by Steve Hertig
Fractime Equilibrium (Part 6)
Steve Hertig
All characters in this book are fictitious.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2014 Steve Hertig
ISBN 9781310914584
You can connect with other Fractime fans and the author online at Facebook: https://facebook.com/fractime
Version 2.0
This book contains mature content.
Part 6: Equilibrium
"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe."
-Ray Bradbury
Chapter 47
Planet Trua
As John walked up a stony path to a small cottage, he smiled seeing the twins playing in a large Guyata tree in the front garden. Jen, under a branch and next to a rope swing, moved methodically to a complex kata, but he knew she was also very aware of their eight-year olds.
"Hi Dad," Mac said swinging from a branch several meters above his mother's head.
John looked further up into the tree to where a local version of a robin, caring for a clutch of four bright purple eggs, engrossed his sister, Zuni.
"We've got our science project nearly finished," Mac said. "Uncle Rodney just left."
"He told me," John said. "I ran into him leaving the Citadel."
"As it's almost dinner time, can I cook tonight?" Zuni asked obscured by huge Guyata leafs rustling halfway down the tree.
"As long as it's not scrambled eggs," John shouted up into the foliage.
Jen gave him a stern look.
"Yucky!" Zuni said.
She was a strict vegan, but Mac ate anything and everything, both of which made for interesting meal times.
"How were class and the council meeting?" Jen asked.
"Same ol'," John replied.
John was teaching introductory Trua Science most mornings at the citadel that included the twin's class. Mac and Zuni were attentive and appeared eager to learn. John knew they already had a complete understanding of the geology, including the complex tidal tectonic processes of the small planet with binary suns and several moons of significant mass.
"Tye should be back soon," he added.
Tye was on assignment downline from the RefPlane in the late sixteenth century attempting to stop the leaning tower of Pisa from prematurely falling over before Galileo's famous experiment. They had collaborated briefly on the project, but soil mechanics was not his specialty.
"And there's some kind of temporal disturbance in deep space. Luinan wants us to check it out," he said.
"Another mission? Really?" she asked excitedly.
Their last mission was a search and rescue for Flint near the Lár that had come up empty several years ago, as did a number of earlier attempts across a spectrum of times.
"Yup. The twins are old enough now," he replied eyeing Zuni agilely descending the tree gibbon style, copying Wigwag's previous antics in the unusual tree.
"You guys get to go into deep space! Cool!" the twins said in unison while jumping synchronously to the ground.
"You just have to finish your weapon systems' qualification aboard the Monitor," John told Jen as she wiped her face with a towel.
The Family had requested a re-christening of the Mobius as permitted by Confederation salvage rights, in effect, because of its extensive modifications by Seren.
But because of its temporal drive, the Time Corps held up transfer of the ship for years in Confederation courts. Finally, devoid of all integrated weapon systems except for its main laser cannon, the Confederation released the repaired Mobius as the Monitor to the Family. But there were severe restrictions, including at least one Confederation bridge officer for any mission and tough certifications imposed for any Family crew.
"I'm almost there," Jen said. "But leaving the twins?"
"We've talked about it before," John reminded her. "They need some freedom and we should only be away for few days."
"Yeah. We need to express our rapid development with some independence," Zuni said, "Don’t we Mac?"
Her brother just rolled his eyes. "As long as we get our entropy project done. You both go have some fun in deep space," he said to his parents. "It must get boring looking after kids all the time."
John gave Jen a worried look. Mac could not have been more wrong. The twins were developmentally well beyond their eight years, and they both had shocking intelligence. Mac was at a university level in mathematics and Zuni's blossoming talents in biochemistry were equally worrisome.
It turned out Jen was in the early stages of the double pregnancy when Dr. Fanau first inoculated them together nine years ago thus, exposing the twins in utero to Mór code. It was yet another thing Mick had kept to himself and left the universe to sort out.
John still teased Jen that there had to be at least a slim chance the twin's extraordinary intelligence was due to the Midleton the night before. But they eventually fully accepted their children's Mór exposure; and although the twins seemed well adjusted, their continuous demand for new experiences was draining.
"Jenny did say she'd look after them," Jan said cautiously.
John saw both youngsters try to suppress smiles at the mention of Auntie Jenny.
"If not," he said," maybe Sam and Sar—"
"I vote for the beach!" Zuni said, jumping up a down. "And we haven't seen Ces, Barney or Angstrom for ages."
"Or tar balls," Mac added flatly, "but we have to get our project done; Uncle Rodney has to go back to Minus and can't stay much longer on Trua."
"And then there's Uncle Rodney's paper on dark-energy entropic decay," Zuni said. "We just need our project to collect a bit more data," she added with a nudge to Mac.
"That's what our project is all about. We're first authors," he said proudly looking at his sister then to his parents.
"Maybe Ces could come to Trua," John said rethinking sending the twins to Texas.
Jen looked lovingly at John and sighed. "Deep space does sound good."
John tried to keep up with the twins as they ran up the steps to the citadel for their first morning class, but he stopped halfway up as they disappeared through its open gothic doors. As he had a few minutes to spare before meeting Jen and a preliminary planning session on the deep-space mission, he turned around and sat down to catch his breath.
As he watched a sunrise over the sea in front of the citadel and the city of Cosain, Rodney called down to him from the top steps.
"John!"
"Good morning, Rodney," John said and waved still facing the sea as he slowly got up and stretched.
Turning around, he saw the young physicist coming down to join him. "It's okay. I'm coming up."
Undeterred, Rodney joined him as he resumed his climb up the steps. "I just saw Mac and Zuni," he said.
"Impossible. They were at least warp two last time I saw them," John quipped.
"Is it true? You are going into deep space again?" he asked.
John shook his head. "Jen and I have a prelim on the mission in a few minutes. Some kind of space-time anomaly."
"How deep?" Rodney asked as they entered the Citadel.
"It's somewhere over Sol and above the clockwise galactic spiral," John replied remembering yesterday's conversation with Luinan.
"But how far?" he persisted.
"Damn, I've only had one coffee, Rodney."
"Sorry professor, but do you know?"
John sighed. "I think the anomaly is over two kiloparsecs above Sol and within the Holocene, if remember correctly, and I don’t think we'll be going that far probably just above the galactic disc. I can have the precise coordinates af
ter—"
"Close enough and perfect," Rodney said.
"Let me guess," John said stopping to smile at the young Higgs in the middle of the citadel's archive section full of O'jits. "Does the twin's science project have anything to do with your interest?"
"We need to observe our galaxy's mass field avoiding the gravitational noise generated by its spiraling arms. Anywhere above the disc is perfect."
"I don't know. It's the Monitor's first mission with Family bridge crew. I don’t think the queen will go for it."
"The experiment is totally passive. Just a box less than 500 mils square. And we can easily filter out any effects from the Monitor."
"Hi guys," Jen said with a wink to John as she walked up behind Rodney. "Not the dreaded science project?"
"I'll see what I can do," John told Rodney. "We probably need to get to the council chambers," he added looking at Jen.
"We're early," she said.
John sighed. "I might need a few minutes before our meeting to talk to the queen."
"Thanks Professor," Rodney said. "I'll make sure we have it ready before the mission clock starts," he added.
Luinan listened attentively to John trying his best to describe the twins' experiment.
"And Rodney says its datum collection is passive, and it's small, less than a square meter," John said with a worried glance at Jen.
"I think a child's science project on the Monitor's maiden voyage is perfect," she said reflectively. "Very Family, and who knows what the TC have us chasing out there. Probably nothing.
"We obviously have to prove ourselves capable of pulling off the simplest timeship mission," Luinan said. "The lengthy court proceedings left some ill will within the Confederation and especially the TC. We can be sure of that," she added as several O'jits that John did not recognize appeared in the council chamber's doorway with juice and fruit for the mission planning session.
There had been change in the Jit sense their escape from the Navis but reversing their genetic engineering still proved nearly impossible for many. However, several Jit vocations actually adjusted to life off the Navis, including the Interface Corps employed mostly in the citadel's archives because of their incredible memory. A few others fared well in specific engineering and trade roles. And despite their clannish culture, a few of the Jit had actually left Trua finding employment and leading productive lives elsewhere but too many remained in stasis.
John reached for a bright green plum as Mick appeared in the doorway.
"Am I late?" he asked closing the door behind him.
"Not at all," Jen said getting up from one of five identical metal chairs surrounding the ancient stone council table to kiss Mick on the cheek. "Where's Clare?"
"Her ladyship is tied up at the outpost with an old friend and dignitary from upline that's passing through. So it's just us."
"And Draconous sends his apologies," Luinan added.
The council had appointed Drac to the fifth seat after the last failed search and recovery mission to the Lár.
John saw Mick subtly sigh.
"Glad you could make it, Sis," he said to Jen.
"This should be fairly straight forward," Luinan said. "First, Mick has prepared a review of the mission specifics, and then we can discuss the crew selection within the restrictions imposed by the Confederation."
"As you are aware," Mick said activating a holo-display over the council table showing the clockwise spinning Milky Way, "the TC has recorded a temporal anomaly above the plane of our galaxy. It is almost directly over Sol and at a distance of just over two and a half kiloparsecs, eight and a half thousand light years. It is not new; it's been observed for about one hundred years now."
"How long will it take?" Jen asked with apprehension.
"We only need to get above the galactic disc by about 500 parsecs," Mick replied.
"The chief engineer's mission plan indicates warp seven will be the cruising speed," Luinan said glancing at her pad.
"That's three or four days," Mick said with a grin at Jen.
"A short mission," John said sitting back in his chair as Jen subtly sighed.
"We do not have much on the anomaly itself," Luinan said. "It has registered on several temporal monitors in Sol's quadrant for a while and is too distant to get precise readings."
"Anything from our pals in the twenty-ninth century?" John asked.
"The TC will not transmit information downline," Luinan said flatly.
The queen looked at John as Mick sat down and deactivated the holo-display. "Prophet is working with the Vulcans that docked yesterday to analyze historical data surrounding the anomaly," she said. "They may have more by the time you arrive on location."
"What exactly do we have to work around regarding crew?" John asked assuming the first part of the meeting was over.
"As we have only twenty Family certified," she said with a glance at Jen, "we need as many on board to ensure they accrue the hours required for continued certification."
After the court proceedings, John knew that operating a timeship was not going to be straightforward. In fact, it was paramount to maintaining a full crew complement several times over and yet more personnel as needed specialists. And all these crews had to meet exacting criteria to maintain their various certifications. Then there was maintenance; he shuttered thinking about that. It seemed all to be manipulative bureaucracy imposed by the TC and had caused the council to rethink the luxury of operating a timeship countless times in the past few years.
"I will get a tactical systems certification before the mission," Jen said sternly.
John saw Mick scrunch his nose as an unlit cigar appeared in his hand and knew he understood firsthand the demands on John and Jen's time required by the twins.
"Don’t leave it too long," Luinan said, "as the mission clock starts as soon as the rest of the Confederation bridge crew arrives at the outpost."
John saw Jen try unsuccessfully to repress a gulp.
Luinan continued, "Fortunately, Captain Nysas will be in command, and Prophet will be her number one at Tac-1 as both maintain current merchant and TC sanctioned temporal exploratory certificates."
"The rest?" Mick asked.
"I believe John should take Science," she replied.
"I second that," Mick said.
"My privilege," John said earnestly.
"That leaves weapon systems and navigation to fill out a minimal bridge officer contingent assuming Lieutenant Commander Scott completes her Tac-2 training," she added with a subtle wink at John, "that leaves the conn?"
"There will be two Confederation observers," Luinan continued before anyone could answer. "Both of which are qualified, one will be Chief Engineer, but I would like a Family crew member at the conn."
John casually glanced at Jen while taking the last bite of his plum.
"I would like to nominate Ensign Watkins," Jen said even though she was not actually on the council.
Nearly a month ago, John, Jen and the twins attended Carl's graduation with honors from Space Fleet's merchant academy.
"Any ideas where the ensign is?" Luinan asked ignoring the breach of protocol.
"Prime Colorado on R&R." John said. "He shouldn't be too hard to find," he added with a wince.
"So that leaves auxiliary systems, including communications to fill on the bridge," Luinan said.
"Wigwag," Mick said flicking his unlit cigar away into thin air, "would be an excellent choice, and he is unbelievably capable flying the Monitor's shuttle as well as the Lann."
John nodded approval as he recalled when Mick had flown the compact, sub-warp fighter, appropriately christened Lann, into the outpost's space dock a few years ago. It turned out to fit perfectly into the Monitor's shuttle bay. Everyone, including Wigwag, just pretended it had always been there, and piloting it soon became an obsession with the O'jit.
John was amazed that Wigwag had obtained a very difficult flight certificate for the Monitor's single-seat fighter after o
nly three years at the academy. He also graduated with honors several months later.
"Plus, the TC loves the Jit," Mick said with a chuckle.
"I agree," John said to both of Mick's observations.
"That does it then," Luinan said. "The remaining six lower-deck crew will be picked from the ranking matrix."
"Does Luca count?" Jen asked.
"No. And after four years," Luinan said with a sigh, "she just received the all clear from the Vulcan science advisory board. Her persona is already incorporated into the Monitor and will oversee the other AI's onboard, including Dr. Fanau in the Medical facilities, such as they are."
John shivered. The Family was actually about to attempt commanding a deep-space mission with their own ship, even if it was just a token, shakedown cruise.
RefPlane/Trua Outpost: Stardate 211545.2
"Remember when we first discovered the Hourglass?" John asked gazing out the clear dome over Trua Outpost's famous bar at the colorful nebula surrounding them.
"Of course," Jen replied. "I still can’t believe Mick or Clare never told us about it or the story behind the Family's fucking bizarre acquisition of the outpost."
"Remember their humor has had a few thousand years to dry out."
"I'm nervous," Jen said looking John in the eyes.
"I know. The twins will—"
"It's not the twins. And I hope Murphy helps Ces, the citadel and Cosain city while we're gone," she said looking up into interstellar gas and dust.
"It’s the four-dimensional situational awareness," she said. "It's like a foreign language you have to learn over a long time to be good. Then responding under fire…." Jen took a deep breath before another sip of coffee.
"You'll be great at Tac-2," John said after a long drink of low ethanol Pilsner. He too felt the responsibility that came with a position on a timeship.
"We're not a war ship," he said, "just another of a multitude of science and research vessels. The Monitor has a temporal drive that can negate the relativistic effects of FTL travel. We can be home before dinner most missions."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, except Tac-2 is not an encyclopedic science station."
John subtly lowered his eyebrows at the unintentional swipe at his post.
"The temporal drive can only respond to a variable degree," Jen said, "dependent on the power the warp or sub-light drives are currently pulling. Prescribed maneuvers fit only so many situations and any with a temporal variable are so overly simplistic."
"You've done great in simulations, and Luca says you're ready," John said. "Beside this mission should be a cinch."
Jen sighed, wrinkled her nose after a sip of her now chilled coffee and then smiled looking past John. "Over here Tye!" she called out.
"Hi, you two," Tye said with soda and twist in hand and sliding into the booth next to John. "Big day tomorrow."
"Don't remind me," Jen said.
"You've seen our new ensign?" John asked Tye.
"In bed already," she replied, sipped her soda and then gave John a quick glance. "Everyone gets pre-mission jitters," she added.
"You have a Tac-2 cert, don't you?" Jen asked her.
"Sorry, not enough simulator hours on the Monitor," she said with a grin. "And it expired decades ago; I think," she said swirling the ice in her soda then shrugging her shoulders.
"Good work with all the pizza inter-granular effective stress," John told Tye with a smirk as Jen rolled her eyes.
"Yeah thanks," Tye replied. "The fix should hang in there until the un-tilt before the end of the second millennium."
Jen moaned. "Okay, I fell better. Stop."
"I don't think she appreciated the gravity of that situation," John told Tye ignoring Jen's plea.
"It weighed heavily on the whole team," Tye said and unable to stifle a laugh after.
John finished his beer. "Just completing the mission must have taken some balls—"
"Stop! I'm going to bed," Jen said and then looked sternly at John. "Are you coming?"
John winked at Tye. "I guess. We'll both need to hit the ground simultaneously in the morning."