He stopped to see if either Ull or Leegh wanted to comment, but both stared at him with tails barely moving as if they had trouble understanding his words. "Anyway, what I am proposing is, we put My Flowing Streams inside an asteroid or comet and find out if the drive will blow Leegh's bubble to enclose the whole thing. If it will, we should be able to make the trip to Toblepas in record time."
# # #
Three small rocky planets orbited within 13 million kilometers of the red dwarf’ surface. Beyond the outermost planet, beginning at approximately 20 million kilometers, asteroids, from the size of pebbles to over a thousand kilometers in diameter, formed a sparse ring extending another 30 million kilometers. They discovered an irregular asteroid on the second day of their search, half again the diameter of My Flowing Streams and twice as long. In the past, another object had struck the long side, making a crater that penetrated the asteroid like the eye of a sewing needle.
After a little blasting, My Flowing Streams fit snugly inside the eye. To control the start of transit, Tommy, with the help of the Communications Guild, added a remote control to the navigation computer. In case the automatic devices failed, a lander waited at the transit target on the other side of the system to notify them of the ship's exit. Four days after arriving, everyone involved in the project except the lander pilot was back in The People's Hand waiting for the test to begin.
"You understand my estimates of the total mass of the ship plus asteroid are completely theoretical," Leegh said. "Of course, I will be able to calibrate my calculations after the test, so that later estimates of transit interval will be more accurate."
So you said five times. Aloud he said, "Of course, Leegh. You know we are just trying to prove the transit bubble will enclose the asteroid in this first test. If it does, we expect a faster transit, but that can be worked out later."
Leegh twitched her tail back and forth, making Tommy jump to the side.
"Are you sure we are far enough away?" Leegh said. "What if the transit field forms as it always has, just outside the hull of My Flowing Streams? The mathematics doesn't predict what will happen to the matter penetrated by the surface of the field."
"Are you changing your mind about what we should expect?" Tommy asked. "Your analysis indicated the field will enclose anything in contact with the ship. If you are correct, we are in no danger."
"My analysis is hypothetical," Leegh said. "If the theory is wrong, being struck by debris from the asteroid will be an unfortunate way to find out."
"Leegh, we are 50 thousand kilometers away," Ull said. "We will be able to escape any debris." She turned to the communications desk. "Is the lander ready?"
"Yes, Director Ull."
Ull looked at Luns, who had the command podium, then at Tommy and Leegh. "If everyone is ready?" At their nods, she pressed the button mounted temporarily on the edge of the navigation console. When she looked at the radar screen, the return from the asteroid had disappeared.
Nine minutes later the report from the lander arrived simultaneously with a transmission from My Flowing Streams. The test had succeeded.
For the trip to Toblepas, they chose a silicate asteroid, roughly spherical and fifty kilometers in diameter. A large crater on what would be the front held The People's Hand like a pimple on the end of a human's nose, with enough of the ship exposed to allow a view ahead when on insystem drive. They planned to move My Flowing Streams to the asteroid's core at the end of a long bore, where that ship’s drive would be used to make the transit bubble.
To make the bore, the artisans deployed a gigantic mirror, made of an almost massless material, to focus the red dwarf's weak energy.
When Tommy saw the mirror spinning from a container the size of one of the landers, he found Ull.
"Is it possible you manufactured that mirror yourselves?" he asked.
Ull warbled. ”You have seen the condition of our ships. Does the mirror appear to be anything we could make? We traded for it at Toblepas before I was born. One of the other trading species obtained it from a civilization farther out the galactic arm."
"I have been meaning to ask what you would be trading for in return for what you have," Tommy said.
"We get most of our manufactured items on Toblepas. We bought the landers there. The radar units we now have are replacements we found there. This trip, the things we need most are water pumps of various sizes and the chemical fertilizers we use in the hydroponics tanks. But everyone has a list. If you want anything, tell me."
"I will give you a list, but one thing I would like is ten thousand kilograms of metal balls of various sizes," he answered. "I found none on the ship."
"Metal balls? And those will be used for…?”
"Do you remember my telling you I would like to improve the missiles? I will show you how when I get the balls."
# # #
"Sisle, aren't you bored in here?" Tommy called from the surface of the pond. He had decided to take a mid-morning swim rather than wait until later in the evening. Now, he dog paddled toward the door where she stood at near attention.
"No, Lord Tommy. I go out three times a day to eat. My place is here should you need me."
"Why are you standing by the door? You're not one of my guards. Besides, I don't have those anymore."
"Where else should I be?"
"You could come in the pool and have a swim."
"If you order me to, Lord Tommy."
She has her own way of saying she doesn't want to do something. "A simple, 'I would rather not' would do. Have I ordered you to do anything yet?"
"No, Lord Tommy."
He climbed out of the water. "Turn your back, so I can put on dry clothes."
After changing from cutoff pants, he went to the desk against the wall opposite the waterfall. There, he sat in front of a computer identical to those installed in the quarters of Ull and Leegh. So far, his attempts to train the Nesu in their use had been largely unproductive.
Except for the coldness radiating from Sisle and the occasional unbidden thought drifting through his mind about her, he preferred working here. Only Ull bothered him in this chamber. When he worked in his quarters below the Commons, knocks at his door continually interrupted his thoughts.
He had given all his data about the drive to Leegh. After a few days of study, Leegh requested some calculations based on his mathematics and the arrays controlling the drive. That was what Tommy was working on. He couldn't help much with the creation of their new starship, but he could continue to help understand the drive. Leegh and her foremothers had been a stroke of luck. Stream's scientists were on the right track.
He had been working for several hours when his stomach protested that he had missed lunch.
He turned his chair to find Sisle where he had last seen her, except she had slumped to a seated position on the ground.
“Are you as miserable as you look?” he called across the pond.
His words brought her quickly to her feet, her face back to its usual rigidity.
"Have you been sitting here the whole time?" he asked.
"Yes, Lord Tommy."
"Why?"
"You didn't tell me I could leave."
You know, Ull tells me these people are grateful because I saved their lives. I wonder if that's true, and Sisle is the problem, or Ull doesn't understand what they really feel.
"I'm about to give you your first order, and I expect complete obedience," he said.
He couldn't mistake the sudden fright on her face. "Yes, Lord Tommy."
"When did you eat last?"
"Early this morning, Lord Tommy."
"Good. We're going to get something to eat. Take me to the warrior meal room. I want to try their food."
He walked behind her on the way, watching as the sway of her hips lifted her tunic to the back of her knees. He knew he should be ashamed, but no one else could see what drew his attention, and he decided to get at least some enjoyment out of the situation. For some reason, it hurt t
hat she seemed uncomfortable and unhappy being near him. As he watched, the skin of her neck flushed red as if she were embarrassed, too. Maybe I should talk to Ull again about her. This isn't much fun at all.
They entered the main warrior meal room at the height of the evening meal service. His entrance brought the response he had come to expect when he walked into a new meal room: stillness and total silence, then this group asserted its military nature with a clatter of chairs as everyone jumped to attention and turned toward him.
Lord Ull's bodyguard, Fen, stepped forward and said in the lords' language, "Welcome, Lord Tommy. How may we serve you?"
The men stood closest to the door, at tables in groups of three to five. All of them were over six and a half feet tall. Beyond them, groups of women also stood at attention. Near the far wall, stood children of both sexes and various ages; the oldest and tallest, who had to be teenagers, shushing the younger children scattered among them.
Tommy's attention returned to the women, then back to the teenagers. The adult women were a bit shorter than the men, and the youngest teenagers had to average six feet. That’s what’s wrong with Sisle! She’s too small! She doesn't fit into the lords' breeding program.
In English, Tommy said, "Hello, Fen. I asked you to speak to me in English and call me Master Tommy or Tommy." His gaze took in everyone. "I hope everyone here will. Please return to your seats. Sisle and I are here to have a meal with you, if you’ll have us."
"I'm sure, Master Tommy, that everyone here is pleased you have joined us." He glanced at the other warriors as if daring anyone to contradict him, but received a chorus of "Yes!" in response.
After some discussion, a group of men moved from a table a few rows in from the entrance, and Fen invited Tommy to sit at the vacated table. From what Tommy overheard, their training dictated that, even in their own meal room, he must be seated away from the most likely source of danger, the door. That must be why the women and children are grouped near the far wall.
At the table, when Sisle attempted to continue toward the back of the room, he grabbed her upper arm, stopping her. At his touch, the first since he had found her starving, she spun in place, beginning to bring her arms up to a defensive posture. When she saw who had touched her, her arms dropped to her sides, and she took a deep breath.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Back to the women's tables."
"No, you're not. You will be eating at my table with me."
"That's just not done," she said, her voice shrill. "I can't do that! You can't do that!"
He leaned over to whisper in her ear, "What's the point of being a lord if I can't eat with whomever I want?" Louder he said, "Fen, Sisle will be sitting with me."
Fen reacted with a moment of silence and a prolonged blink. "Yes, Master Tommy. Someone will bring food."
Tommy pulled out a chair for Sisle, as his mom had taught him, and invited her to sit down. A low hiss echoed through the room. With her seated, he said loud enough for everyone at the nearby tables to hear. "Fen, Sisle isn't going to have problems because she sat at my table, is she?"
"Problems, Master Tommy?"
A man that big should not have any nervousness in his voice, but he certainly does. The humans on this ship are completely domesticated. Any one of these men could tear me in half. Any one of them could probably tear one of The People in half. And the artisans could take over the ship, but they're afraid of the warriors.
"Her welfare is important to me, Fen." he made his voice a little louder. "I would appreciate your treating her as you would me."
That brought several gasps from the women's section.
Tommy took his seat as one of the women brought two full plates of food and another brought a pitcher of water and two glasses.
After a couple of bites, Tommy smiled. "What do you think, Sisle? Maybe we should eat here more often? The food is certainly better than that in the artisan or farmer meal rooms."
"Um," she said with her mouth full.
As he continued to eat, he looked around the room. The women outnumbered the men. Even with men on duty, the ratio was way off. He leaned over to Sisle. "Why so many more women than men?"
She made a tight frown and said in a subdued voice, "The lords like it that way," her eyes became slits. "The warriors do, too."
Sisle didn't say another word until they had finished eating and were in the elevator. "Why did you do that?"
"What, no Lord Tommy?" he asked.
"Why did you do that, Lord Tommy?" she said through stiff lips. "I live with those people."
"Actually, you don't, except maybe to eat, and I can take care of that, too, if you like."
"What do you mean?"
"You're already living in my chambers. If you want me to, I can fix it for you to eat in the artisan meal room. There, you are a warrior. You're not small to them. Of course, if the warriors can't be mean to you, you can't be mean to the artisans in their own meal room."
"I wouldn't. Would you? What do you mean by small?"
Tommy laughed. "Which question to you want me to answer? Yes, I would, and you know perfectly well what I mean by small."
She gazed down at her feet. "Yes, I do. That's why they gave me to you."
"Well, I'm shorter than you are. Your size isn't important."
"It is here. I won't be allowed to have children."
"I guess that means I won't be allowed to either," he laughed. "Not that I intend to be here long enough to find out."
Outside of his Nesu chambers, she paused after opening the door. "That's not the first time you have given me an order."
"What?"
"You said you were giving me my first order. When I was given to you, you ordered me to take a bath."
He laughed and returned to his work. When he finished several hours later, he found her asleep on the pallet she had placed near the pool. At least she's comfortable enough with me to sleep when I'm here. He stood over her. She certainly is beautiful. At least to me. On Earth, she wouldn't give someone like me a second glance. Here she has no choice.
As for that, I have no choice either. She's the only human girl close to my age within fifty light years who doesn't look like a short stick or a tall beanpole. On Earth, I might not care for her either. What do I know about her, anyway? We haven't shared a real conversation. She might be a total dunce.
After a few moments, he walked to the door and turned down the lights. Time to go to his quarters below the commons and get some rest.
# # #
Leegh sought out Tommy on the day the bore reached the center of the asteroid. "I have made some progress on the drive control matrices," she said.
"You mean the arrays?"
"That is not the proper mathematical term for what I have been manipulating. Their instantiation in your programs may be as arrays," she replied.
"Whatever. What have you discovered?"
"Two things. I understand how to project the point source gravity field for the insystem drive somewhere other than directly in front of the ship. For the second, we will be able to calculate this asteroid's mass and our transit pseudo-velocity using the programs you wrote for me and some short calibration transits."
"Ull has a crew moving My Flowing Streams into the asteroid this morning. We should be able to do your calibration tests this afternoon. In the meantime, maybe she will let us test your first idea before they move The People's Hand into place."
Leegh had discovered, with mathematical manipulation and with a lot less risk, what Tommy might have needed months of experimentation to establish: which cells in which arrays controlled the direction of the projected gravity field. The tests confirmed they could project a point source gravity field out to over five hundred thousand kilometers. Tommy already knew how to vary its strength. They now had a new way to maneuver the ship and a potent new weapon.
The transit test provided further confirmation of the relationship of mass to transit interval and brought Ull to Leegh'
s quarters, interrupting a programming lesson.
"The telemetry from these tests must be wrong," were her first words when she entered the chamber. "This is not possible."
"What is wrong?" Tommy asked.
"The results show the My Flowing Streams and the asteroid transiting just under a thousand times faster than My Flowing Streams alone."
Leegh voiced a rough whistle. "Well. The relationship is not linear. I am sure you were expecting a 300 trillion metric ton ship to travel much faster."
Ull's tail twitched back and forth. "No, this is fast enough. The council worried about making up all the time we are losing, but this will end that. We can reach Toblepas in a day of transit. We could cross the galaxy in less than a year. If these results are correct, this is more than enough."
"I am certain the mathematics is correct," Leegh said.
Tommy smiled. "So, when are we leaving?"
"Soon,” Ull said. “As soon as we dock The People's Hand with the asteroid and complete the cable connections to My Flowing Streams. Perhaps late tomorrow."
"Has anyone decided on a name for our new ship?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, the council has named her The People's Fist," Ull said. "And Leegh, the council is having a meeting this afternoon. Please plan to attend. I will be here before the meeting to escort you."
After Ull left, Leegh got up from her chair and paced back and forth, her tail swishing from side to side. "What could the council want with me? I have been doing what Ull asked of me. I have even been working with you." She stopped. "I mean no offense. It is just that you are a human. An intelligent human, to be sure."
"Stop," Tommy said. "I know how difficult it is for The People to work with humans as equals. I am accustomed to your prejudices. I am developing my own." He walked toward the door. "Never mind. Maybe we can work on your programming skills later."
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