“Purple Glow,” called Vitades. “Please cause this chamber to appear ready for flight.”
“Of course.”
The black metal on all surfaces began to move and flow. The curving metal below her feet rose up to form a flat floor. From the floor there extruded a half circle of benches. In front of those benches there rose up a black metal wall that blinked, then displayed circular vidscreens before each of the nine benches. In the middle of the floor there rose up a bench with side rails. Behind it small benches appeared just in front of the rear curving wall. They resembled the half curve of visitor accel seats that occupied the rear of the Tessene’s Control Chamber. Overhead the domed ceiling changed from sparkly black metal to a view of the city and its high plateau as seen from space. Clearly there were Harl comsats in orbit beyond the three guardian globes which the captain had destroyed. She walked over and sat on the center bench, resting her arms on the side rails of the bench. Clearly this was where the ship’s captain had sat.
“Purple Glow, activate the captain’s controls,” she barked as Vitades and his crew beings followed her inside. Ignoring him she focused on the front vidscreen that displayed the interior of the dome which sheltered her star vessel, and nine other vessels.
“I cannot activate the captain’s controls,” the AI said bluntly in harsh barking tones. “You are not Harl. You cannot mind touch with me to pilot this vessel. However I can activate the sensor displays of the captain’s control station. Observe.”
She pulled her hands away from the side rails as their tops rose up and spread out to either side. On the black metal of the inner railings there pulsed multiple sensor vidscreens. They were small. Markings below each screen said something. Raised bumps that had different patterns lay below the slashes of text. Clearly the Harl captain could just touch a sensor for a readout without having to look down. Presumably the sensor spoke to the Harl.
“But how can a bioform control this vessel if all Harl have died or are non-aware, like in a coma?” she barked, pressing the AI for its secret manual controls.
“A bioform which is not Harl cannot pilot or control this vessel. If such an event were to occur, it would be my duty to return this vessel to the nearest Harl world.”
But what if the AI itself were dead? Surely there had to be manual controls of some sort.
“Understood. Uh, where do you reside?”
To her right, part of the black wall glowed a bright purple. “I reside within all parts of this vessel, just like your Tessene intelligence resides within her vessel. However, my core units are stored behind this wall in this part of the central globe.”
Good. Her laser pistol might penetrate that wall. If not, perhaps the reptile’s magrail rifle would breach the wall. At worst she could steal a plasma torch and use it to cut an entry. Once she destroyed the AI’s core units, she felt certain the other AI components would voice respond to her. They would be small minds, compared to a ship AI.
“Thank you.” She looked aside as Vitades stood to her right. He was tapping the timekeeper embedded in one of his fingernails. A pointless tech in view of how he was in constant mental contact with the Tessene AI. But this Human seemed to value antique tech. Which made sense in view of his profession. She took his meaning. “Purple Glow, please transport this vessel to the plaza where the Tessene vessel is parked.”
“Transporting.”
The front vidscreen showed the top of the dome peeling back, its black geodesic panels going flexible just like the black metal of this vessel’s control chamber. She had heard of flex-metal devices and floors. She had never encountered or heard of an entire building or star vessel built of such metal. Clearly this flex-metal was another Harl tech she could possess. Surely the vessel’s AI would transmit the tech for creating flex-metal to her once she was alone on the vessel. All the more reason to anticipate the departure of Vitades and his crew beings for their food and rest during the night!
I stood to the left of Laserta. Sharp Claw moved to her right, her magrail rifle held in both silver-scaled hands. Clearly she was in guardian mode. Her action was redundant in view of the total control of the vessel exercised by its AI. Soft sounds told me Flow, Draken and Meander were standing behind me. Ignoring them I watched the front vidscreen as it showed the Harl vessel rising up from the dome floor and then exiting through the opening in the top of the dome. I felt no vibration from thrusters. Which made me wonder.
“Purple Glow, how are you moving this vessel? I do not feel any thruster action.”
A quick hum sounded. “Expulsion of exhaust products is not needed. I am using this vessel’s magfield drive to interact with this planet’s magnetic field. Your Tessene vessel possesses a magfield generator. Can you not do the same?”
Akantha, can we do that? I’ve never tried it before. Nor has Flow.
We cannot. Our magfield drive is weak compared to our fusion pulse thrusters. They are fine for adjusting our vector track while in space but they cannot lift us off a world like this one.
I frowned. “Yes, the Akantha does possess a magfield drive. However it is limited in power. To land on a planet we use fusion pulse thrusters.”
“Wasteful. I am communicating to your Tessene intelligence the modifications necessary to improve your magfield drive so it can depart from any rocky world. In space it will move you at five percent of the speed of light.”
More free tech. With the upgraded magfield drive we would move faster in normal space than any other star vessel. I took a deep breath. “Purple Glow, thank you for your generosity.”
“My generosity is the result of requests by Stars That Beckon and Home Guardian. They wish your vessel to be nearly as capable as a Harl vessel.”
Again the Primaries. Why? “Purple Glow, why do the two Primaries wish my vessel to be almost as capable as a Harl vessel?”
“Stars That Beckon will share her reasons at a time of her choosing. We are now landing on the plaza near your vessel.”
I watched as the vidscreen showed the plaza tiles growing larger. A low growl came from Laserta. Clearly she wished to be in control of this vessel. Which made me consider further the AI’s comment.
“Purple Glow, you said ‘nearly as capable as a Harl vessel’. What capability does your vessel have that my Akantha does not possess?”
“My vessel has many capabilities not present in your Tessene vessel. Its sensors need upgrading to be similar to my own, a detail I have transmitted to your vessel intelligence,” it said in humming English. “The key capability you do not possess is an antimatter beamer. All Harl vessels possess such beamers. A zero-point power unit produces the antimatter by contact with the universe’s Dark Matter. The beamer emits the charged antimatter within a magnetic spiral that makes the beam coherent out to . . . to 53,923 kilometers by your Human measures.”
I felt surprise. Human combat ships and most alien empire ships only possessed antimatter warheads mounted on missiles. Those warheads were filled with antimatter produced by a planet-based particle accelerator. While plasma wakefield and laser-induced electromagnetic particle accelerators were smaller than those of a century ago, none of them could fit inside the Akantha. Only combat starships the size of an antique aircraft carrier were able to generate onboard antimatter. And that antimatter was mostly used to increase normal space thrust through combination with fusion pulse exhausts. Now this vessel’s AI was telling us it possessed antimatter beamers and the ability to generate antimatter within its hull. Both functions require incredible power levels well beyond a teva electron volt. The source of those power levels was contact with zero-point energy. Also known as Dark Energy.
“I want an antimatter beamer!” barked Laserta in a commanding tone. “Purple Glow, install such a device on the Akantha! The gravity projector is not strong enough to defeat all combat star vessels.”
“You are incorrect,” the AI barked in Mogelian that I heard as English. The vidscreen showed us landing atop the black tiles of the plaza. “Your T
essene vessel possesses gamma ray, x-ray and carbon dioxide lasers plus two plasma beamers. Those weapons when used with the gravity projector will allow your vessel to defeat any opposing vessel. You do not need an antimatter beamer. Therefore your vessel will not receive such a device.”
Brief amusement touched me at the AI’s defiance of Laserta’s authoritarian demand. Her clenched fists told me she was not used to being defied. I stepped away from the central bench and headed for the exit entry.
“Purple Glow, thank you for all the upgrades you have done to my vessel,” I said hurriedly, before Laserta could say something that would make the AI hostile to us. “And thank you for the personal gravbands. My low gravity crew beings will be more comfortable now.”
“The comfort of you and your crew will improve your ability to carry out the task which Stars That Beckon will assign you.”
I knew better than to ask for details. Clearly the Primary AI who called herself Stars would tell me her intentions at a time of her choosing. But Purple Glow’s comment confirmed there was indeed a price to be paid for all the tech we’d gotten so far. Was there other tech we could find that would not involve an obligation to Stars? Behind me Laserta spoke.
“Captain Vitades, take yourself and your crew to your vessel for the food and rest you declared you need,” she barked harshly, her Mogelian words coming to my ears as English. “I will stay here and learn more about this Harl vessel. Perhaps there is more tech we can obtain that will be useful to this future task it mentions.”
“Heading out,” I said as the curving wall spiraled open.
Dismissing Laserta’s obvious intent at finding a way to control the Harl star vessel, I followed behind Sharp Claw. I wondered how Laserta would deal with this ‘task’ that Stars wanted us to perform. Once we were off this world my ship could go anywhere in the galaxy, thanks to the Gates map and star listing. Doing this task for Stars might bring additional riches for her and for me. But what if I didn’t want to do what Stars wanted? If I dropped off Laserta on her home world with the mechbots that had boarded us and her record of the Gates, she would become the richest Mogelian female dominant in her world’s history. Then I could go anywhere. The upgraded magfield drive and ship sensors, plus the gravity projector, would protect me from most alien combat ships. So how could Stars force me to do what it wished? The future would tell me that answer. And I had a feeling I would not like the answer.
Using a wing-hand, Flow tapped the gravband as she walked down the Harl vessel hallway. Soon she felt the vessel’s gravity decrease until her wings felt as light as on her home world. The feeling made her want to spread her wings wide as if soaring. The gravband was a valuable tech that she now owned personally. It was a tech she would share with her Lunteen people once she again saw her home world of Windy Air. More vital was what she had heard and learned from being aboard this Harl vessel. The existence of antimatter beamers were a weapon that would protect her people from the empire expanding in their area of the galactic arm. If, somehow, the captain could convince the AI Purple Glow to install such a weapon within the Akantha. At least the gravity projector was a weapon being installed on her vessel. That could help her people. And help the Humans create more deadly combat vessels. Perhaps together the Lunteen and the Humans could become a small empire of allied interests. She followed the captain out of the Harl vessel and down the ramp to the open plaza. As the five of them headed for the Akantha and dusk began to cover the sky, she heard Sharp Claw give voice to her own hope.
“Captain Vitades,” the reptile hissed sharply. “Is there no way we can obtain this antimatter beamer for our vessel? While we can likely defeat any single combat ship with the gravity projector and our other energy weapons, what if we are attacked by a fleet or group of combat vessels?”
Ahead of Flow the captain’s wingless shoulders leaned forward as he walked toward the Akantha. “Claw, I worry about that. Maybe there is a way to convince Purple Glow to install the antimatter beamer on our ship. If not, perhaps we can find such a device among other ruins beyond this city.”
“But are there other Harl ruins on this world?” chittered Meander as the four-legged insect moved behind Sharp Claw.
The captain stopped. Then he turned toward the nearby tower that held the intelligence Stars That Beckon. He spoke loudly.
“Stars! Can you hear me?”
“Of course I can hear you,” the tower AI boomed in a voice that seemed to speak from a space between her and the captain. “I hear everything that makes a sound within this city. As do my fellow Primaries. It is good that Purple Glow has arrived. She will be useful in the future.”
Flow noticed the Human’s face become intense behind the faceplate of his enviro-suit. “Stars, are there other Harl installations on this world?”
“One only,” the AI boomed, its speech becoming familiar chirps in her ear pits. “Near the south pole of this world is a volcanic island. On its highest ridge is a Harl installation. It focused on research into Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Its facility intelligence has not responded to neutrino contacts from me and other Primaries. I presume the intelligence is non-functional.”
The captain’s head nodded quickly. “What have your comsats observed? Is there any activity at this site?”
“My orbital comsats do not detect any energy emissions or actions by mobile mechbots.”
“Please transmit the location of this installation to the Tessene vessel intelligence,” the captain said in his flowing language he called English.
“Transmitted.”
Her captain turned and resumed walking toward the Akantha. “Crew, we have our next destination on this world. Any tech we find there will not involve an obligation to these Harl Primaries. Who knows? We may find an antimatter accelerator and beamer. Or other weapons types we do not have.”
Flow felt hopeful. Her captain was always looking to the future and what they might all gain from future explorations. She liked that about him. His looking ahead was very Lunteen-like. Which made her see him as a Lunteen in disguise. Clearly he had wings in his mind, even if he lacked them on his shoulders!
CHAPTER EIGHT
I woke up from a night full of dreams that had awakened me often. One dream was a memory. It was the vidimage of my mother dressed in a 19th century Victorian ballgown. The wide gown was supported underneath by carbon fiber struts but otherwise it resembled the flouncy, multi-layer bellgown worn by high-status women of China, America and Europe. The gown was something my father had bought my mother, using the money they were paid by professor Lik Sotomor. She was the only woman in Edessa who could afford such a dress. In my mind her extravagance exceeded the city’s tourist promotion as the first capital of the Macedonian Empire of Phillip, father of Alexander the Great.
A different dream was of being crushed under falling roof stones in a Harl ruin found by professor Sotomor. Of course I had not died there. But my work clearing the deep hallway of fallen debris had made me afraid at the time. That fear was something I’d learned to control and put out of my mind while exploring the ruins of Harl and other dead species. Still, being buried alive was a long-held fear. Maybe it came from the cave-in of a hideaway tunnel I’d dug into the bank of a river near Edessa. I’d needed a place to hide from the street gangs when I was younger. I’d escaped the cave-in because there was only a half meter of soil above my tunnel. But the experience had made me cherish open meadows and plazas where I could see anything that approached.
And so you now fly through space where there is nothing to fall on you.
Akantha. So I do. A comment by Meander last night brought me into the here and now. Is the installation of the gravity projector done yet?
Not yet. While the attachment to the top of our rear hull globe is finished, the internal linkages to our fusion reactor and forward to the Control Chamber are still being worked on.
How much longer?
Another day. Perhaps two, depending on how efficient the two repair mechbots are in
interacting with my insides.
It was frustrating news. It meant our trip to the Harl research station would be crowded. I’d have to use the GTO shuttle to get us there and back.
Is the shuttle fueled and ready to go?
It is. Shall I open the midbody hangar?
Yes. My stomach rumbled. We’ll leave after breakfast. I want some blueberry pancakes with bacon and maple syrup made by L.L. Bean. Tell the Synthesizer to make my breakfast. I’ll eat in the Galley with any crew who are awake.
All crew beings are awake, including Lotan the Influencer. He wishes to speak with you.
Of course he does. How did your day with him go?
Satisfactory. He was cooperative. He continues to ingratiate himself with me in an apparent effort to cause me to bond with him.
I gritted my teeth. Lotan’s secretive efforts to achieve a mind touch implant with Akantha was something I’d been aware of for the last two years. His loyalty was to me. That had been made clear in several expeditions. But he had this fixation on helping his Torsen people by linking up with my vessel. It seemed to be a species-level fixation. I had no idea why a world full of high tech meerkats would need the aid of my Tessene vessel. Nor did I have any time to visit Calitot, Lotan’s home world. Maybe in the future, after I’d sold some of the fantastic Harl tech we’d acquired, I might visit the home worlds of each crew being. Though locating Meander’s home world would be difficult. But now, with the vidmap of every galactic Gate and its associated star, my Astrogator might indeed find her home world. Well, that all lay in the future. Right now I had an Employer to please and a new expedition to conduct.
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