‘Couldn’t agree more.’ Josh worked methodically through the arguments line-by-line. He looked up briefly. ‘This may be where the other aliens in normal space have gone wrong. This consciousness thing, I mean. If they didn’t include this function in their maths, they’d come up with a very different result.’
Barth looked interested and nodded. ‘Could be. What do we do now?’
‘We get Tao to take it to Chayka next time she visits. I’m relatively confident your arguments make sense, but I’d still like him to review them as well.’
‘Of course. Whatever you think best.’ Barth seemed a little vague, as if lost in his own thoughts. He looked up. ‘You do understand we only want what’s best for the universe, don’t you? If I’m wrong, and the equations really do say that we need to remain here to safeguard our creation, we’ll do it.’
‘Yeah, I get that.’ Josh finished his examination and gazed at Barth. ‘Would you like to explain a bit more about the situation we find ourselves in? Specifically, why us and why now?’
‘Excuse me, I’m not sure what you mean.’
‘Well, the universe is over thirteen billion years old. It contains all manner of life-forms, and presumably there have been many more that have become extinct. So, why weren’t any of these other races suitable for use as a conduit to help you escape? Why aren’t any of the other existing ones? Everything appears to focus on humanity, yet only a very small number of us are mentalically active, and an even smaller number are sufficiently well developed to assist you. And it seems coincidental that you happened to discover the minor perturbations in the cosmic constants just at this time.’
‘You sound like you’re accusing us of something. I assure you, there’s nothing sinister in this. Yes, your comments about other life-forms are correct. Some have previously had contact with sub-quantal space, but The Way is very specific. It’s a neuro-spatial tunnel that can we can only access if the genome of the visiting species is relatively congruous with our own. As to the constants, we discovered the developing problem many millions of years ago. We hoped the few human individuals who made it through to us would have been able to help, but they proved too underdeveloped. It’s only now, when your race has thrown up a small number of talented people, that the potential exists to assist in our relocation.’
‘Hmm. I don’t think we were really “thrown up”, as you put it. We were part of a specific breeding programme, overseen by the Eich.’
‘I don’t think so. The Eich claim far too much credit.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean? Do you know something we don’t?’ Barth hesitated, as if he were on the point of sharing something. ‘You do, don’t you?
‘It’s nothing.’ Barth seemed almost embarrassed. ‘However, talking of the Eich, you say they agree with us that we should be released from sub-quantal space?’
‘That’s what the El said. Now they deny all knowledge of you.’
Josh ran a hand through his hair. There was obviously something here that Barth was reluctant to talk about – and he couldn’t help feeling it was staring him in the face. Josh pushed his chair back, stood, and stretched in an automatic response that made no sense in this environment where there could be no stiff muscles or aching joints. He had no idea why he did it – it simply felt right and helped him relax. It was one of those strange consequences of formulating a photonic body, and he’d never got to the bottom of it.
‘Could it be that the Eich discovered that the consciousness function should be included in their mathematics?’ Barth said. ‘The other races may have missed it.’
Josh was very far from convinced. It was certainly a possibility, but if that had been the case, why hadn’t they been able to convince the other races of their finding? He supposed there were all manner of reasons for that. For a start, the Cthon weren’t the most accommodating or adaptable of species, so an attempt by a Cthon sect to persuade the majority might well have been unsuccessful. Perhaps he was just chasing shadows.
‘I need to back off all this for a while,’ Josh said. ‘My mind’s going around in circles. ‘Swift, do you have anything to contribute? You must have seen the maths. What do you think?’
‘I’d have told you if I’d seen anything different to you,’ came Swift’s voice. ‘I can see no obvious logical contradictions. I would concur with Barth’s assessment.’
‘Well, I guess that says a lot.’ Josh smiled at the obviously unsettled Barth. ‘Don’t look so worried, we’ll get to the bottom of it. If these equations are correct, we’ll make sure you get out of sub-quantal space. But now, all we can do is wait for Tao. Hope she isn’t too long.’
§
While Josh was examining advanced sub-quantal mathematics, Sol was getting stuck into advanced mentalic development. After immersing, he dived straight down to the infra-low without pausing to look around delta-normal. If the solution they were seeking was at that level, Deira could access it as well as he could, and on this occasion, he had limited time. Ten minutes, to be precise.
Having reached the infra-low, he paused to take stock. He’d forgotten what it was like down here, and it was difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of sub-quantal functions and the task he’d set himself. Attempting to do this in ten minutes seemed like the height of foolishness. Shit, he’d need more like ten hours – and he knew that wasn’t physically possible.
Alright, he thought, let’s get safe first. Don’t want any accidents. He cast around and identified the hole into sub-quantal space. Then he set up a perimeter that he thought would be safe from the tentacle. No going inside that perimeter. Of course, Sod’s Law stated that what he wanted would be within that area, so he did a quick scan of the vicinity. Nope, his luck was holding. There was nothing down there that looked remotely relevant to building a body. Now he had about eight minutes left.
There was nothing like a time-constraint to get Sol motivated. He’d always performed best when under pressure. His brain seemed to work more efficiently. It didn’t let him down now. He remained almost completely in the dark about his recent upgrade and how it might help him, but part of it appeared to be an augmentation of his logical processes. He focused on what he was trying to achieve – build a body – and was gratified to find that a rough construct emerged almost immediately in his mentalic vision. It wasn’t much, but it gave him some idea of the functions he was looking for – and it had the added benefit of acting like a filter.
He applied the filter, identifying functions that were of no use, and dimming them in relation to those that might be relevant. There they were, the functions he required, lit up against the background, almost demanding his attention. Now he just needed to collect them.
The problem was, he couldn’t. He’d had enough trouble just tweaking that time function when he was down here last time. There was no way he could excise one and metaphorically sling in in a bag – and he was going to need a damned site more than one anyway. So, what was he to do? The answer came to him remarkably quickly – that up-grade must be something else! He clearly needed to copy the functions and take them back with him for use in his proposed construct. Very soon, he was copying functions like crazy onto a mentalic list.
Of course, copying functions was all well and good, but each of those functions came with its own branching chain of consequences, and there was no way he could copy those. In fact, with some of them, at least, he didn’t think he could even follow the consequences very far down the bifurcating chain. So, even if he discovered useful functions, he’d still have to return down here to check out the consequences – and he probably wouldn’t be capable of that. As he’d suspected at the start, this project was probably impossible.
Or was it?
He remembered Tao saying that Josh had taken Swift with him to the infra-low, having previously found a mechanism to piggy-back him onto his consciousness. That mechanism must exist somewhere down here and, if Josh had used it, the secondary effects must be inconsequential. Sol hun
ted round, knowing that he was rapidly running out of time. He knew roughly what he was looking for – more evidence of some proficiency in sub-quantal mathematics – and found it just when he was about to give up for the day.
It was a small function, quite innocuous in the larger scheme of things, and was partially concealed by a large group of functions related to time. That was kind of ironic given his distinct lack of it, and Sol went after the function like a terrier after a rat. His luck held again – hell, this was a red-letter day – and he’d just managed to copy it when he received the sudden energy burst from Chard. He rapidly ascended though the upper limits of the infra-low and popped into delta-normal. Okay, so that was it for now. He hadn’t got exactly what he wanted but he’d made a good start. He continued rising through the levels and emerged into his front room, blinking in the light.
Deira had forced herself to stay awake for the ten minutes she knew Sol was going to be immersed. She was desperate to see her plan make some progress and had more confidence in Sol than he had in himself.
‘Any luck?’ she asked eagerly. ‘Did you get anything?’
‘Not sure.’ Sol yawned. ‘I’ve copied a few functions to examine in more detail.’
Deira looked disappointed. Sol knew she’d hoped for more, but he simply couldn’t oblige on this occasion. He was disappointed too, in one sense. However, he was also more aware of the sheer complexity of what they were trying to do and, all in all, he didn’t think things were going too badly. He’d learned a lot while he’d been immersed and was feeling much more confident manipulating sub-quantal functions. On the other hand, he couldn’t see them manufacturing a body any time soon because there were just so many steps still to take.
There were also the consequences. Even if they could identify the right functions, their ability to build a body would depend on the consequences of using each single function – and the cumulative consequences might be greater than the sum of the parts. The only way to resolve the sheer complexity of the problem was to use an AI, and that last little function he’d copied might be crucial in that regard.
‘So, what do we do now?’ Deira stifled a yawn of her own.
‘Get some rest,’ Sol grunted. ‘We’re both exhausted.
Much as she’d have liked to protest, Deira was almost dead on her feet and had to bow to the inevitable. Together they staggered up the stairs and just had time to get their clothes off and climb into bed before they fell asleep.
Chapter 28
Tao sipped her jasmine tea and watched the new El captain as he took large gulps of whatever the orange liquid was in his mug. He didn’t exactly fit her mental image of a mutineer. Then again, how many mutineers had she come up against in her short career? He placed the mug on the floor near his chair and returned her stare.
‘So, what do you want?’ He came quickly to the point.
Tao put her own cup down. ‘We have a problem regarding they beings you call “The Founders”. I understand you’re part of an organisation that believes these Founders must remain in sub-quantal space for the good of the universe.’
‘While you believe the opposite.’
‘We understand the Eich believed that – though now they seem not to know anything about it. We’d prefer to follow the evidence.’
A sour look came over Sama’s face at the mention of the Eich.
‘That cursed sect is the reason we’re here now. We should have been home a long time ago. Now there’s effectively no home for us to go to.’
‘I can imagine how you must feel.’
‘Somehow, Agent Chen, I don’t think you can.’
He stood and unfurled his wings briefly, flapped them a couple of times, and sat down again. Tao imagined this was the equivalent of a human stretch – though it was a damned site more impressive. She thought he was going to continue speaking, but instead he went quiet, as if he were brooding on something.
‘I don’t want to argue over this,’ Tao said. ‘I’m here to try to find common ground.’ Sama looked at her incredulously and made a brief barking sound that she interpreted as a laugh. ‘No, seriously,’ she went on. ‘We think the differences between us could be due either to different underlying data or different interpretation of what data we have. A colleague of mine is obtaining the data from which the Founders are working, and we’ll get the Eich data in due course. Would you be prepared to let me see yours?’
‘You’re seriously suggesting that most of the intelligent species in the galaxy could have misinterpreted the data?’ Sama sounded angry now.
‘All I’m saying is we need to be damned sure we get this right. I don’t care which way the data falls providing we do what’s right to safeguard the universe. If you’re so confident in your data, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to share it with me.’
Sama glared at her and growled, all his courtesy and refinement falling away like a snake shedding its skin. It was very threatening, and Tao let her hand fall lightly on Jiao in her holster. The action wasn’t lost on the El.
‘I know all about your so-called PWC,’ he snapped. ‘Micha left an excellent record of the one belonging to you colleague. It’s instructive isn’t it? You come here talking peace and logic, yet you sit with a weapon in plain view and appear very ready to use it.’
Tao replaced her hand in her lap and forced herself to calm, modulating her voice appropriately.
‘We’re both at the mercy of our body-language and reflexes. You’re much larger than me and the way you just acted appeared threatening. I reacted to that perceived threat. That’s all. I apologise if that upset you.’
It was like a switch being flicked. Sama’s face cleared, his body relaxed, and it was almost as if the last few minutes had never happened. If this was intended to be reassuring, it most certainly was not. Had she just seen the real Sama, the mutineer who had happily placed half his colleagues in stasis, or was this just a reaction to very deeply felt beliefs that she’d just challenged? Or, of course, there was a third possibility – that these were two sides of someone with significant mental health issues. He could easily have a schizoid personality.
‘I too, apologise,’ he said smoothly. ‘We’re clearly both on edge. What you’re proposing is eminently logical. I’ll ask my Science Officer to extract the data and pass it to you. It will be interesting to get an outside perspective on something that has been part of our lives for so long. Now, can I get you another drink? Or something to eat, perhaps?’
‘I’m good, thanks.’ The last thing Tao wanted at this point was to share any more time with this unpredictable alien. ‘Time’s short. If I could just have the data, I’ll be getting back to my base.’
‘Indeed.’ Sama spoke into his communication device and the door immediately opened to allow the chunky Security Chief to come in. He stood rigidly before Sama, who seemed to take pleasure in keeping him waiting. ‘Take Agent Chen to the data repository,’ he said finally, before turning back to Tao. ‘I’ll make sure our Science Officer gives your PWC access to the data you require. After that, you’re free to leave.’
He stood and walked smartly out of the room, no formal goodbyes or other pleasantries, and Tao was left wondering once again about his rapidly-changing moods. She smiled at Jophi, who had seemed very helpful on first sight.
‘Is he always like this?’ she said, half-jokingly.
Jophi looked acutely uncomfortable and glanced outside the door before replying.
‘He is … not the easiest person to get along with,’ he whispered, as if he were afraid of being overheard. ‘Micha was far more straightforward.’
‘But I assume you must have supported him in the mutiny?’
‘A lot of us did. He spoke of going home and leaving things here to run their course. Then, as soon as he became captain, he changed his mind.’
Tao could see the El was boiling with conflicting emotions. His comments had started alarm bells ringing in her own head, too.
‘What did he change his mind
to?’
Jophi half-closed the door and his voice dropped so low she could hardly hear him.
‘We are to complete our original mission. Sama says he has confirmed that the Founders must remain in sub-quantal space.’
‘That’s not exactly what he just told me. He seems to be prepared to look at the facts before he makes a final decision.’
‘That is how he functions.’ Tao could see the stress evident on the El’s face. He must know he was saying too much. Why was he persisting? ‘He says that the equations are clear. He also says that, providing the Founders remain in sub-quantal space, it makes no difference whether they are alive or dead.’ Jophi looked sick. ‘He has devised a weapon – a sub-quantal energy spike. He intends to kill the Founders. Then we can go home.’
Tao gasped. Sama was intending to commit genocide. She stared, horrified, at Jophi. The thought of so much killing was bad enough, but what if the El data were wrong and the Founders needed to be removed from sub-quantal space after all? Killing them would make that impossible.
‘How long before the weapon’s ready?’ she asked.
‘Not long.’ Jophi was still whispering. ‘About five of your days – maybe a little longer.’
‘Five days!’ That screwed things up completely. There was no way they could get the Founders out of sub-quantal space before this weapon was used. And what about Josh? ‘I have a colleague who’s also stuck in sub-quantal space,’ she said. ‘Is he likely to be affected by this weapon too?’
‘’I’m truly sorry. Once deployed, the weapon will sterilise sub-quantal space. Nothing will survive.’
‘Shit.’ This was a disaster. ‘Supposing the data shows that the Founders must be released from sub-quantal space if the universe is to survive. Surely that’ll change his mind?’
‘I suspect not.’ Jophi opened the door, ready to escort her to the data depository. He gazed down at her as though in resignation. Tao thought he looked like someone who was fully aware that doomsday was fast approaching. ‘Sama is mad,’ he said, and started off down the corridor.
Gods of Titan- The Cosmic Constants Page 22