by Scott Rhine
“The sages want advice from me?” the professor asked. “I’m flattered.”
She brought the astrogation data up on one side of the room and the critical cell of the Enigma equation on the other. “We need your help adjusting for the drift constant in this problem. All I know is that it isn’t really a constant.”
“You’ve deduced the Xerxes transformation!”
“No. This was our equation before he stole it to build a weapon.” She took a laser pointer and drew a line on the star chart. “This was the intended flight path, but you can see how our test veered off.”
“Naturally, toward the hub.” The professor took a data cube off his shelf and projected a similar image, adjusting the scale and position until they overlapped. “The Xerxes implosion left a plume in subspace that resembled this.”
“You brought top-secret data with you?”
“I bribed officials to allow me to bring all my university books and papers into exile, both published and unfinished. They didn’t recognize the treasure right in front of them.”
She looked from one example to the other. “Both vectors aim toward the center of our galaxy. Why?”
“Gravity, my dear. The hub is what holds all the stars in place and spins them in their courses. It’s the puppet master on our stage.”
“Overcoming the distance-squared rule with incredible amounts of mass.”
“Yes, yes. You also need to account for the angular momentum and the effects of other galaxies for complete accuracy. That’s the layer under subspace I proposed to my colleagues.” The professor selected another cube and picked a paper from the menu.
Roz blinked at the handwritten equations. This guy with funny glasses was the Rosetta Stone for the Enigma. “An infinite summation.” Another Enigma piece had a term like that, but she hadn’t copied it onto her device in case of capture. Pressure squeezed her temples.
“Possibly, but I can show you how to pair the terms to collapse the series.” He added footnotes to several references to textbooks in his collection as he scribbled in the air. His techniques simplified the problem in ways she never suspected. Each building block would take her weeks to master. An hour with this mathematician felt like a quarter-long seminar at university.
Suddenly, Echo’s voice disrupted the flow. “Police arrived. Shots fired. Hurry.” The pressure vanished soon after.
Roz had lost track of time. “Could you bring your notes to our shuttle to access better computers?”
The professor shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” He piled his collection of keys to the universe into a leather valise and trotted after her.
Chapter 37 – Smoke and Mirrors
Max, Feeveerkahn, Crakik and a dozen bystanders trailed behind Roz as she ran. When she emerged into open air, the first thing she saw was smoke on the horizon. The shuttle was still there. The buggy was not. Their sniper, Ivy, had moved to the high ground in order to pin the police behind a rock.
Over the comm, Roz said, “Stand down. We have friends with us.” She waved so Yenang could see her through his telescopic lens.
The crowd fanned out behind her.
Feeveerkahn cupped his hands like a megaphone to shout to his forces in Bat, “Hold your fire. These are our allies. They want to improve life for all of us.”
“Is that the prince?” Yenang asked over the comm.
“Yes,” Roz said, ambling down the path with the professor in tow. “We need a few minutes inside the shuttle.”
The lethal gun’s targeting laser appeared on her chest as they approached. She thumbed the grenade active. As soon as she unclenched her fist, it would spray. If he shot her, the smoke grenade would provide the others with cover. She knew her armor would take the first shot, maybe the second if she spun … and if the pain didn’t knock her out immediately.
Max took the low road, using the snail sheep as cover.
Yenang shouted, “You’re trying to overthrow our rightful government! That’s why the others called you Generala.”
Roz released the professor’s hand and inched forward. “That’s not true. It’s a joke about me being bossy. My mother read this novel about the Spanish Civil War—”
She was close enough to see the hatred in Yenang’s eyes. “I wish you Magi would stop meddling in our lives in the name of peace!”
“You and me both, honey,” Roz murmured.
Ivy had shifted subtly, aiming her rifle at Yenang, but the light on Roz’s wrist blinked red. She didn’t have a shot through the clear Plexar shielding around the turret.
Roz placed her hand on the gate in the wire fence.
“That’s far enough. No tricks, or you all die,” Yenang threatened.
Near Roz’s ear, Echo said, “That threat makes him a virus. Use the failsafe.”
Yenang didn’t know about the self-destruct feature under the gun turret’s seat. This was not how she envisioned using it. Lethal retaliation took the vote of three judges. Ivy held a thumb up.
Roz tried one last time. “What do you expect to get out of all this, Yenang? You can’t kill us all before we stop you, and your oath won’t let you harm the royal family.”
“You three are enemy combatants, though. If you kill the prince, I’ll let the three of you live.”
“Do it,” Roz ordered, and Echo vanished in order to send the destruct signal.
Max made a sudden dash, and the target laser swept over the grazing land. Snails exploded like balloons filled with gray paint as the turret whined on autofire. Everyone dove for the moss except Roz. She rolled the grenade toward the shuttle.
Crouching behind the billowing smoke, she tapped the last application invoked on her wrist computer, the power-door control, causing it to slowly shut. The turret wouldn’t be able to fire through the hull, and the added buffer would contain the gem shrapnel. If nothing else, the noise of the servo motors would distract him from the whine of phoenix overload.
“Internal controls override remotes, witch!” Yenang gloated. The sound of the motors ceased. He must have stepped out from behind the shield to stop the ramp from rising further, because Ivy’s rifle twanged twice, as did smaller police weapons from below.
Roz couldn’t see a thing as she climbed over the gate. However, superheated snails continued to burst like popcorn in a microwave. People screamed, one right behind her. The valise thumped to the turf, and data cubes rattled. Professor? From this side of the fence, she had no way to check who was injured or how badly. She would be safe behind the cloud of smoke, but more people would die while she hid.
Roz was the only one in a position to stop the gunman. She didn’t have to fight Yenang, just distract him until her triad mate sealed his fate. She darted toward the shuttle’s cockpit. By the time she dove for the landing gear, the large-bore laser trailed so close to her heels that she could smell the scorched vegetation and ozone. She drew her stun pistol. It wouldn’t penetrate the frontal shield on the turret, but if she could lure him a few centimeters closer to the cockpit, maybe she could numb his trigger hand. “I’m outside your firing angle. This is your last chance to surrender peacefully. In thirty seconds I can be inside the cockpit and eject your pod from the shuttle frame.”
“Not if I injure your mate and throw you into shock.”
Max was nowhere in sight. Roz turned her head to see Ivy running for cover. The laser swerved toward her. “No.” She lurched up in an effort to plug the muzzle with her own weapon.
The thump and cry of pain from the hillside told Roz she had been a second too late. Hopefully, the foil blind had provided Ivy some protection from the laser.
Because Roz heard the sound of crystals ringing on her radio, she dove under the ramp. The phoenix charge was almost ready.
Yenang’s last words were, “What the—?”
The power gems erupted in their reproductive frenzy. Next, the built-up energy in the laser discharged, and the medical oxygen tanks joined the thunderous explosion. Thankfully, she passed out.
&nbs
p; The pain woke her briefly when Max dragged her from under the collapsed ramp. “Trying to earn another medal?”
“Eject cargo pod. Fire spreads.”
“Already taken care of. Rest.” Then he injected her with something that ensured she would.
****
Medical personnel set up a tent in the pasture to triage the wounded. Once Roz’s sedative wore off, the nurse moved her out of the recovery area. Roz’s right arm was in a sling from something broken in her shoulder. She didn’t even notice the pain from that area because the backs of her calves were burned. Simply walking hurt more than anything she could remember. The nurse supported her, but there weren’t volunteers strong enough to lift her. She had to communicate in sign language because the AI earbud was gone.
Roz caught a glimpse of Max covered in blood to his elbows as he operated on an injured Bat. He wore his medical analysis goggles, and an assistant mopped his brow. Max cursed when the recommended surgical tools were nowhere to be found, and then he improvised. He often complained that he was not a real doctor, just a battlefield hack. However, the team of Bats around him jumped at his every command. As horrible as the scene was, he needed the experience of saving lives instead of taking them. She muffled her own cries as much as she could so she wouldn’t distract him.
“Where is my friend with blonde hair?” Roz asked in Banker once they were outside the tent. She touched her hair and showed the length. When this didn’t trigger a response, she lifted her breasts up. Ivy had a bigger chest than any Bat alive.
The nurse nodded and led her ten meters to a makeshift bathtub full of ice, which was high-tech for these people. Ivy was submerged and shivering.
She looks so pale. The blood loss must have been horrific. Roz limped over to hold her friend’s hand. Clamps were sticking out from under the chest bandages. She didn’t know whose pain was making her cry more. “I’m here, honey. I’m right here with you.”
“It burns!” Ivy said, punctuating her claim with numerous curses.
“Can you take my blood?”
“No. Has to be a relative.”
“I’ll fly you back to Sphere while Max is operating. We’ll put you in stasis until we can get you to Laurelin.”
The white Bat, now covered in soot, approached. “I’m sorry, but you can’t leave.”
“This wasn’t our fault. No one could predict he would react like this. We’re your allies. He hurt us as much as he hurt you.”
“This is not my decision or a threat. All Bat drives and reactors are disabled when they enter our airspace,” said Feeveerkahn.
The power dip had come from the reactor shutdown. “How long have I been unconscious? I can restart the reaction.”
“The cycle is too far gone. We’ve seen it many times before. You would need a power supply on par with what the reactor produces in order to reverse the solidification. We don’t have those anymore on this planet.”
But the Turtles had that tech, and the sonics would help break up the dampening salts. She would just need to patch the thermal controls directly into an alien battery that regenerated daily from no discernable source. “Take me to my husband, and carry her to the shuttle.”
“Be reasonable,” said Feeveerkahn, putting a hand on her shoulder to hold her in her seat.
“I don’t have time to teach you what we’re capable of, Prince. Assist me or get out of the way.” At the top of her lungs, she bellowed for Max. He came running.
“Good God, you should be asleep, babe. I’m sorry about the professor. He didn’t make it.”
“Loan me your Turtle toys. I’m taking Ivy back to the ship.”
He didn’t hesitate, another reason she loved him. After stripping off his surgical gear, Max handed her the vibro gloves, force-field vest, and his wrist controls. As he entered her biometrics as the new owner, scavengers walked by laden with blood-covered medical supplies … blood she had shed.
Roz swallowed. She wasn’t innocent anymore, by any definition. She spoke English. “I’m a killer now.”
“No,” Max said mechanically. “Three judges convicted him. You gave him multiple chances, and he chose to become a mass murderer with our equipment. You saved lives.”
“Echo said you wanted innocence.”
He touched her face. “You’re what I need, the perfect partner, but I can’t go home with you yet. When the natives heard I was a doctor, people came from all around. I can’t see the end of the line, but I can’t bear to tell them no. Send the other doctors and supplies as soon as you can.”
Then, Max ordered this prince of the realm to carry the women to the shuttle. This time, Feeveerkahn listened. With his entourage, he dragged her and Ivy to the shuttle in rickshaws.
On the way, Roz spotted the professor’s bloody valise. “We’ll need that.”
The former prince delivered the container with a treasure trove of data cubes into her arms. She cradled the sum of a brilliant man’s lifetime in her arms, mourning the loss. How many millennia could he have advanced the academy’s work? Perhaps his notes would provide more hints to future students. She just hoped his last lecture would give Echo enough information to plot the ship’s escape.
A few moments later, they arrived at the shuttle’s charred skeleton. Feeveerkahn asked, “Anything else?”
Roz wiped her eyes, and the pain made her voice squeak. “A jeweler’s lens and a spare pair of steady hands. My right arm doesn’t want to follow orders right now or crawl into an access tube.”
“Is this dangerous?” asked Feeveerkahn.
“Yes.”
“Then I will aid you myself. Enough of my people have suffered today.”
She snorted as she knelt to open the reactor controls. “Fine. Take off that fancy jacket. The metal buttons will get you electrocuted.”
Feeveerkahn removed his coat immediately and spread it at her feet to sit on. He may have been sexist, but he was a gentleman.
She examined the delicate thermal controls. How to pry them up? She didn’t have a tool that shape. All she needed, though, was to dislodge the security interface to get to the wiring underneath. “Grab the tool kit by the pilot’s chair. The one with the big wrench.” While he obeyed, she estimated the time she had left to pull this off. Ten minutes?
When the prince returned with her gear, she grabbed the wrench with her left hand and smashed the reactor panel. She consulted the schematics in the manual, “Clip this cable to the ten-kilowatt line. Blue goes to blue.” Handing him the wire strippers, she said, “You may need to cut into the line.”
“You’re right about being bossy.”
Roz raised an eyebrow. “You want to be funny, or do you want to have the ability to jumpstart your other reactors?”
Hanging his head, the prince shaved bare spots on the designated wires.
Max’s gloves seemed to work off broadcast power. The vest didn’t have easy access either. The most obvious power source was in the boxy wrist unit. After turning the silence generator on and off, she examined Max’s favorite toy with a voltage detector as it magically recharged itself. She marked the two most likely drilling spots. Before the dangerous step, she emailed the professor’s final interview to Echo. That way, someone else would know how to adjust the subbasement equations.
As Roz worked, she muttered phrases like “step-down transformer” and “mahdra inductor” that puzzled the prince’s translator. Seven minutes later, she had an odd assortment of pieces tied together, including a scavenged coil from the cockpit heating system.
When she finished, Roz said, “Ivy should just fit in the airlock between the cockpit and the gaping hole where the cargo pod used to be. Put the leather bag under her head as a pillow.”
“This is going to work?” Feeveerkahn asked doubtfully.
“Long enough to get me into orbit.” I hope. Roz wrapped more duct tape around a troublesome connection before hopping into the cramped pilot’s couch. “I’d stand back all the same.”
She started th
e ship’s engine from the cockpit, but it sounded like a two-stroke ethanol weed whacker. The gauge increased to the minimum needed to generate the friction-dampening bubble field. She reached down to touch Ivy’s hand. “Let’s find the future where we both live.”
Roz prayed and flipped the initiator switch. Before the bubble could burst, she ripped a hole in the sky.
Ivy’s wailing at the high-g acceleration was the worst. Roz couldn’t slow down because an air leak caused by the explosions screamed like a teakettle. Even so, the reactor shut down again before she reached Sphere’s projected location. Fortunately Deke steered the ship to meet her.
Roz had to coast for a short time. “We’ll have you to your family in no time. Hang on, girl.”
With only battery power, Roz managed the landing in the cargo bay with finesse because she had done this hundreds of times. However, she was so nervous about Ivy’s erratic breathing that she scratched the nose of the blade while lining up the docking tunnel.
As the nuns and Reuben raced Ivy to stasis, Grady was on hand in his vacuum suit to patch the thermal-regulator panel with one immune to the Bat shutdown signal. “Thunderation, is that bailing wire and a wristwatch strapped to this reactor?”
Deke was less amused. “You did bring my blade back, but you’re never flying it again as long as I’m breathing.”
“Fine,” Roz sniffed. “Could you find someone to carry me to Max’s office before you yell at me more?”
Herb said, “It’s okay, querida. Echo sent us. She wants you to use her medical bay until Max returns. We know you did everything you could. Now your family will take care of you.”
Chapter 38 – We Uplift One Another
The shuttle repairs took longer than anticipated due to the pressure leaks. Meanwhile in her quarters, Echo sprayed Roz’s calves with foam to kill any infection. Roz bit back curses at the sting. Echo said, “You don’t have to be brave here, beloved. I’m so proud of you! You’ve broken the Enigma. Everyone will know your name.”