Dreaming of Atmosphere

by Jim C. Wilson

  “So, where is that charge?” I smiled at her in triumph.

  10.

  Engineering spaces have always been tight. The idea is to jam as much technology as possible into the smallest space, and squeeze as much power and push from it as you can. This results in access passages that are generously called crawl spaces, when in reality they should be called worm across your belly spaces. Add to the discomfort is the need to drag tools and devices along with you, and you can see why working in engineering and propulsion requires you have no fear of enclosed spaces. The steady thrum of power that ebbs through the rest of the ship is more of a dull roar here, and hearing protection must be worn at all times. The smell of lubricants and coolant are strong, mixing into a melange of heated oils and atomised fuel particles.

  Eric, Mal and I were wriggling through one such crawl space into the starboard nacelle. Eric was towing a bag of tools behind him, and they kept snagging on pipe and gauges. As I was next in line I was constantly calling a halt to untangle them. Mal, as usual, kept complaining about all the stopping and starting.

  Eventually we came out into an open space, a compartment three metres in diameter surrounded by several displays and controls. A veritable nexus of coolant lines, fuel lines and electrical conduits. Eric immediately started taking readings and downloading them into his overlay. Mal popped up out of the crawl space last and set about removing an access panel below the deck.

  “We have a slight imbalance in the resonance chamber further aft, it’s causing a slight cavitation in our wake. We’ll have to check it out before we go.” reported Eric.

  “Could it be damage from the attack?”

  “No, it’s too embedded in our engines to take a hit without outlying components first taking damage. It’s probably just a loose coupling. Nothing to worry about, all part of standard maintenance.”

  “You think it could be another charge? Maybe Jenner’s technicians knocked something loose.”

  “Maybe, I’ll make sure to take along my vibration analyser when I go.”

  “So where’s the one that Artemis gave up? What’s the cyclotron waveguide feed?”

  “It’s part of the system that enables us to collect and process stray particles from space. It’s in the latter 3rd of the system, after the particles have been sorted and filtered. It takes the more exotic particles and converts them to energy, then feeds them directly into the fusion chamber for compiling.”

  Starships use multiple sources of fuel. Since energy cannot be created from nothing and can only be converted from one form to another, even with today’s technology we still need something to feed the fire that is starship propulsion. The Dreaming uses a three-fold system, called a Trifurcated Ion Drive. The principle is fairly simple, a gas is given an electrical charge, the ionised gas is passed through an electric screen at the rear of the engines and the ions push out and provide thrust. It’s very efficient, and is a design that has been in use for centuries. Early engines didn’t have much acceleration, but more modern propulsion uses clever gizmos and processing technology to improve the thrust. A Trifurcated Drive obtains the gasses needed as fuel through three different methods.

  The primary source of fuel is a readily available locally stored source of hydrogen rich water. The system breaks it down into particles and separates the oxygen from the hydrogen. The O2 is used in life support, the hydrogen is ionised as fuel. The second source is by using magnetic scoops to pull particles in from space around us. They’re filtered and sorted by useability and fed into the engines, as Eric described. The last method is somewhat more exotic, and far beyond my understanding. It uses quantum effects to pull particles and energy from bordering dimensions, and the fuel just sort of materialises into our dimension, or brane, and powers the system.

  This last type is the most unstable and unreliable, providing the least amount of thrust. The only positive thing about it, is that you seemingly gain the fuel from nowhere. It’s often used as a last resort by ships that run out of all other fuels. The thrust provided by the drive comes in stops and starts, shunting the ship in shuddering tugs that makes travel under this method uncomfortable. It’s lovingly referred to as travelling under puff. Captains who are known for their arrival into POIs while under puff get nicknames such as Captain Puffer, or The Good Ship Puff-along. Such a reputation is hard to shake.

  “Okay,” called Mal, “hatch is open. Let’s go, Seth.”

  I groaned inwardly, I’d just worked out the kink in my back from the last crawl. Mal went first, pushing a tool bag along in front of him. I climbed down headfirst and slid into the crawl space below. It was hot and stuffy, and sweat broke out almost immediately as I began to thread my way through the tubing.

  “How did they manage to get through here with enough equipment to affix a bomb in here?” I mused.

  “A good engineer knows his way around a space,” Mal said, referring to these worm tubes, “You’re not claustrophobic too, are you?”

  “Screw you, Cuts. Hurry up and let’s get this done.”

  You should be coming up on the first stage of the cyclotron waveguide now. Looks like a rectangular tube with a fine mesh braid around it. Eric texted me.

  I see it. Cuts is removing something up ahead.

  That should be an inspection port covering, you’ll need to get the vid-drone ready.

  Right.

  The plan was to put a small remote camera into the waveguide, rather than remove the whole waveguide, which would take about an hour to do. The vid-drone was the size of a child’s fist, and could see in the infrared, the ultraviolet and in the x-ray band widths. Mal had the plate off in no time and was gesturing impatiently for the drone while I was pairing it up with our overlays. When it was done I handed it to him and he pushed in into the waveguide.

  A small window had opened in my overlay, which I expanded and focused on as the feed from the drone started coming in. It moved along using a tiny gravity generator, useful for small in-door movement but little else. Most drones of this type used them. The drone soon came upon a small metal box that had several cables running out of it that looked welded onto the waveguide walls. It had a low profile, so as not to disrupt the flow of particles down the waveguide.

  That looks like it. Came Eric’s text.

  Looks like a capacitive transducer. Offered Mal.

  What’s that? I asked.

  Eric explained that the probes that extended from the box measured the electrical state of the waveguide, probably detecting it’s nearness to other conductive surfaces. He guessed that it would register a change in capacitance if we tried to remove the waveguide, and probably detonate.

  You know, I could probably program some nanites to reconstruct a cage around the bomb and probes, and just peel the probes off the waveguide.

  We don’t know if the probes are measuring the whole section or just the nearby conductors.

  True, we’d need more measurements before we could do that. I could use an analysis Nano-package to get a full break down of the signal-processing going on. Drone, switch to x-ray.

  The drone’s vision switched to a different colour scheme, which turned most of the surfaces translucent. I could see several of the components that made up the bomb, and the drone began to read electrical impulses as they flowed through the device. I keyed Fel into the feed.

  What do you make of this? I asked. Eric repeated his earlier observations to him.

  Doesn’t look too sophisticated, it’s just in a bad spot, really.

  I think we’d need to use some guess work with this one, and as an engineer I hate using guess work.

  I might be able to help you out with that analysis Nano-package. We’d have to leave the scoops offline for a while though, they’ll interfere with our readings.

  Agreed. First Mate? What’s your call?

  I think I’d better bump this up to Max. I know she wants these bombs taken care of, but taking a third of our options for propulsion off the table while underway is risky.<
br />
  So is carrying around a bomb. Said Mal, and for once I agreed with him.

  Yeah ok, I’m calling it. Start the package, and I’ll talk it out with Max. If she says to cut it we can always recover the nanites.

  Or burn them as fuel, ha-ha.

  Thanks, Cuts, retorted Fel, and I can always recover their costs by taking a cut of your pay share.

  You want to come down here again and collect them?

  No, that would be your job. I explained. Mal grumbled a little and started to grab the drone.

  Stop! Don’t move! Interjected Eric urgently. Mal froze, his arm halfway into the waveguide. I could see why, the drone’s image of the bomb showed increased energy levels in the bomb, as if multiple components powered up simultaneously.

  It seems that Mr Cutler was a little hasty in his eagerness to get the job over with. Said Fel, You’ve triggered a proximity sensor.

  Why didn’t the drone set it off?

  Unsure.

  We all reviewed the data we’d collected so far.

  What sets the drone apart from Mal’s hand? Mused Fel.

  They both have gravity, they both have electrical potential. I said.

  The drone has wireless transmitters. Said Eric

  I have wireless, my overlay!

  Not in your hand. We all thought hard about the predicament.

  We can’t risk you moving your hand out of the waveguide. What if it sets it off?

  What if I CAN’T move my hand? I’m not staying down here!

  My hand has wireless transmitters. I offered. Mal looked at me in surprise, his face sweaty and grimy. Eric send me a single ? and left it at that.

  Maybe if I put my hand in there next to Mal’s, then he can pull out. Once it registers that it’s a drone nearby it might let me go as well.

  That might work. Came Fel’s reply.

  Should we get Max in on this? Asked Eric, She might have qualms about putting you at risk.

  If I can put myself at risk instead of a crewmate, that’s my job, Eric.

  What if it doesn’t work at all?

  I’m willing to take that risk. What’s the alternative? We leave Cuts down here, and the scoops offline indefinitely?

  Everyone was silent for a few minutes, contemplating our options. They weren’t good. In the end, we decided to try it. I wriggled up next to Cuts while he moved as far down the space as he could while keeping his arm inside the waveguide. There was just enough room for me to reach in as well. It was tight, but I got my hand in and grabbed his wrist.

  “When I let go of you, slowly pull your arm out and keep an eye on the energy readings from the bomb. If they spike, stop.” I said to him.

  “Okay.” He was shaking nervously. I gently let his wrist go and he started to retract his arm from the waveguide. We all kept out eyes glued on the drone’s read out, but when he was nearly out of the waveguide the energy readings died down to their original levels. Mal pulled the rest of the arm out and lay back breathing heavily in relief. In a few seconds he started to wriggle away further down the shaft.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “Away from you, incase it goes off.”

  “You’re kidding me? Thanks for the support!” I couldn’t believe is audacity, but knew that deep down he was right. Why risk both of us?

  I’m going to start moving out now. I informed the others. Ever so slowly, I started to move my arm backwards. Fortunately, the energy readings didn’t spike, not even once, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I was out. I called out the drone and packed it up. I ignored Mal and took my things and crawled backwards out of the shaft. Eric helped me to my feet and gave me a look.

  “Get going, I’ll deal with Cuts.” I nodded to him and headed back the way we’d come, towards the central engineering space. I got some satisfaction from knowing that Eric was about to chew Cuts out in a way that only engineers could. A process that Eric referred to as contact counselling.

  11.

  I was sitting across from Max and Fel at the small round conference table in the Captain’s quarters. As the Captain, Max was entitled to a small stateroom, complete with table and chairs as well as a writing desk. There were star charts and memorabilia all over the compartment, a healthy mix of history and future exploits to come. We were discussing our current predicament.

  “So you think these nanites can get enough data about what that bomb is sensing to trick it?” recapped Max, as she turn a container filled with what looked like fine dust.

  “I think it’s the only way we’re going to get a good enough idea about what we’re dealing with, yes.” Replied Fel’negr. He took the container from Max and tapped a button on the side of it. Data streams began to flood into our overlays, relaying things such as ambient temperatures, atmospheric content, surface tension, background radiation and other radiant energies.

  “They should take about fifty two hours to gather enough data. Eric is sure that we can use another package to etch a cage around the bomb and use the nanites to feed a dummy signal into the probes.”

  “Two days without the scoops? That’s a long haul running on only secondary propulsion.”

  “I’ve checked with Eric, he says we have plenty of water in the tanks. At least a week’s worth running at full power.”

  “Yeah and then we’ll just puff the rest of the way to the Jump Gate.”

  “Would I ever make a puffer of you, Max?”

  “You’d better not. What’s your take on all this, Seth?”

  “Well, we need more information before we can try to remove this bomb, we can halt acceleration for 2 days while we do it, that way we save our water.”

  “You don’t think that bitch will know something is up if we just coast for 2 days?”

  “I’m sure that I can come up with a plausible story for why we’re not under thrust for a time, but she’s not stupid. Maybe drop acceleration down to one day. We don’t use as much fuel, and we still gain a day of velocity.”

  “But you’re sure we should try and remove this bomb?”

  “Definitely.”

  She sat and mulled it over for a full minute before nodding to herself and gave Fel the go ahead. He left and headed for engineering. I made to leave too, but Max grabbed my arm and nodded to the chair again. I sat, and prepared myself for another one of her chats.

  “How are things with you, Donny? Have you managed to have a chat with Zoe?”

  “Yeah, I have, actually.”

  “And?”

  “It…it’s still going to take some time. But I’m working things out.”

  She looked surprised.

  “I guess you were right. She’s a different person when she starts doing her job, less questions and more conversation.”

  “She’s very gifted. We’re lucky to have her.”

  “I can see that now. Did she tell you she wants to play with my Augs?”

  “She might have mentioned it, yes.”

  “Oh, so you knew about the Nano-proliferation thing?”

  “What did you say?”

  “You did know? Did you put her up to it?”

  “What have you got against NP? You don’t think it’s useful?”

  “I’ve no doubt that it would be. I just don’t want to be a freak show crazy person is all!”

  “What’s so freakish about technology? It’s the only reason you’re still alive, remember?”

  “At what point do I cease being me? Where do we draw the line at where I’m still human and not some machine with fleshy parts attached?”

  “You already have a computer in your brain, this just takes it up another notch and…”

  “And it turns me into a freaking nanite factory!”

  “You’ve already seen some of the things we can do with nanites.”

  It was true that Nano-technology is used in many tasks aboard a starship. We use it to perform repairs on the hull, for example, instead of welding new plating onto the hull, we simply grow it with nanites programed
to do just that. Feed them raw material and they convert it into useful shapes and even bonds it to the existing plates. Our shields are projected by a nanite-controlled effect. When a shield is depleted, it’s actually because the nanites that control the field have all burnt out and the generator is producing more. Where Nano-proliferation differs from regular nanites is in the programming.

  Nanites are manufactured to fulfil a set task and are then discarded once their power runs out, we call it burning out. Nano-proliferation allows the user to rewrite the programs of the nanites they produce on the fly, allowing for a whole slew of programs to be running at once. It requires intense concentration and lots of training to create effects that regular nanites were never meant to be able to create. What scares me is what if the nanites an NP user creates are able to break free of the user’s direction? They’re not purpose built, so they can pretty much do whatever they want. What if they started to self-replicate to infinity? Theoretically they could consume everything and grow exponentially, become a true scourge on the galaxy. Sounds a lot like NP is playing with fire.

  “I’ve gotten through my whole life without NP, and I see no reason why that needs to change.”

  “I’m going to flick a data file to you. It’s a series of training videos talking about Nano-proliferation. Not just what they can do, but also the ethical and moral issues that arise from their use. I know you have misgivings about it, but having that kind of capability would be an enormous boon on this job. Power has a tendency to corrupt, I understand that, but the best wielders of such power are those that never wanted it to begin with. I trust you. I believe in you, and your strong sense of right and wrong. If you hold to your principles, you will be an amazing person able to achieve amazing things with this ability.”

  I sat there staring at my hands. She’d struck a chord within me. My biggest fear is letting down the people that rely on me. Isn’t this just one more tool that I can use to do my people right? What if the only thing that stands between defeat and success is something I can do with NP? It was a heavy question weighing me down. It was a guilt that I felt was trying to swallow me whole. I’d let down my squad, I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough, or smart enough to get them home alive. Only I was able to come back. I couldn’t live with that kind of pain again.