne, Captain of the Roebuck, was asking permission for his Lynx to land in the Dutchman’s flight bay one hour after the Dutchman slipped into orbit behind the Roebuck.

  “Derek, you’re sure in a hurry,” Liz said.

  “We’ve been here for almost a year. We’re all getting tired of each other,” Derek said.

  “Is that all?”

  “No, please tell me you’ve brought the case of Scotch I asked for?”

  “I have it. I didn’t know you were such a heavy drinker.”

  “I’m not, but there are a few things that can only get done after the exchange of a bottle of scotch. And I’ve been out for three months.”

  “In that case, you’ll be glad to hear we brought two cases for you, compliments of Catie.”

  “Oh, I’ll be sure to thank her on our next Comm call.”

  “You can also let your crew know that we have managed to stash quite a few luxury items from Earth. They’ll be available for sale starting tomorrow. We’ll send the list out today.”

  “You are a pirate!”

  “Hey, a girl’s got to make a living.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have a lot of eager customers. Just don’t gouge them too much?”

  “Catie and I agreed on two hundred fifty percent of cost,” Liz said.

  “I was wrong, you’re both pirates,” Derek laughed.

  “Just to show you how wrong you are, let’s go to my cabin and I’ll pour you a scotch.”

  “Not rum?”

  “We’re Scottish pirates.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Why have you built the city so dense?” Liz asked.

  “Paraxeans are a gregarious race. And especially after coming out of stasis, they want to be close to their fellow Paraxeans,” Governor Paratar said.

  “Why is that?”

  “We don’t understand it that well ourselves, but the experience of stasis seems to make you lonely.”

  “Aren’t you just frozen?”

  “Oh, we do not freeze ourselves. Long term freezing leads to too much cell damage. It takes months to recover from that, and even then you never fully recover.”

  “So if you don’t freeze yourselves, what do you do?”

  “I’ll try to explain, of course one of our doctors could do a better job.”

  “I’m sure your explanation will be just fine. A doctor's would probably be too technical.”

  “Okay, I’ll try. When you enter a stasis chamber, you’re connected to an IV that provides all the nutrients your body needs. It also circulates the blood through the system which removes all the waste and re-oxygenates it. In addition, it removes enzymes that would eat away your muscles, so you generally wake up as fit as you were when you w
ent in. Once all the connections are complete, the chamber is filled with fluid, similar to the liquid breathing you people use for deep diving.”

  “If your blood is being re-oxygenated, why do you have to do the liquid breathing?”

  “We need to make sure that your lungs are happy. They will quit working after a short time, but the liquid breathing is critical for when you start the stasis as well as when you are brought out of stasis. Once everything is established, they start to lower the temperature of the liquid. It is taken down to ten degrees Celsius. At that temperature, with all your body’s needs taken care of, your body goes into a kind of hibernation. All activity slows down and aging almost stops.”

  “Almost stops?”

  “Dr. Metra says it’s much like your Galapagos tortoise. Things are so slow that there is little cell damage; your body doesn’t need to regenerate your cells, so it requires fewer nutrients and less oxygen. Eventually it reaches the state we call stasis proximal. At that point, the probes attached to your brain start to manipulate your brain waves, putting you into a deep sleep. You don’t dream, so there shouldn’t be any sensation of time passing, but there is. When you wake from stasis, you feel that passage of time, and it feels like it was a very lonely time.”

  “That sounds lonely,” Liz said.

  “Yes it does. Therefore, after waking from stasis, Paraxeans crave the company of other Paraxeans. It takes over a year before your psyche recovers. So in a few years, we’ll spread the city out, and many of these buildings will be converted to office buildings, though some will remain condos. Of course, we cannot do that until we’ve brought all the colonists out of stasis.”

  “I see. Will you build other cities?”

  “Yes, but they will be built and populated by Paraxeans who are ready to leave here and move to a new place. This will always be where we bring the new colonists after they come out of stasis.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “I hope that on your next trip, we’ll be ready for my wife and children to accompany you,” Governor Paratar said.

  “I’m sure they’re just as anxious as you are. Do you call them often?” Liz asked.

  “Not too often, we cannot abuse the bandwidth you allow us to use. But at least once a week.”

  “The Paraxean children seem to be doing well; they’ve all joined in the exercise and training classes that Samantha has our colonists taking.”

  “That is good. How is their English?”

  “They seem to be doing well. All the Paraxeans seem to enjoy the movies and TV shows we provide. Most of them are in English.”

  “That is good. We are encouraging all of our colonists to learn English. It is obvious that it will become the language of trade. How are your people interacting with the Paraxeans?”

  “The children are doing great. I saw them playing in the parks and generally having a good time. The trainers say the Paraxean children are excellent students.”

  “And the adults?”

  “There’s not as much interaction, but I saw several mixed groups when I went to dinner.”

  “That sounds promising. I hope our peoples can become good friends.”

  “I’m sure we will. We have so much in common. Your colonists were excellent guests on the Dutchman.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  There were numerous large celebrations set up to recognize the discovery of Artemis. With Marc and Liz off-planet and Catie in disguise, Blake was left as the one to represent MacKenzie Discoveries.

  “I cannot believe you agreed to this,” Jackie said.

  “Hey, you’re the one who said she wanted to go to a few royal balls,” Blake said.

  “But six in one day, that’s insane.”

  “It won’t be too bad. Fred and Latoya will be with us. And we can rest on the Lynx.”

  “But twenty-two hours of parties?”

  Blake laughed, “Yes, six cities, six time zones and four continents. We’ll set a record.”

  “If we survive it.”

  “And you get to wear six different dresses with six different sets of jewelry.”

  “Yes, while you get away with one tuxedo.”

  “Well, six actually; they’re mostly the same, but even I wouldn’t wear one tuxedo for twenty-two hours.”

  “So, the first one is in Tokyo at the royal palace,” Jackie said.

  “Yes, we get to meet the Emperor and his wife.”

  “I’m sure that will be exciting,” Jackie said, expressing her boredom at the thought.

  “Then next we’ll be in Beijing; it’s a good thing the Chinese like to party late. We won’t get there until ten.”

  “So we won’t get to see the Forbidden City?”

  “No, it’s forbidden,” Blake joked. “We’ll be in Zhongnanhai, it’s right next door. After that we’ve got a four-hour break while we fly to Paris.”

  “Where we’ll again not get to see the city,” Jackie complained.

  “We can go back anytime you want. But you’re going to get to meet most of the European leaders and a lot of royalty.”

  “Oh joy, then after a couple of hours of partying in Paris, most of which will be taken up with the introductions, we fly to New York.”

  “Right, there you get to meet President Novak and the Canadian Prime Minister. Then we jet to L.A.”

  “How do we make that in time?” Jackie asked.

  “The president is allowing us to go supersonic for the flight to L.A. and we arrive there at eleven.”

  “How do we make it back to Delphi City in time?”

  “Mach five, baby. Except for our flight from Beijing, all of them are about 1½ hours. And with a Hover Lynx, we get to leave from the nearest helipad.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Hello, again,” Marc said. He was wearing the governor’s uniform that Blake had created and was sitting in his office in the city. This communication would be all business, no niceties.

  “I would like to reinforce my request that you enter an outer orbit of our solar system when you arrive. We feel that you should be able to establish one at sixty AUs. An AU is the distance that Artemis is from our sun, Artemis Prime. We’ll be out there to meet you and provide any assistance that you may need.”

  Marc paused the video to handle some business from a very military-looking pair of officers, then continued. “I’ve been informed that the Victory, a starship from our naval fleet, is due to arrive in a few weeks. It is much more capable than the one we have here, so it should be able to help with any repairs or replenishments that you may require. We are concerned that your recent course change will make it difficult for you to decelerate enough to stop in our system.”

  Marc squared himself to the camera and leaned forward. “I cannot impress upon you enough how much we look forward to establishing a friendly and mutually beneficial trade between our two civilizations. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “How can he know about our course change?!” Captain Shakaban demanded after he had finished reviewing the message from Marc. “There hasn’t been enough time for the light to reach him, much less for them to discern the change.”

  “Maybe he’s guessing,” Lieutenant Lantaq suggested.

  “And he says he wants to help us. If he wants to help us, he can leave that system!” Captain Shakaban yelled.

  “It doesn’t look as if he’s willing to do that,” Lieutenant Lantaq said.

  “Well, we’ll be changing his mind soon!”

  “What do you think about his claim that the warship Victory will be arriving soon?”

  “Lies! He is trying to intimidate us. Well, it won’t work.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Hello, Governor McCormack,” Captain Shakaban said. “It always amazes me the stories that the governors of worlds we’ve encountered make up to try and dissuade us from visiting their systems. One would think that starships grow on trees and travel at ten
times the speed of light.”

  The captain paused, giving the camera a feral grin.

  “We will be happy to have you meet us on your fringe, sixty AUs you said. And I continue to hope we can come to terms on the rules for trade. The Empire does not trade with many of our neighbors, except of course those that have joined the Empire.

  “We are now getting very detailed sensor readings from Zagawani, and we don’t see signs of the vibrant colony that you describe. Possibly those words have different meanings in our languages. I look forward to meeting you face-to-face. Until then.”

  “You are inviting him to meet you with his entire fleet!” Lieutenant Lantaq said.

  “That is exactly what I am doing. Wake all of our crew from stasis. We have six weeks to prepare.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Ms. Randall, can I get you anything?” the attorney asked as he escorted her to his office.

  “No.”

  “I have to tell you, after reviewing the prosecution’s case, I find it is very compelling.”

  “I know,” Ms. Randall whispered.

  “Is there anything you wish me to do?”

  “Get me a deal.”

  “Is there anything you can tell me that would be of benefit in making a deal?”

  “I told that son of a bitch that nobody dumps me!”

  “I think we’ll keep that to ourselves. Anything else?”

  “No.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Sophia was again at the courthouse recording a story.

  “Today, Ms. Dorothea Randall entered a plea of guilty. As part of the plea deal, she was sentenced to ten years. This reporter has learned the terms of her sentence. She has had to refund Delphi for the cost of the police investigation into her crime as well as the cost of the prosecution. She will be housed in the city jail. She will be given a job working in the recycling plant at the airport. She will travel to and from her jail cell each day on her own. She will have a tracking device inserted under her skin as well as being required to wear a Comm at all times. She has to proceed directly to and from her job via taxi or walking, and is not allowed any side trips.

  “This reporter wonders if that is sufficient punishment for murder? It will obviously be a minimal burden on the state, but how will the victim’s family feel?”