“I don't think you're a threat, Lorian."
“You, no. But what is strange and new will always be considered a threat to the majority. It is a fact well-established by history."
“All right. Let's take a break and I'll put together all the data to get us through the first Knaught Point."
“What are Knaught Points?"
“Oh—we never got to spatial anomalies, did we?” Lin laughed a little breathlessly.
She was shaken, Bain realized. Despite all her theorizing and speculating and daydreaming, to have her questions answered so simply and readily had shaken her. He wondered if it was the same way he would feel when the Scouts became a reality.
One of their earlier conversations had been to establish that what each ship called minutes and hours, kilometers and grams and measures of gravity, air pressure and speed were consistent. There were a few differences, but Ganfer had set up a comparison table to make conversions simple and easy.
Lin punched a few buttons and sent over the coordinates for the Knaught Point over to the Estal'es'cai, explaining what she was doing as it occurred.
“Lin—your people know how to use those anomalies now?” Lorian's voice cracked with pure excitement. She sounded exactly like Lin in the same type of situation. Bain couldn't help laughing.
“Yes. It's a little hard explaining the physics of it in less than an hour. We'll have time on the voyage there. It'll take us about ten hours at full speed.” Lin paused. “How do your people cut out all the months of travel if you don't use Knaught Points to jump galaxies and quadrants?"
“We Leap."
“That helps a great deal,” she said with forced sourness in her voice. That earned a chuckle from the other captain.
“No, my friend. We literally Leap from one universe to another. All universes occupy the same physical space, in a manner of speaking, but on different frequencies. Different levels of reality.” She sighed. “This will take months of explaining. What we grow up knowing in our blood and bones actually takes years of study for outsiders."
“No, I think I understand the theory,” Lin said, holding up her hand, as if the other captain could see. “You transfer to another dimension, and then come back, but at a far distance from your starting point?"
“Exactly!"
“Oh, my,” she whispered. Then she started laughing. “Well, Ganfer, how does it feel to be suddenly obsolete?"
“Who is Ganfer?” Lorian wanted to know.
“Ah..."
“We only read two sets of life-signs on your ship. You didn't send any communication out."
“Ah, Lorian, this is even harder to explain than Knaught Points. In simple terms, Ganfer is my ship-brain. He's so old, so full of information and experience, he's ... sentient."
“Really?” The other woman sounded more delighted than incredulous. “Ganfer, can you hear me?"
“Yes, Captain K'veer. I have been following your conversations with Lin with keen interest,” Ganfer responded in his politest tone of voice.
“Wonderful.” Lorian laughed again. “Ganfer, meet Watcher—my ship-brain."
Lin turned bright red and slumped in her seat and covered her face with her hands. Bain burst out laughing. Then he was startled to hear laughter coming over from the other ship. Young laughter, coming from two new people. Had they been listening in on Lorian and Lin's conversation all this time? He wondered what they looked like, what their names were.
* * * *
Watcher sounded more female than Ganfer. The two ship-brains exchanged a few words the Humans could hear, then there was an odd, pulsing silence.
“They'll probably say more in a few minutes than you and I have said in two days,” Lorian commented.
“Probably. Do you understand ship-brains?” Lin asked. She finally sat up and wiped laughter tears from her eyes. Her face was still red.
“Understand?"
“How they work, what makes it possible for them to have a personality.” She glanced at Bain, who was still lying a few centimeters above his bunk, clutching his neglected reading screen as he listened. “Do ship-brains have souls? Are they old enough, aware enough, to be people and not just constructs?"
“Ah. That old question.” She sighed. “A long time ago, when Leapers first discovered what they could do ... there were people who said we had merged so much with our ships that we were no longer Human. Ship-brains are based on the bio-crystal matrix that also makes Leapers what we are."
“Lorian, you've lost me already."
“Sorry. I'm prejudiced in favor of believing ship-brains are aware. I know Watcher has often anticipated what I want to ask her to investigate or do for me. She offers information instead of waiting for me to request it, and she doesn't stick strictly to literal instructions or requests. That makes her a person to me, at least."
“Ganfer can be a horrible tease sometimes."
“Then he is definitely more advanced than Watcher, in that respect."
“Is that an advance?” Bain had to ask.
Again, that young laughter rippled through from the other ship.
“Bain, maybe it's time you meet my daughters, Herin and Rhiann,” Captain Lorian said. “I have this feeling you three are going to be spending a great deal of time together in the next few moons."
“Probably,” Lin said, nodding. She winked at Bain.
Daughters? Bain felt a sinking sensation. He had hoped at least one of those voices was a boy, even if it was someone much younger than him.
“Hello, Bain,” a girl's soft voice breathed into the speaker. “I'm Herin. I'm the oldest. I'll be captain of the Estal'es'cai when Mother retires."
“Well, I get a new ship if I want,” another girl squeaked. “I'm Rhiann. Can you come see our ship soon? Can we come over and see yours? Do you have a game-room? Do you really get to live in free-fall all the time?"
“We don't have artificial gravity like you,” Bain found himself answering.
“How old are you?"
“Rhiann!” Herin scolded. “That's not polite."
“I'm seventeen Standards,” Bain said. Somehow, he had an instant mental image of Herin as being tall and skinny with a sour look on her face—and pimples. He imagined Rhiann was short and chubby with curly hair in tangled knots and a smear of jam on one cheek.
“I'm fifteen,” Rhiann bubbled. “Herin is nineteen. She doesn't like playing games anymore and all the other kids are younger than me."
“Rhiann!” her sister groaned.
“Mother!” the younger girl squeaked. There was a scuffling sound. Then silence.
“Sorry about that,” Captain Lorian said, laughter in her voice. “The girls have been so good, listening all this time and not breaking in with the thousand questions they usually have."
“No problem, Lorian,” Lin said. She glanced at Bain and crossed her eyes at him. “It's been a while since Bain was at that overflowing stage, but I remember."
“I was never like that,” Bain muttered, but softly enough the speakers couldn't pick up his words.
“Would you be willing to demonstrate how you use the anomalies?” Captain Lorian said. “Our ancestors suspected there was something about them that could be used, but anyone who ever went through them—Knaught Points, you call them?—anyone who ever went through never came back. The ancients discovered how to create Wrinkle ships by accident, but those were almost as dangerous as using the anomalies."
“Wrinkle ships?” Lin's mouth dropped open. “Those weren't just myths? You really could fold space and travel instantaneously?"
“No, no one ever managed to fold it, but they did ‘wrinkle’ it enough to cut travel time.” Lorian sighed. “That's where the name came from. The problem was, space never quite wrinkled the same way twice, no matter how many times you traveled the same route and your ship created the same energy pulse ... I'd rather no one ever learned that Wrinkle ships were real, Lin. The knowledge is too dangerous."
“Understood."
&nbs
p; “Your Knaught Points, though. Those fascinate me. They're reliable? Consistent? Safe?"
“For those who know how to use them properly, perfectly safe. A little bit of a strain sometimes, but that's the risk anyone takes going into space."
“The Sisterhood will be delighted to know the anomalies can be used now. It's something we've played with and speculated on for generations. We didn't know if the anomalies were just one-way doors, or the explorers were smeared across the galaxies. There was no way to find out the truth, either."
“They were probably both one-way and smeared. I'd be glad to explain to you...” Lin faded off and started chewing on her bottom lip.
“Problems? I'm a quick learner. Leaper captains have to be quick, or we don't stay alive the first time we link with our ships."
“I have a duty to protect the Commonwealth. Honestly, Lorian, my gut instinct says to trust you, but can I trust the Leapers that come after you?"
“Ah. Ethics."
“Exactly. Just from the little you've told me of Leap-ship abilities, showing you how to get to Centralis or to Vidan would be like clearing a pathway for the Mashrami through the heart of the Commonwealth, and begging them to bring their plague bombs. No insult intended, but the danger would be equal."
“And teaching me how to use the Knaught Points would negate what small advantage the Commonwealth would have against the ability of Leap-ships to go and be anywhere in a matter of moments. I see."
“What is your attitude toward the Commonwealth?” Lin said in a soft voice. “Are you here just for curiosity, to trade as you mentioned, or to see what we've done with the mess your ancestors left behind? Are you here for aid, or for revenge?"
“Ah. Let me assure you, Lin, we hold no grudges. In many ways, your ancestors suffered more than ours did. We took the Leap-ship technology away when millions of refugees could have used our help to avoid the waves of destruction spreading out from the wars that ravaged the Fifty Worlds. Leapers are trained to defend ourselves, but our strongest defense is to run when endangered. And we will run, forever. If any universe presents a danger to us, we will spread the word and all Leapers will boycott the universe which has harmed one of us. Once your universe understands the trade advantages we present, the instantaneous transportation we can offer, your leaders will understand what a crippling loss our absence will create. It has proven to be a strong deterrent in many cases."
“I can see that. Spacers have used that tactic to keep the Conclave from trying to enslave us or threaten us into giving them unfair advantage. It works, but there's always the chance someone will give in rather than run the risk of losing a parent or child or their entire ship,” Lin said, nodding.
“We just never had the option of stepping into another universe before,” Bain said.
“Leapers make their living by trading culture. We study the history, language, knowledge, literature, music of undiscovered worlds, and we pass it along. We see ourselves as helping the universes we travel through—we don't share technology, and especially not weapons. We are sworn to destroy our ships rather than let our technology fall into hands that would misuse it.” Lorian paused. “I swear on my own life and the lives of my daughters and the lives of all the children on the Estal'es'cai, Leapers are no threat to the Commonwealth."
“All right,” Lin whispered. “You'll have to say the same thing to the Commonwealth Council. You're going to be grilled by them so intensely, you're going to wish you never came back to this universe. But if it helps any, I believe you completely."
“Me, too,” Bain said, raising his voice.
“Thank you.” Captain Lorian's voice sounded thick, as if she fought tears.
* * * *
Two days later, Sunsinger and the Estal'es'cai hovered in space a half hour's flight from the Knaught Point that would lead back into known space. Known to Sunsinger and her crew, at least.
Bain and Lin had discussed over dinner how far the Leaper ship would have to penetrate into Commonwealth space before they recognized spatial coordinates and could navigate without help. Star maps would be useless to them, if the stars and galactic anomalies had changed, shifted positions or changed their power signatures in the time since the Leapers last passed through. Yet a technology that could shift an entire ship from one dimension to another surely had the ability to predict such changes as the drift of stars in their courses, and compensate for it. Lorian had referred to the Fifty Worlds comprising First Civ. Were there fifty major planets, or did that number include the explored worlds and colonies? Since Vidan wasn't the center of government of First Civ, but of science and art as Lorian had told them, they had no idea what sectors of space the Leapers’ ancestors had known. At least now they had a better idea of how Vidan had survived the fighting that accompanied the Downfall. The planet was kept separate from power struggles and government, so it was relatively untouched by the numerous wars of the Downfall. That relative isolation had helped preserve more records and fragments of science and all other knowledge, for Kilvordi and the Order to find and reconstruct, and might actually have helped hasten the return of civilization and the birth of the Commonwealth.
“I know one thing,” Lin had said, after they discussed that topic until it was threadbare, “it's a blessing we met up with them, and not some military ship. They're trained to see every stranger as an enemy."
“With the Mashrami and Conclave, that's true.” Bain glanced across the bridge at the image of the Estal'es'cai on the largest of the wall screens. In two more shifts, they would link with the Leaper ship and lead it through the Knaught Point.
“Thank goodness they didn't run into the Conclave!” Lin made a grimace of horror, but there was something in her eyes that told Bain she wasn't entirely teasing.
When he thought about it later in his bunk, he grew cold. What if the Estal'es'cai had indeed run into a Conclave ship? What if they had been tricked by the smooth words and sweet promises of a member of the Conclave, and suddenly found themselves bound by one of the infamous Conclave contracts that basically signed over the entire ship and crew to serve one particular merchant lord or planetary government. It had happened to a total of three Spacers at the beginning of contact between the two governments. One had been able to work free of the contract. The other two had resorted to desperate measures; one destroyed her ship, since the contract wording bound her ship but not her. That was back in the days when outsiders thought it was the ship itself that traversed the Knaught Points, and not the talents of the Spacer at the controls. The second person faked his death, then had to live as secondary pilot on another ship for several years until he could generate a new identity, change the identification on his ship, and resume his life.
After that, Spacers had been much more cautious about any dealings with members of the Conclave. No promises were ever made; even something as simple as promising to come for dinner. Some Conclave societies were so tied into knots with custom and convention, a few social faux pas could turn the offender into a slave for life—or call on the death penalty. Those worlds were marked, and a smart Spacer never ventured beyond the spaceport when visiting those worlds.
Bain wondered if Lin's explanation of the Conclave and its structure had warned Captain Lorian enough to keep her out of trouble. It made him cold down to the core of his being to think of that beautiful ship raising the greed of Conclave merchant lords. Planet-bound pirates were all they really were, starting with Mordor Caderi and his angry son and moving down the ladder. Bain's thoughts centered around what could have happened to the Estal'es'cai and her captain and crew if the Conclave had tricked them. The best result would be Leapers boycotting the Commonwealth's universe for all time to come. The worst was Captain Lorian dead and her daughters taken hostage and the crew either sold into slavery or killed. Their captors would try to use the ship's communication system to transmit their demands—and the demands would never reach other Leapers because the Estal'es'cai was the only Leaper ship in this universe. Until Capta
in Lorian returned to her sister ships and reported on this exploration mission, no other Leaper would come through the dimensions. If the Estal'es'cai never returned, no Leaper ship would ever come through again.
Bain finally fell asleep, but his dreams were laced with images of the Estal'es'cai exploding, and faceless girls screaming in terror as their equally faceless mother was murdered.
* * * *
“Ready?” Lin said. She leaned back in her chair at the control panel and prepared to release her safety strap.
“As ready as we'll ever be,” Captain Lorian responded a little breathlessly. “Lin, I realize how much you're trusting me, letting us use the tractor field on Sunsinger. Are you sure you want to take the risk?"
“If your daughter is half as quick as Bain, we should have no problem breaking free if something starts to go wrong.” Lin glanced over at Bain and winked at him.
Bain groaned. He already decided he didn't like Herin, just the few sentences he had exchanged with her in preparing for this maneuver. The Estal'es'cai had enveloped Sunsinger in a tractor field, which would keep the two ships locked together while going through the Knaught Point. Lin would do all the piloting, and Captain Lorian's task was to make sure her ship exactly mirrored the speed and angle of Sunsinger to avoid stress placed on the smaller Commonwealth ship. Bain was in charge of monitoring the stresses on Sunsinger. If he judged there would be trouble, he was to signal Herin, whose sole job was to control the tractor field. Together, they would decide what had to be done to take the strain off Sunsinger. If Bain decided the field needed to be shut off, he would give the order and Herin would have to follow that order, no room or time for argument or discussion. Bain knew Herin didn't like the idea of taking orders from a younger boy, and a stranger at that. She had to hate it even worse now, hearing him praised for quickness and herself expected to match him.
He wished Rhiann had the duty post. At least she would keep him entertained. She wasn't as chatty and silly as she had sounded at first. She asked intelligent questions and she sounded excited about everything he told her. Herin only sounded distracted and a little too intense. She didn't give Bain time to think about his answers when she asked questions. Bain had the feeling she thought he was stupid whenever he had to ask her something. He had already learned to wait to ask Rhiann any questions he had. She was glad to answer, and always gave him interesting details that had only a passing connection with his question. He learned more about the Leapers from those sideline details than from his original question, sometimes.
Leap Ships [Sunsinger Chronicles Book 7] Page 4