“What happened?” Patel, near him, pulled off his helmet and rubbed his thinning white hair. “How long have we been out?”
“Not long. When we realized you were aimlessly drifting back towards us, simply asleep, we flashed you back. It looks like the ship is now fitted with a delta wave shield.”
Watanabe groaned again, and got groggily to his feet. “Thanks for the date, John. But I think I’m going to take an early night.” He stumbled out of the hanger and headed left down the station corridor.
“Thank you, Wei,” said Patel, holding his head. “I’ll deliver a report soon. In summary, the Stellar Flash cannot be boarded via phase-shift at the present time. If you could look into that, that would be very much appreciated.”
Patel also stumbled out of the hangar, and Zhou pouted. “Never trust old people to do a young person’s work,” she said softly.
“Now, now!” admonished the A.I. “Sometimes older people are the only ones that will do the work!”
“Good point,” said Zhou, and she headed back to the corridor.
Now it was her responsibility to find a way into the Stellar Flash.
There must be another way in.
Chapter 20
Hogart stared at the corridor in front of him, confused. The upgrade had not only removed several quarters; it had renumbered everything too. The toilet for humans was no longer just a few doors away from the Center. If the reconfiguration had got rid of it, he’d have to go halfway down corridor two to his cabin, or to the ones near the hangars.
If they were still there.
“Er. A.I? Where are the toilets?”
“Human waste disposal units relocated to sector 37.”
“We have sectors now?”
“Rooms are color-coded and grouped. Specific research is to be conducted in designated areas for the overall safety of the crew members.”
“Color-coded?” muttered Hogart. “So, we’re children, too?” Then more loudly. “Do we need to check our flash bands now, just to navigate?” On the wall in front of him, a small panel formed, became transparent, then displayed a ‘you are here’ map. Hogart rolled his eyes. “Really?”
“The reconfiguration will take some time to get used to. In that orientation period, maps will appear as needed.”
On the screen was a schematic for the new Stellar Flash configuration. Shapes within triangles within triangles. Hogart noted the two dots joined by a line. It would take him five minutes to walk there. “A.I. Has this reconfiguration dumped some of the toilet blocks?”
“Human waste removal services have been consolidated.”
Hogart looked incredulously at the wall. “This ship is a kilometer on each edge. You can’t be telling me there is only one staff toilet for human crew members!”
“There’s only one human crew member that needs it. Captain Jonathan Hogart. Records indicate your personal recycling system means you only need one visit per day.”
“On a good day. And if you haven’t noticed, Raj is human!”
The A.I. paused for a moment, and then said, “Authorization required regarding accessing Raj Kumar’s personal files.”
“If he doesn’t need a toilet, I don’t want to know about it.”
“Confirmed.”
“Sector 37, yes? Right. I’m off.” Hogart, attempting to shake off his annoyance, headed down the corridor, touching various signs as he went. “Sector 35…36…37…” As soon as he saw 37, he pushed on the nearest door, thankful that it wasn’t one of the ones that needed unlocking. He rushed inside to find a urinal, then stopped.
There was nothing there.
Confused, he looked left and right. Definitely no toilet. Was this a new kind? Should he just relieve himself on the floor? Needing to go was stopping him from needing to think. Idiot! Of course not. Wrong room.
He was in some kind of pyramid-shaped area that hadn’t been part of the Stellar Flash before. “A.I. This wasn’t here before.”
No response.
Hogart raised an eyebrow. Was it some kind of sanctuary? A place to relax? Yes, he could almost feel it. As though it was somehow cut off from the rest of the ship, perhaps even reality generally. There was a subtle energy in the room, like an amberness. That faint color of childhood memories that bring on tiny smiles of joy.
As he thought about it, and the calmness of the area seemed to permeate through his entire body, he found himself reminiscing. He was taken back to a time when he was with his father as a child, visiting a fishing theme park and throwing fishing lines into a lake along with hundreds of other children and their families.
And then, to his surprise, he was there. The insides of the pyramid had suddenly been replaced with so much depth and information that he couldn’t believe that it wasn’t real.
Then he frowned. This wasn’t the memory he had accessed. This was now. Had cameras created a virtual version, triggered by his thoughts?”
Just then, one of the characters noticed him. He looked familiar, though a bit faded, as though the hologram couldn’t quite complete. “Jonny Hogart,” said the man, sliding between the families of fishers. “How are you, old son?”
It took a moment for Hogart to recognize him. “Dave Johnson? Is it really you?” Johnson’s Australian aboriginal lineage clearly showed in his black curly hair and joyful brown eyes. The last time they had had a drink together was at least five years ago, in Melbourne, Australia, just after they had closed their entertainment company. They planned to meet again next year and discuss another business idea. Johnson was the last person he’d expect to see in the room. “Why would this thing create a hologram of you?”
Johnson chuckled, reached out and grabbed Hogart’s hand. “Mate! I’m not a damn hologram. Are you on the piss?”
Hogart held Johnson’s hand for a moment in surprise, then shook it, beaming broadly. “You’re real!” He laughed. “No, bud, I haven’t touched a drop in days.” He released his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. What is this place?”
“You must be out of it. Told you all about it last time. My dream project. Quite literally. You might call it astral traveling, but I call it dream traveling. After we closed DreamStreaming Entertainment, I went to work for Earth Council, bringing along my project. They loved it so much, it’s being rolled out to all the larger flash ships now. I heard there had been an upgrade on the Stellar Flash so thought I’d stop by and make sure it was working. In my position I can activate the tangibility feature. It’s still in beta. Developer’s privileges!”
Hogart was still smiling at seeing his old friend. Then the present came rushing back and his smile faded. “Mate. We only just got an upgrade an hour ago, but haven’t studied the updates yet. Not an entertainment unit, then?”
Johnson shook his head. “Essentially, it’s an astral projection chamber. A cut down version of the Great Pyramid in Cairo, and no sarcophagus needed. You walk in, think of any place in the universe you’d like to be, and your consciousness is relocated there instantly. You can even combine multiple locations if you wish. Like now. And, in the future, when a person on the other end knows how to use it, they can be corporeal with you in this space. Like me.” He raised his fingers to his lips. “That bit is need to know. Most beings don’t know how to cross the channels, and will just feel like holographic gas.”
Hogart looked about, not quite believing it. Then he frowned. “Alright, awesome tech. But how will this help me?”
“Flash ships stuck for ages in alternate universes or higher frequencies, unable to get a message back to their universe? Multiple groups have been working on this for months. If you can’t communicate the usual way, you can use the system to appear to anyone anywhere up to Frequency Three. We’re finally removing some of the barriers!”
Just then, Hogart realized exactly what he had to do. “Dave, this is amazing. But, I need to use this to contact someone as soon as possible!”
“No worries. I’m happy everything is working, and I’ll head b
ack. Great to see you again!”
“You too. Let’s do that drink again sometime.”
“Well, I hope it’s more than one!”
Hogart laughed as he turned to exit the doorway. “Of course.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” called Johnson. “I checked your update stats. The toilet is the next door on your left.”
Hogart looked sheepish, then nodded his thanks and headed left.
Johnson chuckled again, closed his eyes, and disappeared, as the image of the lake and the fishing families faded away.
As he rushed to relieve himself, Hogart thought about what Johnson had said. He couldn’t use the astral chamber to locate Heartness, as he had no idea what her location looked like, but he could use it to contact the station.
That was something, at least.
Chapter 21
It had been easier to focus on the man, than the wall of yellowish flesh that seemed to be watching them, a spray of veins of various colors stretching across its surface like a Rorschach print.
For the past hour, they had been investigating everything they could about the frozen stranger. Long black hair, deep, worried lines, eyes like he was about to scream, a hand mid-dropping a drink. Apart from the earpods, that seemed to be permanently inserted in his ears, there wasn’t anything remotely remarkable about him.
Why was he here, frozen, and not part of the fleshtube like the others?
A time bubble extended just a few centimeters around him. Dust had collected on the edges of the bubble, creating semicircle lines on both ends of the table. They knew that if they could start his timeline again, they'd have to step away from the splash, and whatever he was about to do with his arms when he screamed.
But how were they going to restart him?
"Hang on," said Heartness. "Do you have a copy of the image we first saw of him?"
Szuki swiped through the history records of her wrist band and put the composite image on the screen that was on the left, behind the man. It showed him from above, still holding his cup, but the man in front had just started dropping it.
"Slow time," said Heartness. "What would happen if I was to touch him?"
"Flesh tube? Frozen too? Time would start again? No idea.”
"Right! Hopefully you'll find a solution." Heartness headed for the man, but Szuki grabbed her and pulled her back, giving her a steely gaze.
"I hired you to solve this because you're the best,” said Szuki, with more than a little annoyance. “I can't have you taking the risk." Before Heartness had a chance to object, Szuki had run forward, reached into the area they'd defined as frozen and grabbed the cup, stopping it from falling. She then placed it on the table as the man screamed, stopped, realized there was someone standing in front of him that hadn't been there before, then screamed again.
He backed away, knocking his chair over and staring past Szuki at what was behind her.
"Oh my god," he screamed. "It's going to kill me."
Szuki took a breath. "Young man, it is a group of people frozen in time. We have been investigating it. Keep calm."
"But, but.." the man ignored her, ran through the door and into the next hexicle.
Szuki turned back to see Heartness' reaction.
But she wasn't there.
And the fleshtube, now a cloudy blur of vibration and pulses, rushed towards Szuki, increasing her physical frequencies too suddenly for them to adapt. Before she could even open her mouth to scream, she became a glowing rainbow, her matter having no choice but to sort itself into vibration wavelength order.
She merged with the cloud as it floated after the running energy, her thoughts becoming one with everyone else.
Nothing will stop us from finding our missing pieces.
Nothing!
Chapter 22
“Well,” said Puppy, placing the Growler down on the floor. “I think that’s enough for today.”
“Are you going to be alright? You’ve had 10 of them. Not sure your constitution can handle that much human liquid.”
Puppy attempted to stand up, and his 12 legs struggled to keep him upright. “I have the best balance this side of the Taurus Nebula. I also have three brains. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
His pole-legs slipped from under him, and his abdomen collided with one of the tables. As his massive head collided with another table, and his tongue lolled out like a long mat, he winked one of his eyes and mumbled. “Sorry Dev. You might need to charge me for lost custom.”
Dev laughed. “Are you kidding? Stay there. You’re going to get me so many customers I’m going to have to give you free beer for a month!”
As Puppy passed out, wondering slightly what Dev meant by that, he realized that there was a crowd gathering around him with drone cameras, and quickly understood.
Dev leaned over his counter, picked up a little black box and spoke into it. “Yes, he’s out cold. He can’t interfere.” He then pressed the side, and the box dissolved into nothing. “Well, I guess my work here is done.”
He pulled off his apron, walked over to the girl with six blue arms, who was embracing a round, bubble-alien, and got her attention. He touched his left horn, and she nodded. He then headed out of the bar and stood waiting just outside the entrance.
Moments later she joined him, they spoke briefly, embraced, hit their flash bands, and disappeared.
Chapter 23
Proxima Centauri, the volatile red dwarf star approximately 4.3 light years from Earth, ejected a coronal mass, projecting the plasma towards Proxima Centauri B at two million kilometers an hour.
Commander Sue Lin of the Proxima Centauri Space Force frowned at the spectrometer which was giving her a lot more than she felt entirely comfortable with. Swiping the data away simply revealed more disturbing news – the lethal level of X-rays on the surface. “Not the most hospitable planet,” she muttered.
She checked how long they had before the plasma storm would hit the atmosphere, and opened communications. “Alright, teams, you have 45 minutes before you need to leave the planet. Otherwise, you’re toast. Quite literally.”
Lin was in her command vessel, locked in a suborbital position above Proxima Centauri B. She stood in front of a wide viewfilm grid of images from multiple locations throughout her ship, nearby space, the planet and her six scout craft.
She zoomed in on the ships as they broke formation and headed for the surface, speeding to their designated landing areas. The craft then momentarily disappeared as they plunged into the murky hydrogen cloud cover.
“Switch to microwave view,” Lin ordered the A.I.
The screen flickered, recalibrated, then zoomed through the clouds to reveal the specks of the shuttles hovering about the research hive - sixty hexagonal rooms arranged in a clockwise fashion around a central Clarke elevator.
The screen displayed the hexicle numbers. If Lin wished, she could click on each one to find out what it was being used for. Gravity research centers, frequency investigation areas, even an organ growth center. At this height, though, they all looked identical.
Lin knew the shuttles were heading for airlocks 40, 44, 48, 52, 56 and 60. After that, the teams would make their way through the base, sweeping each hexicle, looking for any signs of a missing admiral, alive or dead.
She would have liked to have gone with her team, but someone had to remain above, see the big picture, and direct the mission from afar.
The microwave image blurred as one by one her ‘Sixes’ powered their craft across the base, then settled at their allocated airlocks.
Lin wasn’t happy about this assignment at all. Corporations were supposed to solve their own problems. She had better things to do than fill out missing persons reports. The ongoing mission to locate a couple of pranksters, the preparation for a possible war with the Florans, the constant exercises to be prepared for a robot uprising…
And then Patel had requested her to locate Admiral Victoria Heartness. Lin was quietly annoyed. The Admiral could look after he
rself. She didn’t see why her team of 72 soldiers were needed to locate just one admiral.
Lin had tried contacting the base owner, but Szuki’s mothership had been less than helpful, so she’d got her team to scan its recent communications. Patel had told her that Heartness had been kidnapped by one of Szuki’s boffs, raising the unsavory notion that there might already be a robot uprising on their hands.
And then, Lin had discovered that Heartness’ charity had received quite a sizable sum of labor credits, and both Heartness and Szuki had left in a shuttle together. Probably the quickest case of Stockholm Syndrome Lin had ever heard of. On the plus side, it did suggest no robots were uprising, yet.
A data request had been received from a base boff 30 minutes ago, confirming that it had visually identified both Szuki and Heartness in hexicle 5. But the recent plasma storm from Proxima Centauri had begun to hamper communications, and they had not been able to contact them directly.
In any case, she was stuck here until she could find Heartness and take her back. Of Szuki, she was less concerned, and held her personally responsible for the mess that they now had to clean up.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” said one of her scientists, taking her out of her reverie. She turned to her. “Yes, Ykrist? What is it?”
The red-haired woman came over to her, pointed at her tablet and swiped right. “It’s regarding the intel from Doctor Patel. The boff that took Heartness said 27 scientists are missing, but according to administration records, there were only 27 people assigned to the base. Whatever happened would have had to have taken them all out at the same time, without even time to signal a distress call, or set up a quarantine.”
“Diseases?” asked Lin, worriedly.
“Thankfully, there’s no evidence of that. But, I have been able to access some of their experiments.” She retrieved a screen of numbers, and Lin raised an eyebrow at her.
“Oh, of course, I know you don’t have time to read through calculations,” she said, recovering quickly. “I found one that you might be interested in. Here’s the summary.” She flipped up the image to retrieve a paragraph of symbols. “Experiment 457 summary. Message sent across the universal barriers to Frequency Six. Repeated signal received. Currently being analyzed. Signed by…Doctors John Petree, Darve Tenent and Brace Cole.”
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