Oort Rising

by Magnus Victor

  Klaus frowned. It was great progress, but still not fast enough to make jumps useful to the Navy. Which meant no reward.

  James smiled, his voice steady. "Can do better, I think. Takes time to get used to the code." He closed his eyes a moment, lost in concentration, then opened them again. "And to find the markers."

  "Markers?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. Then he grinned. "Oh, I see. Well, have at it, James, but I warn you, it won't be easy." He tapped the display in front of him, resetting the computer and bringing up a new trial. "I've looked at dozens of these runs, and my software can't find anything at all resembling a pattern."

  James grinned. "That's why we use specialists, not code."

  *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

  Hours later, Klaus leaned back and massaged his temples. He was exhausted, but nevertheless his pulse raced with a glimmer of hope. The trials had gone much better than he had thought possible. "James, I wouldn't have believed it."

  "Aye, fifteen trials, each one faster," Johann echoed, frowning at his own screen and tapping some keys. "But we still don't know how you did it, exactly. How am I going to write that up?"

  "Forget the damn journals, Johann." Klaus leaned forward. There was no time for the physicist's academic theory, not now. What mattered was getting the thing to work, and getting it to work every single time. "Look, I've been recording where he puts his markers. If I can just automate what he's doing, never mind how, then we can give the Captain what she asked for."

  "Uh, can I say something?" James raised his hand, as if asking permission to speak. His eyes were bloodshot, and his stomach growled audibly. "Is anyone else hungry?"

  "Hungry?" asked Klaus. "How can you be hungry at a time like this?"

  Johann stood and paced, hands behind his back. "But this is only part of the problem, isn't it? Sure, he fixed the code that we got canned in these little boxes." He slapped the top of his display. "But can he do it on a real ju—?"

  Klaus made a chopping motion with his arm to stop him. So far, he hadn't revealed any secrets to James, and he did not want to. That would only dig their hole that much deeper. Still, though, the man had a point. "I've been thinking the same thing." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unfortunately."

  James looked back and forth between them. "What are you talking about?"

  Klaus paced, joining Johann. "We're going to have to do it for real. With osmi—" He cast a guilty glance at James, "er, with more equipment, and more power." He faced Johann. "And with Murphy."

  "Murphy? What on earth for?"

  "Someone has to keep you from killing all of us, Johann." Klaus stopped, then snapped his fingers as another thought struck him. "And we need someone that the Captain trusts. No offense."

  "I warn you, boy, she's a real stickler for the rules. What makes you think she will help?" began the physicist. He paused. "Aye, but she is good, I grant you that. With her help, we could present the Captain with something that works."

  Klaus nodded. "Either that, or she'll have us sent to the brig."

  Chapter 14: Murphy

  "You want to what?" Murphy hissed, looking up from her tray, eyes narrowed.

  "Not so loud!" Klaus' eyes scanned left and right. Nobody in the cafeteria seemed to be paying them any attention. Probably all too tired from the repair work. He leaned closer. "Look, you know how important the jump drive would be, right? I mean, the Captain assigned you for a reason, and I don't think it was random."

  She said nothing. Just stared.

  "So you do know. Good." Klaus smiled to himself. He had just made a guess about Murphy, but in hindsight it made sense. PO North had been appropriately uninterested in the actual physics, but not Murphy. She had taken a real interest in what they were doing, had asked all the wrong questions for a random petty officer, and none of the right ones. It made sense, though. Conagher had assigned her, and the Captain seemed to have a lot more up her sleeve than what she had let on.

  He spread his hands. "We need you there, Murphy. For one thing, Johann would blow all of us sky high. The man is a menace with anything beyond theory. For another, we need more osmium, and we need power. You know the drill."

  She looked up, face neutral. "That's disobeying a direct order from the Captain. I can think of at least three different charges for that one." She tilted her head, a faint grin on her face, and locked eyes with Klaus. "Is that all?"

  "Ah, no." Klaus fidgeted in his seat. This was going to be the tricky part. He wasn't so keen on the idea himself, so he was not sure how to convince Roberta. "We have a breakthrough. We've got the code fix and reboot time down to just a few seconds."

  "That's great news. Congratulations!" she sat forward. "But I don't get it. If you succeeded, I'm sure the Captain would rescind her orders, and let you..." Her voice trailed off. "Oh, I see. You did it on the old test code?"

  Klaus nodded.

  "And you need to test it for real. That's why you need me." She frowned. "Even so, why not just ask the Captain?"

  "Well, that's the tricky part. We owe the breakthrough to this miner, er, programming specialist, and —"

  "I see." She dragged out the words, then paused. "Let me guess, a civilian?"

  Klaus nodded again, holding her gaze.

  "And you absolutely need all three of us to read him in on the QMP technology? The top secret QMP technology?"

  Klaus shook his head. "No other way."

  She took a bite of her steak, chewed it thoroughly, and then swallowed. She pointed her fork at Klaus. "You realize that's treason, don't you?"

  *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

  Murphy called from her monitor's chair. “All recording sensors are green, safety interlocks engaged, we're ready to go.”

  Klaus smiled at her, relieved that she had volunteered to help. More than help, in fact. She had pulled rank and arranged for the osmium they needed, and found a way to divert energy for their tests. Even so, it would not last. They had at best a few hours before some idle busybody on the bridge had nothing else to do, and noticed the missing osmium, or the power they had hijacked. Then they would all be hauled off in chains.

  "Got it. Ready here as well," answered Johann.

  He turned to the miner. "Last chance, James. You can back out now. If you stay here, you can get into real trouble. Navy justice, and believe me you wouldn't like it."

  "For what? You still haven't told me." The specialist swallowed the last bite of the burger that Klaus had brought from the cafeteria.

  Klaus drummed his fingers on the desk. He had been dreading this moment. If he told James about the QMP, he would be repeating the same security breach that had killed his career years ago. And since he was on a warship engaged in battle, that would literally be treason this time. No simple tramp freighters in his future, but a nice metal cell for the rest of his life.

  If he was lucky.

  But there was no other way, not if he wanted his life back. Johann would be okay, being a civilian. Might even publish an article after this was all over. The same for James. After all, what could they do, banish him to the Oort Cloud?

  He glanced at Murphy. She knew the risks, but had agreed to help them, anyway. He could not figure out what she had to gain, but maybe it had something to do with why she had been assigned in the first place. She was by the books Navy. So that meant the Navy wanted this working more than they were saying. Or somebody in the Navy.

  It came back to success. If this worked, everybody would be fine. If it didn't, the truth would come out sooner or later. Hell, James might spill everything to his friends in the cafeteria. But so far, James had trusted him. He had done everything Klaus asked, without objecting, or even asking why. So now he needed to trust the miner in return.

  "It's called a quantum multi-positioning jump," he said, "a controlled test with one of the ship's computers."

  "Teleporting, eh? Seriously? That's one for the 'zines," scoffed James, stifling a quick laugh. He looked around. "You really mean it, don't you? And, ah, I don't think yo
u should be telling me this." He shook his head, thinking a moment, and then re-seated his helmet. He gave a thumbs-up "Count me in."

  Klaus breathed again. For better or worse, they were all in it now.

  Everything was set to go. It was all familiar from the numerous tests they had run when Klaus first started the QMP experiments. Except—

  “I'm ready, too. I've got a feel for what the code should look like.” James added. “This isn't that much software you've got me watching over, by the way. Should be easy.”

  “So you say.” Klaus turned to Murphy. “Let's start this, then.”

  “Aye, sir.” The petty-officer's voice was crisp and by the book as she entered the commands into her console, and the experiment began. No sounds reached to the control room from the actual testing chamber, of course — it was too well insulated. “Test vehicle launched.”

  Next to Klaus, James suddenly clutched his head and grunted.

  “You alright, kid?” The last thing Klaus needed was a civilian injured while they were committing treason. Not unless they had a result to show for it.

  “Yeah. Just...ow! That's quite a kick to the brain. Like a migraine, but sudden.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “Never had it before, actually.” James frowned. “I hit this really short, very intense moment of nausea.”

  Johann looked up from his display. “D'y'reckon it's an artifact of multi-positioning?”

  “I don't see what else it could be.” Klaus shrugged. He gave a warning glance toward James. “We'll see if it hits again when the rig returns.”

  The miner's head snapped up. “You mean tha— sonuvabitch!” He clutched his head.

  In a neutral voice, Murphy reported, “Test rig is back,” but her expression betrayed her. She looked up at James, concern written in her furrowed brow. “Code is non-functional.” In a more hopeful voice, she added “eighty-seven-percent reduction in software fragmentation, though.”

  James straightened in his chair. “Uh, took me by surprise. Can we run again? Lemme have another shot, see if I can get those programs cleaned up completely. Would be some sort of victory. Shouldn't be too long.”

  After a few minutes of James reclining almost motionless in his chair, eyes closed, he mumbled “There. That oughta do it.”

  Sure enough, no sooner had the test rig returned to its proper cradle than Johann's pad started played bagpipes. James clapped his hands to his ears, and Klaus hissed, "Turn that damned thing off!"

  "Sorry," Johann apologized — for the first time in his life, as far as Klaus knew. But then the Scotsman beamed. “Success!”

  “Not quite. A success. Not total success.” Klaus shook his head. “We'll need to run more tests, to see if it's repeatable.” He chewed his lip for a moment, thinking. “I'll want to change the test code a bit, too.” He turned to James, explaining. “I've got a few repair scripts that I've written to automate the markers from each test we've run before. I'll add it to the computer; all you need to do is restore that section of the software, and it should largely take care of itself.”

  With any luck, Klaus hoped to find some way to remove the need for the organic component — James — to be involved in the cleanup process. He still felt odd about not understanding exactly how the specialist had kept even part of the code from fragmenting. It seemed like a miracle, with no rational explanation for how exactly it worked.

  Klaus distrusted miracles. They weren't repeatable, weren't analyzable.

  Five minutes later, PO Murphy read out the test results. “Test two of active-guidance QMP transition...success. Software re-instated and functioning seventeen-point-five seconds after transition arrival.”

  Johann shot out of his seat, as the bagpipes played again. “Ha! Another success!” He reached over, patting James on the back. “You're a bloody wonder, Jimmy boy!”

  “James,” came the curt response. His voice slurred slightly as he added “M'name's James.” He dropped his head solidly onto the little remaining clear space on the control table. The wires attached to his helmet rustled. “Lemme...ah...lemme just sit here for a few.”

  Murphy read aloud as she entered her notes into the log. “Guidance procedure is taxing for personnel involved in active, neuro-connective software repair.”

  Klaus leaned over to Johann and whispered, trying not to disturb James. “Seventeen-point-five seconds! Told you my programs would improve repair speed.”

  With humor in his voice, barely louder than Klaus' whisper, Johann responded “Aye, but there's plenty o' credit to go around for this!” His voice rose back to its normal volume. “We've done it! Drinks are on me tonight, lads!”

  "No drinks," moaned James, his hands clapped over his ears.

  “Sorry to interrupt the celebrations, but even with this” Klaus gestured to the still-head-down James “we just can't move the whole ship. The poor man can move two, maybe three processing hubs, but he's down for the count after that.”

  “Bah.” Johann waved his hand dismissively. “That'll come in time, just see if it doesn't. We've seen a wee bit of success, now we just need t' refine the methods involved.”

  Klaus hoped that Johann's confidence was well-placed, but he had his doubts. Technology, now that he knew how to scale up. Humans, however, were another matter entirely. James wasn't doing anything that a machine shouldn't be able to replicate, yet in less than an hour's work he had blown past any results that Klaus and Johann had managed to achieve with QMP technology. The QMP technology that they had invented.

  On the other hand, now that they had found something that actually worked, Klaus should be able to analyze it to understand exactly what was going on. He had no doubt that with enough testing, he could find a solution. This was his technology field, after all.

  But to do that, they had to stay out of the brig.

  "We need to talk to the Captain. Now."

  *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

  "Is there any reason I shouldn't just throw you in the brig?" demanded Captain Conagher.

  Klaus, Johann and PO Murphy stood uncomfortably in front of her desk, eyes straight ahead. They had left James in the outer office, under guard. Klaus had not wanted to make the situation worse, and Captains always hated loose ends.

  Johann started, "Well, I'm a civilian, you see, and —"

  Klaus elbowed him in the ribs. "No ma'am. We disobeyed a direct order."

  The Captain turned to Murphy. "And you, Petty Officer. I would expect something like this from these two" She waved at Klaus and Johann, "But you were supposed to keep them out of trouble, not help them get into it."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Conagher leaned back, letting the moment draw out. She studied the report that Murphy had given her, then looked up. "Very well. PO Murphy, you will coordinate directly with Commander Li Yat-Sen." She looked Klaus and Johann in the eye. "He is our chief engineering officer, emphasis on engineering. You better make this work. As for you two, I will re-consider the charges against you in four days. That means you have four days to make him happy." She focused again on her console.

  Klaus and Johann stared at each other. Murphy smiled to herself.

  The Captain looked up, one eyebrow raised. "Dismissed."

  Chapter 15: Podera

  “Coming in on destination. Fricsim transition to sub-cee in thirty seconds.” Announced the helmsman.

  Captain Conagher steepled her fingers, and rested her chin on her thumbs. After the long days of repair near Andromeda Station, she was eager to finally see action. She and Petrakov had worked on refining their battle plan, although she still had her concerns. Would this be another ambush, despite their unorthodox approach? She turned to Commodore Petrakov, and spoke in a low voice. The Captain's and Commodore's chairs were isolated towards the rear of the bridge, conveniently allowing this sort of privacy. “So we’re agreed? Retract sails immediately upon arrival?”

  The sails were coming in one way or another, but it was easier if she didn't have to blame a 'com
puter malfunction.' Her job would also be much easier if the Commodore wasn't trying to override her, too.

  “Yeah.” Petrakov frowned slightly, but didn’t disagree. He lowered his voice so that only she could hear. “I still say they should stay out. The enemy will run.”

  “Agreed, then.” Raising her voice, the Captain added “Engineering, confirm retract sails immediately upon transition.”

  “Sails in immediately after cee-barrier breach, aye, ma'am.”

  The Overlord slowed to sub-cee speeds, and its sensors began to probe the surrounding area. Emerging this close to their target was risky, but Conagher had convinced the Commodore of the tactical advantage. The planetoid, 1048 Podera, was an enormous blip on the bridge holo-display. The Tannenberg had appeared within close range of the rebel station, while the Overlord had taken up station farther back. This let the larger warship train her guns on the entirety of Podera, her fire-arcs not blocked by the station itself. But their emergence point put them inside any distant defenses the rebels might have set up to ambush them.

  On the downside, it made her a prime target for close-in, planetoid-based defenses.

  “Incoming weapons fire, ma’am. Kinetic-Energy projectiles, count six. Velocity zero-point-zero-nine-five-cee, ma'am. ” called the tactical officer.

  Captain Conagher stared intently at the holo-display as the bright-red icons of enemy railgun fire streaked towards the Overlord. Less than point-one-cee was slow for railgun fire. Were the rebels not as well-equipped with heavy weapons as she had feared, or had they moved them out to periphery defense?

  The icons reached the Overlord's blip, and overlapped.

  A muted clang reached the bridge, and the damage-control console beeped. “Light damage, ma'am! Layer-three armor belt in section O1-45-37 holed at four locations!”

  Conagher let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. That was much lighter damage than she'd expected. Still, the fact that the enemy had opened fire so rapidly meant that the enemy gunnery crews were either very well trained, or they had anticipated her close-in tactic.