by F Stephan
Master Heikert let his words sink in before continuing. “The second is intuition on my part. Take it as such and no more.” Brian moved forward to listen. “You’re going to get bored, just flying within the confines of your solar system. Your life will be productive and useful, you’ll have friends, lovers, and family. But that life may not fulfill your expectations. You’re spending too much time with star charts mapping out strange roads into the most distant systems. I’ve seen a few pilots like you, and none of them ever had fun being confined by tight boundaries.”
“But, if I don’t succeed?”
“Then you won’t regret it for the rest of your life. You’ll have tried and faced it. Last bit of advice on my part, which is the one you probably won’t listen to. The only option you shouldn’t consider is to go there just to follow her.” Brian blushed. Illoma or . . . “No, not your former lover from Pelor. She’ll always be fond of you but that’s over for her. No, your bright star! She’s a remarkable young lady. But for now, she has a lot to face within herself before entering into a relationship.” The teacher smiled and, with a quick gesture to his console, sent a data packet to Brian.
“Now, a bit of help.” Brian’s bracelet blipped with the message. “I’ve provided you with a letter of introduction to Master Loupiac Kilre. He’s honorary master at the Core Academy. He’s old, strange, and whimsical. He was also the first pilot to travel outside normal routes. He taught me what I know, even if I can’t do what he did, and he may help you where I couldn’t. That’s if he likes you, which I can’t promise.”
“Sir?” A word puzzled Brian. “Outside?”
“We cross hyperspace on the path of least resistance. Everyone works by this rule.” Brian nodded in acknowledgment. “But you’ve been able to follow other paths, even if you nearly died doing so. This is an exceedingly rare gift but not unknown or undocumented. Master Loupiac may help you with this. Be careful. Talk only to him about it. I’m not sending this message through the Core Data Sphere but to you only. Don’t tell anyone else until your skill works reliably. No other masters or mistresses.” The teacher had leaned forward, his words now a whisper.
Brian wasn’t sure he wanted external help. He had already been pushed in so many directions. But, he wasn’t in a position to refuse anything, so he bowed. “Thank you, Master.”
“I see you’re unconvinced. At least mind my words. And visit the master."
Brian stored the data in his bracelet and went back to the lounge and his friends, for a new game of cards. The question continued to turn and turn in his head, and he lost miserably, to the utter delight of Shanak.
Emily
Volpre, 2140 AD, July
“Welcome to Volpre. This is Shaman Station Control. Iambignow, you are cleared for orbit number five.” An orbital corridor appeared in the navigation console, visible to all on the bridge. “Congratulations! You have arrived on boarding day and you’re on time for the ceremonies this evening. Any specific needs until then?” Brian had to strain to catch every word. The female controller had a strange accent, throatier than on Adheek.
Master Heikert motioned to the captain, and on his cue, answered. “Shaman Station Control. This is Master Heikert from the academy. We need to unload a scout ship for repairs and transfer it to Firstrat Bolgor’s dockyard. Could you organize it?”
“Yes, rat from afar. We’ll carry this task out within three standard hours. Is that acceptable for you?”
The captain nodded. “Acknowledged, Shaman Station Control. Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome, rat from afar. Communication ended.”
Emily whispered to Brian, “Is it me or I am missing one word in two? Especially the honorifics?”
Brian barely heard, watching as he was the station on the main console and the sun behind it. He mouthed back at her, “Welcome to a new world. Enjoy.” She grimaced.
A few hours later, the whole crew boarded the shuttle to the station. They were exhausted after working hard in null-gee to unload all goods, including those on Brian’s ship. The tasks required everyone’s full attention after the weeks of quiet travel across space. So they were all overly excited to get out, and the shuttle rang from the babble of voices, braking slowly on its ion thrusters.
At last, the station’s crane grappled the shuttle and brought it to the external airlock. The whole ship shuddered during the connection until a disembodied voice cleared them to disembark. Brian and Emily rushed out, in front of everyone. They had all dressed in casual clothes, brightly colored, a welcome change from their usual grays.
Facing them in the hallway, just outside of the airlock, a humanoid shape waited, all clad in metal. Its legs and arms were strangely twisted with an awful metal mask instead of a face, and an elongated nose. Brian gasped and Emily, beside him, took a step back. Behind them, the crew roared with laughter.
“Welcome, rat from afar. We’re happy to welcome you on boarding day." The voice was that of a man.
“Who, who are you?” Brian stammered, completely lost.
The captain stepped in front of them and bowed low. “Greetings, station rat. We are happy to join you today. Genuinely nice outfit, if I might say." The other bowed his head in return while the captain turned back to the crew, his voice sharp and direct. “Everyone, we leave in one day. Meeting in twenty hours at shuttle airlock five. Your bracelets will alert you in eighteen hours. Please remember to respect our hosts and this ceremony. You’re under Volpre’s law until next boarding." Without turning, he walked out quickly, and the crew dispersed behind in small groups.
Master Heikert looked at the students. “I’d recommend you go to the main hydroponics greenhouse. It’s where the largest party will take place. Brian, we need to see Firstrat Bolgor before the main events. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a good week before you get any results on your ship."
“I’ll follow you, sir.” Brian seemed very humble, after his shock on the first encounter.
“Good, let’s hurry.”
Emily poked at Brian’s ribs. “And stay out of trouble, for once.” With that, Brian and Heikert left by a side corridor at a near run.
Shanak, Illoma, and the others ran in front, led by Sonter, who knew the place well from his trips with his father. Emily envied them, the fresh comradery, but she was still upset with Sonter. He had tricked her into piloting a ship through a forbidden course among asteroids, which had ended in gruesome community work but could have killed her. Not wanting to be left alone, she chose instead to follow Leandra, walking down the main hallway toward the station center. She didn’t know the ambassador well, and now seemed as good a time as any to talk.
The gravity was weak on the outskirt of the sphere, three-quarters of one gee, and they had to be mindful of each stride. Heikert had told her it would normalize when they moved closer to the core. To their side, shop after shop was closed. While she walked, she kept track of Brian. He was following the external sphere and passing through different landing areas, some filled with cargo under strange logos. When both men slowed, she spied on them through her bracelet. Heikert was talking. “Look, this section was damaged twenty years ago and is still repairing itself. We will need to be more careful around here.” Emily called up a picture and could see the remnants of a blast. The surfaces remained uneven, with holes in the ground. With her nanites activated, she could see flakes of dark nanites repairing each hole. With their small size compared to the extensive blast, it would take some time. But, if they were allowed enough time, they would rebuild entirely. She was awed by their ability.
A voice brought her back to reality when the captain turned to them. “Ladies, these are the main elevators for this section. They’ll carry you to the hydroponics level. Go there, please! I leave you here for a while."
Not waiting for an answer, the captain waved to them and turned to a side corridor. Emily looked at the elevator. It was far beyond what existed on Earth, a small ovoid ship running inside the station on two fixed rai
ls. It included a main circular platform with seats and safety harnesses all around. Below it, through semitransparent glass, Emily could see a cargo floor, used to move goods up and down to the various levels. An operator sat in the center on a swivel chair and motioned to them to enter. He was very tall with a weasel face accentuated by makeup, clad in metallic bits and pieces, all dating far back in time. On his belt, she could also see a sort of pistol, looking like it worked based on a powder system. Why would a spacefaring culture use black powder?
Unsettled by the strange outfit, she moved on with Leandra and seated herself beside her.
“Where to, rats from afar?” The controller had a high-pitched, screeching voice that tore their ears.
“We were told to go to the main hydroponics greenhouse. Is that possible?”
“Absolutely. First time in Volpre? Departure scheduled in five minutes. Arrival in ten. Don’t worry. You’ll be in time for the procession." All this had been delivered in a quick garble of words.
Four people had already found seats. Three wore the same attire as the operator, with different mashups of antiquated metal. One had an entirely different outfit, with leaves woven in a leather tunic, flowers in the hair, and a wooden club grasped in a hand.
Taking her cue from their arrival, Emily asked “Station rat?” When he nodded, she continued. “Can you tell us more about today’s event?”
The operator quickly looked at the other passengers before answering. “Four millennia ago, Ullem, a core planet, rediscovered space travel. In doing so, they used up so many resources that their civilization crumbled back into barbarism within two generations. But, before it crashed, a small fleet flew outward. They erred for three years before they found this place.”
Emily gasped at the thought. “How did they survive?”
“Mostly by luck.” The operator chuckled. “They took an insane risk flying out with their technology. We don’t even understand how they managed the jumps. But when they left their ships for the station, they were in a sorrowful shape, irradiation, malnutrition, and so on. They felt just like rats."
“And rats abandon ship first?”
The operator nodded. Who had they left behind, in that case? she wondered. Being left behind was something she knew well, ever since her father had left. She felt a sudden resentment toward those rats.
“You’re dressed in their memory, aren’t you?” He nodded again. “But, what of the other costumes?” She hesitated a little, not wanting to be impolite, and could feel Leandra glare at her. She had been so caught up with helping the crew and learning about the academy on Alkath, she hadn’t researched anything about the station itself.
The passenger in a leafy outfit cleared his throat and answered directly while the operator engaged the ship on its way down on a dedicated 3-D screen. “When the Ancients disappeared, inhabitants were left in the station. The last generations with technical knowledge died, leaving the station on automatic. We think they took time to deactivate the AIs. They knew they couldn’t keep their knowledge for long in isolation. Do you know that there are still levels entirely locked, dead areas where no one travels and lives?” They nodded in bewilderment. “Our ancestors, with good sense, revered our greenhouses and focused their lives within the different hydroponic farms."
“Is that where we are going?”
“Yes. You’ll see one of the wonders of the human universe. But, don’t make any mistake. Life was hard, and fights were frequent. Yet four thousand inhabitants remained when the travelers from Ullem arrived. They saved us, both with their raw technical knowledge, and with their new genetic material.”
“This must have been a shock?” Leandra spoke for the first time. “And both cultures survived. How was that possible?”
“Well, it shouldn’t have been. But, the newcomers weren’t strong enough to overcome our ancestors, the shamans. The same applied to us. But something else happened. The rats had lived dark days, traveled under dark shadows, and our religion appeased them. In return, they brought peace and some advanced technology. I won’t deceive you. Finding a way to live together took a dozen centuries and lots of casualties on both sides.”
The operator took over. “But, we found a way and grew up again. When the Federation found us, we were a technological civilization, lost here in the middle of nowhere. We were—we are still,” he corrected himself, “reclaiming the lost floors of the station. We joined at once, just for a way out. That was one hundred years ago."
“But you’re still living here?”
“In truth, it would be hard to gather enough ships to evacuate us." The operator chuckled. “Today, ten thousand souls live here, under strict birth control. And a lot of us want to stay. What we really wanted was to have a choice. A few dozen get away every year. And most come back. This is a unique place, you know. And you’ve come to visit on a special day."
Emily jumped at the opportunity. “What should we see? Where should we go?”
The passengers began to offer pieces of advice all at the same time. In the next few minutes, through the different stops and a heated debate, Emily and Leandra gathered directions for key events of the celebration. At last, the ship stopped, and everyone got out. They followed a large metal corridor, an avenue in the station until it opened into a colossal cave. From what Emily could see, it was at least a good klick wide. She couldn’t see the ceiling or the other side of the greenhouse, even if, for the ceiling, she suspected this was due to optical masking.
“This is a space behemoth!” exclaimed Emily, awed. “We couldn’t hope to build such a place in a thousand years, at least not with our current technology.”
Leandra answered quickly, “At their heights, the Ancients had capacities we can barely imagine today. We’ll learn from them and improve on their technology. Let’s just hope we don’t fall into the same trap.”
At the edge, several large paths opened between trees and lush vegetation. The shaman who had ridden the ship with them pointed outa side alley winding between the trees. “In a klick, you will reach a small hill with an excellent view. Particularly good place for visitors, if you’ll allow me." They followed his advice and hurried to the rocky outcrop.
“The air smells even right. A bit musty.” Emily was delighted to feel the moisture.
“The greenhouses are three klicks long by, at the widest, two klicks. The ceiling is a fifth of a klick above us. This gives them excellent atmospheric capacities. If you had read the paper I had prepared for you, you’d know this already." Leandra snickered a little.
“Sorry, Madam. I was caught up in my studies. How could a nontechnological people create such a marvel?”
“No idea. It’s a mystery to me. Come, we’ve reached the top.”
A small crowd had gathered and was looking at a long procession of people, all clad in green leafy tunics. Emily stood, suddenly moved by the show. They were playing a joyous song and folk groups were dancing one after another. Gigantic wooden statues of animals, filled with flowers from top to bottom, were carried between the separate groups. Shouts and laughter echoed from everywhere.
“The clan’s spirit. They reverted to a form of shamanism,” murmured Leandra.
While she watched, Emily received a video from Brian on her bracelet. He was on the side of a large metal transshipment hangar. Dull and half-lit. A procession of men and women clad in the same antique rat outfits was moving down toward the station. All were looking scared, darting eyes to the side and progressing slowly, checking each shadow, each step. They were one statue black and sinister behind them. The Shadow. This giant was a somber echo, a strange counterpoint to what else she saw. The contrast made the show stunning.
Soon, the front of the procession reached one of the great spirals that rose from the center of the sphere to space itself. The shaft was open and decorated with flowers, so many that no metal could be seen anymore. A rhythmic clapping rose up from the depth of the station and moved the flowers as if the wind were blowing inside the m
etal hull.
Above, on Brian’s side, the group, haggard and lost in the huge hallway, found its way toward a huge doorway from which a clamor rose. From there, the sound appeared distorted, strange and frightening. Yes, this must have been a clash of cultures. With the new light, the statue of the Shadow began to move back with a small group of rats.
Emily and Leandra found a spot to sit on the grass on the side of the hill. “Ambassador?” Emily began.
“Please, call me Leandra. We don’t need protocol here.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Emily had never been at ease meeting powerful people on the few occasions where her father had taken her along.
“You already did. But can I choose not to answer?” Emily had the decency to blush at that. She continued.
“Why are you going to Alkath and not Don Mariano? He built more experience on the Federation during his stay on Adheek.”
“And Alkath is the most prestigious job in the core worlds? Not to be given to a poor old hag like myself?” The tone was slightly amused.
Emily nodded. She had blurted her question too fast and the directness of the quick answer had caught her by surprise, but she would see this through to the end.
“Emily, you’re a quick thinker, even if you should learn better manners, at least more subtle ones. Your father could have trained you better on this!” The answer was presented calmly. Does she know why her father didn’t help me more? “I understand how excited you are about going to the core worlds. But, please, what does Earth expects from them?”
“A miracle, I suppose. They’ve access to most technologies from the Ancients and they could save our planet very quickly if they were convinced to.”
“They could. And they choose not to. They could, and every diplomat in the federation is competing for their attention. Don’t take the other planets for fools. They’ll have tried every trick of the trade to get the support they need.” Leandra’s voice was sad. There would be no miracle in the core worlds. “The truth is that the Federation doesn’t have enough Ancient devices to save us all.”