Traveler_Losing Legong

by Tim Dennis

  "Where do we stand?" He asked.

  "Six has taken three K-Arks-"

  "Is that what I've become? An initial?" Krykowfert interrupted.

  "Don't be maudlin." Feric scolded. Krykowfert smiled back and indicated he wouldn't interrupt again. "She's left the Arks in orbit and requires all surface-based Council Guards to sleep on board. She's placed Excursion Ships in Earth orbit and finished construction of a base of sorts, a mini-Central Command, on the Earth side of the Rip, she's also moved Rail-Ships through, fully equipped with the new Drop-Capsules."

  "And our resources?"

  "I've pushed the entire construction project through to Eden." Feric shifted her images to show a series of ships of the new type in a variety of sizes. All were dwarfed by a great flattened ball, several hundred meters across, fifty or so meters thick. Two bands divided the ship into thirds, the thickest part being between the bands. Feric shifted images again to show the stellar shipyard she'd created in Eden space. Dozens of small Cab-like objects zipped back and forth between enormous round frameworks while dozens more crawled over them, blue-white beams of Makers playing over and around the skeletons creating hull plates and more framework. "During the push I transferred Makerbots onto the production of more Makerbots and now construction is growing at exponential rates."

  "What are you using for material?" Krykowfert asked.

  Feric leaned forward and opened a f'window, showing a Diverter Base in the outer system. "I used telemetry from the zenith Eden rip to open another Rip in the outer system. Nikle Orund commands Diverter Base Charon, he snaps the rip open to allow through meteors of the right trajectory and mass."

  "Ha!" Krykowfert smacked Feric on the back and shook his head. "Where did I ever find you?" They basked for a moment in mutual appreciation before Krykowfert reopened in a serious tone. "The Council is leaning more towards Six and the Earth scheme. We're not going to have time. Accelerate the movement of support staff and prepare the lists. As soon as the new Arks are finished, we go."

  40

  When Myles awoke Gabrile and Traveler, or ToEv, as Myles had learned to call him, were nowhere to be seen. He shared breakfast with Trendle and got the low-down on the compound and the lake. The large body of water had gone by many names but was currently called Nyanza, and it was almost as large as the inland sea that held Caldera. The compound itself belonged to Gabrile's father, the man with the odd cap he'd seen tending the flowers when he first arrived. Trendle deflected a question about the man and explained Gabrile's varying skin tone. Although she'd grown up on the shores of this lake, before ToEv left for Legong they'd both lived on the coast of the Kattegatt.

  "What's that?" Myles asked.

  "A particular section of the world-ocean, about four thousand miles north of here."

  "Myles?" Myles asked.

  "Twenty one million feet," Trendle explained, "or a little over twenty-one million shaku."

  Myles looked back blankly. At that moment Gwirionedd joined them. "Two and a half trillion Thou?" She offered. Myles's confusion deepened.

  "Seven point seven million Vara?" Trendle tried, and then "Fourteen million mkono?" Holding his hands apart a certain distance.

  "I have no idea what you're talking about." Myles said.

  "Oh my." Gwirionedd sat beside him and peered into his face. "I didn't realize it went this deep. You do everything base ten, don't you. Like counting on your fingers and toes!"

  "So do you." Myles felt he'd been insulted.

  "Oh, our numbers," said Gwirionedd, "yes, that is true, but the units..."

  "What do you mean, units?" Myles asked.

  "Feet, shaku, mkono, units of distance." Trendle said.

  "I get that, like a kilometer is a thousand meters, kilo-meter." Myles announced, impatiently. "What is a shaku? Like what? Ten mkono?"

  "No, it's not like that at all." Gwirionedd said. "A shaku and a foot are similar units, but developed on different islands in historic times. They both are about as long as your foot. One comes from an island to our north west, the other much further away to our east. The mkono is about this long" Gwirionedd showed her arm, from elbow to fingertip. "Mkono was used in the lands to our east, the cubit was used to our north."

  "You use different units? Don't you find that confusing?"

  "We use different languages when we move from place to place," said Trendle. "Why wouldn't we use different systems of measure?"

  "You use different languages when you move from place to place?" Exclaimed Myles.

  "Of course!" It was clear to Gwirionedd but completely opaque to Myles. "One language is so limiting. They've followed different courses of development over thousands of years. Each holds a different palate of meanings, conveying subtleties of feeling and intent. One language couldn't possibly cover every thought or emotion that a person needs to express." Gwirionedd seemed both horrified and fascinated by Myles's confusion.

  "Trendle," She asked, "why don't I take Myles today? I can show him the equatorial installation. I bet he'd like that."

  His two hosts switched to another language, a guttural, harsh sounding tongue. A few minutes later he and Gwirionedd were seated in a decorated wooden two-wheeled cart. Two spars extended from its front, running either side of another example of the four-legged beast that had dragged him from the parking lot to the cafe. That day seemed unreal, so long ago that it wasn't a memory but a story he'd heard.

  "It's a horse." Gwirionedd said. "Do you like it?"

  "We have animals on Legong." Myles countered.

  "Yes, but only the ones you eat." She gnashed her teeth and swiped at him with pretend claws.

  Myles didn't need ten languages to know that Gwirionedd was teasing him. He maintained polite conversation, but, concerned about where the conversation might lead, kept the topics to Earth. An hour after they set out the beast pulled the cart off into a clearing in the trees lining the road. They climbed down from the cart and Myles followed Gwirionedd along a path through the trees and emerged onto a large expanse of concrete. There, stretching out into the distance along acres of dust and broken stone, lay a Launch Rail. If it could be towed back to Legong it would slip neatly into any cavern left empty by Mallick's attacks. All around it were parked ships of varying design. It reminded him again of the parking lot, but this one teemed with children. Myles was amazed again by the variation of features and skin tones. The members of each group of children matched in skin tone and possessed similar facial features, but the adults with them followed no patterns at all.

  "Perhaps not the best day." Gwirionedd said. "It seems every school on the planet is here."

  "No, no this is fine, excellent. This is a launch rail, isn't it?"

  "A mass driver, yes. A very early model, built shortly after the atmospheric drag problem was solved. It's mostly original."

  "Bangers." Myles said.

  "What?"

  "On Legong we call them Bangers. They explode a column of air in front of the shuttle..." He was explaining ancient technology to the person who brought him here. He turned back to the massive structure. "Amazing. You know, you hear about something, something old like this, and you think you understand. But you don't, not really, not until you actually experience it. Do you know what I mean?"

  Gwirionedd looked at Myles fondly. "Yes Mr. Tugot. I know exactly what you mean." She left Myles to his own devices for about an hour, then tracked him down and called a ship to take them home.

  "Could you tell me, Gwirionedd, what exactly is the difference between 'holing' and 'ripping?' Traveler, I mean ToEv, said that one is much more dangerous, but I've never been given the whole explanation."

  Gwirionedd turned serious. "Perhaps that is best left for Traveler, then."

  The next few days continued in a similar vein. Gwirionedd served as primary tour guide, relieved occasionally by Chanly or Sach. With Gwirionedd Myles felt stupid, forever unable to answer her questions about Legong technology. Chanly was a little easier. Her probing sociological
questions could be easily bullshitted. Sach seemed the most sensitive, never pressing a difficult point or digging into sore subjects.

  "Yes, Sach is nice," agreed Pig. "I think I would prefer her for our tour guide."

  It was another warm night on the shore of Nyanza, and for the first time in days ToEv and Gabrile joined the rest of them at dinner. The table was set up on the beach, surrounded by poles stuck into the sand holding cups of fire, throwing flickering shadows across Sach's face. Each fire made a little roar when hit by a breeze, and the fauna in the trees around them chattered soothingly. Legong was silent at night. It had taken a few night to get used to, but Myles found he liked the sounds. It seemed one was never alone when on Earth.

  "You saw the mass driver?" ToEv asked politely.

  "The Launch Rail? Yes." Myles recounted that first day of touring, enthusiasm growing within as the words poured out. ToEv and Gabrile seemed to enjoy his energy as much as his story-telling and he unconsciously hammed it up for his audience.

  The meal continued and the night cooled, a breeze glided in off the lake. At intervals one of his hosts would excuse themselves, returning presently to place a new dish of food on the large table. Cut obliquely from a single, massive tree trunk, it reminded Myles of the Council table, large, oblong.

  "Gwirionedd says you have more questions for me?" ToEv gently interrupted Myles's storytelling. The meal over, his six compatriots sat back in their wicker chairs looking expectantly at the guest.

  "Yes." Myles said. "This Ripping thing. You've said repeatedly how dangerous it is, but I don't understand any of it."

  ToEv looked down into his lap and drew in a long breath. If he'd been a Legong Myles would say he was making an implant-call. Gabrile watched ToEv with mild concern, all other eyes were on Myles. The silence started to get to Myles.

  "Did I say something wrong?"

  Gabrile answered him. "No, Myles, not at all. It's just we've spent a lot of energy trying to explain this to your Council, ToEv is trying to think of another angle-"

  "I'm not the Council." Myles bridled, trying not to offend with his tone. ToEv looked up.

  "An Earth 'hole' or a Legong 'Rip' creates an opening between two distant places in space. That much is clear to you, yes?"

  The sudden shift startled Myles, he twisted his focus to catch up. "Right, yes. I've seen them both."

  "You note I said 'opening' not 'passage'?"

  "Yes." Myles saw Trendle get up from the table and go to the kitchen. One of the empty serving platters lifted into the air and followed him.

  "I choose that word because there is no distance between an opening near, say, Legong and its corresponding opening near Earth. There is no tunnel connecting them, they are the same opening."

  "OK."

  Myles's knife and fork lifted from his plate and joined everyone else's in a mid-air parade toward the kitchen. No one seemed surprised by this. Myles couldn't help but slide his chair a little further from the table.

  "You know also that Legong and Earth are moving. Not just around their suns, but away from each other at great speed, due of course to the expansion of the universe and the motions of spinning galaxies and groups."

  Myles nodded and tried to stay focused on ToEv's words, but now his plate was lifting off the table and stacking itself with the others off to the side. Once they'd all gathered, the pile followed in the manner of the cutlery.

  "Our navigation tools allow us to select points near Earth and Legong and open a hole between them. Now say we hold one opening still relative to Earth, that forces the Legong opening to also remain still, relative to Earth. Understand?"

  Myles snapped back to ToEv. "Yes. If one end is held still the other is also."

  "But Legong and Earth are moving apart, so from Legong it appears the opening is moving. In fact it is. It is being, in a sense, dragged away from Legong by Earth."

  In the full darkness Myles could see a very slight, pale blue glow under the remaining serving platters as they too lifted from the table and marched themselves off to the kitchen.

  "That's why it looked to you as if the hole was expanding. It was actually flying towards you, appearing larger as it came closer. That is a Hole. A Rip is the same thing, but held still at both ends."

  "What?"

  The table, now clear of dishes, surrendered its hold over Myles. He struggled to keep up with ToEv.

  "Your Legong Rip is nothing more than an Earth Hole with both openings held still. The Earth end is held still in relation to Earth, the Legong opening is held still in relation to Legong. The problem is that Legong and Earth are moving apart, forcing the two sides of the same opening to move apart, which is impossible."

  "A Rip is impossible."

  "No. Let's say the left edge of your opening is being dragged through space by Earth as the right edge of the opening is dragged the opposite direction by Legong. The opening stretches wide, then rips. It keeps stretching, and Ripping. So you either end up with an enormous growing Rip in space, or you seal it up as you go. Sealing it takes enormous energy, letting it Rip presents hazards not just for Legong, but for those at the other side of the opening."

  "Earth?"

  A wave of satisfaction passed through the group. Myles felt tension ease. He looked around himself at the night. A single shooting star appeared in the sky, flashing brightly for a moment, a scintillating point of light marking the spot where it exploded. Myles wondered what Bento was doing at that moment. He imagined her under the same sky, seeing the same celestial events, but of course she wasn't. He turned back to ToEv. Everyone at the table was looking skyward. Myles looked up again. The scintillating white dot hadn't faded. It had grown into a tiny vibrating ring.

  "They're back." Said Trendle.

  "Ah, speak of the devil!" ToEv pointed and smiled at Myles.

  "What?" He asked.

  "That. Is a Rip." Said ToEv.

  Myles processed this information slowly. "You mean Legong has opened a Rip? Here?"

  Gwirionedd chimed in. "Actually they opened it some time ago. There have been Legong ships in orbit for over a week."

  Myles felt a personal intrusion. "But I'm the Legong Envoy, no one's contacted me about this."

  Chanly snapped off her own list of facts. "You are aligned with Director Krykowfert. This Rip is the product of your Council, and they don't seem to recognize your position."

  "What?" Myles stammered. "Why did they do that? What do they want?"

  Gabrile answered this one. "Based on what your Councilor Six says, they want to move. They want to come back to Earth."

  41

  Li and Bento sat on a newly Makered wall, looking out over a lush grassland. Trees dotted the landscape, grouped in twos and threes, a larger grove tucked into a shallow ravine where a stream dropped from one meadow to the next. Three dozen groggy sheep stumbled about, nibbling at the grass in between tentative leaps. Nari approached from behind, crossing the distance from the plain, rectangular Farm Buildings in broad, quick steps.

  "There's a transmission from Legong." Her five sons and a six-year-old girl followed behind in a tangle.

  "Yes." Said Li. "It's probably just Krykowfert checking up on Asha again."

  "No," said Nari. "Something happened. It's an adult-only transmission."

  Bento jumped down from the wall. "What do you mean?"

  "It's a Digest Report, not a Council alert. There's something going on at the Earth Rip."

  Bento's smile fell away. Li's for his face shifted from impassive disinterest to a look of great concern. They all ran back past the farm buildings to the administrative center of the village, itself another quickly-Makered rectangular block. The children broke away, joining a game of Shield Guard, one team tossing rocks, the other knocking them away with stick or the palms of their hands. The adults went in to a small auditorium, already filled with colonists. The Digest report played on a set of f'windows across one end of the room.

  "...so, I guess that's all." The voice
was young, but firm, fading away along with the images in the f'window.

  "It's a compilation of intercepted implant-communiques from troops on the Earth Rip," whispered a colleague, another transplanted Legong.

  The f'window brightened, and another set of images and voices started up. These showed Earth itself, an expanding globe of greens, browns and blues, a mash-up of Eden and Legong. The view was from inside a K-ship, dropping out of orbit and into the atmosphere. Before the ship reached the ground a flurry of smaller vessels came up to meet it, dancing around it, blocking its path. No matter how quickly the K-ship changed course there was always an Earth ship to meet it. Eventually the K-ship gave up, and lifted back out of the atmosphere. Li turned to ask Bento a question, but she was already gone.

  Pestano and Six stood at the back of the room, watching the f'window across the heads of the technical team in Mission Control.

  "They do it every time." Said Pestano. "It doesn't matter where we incurse, their ships are there to meet us." Pestano was obviously frustrated. Six was not.

  "But they've neither fired, nor rammed, nor interfered with our ships in any way other than this." She said.

  "N-no." Replied Pestano.

  "Councilor?" Interrupted Morgan. "Legong Digest has hacked the stream of implant-messages beamed through the Rip. They've broadcast compilations, culled from personal transmissions. I've shut it down for now, but-"

  "No! Leave it." Said Six. "This is good, let the people of Legong see the geological stability of Earth, and the weakness of its people. But we need to get on top of this. Create our own compilation, show the empty spaces, the low levels of tectonic and volcanic activity, the quiescence of its skies. Show the complete lack of defenses, the tamed fauna."

  Morgan stood, slowly turning the mental gears as he processed Six's unorthodox orders.