Shandra looked and then frowned. "So that's how it looks," She murmured.
He shrugged. "This is just a layman's interpretation. But that's why we have to chart masses in real space carefully, and then plot around them," he explained. He clicked the remote again and the hyperspace sine waves returned. "Now, the lower the band, the less compression, so it takes longer to get from point A to point B."
The top sine wave glowed. "But, as we go up into the higher bands, the compression increases exponentially, and therefore the time goes down and the transit distance up.” A graph appeared highlighting the exponential change. "Now, no ship without a dedicated hyper navigator can handle transit inside a star's Roche limit." A star system came up. "There's so much matter, so many planetary bodies, and the star or stars to deal with so no civilian ship can handle it," he said firmly. He changed the graphic. "That's why civilian ships navigate in lanes and have jump points. These space lanes are points between destinations that have been charted and can be easily traveled by civilian ships."
One of the girls raised her hand. "What about the bands?" she asked.
Shandra nodded. "Okay. Getting back to that," he said.
"Now, each band has its own variant tunes. C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. They're named for musical notes." Some of the class looked confused, others shrugged. "But each band has its own order to it. It takes a lot of power to get into hyper, and the ship creates its own mass shadow as well." The graphic changed. "The higher the band, the higher the mass shadow and therefore the more power needed to get there," he explained.
A graphic appeared next to each sine wave, showing the exponential power demand. "Of course that power is only needed to get into the band; we can collect power from hyperspace."
One of the girls raised her hand. "How?"
He smiled. "Well, remember how I talked about matter? Sometimes energy, electrons, and other particles get into hyperspace. Ships collect this raw energy and use it as free power during transit."
Shandra nodded. "That's why we hunt for particle patches, so we can suck them up for fuel," she said with an amused look on her face. A few of the faces cleared.
"Right, now the sensors detect matter in hyperspace by their mass shadow, and tell the crew with the holographic display." He clicked the remote and a display of the bridge view port came up. "This allows them to steer around mass objects. Before the sensors were slow and had a short range, so it was hard for them to see. Now the ship can see further, and the navigators can plot courses well in advance."
Shandra nodded as she set the membrane down. "When we get to the upper bands, we'll go faster, but it'll require a lot more power, piloting skills, and computer cycles to maneuver." The display changed to the same previous course, but moving at a much faster rate. Shandra paled. "It used to take the ship six months to transit some of the legs right?" he asked. The Captain nodded.
"A circuit takes three years to transit, most of that's in hyper. So far you've made three circuits," he said. The screen changed to a star map. “Now that we can go faster, you can make that circuit in less than a year," he explained. The class murmured.
"When we get more upgrades in place it will take half that if not less," he said. The murmurs increased. The Captain cleared her throat and the class quieted, some giving her guilty looks. "Thank you," he bowed politely. He typed a command into the holo projector. "Now a ship enters hyper by projecting a mass shadow," he said continuing.
The ship floating changed as a translucent sphere projected around it. "The ship's hyper generator uses the shields to project the mass shadow to punch into hyper." He picked up the membrane and folded it into an accordion. He motioned to Shandra and quietly explained how to hold it. She stepped back, holding each pleated end in a hand so it was vertical and away from her body. "Now without the hyperdrive this happens." He poked his finger at the bands. The shape of his finger poked out the other side as the membrane stretched. "Now, here it is with the hyper generator." He morphed his index finger into a soldering iron, and then poked it through. Even Shandra's eyes were wide at that.
He pulled his finger back. "But won’t our action leave a hole?" someone at the back of the class called out.
He shook his head no. "No, like this memory plastic, it'll heal,” he explained. To their astonishment the plastic healed. The class murmured. "Memory plastic polymer. It remembers the shape it was cast in and will heal itself," he explained. He took the plastic from Shandra and stretched it out, the holes were fading fast. "See, not even creases."
"There are six known bands, with a seventh theorized, but never successfully used," the admiral said. The band scales reappeared on the screen. "This ship is only rated to the A layer of the gamma hyperspace band, so that is the best we can do." He looked over to Shandra who was looking a little pale.
"I didn't think of all that compression is going to be fun to navigate," she said.
He nodded as she took her seat woodenly. "That's right, it's going to be stressful to the helm and navigators, they'll have to be on their toes," he said. He turned. "To get above the Gamma band you need a lot of energy. Typically that's supplied by antimatter."
He shrugged. "Since antimatter can only be made with tremendous amounts of energy, I doubt anyone will be making it anytime soon."
A few hands were raised. He pointed to one. "How did you make it then?" the girl asked.
He smiled. "We had large fusion reactors, solar farms, singularity taps, plasma taps of stars, and even stations in hyperspace," he explained. Behind him the holo changed to show each platform. He sighed as the class murmured in shock and awe.
"Each of those are gone, or forgotten. It'll be a long time before we see them again." He looked off to the side for a moment, composing himself. "But, we're making a start here," he smiled. Some of the ladies nodded enthusiastically.
"I noticed you only did a basic course on hyperspace..." the hoarse voice said as she floated over to him. Most of the class had drifted off in tight study groups when the lecture concluded.
He smiled at the Captain. "That was my introductory lecture actually," he admitted.
She smiled. "Introductory lecture? You taught?" she asked.
He smiled. "I had a few stints as a teacher at the academy, and of course on ship. It was a good distraction during therapy," he replied. He tapped his arm.
"You had to work while recovering?" the purser looked up.
"I worked virtually. I linked into the network from the hospital and did lectures in a simulation," he explained.
She looked confused. "He did it in the computer Vanessa, don't worry about it too much or you'll get a headache," the Captain said, in fine spirits.
The purser grimaced. "If you say so," she muttered as she left.
"So, there's more?" the Captain asked, motioning him to sit down as she picked up her cup of tea. "Yes Captain."
One of the girls poured a cup of tea for him. "Sugar? Cream?" she offered.
He looked over to her, feeling a little amazed. The Captain caught the look and chuckled. "Yes, we are coming up in the civilized department right? I loved tea, and loved to see it in some of the holo novels," she said.
He smiled and held up a finger. "One of each please." She smiled and added the materials, then handed him the cup.
He nodded in polite appreciation, and then studied the cup. "That reminds me of the Japanese tea ceremony," she said. He looked up to the Captain's twinkling eyes. "I never did understand it," she said. She gave an earthy chuckle. "But, you were saying there's more?"
He took a sip. "Yes, there's a lot more, the basic math involved, different situations, how to navigate in higher bands of hyperspace, tuning, tensor physics, string theory... Quantum mechanics..."
She grimaced. "A bit over my head. Too old," she said.
He shook his head. "You’re never too old to learn."
She looked up and smiled. "Wasn't there an old saying about teaching an old dog new tricks?"
He chuckled with
her. "Yes, but it just takes a bit of time and patience." He waved to the cabin. "We have that in abundance," he said. She nodded.
“Captain, about the Chief...” She waved it away. “I'm sorry about her behavior. I'm not sure what got into her. The doctor said her hormones are out of whack, that might be it. I'm not sure,” she sighed, and took a sip of her tea, staring off into space.
“Well, paranoia goes with the job,” he said cautiously after a moment. She grunted.
“Captain, I know she has a vendetta against me, but overall, she's good at her job,” he said.
The Captain turned and gave him a surprised look. “You’re the last one I would expect to see defending my granddaughter.”
He smiled. “To tell you the truth, it surprised me at first as well,” he admitted.
She smiled. “Oh, don't worry, she's in trouble, but she'll grow out of it. It'll take some time before I let her back in my good graces however,” she finally said.
He nodded. “Thank you Captain.”
"Admiral, what are we going to do about the military data in the database?" Sprite asked.
He looked around the room, nodded to the guard, and then sat back. He tapped a stylus against his chin thoughtfully. "Is there a lot of it?" he sub vocalized.
"Not much, a few terraquads, but there's the standard military gear loaded in the files of the replicators," Sprite reminded him.
He grunted. "Any of it classified?"
Sprite appeared on his HUD. "Not much. I can lock it down so it can't be seen in the menu," she said. He nodded.
"Archive all the military data and bury it in the net deep. Make sure it's encrypted too," he ordered.
She nodded. "You do realize that we're technically leaving classified data in the hands of civilian’s right?" she reminded him.
He sighed. "It's not like we have another place to put it right now Sprite," he said.
She nodded. "True."
He swiveled his chair back and forth. "How is Io coming along?" he asked.
The AI looked amused. "I think you mean the AI right?" she asked. He gave a short nod. "Now that you've rebuilt the core, I've unpacked my build files and started growing her neural clusters. Defender has added a few, but Proteus has been the one monitoring her progress," she reported. Data streamed near her virtual head.
He stopped swiveling. "Her?"
"Well, since most ships are considered a female persona, and this ship is named after a female..." she said.
He smiled. "Okay. So, she's what, about the level of a fetus?" he asked.
Sprite nodded. "About that level yes. Her neural dendrites are growing nicely, but it'll take time before coherent thought begins to form. We've grafted as much of our own code into her net, so it may help. She's making the connections, so we may see some growth spurts," she said.
He picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Hey, does this make me a mother?" Sprite demanded after a moment.
He chuckled. "Something like that. But it also makes Defender and Proteus the fathers."
She blinked. "Okay, forget I mentioned it," she growled. He chuckled.
Chapter 11
"Admiral to the bridge!" an anxious voice said. He looked up the speaker.
"Sounds serious," he said. They had just exited hyper less then an hour ago so he wondered what was the problem. He looked over to the guard. "Any scuttlebutt?" They looked up from their comms and shook their heads.
"No Admiral, but a ship was detected two minutes ago in orbit of the planet," Sprite answered. "All right, let’s go ladies." He waved to them to proceed as he set his tools aside.
"Don't you need them?" one of the guards asked.
"No, something tells me, this time they aren't needed," he said. They jogged down the corridor to the nearest lift.
"Permission to enter?" he asked as the doors opened.
"Get in here," the gravelly voice of the Captain cut through the chatter of the bridge crew. The crew quieted. "We have a problem; there's a ship in orbit," she said. He nodded as he walked into the bridge and then looked up to her station.
"Thank the goddess you folks rebuilt the sensors, we would never have seen them until we were almost in orbit," the Captain grounded out. He nodded.
"Pirate?" he asked, scanning the bridge stations. Sprite brought up a system status on his HUD as he looked at each station. He lingered at the sensor station.
"Maybe. It might be a freighter," she said. He nodded.
"She looks like a Moth class. I don't blame you for being a little gun shy Captain. Perhaps we should hail them?" he asked. He turned to her. She cocked an eyebrow.
"What good would that do? They could just say they're legit," she said.
He nodded. "But, I could jack into their system by piggybacking your call and take a look in their net," he replied. She cleared her throat looking slightly shocked.
The Chief stifled a gasp. "You can do that?" she asked. She had recently returned to limited duty that morning.
He smiled. "Of course."
"By you, you mean me of course Admiral," Sprite said quietly.
He shrugged. "I'll have to be jacked in though."
The Captain waved to the console nearby. "By all means," she said.
He nodded and jacked in. "I'm in,” he said out loud. "Ready?" he asked Sprite quietly.
"As I'll ever be. Once more unto the breech and all that," she said exasperated.
He looked up to the Captain. "Piggyback program is ready," he said.
She nodded. "All right, Jane, open a channel," she ordered, indicating the girl with a gnarled finger.
Jane flicked a couple switches then looked up. "Live mike in three... two... one..." She nodded.
"This is the Captain of the Io 11 calling unknown ship," the captain said. She waited. "Hello??" Jane Nexi hit the mute then looked up. "There is a time lag Captain, they are still four light minutes away," she explained.
The Captain nodded. "All right, send it," she said.
Nexi looked over to the Admiral who was staring off to the bulkhead. "Sending now." She flipped the switch.
It was like losing a part of himself, Sprite was there, and then she spun off an echo program to spike the unknown’s computer. "On its way," he confirmed. "Captain, I recommend we do a turn over and cease acceleration until we get a response one way or another," he said. He continued to stare off, concentrating on the signal. A countdown was on his HUD indicating when they would receive a return signal.
He checked the ship's systems. "Make it so," he heard distantly. The voice sounded distant and unimportant to him. He watched the HUD as the helms woman cut the acceleration then neatly flipped the ship end over end to face the way they had come.
"Maneuver complete Captain."
"Excellent."
He felt a tingle as the countdown reached zero. "Receiving transmission.
"Captain of the Io 11 this is Captain Bright of the free trader Pelican. We were a bit concerned about you as well. Good to hear from you." He felt the return of the echo and its data dump.
"Admiral, their computer security is civilian grade, but not bad. Still, no match for me of course," Sprite said smugly.
"And?" he asked quietly.
"They're legit. A freighter, no weapons. Viruses all over their network though," she said with a disgusted look. He sighed in relief.
"Captain, they're a legit freighter, no weapons detected," he reported.
She nodded. "Good to know."
"Captain, there's a second transmission packet incoming," Nexi reported.
"Play it."
"This is the Avalon 4 colony to Io 11. I understand you’re concerned about your visitors. I vouch for them Captain," the scratchy female voice didn't even identify themselves.
The Captain smiled. "All right Alice, if you say so. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours...Even if they're a competitor."
A few minutes later they received a laughing response. "Good! We can have an auction! Bidding war!" the woman said.
The captain snorted. Some of the crew looked relieved. The Captain eyed the engineer. "Thank you Admiral." He unjacked and took it as a dismissal.
He and his consorts exited the lift to a babble of girls. The guards took lead, brushing through the throng of girls eagerly asking questions. "Is it true there's another ship? Is it a pirate? Are you going to leave on it Admiral? You’re not going to leave us are you?” the girls asked, some concerned, others curious.
He shook his head and held up his hands. "Ladies!" They quieted. "Thank you. The Captain will make an address when she's ready," he said. A few ahhed at this in disappointment.
"Speaking of which..." Sprite alerted him. He pointed up. A few looked up just in time.
"This is the Captain speaking." They all looked up to the speaker. "We've just spoken with a ship in orbit of the colony; it's been confirmed to be a trader. We're still on to make landfall. That's all." He smiled. "See?" He made his way through the throng as it parted and began to break up.
"Move along people! Get back to your stations... Nothing to see here," the guards encouraged. He shook his head.
The guards kept giving him looks. He noted one and looked up. "What? You’re starting to make me nervous." He gave the girl a long look.
She squirmed. "Um, well, we're wondering if you were going to leave," she asked.
He picked up a coupler. "Leave?" he echoed.
She nodded. "On the other ship. The Chief told us to keep you here though." She looked concerned.
He shrugged. "Well, I'm not done yet with the repairs. It's a thought though," he said and then shrugged.
"Looks like you need an impact wrench to get that bolt loose Admiral," Jennie said, looking over his shoulder. He looked up and smiled. "Here I can lend you mine...” Her eyes twinkled for a moment as she leaned over to her kit. They were making good time to orbit, they were about two and a half days out. The engineers wanted to get as much done with the engines as possible the moment they were no longer needed. Hence all the prep they were doing right now.
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