“Somebody needs to explain it to me. I’m at the end of my patience with guessing at shit that everyone else in the room knows. It’s time I get some answers, or I move on,” Edison said surprised at how ready to walk away he was.
“I agree with him,” Saf said, staring at Tana with enough emotional intensity that everyone in the room looked away. “We need to quit hedging this and go all in. Eddy has put up with a lot of debris for us, and he deserves to know.”
Tana looked down at the deck and nodded. “Maybe Ariqat is the catalyst to force us into action.” She swiveled her chair to face Edison squarely. “If I explain it all to you, are you willing to stick it out? The road from here is likely to get a lot stranger.”
“I’ve stuck it out this long,” he said. “You’ve got to trust me enough to not keep any more secrets.”
“Fair enough,” Tana said. “The same applies to the rest of you. If you stay you’re in for the long run.” They all nodded.
“Odysseus is trying to save humanity from extinction,” she said. “We helped build it, along with DevCartel and DoCartel. For the last twenty years it was our responsibility to maintain the program and wait until it was time to turn it loose.”
“There was a lot of friction between the three factions as to how powerful Odysseus should be, and because the other cartels had their own ideas on the subject, WellCartel decided to create an alternative program to address the threat.”
“So the Alphas and the Augments are a counterbalance for Odysseus?” he asked.
“No the crèche Augments are a different approach to the threat itself. Odysseus is dangerous because it is almost unlimited in how it can grow, but it isn’t as bad as what we built it to protect us from.”
“And what would that be?” Kylla asked.
Saf drew in a deep breath and let it out. “On 2243.164, I was on duty at Sentinel Command when we received word that one of our operatives reported a contact with an extrasolar intelligence. This report came in from the Neptune L-4 Trojan Cluster. Mankind has encountered an advanced non-human civilization—”
“You’re serious?” Edison asked.
“She is,” Tana said. “Everything that’s been happening since Tomlinson took over, has resulted from Odysseus trying to establish contact with this ESI and to protect humanity from self-destructing.”
Edison felt the room shift around him in an almost physical way. His mind reeled, but even as it did, he realized it let the other pieces he had yet to understand fall into place. He shook his head, but knew the truth in her words despite their absurdity.
“We planned for the Augments to be an alternative to Odysseus in a few more generations of development,” Tana said. “We intended to take it offline once we were ready, but the contact came before our work had reached that point.”
“And now you think we should take Ariqat to the point of this contact?” he asked, looking at Saf and shaking his head.
“That’s what she is suggesting.” Tana said.
“Things were spinning politically before the contact came,” she said. “Ariqat might hold the key to putting the brakes on that side of things while we sort out the rest. If that means we take him along for the ride, then I don’t see as we have any choice.”
“I can’t argue that humanity was already on the verge of collapse when this all broke loose,” Tana said. “If it’s true that’s where Roja is, and that’s where this contact is, it’s also where Odysseus will be focusing its attention.”
“And that’s the last place we want to be,” Edison said. “Haven’t we spent the last several months getting away from that damned bastard?”
“I know,” Saf said, “but if we are going to do anything about this, we need to be there too.”
Radio-Astronomy Lab: Aldrin Cycler: Inbound from Mars:
“That’s odd.” Tryna Salazar had developed a habit of talking to herself during the lonely stretches of third shift. She was a telescope technician on the Zone One cycler and spent most of her time staring into the black and tracking the faint radio emissions from deep space.
Ever since FleetCartel had established the first cycler asteroid colonies, they’d leased space to the Science Directorate for observatory missions. It was a way to pay the bills on the slow transport system that still carried most of the colonists outward from earth.
Every few minutes the dish also sent out an old-fashioned radar ping, just to keep track of objects in the near space environment. Seldom did she pick up anything because the region of the sky she scanned was far north of the ecliptic, in the general direction of Vega, so when her screen lit up with several hits on something where nothing should be, she was almost shocked into silence. Almost.
“What have we got here?” she asked herself.
She checked the range. About thirty-two seconds for a return. Flipping to the radar control screen, she tapped in the command for another pulse.
She also opened another screen to look at the signal. It appeared to be several dozen objects clustered together. They were about the size of ships, but ships traveled alone or in small groups, and she’d never seen any that far above the plane of the solar system.
She scratched at her cheek as she contemplated what it could be. The chrono on her display counted down the seconds ‘til the next bounce came back. “What are you?” she asked the empty room before the image materialized, several dozen more objects appeared in her field of view. “Holy mother of Fred,” she swore. The range data showed it was almost traveling parallel to the solar plane. It made the math easy to determine its heading, but she ran it twice to be sure.
Zone One.
“That has to be a fleet of ships,” she said. “That can’t be good.”
She hit the button for another ping, but her guts froze solid as she realized it might not be a good idea to let whoever it was know she was tracking them. “Damn it,” she said, punching in the comcode for her supervisor without remembering it was the middle of the night.
“This better be important,” he said as his face appeared on her thinpad. He was grinding sleep out of his eyes and looking like he wanted blood already.
“Uhm, sorry. Did I wake you?” she asked, flinching even before he could level one good eye over the fist that was rubbing it.
“Of course not. I am always awake at 0300 waiting for your call,” he growled. “What the frag do you need Tryna?”
“I just pinged what looks like a whole fleet of ships heading toward earth.”
“A fleet?” he asked, stifling a yawn and closing the eye she could see.
“Yah,” she said. “It looks like over a hundred ships and they’re coming in from somewhere above the ecliptic.”
“Not possible.” He reached up to disconnect. “I am going back to bed now.”
“Wait,” she pleaded. “We need to report this.”
“To who?” he said. “If it is a fleet, it’s not our skin. Log it as unconfirmed and let it go.” He slapped his hand down on the disconnect and vanished.
“That’s so not right,” she said, once again alone and talking to the room. “Someday I’ll have that bastage’s job.” She looked at the screen once more and decided she had to send a message, anyway.
Administrative Complex: University of Galileo: Galileo Station:
Jahen Tanner sat perched on the front edge of her desk, showing how nervous she was about the Director’s unexpected visit. What he tried not to let show was that he was at least as worried as she was.
Clearing his throat, he looked at the floor, focusing on the intricate pattern of the carpet rather than his words. “I don’t want to know the details. Just tell me, can you solve my problem?” It wasn’t enough to keep Odysseus from eavesdropping, but he hoped it might add a bit of noise to the link.
“What problem is that?” she asked.
“You and Paulson Lassiter discussed something about me and you told him it might be possible to fix things,” he said, moving his eyes toward her and then darting them
away to avoid eye contact that might draw his thoughts into a better focus.
He could tell she was staring at him not comprehending, while he scanned the bookshelves and cabinets behind her. “I think it is best if I don’t talk too much,” he said, reaching up to rub the bone behind his ear. He let his gaze drift over her face and her eyes lit up.
“Ah, yes. I know what you’re talking about,” she said, launching herself over to a small cabinet along the wall and pulling out a hand-held scanner. She pointed it in his direction and after several seconds it beeped and she studied the display before she nodded. “I can fix it.”
“Are you having problems with your neurolink?” Odysseus asked, invading his thoughts.
“How long will it take?” He tried to ignore the intrusion and focus on anything other than his link.
“A while,” she said. “How badly do you need it?”
“Is there a problem with your link?” it asked again.
“It’s working just fine,” he said out loud, making sure his expression told her he was talking to the voice in his head.
She cocked her head to the side and sat down again on the edge of her desk. “I understand. I’ll have to see what I can do.”
“She is unfamiliar with the technology,” it said. “If you need it repaired, it would be best to return to the lab in New Hope City.”
“Thank you,” he said, nodding to her as he got up. “I can’t risk going to New Hope City.” He answered Odysseus out loud, hoping that she understood how deeply it was intruding on his life. He let his frustration show in his eyes.
“You need to understand something,” she said. “This isn’t without risk.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“I don’t mean your risk,” she said, frowning. “For me to take this on. I’m making an enemy. You better damned well be able to protect me and my family.”
“I do not understand her comment,” it said. “She is doing something to make enemies on your behalf?”
“You don’t need to understand,” he said, answering Odysseus. He then added for her benefit, “I’ll do what I can.”
“You will owe me for it, too,” she said.
He nodded.
“Explain the intent of your actions,” it said, the voice in his head rolling up in intensity until it made his brain ring like a bell.
Not today, he thought into his link as he smiled and looked down at the design of the carpet again.
Robinson Biomedical Center: Western Athabasca Valles, Mars:
Tamir bin Ariqat sat upright in his bed, staring at the wall with an expression that made him look like he was working on healing his body by sheer force of will. When Edison entered the room, Tamir blinked several times and then swung his gaze to make eye contact.
“Investigator Wentworth,” he said. “I expected you before this.”
“I have been working to make it happen, but we have run into some problems,” Edison said, pulling a chair away from the wall and positioning it beside the bed. “As I explained before, Chancellor Roja is difficult to contact directly. She has several people protecting her and so they are skeptical about why you need to talk to her, and what you can offer that makes it worth the risk.”
“We obviously have common enemies and I have explained that,” he said.
“I scan the truth of that, but convincing her admirals to give you access is a different matter,” Edison said. “I also understand why you aren’t willing to give me more information that I can use to persuade her people to let you through.”
“This puts us at an impasse,” Ariqat said, letting out a slow growling sigh. “Tell me this. Do you truly think war is coming?”
“That’s probably inevitable,” Edison said.
“I can stop it. Isn’t that worth the risk to her security?”
He leaned back and drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “I would think so, but until you can prove that to Admiral Quintana, he won’t believe you.”
“I see.”
“If you were in his place, would you?” he said. “He knows you were planning to bring charges against Katryna Roja in the Sealed Docket Session you requested. He also understands that you and Derek Tomlinson had been crusading to end FleetCartel’s control over space transportation. You two were the greatest enemies they had until you disappeared.”
The chancellor nodded. “I do not know how I can convince the admiral of my sincerity without unbalancing the situation in the other direction,” he said.
“If it were possible, would you be willing to travel to meet with the chancellor?”
“I believe we are still on Mars, are we not?”
“Yes, but that isn’t the issue. Your health is far more problematic than our location,” Edison said. “It would be a twenty-four-day space flight, and the ship we have available is small and will be crowded.”
“For the sake of the Union and trying to maintain peace, I will endure whatever I must,” he said. “I am sure the threats to peace are far more dangerous than what I will face personally. I know Chancellor Drake and Chancellor Roja may not believe this, but the best interests of the Union have always been my priority, even if I have disagreed with them on what those interests may be.”
“Then I’ll pass the word, and we will do this as soon as Dr. Sokat says you’re well enough to travel,” he said.
“I am well enough now. Tell my doctor that I will be leaving immediately.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gateway Colony: L-4 Prime:
The new Gateway Colony was not the largest human occupied place in the solar system by far, but it was undeniably the most impressive. It stood on a barely visible domed island rising out of a receding ocean of cryofluids and surrounded by a sky of vibrant dancing fog. Three huge pillars supported the structure around a center tower with the Jakob Waltz itself encased inside.
The only part of the ship still exposed was the top two decks, the communications dishes, and the laser turrets. The rest of the structure was made of the same null-metal material as the Tacra Un itself and reflected light like a glazed layer of fused regolith.
Two platforms and an enclosed hangar deck capable of parking dozens of the Armstrong’s shuttlepods, or even a small freighter replaced the original landing structure that Rocky had fabricated. One of the permeable walls surrounded the hangar, making it possible, once a shuttle landed, for its passengers to open the door and walk out into an earth normal environment.
The thing that amazed Jeph, when they moved into the new colony, was that his administrative office and his adjacent residence had local gravity. That meant he had no need to wear his PSE except when he was in the common areas. Shona and Alyx had similar environments in their personal quarters and a private hall connected them with the interior of the ship and the light gravity workspaces inside it.
Anju had almost cried in gratitude for them.
After four years living in the bottle of the Jakob Waltz, it was incredibly spacious.
The three stacked structures that surrounded the central column, were each dedicated to specific functions and interconnected at several levels. The first was residential, the second was administrative and educational, and the third was life support and recreation. Together they could house over 500 residents and provide everything they needed to stay indefinitely.
Jeph stood in his new office, staring at the display that covered one entire wall. It showed a diagram of the new colony including where everyone was inside it. It also showed him where everyone was in the language matrix or even where his mapping team was in the larger Kanahto structure. He’d stared at the display for hours. He didn’t need to know how it worked to appreciate the power of the technology at his fingertips.
“The chancellor and her party are about to land,” Shona said. Since they no longer needed a navigator for the Waltz, she’d become their com officer. It was well below her training, but she never let her disappointment show in her tone. Her voice came over the same com s
ystem that functioned seamlessly through the entire colony and the Tacra Un.
“Bring them to my office if you will,” he said.
“I’ve got four more shuttles to land once they get inside,” she said.
“It’s alright I am in MedBay,” Anju said. “I’ll go up and meet them. Do you want them to get the tour first or should I just bring them to you?”
“Bring them here first,” he said. “And I’d like you and Danel to join us too.”
“I’m on my way,” Danel said.
“That will take some getting used to,” Jeph said. “How does the com know who to include in a conversation?”
“The Tacra Un has not explained that functionality,” Dutch said. “I can assume that the technology employed in the new colony facilities will be the subject of much conjecture.”
“Yah,” he said. “I am beginning to understand what a caveman would have felt like if he had suddenly landed in the modern world. Maybe Anju is right about how humanity would react. It’s rather overwhelming.”
“I understand,” Dutch said. “I am suffering with some of the same issues. The Tacra Un has granted me access to more of its systems than it previously allowed and I am making discoveries continuously.”
“Really?” he asked. “Like what?
“I have determined that we can adjust the local gravity across a portion of your office if you wish to be hospitable,” it said.
“We can?”
“Affirmative. I can divide the floor into sectors and provide ekahta-che cata nu,” it said.
“Less gravity below me?” As he watched a yellow line appeared on the floor beneath his desk and across to the area under one of the seats at his conference table. “Gravity on the side of the line you occupy is local. Gravity on the other side is artificial at 9.8 meters per second squared. As long as you remain on your side of the line you do not need your exosuit.”
“Can that be done everywhere inside?” he asked, shaking his head and laughing.
“I will endeavor to determine the granularity of the ekahta process. I do not know at this time as it was not a specified design objective.”
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