Waking in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 2)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “As you order, My Commandant.”

  Chapter 7

  Aboard Griffin

  Whenever two or more of the four Griffin denizens met, Buster seemed to always be in attendance. This artificial morning was no different. He stood to one side, watching carefully as all four, Krag, Keiko, Mack and Sue, collected their meals and drinks, formed their standard seating arrangement and proceeded to eat and talk.

  “Mack, what’d you find?”

  “There’s some good stuff we could use, Cap. More importantly, their fabricators and printers can make the parts we need to get Griffin up to snuff.”

  “Good. That’s number one on our priority list.”

  “Then there’s all the different ways they use gravity generators. The ones that run the elevators, they’re small enough to fit in Griffin. I think we could modify them to give our ship artificial gravity. No liners, no more electro-grav generation.”

  “That definitely goes on the list. Could we reproduce these gravity generators? Could we set up a manufacturing plant?”

  “Not sure, Cap.” Mack took a swig of coffee and thought. “That Lieutenant Varrini, he’s a crafty one. He gave me concepts but no details. I didn’t hear anything that says we can’t replicate their technology. But I didn’t hear anything that said we could, either.”

  “Buster. That right?”

  “Yes, Krag. The lieutenant didn’t let anything slip. But after reviewing my recordings, I do believe we can replicate the gravity generators, with the proper technical specifications.”

  “Ok. So far, fixing the ship, mandatory. Gravity generators, primary importance. What else?”

  “I think we need to plan on getting home. If we give up the jump drive, we’re stranded.”

  “Of course, Keiko. I have no idea on how to get around that problem.”

  “Perhaps, we discuss this with the Elonians. They might be amiable to some sort of compromise.”

  “I’ll leave that up to you. You’ve done great, so far.”

  “Thank you, Krag.”

  “Back to the list. Anyone?”

  “The gravity generator we saw, the one running the elevator, is about the size of the engine in the vehicle you’ve got in the bay. I think we’d need something stronger than that one for Griffin,

  “Lassie’s right on that, Cap. That one is too small. But I have ideas for ones that size. We’d need a bigger one for Griffin. Maybe the size of the full ground vehicle.”

  “More to think about. But not now. Now we need to do the show-and-tell, get commitments to fix Griffin and possibly get the gravity drive. Anything else?”

  “Those gravity cannons. Our friends are doing some strange stuff with gravity. Getting one of those cannons would help in figuring out different ways to play with the gravity generators.”

  “But that’s down on the list.”

  “Ya, Cap. It’s just a short cut.”

  “Ok. We’ve got two things we want. Get Griffin fixed and the gravity generator installed.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Looking around, Krag saw that everyone had finished their breakfast.

  “Ok. Show time. Mack, Sue. You ready?”

  “Ready and steady, Cap.” Mack spoke for the both of them.

  “Box, acid bath ready?”

  “Yup. All checks out.”

  “Sue?”

  “I finished the activating module. I tested it off line. Just say the words. You and Buster, after you open channels, you can just think the phrase. I put the wavelength on our internal, encrypted band. Don’t do it now, of course”

  After Sue put the thought in his head, Krag had to struggle to not mentally think the phrase, even though he knew he had to open the security channel first.

  “Keiko?”

  “I’ve got some ideas. But most of it will be on the fly, based upon their reaction to Mack’s and Sue’s demonstration. Yes, Krag. I’ll be ready.”

  “Let’s break off, get our minds right and welcome our guests.” Looking at his personal tablet and seeing the time, “They arrive in sixty-five minutes. Let’s get ready.”

  * * * * *

  Right on time, Princess Analyn, Doctor Roshnak, Vidhee, Dame Srilin and Chief Engineer Varrini presented themselves at the Griffin entrance. As always, Sir Mahajani stood at the side of his princess, alert and focused.

  “Permission to come aboard,” Princess Analyn formally requested.

  Coming to attention, Captain Marston responded, “Permission granted.”

  Krag saw that the cat-like princess wore the same style of clothing and cooling screen as when he first met the Elonian. In full military garb, he felt overdressed. Even dresses in a simple shift, belt and medallion, her regal carriage showed as she stepped onto Griffin, tail high and ears pointing forward.

  Keiko bowed as Princess Analyn entered and waited for the ear flick. Once delivered, Keiko rose.

  “Princess Analyn.”

  “Ambassador Suzume.”

  “This way, if you please.” Keiko gestured towards the stairwell that led to the upper deck.

  Sir Mahajani climbed first, ascertained that all was safe and signalled for his princess. The four remaining Elonians climbed next. Once those four cleared, Keiko and Krag followed. All were met by Mack and Sue, both dressed in their clean and pressed coveralls with the Griffin patch.

  “Welcome aboard, Princess. I think you will like our little show. If you will follow me and Lassie, we’ll get started.”

  Everyone filed into the galley/ward room. More tables and chairs than were needed half-circled the now-boxed artifact. Mack and Sue quickly cleared one table and four Elonian-styled chairs.

  “Sorry about that. We didn’t know how many were coming.”

  Keiko motioned towards the seat of honor and Princess Analyn took her place. The others shuffled around, found Elonian chairs and sat. Vidhee took a position beside Buster and looked on. Sue took her place at a workstation while Krag and Keiko took their assigned seats.

  “Ok, gentle beings, show time. Sue?”

  Behind the jump gear, a projection of the artifact appeared on the display screen.

  Princess Analyn jumped out of her chair, causing it to clatter back. “That’s Ballison!” she exclaimed as she pressed one paw on the table and pointed with the other.

  “Well, Princess, we did say we had an artifact. Is that the people that made this? Ballison?”

  “The people called themselves Ballisa. Yes, they made that. I’ve studied the Ballison civilization my entire life. That is Ballison.”

  After her outburst, Princess Analyn looked around. Her bodyguard raced forward and slid the chair back into position. The princess sat.

  “Well, now we know who they were. We found a bunch of these scattered all over the planets we settled. Along with a bunch of other technology. Like the one we have here on Griffin. Ruins too. How do you know so much about these Ballisa, Princess?”

  “We know from historical records. Vidhee, how many years ago were the Ballisons still visiting Elonia?”

  “In Human years, about three thousand and two hundred, My Princess.”

  “Thank you. You heard. Up until three thousand, two hundred of your years ago, Ballison established outposts on Elonia. They had been on our planet for hundreds, thousands of years as we evolved. This was a long time before we were an actual industrialized people, let alone space travel. We have found many historical writings of these strange visitors with magical and miraculous powers. All the writings are written as though gods visited us. So it takes a great deal of research,” Princess Analyn huffed her laugh, “and guessing, to understand these star people.”

  “So little green men visited Elonia.”

  “Grey, actually. Small with long arms and big, ellipsoid eyes.”

  “That sounds like what visited Old Earth hundreds of years ago. What happened to them?”

  “They just disappeared. No one knows why.”

  “Same with us. Back to the presentation.” Poi
nting to the shiny metal box with bulbous ends and another, smaller box on top, he continued.

  “The artifact is in there. Sue?”

  Sue tapped an icon on her control panel and the display flipped to a cutaway view of the artifact’s housing. Two tripods with curved mountings cradled the artifact, holding it exactly centered.

  “The casing is a triple-hulled container. Between layers one and two is the first component of a bi-compound universal solvent. Between the second and inner layers is the second component.”

  "Why the acid?”

  “Because we don’t know what we are dealing with, Mr. Varrini. It is a safety measure. If the bi-compounds are mixed, inside the container everything will be dissolved. There is also a current of electricity running through the entire structure. The electricity will activate an oxidation/reduction reaction with any of the acid that comes in contact with the container walls. It will neutralize the acid before it escapes its container by converting the acid into inert liquid and gas. Otherwise the acid would eat through everything it came into contact with. Sue?”

  Sue tapped another icon and verified the proper image displayed.”

  “This is the front bulb. It is a nuclear battery that insures that electricity constantly flows through the inner layer, keeping everything contained. Nothing really interesting there. Just part of the security. Next?”

  “Can we go back?”

  “Certainly, Mr. Varrini.”

  Sue flicked back to the projection with the artifact inside the container.

  “There were no connections to the artifact. You didn’t connect any conduits or sensors to the Ballison device?”

  “None are needed. We don’t do anything with the artifact. It just does its thing.”

  “How do you activate it?”

  “That is our next topic of discussion. Lassie?”

  The next image appeared. “This is the bulb in the back. That is an x-ray generator.”

  “X-ray generator? X-rays are very old technology. No one uses x-rays anymore.”

  “Well apparently the Ballisa did, Mr. Varrini. That’s how we got this little toy to work. We bombarded it with x-rays.”

  “Astounding. We never thought to use something so primitive.”

  “Well, like my Pa says, ‘sometimes the old ways are the best ways.”

  “Ah.” The Chief Engineer laid his ears down in thought.

  “Next, Lassie?”

  Sue brought up the next slide.

  “This here box is the brains of the whole thing.”

  “May we inspect?”

  “Of course, Your Highness.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador Suzume.”

  All except Doctor Roshnak rose. The Princess and Varrini headed for the device. Dame Srilin headed for Sue. Doctor Roshnak continued observing, and recording, learning about these new, strange, alien beings, these Humans.

  “Would you be so kind as to return the projector to the Ballison artifact?”

  “Of course, Princess. Sue?”

  The image reappeared.

  Walking up and staring at it closely, Princess Analyn asked, “Vidhee, I think I’ve seen a drawing of this before. Is there anything in our archives?”

  After the briefest of moments, “Yes, Princess Analyn. We have found a drawing and ancient texts concerning this particular Ballison device. The Star People, the Ballisa, of that time are said to have used it to float above the ground. Your researchers believe it was some kind of mass eliminator, allowing them to float with very little power.”

  “What? By my father’s beard, that explains it!”

  “Explains what, Mack?”

  ‘Everything, Cap! Why it doesn’t work when we aren’t under power. Why we got blasted into who-knows where. Why we get knocked out every time we fire it up.”

  “Explain.”

  “Yes, Sir Mack, please explain.”

  “Well, Princess, for us to use the jump jet, we need to be under accellaration. One of the laws of physics is that force exerted is equal to the mass of and object multiplied by its accellaration.”

  Princess Analyn looked at her engineer.

  “We have the same equation. I see where he is going.”

  “Or, accellaration is equal to the forced generated divided by its mass. In other words, with a constant force, if the mass of an object approaches zero, accellaration approaches infinity. I don’t think we get close to that, but we get way down that curve with our little rig.”

  “How does that explain blackouts?”

  “No mass, heart has nothing to push. Blood pressure bottoms out. Doink, gone.” Mack used his arm and hand to show a tipping motion, ending in a hand-clap.

  “Obviously, the two limiters are the amount of thrust we are generating and the amount of x-rays pumped into the artifact. Sue?”

  I wouldn’t touch what we’ve got. We know it works. I would leave the amplitude and magnitude of the x-rays exactly as is. And I wouldn’t move that box one inch from where it is. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

  “Well said and understood. So, we get our engines back to normal and we could get home a whole lot quicker.”

  During the excitement of the conversation, the humans completely forgot about their Elonian guests. Keiko surreptitiously lifted a hand at Krag and tilted her head towards the princess. Krag understood and lifted his chin at Mack.

  “There is one sticky wicket, Cap, Princess. We have another law of physics. An object cannot occupy two places at the same time. I’m sure Mr. Varrini has a similar law. Anyway, we need the Ballison device to get home. You want it to expand your horizons, so to speak.”

  “That is for Princess Analyn and Ambassador Suzume to reach agreement on.”

  “True Cap. Besides, I never liked getting involved with all that political hogwash.”

  “Engineer Varrini, conclusions?”

  “It’s very simple, really. This ship is powered with the thrust, counter-thrust concept. Griffin throws small amounts of mass at very high accelerations to move its very large mass at a much slower accellaration. The Ballison Mass Eliminator removes or lowers the mass of Griffin. This causes immeasurable accellaration. The result is that the ship appears to jump. Simple concept. Impossible engineering.”

  “It is something we want?”

  “Oh, definitely, My Princess. Most definitely.”

  “One more request, Ambassador Suzume.”

  “Yes, Your Highness?”

  “Your light-bending clothing.”

  “We anticipated that. Humans are shy about disrobing in front of others. If you don’t mind, I would like to leave the room and prepare the demonstration.”

  “Whatever is required, Ambassador Suzume.

  Sue and Dame Srilin continued their quiet conversation. Vidhee and Buster passed data packets and light-speed conversations back and forth. Everyone else just waited.

  Keiko returned wearing the form-fitting, black bodysuit, gloves and head covering in hand.

  “Mack, put your eyes back in your head and quit drooling,” Sue admonished.

  A sheepish Mack looked anywhere except at Keiko. Krag had seen Keiko in her chameleon suit before, but he still got a rush, a memory of exploring those obvious curves and shapes.

  Keiko stood straight and turned her back to the princess. Pointing behind her, Keiko explained, “This is the electronic and energy pack that powers the suit.”

  Krag noticed that she hadn’t worn her weapons pack.

  Turning back around, she continued, “The gloves contain the control buttons.” She held up the gloves and rotated them, displaying the concealed pressure points and explaining their purpose.

  Holding up the hood, “The hood is multi-purpose. It enhances vision and hearing. It also filters my breathing so that no observable gasses escape. The entire suit is enviro-thermic. It’s surface area matches the temperature of the surroundings. It also nullifies any escaping odors.”

  “Why would you need a suit like that?”

/>   ‘I don’t normally wear it, Your Highness.” Mack assumed a very non-committal expression at this. Krag maintained his military decorum.

  “But, if ever needed, it is used for escape and safety.”

  “I see.”

  “I am going to activate it and walk around.” Keiko donned her hood and gloves, held her hand out and pressed her thumb against the activation switch. She blinked from existence.

  “Sir Mahajani?”

  “I can smell where she was when she activated the light-bending device. But nowhere else. Ambassador Suzume must be very skilled in stealth. I hear nothing as she moves around. The light-bending is almost perfect. If I didn’t know she was in the room, I would not be able to see her. But, since I knew her starting point, I can discern a slight light shift as she moves.”

  “Then, if you did not know that Ambassador Suzume was in the room, you would not be able to detect her.”

  “That is true, My Princess.”

  Doctor?”

  “Totally lost. No idea where she is,” Doctor Roshnak responded.

  “Dame Srilin?”

  “Same here. I could probably write some algorithms to study light patterns. Maybe locate Ambassador Suzume that way. But, if I didn’t know that technology existed, there would be no reason to.”

  “Vidhee?”

  “Easily tracked, Princess Analyn. Her energy pack has a very small wave discharge. I sensed its energy spike at power up. I just amplified my electronic sensory equipment and tracked her from there. Don’t jump, My Princess.”

  ‘What?”

  Keiko powered down her suit. Princess Analyn jumped. Ambassador Suzume stood no more than a foot from the princess. Sir Mahajani grabbed the pommel of his sword, took a step and stopped.

  “For effect. I thought it would help our side of the negotiations.”

  “Maybe after embarrassing me in front of my subjects, it just made the negotiations harder,” the princess laughed.

  “I will go and change back into my normal clothing. It appears that my current attire is affecting the males in our group. And they might embarrass themselves as well, Your Highness.” The twinkle in her eye as she winked at Krag gave humor to her statement.

  As Keiko left to change, Krag turned to Sir Mahajani. “About this wrestling match. Is it still on?”