by Tony Corden
“The last type are mission and technology orientated. They are almost always a secondary station, and they are one of the busiest parts of the game. More than half are privately discovered and then privately operated. The owners get a proportion of the revenue that is generated. Any new technology that is found goes to the finders. Every system with a Class III has at least one of these stations. Not all of them are in free space, and some are on moons and asteroids.
“There are probably another ten or eleven stations that exist or have been found that don’t fit into the general classifications, but they have a specific function which is necessary to the system. There are rumours of Class IV and Class V stations either being developed or are already inserted, but Cosmos Online has been super quiet on what they will be like.”
Leah said, “You said you thought this might be a major system station. That would be a Class III?”
“That’s what I think! Either that or even possibly one of the new stations. It’s huge! It’s at least twice as big as the others I’ve examined, and I’d estimate it has over two hundred distinct areas that could be levels, but I think are multi-levelled. So, there could be many more, maybe over a thousand levels. With everything the survey says about the system, it would almost be crazy not to have the system opened up. It has gas giants, a massive asteroid field that is super rich in metals and two habitable planets. The survey suggests that each habitable world has its own diverse ecosystem without overlap. That means two new sentient species. Cosmos Online always offers players the chance to buy an avatar when new species are found. One is water bound, and there are only five water bound species at the moment.
“The only reason I’m not certain is I don’t understand its design. All the space station designs are unique, but they have some things in common. They all have places to dock. They all have a clear design or motif that matches the planet. When you look at one, you can kinda guess what each bit does, and even if you’re wrong, you can see how you should have got that right. But with this, there are the thirty or more odd free-floating bits which I think will connect by energy or some type of extension, but I can’t work it out, and it’s frustrating. I know from the scans that it looked like a complete station, but the scans don’t match the visual.”
“Have you found any evidence of another station?”
“Not in the general sense. It’s possible that we’re actually looking at two stations in the same area, depending on how the pieces connect. Also, there are some large asteroids which may or may not be filled with tunnels or ancient excavations. One of the gas giants has a massive bubble hidden beneath the surface, which sensors suggest has a low enough gravity for people to survive in and it may be breathable. There is one area of the system out past the fifth planet which sensors haven’t been able to map at all, and I think something out there may have some type of cloaking device. There are some satellites with weird orbits that might be used that for smaller stations. The scan isn’t finished, and there are probably thousands of small objects that the scans have missed.”
“So, how do we turn it on, or start it up?”
“I read what other players shared, and they all seem to have the same basic scenario. First, find an entry point. It will be hidden and protected but no attempt to brute force an entry has ever worked. Usually, there are traps, ancient defences, puzzles, and all the other things. Once we are inside, we need to find the power source. There will be a maze or a map. It might be clues such as a flickering light or a small vibration. It varies all the time, but we need to find the source through the usual defences, traps and puzzles. Cutting through bulkheads or blasting doors has never worked. Once we find the power plant or source, we may need to repair it or find some resources that it has run out of. You can imagine a whole lot of different scenarios and the developers say they spend a lot of time trying to make each experience unique. It’s most likely a team has been working on that station for years. One developer said he has been creating quests for the same station for fifteen years.
“Once we have the power connected we’ll need to find the control room and claim the station. If it is a Class III, then we’ll enter into immediate discussions with the developers to market it. They want the discovery open for business within a week. I almost suggested we buy some shares in the company that owns Cosmos Online because their share price goes up significantly after every Class III find. If it is a Class II, then we have several months to explore it on our own before sharing details.”
“Are you still thinking about buying shares?”
“Yes. I did some research, but I don’t really understand all the legalities and didn’t understand things like insider trading etc. I’m going to read up some more tonight.”
“Are you OK if I ask Gèng to do some research and maybe talk with someone who works in the area?”
“Sure, I’d love to hear what she finds out or what they say.”
Gèng spoke so only Leah could hear her and said, “I’m on it. I’ll see if George can help or if he has a recommendation.”
Leah subvocalised, “Thank you. Run the general concept past Leon as well without specific references.”
Out loud, Leah asked, “So, have you found the entry point?”
“Yes, maybe, and no. Look at the first scans.”
Wisp had her AI project a 3D image of the station, and with a gesture, she expanded it to fill half the room. It looked like two flat disks connected by a tube. The discs weren’t right next to each other, and the tube was several times longer than the circumference of either disc. It resembled one wide tyre, and one thin tyre joined with a long fat irregular axle.
The fatter disc had a series of nine curved spike-shaped protrusions, equally spaced around its circumference. They weren’t straight but curved in different directions and with no discernible pattern. On the side opposite the tube, there were eighteen smaller protrusions which gradually became thinner the further they went from the disc. Every third one of these was larger and longer and curved slightly toward the centre.
The thinner disc looked like a flower or maybe a hand mirror. At one point on its circumference, there was a long section which looked like a handle or flower stem. It was longer than the diameter of either disc. It wasn’t straight but had a gentle curve which didn’t keep the ‘handle’ in the same plane as the disc. The rest of the disc wasn’t an exact circle but undulated in a regular pattern. The only exception was the undulation opposite the large handle. It was larger than the others and had what looked like two small horns.
The tube which connected them looked solid but bumpy. It was like an irregular piece of woven rope or a rough piece of cord when the image was small. As Wisp enlarged it Leah could see it wasn’t solid. It was constructed from thinner straight cylindrical tubes which were connected to both discs. Leah couldn’t readily discern a pattern where the tubes joined either disc.
Wisp said, “When the Betrayal got close I did a more detailed scan. This image shows the actual physical pieces. The rest is some form of residual radiation or another emission which affects the scan but has no physical form.”
Leah could clearly see the connection between the two images, but whole sections had disappeared. The first disc looked almost the same. Spikes still extended from the circumference and it still showed the eighteen smaller protrusions, but the side where the ‘axle’ had been was now bare. The tubes had disappeared. Leah could still see portholes and hatches, small communication antenna and the like, but the tubes weren’t there. She used her hands to enlarge the area and rotated it until she was looking face on to the surface. When she did that, she could see the places where the tubes had been. Eighteen circular spaces dotted the surface. It looked like they were some type of entryway, hatch or portal and Leah imagined she could easily fit a ship twenty or thirty times larger than the Betrayal through each entrance.
Leah reduced the image and switched between the two scans and was able to match each tube with one of the portals. In the
visual scan, the tubes had disappeared completely, as had whole sections of the flatter frame-shaped disc. Instead of a single solid shape, there were twenty-seven separate pieces.
The long handle was still present, but the entire central section of the disc out to half the radius was empty space. The pieces formed three rings. The smallest outlined the hollow centre. The nine pieces were not touching but were curved and regularly spaced. The next ring also had nine pieces and was situated halfway between the inner ring and the edge. The final nine formed the outer edge, and each piece was differently shaped on its periphery forming the undulations, the horns and the handle.
Leah reduced the image back to how Wisp had had it and said, “OK, I can see what you mean about radiation. What are you thinking?”
Wisp said, “Uh, uh. I don’t know how they are all connected, but I can see your brain working and turning. What I can do is share my ideas and give you time to come up with an explanation.”
Wisp isolated the wide flat disc and said, “I’ve convinced myself this is the main space station. When I said it was twice as big I was thinking of just this bit. The side with all the radiation tubes is mostly flat, and nothing stands out. The other side isn’t smooth, it has buildings on it, and they are laid out like a city. Here, take a look.”
Leah expanded the wide disc again and this time looked at the side opposite where the large circular portals were. As she zoomed in, she could see what Wisp was saying. Around the edge were the eighteen protrusions, with six being longer than the others. From the centre of those six were long avenues like spokes on a wheel which continued toward the centre but stopped short where they merged with a similar avenue which circled a central district. At the centre of that was a tall regularly shaped hexagonal building. Leah could see that between each of the spokes were buildings with streets and small alleyways, with some vacant areas that looked like parks.
Leah turned to Wisp and said, “What is the radius?”
“Three kilometres.”
“It is big. Where is the power source?”
“OK, if this is the main station, then I think that central building will be where the administration centre is and that would be the best place for a control room but not really a good place for the power source. I looked really closely at the city, and I found what I think are outside seating areas. If that’s true, then the whole city had an atmosphere at one stage. I think the outer protrusions somehow form a force field which keeps the atmosphere in. What do you think?”
“I’m still with you. If you are right, then what?”
“Then the power source is most likely on the circumference, and that’s it. So, like I said: yes, I think it is on the circumference; maybe if my thinking is correct; and no, I haven’t got it any closer than that.”
Leah turned the disc and did a quick scan of the edge, but nothing stood out to her as a starting place. She reduced the image again and looked at all the pieces. She reduced it further until the parts began to blur together.
Wisp said, “You get a look in your eye that means you have an idea, and you’re excited. Every time I see it I wish, just wish I could experience it myself. What are you thinking?”
“Still processing, but I’ll do it out loud because I’m pretty sure you worked out what the big disc is, and I think you’re right about the atmosphere and the spikes. I was just thinking of the ones that stick out from the edges. Can I get Gèng to operate the image and add some things?”
“Sure.”
“Gèng, would you please review all the scans since we arrived and give me a quick summary of any changes in the relative position of any piece of the station?”
“There have been minor shifts in orientation detected for eight of the nine spikes on the outer edge of the disk Wisp believes to be a station. Movement was also detected in all but one of the outer ring pieces on the other construct.”
Wisp said, “Why would they shift? What do they point at?”
“Gèng, add the sun, planets and main asteroids to the plot.”
This time when Leah reduced it, the solar system could be seen as the station was reduced to a single dot.
“Extend a red line from each of the endpoints on the station disk throughout the solar system.”
As soon as Gèng added the lines, both Wisp and Leah saw that one of the lines was centred on each of the seven planets and two pointed into empty space.
Leah said, “Add something to represent that blurred part of space Wisp mentioned.”
Immediately they could see that one line now bisected that region of space.
Leah said, “Gèng, I suspect that the one spike that did not move is the one pointing at nothing we can detect. Am I right?”
“You are correct.”
Wisp said, “Gèng, can you extend the two horns and the large handle using a different colour?”
Three blue lines were added. The end of the handle was centred on the star. One horn focused on a gas giant and the other was aimed at empty space.
Wisp said, “One of the gas giants has both a red and a blue line. Gèng, can you highlight the bubble the scans detected?”
As soon as Gèng marked the spot, both Wisp and Leah could see they both were pointed at the region where the bubble was.
Leah said, “So I imagine the horn pointing at nothing should point at the other gas giant. Now Gèng, what about the discs themselves, do they always face the same planet, sun or what?”
“In the time since the Betrayal entered the system, they have rotated slowly but have remained focused on the same part of the galaxy.”
Leah pondered for a minute and said, “Reduce the image even more to include the stars in Cosmos Online. I know the scales will make it difficult but extend a line from each of the tubes that connected the two disks. It’s probably best to let the line form a small conic shape the further away it gets.”
When Gèng had finished the calculations and plotted the cones, they could see the cones intersecting with multiple systems.
Leah said, “Gèng, locate the systems we looked at which we think are resource-rich and which most likely have habitable worlds. Mark the top fifty in bright orange.”
In six of the cones, there was a noticeably centred orange light.
Leah said, “Thanks, Gèng. Reduce everything back to the space station for now.”
Once the space station was again in the centre of the room, Leah and Wisp just stared at it. Finally, Wisp said, “It’s a portal, isn’t it. Fast travel across Cosmos Online.”
“Yep. I think so. I imagine similar hubs are waiting in some of those other systems.”
“And the power system?”
“Something which uses solar energy and the resources from the gas giants. We’ll have to realign the faulty spike on the disc to whatever it should be aimed out in the outer system and aim the horn at the gas giant. I’ve no idea what the blurred area is so we’ll need to investigate it closely. It’s possible there are two systems, one for the station and one for the portal.”
Wisp said, “What if we have it wrong? There really is nothing in that part of space as far as I can tell. What if each gas giant is supposed to have two places of intersection? One to power the station and the other to power the portal but the portal also needs the connection to the star?”
Leah mapped it out in her head and looked the angles then said, “It could work, and it makes more sense than trying to find a mysterious point in space. Gèng, can you plot the movements for the next two solar years and see if the movement of planets still makes it possible for what we’ve said to work?”
Gèng showed the plot as she did the calculations, and it was clear that if the spikes could move then the station and portal could be powered throughout the entire system cycle while the portal remained focused on the same part of the galaxy.
“So, why point at the planets?” Wisp asked.
“Gravity as a power source, maybe. I wonder if the towers send, receive, or do both. Gèng, did the
red lines intersect at the centre of the planet, at a set point on the surface, or what? Check particularly what happened on the two inhabited planets.”
Leah turned to Wisp and continued, “While we wait, let’s look closely at the nine spikes and see if we can determine anything different between them, or maybe find something which looks broken on the two we think are misaligned. We should do the same for the two horns.”
Both Leah and Wisp had studied each of the different ends before Gèng said, “I’ve reached a few possible conclusions on the intersection points, but it isn’t conclusive with so little data. The measurements are not accurate enough at the moment.”
Leah said, “Good, what can you deduce?”
“I started with the two habitable planets, and I suspect the lines are centred on the planets. You mentioned gravity and I did some calculations. I suspect that both planets have a gravitational field that is less than it should be. The difference is microscopic and is possibly a survey error, but still, it was measurable. When I looked at the other planets, the same is true for all except the one with bubble. On that one, the line intersects the centre of the area Wisp mentioned. The extension from the horn on the portal is also centred on that area of lower density. There is insufficient data to evaluate changes in mass or gravitational field in the star. I conclude that the station somehow accesses the gravitational field from the planet and uses that for power or it shares it with whatever system powers the portal.”
“Thank you, that helps us know which mechanisms to focus on.”
Leah continued, “So, Wisp, what do we do next? Do you have any thoughts?”