by Dietmar Wehr
“And how long to get to the area opposite the contact system after we cross?”
“Thirteen days.”
Koenig thought for a moment, then said, “I’ve lost track of how this timing compares with the detour. Which is quicker?”
“The bridge alternative is quicker by five days in getting to the other side of the contact system and will be twenty-three days quicker getting back to human space on the return trip as a result of a more direct route.”
Koenig looked at Soriya’s face, which was gradually losing its excitement due to his skepticism.
“It’s the unknown odds that are making me hesitate,” he said. “If I knew for certain that those four jumps could each be made with 4% or less, I’d go for it. We might get to the launch point and find that one of the jumps is still unacceptably high, and then we’ll have spent those twenty-one days for nothing.”
“If the bridge turns out to be too risky, we can always come back here and try the Hail Mary jump,” said Soriya.
Koenig pondered that comment and then nodded. “Yes, now that you put it that way, I can rationalize seeing if we can use the bridge, with the Hail Mary as Plan B. Okay. Astro, let’s head for the bridge launch system taking the fastest route that will also give us the best measurements of the bridge systems.”
“Understood. Excalibur is maneuvering.”
The next 21 days seemed to take at least twice as long. Koenig found he had too much opportunity to second-guess his decision with a series of what-ifs. Even the frequent games of chess with Soriya didn’t distract him as much as usual. Daily checks with the astro AI on the revised miss probabilities of crossing the bridge were depressing for the first two weeks when there still wasn’t enough additional data to pin down what the odds really were. It was only in the third week that AstroComp was able to give precise odds, and they were dropping nicely. The actual distances between the stepping stone systems had also been confirmed by this time. Three of the four were either just under or just over 10 light years. That meant that the fourth and last jump was almost 20 light years long, but its target star was what Koenig thought of as a sub-giant star. It was larger than most stars but smaller than most giant stars. When Excalibur finally arrived at the launch system designated as B1, Koenig anxious awaited the final numbers for the miss probabilities. Soriya was with him on the Bridge.
“Miss probabilities in order of jump sequence is 3.8%, 4.0%, 4.2% and 4.3%,” said the astro AI.
Soriya saw the surprised look on Koenig’s face. “I was expecting the last one to be a lot higher,” he said.
“The size of the target star plus getting multiple location measurements from acute angles are responsible for the low number,” said the AI.
“Good. And after we cross, the odds should be even better coming back. Let’s get the ship lined up for the first jump, and I’m not in a hurry here, Astro. We take as much time as needed to get the best possible alignment.”
“Understood.”
The first three stepping stone jumps were routine. The last one was scary. Excalibur was way off the center of the B5 sub-giant target star. If it had been 5% further away, it would have missed the gravity well altogether. Neither AstroComp nor the AI had a good explanation of why. Whatever the reason, the jumps along the far side of the void to get to the opposite side of the contact system were also more or less routine, with normal amounts of variance from the target stars’ centers. The system that was closest to the contact system had been given the designation of X1. It was an average yellow sun with the usual complement of rocky and gaseous planets, none of which were habitable. Even so, Koenig had made up his mind to survey X1 carefully. Lack of habitable planets did not necessarily mean the system was uninhabited. Excalibur’s survey took over a full day as it made a complete circuit around the sun, and when something of significance happened, naturally it occurred during Koenig’s sleep cycle.
He woke up to the sound of the call signal from the Bridge. “I’m awake, Bridge.”
“Sorry to wake you, sir,” said Chen, on duty as the BDO. “Optics have picked up a reflection from a metallic object that is either very large or very shiny. It doesn’t appear to be moving very fast. Range is indeterminate.”
Koenig thought for a moment. “Are we being silhouetted against the sun from the object’s point of view, Lieutenant?”
“Negative, sir.”
“Good. Then let’s move closer at moderate velocity without giving ourselves away visually. I’ll be on the bridge shortly.”
“Yessir. Should I send the ship to Battle stations, sir?”
“No. We didn’t come here to fight, so let’s not be in any hurry to get trigger-happy. Maintain our current velocity and continue with stealth mode. Out.”
Chapter Two:
As Koenig got dressed, he briefly contemplated calling Eriko, but a quick check of her duty schedule showed that she had probably just gotten to sleep. If he woke her up now, she might be too tired to think clearly. Better to let sleeping XOs lie, he thought. And if the ship did have to go to Battle Stations, she would wake up anyway. As he rushed to the Bridge, his stomach gave a loud growl, reminding him that he needed to feed it, but that would have to wait.
He quickly took in the tactical situation from the main display as he entered the Bridge and stepped over to the Command Pod. Chen started to unbuckle himself but stopped when he saw Koenig hold his hand up.
“You can stay there for now, Lieutenant,” said Koenig as he continued to look at the display. It was still impossible to determine how far away they were from the object, but he could tell that Astro had maneuvered the ship in a shallow S curve to try to get a different angle of observation so that AstroComp could triangulate the object’s position. Koenig wondered if that was Chen’s idea or if the AI had done it on its own initiative. The idea of not knowing how far or close Excalibur was to the object made Koenig nervous. Until he had some idea of what it was—a ship or something else—he wanted to proceed cautiously.
“Astro, let’s maneuver laterally until we get at least an approximate idea of the range and maybe the size of this object. Does it have a designation yet?”
“Affirmative. The object has been designated as Sierra1. Lateral maneuver has commenced.”
Koenig checked the ship’s velocity. At just 1% of light speed, it would take a few minutes before the angle changed enough to make triangulation possible. He briefly considered ordering the ship to accelerate but dismissed the idea. He was not in any hurry. In fact, he felt quite relaxed under the circumstances. The boredom and frustration of all those weeks just to get here were now gone. Something was finally happening, and he was enjoying it.
“Preliminary estimate of range to Sierra1 is 11.1 million kilometers,” said the AI.
Koenig’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “The intensity of the reflection seems rather high for something that far away,” he said.
“There are two possible explanations. An object of at least 2.3 kilometers in diameter could reflect that much light back to us, or the object’s outer structure is unusually reflective.”
Chen voiced the question that Koenig was also thinking. “Why would any race make something that detectable?”
“Insufficient data to reach a conclusion,” said the AI.
After a few seconds of silence, an idea occurred to Koenig. It was so intriguing that it made him smile. “Maybe…that object was intended to be found, like some kind of space buoy.”
Chen frowned. “You mean, to mark the boundaries of their territory? They wanted visitors to find it?”
“No,” whispered Koenig, “they wanted it to find visitors.” In a louder voice, he added, “If the Vergon placed that thing there, and if they have FTL communication capability, then placing something obvious like this would be the perfect way to learn about visitors while they’re still out on the frontier. The buoy sends an FTL signal back, and maybe it even acts like a relay station enabling indirect communication with the visitors without
having to send a ship. Astro, I want the ship to approach Sierra1 from deep space and come to a stop when we’re one light second away. Let’s get there quickly too.”
“Understood. Excalibur is accelerating and maneuvering as ordered. ETA to a complete stop is 44.5 minutes.”
“Good. That gives me time to get something to eat. Lieutenant, notify me immediately if there’s any change in the situation. Otherwise, I’ll be back in about half an hour.”
He was actually back sooner than that with a cup of coffee still in his hand.
“Com, can we send a signal in the Arenian language?” he asked as he came over to the pod.
“Affirmative, Commander.”
“Do we know how the Arenians were able to communicate with the Vergon? Did the Arenians learn Vergon or did the Vergon learn Arenian?”
“Unknown. The information was requested, but that particular data was not available to my Arenian AI counterpart.”
Koenig checked the tactical display one more time before continuing. “Are we close enough now to see Sierra1 visually, Astro?”
“Affirmative, but only in silhouette. An enhanced image can be shown.”
“I’d like to see it next to the tactical,” said Koenig. The main display split into two halves. On the right was a black circle against the sun in the background. The intensity of the sun’s light had been reduced by three orders of magnitude in order to enable the human eye to see the object.
“Is it a sphere?” said Koenig to no one in particular.
“Affirmative,” said the tactical AI, “a sphere would be the ideal shape to reflect sunlight in the maximum number of directions possible.”
“We’re now just under three light seconds away,” muttered Koenig. “That’s close enough to get the conversation started, I think. Com, send this message in both Arenian and Esperanto. ‘Attention. We are friends of the Arenians and wish to communicate. Are you Vergon?’ ” When the com AI confirmed that the signal had been sent, Koenig started counting the seconds. When he got to eight, the tactical AI began to speak.
“We’re being hit by very powerful micro-wave emissions that appear to be a form of radar. ComComp does not detect any messages so far.”
“I wonder if their radar can see us in spite of our hull geometry,” said Chen.
“Good question, Lieutenant. I think it’s time I informed the crew. Com, give me inter-craft.”
“Go ahead, Commander.”
“Attention all hands. We’ve detected a spherical object that appears to have been intended to be found. We are approaching it and are now attempting to initiate contact. No signs of hostile activity so far. I’ll keep you all posted when we know more. Koenig out.” Just as he finished speaking, he heard the tactical AI’s voice again.
“Sierra1 is sending radar emissions in a series of intervals. Each interval is twice as long as the previous interval, and each radar pulse is more powerful than the last one. This seems to suggest that their radar has not detected us yet, and they’re scanning further each time to find us.”
“Well, well, well,” said Koenig softly, “they can’t detect us. If that doesn’t pique their curiosity, I don’t know what would.”
“How long do we wait for a reply message, Commander?” asked Chen.
“Not sure, Lieutenant. I’m going to give it at least one day and probably more. FTL means faster than light, but it doesn’t mean instantaneous. I’d be disappointed but not really surprised if their FTL technology takes days or even weeks to transmit a message over interstellar distances.” He checked the chronometer. “Your shift doesn’t end for another hour and twenty-four minutes, but I may as well relieve you now.”
Koenig hadn’t realized that he had fallen asleep until the voice of the com AI woke him up nearly two hours later.
“Incoming message from Sierra1, Commander. The translated message is on the display.
WE ARE VERGON. IDENTIFY YOUR RACE AND THE PURPOSE FOR YOUR VISIT.
Koenig thought for a few seconds before responding. “Send this message in Arenian, Com. ‘We call ourselves humans. We are fighting a war for survival against two other races and seek technical assistance. We are prepared to trade our technology for your communication technology. If you send a ship here, we could communicate and exchange technology faster. We would also be prepared to come to you if you show us the way.‘ ”
“Message has been sent.”
For the next while, Koenig was so focused on his thoughts that he jumped in surprise when the astro AI said, “The ship has reached the one light second range and is now motionless relative to Sierra1, Commander.”
Koenig checked the sidebar data out of habit and did a double take on the estimated dimensions of Sierra1.
“Is that sphere really two hundred and thirty-three meters in diameter?”
“Affirmative.”
When Soriya arrived to take her duty shift, Koenig was worried. It had been more than two hours since his second message had been sent. That lack of a reply wasn’t the only thing bothering him.
“I’m concerned about the size of Sierra1. If an FTL relay device has to be that big, it then begs the question of whether we’d be able to incorporate their FTL technology in our ships, and if we can’t do that, then FTL communication isn’t going to be the decisive advantage that wins the war for us.”
Soriya didn’t reply as she traded places in the pod with him. When she was buckled in, she said, “Let’s hope that they have a miniaturized version that we can use in ships.”
The com AI interrupted Koenig’s train of thought. “Incoming message.
WE ARE SENDING A SHIP TO YOUR LOCATION TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS OVER TECHNOLOGY TRADE. REMAIN THERE. DO NOT TRAVEL ANY FURTHER INTO OUR TERRITORY.
“Com, send this reply. ‘We will comply with your instruction.’ ”
The Vergons made quite an entrance when their ship arrived 13.33 hours later. Koenig happened to be on the Bridge, even though Chen was the BDO, and he also just happened to be looking at the optical image of Sierra1 when the Vergon ship suddenly appeared in between Excalibur and the relay buoy.
“SON-OF-A-BITCH!” Koenig’s exclamation of surprise was almost as loud as the emergency proximity alarm. The Vergon ship was not only big, it was close!
“Incoming message from the ship, Commander.
WE ARE VERGON AND WE ARE HERE TO NEGOTIATE TECHNOLOGY TRADE. YOU WISH TO HAVE OUR SUPER-LIGHT COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. WHAT TECHNOLOGIES CAN YOU OFFER US IN EXCHANGE.
Koenig’s heart was still pounding from the shock of the ship’s sudden appearance out of nowhere. “Tactical, how did that ship manage to get this close without us detecting them?”
“Preliminary analysis points to a form of cloaking technology that bends EM radiation around the vessel. If that is the answer, then this technology is far superior to the Arenian hull camouflage technology.”
“Now, THAT is tech we could really use. Let’s get the ship to Condition Two. If we go to Battle Stations, the Vergons might be able to detect it, and I don’t think we need to go there anyway, but a heightened level of alertness is certainly justified. Com, send them the list of technologies that was previously compiled for just this situation. Add to that list the following questions: can the super-light communication technology be made small enough to fit inside our ship and are they willing to trade the technology that hides their ship so well.”
It didn’t take long to receive a reply. Koenig’s heart sank as the com AI translated the message.
THE SPEED AT WHICH OUR COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IS ABLE TO SEND MESSAGES IS A FUNCTION OF THE POWER OUTPUT AND THEREFORE SIZE OF THE TRANSMITTING UNIT. IF YOUR SHIP CARRIED A TRANSMITTING UNIT WHICH ATTEMPTED TO SEND A MESSAGE TO US, IT WOULD TAKE 8.9 TIMES LONGER TO ARRIVE THAN IF SENT BY THE RELAY BUOY. OUR CLOAKING TECHNOLOGY IS NOT FOR TRADE. WE RELY ON IT FOR OUR OWN DEFENSE AND WILL NOT RISK LETTING ITS SECRETS FIND THEIR WAY TO POTENTIAL ADVERSARIES WHO MAY THEN FIND A WAY TO PENETRATE THE CLOAK. WE HAVE EXAMINED YOUR TRADE LIS
T. WE ALREADY HAVE THE ARENIAN GRAVITY WEAPON TECHNOLOGY. THERE IS NO OTHER TECHNOLOGY THAT YOU HAVE THAT INTERESTS US. IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO OFFER, WE WILL CONSIDER IT.
Koenig was stunned. The prospect of returning home empty-handed was frightening, not just for his own career but for the war as a whole. Having found the Vergon, he had to find a way to bring back something!
“Com, send this reply. ‘Would our astrogational data be worth a trade?’ ”
The reply came quickly.
ONLY FOR OUR EQUIVALENT DATA. IT WOULD INCLUDE INFORMATION OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT OTHER RACES HAVE. THEY MAY BE WILLING TO TRADE FOR SOME OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY. WE PURSUE OUR OWN DEVELOPMENT BY CONTACTING AS MANY RACES AS POSSIBLE AND EXCHANGING INFORMATION THAT BENEFITS BOTH RACES, BUT WE ARE NOT EXPLORERS. WE PREFER TO MAKE CONTACT WITH OUR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. THERE IS A TECHNOLOGY WE ARE WILLING TO TRANSFER TO YOU IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO PERFORM A SERVICE FOR US. IS THIS OF INTEREST TO YOU HUMANS?