Attunga

by Peter Wood

  ‘They all say the same thing.’

  ‘Of course they do, but it’s heartfelt and important to them, Thom.’

  ‘I know, but I’ll still be glad when it’s over.’

  ‘It will never be over, but officially you finish your public meetings after the next three days.’

  ‘Just as well. I’ve only had one proper trip in the Comet since we got back and no training at all. It’s getting ridiculous.’

  ***

  ‘It seems like they’re in a hurry to restore everything, Pirramar.’

  The day before, the trio and Sonic had used Thom’s ship to examine the reconstruction progress in the area of impact and been surprised at how much had happened. The protective hull, which had been vaporised to a depth of over 100 metres in the worst places, was completely rebuilt and foundations for the docking and construction sites were well under way.

  ‘There is a timeline, Wirrin, but it is easily achievable. We were delayed while we moved the habitats back to all our abandoned asteroids but the picofactories are very efficient and they quickly put us on track. The hull repair work is nothing compared with the original build and Warrakan can easily handle any important work.’

  ‘What is the timeline then?’

  ‘We need to be ready for the move to Uranus in three months. We want to have all construction areas restored, three Comets with mobile AIs built, and complete the basic infrastructure for the dolphin level of Attunga … Link to the gestalt research database and find the AI design section. We’ll go through what’s being proposed.’

  ***

  ‘Dingoes! I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. I’ve just had the most amazing meeting with the security AI and the people from the centre.’ Thom had just arrived home after a day at his training centre.

  ‘Choose happy then, Great Captain, and banish the sad to an asteroid lost in the ocean of interstellar space.’

  ‘Wise words, Great Fish.’

  Laughing as he dodged the inevitable jet of water, Thom tossed his gear to one side.

  He did a bomb drop into the pool a few inches from Sonic’s head and the news about his amazing meeting went on hold while the usual chaos of laughter and physical interaction claimed them.

  ‘Not fair! You’re too big. It’s like trying to push a wall around.’

  ‘Yajala informs me my growth is likely to continue for at least another twelve years.’

  ‘It better not. We’ll need a bigger pool.’

  They wouldn’t. This one had been designed to cope but Thom did have a point because during the last few months Sonic had had another growth spurt, and though not yet quite the size of the big enhanced males, Sonic was certainly approaching it.

  ‘Share your amazing news with us, Little One.’

  Thom ignored the dig. He was relaxed now, draped across Sonic’s back and leisurely rubbing an area of skin near his blowhole.

  ‘They think my ship is so important they’re taking her off me.’

  ‘What?’ His three listeners responded together. That was amazing news.

  ‘And it’s partly my own fault … for telling you she was precious. The Witnesses and the AIs are going to give her the place of honour in a display centre about the attack. They are giving me another ship, but it won’t be the same because she was so good.’

  ‘She? Humans are adept at anthropomorphising.’

  ‘And some dolphins are swimming word banks. What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘You called it she, as if it was a person.’

  Thom grabbed Sonic’s dorsal fin but changed his mind about bending it.

  ‘Everyone calls a ship “she”.’

  ‘What’s the new one going to be like? I bet it’ll be even better.’

  ‘It will be able to do more and it might be better.’

  ‘You just described the new ship as an “it”.’

  Thom laughed at Wirrin and Calen’s grins, which said that as soon as he got the new one the ‘she’ would return and he’d get excited and enthusiastic and once again be boasting about having the best in the solar system.

  ‘Well, it should be. They’re working on improving the grav-compensator and I asked them to make it more powerful as well.’

  ‘More? Wombats! Is that possible? I remember you saying something about more powerful engines straining the structure.’

  ‘Yes, this new one has to be a bit bigger, 49 metres instead of 43, and slightly thicker because the hull and the frame have to be stronger.’

  ‘When do you get it?’

  ‘In about five weeks. They’re building it here on Warrakan … Why?’

  ‘We leave for Titania in three months so we should have another try at our K137 adventure. It’ll be too far away if we don’t.’

  ‘Hey, brilliant, and we won’t leave unless Sonic’s with us this time. Let’s organise it for two weeks after I get the new ship.’

  ‘We will demand time for our last chance to visit the mystery asteroid and I will enjoy flying your new ship.’

  ‘No you won’t. It’s not allowed to get wrecked so I told them they couldn’t put any dolphin controls in it.’

  ‘You are being provided with a limited rust bucket?’

  Thom looked to Wirrin for the meaning.

  ‘A nautical term used on Earth to describe an old worn-out ship.’

  ‘No, a new powerful ship with protections to stop wonky drivers who bump into every asteroid that passes by.’

  Wirrin didn’t know what wonky meant and wondered how Thom did.

  ‘Will it help wonky drivers who need a new door before they can leave their ship?’

  So, it had come from an earlier verbal stoush with Sonic. Thom, obviously realising he’d left himself wide open with the bumping into asteroid statement, conveniently ignored the comeback.

  ‘It’ll have a stronger multi-spectrum beam and a slightly bigger picofactory too and they’re going to build twenty more of them after it’s been trialled.’

  ‘Twenty? Who are they for?’

  ‘Training at the centre. They’re building five extra Comets too, but that will all happen after the move.’

  ‘They’re for training? That means you’ll be busier than ever?’

  ‘Probably.’

  The talk went back to their mystery asteroid and twenty minutes later it was all planned and locked in.

  ***

  ‘It’s hard to take it all in.’

  ‘You will, Burilda. We take all the human sectors for granted, and by the time the Attunga reaches are all functioning you’ll feel the same about the dolphin level.’

  The trio and Sonic had just spent nearly two hours with Burilda, zooming from pristine reach to pristine reach through the connector tunnels, to see the enormous new area being made available for the Attunga enhanced dolphins.

  ‘Do you think the dolphins will be able to take it in? There are more reaches than there are dolphins.’

  ‘Dolphins will explore and share their knowledge. Every special seagrass bed and underwater cave will be known.’

  ‘Not all of it, Thom. These reaches we’ve seen today will definitely be well-known by our enhanced dolphins, but there are thousands more in the early stages of development which will be without resident dolphins for decades.’

  ‘Thousands? Does that mean Attunga’s building more reaches than Warrakan?’

  Calen grabbed Thom by the neck and gave him a friendly shake, as if exasperated at his ignorance.

  ‘Thom, you’re hopeless! Warrakan’s got six levels set aside for dolphins and Attunga’s only got one. You can’t even compare them.’

  ‘All reaches are wonderful.’

  Wirrin agreed with Sonic. ‘It’s all wonderful, Sonic. When you were born there were only three tiny reaches and three hundred dolphins. Now there are over twelve thousand and there are more reaches than you could ever explore.’

  ‘That would be an interesting adventure.’

  ***

  Wirrin, standin
g with Calen, Sonic, Akama, Pirramar and Gulara, watched Thom deftly manipulate his special console so the view of deep space on the enormous display panned till both Attunga and Freedom were revealed, stabilised in close proximity for this historic moment.

  The display was bigger by far than on any Comet, being the main viewing panel for Warrakan Flight Control, the centre where all alignment and movement of the 50 kilometre long habitat was managed.

  Today this task was compounded by the electronic links that placed Attunga and Freedom under its control.

  Akama, representing the Witness Council and the people of all three habitats, had declined the official honour, suggesting it should be bestowed on Sonic.

  Sonic, in turn, declined and insisted Thom was the appropriate person.

  Thom, claiming he didn’t deserve it, was still chuffed and had spent the last few days acclimatising himself, by way of simulation, to the ways and means of moving the largest controlled mass in the solar system at significant acceleration.

  Now, sitting in the command position, he was waiting for Akama to make the short formal address the occasion demanded and give him the go-ahead. Attention centred on Akama while he spoke then switched to Thom.

  ‘Freedom engines … engaged!’

  On the screen it took a few seconds for a change of position to become apparent and Wirrin watched, fascinated by this close view of a habitat under power.

  ‘Attunga engines … engaged!’

  Again there was the short period before motion could be discerned but then the great construct blocked several stars and revealed others. It was on its way.

  Wirrin was struck by the significance of the occasion: here he was, once again involved directly in a key event. For the first time he pondered if something more than the vagaries of chance could possibly be at work. Often the trio said to each other that somehow they must be blessed, or cursed, to have been involved in so many big happenings.

  ‘Warrakan engines … engaged!’

  Wirrin pushed his introspection aside to enjoy Thom’s moment. After all, with three singular commands he’d just directed over one billion people, a thriving dolphin community, and their associated group of AIs, on a course to the far reaches of the solar system.

  END