»What are you trying to say, Hassan?« she asked, also glancing at the robot.
»They seemed rather like a response of a living being to deep physical pain,« said Hassan while closing his eyes.
Nok looked surprised.
»What? Hassan! That’s nonsense!«
»I know my words sound confusing, but the space-time warp was like the wincing of a tortured being. It was a response to the impending Great Tremor, the manifestation of the parasite galaxy.«
Nok looked at Hassan Khalil with wide eyes. She didn’t seem to understand.
»Imagine the universe as a wounded animal that has stepped on a thorn and twitches painfully with every step,« he explained. »Our galaxy, space, and the stars appear to me as a living organism and the parasites galaxy is the thorn.«
»Hassan, you’re nuts,« Nok hissed at him.
»Listen to me!« he rebutted hard. »This particularly incredible form of life exists and it has a consciousness! I saw it! I felt it! The Fronites have shown me the way how to comprehend this cosmic entity.«
»You’re talking about a myth, I have no time for such nonsense,« Nok replied angrily.
»Nebular,« Hassan said, convinced. »Nebular is not nonsense! I don’t expect you to understand. I can hardly understand it myself, but don’t tell me that this powerful cosmic energy, which I can feel without a doubt, is a pipe dream!
Nok pondered for a moment.
»Nebular? This myth or legend? The same that the Techno-Cleric has mentioned?«
Hassan looked at the robot again; it was an uncertain and distant glance.
»You’re saying it yourself in a way, Nok. A robot that acts according to strict logic would indeed not confuse myth with facts.
Nok squinted.
»I’ve seen you touching 40028. Since that moment, you changed. Did you probe the robot? Is there anything I should know?«
Hassan hesitated. He seemed to think about what to say.
»Something’s wrong with these robots!«
Nebular is more
It began with the disappearance of the cosmic beacon and an unusual report. The chief of the Astrophysical Station raised his hand to grab Nok’s attention.
»Ma’am, we detected a significant change in the cosmic environment parameters.«
Nok looked at him alarmed.
»Is there another shockwave coming?« she asked.
The scientist shook his head vigorously.
»No, Ma’am. We’re totally clueless because we measured an increased cosmic background radiation. This microwave radiation is usually around 2.725 Kelvin, but now we measure 3.24 Kelvin with increasing tendencies.
»What does that mean?« she inquired.
»That means, in plain English, that the universe is getting warmer. None of my staff can explain this. The background radiation is considered rest energy of the Big Bang. We don’t know any physical law or reason that could cause this sudden increase. This is, realistically, impossible.«
»Is this anomaly dangerous to us?«
The scientist looked around anxiously.
»Not right now, but if this continues and the energy potential persistently increases then it not only becomes dangerous to us but also to the rest of the universe.«
»No, that’s not the case! This anomaly is a local event!« Hassan replied sternly. »This concerns our galaxy only.«
The scientist shrugged.
»We cannot confirm that. Presumably, it makes no difference to our situation anyway.«
»It makes a big diff ...,« Hassan suddenly twitched and stumbled. With one hand, he was trying to hold on to the command seat. He groaned. Something took control of him for a couple of seconds and triggered his heightened senses. »The solar protective field! It’s changing! I can feel it,« he hissed.
Almost at the same time, Klori’Tar called. His head appeared inside the central display holo. He looked grave. Klori’Tar confirmed Hassan’s empathic perception.
»Your so-called protective field begins to condense and charge up. You possibly can’t detect the changes within this complex energy matrix considering your limited technology, but some commanders of the refugee fleet will be able to confirm this.«
Nok nodded at Klori’Tar and Hassan.
»That’s okay, Klori’Tar. We trust your findings.«
»We don’t have any concrete results yet,« Klori’Tar amended gently. »Verzimut and I are still examining this. However, we believe that an event must have taken place, which triggered this change.«
»The time has come,« Nok whispered. She had expected it long ago. »The Great Tremor! Toiber Arkroid wasn’t successful. The Chiropters have predicted that the field will activate itself at the moment of the disaster to shield us from the primary effects. Perhaps, the Techno-Clerics were wrong, and the prophecies of the Chiropters are accurate ...«
At this moment, the scanner section produced the first images which affirmed the structural transformation of the energy field. The flaring, pulsating field began to condense. It no longer appeared like an aurora-like veil that stretched across the cosmic background, but as an intense green glow that became steadily stronger.
»It’s a reactive response,« claimed Klori’Tar. »The field has been activated by the keys! My confidence in Arkroid seems to be greater than yours. By the way, Verzimut just advised me to drop the misleading term matrix and to replace it with stimulation field. Analysis of the field shows strong emission peaks into the tachyon band.«
Hassan listened up and said aloud, »Klori’Tar is absolutely right! The solar energy field had never been designed as a shield! It was misused for a long time. Perhaps, the Conceptor on Sedna had incorrectly calibrated it, because he didn’t know better and the Globusters, in turn, have abused it because of it.« Hassan looked at 40028 before he continued. »Only the fine adjustments by the Techno-Clerics have made the field what it was supposed to be, now revealing the real plan of the Galactic Brotherhood.«
»What is the real plan?« 40028 asked. »If we, the children of the Creators, don’t understand the meaning of the fine-tuning or adjustments as you call it, how is it possible that you can see through this plan? Is it because of your extraordinary and undoubtedly perfect form of existence? Do you perhaps possess knowledge that was withheld from us?«
Hassan’s response was cold and Nok clearly felt this time the personal distance between Hassan and the robot. »I’m not perfect, but if your Creators saw it fit to entrust you with a task, essential for the salvation of the galaxy but withheld information, then there were certainly good reasons for it that time.«
40028 pulsated slightly. The robot didn’t show emotions. His answer was surprisingly rational.
»Your statement sounds logical.«
»The solar field has stabilized and I sense an interaction with the increased background radiation,« Klori’Tar announced. »The temperature has leveled off at 5.00 Kelvin.«
»What does that mean?« Nok asked Hassan. »Does Nebular have a cold or fever?«
Hassan didn’t answer Nok’s sarcastic remark. He threw her a grudging glance and said, »But, there’re other changes that even your scientists might understand. Let them measure the signal propagation time of electromagnetic waves. They’ll notice that the speed of light has changed!«
Nok hesitated briefly and then signaled the comm-central. »Check that! There’re enough ships in the Neptune System. Tell the Ryan to support them.«
The results came in after a couple of minutes and caused surprise.
»The velocity of propagation of electromagnetic waves and of light has slowed down by three percent. This is not a measurement error,« a radio officer announced. »We’ve checked that several times.«
As if somebody had flipped a switch, the tachyon radio link re-activated. There was suddenly a free channel for a direct connection to Earth.
Nok didn’t hesitate and ordered an immediate connection to the Fleet HQ. Admiral Friedberg, however, beat her to it and the voice of t
he highest fleet commander of the Solar Union sounded seconds later through the command central.
»Commander! I’m happy to see you alive and well. The comet storm was very worrisome and will certainly be a nightly spectacle on Earth. None of the comets is currently on a collision course with Earth. We’re facing a great crisis. Your suggestion to evacuate Mercury was a wise and forward-thinking decision. The Shwakans were able to evacuate the base just in time and have landed on Earth. The people are safe now.«
Nok took a deep breath of relief.
»So … has it come to explosive eruptions of the sun? Is the Earth in danger?« she asked.
Friedberg squinted.
»No, not at all. The opposite is the case. The sun shrank in diameter by two percent a few minutes ago. Now the sun shines brighter than before and the surface temperature has increased slightly. The change in color spectrum can be clearly seen in the day sky. Our scientists speak of a new hydrostatic equilibrium. People can observe these changes with their own eyes and are apprehensive. So far there have been, fortunately, no signs of solar eruptions. The solar activities have rather reduced. Nevertheless, you were correct.«
»The sun has shrunk?« Nok asked. »How’s that possible?«
Hassan smiled and said, »We should rather ask: Why is this happening and who triggered it?«
Nok ignored the remark and yelled at her scientific team, »Find the reasons! Exhaust all possibilities. Talk to the Trox, the Shwakans or other extraterrestrials. Check any deviation. I want a report on any anomaly, no matter how big or small.«
»Why are you trying so desperately to hold on to your old worldview?« Hassan said aloud. »Can’t you read the signs? Re-check the ice giants. Look again at Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn! You will find that the gas and ice giants are also shrinking. It’s because of a slight change in the gravitational constant!«
»I can’t accept that. A cosmic constant doesn’t change!« Nok defended her stand. »I want to talk to the scientists who are questioning the speed of light! Now!«
»The truth is that a constant is a constant until we find out that we were wrong about the assessment of its nature. A year ago, we were still unaware that there is a continuum that can be utilized for faster-than-light space travel. The proof that this continuum exists is right in front of your eyes on the displays. These thousands of ships out there are here because of it,« Nexus Tor tried to mediate.
Nok sighed and then gave in.
»Okay then,« she sighed. »The defense shield is not a defense shield, but a stimulation field. Is the just recently performed fine tuning of this field by the Techno-Clerics causing the laws of physics around us to run amok?«
Hassan Khalil drew a breath of relief. He was glad to finally be heard. The HOT mission commander eyed him as Hassan said, »The stimulation field causes these changes not directly ...«
»There’re some reports coming in about the compression of all gas giants. This can best be observed on Jupiter. There’re already several confirmations about a shift in the gravitational constant!« an officer of the astronomical section interrupted.
Hassan nodded knowingly and addressed all crew members in the command central including Admiral Friedberg on Earth who was still linked up.
»The solar field has only one function. It was designed like this, but it was only when I met the Fronites and their extraordinary way of communication that I became aware of how it works.«
Everybody was listening to Hassan.
»The emission peaks, which Klori’Tar mentioned, serve to stimulate a cosmic force which we so far know only by the name – Nebular! I could already see this cosmic force with my own eyes! The Fronites have shown me how this is possible and I can assure you all, it exists! I realized that Nebular exists around us everywhere. His or its breath is present in interstellar space and between the stars, as well as in globular clusters and planetary nebulae in our galaxy. Nebular shapes the spiral arms of the Milky Way and is responsible for what we call the cosmic constants. This primal force extends into tachyon space; perhaps the entity is even embedded within it. Maybe it permeates us and all living beings of our Star Island. What we generally understand as our galaxy is perhaps only the three-dimensional impression of a higher-dimensional image of an indescribable force.«
Hassan Khalil was breathing heavily as he continued. »Those folks who had decided to protect us from the parasites galaxy knew already then what needed to be done. Not a thousand and not a million warships could ease the effects of the Great Tremor. They knew because they had seen the future! There was only one answer to this thread – Nebular!«
»Just wait a minute,« Nok interjected. »Our galaxy is a kind of living super-organism, which is excited by the stimulation field to produce a countermeasure?«
»Nebular is more than that,« Hassan replied exhaustedly. »It’s a form of energy, but also an existence. It may seem like the sum of all the laws of nature, but it also has a consciousness. It’s not tangible and visible to us but it’s out there. It is a particular form of existence, incomparable to anything we know. It’s probably as old as our galaxy and in a special way connected with it. I think it had been suspended in an everlasting sleep, one with itself and the laws of the universe. Nebular was just tickled awake by the stimulation field and encouraged to defend itself and us against the inter-dimensional attack.«
Five Jamal-Combs
»The Great Tremor should have occurred already. Since the cosmic beacon went silent, several hours have passed,« Klori’Tar remarked who had parked his Cobalt Hunter in an orbit around Triton. His burning ship was clearly visible through the windows of the Star Hall’s dome. »I’ve examined forty-two pulsars and compared them according to their reference data. All of them show an increase of their pulse period. The rapid rotation of these star corpses suggests a reduction in diameter.«
»The stimulation field has vanished. To that extent, the Chiropters on Sedna were correct with their prophecy. The field and its enormous hunger for energy could not be sustained for a long time,« Hassan threw in.
»The shadowy image of the parasite galaxy has not become stable,« reported Klori Tar regarding his remote sensors. »Either the interdimensional transition failed, or something prevented the plan of the invaders.«
»It’s still too early to announce the All Clear,« Nok warned skeptically. »What’s with Nebular? I’m not sure if I should be more afraid of this cosmic force than the parasite galaxy. I’m still thinking about Arkroid’s message. So far, nothing has happened to Mercury, the solar power plant is still standing and was never really threatened.«
Nok Daralamai reminded all visitors to the Neptune system to remain vigilant. The long wait began. Waiting for the disaster, or a liberating message. Extraterrestrials and Humans held their breaths. It took, however, another six hours until the situation improved.
First an utterly confused hangar officer walked into the command central and asked to speak with Nok. He stated that he had observed a strange phenomenon in front of the base’s main airlock, which he described as scintillating air. Although, scanning and other outdoor observation devices didn’t show anything, something had been there.
As Nok heard the word phenomenon, she listened up and looked at Hassan. For more than three hours, he was already meditating and listened for a response of Nebular. Hassan wanted to warn in time, should there be another interdimensional warping phenomenon on its way.
Nok was still extremely tense and remained inside the command central. She ordered a security team to the main airlock to investigate the report by the hangar officer. Minutes later, the team reported from the airlock, »Ma’am! There’re eight individuals standing before the airlock, including the Union Commander Maya Ivanova, Vasina of Atlantika, the Pleunatan Paafnas, the Chiropter Kuster~Laap with his two ZyClonians and two unknown men.«
Nok jumped out of her command seat.
»Didn’t I tell you that your people were successful?« Klori’Tar barked via the comm-link.
Nok tried to suppress her surprise and commanded, »Let them in immediately! Show Arkroid and his team the way to my conference room. Hassan, Nuri, Nexus and 40028 come with me!«
»Ma’am, Toiber Arkroid is not among the people who are standing before the airlock,« the security team leader announced. »Lai Pi and Voit Masgur are also missing!«
As Nok Daralamai hurried to the conference room, she was tormented by premonitions. Impatiently, she waited for the arrival of the group. A couple of minutes later, they entered the room, escorted by the security officer. Nok looked at serious faces. She greeted Maya Ivanova, Vasina of Atlantika, Kuster~Laap, Naad and Nood, Paafnas, a man with a shield, apparently a Progonaut, and another man in leather armor who looked like an early Human.
Beholding the group, she realized that these different individuals had been together for a long and hard time, having seen and done things, she couldn’t even remotely imagine.
Without saying a word, Vasina put a small cloth bundle on the table and opened it cautiously. Five golden Jamal-Combs appeared.
»Those are … five Jamal-Combs!« Nok said surprised, looking at Vasina.
»The lost Jamal-Combs were all found and have done their predetermined job. All we had to do was to bring them inside the solar energy field. All five were needed, no more and no less,« Vasina explained.
Nok looked at the combs for a few seconds.
»Then the combs activated the stimulation field?« she asked.
»Exactly,« Maya acknowledged, arms crossed. »The combs were kept inside a sealed container until we arrived in the Solar System, then we just released them. More wasn’t necessary. None of us knew exactly how it worked, but we did the right thing. Our friend Herimos, who joined us during the mission, deserves the credit of having recovered the last of the five combs from the planet India.«
Hearing his name, Herimos slapped his fist against his chest.
»What about the aura?« Nuri asked. »I heard that they interact and glow when placed close together.«
NEBULAR Collection 6 - The Great Tremor: Episodes 27 - 30 Page 42