Exodus to the Stars

by Andreas Brandhorst

  "We will attempt to make contact with the aliens," the bald woman said. "Perhaps the destruction of the two transports was the result of a misunderstanding."

  "I assure you, First: there is no understanding possible with this enemy." Paronn stood only two meters away from the Chronicler, his eyes trained on the communication screen. "I know him. Any attempt at negotiation is pointless. I urgently advise you to take all necessary measures for Lemur's defense. The available spaceships must be armed and made ready for action as quickly as possible."

  The image of the First on the screen hesitated. "Three days are simply not enough."

  "I've been warning about this danger for sixty years," Paronn said, "but the Coordinating Council of the Great Solidarity has always preferred to pay no attention to my warnings."

  "Such recriminations have little point now. If the danger really is as great as you claim, we must act at once."

  Deshan saw Paronn stiffen his shoulders. "I quite agree with you, First. And I will act."

  Something flashed in the Taman's green eyes. "What do you intend?"

  "I will attempt to save Lemur." Paronn gestured for the radio operator to break the connection, then turned to the Chief Engineer. "I am hereby taking command, not only of the AKAN HATA but also of the HENTECK AVRAM. When can both ships begin acceleration phase?"

  The young, gentle Amelga Dalianta looked at him in astonishment. "You wish to take off in the Exodus ships?"

  "Somebody has to stop the Enemy. And as far as I can judge, we're the only ones who can." Paronn pointed out the window to the HENTECK AVRAM, not even close to being finished. "Its drive was to be tested. How many Receptors are on board?"

  "More than three hundred."

  "And on board this ship?

  "I would have to check. But probably no more than fifty."

  "Arrange for a hundred Receptors to be transferred here from the HENTECK AVRAM." Paronn looked at the schematic diagram of the inner Apsu system. A blinking dot was moving from Lamhu in the direction of Lemur, and rapidly. "Can we launch in two hours?"

  "I'll do everything to make sure we can."

  "Good. Reconfigure the control center for acceleration. I'll go to the commander's cockpit. Please come with me, Deshan."

  Dalianta turned to the other engineers and technicians and began at once to issue orders.

  The Chronicler's knees were no longer quite as weak as they had been, but excitement tingled in him as he followed Paronn through the control center cylinder. Motors and specially designed hydraulic systems hummed as the structure of the cylinder changed. The control center's rotation slowed and Deshan felt himself becoming lighter. The individual workstations with consoles and seats were independent segments that could be rearranged as desired. They were now in a new position, with the stern of the AKAN HATA beneath the men and women who would be here during acceleration.

  When Deshan reached the end of the cylinder, he was so light that he no longer needed his cane. He flicked a small switch on the plastic stick, and it telescoped together into a small, thick rod that he shoved under his belt.

  The two men left the control center and floated through a small connecting strut that also functioned as an airlock. The commander's section was located between the cylinder and the bow segment of the AKAN HATA. It was a hexagonal module ten meters in diameter and completely autonomous, equipped with its own small engine that would allow it to function as a lifeboat. The inner walls consisted of projection screens that displayed two or three-dimensional diagrams. Many of them seemed like large windows that allowed views out into space, over Suen, and of the HENTECK AVRAM. In the middle of the command module was a platform supported by thin steel beams and accessed by a ladder during acceleration. At the moment, one needed only to push off from one end of the connecting strut to reach the platform after a brief weightless flight. There Deshan sat in a chair and activated the security harness. Belts pressed him gently into the padding.

  Paronn took his seat in front of the central console, and as Deshan turned his head, he saw a large swelling beneath the entrance to the connecting strut that bulged from the inner wall of the command module. Paronn noticed where he was looking.

  "Emergency quarters for the commander and his companions, equipped with hygiene cells and recycling systems." Paronn operated the controls and the images on the many projection surfaces changed. They showed not only exterior views of the two Exodus ships in orbit over Suen but also some sections of their interiors. Voices emanated from the communications speakers and Deshan tried to understand the details as he watched several shuttles disengage from the HENTECK AVRAM—probably taking Receptors to the AKAN HATA.

  "Subsystems in segments one through six functioning error-free. Anomalies in seven and twelve."

  "Complete functional capability in the navigation systems."

  "Control center reconfiguration complete."

  "Segment connections being checked."

  "Preparation of the capture fields ... "

  The face of Chief Engineer Dalianta appeared in a projection field. "I am hereby confirming the time frame of two hours. The HENTECK AVRAM must detach two segments that are not completely connected to the ship. The currently installed connectors might not stand up to the strain of acceleration."

  "Launch minus 120 minutes," Paronn said as his hands raced over the controls.

  "The Spaceflight Solidarity has tried to make contact with the aliens," Dalianta continued. "So far without success."

  Paronn shook his head.

  "Several spaceships in the area of the inner planets have been recalled to Lemur. And soon freighters will be launched to transport rockets equipped with atomic warheads to the ships in orbit around Lemur. The orders to do so apparently came from the Fourth and the Fifth. The First does not seem to be in agreement with this."

  Disagreement within the Coordinating Council, thought Deshan worriedly. Perhaps even a conflict between the Solidarity Tamans?

  "What about evacuation of the big cities?" Paronn asked.

  "None of the forty-nine Solidarity Communities has undertaken such measures."

  "In three days, many people could be brought to safety in the old shelter complexes," Paronn said half to himself.

  "Perhaps the First wants to avoid a mass panic," Deshan speculated.

  "I'm afraid that the First is hoping for the impossible: peace and understanding with this enemy." Paronn turned to the Chief Engineer. "Keep me informed of developments."

  Dalianta nodded and disappeared from the projection field. In another display area, Deshan saw the shuttles docking at the AKAN HATA's hatches. "Are there enough Receptors? One hundred and fifty here and two hundred on the HENTECK AVRAM?"

  "We have to expand the capture fields." Paronn looked at the readouts on the console, then glanced over the projection fields on the command module walls.

  "To a size of ... " Deshan made a calculation. "Almost a million square kilometers to accelerate at one gravity?" He thought of what he knew about the Exodus ships' propulsion systems, which were based on the former Project Nineteen. So-called capture fields, funnel-shaped and projected by antenna systems, and only permeable in one direction, functioned like sails that captured neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. The human Receptors possessing the Abhijn Power could parapsychically increase the normally very weak interaction of neutrinos with matter and the probability of contact with anti-neutrinos. Upon annihilation, all the particles and anti-particles would be converted to an enormous amount of energy. The Exodus ships could use this energy to reach near light-speed at a constant acceleration of one gravity. Then the dilation effect made itself evident—the journey to the future began. The engine tests had been successful so far, although with small capture fields of no more than 400 square kilometers. The more Receptors, the smaller the capture area that was necessary for sufficient acceleration.

  "It will work," Paronn said.

  "Faith alone can't produce technological miracles," Deshan replied skepti
cally.

  "If problems arise, we will solve them."

  Deshan looked at the Moon in one of the projection fields. "Fortunately we're in a high orbit over Suen. In a Lemurian orbit, such large capture fields wouldn't have been possible due to the proximity of the atmosphere."

  "They would have destabilized both ships."

  Time passed with tortuous slowness and yet much too fast.

  After a while, the Chief Engineer's face appeared in a projection field again.

  "The Council has learned that two Exodus ships are about to set out with the intention of stopping the aliens," Dalianta said. "The First is considering forbidding us to launch. People around the Fifth are saying that she wants to continue attempting to make peaceful contact. She's afraid that we will provoke the spacesphere to commit further hostile acts."

  "Break off all external communications," Paronn said. "From now on and until our return, we will receive no more orders from Lemur."

  Dalianta nodded and disappeared from the display field.

  "Until our return?" Deshan asked. "Unlike the aliens, we aren't armed. How will you stop them from reaching Lemur?"

  "I have an idea."

  "If it doesn't work, we're flying to our deaths," Deshan said, and felt for the Cell Activator on his chest. He had worn it for five years. For five years he had not aged nor had he been sick. Five years before he had begun to cheat death. Was the Harvester about to have his revenge?

  His gaze wandered slowly along the projection fields and he saw the HENTECK AVRAM separating itself from its not yet securely attached segments. Other three-dimensional displays showed him the Receptors entering the compartments by the capture field projectors. Just before launch, they would stretch out on the couches there to concentrate fully on the Abhijn Power. It had been determined that about two percent of the Lemurian population possessed this parapsychic ability. Among the Star Seekers, such persons were over-represented with a share of ten percent.

  At minus sixty minutes, Paronn opened the internal communications channels of both ships and spoke to the crews. Very seriously, he explained the situation and stressed his intention to fly towards the Enemy and stop him. He emphasized the great danger the two Exodus ships would be facing, and expressly offered to let anyone disembark before the launch. He finished his brief address by saying, "Lemur's fate rests in your hands."

  And then he waited.

  No one asked to leave.

  "Minus thirty minutes," a voice announced from the loudspeakers, and Deshan was amazed to realize that an hour-and-a-half had gone by so quickly—although he had the feeling that he had been sitting in the command module forever. "Launch time confirmed," Dalianta added. "All systems functioning error-free. We are still receiving com signals from Lemur, but no longer sending any. The First issued a launch prohibition ten minutes ago."

  "We don't know a thing about it," Paronn said.

  Suddenly the seconds seemed to pass increasingly faster. Deshan continued to watch the projection fields and saw the maneuvering jets of the two kilometers-long spaceships firing to move into the proper position for acceleration. The steady drip of time turned into a swift current, and he almost felt himself being dragged along with it towards the moment of launch.

  "Minus two," he heard Paronn's voice say. "Secure all stations. Synchronize navigation data of both ships."

  "Data synchronized."

  "Activate capture fields and maintain at ready."

  "Confirmed."

  There was a glow on the flanks of the two Exodus ships as the projectors in their steel bodies were activated. Gray-white funnels formed, at first only a few dozen meters long and a few meters wide. The maneuvering jets on the HENTECK AVRAM flared again and it very slowly slid past the AKAN HATA. At a distance of a few dozen kilometers ahead of and below the AKAN HATA, it resumed a relative speed of zero.

  "We are launching ... now!" Dalianta's voice announced from the loudspeakers.

  At first, nothing at all seemed to be happening, and Deshan was afraid that the engines had failed. Then he felt his body taking on weight again, and there was suddenly an up and a down in the command module as well as everywhere else on board.

  "Increase acceleration slowly to one gravity," Paronn said, and operated the controls on the main console. The projection field displays changed to a faster rhythm. "Enlarge capture fields."

  Close-ups of the Receptors in the duty rooms showed that some of them were trembling, but that was only an unconscious reaction to the start of neutrino/anti-neutrino annihilation in the capture fields. The funnels of invisible energy steadily expanded and became much larger than the ships from which they originated.

  As the AKAN HATA's capture fields reached a size of more than 200,000 square kilometers, the first vibrations began and quickly grew more intense.

  "Compensate!" Paronn ordered. "Structural weaknesses in Field Two. Balance! Synchronize acceleration vectors."

  Worried, Deshan leaned forward.

  The vibrations increased.

  "Maintain capture fields at present extent until vector synchronization is achieved," Paronn said, and the communications systems carried his voice to all sections of the AKAN HATA. "What is your status, HENTECK AVRAM?"

  "No problems," the Chief Engineer of the other ship replied. "Our mass is considerably less than yours. Perhaps that is why we haven't had vibrations."

  "All segments stable," Amelga Dalianta reported. "Vectors synchronized."

  "Continue acceleration," Paronn said. "Initiate automatic correction of navigation data."

  In one of the largest projection fields appeared a graphic display that showed Lemur, Suen, and Lahmu, the aliens' sphere and the two Exodus ships, along with their courses. Deshan saw the AKAN HATA and the HENTECK AVRAM very slowly moving away from the Moon. The capture fields continued to expand, and this time there were no vibrations. Huge funnels glowed next to the two Exodus ships—hungry mouths composed of energy that devoured neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. The increased probability of interaction created by the Abhijn Power of the Receptors led to the particles being annihilated, and the energy released as a result was used not only by the propulsion system but also for the life-support systems.

  Levian Paronn smiled in satisfaction. "I knew it," he said, sounding thoroughly satisfied. This was how a father spoke whose children had been accepted into the inner Lemurian Merit circle. "I knew it would work."

  "Course and acceleration are correct," Chief Engineer Dalianta reported. "Latent instability remains in the acceleration vectors. The capture fields are too large."

  "We don't need to accelerate for months," Paronn said. "Not this time."

  "There are also fluctuations in the energy flow," Dalianta added with her gentle calmness. "We are attempting to keep it stable and ... " She broke off. "That's strange."

  "What do you mean?" Paronn asked.

  "We are still receiving data streams from the satellites and space stations in Lemurian orbit. Look at the visual data."

  Once again, Paronn's fingers danced on the main console's keyboard, and the projection fields on the command module walls flickered as the displayed images changed. The two Exodus ships appeared as they did in the satellites' and orbital stations' tracking: pale spots that faded even more as their speed increased.

  "Apparently it's the result of an effect produced by the fluctuations in the energy flow through the capture fields," Dalianta said. "The latest data analysis indicates that a conventional detection of our ships will be more and more difficult as their speeds increase."

  "We'll be more or less invisible?" Deshan asked, watching the displays in fascination.

  "At higher speeds, that should in fact be the case," Dalianta replied.

  "A cloaking shield that wasn't intended but very welcome," Paronn said. "It means that the Enemy will hardly be able to find our ships when they set out for the stars."

  "This enemy has found us." Deshan pointed to the blinking symbol that marked the position
of the spacesphere. The two triangles of the Exodus ships crawled toward it in order to meet it between Lemur and Lahmu. "And he will see us."

  "At close range, yes. And I intend to get very close to him," Paronn said with grim determination.

  31

  Alahandra

  Little Alahandra had just been in the room with the many lights that winked like eyes, and now she suddenly stood outside in the fog that surrounded the dark castle. She sensed very clearly that the change had not been without a reason, and she thought she could hear the satisfied voice of the big, sick Alahandra in the distance.

  "Life must not be destroyed!" exclaimed little Alahandra, who had seen and heard, who understood more than before. The fog swallowed the words, and was thicker than ever.

  The girl began to run, hoping that the "path" would take her back to the castle as it had before when she had tried to return from where she had come, to the world of limitless flying. But this time little Alahandra waited in vain for dark walls to loom before her. She ran and ran, but the gray tendrils held her captive, cold and damp.

  "What are you doing?" she cried. "What are you planning? Why did you send me here? Let me come back."

  She did not hear any words, perceiving only satisfied determination.

  And then she felt something else and stopped, for she knew that she was no longer alone in the fog. She slowly turned around and tried to make out something in the slowly coiling gray billows.

  "Who are you?" she asked. "Where are you?"

  "I am here," replied a voice, something that little Alahandra heard for the first time. It was a voice that came from outside.

  The coils of vapor in front of little Alahandra parted and the figure of a delicately built boy came out of the fog. The large eyes in the narrow face looked around, curious and amazed.