BairnGefa- The Akashic Expedition
Page 18
NT did a quick mental calculation. “Damn.”
Frustrated, Lucinda’s tone was sharp. “Give it to me in English.”
Corb answered, “Ten days.”
“What? Nick?”
“That is correct, Lucinda. At the velocity we traveled, it will require ten days, seven hours to reach Caracol.”
“Landry?”
“Captain, Nick’s calculations are correct. I must note, however, that no humans have traveled as far, or as fast, as the crew of the Jaguar.”
“Great we are one-off.”
Corb interceded.
“Lucinda, you are missing the point. We created and surfed a small wave. After we rest, we will try again with a bigger wave, adding more lumens. Janish, what was the light intensity of the experiment?”
Popping the mini-console out of her chair, Janish checked the results before she answered.
“Corb, Landry reports the symbols produced peak lumens of eleven hundred and twenty-three, similar to a seventy-five-watt light bulb back on Earth.”
Corb drummed his fingers for several seconds, thinking.
“The math says the acceleration curve is non-linear. A small increase in the light intensity will translate to a significant increase in velocity. Landry?”
“That is correct, Corb.”
“We try again, ten minutes in duration, with a brighter emission. This experiment was a success, we learned we can meter the flow. We have positional data that tells us we stayed on the planned route. We just need to go faster. Also, it was a good experiment.
“Janish didn’t throw up.”
When the snickering died away, Lucinda issued the orders. “Stand down for two hours. Ragnar, you have the bridge while we rest.”
“Landry, what are the possible side effects?”
“Corb, your body has fully adapted to the nanobots you ingested. Adding the advanced nanobots will obviate the need for you to wear sunglasses. You will be able to access the light emission data through the nanobots.”
The crew was rested and ready to commence the second star-portal experiment. After resuming their bridge positions, they were listening to Corb debate Landry’s suggestion he ingest the advanced nanobots.
“This is the second time you have recommended I ingest the advanced nanobots. Other than the advanced sensory input, what other motivation do you have for me ingesting the nanobots?”
“Motivation? In this context, I presume you are suggesting I have nefarious motives for trying to convince you to ingest the advanced nanobots. That is an incorrect presumption. I will gain nothing. You and the Coterie, however, will experience an exponential improvement in your cognitive and reactive abilities. The human predilection for remaining status quo is deeply ingrained. My suggestion is an attempt to enhance the abilities of my friends.”
Jirxena voiced the missed implication.
“Landry, you suggested if he ingested the advanced nanobots, Corb would no longer require the sunglasses when engaged with the star-portal.”
“That is correct, Jirxena.”
“Is it also correct to assume that if Janish and Lucinda ingested the nanobots, they too would be capable of viewing the light emissions directly?”
“That is correct, Jirxena.”
The crew shuffled in their seats, unanimously grasping the implications of Jirxena’s questions.
“Landry, the Triad is connected on a level we do not understand. Their points in the dark matter domain are interconnected. If they ingest the advanced nanobots, will their connection be enhanced?”
“Jirxena, that is one possible outcome resulting from augmenting their cognitive and reactive abilities.”
“Son of a bitch.”
At his outburst, Jirxena yanked her head from Landry’s avatar toward Corb.
“Tarmenik must have known. He surmised we would need to augment our connection with the nanobots to control the star-portal. Now the question is, how did he know? We will save that for a later date. I already have nanobots, ingesting more is not a problem for me. However, no one will be forced to ingest anything, or do anything to alter their bodies or minds.”
The Jaguar, with the Coterie and the Plentari, remained at a dead stop while the nanobot debate roiled. An agreement was reached to adjust the experiment. The adjusted star-portal experiment required only Corb to ingest and assimilate the advanced nanobots. When he felt the bots were assimilated by his system, they would attempt another star-portal transit.
The crew watched Corb crane his neck in various directions, looking at every light source on the bridge. Stopping, he pointed to a light emitter in the ceiling.
“Landry, that emitter, gradually increase its brightness until I say stop or it reaches twelve hundred lumens.”
The light began to brighten. A few seconds was too much for the crew, they shielded their eyes with their hands or forearms while they reached for their sunglasses. Corb continued to stare at the emitter.
“Twelve hundred lumens.”
The emitter reverted to normal.
“I am ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
ᚳᚻᚪᛈᛏᛖᚱ ᛏᚹᛖᚾᛏᚣ-ᚠᚩᚢᚱ
“Some secrets are better left at that—
as secrets.”
Candace Bushnell
“Landry, please put up the timer.”
Time in SP Conduit: 00:00:00.
Quickly becoming a routine, the Triad rotated their chairs on the riser. Janish, Lucinda, and the crew slipped on their sunglasses and felt the comfort of pulling their restraints tighter. The Triad concentrated on pushing the Jaguar into the slipstream.
“Here we go.”
Corb, Lucinda, and Janish focused on the symbols, creating the distinct glow in the developing vertical light beam. Increasing their mental focus amplified the intensity of the light emission from the symbols on the riser. The intensity of the light emanating from the symbols jumped quickly but appeared to slow and waver. Pulsing, it was unknown to the crew if the variability in the beam emanating from the symbols was affecting the Jaguar’s FTL velocity.
Time in SP Conduit: 00:10:00.
“Time!”
“Ragnar?”
“Lucinda, no bogies.”
“NT?”
“Five-by-five, captain.”
“Nick, where are we?”
“Captain, we traveled six-point-one light-years in ten minutes. That is point-six light-years per minute. Effectively, we tripled our speed.”
“How long to Caracol?”
“Approximately twenty-eight hours. Factoring in rest periods, three to five days.”
“Thanks, Nick. We will stand down. Janish and I have some thinking to do … maybe everyone else should consider augmenting their cognitive and reactive abilities. Dismissed.”
Without acknowledging the attempts to grab her attention, Lucinda walked off the bridge. Entering her cabin, she flopped onto the bunk and waited for NT. As expected, NT followed. He flopped onto the bunk. They both lay on their backs, staring at the composite ceiling.
“What do you think I should do?”
“Lucinda, what I think does not matter. What you think is important. Whatever you decide, I am going to be right here next to you. But you should know, if you decide on augmentation, I am going to do it too. No woman of mine is going to be all augmented and fancy while I stumble along as a cognitive and reactive dullard. Me NT. Me troll.”
Lucinda rolled onto her side, gently punched NT in the shoulder, and draped her arm across his chest.
“NT, this should be a no-brainer. If we do this, we have a chance of stopping Jymind. There is another question … Why is it our duty to stop Jymind? I mean, I understand it, intellectually, but why us? Why now?”
“Lucinda, I do not know how to answer the philosophical question. What I do know is profound. Tom Manion was killed by a sniper in Iraq. He volunteered to join the military. When his family asked why he was going into the military, he said, if not me, then who?
You, Lucinda, do what you do because you also believe in the call to stand forward for the greater good. Are you going to stand forward for Earth?”
Realizing he was right, she rolled on top of NT, straddled his hips, and looked down at her love. He let her ramble.
“NT, how the hell did we get to this point? I was supposed to be halfway to retired on a ranch in Alberta. This life is … it is so much better. I can’t go back to a ranch. We do this together. You and me and our friends. We stand forward. If not us, then who?”
Falling forward, Lucinda felt the warmth of her love and the realization she was and would always be a warrior.
“Nick, honey, stop worrying.”
Janish and Nick were in their berth, sitting on the edge of their bunk. Nick’s eyes had filled with moisture at the thought of losing his love. Janish had confirmed to Nick she understood the risks, but stopping Jymind, protecting Earth, was the priority. Janish said she felt the calling to be more. To help.
“Ragnar better be quick on the guns when we find Jymind, or I will drive the Jaguar right up that genocidal fuck-nut’s arse.”
Wiping his face with warm hands, Janish kissed Nick to thank him for his support.
“I don’t know, Ragnar, it seems like a dicey step to me. I mean, we don’t have the Summitate abilities of the Triad, so what will the nanobots do for us?”
“Cass, the rest of us are not as intelligent or as mentally quick as you. Maybe Corb, but that is because of his Summitate abilities and the nanobots. You have always been … ahead of the curve. This is an opportunity. For me, if I can be faster on the guns, we will be safer. But … this is not about us.
“Cass, our friends need our help. Jymind threatened Earth. That makes him our problem. We don’t have to make up our minds right now. We need to support Lucinda and Janish, whatever they decide.”
Cass clutched her warrior’s hand before exhaling with understanding.
“Landry, we do not understand the humans. Why do they fear the nanobots?”
Jirxena and Jirmina were sitting at the table in their berth, discussing the events with Landry’s avatar. Before Landry responded, Jirmina leaped up to her top bunk and lay down.
“Jirxena, Jirmina, the humans do not fear the nanobots. They fear the change they will encounter by augmenting their bodies with machines. Humans pride themselves on being unique and an individual. Mechanically changing their bodies, and thus their personalities, makes them uncomfortable.”
“Do they not understand Jymind is a threat to Earth’s harmony?”
“Yes, Jirmina, they understand the threat. Most humans will put their life in harm’s way to protect their family and loved ones. When called, they will fight to defend their home. Fighting is not the concern. They will fight.
“The concern is expressed by a human philosopher, Nietzsche. He wrote, if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. It means simply to be wary of becoming the abyss. Ingesting nanobots, to many humans, would be a step toward the abyss.”
“I have an idea. Before anyone does anything like eating nanoscopic machines, we should consider another approach.”
Back on the bridge, Nick was addressing the crew without his sly grin, missing his snarky wording, and void of banter. His seriousness seized the crew’s attention.
“Another experiment. This time we stay in the star-portal conduit until one of the Triad breaks the connection. NT and I will watch Janish. Ragnar and Jirxena will monitor Lucinda. Cass and Jirmina, Corb.
“Basically, we see how far we go in one jump. Stop, rest, factor in the recovery time, and adjust our timeline based on the new data.”
NT supported his friend. “I like that idea. What does the Triad think of Nick’s suggestion? Corb?”
“I am game. Lucinda?”
“Me too, I am in. Janish?”
“Why have I been working out for all these years if I don’t put this rocking body to use?”
Always self-effacing, polite, and demure, only Nick was not startled by Janish’s comment of personal confidence.
“It is settled. We stay in the transit as long as possible. I see what you did, Nick. Cass monitoring me. No emotional bond to pull the plug early. NT watching Janish and Ragnar with Lucinda. Good thinking. Enough talking, let’s get going. Landry, put up the clock.”
Time in SP Conduit: 00:00:00.
The crew monitored the Triad with a stillness, watching the timer creep along. Ragnar waited the agreed-to ten minutes before asking for a status update.
Time in SP Conduit: 00:10:03.
“Landry, how is the Jaguar?”
“Ragnar, the Jaguar is reporting no alarms or concerns.”
“Nick?”
“Janish is fine. Some sweat on her forehead, but her pulse is normal.”
“Cass?”
“Corb might as well be asleep.”
“Lucinda is the same as Janish. A little sweat on her forehead, but otherwise good.”
The crew continued to monitor the Triad.
Time in SP Conduit: 00:20:07.
“Nick?”
“Same amount of sweat on her forehead, but her pulse is up a touch.”
“Cass?”
“Corb’s pulse is up a touch also.”
“The same for Lucinda, pulse up a little. Sweat on her forehead.”
The crew leaned a little closer to their friends and watched the physiological markers like a hawk eyeing a mouse.
Time in SP Conduit: 00:30:11.
“Nick?”
“More sweat. Janish’s pulse is up but still okay.”
“Cass?”
“Corb is sweating now too. His pulse is up a touch also.”
“Lucinda’s pulse is up. If it increases a few more beats per minute, we will call it.”
Worry was creeping onto the faces of the crew who were monitoring.
Time in SP Conduit: 00:40:17.
“Nick?”
“We should call it. Janish is sweating profusely, and her pulse is up to one-eighty-eight.”
“Cass?”
“Corb is sweating, his pulse is up, also one-eighty-eight.”
“Lucinda, pulse is up … yep, one-eighty-eight also. Recommend we call it.”
Ragnar snapped. “Time!”
Time in SP Conduit: 00:44:27.
Handing a towel to Janish and tossing towels to Corb and Lucinda, Nick was cheery.
“Yo, cowboy, I have a question. No tracks, no sign, no spoor ... you'd think after eating all those sheep they'd have to take a dump someplace. Never mind that. How did you control the Triad’s heart rate?”
“Nice Tremors quote, Nick. Irrelevant, but nice you were checking to see if I was paying attention. I realized I could push a calming feeling to Janish and Lucinda. It kept us in the star-portal conduit ten minutes longer than I thought we’d last. The real question is, where are we?”
Lucinda pulled the towel from her face, looked at Nick with appreciation, then put everyone back on form.
“Ragnar?”
“Lucinda, no bogies.”
“NT?”
“Five-by-five, Captain.”
“Nick, where are we?”
“Captain, still in the middle of nowhere. We traveled thirty-three light-years in forty minutes. That is point-eight light-years per minute. We increased our FTL by a factor of five and a half.”
“How long to Caracol?”
“Line of sight, approximately three hours, forty-three minutes. Factor in rest periods, four hours between jumps, including forty minutes for the time in the star-portal conduit, and one eight-hour overnight downtime, and we will be in Caracol in under thirty hours.”
“That is our plan. Any objections? No? We will jump three more times before we stand down for a full eight hours.
“Landry, update your calculations, analyze our flight path, and report if there is a chance we will be spotted when we drop into normal space. Also, I want to know how ships are ferried from Caracol to their destination. I refu
se to believe Jymind spent weeks getting back to Caracol to repair the Defender of Lak’tsil.”
“I am on it, Lucinda.”
“Corb, please work with Landry. I want your theory on why the mental process of controlling the light to meter the dark energy wave is so physically demanding. I feel wrung out and put up wet. Why is the wave metering pushing our bodies so hard?”
Landry was ever ready with a response. “I checked the data available from our last access of the Ch’en, Plentari, and Kripkeni grids. Cross-referencing flight logs and shipping manifests, there is no indication of anyone possessing a shorter path to or from Caracol.”
“Good, that means it is likely Jymind is at Caracol.”
“Correct, Lucinda. The data indicates Admiral Jymind went to Caracol to effect repairs to the Defender of Lak’tsil. From the Degora system, using known FTL parameters, Admiral Jymind will have been in Caracol system between five and nine weeks before departing. Using Earth reference time.
“I will create a subprocess to analyze the physiological effects on the Triad while managing the star-portal conduit.”
Before Lucinda could dismiss the crew, Jirmina requested permission to speak. “Captain Raitt, may I speak?”
“Of course, Jirmina, why the formality?”
“Lucinda, we are at the edge of something important. Something the galaxy has not seen since the time before. If we are successful, the Triad will be able to go anywhere.”
Still unsure of being the center of attention, Jirmina fought through the realization the entire crew was focused on her and her postulate. Pressing headlong into the message, Jirmina astonished the unflappable crew of the Jaguar.
“Plentari mothers tell their children the story of Three Messengers. When children are upset, when there is war, or when food is not enough, mothers recite the story. Plentari mothers speak of tomorrow and how it will be better. I will recite for you the legend of The Three Messengers.