by Jim Rudnick
"We also, of course, would have a mobile force field projector right here on the inner side of the dolly rig so that we'd be protected should the foundry choose that moment to stop and power up the laser," he added with a smile.
The Science officer smiled. "Being protected from the five petawatts of power a few feet away would be a good thing," he said dryly.
"Which is why," Warrant Officer Hartford said, as he'd just come down by slowly taking off that purple gel portion by portion until he stood in front of them again, "we are taking down six complete units. Just in case that kind of thing happens, Sir."
"Warrant Chief, well done," Tanner said. "This will work and I'm dang glad you came up with this. And down there, no need for the plastic screens either," he said and that got a smile from them all. "Okay, pack this stuff up, and when can you be ready to go?" Tanner asked.
The warrant officer smiled. "Sir, we need only to pack up all the equipment—as you know, these units were all testing units from Ghayth that we never turned in to the Barony for their use. So we're good to go—but we will need to take a cargo shuttle down with all our items and then setup once we identify which terraforming foundry will be our entry candidate, Sir," he added.
Rightfully so, Tanner thought, a decision we need to look at next. He and his officers climbed down off the now stopped dolly and went back up the landing ramp and into the Atlas.
Across the tarmac a thousand feet away, on the bridge of a Caliphate cruiser, the view-screen showed the wrap-up of the anti-grav test, and the captain there barked out a command.
"Ansible. Make a live stream copy of that whole thing—whatever it was we just watched—and EYES ONLY it to the Caliph himself. Do not mess this up, or you'll be on Prime One mining with your hands for the rest of your life, Lieutenant."
Shaking but making not a single error in the progress of doing just that, the lieutenant carried out his task. A minute later by Ansible, the tape of that test sat in the INBOX of the Caliph himself.
Soon to be seen but perhaps not soon to be understood. .
#####
As the large cargo shuttle moved up and off by a few hundred feet ahead and to starboard, the XO nodded to the six crewmen, and they each took their spots on the lift-deck on the moving dolly rigged to keep pace with the foundry.
Least that's what we're calling it for now, Kondo thought, as he carefully watched their operator, Chief Warrant Officer Hartford, as he got that ”good to go” nod from him, and he placed the first of the packets of purple gel onto the copper plate.
And up they went about four feet, and the XO let go of the railings that had been mounted on the lift-deck and walked all around the five-by-eight-foot space and then returned to his spot.
Hartford then stooped and turned on the mobile force field that suddenly jumped up to shadow them from the inner side of the foundry, its blue tinged color a sign of security.
"It's a go, Chief, all the way, please," he said, and as Hartford added packet after packet, they rose until they were just a few inches below the edge of the sealed doorway into the terraformer foundry.
"Close enough," Kondo said, and he nodded again to the chief warrant officer.
"Opening her up, Sir," Hartford said as he slapped a protective cover over the top of those gel packs on the copper plate to prevent any slippage or upset, and he now nodded to one of his technicians.
Using an industrial cutting laser, this techie began at the top edge of the frame of the sealed doorway and cut through the hull in a slow but smooth pace. Soon he was all the way down to the bottom, and he then went back up to the top edge to make a mirror cut that would open up the door on the top and both sides. Moving the laser then down to the bottom, he cut toward the center of the bottom of the frame, and soon he was done.
Beside him, the other tech placed a simple ratchet puller into the new inch-wide slot and used a cranking motion to slowly open up the doorway by pulling the door itself outward. As the gravity here on Memories played a major part, the door suddenly fell toward the men on the lift-deck and straddled the space between the foundry and their dolly rig.
"Got it, Sir," the techie said, and they all grinned.
Inside, the terraformer foundry was softly lit with amber lights. The interior held unknowns for them all, and the XO was the first to step up and walk up the now horizontal door and inside. He was followed closely by the Atlas Science officer, Sheldon, who had begged to be included. The I Adept officer, Bram, was also along as were two security Provost guards as well. All of them entered the foundry slowly and moved away from the door.
"We'll keep her tracked exactly, XO," Hartford said as it was his job to remain on the dolly rig and maintain the same speed to keep them hooked up.
Kondo nodded and replied, "Roger," and then he took a few more steps ahead.
The room here—if it could be called a room—was large at approximately one hundred feet or so square. Down the middle of the space ran a set of machines, some lit up with flashing lights and some with some kind of dials and gauges. As well, a huge cylinder shape came out of the ceiling above and went down through the deck they were standing on. Laser cannon barrel, Kondo thought, and he remembered those were as powerful as they come.
Sheldon caught his eye, and he nodded to Sheldon who quickly ran off with his PDA making a streaming video of the whole entry and sending it back to the Atlas bridge. One of the crewmen from Science knelt and opened up a small case from which a pair of drones suddenly took flight and quickly moved up and over their heads. The drones was on full AI automatic, and their job was to map the total interior of this foundry. They sped off with their flashing pink scan lights flashing all around them as they flew and mapped.
The two Provost guards also took up picket positions at their outskirts. As the group walked, looked, and discovered with their attention on everything else, the Provost guards were there to protect the crew and that was their mission. Only that.
Kondo nodded. Security is good, we're mapping and looking, and science is in its glory here!
Against the wall that would be the back of the foundry as it moved now from left to right, there were racks of some kind of smaller machines and large storage containers. He walked over to take a better look, and while he couldn't read any of what was on the outside of those containers, he was sure it was some kind of writing or icon notations concerning what each held.
He called out for an assist, and one of the techies came over to help him manhandle a container that would have been five feet square.
It wasn't that heavy, and as it slid out of the space on the lowest shelf, he was quick to notice that another container that must have been held hidden behind it slid into its place. Automatic AI, he thought, that setup a new unit when one was taken out.
He looked at the container, seeking a way to open it, and all he could see was a plate where you'd place your hand for some kind of biosensor admittance. Like our own retina or thumbprint scans, he thought.
He put his hand down on it and was surprised to see the plate suddenly light up, but he noted that nothing else happened. Not the right kind of hand, he thought and smiled.
"Let’s get this out and onto the lift-deck," he said, and they got it out and ready to take away.
"Sir," Sheldon said from back inside, "you gotta see this. Sir."
Kondo turned and went back up the door to join his Science officer and Bram.
"Sir, we've been looking at this one unit—it appears to be what I'd call the master unit here on this whole bank of equipment and machinery. It does have some signs—flashing lights and icons like that huge fish or whale, some bouncing gauges—that it's doing what it's supposed to be doing, whatever that is. But what is more than interesting are the feeds to and from this unit, Sir," Sheldon said with a quizzical tone in his voice.
"How so, Karl," Kondo replied.
"Sir, she's getting feeds, from these lines here, that swing all the way forward here behind the machinery to go down to what I
think are front-mounted sensors of some kind. As the foundry moves along, it somehow is scanning the area directly ahead of it and feeding that data into this machine. This machine might be the AI for the whole foundry is what I'm also thinking. And the deciding fact I think on that is—that this unit also has lines going up to the next level where the laser controls must be—as well as other lines that I can easily identify, as going to the foundry's Ansible controls too."
He smiled. "All controlled by this one single unit, the foundry scans what's ahead—and depending on what it finds, it either continues to move or it stops, the laser fires down into the earth, scans come back, and if they're within whatever the range of what's being tested, a message is crafted and sent to the Ansible unit for messaging. Exactly how anyone with some engineering skills would have done this, Sir," Sheldon said, and there was no missing the respect in his voice.
"Good, write that up and get it up to the Atlas STAT, Karl," Kondo said, and he turned to Bram.
"Anything here for you, Sander?" he said, and he had no real expectation of any kind of a positive answer.
"Sir, not really. Nothing here for an Adept officer to read—but I can tell one thing—this foundry is old, very, very old, Sir."
Kondo had figured out that much on his own, so he grunted and nodded back. "Back up for that, Bram?" he questioned.
"Just that everything that I see—and I'm no tech or science guy—is simple. Basic plug-ins for all units—not a hint of network or wireless LAN or WAN connections. Each item I've looked at—and yes, there is still much more to see—looks like it should be on a Gallipedia page under the retro section in images, Sir. While I'm sure that if we take back some smaller parts, our own techies will just verify what I think this is—old technology, Sir. But still very, very powerful. That laser alone is huge."
Kondo turned to Sheldon and waved a hand around the huge room. "Power, Karl? What powers all this?"
Karl nodded and went down the line of the mid-room centered equipment and stopped at a machine that couldn't have been more than four feet wide.
"This is it, Sir. Nuclear and she powers the whole thing. I detect—well, without tools or any interior knowledge—that this little puppy, which has an Ansible address, I note, can be turned on or off remotely only. There is no unit controls that I can see anywhere at all on her. This is the foundry's power unit," he said, and with a sideways look at Bram, he added, "and Sir, she's anything but retro—this is very high-level technology."
Kondo grunted and nodded. "Record all you can, I want a machine-by-machine inventory, with your summary of what they do if you can and what kind of backups or redundancies you might also find too, all recorded. I want a complete terraforming foundry inventory, and we've got only a few hours left to get it done, so let's get going," he said, and they all moved away to continue their explorations and discoveries.
After two more hours of study and discovery and recording of same, one of the Provost guards called, "Sir, ladder here it appears up to another level, and it goes down too."
Bram took the down set of rungs and Kondo the up, and ten minutes later, they were back on the main floor where they'd entered the foundry.
"Sir," Bram said, "I went down and all that's there is a set of catwalks that goes to each of the four big legs of the foundry. I took one down, and it just leads to a small area with a few more machines and some kind of extra units in storage. One thing? The ladder itself was big—I mean the distance between the rungs was almost four feet each—perhaps indicating a larger type of sentient being would be more comfy on same?"
Kondo nodded his agreement. "Agreed, Bram—damn rungs were a pain, but up I went too and one of the drones was already up there, scanning and mapping. The whole area is empty almost except for what I would think is the laser core and controls. Couldn't make head nor tail of the gauges or script on same, nor the icons on the huge console either—but I did note that there was a flashing one or two. On the RIM, that flashing icon is used to call attention to something—so I wonder what it might mean for these people—if they even are people, I guess."
He smiled then too. "And as our Science officer noted, there is also a separate area that houses what I'd call their Ansible station too. Looks a bit like ours, no flashing icons on her—in fact, the monitor was totally blacked out. Couldn't find any kind of a switch or button or toggle to get access, and while there was a plate to lay a hand on for that kind of ID verification, while it did light up, nothing happened. Big—bigger than I'd think was necessary—cables ran from the back of the Ansible unit up through the roof of the foundry, I believe. We'll need to vet that later, but I think we've about got her covered, agreed?"
That got nods from all, and they called back the drones, packed them up ,and went back down the door to the lift-deck on the dolly rig.
Kondo smiled at his warrant officer and nodded. "We can retreat here, Hartford," he said, and then he added, "And next time, I'd like to have you inside—your tech knowledge is valuable, and as we've just proven, the dolly can run herself—well, with a tech you'll teach to drive her," he said.
The warrant officer smiled at the XO and said happily, "Aye, Sir, much appreciated, Sir," and that smile remained plastered on his face all the way back down as the lift-deck slowly went back down to ground level.
It would take almost a week to enter a few of those terraformer foundries and see if they were all carbon copies and then gather the information into a full report to send back to the Barony and the RIM Confederacy too.
Kondo smiled at that for a second until he remembered that he'd be expected to provide the full measure of what he'd seen and experienced here today on this foundry—and then for all other visits too.
His smile disappeared quickly.
#####
As she took her spot—one that she had worked damn hard for—at almost the head of the huge U-shaped table, the Baroness sat lithely in her chair. One of her aides placed neatly in front of her a binder with information on the talks today that were on the RIM Confederacy Council Agenda, and she nodded to her and half-smiled too.
Today's Agenda was pretty full, she noted, as she double-checked the single sheet of paper in front of her. There it was, number 5(D) in the listings, and she'd have to wait until then.
The balance of the items, she noted, were pretty much normal Confederacy fodder for the Council. Trade, customs, and some new health concerns coming from Subal, she noted too.
She looked across the large table and to her left to see if she could catch the eye of the Master Adept, who turned her head immediately to look at her directly. Nothing better than having the ability to read a mind and having a solid affiliation with that person and their world. She nodded to the Master and got a similar nod back.
The deal struck between the Barony and Eons, the home of the Issians here on the RIM, had been fair for both sides. The Barony had received the full support of Eons with regards to their annexation of Ghayth—the home of the as-yet unannounced anti-grav technology—in exchange for the Barony closing of its own naval academy and moving of the students, professors, and resources all over to Eons. We have helped strengthen Eons as well as the whole educational system here on the RIM—and that's a good thing. That got her a much bigger smile from the Master Adept across the room and a dip of the older woman’s head too.
She looked back now at the Agenda, wondering where—there it was. The ongoing fight between Faraway and the Leudies was now placed closer to the end of the Agenda lists, when all would be thinking of ending the monthly meeting and getting back home. Good spot for it, she thought and almost smiled again.
Instead, she looked around the table to see who was absent—at least so far. Behind her and to her left a bit sat the admiral of the RIM Navy, McQueen. She didn't like the man, but she respected his abilities and his skill at running the navy itself. She often wondered what drove the man to excel—it was obviously not credits or position or command—but what it was escaped her. Maybe it was just
to serve—to be in the service of others she thought for a moment and then discarded that thought. Not McQueen, she rationalized, he had a deeper set of needs that she would one day need to figure out ... but not today.
Ttseen was here. The small alien who looked so much like a boxer dog sat up on its rear legs on its chair and looked back at her but appeared to be lost in thought on something else. The DenKoss representatives were ensconced in their temporary aquarium chairs as they too were looking at the Agenda it appeared.
The Duke d'Avigdor entered the room and slowly worked his way around to his place on the right-hand side of the table, stopping to say hello to other members as he moved along.
The Novertag contingent, politicos, and representatives all bustled in—they not only had never talked to her since the sleeper ship incident years ago, but they always abstained when voting occurred on any Barony matter. We gave the sleepers Throthbut they could have chosen the Novertag planet too, but they did not. Spilled milk, she thought, and she then looked away. No sense wasting any time on that group.
She motioned to an aide, and an oolong tea appeared in front of her, perfectly brewed and served. Nice being a Baroness, she thought, as she took a sip and then carefully moved over to her right a few inches as in came the RIM Council Chairman Gramsci, his six arms once again full of books, files, binders, and a cup.
He nodded to her as he slowly laid out his things, trying not to encroach on her space, and smiled even as she swooped up her china tea service to place it down over on her far right-hand side. She had to be careful as well on that side too, as the Leudi council member often let his neck snake out onto the tabletop, and if she got too close, it would coil up and hiss. Never heard of anyone dying from such a bite, she thought, but then she remembered that just a couple of generations ago, right here in this Council room, someone had shot and killed one. That must have been some kind of a meeting. I should look that one up—rather get an aide to do that for me, of course. Baronesses do not look up anything, thought and smiled as the Chairman banged his gavels down and the meeting was called to order.