“Of course, Georges,” said Pieon. Georges removed his re-breather and coat as he cycled out of the interview room.
10
Georges entered the reception area and found the High Councilman Ferdanda, Second Councilman Hazles and a couple of other council members accompanied by a detail of security police. Also, standing in the back with his head down, Georges saw Brant Lazles.
The HC spoke up, “Georges, we need to talk, the situation has changed since I saw you last. I’ve been instructed by the Head of the Off-World Development Department to at all costs determine the viability of the Trilons as a work resource for the corporation. I’ve also been instructed to personally oversee the research. Of course, I would like you to stay involved if possible, seeing my presence as only a bulwark of official support for the decisions you are going to have to make to speed up the process. Do you understand?”
“Yes, High Councilman, where would you like to start,” replied Georges.
“Excellent,” said the HC with a smile, “perhaps you could fill me in with your most recent work while the other council members take a tour of our labs? An acquaintance of mine, young Mr. Lazles, has volunteered to head the tour.”
Brant stepped forward and said quietly, “Hello Professor, I hope you don’t mind, you see High Councilman Ferdanda knows my father and so contacted me to meet him here, I couldn’t refuse his summons.”
Georges shrugged and said, “Of course Brant, I don’t mind.”
“High Councilman, I have just one request, I need to retrieve my notes from the lab so that I can explain to you my latest research. I'll meet you in the whiteboard room to fill you in. Would you mind showing the High Councilman to the room Brant, before you begin the tour of the facilities?”
“Of course, Professor,” said Brant. “This way everyone.” After they had turned to follow Brant, Georges raced for the interview room and Pieon.
"Pieon quick!" Georges yelled as he entered the interview room, overriding the airlock cycler. He grabbed his re-breather and outer coat as he approached Pieon. "We've got to get you out of here, I have lost control of my research and can no longer guarantee yours or any Trilon's safety."
"But Georges, you, I must talk."
"Pieon really, this is not the time for a chat, we must go." Georges began to rip the translation module from Pieon and noticed it was not active. “Pieon, the translation module, I...”
"Come now Georges," said Pieon looking at the open airlock behind Georges. Before Georges could argue he heard one of the security detail in the opening ordering both of them to stay where they were. When the woman turned to call to the others, Pieon grabbed Georges and headed for the Trilon's airlock. Somehow as he approached the airlock, Pieon overrode its protocol and they were outside and running before the rest of the security detail could arrive. Georges was breathing hard through his re-breather and not looking back.
11
“Well we've found it,” said Dr. Burton. “Now what do we do with it?”
The meeting was taking place in the wardroom. The Captain and his officers as well as the three scientists attended.
“How long would it take Captain Wilkerson to get to the location of the globes?”
“Lieutenant Sims?”
Lt. Sims was the ship's navigator.
“Sir, I would estimate at least a year with all the necessary stopovers for recharging the power reservoir.”
“Two years travel time plus stay over,” said Jean. “Probably more money than my university would be willing to grant.”
“Even if we could get the money it seems kind of like an open commitment for such a distant location,” said Dr. Burton.
“Can we do anything remotely?” said Dr. Schenk.
“You mean analyze the globes from the university?” asked Burton.
“Excuse me sir,” said Lt. Stefens the wormhole operator. “When we close this wormhole it will be impossible to cast another mouth that distance. We don't have enough power for such a cast. Even a small one for communications.”
“I'm afraid that's true Dr. Burton. Maybe two-hundred light-years for communications but certainly not five-hundred,” said the Captain.
“So we have to do whatever we are going to do right here.”
“And by the end of the week ma'am. That's all the authorization I have for remaining in Earth orbit.”
“Well even if we can just bring back a sample of information we could use it to interest others in funding an expedition to gather more,” said Jean.
Working around the clock the three scientists came up with an arrangement that they hoped would be able to read one of the recorder globes they could see. They knew from Dr. Howe's work that the globes were a holographic data storage system. And that a laser-based analyzer had been used to read out the data. An analyzer small enough to be carried through the wormhole by a bird had been obtained from a university on Earth with the promise of sharing any data received with the university.
Dr. Burton had mounted the analyzer to one of his birds. He was ready to release the bird into the wormhole.
“Okay,” he said. “Here we go.”
The bird passed through the wormhole and joined the other bird at the far end. Dr. Burton began remotely positioning the bird close enough to one of the recorder globes for a scan. At first, the analyzer examined the surface of the globe, developing a model. Then Dr. Burton ramped up the power to penetrate into the interior.
The diffraction tomography showed what appeared to be a cloud of particles made up of many shapes. Switching the analyzer into spectroscopy mode the lasers created a spectrum of the particles. Too complex to analyze on-site the information began to be transmitted back to the ship.
While this back haul of information was incoming Dr. Burton switched the analyzer to readout mode. The lasers began firing at different frequencies and angles while analyzing the results. The resulting readout began flowing back down the wormhole and also into Dr. Burton's Emmie.
“We've got it!” he shouted. “Now all we need is the time to read this globe and the others.”
But time they didn't have. The ship would have to shutdown the wormhole within twenty-four hours and start its journey back to Centauri. Freight was already being brought aboard and passengers would start showing up soon.
“If we just had more time,” said Dr. Schenk.
“If we take the estimates of Dr. Howe to be reliable it would still take a lot of time at the data rate we are able to maintain,” said Dr. Burton.
“Yeah like thirty years,” said Jean.
The two others shook their heads.
“Okay so we get as much as we can. Thank the Captain and get back to our universities to decode and understand what we did get.”
“Agreed,” said the other two in unison.
Jean had the farthest to go to get back to her university in the Muir 3 habitat orbiting Midloth. Enlisting the aid of some graduate students she went about decoding and organizing the resultant information. As her team worked and compared their results with the other teams led by Burton and Schenk it became obvious that the information they had obtained was quite eclectic.
They had obviously not known in what order to read the globes and the globes that they had the time to read were a mix of different historical events and times. Just relating the many different moments to each other would require years of research.
So Jean did what she thought was as good as any method of proceeding. She, as randomly as possible, chose different parts of the database to decode and understand. It was not a very scientific way to proceed but it allowed her to get some idea of what was in the data and what's more, some idea of what the entire complement of recorder globes might contain.
It might be said that it is a blessing that humans and human society forget. Imagine all those memories of every second of every minute being crammed into our collective conscience. It would be remarkable but maybe a little too daunting to do anything other than remember. Would
we even dare to add to such a trove?
Jean thought about this as she went through the random history that she and her students were decoding. It wasn't too difficult to guess which part came before the others but of course, any pretense at integration would have to wait.
In these snippets of the history of the human race, she found some familiar and some totally alien and often baffling information.
For instance, she found a discussion about a bridge built across (or through, she couldn't tell) the Red Sea in an era when such bridges would have been an impossible task for a man-made structure. It appeared that it might be related to a biblical passage but the information was incomplete apparently requiring continuance in one of the recorder globes that they had not decoded.
It was frustrating to not be able to figure out which globe the passage pointed to but she really did not know which globe she was reading. They would eventually have to figure out what kind of hierarchy arranged these globes.
Another bit of information suggested time travel but not how to implement it. Still another piece spoke of baby universe's but it too was incomplete. So many hints at wonders that she couldn't understand. Then she found it.
A ship had been sent out to find the second lost expedition before the Second Dark Ages but upon arriving in the star system and searching the habitable planets no trace of the missing expedition was ever discovered. After searching for a couple of months the ship returned to Centauri. No expedition, no debris on any of the planets, nothing to indicate that the expedition had ever been there.
Vanished, thought Jean. No SOS, no debris, not a trace.
All she knew was that her only chance now of discovering what had happened to the lost expedition lay some five-hundred light-years distant among the millions of recorder globes on an alien world.
12
Pieon was in the lead. He turned and commanded, "Georges follow!" Georges was working hard to keep up with Pieon. He was surprised at how fast the smaller being could run. Georges was over a head taller with a correspondingly longer stride and while not in peak shape was not that out of condition. Still, Pieon was having to slow to wait for Georges.
Deep in the wooded area beyond the facility, Pieon stopped. Georges, trying to catch his breath said, "Pieon I'm surprised how fast you can run."
Pieon gave a shrug, something he seemed to have picked up from Georges and said, "Don't know, concentrate and run, I guess."
"Well the biophysicists have certainly underestimated your physical abilities. Where to now?"
"We will not go to Pieon's home, we will go to Jaeon's," said Pieon. "He will be pleased, is curious like Pieon."
"Lead on then friend Pieon, I have set my sail with yours." Pieon looked at Georges, shrugged and turned, and began running again.
Georges found himself for the first time outdoors in the open, the Trilon's environment not his. The Rigans had not bothered to explore the area beyond the immediate work zone, so busy with the project and short of workers they were. Eventually, every square latick would be explored and mapped, but for now, this was all new to Rigan eyes.
Like the Trilon, most of the vegetation was smaller than what Georges was used to on Riga. But the colors were more vibrant because of the light, Georges knew the light was brighter and more penetrating here than on Riga. The slightly smaller Trilon world and the slightly lower air pressure accounted for the difference he thought, even though Trilon was farther away from the common sun.
Before long Georges noticed what he took to be insects both on the ground and in the air. He was covered pretty well so he wasn't worried about being bitten, still, he and the other Rigans knew nothing about these life forms. Other than the 'insects' Georges saw no other life, not in the air or on the ground, perhaps they were just hiding.
It was nearing dusk when Pieon and Georges approached a small dwelling on the fringes of the forest. To Georges the place looked only large enough to accommodate two, maybe three Trilon. It was shaped like a mound of soil but had the signs of a modern abode with bright metallic piping and environmental appliances about.
As Georges got closer to the dwelling he noticed it was not made of soil but some kind of material that seemed to dull or shimmer depending on the angle of the light shining on it. He also noticed it seemed to be bigger than it first appeared. Somehow it blended into the surroundings when seen from far off but became more pronounced closer up.
Pieon approached a nondescript area of the mound and an opening effortlessly appeared. Oval in shape, as if the door had expanded into the walls the way a pupil dilates into the iris. Pieon gestured for Georges to enter first. Georges proceeded and was a bit surprised he could enter without noticeably stooping.
13
Jaeon welcomed Georges in a halting but passable version of the Rigan's speech as Georges reached the bottom of the entrance stairs. Jaeon motioned for Georges to take a seat. He then greeted Pieon in the Trilon language and finished the greeting by making the ubiquitous head bow to Pieon. Pieon reciprocated which brought their foreheads into close proximity. Georges had noted this greeting many times in his dealings with the Trilon but just now, perhaps because of his recent conversation with Pieon back at the lab, it occurred to him that it might be more than a formality. He also noticed that Jaeon while superficially resembling Pieon had quite different features when they were viewed side by side. He wondered if he had really noticed the Trilons at all until now.
Jaeon said in Rigan, “Yes, you and friend Georges are welcomed. May stay as long as want. We will have food now, yes?”
“Yes,” replied Pieon before turning to Georges and saying, “we have something for you to eat and drink.”
“Thank you Pieon, Jaeon, I have never tried Trilon cuisine before, this should be interesting,” said Georges, almost to himself.
Jaeon bowed and moved quickly towards a part of the wall between some furnishings, Georges flinched, but the wall opened the same way the outer door had and closed behind Jaeon. Georges and Pieon talked in the front room. Georges rose and examined the wall that Jaeon had just passed through. He turned to Pieon and said, “Pieon, these openings, how do they know to activate?”
“Activate?” asked Pieon.
“Yes, what causes them to open? It seems to be some kind of proximity effect that you and Jaeon trigger.”
“We see as we approach, wall opening, and it does,” said Pieon.
“I see,” said Georges, although he didn't.
“Pieon,” said Georges, “when you and Jaeon greeted each other you also bowed your heads together. Why do Trilon do that?”
“A greeting of harmony, Georges. All Trilon must harmonize. We notice Rigan do not.”
“Harmonize,” said Georges, “that sounds almost musical. But I think you must mean agreement, is that right?”
“Not so much agreement, Georges, as understand. We have custom to understand, this is why I make the Long March.”
“Yes,” said Georges, “you made the Long March just before you came to see me, Pieon?”
“Yes Georges that is why I came to share my Long March with you. I have much understanding now which I had not before. Let me tell.”
“Okay,” Pieon, “I'm ready, but remember we haven't the translator between us now, you may have to excuse my dullness.”
“Georges not dull,” said Pieon.
He continued, “I and some other Trilon take the Long March often. Not all, march though, only those who can support or be supported. I and others take our understanding to many Trilon. In return, they pass their understanding to us. We, those that take the Long March, then must harmonize. Afterward, we take the understanding to other Trilon, just as I brought it to Jaeon when we greeted.”
“You and Jaeon have an understanding now,” said Georges hesitantly.
“We have harmonized, the understanding will follow. We will harmonize again before we part, then the understanding will be completed for now. Here is what I wanted to tell you Georges.
“On this Long March I went much farther than before, the past has opened as a door in a wall and I discover a beginning. Trilon did not always harmonize until an understanding. I believe Rigans have difficulty with harmonize?”
“Yes, Trilon, I believe we do,” said Georges, beginning to understand.
“Yes, Georges, Trilon did not always harmonize and this led to not understanding. We had not the wafer and the EM waves did not pass. My glimpse of that time is a bit scared. I'm not sure I can understand before. The feeling of alone is so great.”
“Pieon, I think you are talking about what I would call perception at a distance or telepathy. But you are explaining it in terms of hard science not, mysticism. The Trilon have accomplished some kind of bridge between minds by using the electromagnetic spectrum and clever engineering. You use it to share that which each of you knows with the other. I can't imagine how your brains assimilate such a torrent of data but it must be a learned ability, occurring over time.
“And it must affect everything about your civilization. I've already seen things here at Jaeon's house that make me believe we have greatly underestimated your level of technological advancement. I believe that these doorways that appear as you and Jaeon approach are sensing this EM signal that you can project, is that correct?”
Just then Jaeon entered the room carrying a tray of food and drink.
14
Jean had done it. She had organized a research expedition to find the recorder globes. It had a shoestring budget but it was a budget and it had the personnel although most were volunteers.
The use of the wormhole driven fusion ship was provided by a large entertainment conglomerate that hoped to get a documentary out of the expedition.
The Lost Colonies or Space Disasters or some such, thought Jean.
But she went along with it because of the donation. Everyone aboard was required to wear a continuous recorder when not retired to their quarters or involved in other activities of a personal nature. The producers especially wanted them on during meetings.
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