Sleeping in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 1)

by D Patrick Wagner

  Cables reached out, variously connecting to the oscillator, reader and sensors. Buried in this electronic mess sat the artifact, strapped down in its stand. All of this, stand, computer, electronics, artifact were securely fastened to the table which was securely bolted to the floor.

  “Ready, Lassie?” Mack asked.

  Sue became accustomed to Mack’s nickname for her. In fact she liked it. She focused on the screen, checked the various readouts of the plethora of equipment and sensors.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  Stepping around to look over Sue’s shoulder, “Do it,” he requested.

  She tapped an icon and intently watched the screen. The amplitude of the sound wave began very long and flat, its altitude very low. In very small increments the altitude rose and held.

  Mack and Sue watched the monitor, watched the results of the reader. Nothing. The computer registered no change. This went on for more than an hour. Mack made trips to the service counter to bring back snacks and drinks. Sue never took her eyes off of the monitor, seeing and analyzing everything. After two hours and no change, the frustrated couple shut everything down and quit for the day. Dispirited and hungry the two headed over to the eating area.

  Finishing their meals in silence, hawkishly thinking through possible solutions, the food and drink went down without notice.

  Buster interrupted their self-imposed silence.

  “Mr. McCauley, Mz. Benson. Captain Marston has contacted me and asked for an update.”

  “Sue?” Mack asked.

  “Failure. Sound waves do not penetrate the artifact. We just wasted two whole days. Two whole days with nothing to show for it!”

  Sue’s anger showed. Mack, being Mack, sat and thought.

  “Is that what you want me to report to the captain?”

  Mack intervened. “Yes, Buster. Tell him that our latest effort came up bupkis.”

  “Yes, Sir, Ma’am.”

  Sue went back to staring at her plate.

  “Lassie.”

  Sue’s head came up.

  “I have a thought. X-rays.”

  “We don’t have an X-ray machine.”

  “We do. In medical. It’s small, not very strong. But it’s an X-ray machine.”

  “That’s awfully dangerous. X-raying the artifact?”

  “We’ve got all the gear set up. We just need to swap out the oscillator. You’ve done all the hard work. You just need to switch the code for the oscillator and have it power the X-ray machine. Is that right? Is that what’s needed for ya coding?”

  “Yup. I can do it. But, don’t you think that would be dangerous?”

  “You’ve seen how tough that little sucker is. I don’t think it will hurt it none. Let’s give it a go.”

  “Ok. But I’m keeping the rads way down. You think we were slow last time, you just watch.”

  “Smashing! We’re not done yet, Lassie!”

  Even tired, to the point of exhaustion, the two bussed their table with a new vigor and hurried off for the next try.

  Hotel Neptune

  Sitting at the outdoor dining table, Krag and Keiko sat quietly, sipping some sort of interplanetary wine and gazing at the magnificent sunset playing across the dancing waves and sparklingly white sands. The intermittent bird songs and animal noises punctuated that sunset was the time for foraging and feeding. The on-shore breeze wafted the smell of the salty air, bringing a sense of freshness to the darkening sky.

  After six weeks, eating on the balcony of their executive suite had become repetitive to the point that the novelty had worn off. The two quietly watched as the waiter unloaded his food cart and, with the same flourish of any five starred restaurant, proceeded to spread the lavish meal.

  With the table served, the waiter paused.

  “Everything looks fine,” Krag commented. “That will be all.”

  When the waiter held out a data pad, Keiko waved him to her, added a healthy tip and thumbed her signature.

  With another flourish, the waiter gave a slight bow, commented that he would always be available and left, pushing the serving cart before him.

  Krag and Keiko waited until the door closed then put napkins in their laps and proceeded to fill their plates, passing dishes and bowls back and forth as needed. Once both felt their plates were full enough and the wine glasses topped off, they began, again in individual, quiet solitude.

  Halfway into the meal, Keiko carefully placed her utensils on her plate and looked up, looked at Krag. Krag, seeing this did the same and waited.

  “Krag, I must apologize,” Keiko began.

  “You have nothing to apologize for,” Krag interrupted.

  “No, I do. Wait, hear me out.”

  Krag waited, listened.

  “Every since our theft, the killing of those men, I’ve been a twit, acted like a Kyouji, a spoiled child.”

  “Really. It’s ok. I understand.”

  “I know you do. I see how you are trying to help me through this. And I do appreciate your effort. But it’s not about your effort. It’s about me. I’m wrong. I don’t have my head on straight.”

  Krag heard what Keiko said. He saw the way she said it. The relief he felt came from the fact that he could tell that she was speaking from her heart. In that moment, most of his worries about her shrank to almost nothing.

  “What can I do to help? Where do we go from here?”

  “We fight. No holding back. Every day. Up there, in our home-away-from-home. Not here in this pamper shack. I’m tired of the lounging, the constant waiters, servants, maids. I have all that back home, on Nyu-Nippon. No more!” Her last statement rang as a decree.

  “Agreed. We start tomorrow. Be ready at sunrise.”

  “Yoroshii!” the sharp nod of her head sealed her commitment. “Eat your dinner. It’s getting cold.”

  “Yes, mother,” Krag mocked as he retrieved his cutlery and dug in.

  Aboard the Griffin

  The following morning found Mack teaching Sue how to fly the shuttle back to Pacifica to pick up Krag and Keiko.

  “Now, easy, Lass. Just watch me. It’s just like driving one of your transports back on Olympia. It just goes a little higher and a little faster. I’ll take off then you get to fly it down to the planet. Then I take over and land. easy-peasy.”

  “Easy for you, maybe. I haven’t driven in years. It’s always been public transport.”

  “No whining, girl. You asked for this. Let’s go.”

  “Lead on, MacDuff.”

  “Oh, we’re quoting Shakespeare, are we?”

  “You know?”

  “Ye think I only fiddle with me wrenches? I’ve read a book or two.”

  “Well, time’s a wasting. And our fearless leaders are waiting.”

  “You’re all strapped in?”

  “Yup. Let’s go.”

  The two continued their banter as Mack lifted the shuttle. Once in space, Mack stood and Sue took the pilot’s seat. With Mack standing over her, directing her, teaching her, she guided the luxurious little ship back towards Pacifica and Hotel Neptune.

  After the two-hour flight down and two-hour flight back, the group, Krag, Keiko, Mack and Sue, stood in the galley/ward room, studying the contraption that entrapped the artifact.

  “You two have a new idea.” Krag waved his finger at his two engineers.

  Mack looked at Sue. Sue looked at Mack and shrugged while tilting her head.

  “Yes, Cap, we do,” Mack responded for the two of them.

  “Dangerous?”

  “Don’t think so. Might be.”

  “Then, lots of safety protocols.”

  “We’re planning that now,” Sue contributed.

  “Ok. But, we have a full planning session before you try anything.” Krag wanted to quiz them right there. But he knew that he needed to trust the team. He needed to let them set up their test environment, let them establish their own level of confidence before he questioned their techniques, procedures and project outcome. S
o he left them at that and turned to Keiko. “Keiko?”

  Throughout the study of the contraption on the table and the discussion Keiko had stood quietly, absorbing everything. “I agree, Captain. Mack and Sue set up the next test and we have an in-depth discussion on it. Then we all build a consensus on the next step.”

  “It’s settled. Mack, Sue, you two get going. Keiko and I are going to get back to training. Let us know when you are ready to meet. We’ll stay on board until you are ready for the next test. Questions? Comments?”

  After Krag received head shakes and no’s from everyone, the meeting adjourned with Mack and Sue remaining in the galley/ward room and Krag and Keiko heading to their cabins to prepare for their next bout of training.

  The time it took for Krag and Keiko change into workout clothing, grab water and head to the cargo bay saw Mack and Sue tearing into the new experiment. Mack was in the process of pulling the X-ray components from the primary medical diagnostic device. Sue busied herself rewriting, reworking code to migrate from handling the oscillator to handling the X-ray device.

  Once in the bay, Krag and Keiko broke into their now-familiar stretching and warm up routines. After an hour, like clockwork, both finished, grabbed water and stood loosely, bathed in gleaming sweat. Each of them took the next hour going over their perspective katas (forms). By mutual agreement both did their weaponless forms.

  After stretching, warm up and katas, the fight training began. This time it was different. Both took their positions. Both bowed. But Keiko’s fighting lacked the precision, the calculated detachment that Krag had experienced in all of their training before. Keiko attacked and attacked with wild abandon. Gone was the measured planning, the building of technique based upon previous clashes. She just attacked, almost in a rage.

  Krag saw this. He recognized that Keiko wasn’t fighting him, she was fighting her own demons, her own guilt, her own shame. For almost two hours Krag moved around the deck, blocking and countering, but mostly defending. Periodically he’d drop her with a sweep or throw her into a tumble. Infrequently he’d strike her in the strongest parts of her body, arms, legs or head. But mostly he kept defending, kept letting Keiko work out her baggage of emotions that was threatening to hold her down, cause her to withdraw.

  At the end Keiko’s exhaustion prevented her from speaking. She grabbed more water and in between bellowing breaths she’d chug large mouthfuls while pacing randomly around the deck, alternately rolling her shoulders or rocking her head side to side, front to back. Krag finished his drink and, although bathed in sweat, had his breathing under control. He waited patiently, leaning against a crate of parts, arms folded, one ankle crossing the other. He watched as Keiko slowly wound down, walking slower, stopping the anxious body movements. Finally she stopped.

  “Done?” Krag asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Did it help?”

  “Some.”

  “Let’s get cleaned up, grab the kids and get something to eat. Knowing them, they probably haven’s come up for air since we left them.”

  “You’re probably right. And thanks, Krag.”

  “No thanks needed. I’m here for you. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  “Me too.”

  For Mack and Sue lunch turned into a rushed affair. They chomped at their food and at the bit, anxiously waiting to get back to their work. Krag and Keiko ate more slowly, more sedately. For the rest of the day everyone became immersed in their own worlds, their own tasks. Krag worked with Buster as he prowled his ship, working up a to-do list for getting the Griffin ready for the flight back to Arium. Keiko kept to her executive suite, doing simple things, passing time, reworking her frame of mind. Mack and Sue dove back into their latest attempts at cracking the mystery of the artifact.

  * * * * *

  The Griffin’s artificial morning found the four inhabitants awake and preparing for the day ahead. All sat in the galley, drinking caffeinated beverages, eating pastries and planning for the day.

  “Mack, Sue, where do we stand?” Krag asked.

  Sue spoke first. “I think I’ve got everything ready. Mack gave me the interface protocol and the schematic of the wiring harness. I just need more testing.”

  “More testing. Mack said that this test might be dangerous. You’ve done everything on your end to insure maximum safety?”

  “Yes, as best I can.”

  “Did you open a channel to Buster? An input only channel? One that would allow Buster to seize control?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I have programmed a kill switch. Mack, could you give me a Wi-Fi link that I could open up for Buster?”

  After three months, Buster seemed almost part of the crew. No free thinking or creative imagination but a very efficient AI that could carry out commands flawlessly.

  “Yes, Lass, I can get you one. I’ll have it in mid-afternoon.”

  Krag and Sue glanced at each other, picking up on the budding affection.

  “Mack, ok. What are you two up to?”

  “X-rays. Sue and I, we figured we’d set up an X-ray emitter on one side and a sensor on the other. Then we’d bombard the stubborn little bugger and see what’s inside.”

  “First off, where did you get an X-ray machine? And secondly, blasting an alien artifact, something we know nothing about, seems really risky. And dumb.” Krag said all this in his command voice.

  Sue put her hands in her lap and studiously scrutinized them. Not being deterred, Mack pushed on. "We do have an X-ray machine. Of a sorts.”

  “Where did you get one?”

  “Well, we didn’t get one. We kind of built one. From the medical analyzer.”

  “You took apart the medical analyzer? We have no way of checking for injuries or sickness?”

  “Sue and me, we discussed that. As long as we are here, at Pacifica, we can use their facilities. So it’s not like we don’t have resources. We’ll have it all back together before we leave. Better than new.”

  “You should have asked me, Mack.” Krag’s accusation hung in the air. No one dared to look at Krag.

  “We didn’t think of that,” Mack almost mumbled. “Sorry, Cap. That’s on me. Sue’s new to all this. She wouldn’t a known. I promise. One little test and I put it all back. My word.”

  “You better.”

  “Promise on me Ma and Pa.’

  “When do you plan on running this test?”

  Mack turned to Sue, the obvious relief showing in his posture. “Lassie? This afternoon? Midway?”

  With the tension leaving the air, Sue emotionally rejoined the group. “Yes. I can be ready. Three o’clock. I can be ready by three o’clock.”

  “Me too,” Mack responded.

  “With Buster connected.”

  “Yes, with Buster networked in.”

  “We meet here at three o’clock. You two don’t fire anything up until Keiko and I get here.”

  “Agreed, Cap.”

  “Through it all Keiko watched, didn’t contribute but did stay involved.

  * * * * *

  The next four hours had two teams deeply involved with their undertakings. Krag and Keiko trained. But this session had two different agendas. Keiko spent her time continuing to flush the emotional toxins that had been poisoning her spirit since the theft. Krag used his fighting to keep his mind off of what was happening in the galley and simultaneously making himself a target for Keiko’s cathartic cleansing.”

  Mack and Sue finished their work, double checked their work, nervously attempted to foresee the dangers. Through it all the excitement of doing something new, something never tried drew the two closer together.”

  Finally three o’clock arrived. Krag stood next to Keiko. Keiko sat, just watching. Sue sat at her console, watching everyone. Mack stood behind Sue, studying his hardware concoction.

  “Ok. Walk me through it,” Krag commanded.

  Mack started. “There are four pieces of equipment. This is the X-ray generator.” He pointed to an obviously
homemade metal box with a hole pointing at the artifact. “Its waves are much like ultra violet light, only with shorter wave lengths, longer than the gamma rays.” Next he pointed to a flat shiny pad on the opposite side of the artifact. “That is the sensor. It will receive the exiting X-ray stream and pass the sensory pattern data to Sue’s computer via those hard cables.” Then he pointed to a large two-dimensional monitor. “Once the data stream is interpreted by the computer we should get an image on that monitor of what is inside.” Then he pointed at Sue. “I’m just the hardware guy. She’s the brains. She can explain the rest.”

  Sue picked up the queue. “I’ve set the program to run a very slow progression cycle. We are going to use hard X-rays, between the photon energy ranges five thousand electron volts and two hundred thousand electron volts. The computer is programmed to advance in ten thousand E-V increments. There will be a ten second delay after each advancement. That should give us a good look at each result. If something interesting shows up, I can hit the pause icon. If we can see inside we should get a good look.”

  “Buster’s connection?”

  "Wi-Com’ed into the processor, linked directly to the kill switch.

  “Buster?”

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “Please set all visual and audio monitors to record in the galley/wardroom.”

  “Task completed.”

  “If you perceive any actions, visuals or audials not within maximum safety parameters immediately terminate the exercise.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “Mack, Sue, does that cover it?”

  Mack and Sue exchanged looks and nods. “I think that covers it, Cap. We’re good to go.”

  “Keiko, anything to add?”

  “No, Captain.” Keiko answered, back in her professional mode.

  “Finally. A little bit back!” Krag thought.

  “Then we’re ready. Push the button.”

  Sue, sitting at her control pad and staring intently at the monitor, didn’t push a button. She touched and icon and immediately held her hand over the pause icon.

  At five thousand EV’s nothing happened. A hundred seconds later, at one hundred thousand EV’s still nothing showed up on the monitor. Everyone continued to watch the blank screen. One hundred-twenty thousand. Still nothing. At one hundred-twenty-five thousand EV’s a faint smudge began to form. The four people, standing close to the artifact began to feel slightly light headed. No one thought anything of it. They all chalked it up to their intense concentration.