by Andrew Beery
"About ten years ago... I read the reports on the Times Daily News archives a few months back. How does any of this having anything to do with you suddenly believing I'm Catherine Kimbridge?"
The Admiral stood and walked over to her side of the table. "You have to admit your story is a fantastic one. You encounter a pair of alien spacecraft on the maiden voyage of the famous ESX Arizona. They destroy each other after disabling your ship. You save one at the cost of your own life and in turn they give you a new, seemingly enhanced body. You have to admit... If I were writing fiction I'd be hard pressed to come up with a wilder story."
"...and yet you believe me now... But an hour ago you weren't sure. Why?"
Bob answered her first. "There are two reasons. First, you did something I can't do. You got angry. Oh, I can feign anger but for the same reason an actor who cannot internalize a role is rarely believable, strong emotions elude me. Second..."
"We have one of the vessels that attacked you... Or significant pieces of it anyway" Faragon added with a wink and a smile.
"So let me get this straight," Catherine continued, "You believe my story now because I got angry?"
"We always believed you" the Admiral said. "The real question was really one of 'What' you were... Not 'who' you were. To be honest, I'm still not sure how to answer that question but my medics tell me you are biologically human. Your cognitive function tests correlate very closely with what we know of the original Catherine Kimbridge. Your aptitude tests are off the scales... but then, so were hers... And you respond outside the bounds of simulated personalities like our friend Bob here." He paused to look more closely at her. "I can't fully answer what you are, especially in light of the alien nanotechnology in your system, but I am satisfied that you are close enough in every measurable way to the Lt. Commander, that you are in all practicality her."
"Does that mean I get my uniform back?" Catherine asked with a grin.
Chapter Three - The USC Bowman...
The door to the shuttle closed and Cat, along with about a dozen fellow passengers, sat back in her white leather seat as the craft readied itself for the trip from Houston Texas to USC Orbital One, as the massive 60,000 person city in space was called. Normally one of the four international space elevators would be used to travel into space, but when time was of the essence, nothing beat the speed of a direct shuttle.
Orbital One was a command center for the United Space Command and a massive research center and shipyard in space. Earth’s first truly interstellar spaceships were currently under construction within the massive orbiting facility.
Cat tugged at the corner of her blouse. She had not yet been allowed to wear her uniform and in point of fact she would have felt even more a relic if she had. The United States no longer maintained separate armed forces from the now united world government.
She fully understood the need for the change. With the discovery of a crashed D'lralu ship on Phoebes, combined with the knowledge that at least some extraterrestrials visiting our solar system were coming to Earth armed to the teeth – the world had decided a radical rethink amongst the world’s superpowers was in order.
The United Nations had become the United World Congress. The World Court had become the Supreme World Court and a term-limited World President had been elected. Each member state had contributed technology, resources and personnel to the newly formed United Space Command. English was formally established as the language of the government. Most high ranking military officers and government officials also learned Mandarin and French as secondary languages.
Cat had recently learned that the project her father had been working on was related to dissecting and understanding the fundamental systems onboard the recovered D'lralu wreckage. Today she would be visiting the research site with Bob. Over the past several days she had been getting used to working with the AI that housed what remained of her father’s memories.
It was an unsettling experience. In so many ways Bob was her father. His mannerisms initially matched her father’s to the “T” but after just a few days she started to notice they matched too well. There was none of the spontaneity that characterizes true human interaction. Bob would wink on cue every time a certain situation occurred. It lacked the genuine fondness that was her real father. It made the task of working with Bob uncomfortable.
The trip to the station was over almost before it began. The scientist in Cat still marveled at the advancements that had been made in her fifty year absence. It was somewhat gratifying to know that some of them (like the inertial damping field that allowed a ‘30G’ acceleration into orbit to feel like a slightly bumpy car ride) had been a direct result of some of her decades old hyper-field theory work.
Still she felt grossly under qualified, despite her doctorate in physics, to be helping with the D'lralu project. Admiral Faragon, who was rapidly becoming a close friend, felt her unique experience with the alien craft while it was operational might be of assistance. She had her doubts but it felt good to be working on something while the military decided what to do with an obsolete soldier/scientist.
When her small shuttle docked and the doors opened she exited into the main debarkation/embarkation corridor and looked desperately for a familiar face. It was not the first time she had been to Orbital One but it was her first time unaccompanied. While she was waiting for her chaperon to appear she took a moment to take in the view.
Orbital One was a bit of a throwback to an earlier age... A lot like her she thought glumly. Human science had mastered artificial gravity over two decades ago but Orbital One was designed and mostly complete before the advancements predicted by hyper-field theory could be put into practice. As a result, Orbital One used centripetal forces to simulate the effects of gravity. The result were long corridors that sloped upward in the distance.
In the center of the station was a large open-air arboretum complete with small birds and insects. The idea of birds, in what was a fractional-g environment, seemed strange but apparently the birds adapted very quickly and did acrobatics never seen on Earth. The birds were necessary to control the insect population, which in turn were necessary for the tree's health. The trees were a secondary O2 source and, more importantly, a CO2 sink.
None of the organics were technically necessary but countless psychological studies had shown that humans functioned better when they were not isolated to sterile environments. Since Orbital One was to be a city and not just a station, the decision was made to add the open air parks.
As she was watching the sky full of trees and marveling at the irony, she was jostled by another onlooker. The man was dressed in a full red robe common among the clergy of a new Christian sect called the Order of the Way. The man had a full red beard to match his robe. Catherine couldn't help notice both the smile and look of wonder as he took in his surroundings.
"Quite a view" she said.
"Indeed" he replied and then took another look at her. "You would be Catherine Kimbridge..." it was not a question but a statement.
Somewhat surprised she took a second look at him "And you would be...?"
"Oh how rude of me... My wife is always saying I'm too rude... Not good for a pastor and all." He reached out a hand to shake hers.
Cat tentatively took it into her own and shook his hand. When it seemed he was not going to finish answering her question she prompted him again "...and you are?"
"Oh... Right! I'm Dr. Ken Kirkland... Chief engineer on the Bowman."
"I thought you were a Pastor?"
"Oh I am... I'm a geek with a passion for God. I have a doctorate in theology as well as physics... And I might add, like you, I'm a Notre Dame man... Well not that you're a man... I mean..." His faced flushed red as he sputtered.
Cat touched his arm and smiled "That's OK... I know what you mean."
He returned her smile with a genuinely warm one of his own. "Shall we head to the Bowman?"
"I'm supposed to be meeting a team here that worked with my father..."
"I knew him well... He has been sorely missed. Bob tries hard but it's just not like an AI is ever going to replace a man like Robert."
"So you are part of Dad's team?"
"Absolutely... As I said... I'm a geek... Especially when it comes to hyper-field engineering."
"This is strange on so many levels" Cat commented in bewilderment. "I'm surprised a man of science would also be a man of God."
"Not really that big a mystery. I have always been good at math. I loved hyper-field theory even before I read your papers. Yet the more science taught me... the more I realized what it could not teach me. After that I became convinced that the m-verse without a God is harder to explain than an m-verse with a God. Besides... Many of the greatest scientists in history have been monks and priests. I'm just continuing a time-honored tradition."
Fearing she was about to receive a sermon she quickly diverted the conversation. "So tell me about the 'Bowman'"
"Well, what's to say? The Bowman is our first serious attempt at building an interstellar spacecraft. The tech is a combination of stuff we found at the D'lralu crash site and innovations that came out of your hyper-field work."
"How close are you?"
Kirkland pinched the bridge if his nose. "That's the rub. We think we have everything figured out but the darn thing will not initialize the hyper-field matrix."
***
The USC Bowman was by any estimation a 'Big' ship. She measured 400 meters across and was roughly teardrop in shape. Cat immediately understood the reason for this. A quantum fold generated by a hyper-field generator would be asymmetrical along one axis while fully symmetrical along the other two. This would allow preferential displacement in n-dimensional space along the asymmetrical axis.
The problem was, the math behind a successfully generated asymmetrical quantum fold was prohibitively complex. Even with fifty years of technological advancements Cat was doubtful that human technology was up to the task.
This was the crux of the problem the engineering team headed up by the charmingly strange Dr. Ken Kirkland was facing. He had taken the time to explain in broad strokes what their difficulties were as the two traveled via rail car to the orbiting shipyards where the Bowman was undergoing final assembly.
"So even if you could calculate a set of initialization parameters you would be stuck at your destination until you could calculate return parameters" Cat commented while taking in the incredible view of the exterior of the ship.
"Absolutely correct... and the problem is, in the time it takes you to calculate the parameters normal cosmological drift has invalidated the solution" Ken added.
"Exactly... What you need is some type of heuristic solution that can rapidly bound your solution set to a manageable calculation."
The red-breaded man turned to look at her and chuckled in a deep voice that reminded Catherine of Jolly Saint Nick at Christmas. "I swear by all that is holy... Your father said exactly the same thing!"
"Well, he was a smart man" she said with a wink. "Did he develop the heuristic?"
"He started to but that was when he had the heart attack... A good ten or so years ago. Bob was created by your father, when he first started having heart trouble, in an effort to try and continue the work should something happen to him… and the android has made real progress but we are still two or three orders of magnitude from where we need to be."
Cat paused and bowed her head. Her father had been dead for years now but for her the memory was much newer and much more painful. Sensing her pain the pastor/engineer that was Ken Kirkland placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He was a man of deep faith and passion. He loved you as only a father could and I know he is smiling now, knowing that his little girl is alive."
Looking at the engineer's red robes and the office they signified she could not help but question even that. That she was alive was beyond doubt... But was she truly the daughter of Robert Kimbridge? It was no wonder the military didn't know what to make of her when she wasn't sure herself.
Her musings were interrupted by a polite “ehem” from behind them. As she turned she saw a tall middle aged man of Indian descent in a crisp USC Captains uniform. Instinctively she began to salute until she realized she was not in uniform and technically not even a member of any armed forces. To cover her awkward movements she quickly switched to a handshake. "Mira nam Catherine hay" she said politely.
The newcomer grinned. "You speak Hindi! Ajah hay!"
"I'm afraid only a little Captain."
"Well that's OK, truth be known I use it so little these days I wonder if I even know it. I'm Captain Debu Ramchandani"
"I am most pleased to meet you, Sir. Is the Bowman yours?"
A broad grin lit up his face. "She most certainly is... That is..." switching his attention to his engineer "if we can ever get her out of dry dock!"
"Actually Captain that's why I have Dr. Kimbridge with me today. If anyone can figure out what her father was up to it would be his brilliant daughter - the author of most of the hyper-field equations we have today."
"Yes, Admiral Faragon told me you would be coming. He was even good enough to grant a special request of mine." Turning to Cat he said in a formal voice... "Commander, I believe you are out of uniform."
"Sir?"
Captain Ramchandani pulled a tablet PDA from the cargo pouch of his uniform and began to read:
"Effective this date, your commission in the United States Air-force is transferred to the United Space Command. In acknowledgment of your exemplary service to date as well as your willingness to make great sacrifices for humanity... Etc. etc. etc... It goes on for a while. The bottom line is you have been promoted in rank to a full Commander and are being offered a commission in the USC. Do you accept?"
"Absolutely! ... I mean 'Yes, Sir!'"
"Excellent, we'll do a formal swearing in later... For the moment consider your previous oath to the U.S. Air-force as binding. Your duty station is the Bowman where you will serve as my Science Officer."
"Outstanding... Sir!"
"In that case carry on Commander. Oh... Before I forget I took the liberty of having your personal effects brought on board. In addition, you will find a full set of uniforms in your cabin. Try and make sure you are properly dressed in duty fatigues when you join the rest of the senior staff in the captain's mess at 18:00 sharp."
***
True to his word, when the newly promoted Commander Kimbridge found her cabin several hours later, she found the entire contents of her Lunar One apartment was carefully stowed away in her 400 square foot, three room cabin. To say she had never seen shipboard accommodations so... 'Accommodating' would be an understatement.
She quickly put on her new uniform. Whoever had tailored it was spot on. It fit perfectly. As an O4 officer she had four rank pips on her collar. She rubbed her thumb briefly over the four small metal nubs. She repressed a sudden desire to chuckle. It had taken her fifty-four years but she had finally made 'Commander'... She wondered what her father would have thought. She supposed she could talk with Bob but she knew the conversation would ultimately disappoint.
An attention light blinked in sync with a soft blip sound near the computer interface. "Computer, play message"
The voice of the Chief Engineer (and apparently also the ships chaplain) filled her room. “Cat, I know you are just getting settled in but we really need to get you fitted for a sub dermal comlink. Having to leave you a message on your console is not going to make you any friends... Especially if the captain has to do it."
"Computer, open a link to Lt. Commander Kirkland."
"Link open" her as yet unnamed personal AI replied.
"Ken? This is Cat. What's up?"
"The medical bay is between your quarters and the captain's mess. We should have enough time to get you fitted for a link if you want to stop by."
"Sounds like a plan. Can you pick me up? I've not had a chance to memorize the layout of the ship yet."
"No problem... Are
you ready now?"
She looked around the room. Saw herself in a mirror and decided she was indeed ready. "Whenever you get here I'm ready."
"Good, I'm right outside your door... Let's go."
Opening the door Cat was presented with another surprise. Ken was in his fatigues rather than red robes. He obviously saw her start. They had spent the afternoon in engineering going over hyper-field initialization parameters - the whole time he was in his vestments. "This is what I typically wear around ship. The robes were for a wedding that I did on base... It ran a little late and so I didn't have a chance to change before I picked you up."
"Ahhh" she mouthed silently.
"Speaking of changing... Might a lowly Lt. Commander remark you look rather fetching in a uniform Commander?"