PROLOGUE:1
A portion of the original document: "The Fourth-Segment of the Cycle-Chronicle", with translation.2
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Chabridutt-Shappairotan Viz-Grayat4
5
"Chi'Mat A'nurq vahtipulai shappit naytat Shappairotan"6
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A'nurq vo mihnsarrat "Shu'Ynat Behtarg Grae". A'nurq Chi'Mat Nivat muhlumsu shun ir'shunarru A'nurq chabridahg par'Oktillu ynat Shappairotan dannugrayat.8
"Shu'Ynat Behtarg Grae"9
"Pennat Del" daryat daz yarrin ladahr.
Kos' chrodym bis Del Yar' ynat Kros chrodhu.10
"Penilar Pentar" min' prendu mindullar kontequimar.
Kontequimat Pentar, kontesquet ynat Oktillu.11
"Schravni Gir", Kav' ynat ginnissarrar.
Gavi Gir kavirnu' ynat b'oktilu.12
"Whavet Uuma" xahli' ynat kavarnar.
Xahlint d'ynat oktipulat kavarshant heshaygro h'oktilu.13
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Chabru millenquait vaht - da'dyhnyatu A'nurq bynatu Chabridutt-Shappairotan Viz-Grayat synatu Garhyar Do'chiteron Chi' Teravtillu. 15
Ni'chabrin vo Si' Janil A'nurq byn da'viz da'dahynyat sho Chi'Mat A'nurq. 16
M'Grae-Hysaronat Bahdchabridutt, par'Oktillu ynat Shappairotan dannugrayat, ynat Thayne Si'Chabrigat appodish baxahlu Chi'Mat. 17
Vo Ni'chabrin Si' Janil A'nurq da'hynat sho Chi'Mat A'nurq chynatu byn da'viz Voss, Grae, Edanno, Evosso. Bahdchabridam Gi' Haihn A'nurq chynatu byn da'viz Dann, Natt, Enatt, Egrae.18
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TRANSLATION20
The Fourth-Segment of the Cycle-Chronicle 21
"May the A'nurq Consort live a second Cycle"22
23
Beloved of A'nurq was the Chant of the Four Houses. The Consort of A'nurq sang the anthem as praise to Nivat in memorial to Anurq in the 9th Cycle after Confederation.24
Chant of the Four Houses25
"Del of the blue face", the voyager girt by seas.
Del, the navigator of embassies, merchant of unity.26
"Pentar of the pale countenance", forested land washed in winter rains.
Pentar the timbered, pivot-beam of the Confederation.27
Gir the grey-skinned, builders of cities.
Gir the architect of coalition.28
The tawny Uuma, shapers of metals.
The Uuma, warriors of forethought, forging the fourfold alliance.29
30
Let the reader acknowledge that this is the Fourth-Segment of the Cycle-Chronicle of A'nurq, Do'chiteron to the High Council of Garhyar. 31
Si' Janil A'nurq was scribe for this segment from the mouth of A'nurq's Consort. 32
Transcribed on Hysaronat-4, in the 9th Cycle after Confederation, and placed by the Consort's hand in the Great Library of Thayne. 33
From the mouth of the Consort was Si' Janil A'nurq scribe also for segments 3, 4, 5 and 7. Gi' Haihn A'nurq served as scribe for segments 1, 2, 6 and 8. 34
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CHAPELLE36
“Chapelle.” David’s voice was gentle. It nudged its way softly through the fog of her sleep. 37
“Chapelle, darling, its time to wake up… Chapelle.” This was repeated several times before it penetrated her consciousness. She smiled and stretched as the recorded message repeated itself for the fifth and final time. “Chapelle, darling, its time to wake up. Chapelle.” She never tired of hearing her late husband’s voice. She had substituted that intimate awakening notice for the standard androgenous computer generated “sleep period is now terminated” message. Unhitching the restraints, Chapelle swung her legs off the bunk, dug at her eyes with her fists, and sat upright. She glanced at the empty bunk opposite and stretched herself, yawning, over to her cabin desk, and typed in a command. The computer would send out yesterday’s data, and notification of her “awake and on duty” status. 38
Changing from her sleep outfit into a work smock and magnetic shoes she walked down the hallway to the exercise room. While she was doing her daily 10k treadmill run, and half an hour of isometrics, she recited the verses she’d set herself to memorise that week… “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints………..which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”39
She’d set herself the goal of memorising the letters to the Ephesian and Philippian churches before the end of the month. Each SPEWOP was manned by a husband and wife team, with an eight-year tour of duty. Half way through their tour, her husband David had died of a cerebral haemorrhage. She estimated that a relief ship would now be some ninety-seven weeks away. She should have memorised all of the New Testament by then, she hoped.40
SPEWOP-3 [‘System Periphery Early-Warning Orbital Platform’-3; known as “Spew-ups” to their crews, due to the occasional nausea experienced in the lower gravity environment] was one of four such ships patrolling the edge of the Solar system. The Canmexus Union had adapted and armed the standard planetary research orbital platforms to give early warning should there be an “incursion” into the solar system. ‘Incursion’ being their euphemism for the nagging human fear that “something” was out there, and ready to invade.41
The platforms followed a standard design: an outer ring, four equidistant tubes branching inwards provided systems conduits and passage between the outer ring and the large inner cylinder. Externally, an array of dishes, disks, panels and antennae supported remote sensing, information gathering and broadcasting functions. Docked at one end of the central module was a wedge-shaped ‘K’-class short-range reconnaissance craft, a SHRC, which some antiquarian film buff had christened SHReC. Each SPEWOP also had an MEPARS, [manned extra-platform articulated repair sled] stored in the equipment bay. It looked like an inelegant blend of snowmobile, cherrypicker and octopus.42
For a crew of one, the platform’s routine duties were incessant, but manageable. Optical and radiometric telescopes swept SPEWOP-3’s assigned piece of the heavens. Data had to be read, interpreted, measurements confirmed. The platform itself had diagnostic and maintenance routines. The nuclear generator required regular monitoring. Health and sanity required that she address sleep, exercise and food appropriately. Non-routine events, though few, had now to be addressed by one individual, and called for additional forethought. The failure of a servo arm last week had itself required a four-hour EVA in the MEPARS to fix. That had taken half a day of preparation, and several hours of recuperation afterwards. She hadn’t anticipated how stressful it was to work without a partner. She was always aware that she was alone. Only occasionally would she admit to being lonely.43
Chapelle Delacroix [nee Devereux] was 37, and held doctorates in electrical and nuclear engineering. She and David had been married just 5 years when they had been picked for this assignment. He had previously commanded a research platform orbiting Saturn. They had planned to have a child after the completion of this assignment. 44
Chapelle left the small exercise cubical and walked down the curving hallway to her cabin. In the very minimalist bathroom she took a sponge bath in the “shower” recess, and stood under the heat lamps until she felt warmed through. All clothing was ‘dry-clean only’, so the sweaty smock went into that pile as she changed into a jumpsuit for the day’s routines. The small amount of water she used was sucked into the recycling system overhead as she dried.45
Routines. 46
Walk to the small food-prep cubicle: 2 microwaves, a refrigeration unit, a counter top and cupboard. Breakfast – a fruit and cereal bar [low GI, no ‘use-by’ date on the box], warm water [to expand the fruit bar in her stomach], and a vitamin supplement pill [she did urine and blood tests every 4 weeks as part of her health check]. 47
Routines. 48
Walk to the far side of the outer ring to the telemetry analysis consoles. Review the night’s data. ‘Its always ‘night’ outside’, she thought. She ran her personal "clock" by Montreal's time zone. Check, and double-check the alignment of the various telescopes.49
Routines. 50
Walk back to the platform core, enter the communications centre and call up any overnight transmissions arriving from SSDA [Solar System Development Authority]. Reading - Item 1, her once-a-week [but weeks delayed] video-gram from her mother and father, part of the SSDA cosmonaut support program; especially important now, in her widowhood. They were fine, no changes at the University of Manitoba where they were both tenured full professors [Mom in Mathematics, Dad in Art History]. Her ‘baby’ [21] brother André had been accepted into the SSDA academy, as expected. Sister Louise [31], Bob and the twins, ok. All sent their love. Routine, but appreciated. Item 2, a two-week special tasking request from SSDA for telescopes 3 and 4. Item 3: a request for a complete inventory of food, water, O2, etc., for forwarding to the relief ship carrying the replacement couple.51
Routines. 52
She spent the next quarter hour programming the changes for the special astronomy tasking into the computer. That had been her husband’s area of expertise, and she was still on a learning curve.53
She would do the inventory manually, then double check it against a computer inventory as a mental challenge. 54
Finally, it was time to do her daily walk-through of the platform. Conduit-by-conduit, room-by-room, panel-by-panel, junction-box-by-junction-box, hallway-by-hallway, section-by-section, she visually inspected the interior of the ship. On her linkpad she noted any problems or repair needs for diagnosis by the computer. She gave her closest attention to the atomic generator and the life-support systems. 55
As she walked she listened to the elctromechanical hum that suffused the platform. She had lived with it so long that it took little concentration to identify its variations from one section to another; more distinct in the centre module, less noticeable in the outer ring. It was the ‘heartbeat’ of the platform, her primary diagnostic tool. Finally, her sojourn complete, she returned to the central cylinder and moved to the docking bay. 56
There, she put on a space suit and entered the K-class liaison craft through an airlock. The liaison craft’s life-support was kept at minimum settings when not in use. Chapelle walked awkwardly to the pilots’ cabin and initiated craft re-activation. She then ran through the on-board diagnostic pre-flight checklist. When all the visual displays matched the checklist she switched off her suit system and removed her helmet. The craft smelled stuffy. Leaving her helmet on the opposite seat she began her visual inspection and inventory of the passenger compartment, and then the cargo hold. The liaison craft could handle 6 passengers plus two crew, and fuel and supplies for 3 months travel. Sufficient, theoretically, to scrutinize anything that happened to come poking into this section of the system. Sufficient, theoretically, to reach the nearest system life-station. 57
Her inspection complete Chapelle sat in the pilot’s seat and relaxed. A few keystrokes on the console, and Baroque music softly filled the cabin. This was ‘her’ time; thinking, remembering, imagining David. Not morbidly, but with warmth and gratitude for the marriage they had shared. When the music, Georg Telemann’s Das Tod Jesu, David’s favourite piece, ended, Chapelle put on the helmet, went automatically through the shutdown procedures, and exited the liaison craft.58
Routines. 59
* * *60
ON THE FREIGHTER VORL -1761
Two bare feet slapped sharply against the concave flooring. “Huhng!” Sweat flew as the careering orb thunk-thunked against two of the eight wall surfaces. “Eeeyah!” A second pair of feet slapped. Thwack - the orb was arrested in its flight.62
“Interception, loss of one point” intoned the electronically flat voice of the Vox. “Score now: Blue 31, Red 29. Red serves.”63
“Eeyah!” came the aggressive expenditure of effort. Thunk, thunk, thunk, as the orb hit floor, wall, ceiling segments in rapid succession. Bahrin Del-Phar launched into the air. “Huhng! – Nooo!”64
“Deflection” intoned the Vox. “Score now: Blue 31, Red 31. Red serves.”65
Treen Del-Mahz crouched, stressing every muscle for the throw, thoughts focused: ‘Deception needed. What is Bahrin expecting?’ Absolute effort, “H’eeyah!”66
The orb hit a floor segment and spun sharply away, rising. Hitting one of the octagonal wall segments it continued its rise, just touching a ceiling panel. Energy spent it dropped to the floor untouched. Bahrin was only half way to it as the orb dribbled to a halt. He muttered under his panting breath.67
“Score now Blue 31, Red 34. Red holds serve,” chanted the Vox.68
Silent and focused, Treen pirouetted and fired the orb at a far wall segment. Bahrin had expected this and moved quickly towards the orb’s anticipated trajectory.69
Thunk, thunk, thwack. He was too slow by a shade.70
“Deflection. Final score Blue 31, Red 35. Red wins round nine,” intoned the Vox.71
Treen grinned at her twin brother in triumph. He held his face in a huff for a few seconds and then added his own grin. He’d won seven out of the nine Octorb games they’d played so far this trip. He could afford to be a good sport, even to his twin sister. “End game, exit players, engage recycling”, commanded Bahrin.72
“Executing” responded the Vox flatly. 73
A wall segment retracted and opened onto a short hallway. The twins exited and went to their respective rooms to shower and change. Behind them the panel slid back into place, and the sweat-laden air was pumped out for recycling. In their rooms each twin peeled off their sweat soaked cellulose sports smocks and tossed them into a recycling container. Activating their showers produced a very fine brief spray of water, followed by a spray of cleanser. They lathered for 1 minute, and then the spray started again, working quickly from the head down. A vacuum drain sucked up water and foam while heat lamps dried them. While they dressed in regular jumpsuits the shower-unit automatically recycled the moist air from the stall through the craft’s environmental support system.74
Bahrin spoke into the intercom, “I’m heading up to Navigation, you coming?” “Yes”, came the reply. 75
They met in the hallway, dressed in identical grey outfits, and began the climb up to Navigation. Being the only passengers on this run had its compensations; just as being the offspring of the Vorl Syndicate’s Commissioner on the Vorl planetoid had its perks. On the ‘VS-17’ modular freighter they were well looked after.76
* * *77
“Sir” the ‘D-Ana’ [data analyser] operator spoke over his shoulder from his tech-carrel, “I’m getting a proximity warning and an intermittent ID transmission, looks like an outbound freighter on the reciprocal of our track.” 78
“Interrogate,” commanded the officer.79
“Interrogating,” responded the D-Ana operator80
The minutes passed as the signals went and returned through space. A light blinked.81
“Distance and identity?” asked the freighter’s senior officer.82
“Indeterminate. ID unconfirmed as yet. Over 7 sectims and closing. We should get a clearer signal in a few minutes.” 83
“Very well. Let me know.” He wandered back along the corridor to speak with the Systems Engineer. Bahrin and Treen entered Navigation quietly, as they had been instructed at the beginning of the voyage, and took up their accustomed places. Bahrin kibitzed over the shoulder of the D-Ana operator, while Treen spoke softly to the environmental officer. A few minutes later the Navcom officer called the senior officer over, and Bahrin moved aside.84
“Range now 300,000. Identifies as Tavno Syndicate-44. Reciprocal of our track, but only point-1 sectim off our quayside.”85
“Tavno Syndicate-44? What she doing on this run? What does our SFIM [Syndicate Fleets Identity Manual] say?”86
The D-Ana operator pulled a binder out of his tech-carrel library. Thumbing through it he came to the Tavno Syndicate’s fleet of inter-planetary freighters. “Tavno 44 is standard configuration, standard propulsion, crew 9, current senior officer is Raz-Mitran’Orr.”87
“Orr? What would he be doing on a run like ours? Contact them, I wish to speak with Orr.”88
“Yes sir.” The operator typed out the transmission. Presently a return message informed him that senior officer Raz-Mitran’Orr was indisposed, and Tu’ Rij was in Navigation.89
“Switch to voice transmission.”90
“Tu’ Pullum-Rij here” came a static-filled voice. “Can I be of service?”91
“Raz Shaut’Nho here. I wanted to speak to my old friend Orr.”92
“I am sorry that he is indisposed. I will give him your regards when he awakens.”93
“Anything serious?”94
“Only a virus. He should recover completely.”95
“My D-Ana says you are only pint-1 sectim out from us. A bit close, don’t you think? Why don’t we both standoff a further point-25?”96
“If that makes you happy, but I have a deadline to meet.”97
“Don’t we all. End transmission.”98
The chief officer stood scratching his chin for a moment, a puzzled look on his face. “Move us stormside laterally point-25 from course. 99
“Range now 100,000,” said the operator. “She seems to be manoeuvring away from us. 100
A few minutes later he reported “Range now 75,000. They’re speeding up!… swinging back at us!… I don’t understand,” commented the Navcom. 101
“I do!” The senior officer struck the nearest intercom button, hard. “Alarm!! Pirates closing! Defence stations! Seal all sections!”102
“Range now 67,000.”103
Anything on active array?”104
“Not yet.” 105
“All sections sealed,” reported the environmental officer.106
“D-Ana, get a message off to….” 107
“Active array shows 2 missiles have been fired! Impact in 9.”108
“…to sector control. Give our transit location, situation and the false identity used by the pirates. Everyone into their suits! Activate decoys!”109
A loaded freighter was not a highly manoeuvrable unit. Nor could they outrun a pirate craft. Pirates invariably damaged, boarded and simply looted freighters, leaving the crew alone if there was no armed resistance. Crews normally donned survival suits in case internal environmental integrity was compromised in a raid.110
As he struggled to get his survival suit on, the senior officer asked himself…”Why attack a freighter on this run?…no finished products, no rare metals…Why?.…The children of the Vorl Syndicate’s Commissioner!” The senior officer barked at the Environmental Officer… “Get these passengers into an escape module, now!” 111
Bahrin Del-Phar and Treen Del-Mahz were roughly pushed through a hatchway and into the crew’s quarters. The hatch covers into the escape modules were already opened. 112
“Impact in 3” came the tense voice of the Navcom.113
The decoy rockets sent out ion propulsion, magnetic and electronic signatures identical to the actual freighter. But they could not compensate for the homing devices secreted aboard during the last trip to the home world. The first missile was targeted to hit the external communications array. The second targeted to damage the ion engine venturi ports. That compromised the environmental integrity of the engine section. The ship would now coast along its course, unable to communicate, left with only steerage jets. It would be a slow trip, until they were overdue and search vessels found them.114
“Launch the module.”115
The freighter sat between the pirate craft and the escape pod. The captain hoped that his ship’s bulk would block the scanner return. He wasn’t overly confident.116
* * *117
THE PELLED KREASK118
119
"Let the reader acknowledge that in the 8th Cycle after Confederation, the High Council of Garhyar dispatched a Delegation to the Hysaron System in Octym 7. They travelled on the research vessel Pelled Krasc." 120
121
Jihr Taur' Regc strode down the corridor with two ceremonially dressed security detachment members in tow. Like a slow-motion comet the inset motion-sensor lights dimmed down behind them as they left each bay along the hall. His Uumai yellow-brown facial striations glistened lightly in anticipation of this formal duty. The two Girii 'grey-skins' ambled along quietly behind him. The detail stopped before the loading dock entrance, each honour-guard took up a position beside the portal and stood, digits touching, with their forearm weapons-pack at parade rest. Jihr Taur' Regc, tall even for an Uuma, brought his elongate body to attention, arms out horizontally, palms up, the three digits and appositive of each hand in the supplicant's position. He felt far from supplication. His rank of Taur' gave him operational authority over the ship's internal security, point-defence and exploration-landing teams. But it was the verbal and very confidential instructions from the High Counsellor of Garhyar to himself and Vizh Ki' Oste that gave him tactical joint authority for the success of the whole mission.122
The portal slid open, and the two guards stiffened. Jihr Taur' Regc bowed the regulation obeisance, but held his eyes open. Mu Tai' Gann, first of the party to exit the loading dock, disdainfully took in the meagre escort and asked haughtily, "Where is the Ki' Oste?"123
Jirh Taur' Regc answered the imperious Del impassively. "Dhiakholai, Tai' Gann. Vizh Ki' Oste is attending to his technical duties." 124
"His duty was here," the angry 'blue-faced' politician responded, deliberately omitting the standard greeting response, ‘Dhia-Dhiak’. He stood aside and tapped his foot to show his displeasure. The rare 'Taufang” feathers woven into his cloak glowed an iridescent green in sympathy with his striations. He only wore it to intimidate lesser 'cyclings'. He didn’t realise that it merely made him look vain, which he was.125
Jirh Taur'Regc made no comment. Instead he turned his attention to the next home-worlders. The two scientists-*bunny*-diplomats, Li Viq' Dalabar and Vo Viq' Xutha emerged together. Li Viq' Dalabar was short for a Pentar, but his broad smile, full white hair, pale skin and cinnamon robe focused all attention on his deeply intelligent eyes. He surveyed everything, took in everything. The smallest nuisance was recorded, measured and assigned a value. He rarely spoke at meetings, but people listened when he did. 126
Vo Viq' Xutha was his foil in many ways; loquacious, seemingly youthful, almost frivolous; and as dangerous an opponent as anyone could have when his ethics were attacked. Another blue-face, but of very different model to the Tai'. The High Counsellor had chosen them with care. Outvoted in the selection of Mu Tai' Gann as the head of the Delegation, the High Counsellor had sought to place solid advisers around the pretentious, and potentially harmful, politician.127
"Dhiakholai, honoured Viqim", Taur' Regc greeted them.128
"Dhia-Dhiak!" the ebullient Viq' Xutha responded on their behalf.129
Jirh Taur' Regc's eyes brightened, but he held his poise as the last senior member of the Delegation emerged from the portal. Si' Viyatt Nu, the Delegation’s Chief Administrator. Dressed in a smoky grey robe highlighted by a single golden cord woven at an angle though the material, Si’ Viyatt Nu looked as lovely as Jirh Taur' Regc remembered her. As always, her clothing highlighted her deep fawn colouring. She returned his look frankly, appraising the intervening years, her striations not hinting of emotion. There was, he noticed, a barely perceptible flare of her nostrils. "She has prepared herself well for this flight", he observed to himself. Where she was concerned, his own emotions were in less control, he was sure. 130
"Dhiakolai, noble Si' Vyatt Nu" he said in a formal tone to cover his bittersweet pleasure at seeing her here.131
He darkened ever so slightly as Si' Viyatt Nu dipped her head in polite response, "Dhia-Dhiak, esteemed Taur'", and moved to join her colleagues. Exiting behind her were the four Mawim, glorified diplomatic-clerks-in-training. Jihr Taur' Recq knew that each Maw' had passed stringent psychological assessment and academic training in preparation for this mission. Also, he knew, a multitude of security checks and crosschecks were demanded.132
"Dhiakolai, valued Mawim." The Taur' said with a broad smile of greeting.133
"Dhia-Dhiak," they responded in awkward unison.134
Looking at the youthful diplomats Jihr Taur' Regc recalled dV'Klell's Chant of the Four Houses. Pit Maw' Del a 'blue-face' from the land of sailors and merchants, Sho Maw' Pentar of the 'pale countenance' from the land of foresters and craftsmen, Viss Maw' Gir a 'grey-skin' from the land of organisation and empire-building, and Aad Maw' Uuma a 'tawny-skin' from the land of mercenaries and metallurgists. Each deliberately representing the four landmasses and primary ethnicities of Garhyar. Even their surnames had been changed by act of the High Council to represent their land-groups rather than that of their birth families. If they survived this mission, and prospered, then each would start a new elite family line, begat in honour. And each, according to their performance, could expect to rise eventually to positions of prominence in the homeworld government. Or, perhaps, they would seek their careers in the intergalactic trading links that might stem from this first dangerous and problematic attempt to locate another sentient race of beings.135
Four crewmen exited last, struggling under the load of the Delegation's baggage. The Delegation moved off in order of rank, as the ceremonial guards assisted the baggage carriers at the rear, more evenly distributing the awkward and excessive cases. 136
Jihr Taur' Regc pondered these things as he led the delegation along the central passageway in B-Pod to the corridor linking it to C-Pod. His orders were to get them settled in their cabins, and help them prepare for the official welcome-meal with Ki' Oste and the other ship's officers. He kept up a tour-guide monologue as they walked. "The decks are decorated after landmasses from the home world," he explained. "This is B-Pod. Notice the murals, motifs and colours. To star side is level A-Pod. Your cabins are in C-Pod”.137
"I'm grateful that the ambient temperature on this level doesn't reflect Pentar's summer humidity," Tai' Gann said truculently. Si' Viyatt Nu turned her slender neck slightly to catch the look of pain that crossed Sho Maw' Pentar's naturally pale face. Tai' Gann represented the mining syndicates of the Tsarit on the High Council, and shared that sub-region's prejudicial dislike of the less temperate zones of the planet. 138
To rebuke the Tai' without directly challenging his dignity Si' Viyatt Nu softly recited dV' Klell's Chant of the Four Houses –139
"Del of the blue face", the voyager girt by seas.140
Del, the navigator of embassies, merchant of unity.141
"Pentar of the pale countenance", forested land washed in winter rains.142
Pentar the timbered, pivot-beam of the Confederation.143
"Gir the grey-skinned", builders of cities.144
Gir the architect of coalition.145
"The tawny Uuma", shapers of metals.146
The Uuma, warriors of forethought, forging the fourfold alliance.147
Inwardly Jihr Taur' Regc laughed at the Tai's discomfiture; who dared not irritate the Si' Viyatt of the High Counsellor. Outwardly he evenly observed, "All Pods are maintained at a standard environmental level, honoured Tai', though some will find it too cool or too hot for a while. Our interplanetary voyagers, representing all Garhyarii, have shown that only a little time is required to completely acclimatise to the temperature on board ship. Here we are," he said as they reached the C-Pod’s central passageway. "You will find your accommodation the best on the ship. The Kirihngayat Ceremony will be announced soon. Ki' Oste requests the pleasure of your company at a meal in one half-nah. I will send a security tech to escort you to the officer's quarters. This suite honoured Tai' is yours," he said as he applied his appositive digit to the scanner. It read his security implant and opened soundlessly. "The door has been pre-programmed to accept your implant Tai' Gann…"148
"As well as yours I see" the politician observed coldly.149
"Senior ship's officers have access to every portal, honoured Tai', for the safe operation of the ship," the Taur' said with veiled authority. “The crewman carrying your cases has been assigned as your valet. Please activate the intercom for their assistance."150
The pompous patrician sauntered disdainfully into his quarters; large by the standards of the ship, but minuscule by his palatial requirements. A haggard crewwoman came in behind with the politician's three cases, and put them on the lounge and was autocratically dismissed. He had no intention of letting the crewwoman see some of the items he’d brought on this voyage. The room's decor was subdued, but of very high craftsmanship. Its wooden parquet of tan and red shades should have been appreciatively appraised for their aesthetics. Instead, Tai' Gann went immediately to his briefcase, activated the lock and withdrew a small silver brooch, a 'Taufang' bird, symbol of his Syndicate. Standing in front of the reflector he pinned it on. Patiently, systematically he walked around the entire four-room suite, lounge - office – sleep - lavatory. Satisfied at last that there were no surveillance devices he removed the brooch and returned it to his briefcase. Only after he had satisfied his caution did he unpack his belongings. 151
Outside, in the burnished-tan hallway the Taur' Regc had led the party to the next portal. "Our two esteemed Viq' are in this suite." He bowed and disengaged the lock. As large as the Tai's quarters, even shared, it was more than adequate for the two advisers. The remaining group members moved on, while two crew carried in their belongings, and stayed long enough to unpack, point out various features and details, and be politely thanked by Viq' Dalabar. The two Viq began a low conversation as soon as they left. 152
Before Jihr Taur' Regc could activate Si' Viyatt Nu's portal, she asserted her 'ownership' of the suite by placing an appositive digit on the scanner. "Access denied" her eyes said clearly as she glanced briefly at Jihr Taur' Regc before entering. In many ways her suite was more graciously outfitted than the Tai's. She was, after all the Si' Viyatt, the "High Daughter", of the planet's High Counsellor. Subtle metalwork sculptures accented her room, in the themes of Uuma. When her valet had withdrawn, she began to carefully unpack. She placed several small cycle-mementos on the writing table, adding a personal touch to her quarters. Chief among them was the diaphanous Iksoten jewel that Jihr Taur' Regc had given her so many years ago. Seemingly clear, yet ablaze with endless, captivating depths, the most rare of Uuma's mineral wealth. This was the heirloom of an elite family, priceless; the jewel meant only for a Consort. The consort she could not be for a mere Taur'. As this thought touched her, she knelt in the mendicant position and began to pray to Nivat for His blessings on the voyage and mission. And for Jihr Taur’ Regc.153
“Nivat, nitowashtikin waptecashna mayaque” she began the ancient, and officially prohibited, prayer to her God and Saviour. 154
The officer had led the four Mawim to their shared quarters. Less lavish than the other suites, as befitted their lower rank, they were much more ornate than Jihr Taur' Regs' own unit. His duty completed he walked to the Ki's cabin to report; then returned to C-Pod to change his uniform.155
Taur' Regcs had lived off-world almost one quarter of a life-cycle. With no home-world wars to fight, his service there had been a series of minor police actions. First, against insurrectionists in Tsarh, then helping stem the food riots in Bisarna. Then, as soon as he reached the rank of Tuum, he had taken off-planet duty, and stayed in the colonies as long as possible. His only home-world time since then had been on furlough. Even then his furloughs had been bittersweet. Without Si' Viyatt Nu to share his cycle he had simply filled in his cycle-time in various colonies. 156
Whatever hope he had held for himself and his childhood companion had faded with her father's elevation to High Counsellor. Her new status as the "High Daughter" of the home-world's supreme leader moved her far beyond his lower station. A Regcs had been a Tuweld in the armed forces for cycles out of memory. Yet despite the elite status of his family, Jihr Taur' Regc, as youngest son, could never aspire to exalted stations. Certainly not after the reduction-in-force that had accompanied the re-missioning of the military two cycles ago. Not for nothing did the old adage state "Peace is bad for promotion". But no foreseeable promotion could ever place him on consort level with Si' Viyatt Nu.157
In the intervening years they had met many times, on his leave, or during her many diplomatic tours of colonies. Their time together had become more and more formal over the years. Now he felt the distance between them. He hoped that it would not interfere with his duty, or her mission to the Hysaronat system.158
He let his mind shift to his mission as he changed into his 'shipboard' uniform. The ship would need to transverse 19 Saht of space. Except for the transit crew, everyone else would be placed in "lh'ymin", the state of medically induced prolonged hibernation developed for Garhyarii travel to their more distant planets. The transit crew would rotate through abbreviated terms of hibernation, and would age accordingly. Everyone one else would only age the equivalent of two Rotans. 159
"Still," he mused, "the High Counsellor has risked a great deal by sending his own High Daughter on this fateful mission." Much could transpire in the rotans they would be away. And, the High Counsellor was nearing the end of his cycle. He wondered, not for the first time, why the High Counsellor had entrusted him with a secret agenda. There would be enough to do simply with the unknown factors of seeking another sentient race! Let alone the pressures of keeping Tai' Gann from undermining the mission through his blundering, or worse. And, the High Counsellor had warned, there may be Delegates, or crew-members, who wished the mission to fail for their own reasons. Not everyone on Garhyar wished to face the challenges of interstellar exploration. Fear was a great motivator, to subversion as well as to competition. And treason was not an unknown transgression among the Four Houses.160
The simulated Bahrtiq carillon sounded a quavering melody on the intercom, and Jihr Taur' Regc left his quarters in response to the summoning chords. He looked forward to joining the officers and guests at the Kirihngayat, the post-Confederation 'welcoming-meal', with its deliberate blend of the various welcoming traditions of the Four Houses. While the syncretism bothered him, he valued the symbolic planetary unity it represented. He hoped that the sometimes-fragile unity would withstand the challenges this mission would create. He would do everything within his duty to ensure that it did.161
162
THE KIRIHNGAYAT163
164
Throughout the vessel officers and members of the delegation responded to the carillon, left their quarters and headed towards the assembly room for the "Kirihngayat". All gave some thought to the coming mission, but there was neither unity nor harmony among their inner convictions.165
In the assembly room the Ki' Oste stood awaiting his officers and guests. As required by tradition he was dressed, uncomfortably, in a crenulated Balynsat robe. As he waited he inwardly re-examined the issues that had occupied so much of his energy for the last few rotans: Garhyarii expansion beyond their solar system. He reviewed the salient points again, hoping to add more insight into how he, and Taur' Regc, would shepherd this mission to a peaceful conclusion.166
For him, such meditation was almost poetic. Garhyar, the 'home-world', 6th planet in the Vayasarat. Garhyar, of the eight oceans. and four continents. Garhyar of the sentient life form, the Garhyarii. Garhyar of the "Four Houses". For eight life-cycles the commercially motivated path-finders of Garhyar had voyaged outward from the home-world. Each cycle had extended the outreach of the planet throughout the Viyasarat. Yet, in all their planet-falls, the Garhyarii had yet to meet another sentient race of beings.167
In the first phase, space probes had inspected the closer planets, then the giant sun, Viyasut, and finally the outer planets. These probes brought back data on the mineral and environmental resources of each planet. A wild push for outreach, exploitation and commercialisation ensued. The Syndicates arose in vicious competition, undermining the traditional balance of the Houses. To assist this out-rushing exploitation three massive space-transit-depots had been constructed above Garhyar. These transit depots served a three-fold purpose, to launch crewed exploration vessels outward, to act as way-stations to acclimatise colonists, and as the transfer point for incoming freight-shuttles. 168
The first three planets of the Viyasarat, unnamed and merely numbered, were geologically unstable, molten balls too close to the giant sun for life or colonisation. Automated facilities, orbiting in anti-rotation, operated on the 'cool' sides of each planet, extracting gaseous and mineral wealth. Van, the 5th, twice the size of Garhyar, had proved the easiest to exploit from a technical standpoint. Baz, the 7th, and Vor the 8th, were mere planetoids, with less exploitable wealth. Bidu, the 9th planet, was an aquatic world of lower life forms, and the most scientifically challenging of all. 169
But mineral wealth, rather than scientific inquiry, has driven the Garhyarii since the First Cycle-of-Cycles ended. The control of Garhyar’s resources had caused the Four Houses to pool their resources to reach into the heavens for replenishment. As the resources on the homeworld were depleted, the Garhyarii sought more and more replenishment on neighbouring planets. So Bidu too was mined, of water-borne chemicals and minerals, of life forms for food. "Why", many Garhyarii secretly cursed, "did Niv people Garhyar so abundantly, but resource it so sparingly?" 170
This increasing need for resources stimulated new transit and carrying technologies. Design followed pragmatic function as Garhyar's space transit vessels carried processed minerals from the twin planetoids of Baz and Vor, or food concentrates, fertilisers and finished products from commercial colonies on Cazu and Safu, the 10th and 11th planets. In reverse, these freighters carried new population and produce back to the outposts. Commercial and colonial travel had become supremely commonplace. Except of course for the rise of piracy. To fight that, the Interdiction Forces had been developed. 171
As technology advanced to keep pace with commercial demands, the technocrats and astronomers of Garhyar pushed for exploration; always hopeful that there had to be "the others". Fear was a great motivator, and the greatest of social cancers. Having ceased to fear Niv as technology ruled and faith became passé, focusing their fears on their dwindling resources the Garhyarii had found a substitute prime motive. Finding no other beings in their solar system, many began to fear their "aloneness". This in turn spawned two extremist philosophies, two opposite responses to the 'out-there', the Isolationists, and the Expansionists. 172
The Isolationists were content to exploit their little corner of the universe, and leave the rest of it alone. Their motives were greed and fear. They valued space technology only for its cargo capacities within the limits of the Viyasarat. 173
The Expansionist; or ‘Carnivores’ [Ab'Garhsheed] as they were more often called, were solely bent on conquest; the subjugation and exploitation of another sector of the universe; regardless of whoever or whatever lived there. 174
This latest disharmony within the Confederation, which was still negatively influenced by the Syndicates, was as likely to sabotage the mission as was the incompetent arrogance of Tai' Gann. Especially as one never knew which side he was on, except of course, his own.175
Two cycles ago the High Council had outfitted a half-squadron of sophisticated research vessels to leave the Viyasarat and travel to the nearest two solar systems, the Bogatim System in Octym 4, and the Hysaron System in Octym 7. Ki' Oste grandfather had captained the Pelled Shau, on that long and rigorous expedition. Eleven rotan after the election of Tai' Nu as the 8th High Counsellor, the Pelled Shau had returned. Ki' Oste recalled the shock that still lingered in his grandfather’s a'tiwell. Ki’Oste had been mildly sceptical of the probability that one planet might contain sentient life. It had caused him great personal disequilibrium. Never a religious man, he was nonetheless forced to begin considering, however haphazardly and haltingly, the possibility that Niv really was the Creator of the Universe, as the Testimony of the 8 Documents consistently proclaimed. 176
In his youth he had rejected as false the Second Declaration of Niv. Neither he nor almost every other contemporary Garhyarii had ever seen or read that vile piece of culture-destroying garbage. Now, his anger rose just remembering the darkening of their otherwise proud global history…. The rise of the 'Nivat' fanaticism…. the social chaos the new religion spawned…. The immense bloodshed needed to root out all vestiges of the false faith. 177
The Four Houses had gone to civil war over it, causing untold suffering. The resources of Garhyar had been redirected to combat it, causing economic dislocation and stagnation for almost a full cycle. The derangement of the social fabric was so profound, so cataclysmic, that all Garhyarii history was reckoned by it, marking the end of the 'First Cycle-of-Cycles'.178
At the end of 'The Purging', the shattered Four Houses, their populations so terribly depleted, had sought a new beginning for Garhkind, and the Confederation had been born. The mass deaths, the disproportionate resource depletion, the 'Starveling Migrations', brought the Confederation into being to save what was left. From the Purging came unity, harmony, and singleness of purpose. The first lineage of Chi' Teravtilat ruled with the full consent of the Four Houses, and the various Do'chiteron were loyal and patriotic commanders of the Confederation's defences. 179
These conditions had prevailed in the Confederation until the rise of space exploration and the inter-house Syndicates. Now there was a new centrifugal catalyst, the planets of the Hysaron System. Now Ki' Oste had been ordered to retrace his grandfather’s voyage, and take this 8-member Delegation to make official contact with any sentient beings they found there. 180
Since its return the Pelled Shau had its propulsion units overhauled and upgraded, mated with the B and C pods, and rechristened Pelled Krasc. The ship had been refitted to take 17 additional crew and the eight high-status passengers. To the original 16 crew were added three other units. Six designated special officers of the Colonial Interdiction Service [CIS], under the Uuma senior officer, Jihr Taur' Regc. Three Science Technicians came to assist the existing Propulsion and Exploration Units. And lastly, 8 general crewmen were assigned as valets for the Delegation. 181
One of the modular vessel's B-Pod holds had been converted into a dormitory to handle the crew overflow. This gave Ki' Oste a combined complement of himself, 6 senior officers, 2 senior crew-leaders, 6 science-technicians, 7 armed Interdictors, and 13 standard-crewmen. With the two 4-man crews of the Guardian-class “parasite” frigates, the composite force was the largest armed command in the CIS. He suspected he'd need every one of them in the rotans to come.182
He had weighed the choice of officers carefully. His vice-captain on previous commands had proven to be a great personal disappointment. Despite her space-time the woman had opposed and obstructed this voyage at every turn. The Isolationists were a powerful pressure-group in the Tailat, so no lasting discipline could be meted out to her. The best he could do was to have her transferred onto the Cazu run. His new vice-captain was Pik Tu' Venne, a Del like himself, and having vast interdiction experience. He was Pro-Contact in his private sentiments, but publicly silent, a useful first-officer. 183
The celestial navigator, Tan Ng' Ilazor, knew the Hysaron System charts very competently. The Ng's navigational calculations were essential; because of Ki' Oste undeviating trust in a live Garhyarii brain versus the automated computations of D-Anas. Despite his many rotan in space, the Captain hated data-analysers. 184
After being summoned by Chi' Teravtilat Nu, Ki' Oste had chosen his other officers with additional care. Na Tu' Bihr and Bi Tu' Kehrsu were brought in from the newest Guardian-class vessel, Bayam-Trnod'ynat [Guardian of the Stars]. That ship's ion-repulser systems, fuel-cells and environmental governors were based on the same designs as those used in the Pelled Krasc. Their technical competencies were first-rate; though their factional leanings were only guesswork by the colonial security apparatus. The last choice was the easiest. For second-officer Ki' Oste had chosen his own Consort, Tern Mil' Gnoste, a Pentar. Her personal steadiness as an officer was matched by her intuitive wisdom regarding Garhyarii space-crew psychology. She should spot problems before they became overblown, he hoped.185
In addition to his refitted research vessel, two armed interdiction frigates, each with a compliment of 4, were seconded from the interplanetary corsair patrols to serve under his command. The Ev-Trnod'ynat [Guardian of the Wind] and the Pevl-Trnod'ynat [Guardian of the Mist] would accompany the Pelled Krasc to the Hysaron System in Octym 7. 186
Now the small fleet orbited Garhyar at space transit station Tsaru-Dann, waiting for the "Kirihngayat" to be performed. Once that traditional requirement was completed, the fuel-cells would be brought on line, the ion-repulsers would spool up, and they could begin their epic journey of connection. He smiled in anticipation.187
188
The carillon chimed above him. As two catering crew finished setting the table with the ritual items he brought his mind back to the ceremony at hand. The 'Welcoming-Meal' ceremony was one of a number of eclectic ceremonies and rituals that were re-vitalised at Confederation to emphasise the newfound overarching unity of the Garhyarii race. Many civil rituals and religious ceremonies had been thus transformed, blended from common threads, incorporating elements taken from each landmass. So it was with the "Kirihngayat".189
The officers entered first and lined up in order to the left of the Ki'; Vice-captain Tu' Venne, Ionator Tu' Bihr, Environmentalist Tu' Kehrsu, Steersman Ng' Ilazor and Second-Vice-Captain Mil' Gnoste. The two CIS officers, Taur' Regc and Tuum' Hvenc lined up after that. The table behind them was laid with a tablecloth of green and red gossamer material. On it sat the three ritual items, a bowl of aromatic water, a plate of Merroe-fruit pastry, and 8 goblets of the potent Bahk liqueur. The two hospitality-crew stood behind the table to assist the ritual servers.190
The Barhtiq carillon chimed the traditional tune, and the Delegation entered. The titular head of the delegation, Tai' Gann entered first, dressed in a carmine robe, the 'Taufang' symbol prominently displayed on his diplomatic sash. He took his ritual place in front of the "host", in this case Ki' Oste. The Viqim entered next, and stood before Tu' Venne and Tu' Bihr. Si' Viyatt Nu then entered, gilding in stately silence on crepe slippers. Arrayed in a dark golden robe, flecked with aquamarine highlights, her long auburn hair was tied at the left side in the traditional ‘maiden's circlet’. While her face was an impenetrable mask of formality, the Iksoten jewel was displayed prominently on her sash of office. Only Taur' Regc knew its origin, and only he could hope for its significance. She took her assigned place in front of Tu' Kerhsu. The four Mawim then entered, in strict continental order and took their assigned places in front of the remaining officers. Except for the carillon playing softly, this was all accomplished in ritual silence.191
"Honoured guests" Ki'Oste began when the Barhtiq ceased, "we welcome you, and offer you our protection. Honoured guests we welcome you, and offer you rest. Honoured guests, we welcome you, and offer you refreshment. May the peace of Niv be yours under our covering, and may you live a second Cycle."192
Tai' Gann made the ritual response on behalf of the Delegation. "Honoured Host, we accept your hospitality. We will stay and enjoy the peace of your protection, the joy of your rest, and the strength of your refreshment. May the peace of Niv remain with your household for a second Cycle."193
A female steward had quietly come up beside the Ki'. She placed an embroidered towel across his forearm, and offered him the silver bowl of scented water. The Ki' spoke the required phrase, "Honoured guest, rest yourself from your journey," and held the bowl out for the Tai to ceremonially cleanse his hands. The Ki' then passed the bowl and towel to the next officer who repeated the words and task. And so it went down the line.194
The atmosphere was thick with conflicting psycho-social signals. Mil' Gnoste picked up a crackle of tension passing between the Ki' and the Tai' as they stared straight into each other's eyes during the long wait for the cleansing the be completed. The acrid pheromones of competing Garh males were especially pungent in her female nostrils. Visually she picked up a different subtle tension in Taur' Regc when Si' Viyatt Nu came into the room. Likewise, her intuition picked up that the gravity and bearing of the Si' Viyatt were not all focused on the ceremony at hand. Other undercurrents flowed also. Tension over the mission? Nervousness among the delegation? Incomplete bonding between the vessel's officers? She would keep her mind open, and her eyes sharp in the rotans ahead.195
The second steward took the bowl and towel from Tuum' Hvenc and returned it to the table. By this time the first steward had given the dish of Merroe-fruit pastry to the Ki'. He offered the Tai' a piece with the formula "Honoured guest, eat and be refreshed." This to was repeated down the line. The cakes made from the sweet-and-sour Merroe-fruit contained a very mild stimulant, and historically had been offered to wayfarers as a quick energiser. They were a true delicacy, and becoming scarce.196
The last ritual was the liqueur. Here each officer turned and picked up an individual goblet from the table, and offered it to the guest they were hosting. "Honoured guest, drink and be refreshed" went the phrase from 8 voices in unison. The Mawim, having seldom experienced this ceremony, were less prepared for the full goblet of burning liqueur that they were duty bound to down completely. All four of them gagged and sputtered; to the restrained amusement of the officers, if no one else.197
The recorded Barhtiq chimes started again, a light Pentarii melody. That was the signal for the "host" to pair off with their "guest" and begin a period of light repartee to substantiate the "safety" aspects of the hospitality ritual. Conversations ranged from the mission itself, to the state of the mines on Cazu, to the likely winning team in this rotan's Bakkhu competition. Taur' Regc's eyes drifted often to Si' Viyatt Nu; but she held her host in isolated conversation, with no acknowledgment of the Taur's presence. The two stewards circulated with additional Merroe-fruit cakes and replenishment of Bahk, while the Barhtiq played through a selection of music from the Four Houses. The young Mawim were less hesitant over the liqueur after their third goblets. At the end of the ritual time the chimes sounded a brief insistent tone, and all fell silent again.198
Ki' Oste began, "Genuinely honoured members of this history-changing Delegation, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard the Confederation research vessel Pelled Krasc. We will be getting under way tomorrow at planet-rise. In two Tan we will engage the plasma drive and enter our transit phase. Prior to that, at one Tan's distance from Garhyar, we will meet here to open and discuss our orders. Until then, enjoy the comforts of this vessel and the service of her crew. “Dhia-Dhiak’u and good rest." He bowed formally to the Tai and then stood next to the portal to farewell each Delegate. When the last, and by now thoroughly tipsy guests, had left he let out a sigh and faced his officers. "People, we have a great deal of work to finish during this watch. I suggest we get to it."199
The officers saluted and left immediately for their duty-stations to continue the preparations for getting under way. Ki' Oste went over to the two stewards and thanked them for their help in the ritual. His habitual respect for others was well known in the fleet, and had earned him the regard of most of his crew. He then went to the quarters he shared with his consort, and prepared to meet privately with Taur' Regc. 200
In the Officers' Mess, the stewards began the transformation to restore the chamber to its routine functions, officers' meals and recreation. In the two Tan before 'Tiocent l'ynat' [Interval of the Acceleration] the Mess would act as refuge and safety valve for everyone, breaking down the three-way demarcation between crew, officers and civilians. In addition, the Delegates had their own well-appointed apartments, and the collective use of a parlour on their corridor. During the Acceleration, by tradition the Officer's mess became the private domain of the Transition-Watch. To fight the boredom while the others hibernated the few crew rostered to man the vessel's systems would have that privileged space to themselves. 201
202
VIZH KI' OSTE203
Ki' Oste was delighted with his vessel. The Pelled Krasc [The Arrow Head] was the arrowhead of exploration. It looked as if the trivet-shaped seeds of the Merroe tree had been greatly enlarged. Viewed side on from a distance, the Pelled Krasc seemed a bulbous, spinning seed hanging dormant in space.204
The Pelled Krasc was really three mated vessels. Each pod unit was designed for rapid jettisoning in the event of a catastrophic failure in space of the main engines or other primary units. This was still an all to common experience in Garhyarii space technology. 205
The A-Pod unit held officer and crew quarters, catering, weapons systems, and command facilities. Redundant, and small scale, technical, environmental and research systems, as well as a small ion-repulser/fuel-cell apparatus, gave A-Pod its potential emergency autonomy. “Navigation Command” occupied the centre of A-Pod’s spine. The forward and rear 'spine-array' clusters contained remote sensing equipment for research and defence. The spine-array mounted four "Mandar" weapons cupolas. Each cupola contained a particle beam generator, as originally developed for the Interdiction patrol vessels; and a full compliment of the older style guided rocket-projectile weapons. Each of theses was capable of mounting proximity-explosion or penetrating warheads. 206
B-Pod, largest of the three pods, contained the primary engineering, dual-propulsion and life support equipment, as well as the shuttlecraft and storage holds. The two Ion-repulsers steerable venturi outlets occupied the vessel's basal lobes in this pod. A Hydrolytic Fission Reactor provided the electrical needs of the composite ship. A very small remote navigation room provided redundancy for the main Navcom, and control for an autonomous B-Pod at need.207
C-Pod, the same dimensions as A-Pod, was a modified interplanetary passenger liner. At the rear of the deck were two holds, one unused hold awaiting samples of potentially exploitable resources from the Hysaron System, the other contained the majority of the consumable supplies. It also held a lab for the analysis of anticipated specimens. Forward of that was an assembly hall with catering facilities. It served as an off-duty gathering place for all passengers and crew, with tables for meals and listening carrels for entertainment. Though not excessive, it was the largest open space in the vessel. Next came the passageway nexus, wide enough for a cargo pallet or 4 passengers abreast. In the event of an emergency the passageway shafts separated into sections and automatically sealed each pod from the others. In a catastrophic event, the three pods were jettisoned from each other on tangential trajectories. Any surviving pods then theoretically becoming self-sufficient space craft.208
Passenger accommodation, and the Taur’Regc was considered a ‘special passenger’ with diplomatic status, was designed for 20, but reconfigured, according to status, on this trip to house just 9. Forward of these were cabins for C-pod support crew, the valets. Then a hold that contained a selection of the products and non-military technology of the Confederation for contact and diplomacy. Contact and diplomacy were not for curiosity, but for the purpose of trade and home-world wealth-generation. Or, as some forcefully argued, for conquest, exploitation and the glory of Niv and the Confederation.209
Ki' Oste was very proud of his vessel. She had handled beautifully during the original circumnavigation of the solar system. That first peripheral-stellar trip had been tentative, cautious, and mostly tedious. Even with hibernation periods and watch rotation there was lots of boring routine to numb an individual's mind. The improvements and additions since had added effectiveness to the vessel's mission, and the mission added prestige to his status. He was a Del, a 'Voyager' by nature as well as upbringing, and a coal of ambition smouldered in him, waiting to ignite. Success on that first voyage brought promotion and command of this enlarged vessel. Success on this direct contact voyage would bring endless opportunities. 210
His greatest ambition was not the command of a fleet, or diplomacy, or commerce. He wanted to be the Do'chiteron. He saw with compelling clarity that the twin challenges to the Confederation's equilibrium, the combination of 'Contact' and the Syndicates, would propel whoever served as Do'chiteron into a position of total power in the Confederation. The position of High Counsellor and the Council members would require a firm hand and an imperturbable will. He had the experience and the will. He wanted the position and the power.211
The Ki' walked slowly up and down the Navcom, taking in all the preparation details as they were reported on the D’Ana screens. He stopped twice to interrogate technicians manning the Ion, Hydrolytic and fuel-cell screens. The Bridge was actually a wide corridor, with D’Ana and electromechanical control panels stationed in carrels along each wall. An oval alcove up forward served as the Ki's command station. The smaller alcoves of vice-captain Tu' Venne and steersman Ng' Ilazor were positioned either side of the Ki’s, for ease of consultation or decision-making. Second-officer Mil' Gnoste, the captain’s consort, occupied her own alcove at the opposite end of the Bridge. On duty their personal relationship was sublimated to the chain of command. That put strains on their Consortium, but she had her own ambitions, and tolerated their difference in rank in view of its ultimate compensations.212
Ki' Oste repeated his tour of the Bridge, smiled covertly at his Consort and entered the passage down to the officers' quarters. There he found Si' Viyatt Nu awaiting him. They spoke quietly for a moment and then entered his suite. The captain's suite, though not as well appointed as Tai' Gann's, was actually two rooms larger. The inner rooms were the private apartment of he and his consort. The outer two rooms were for the business and entertaining of his rank. He offered the Si' Viyatt her choice of form-chair and decanted some Chim. She chose the form-chair furthest from the portal, and activated its sensors. Soundlessly the chair measured weight, mass and dimensions, and adjusted the cushions to a perfect fit and support of her slightly elliptical form. They chatted about her family for a moment while they waited Taur' Regc's arrival. The chime sounded and Ki' Oste activated the portal from the remote on his personal form-chair. The pair stood for the third Garh's arrival.213
"Dhiakolai" the Ki' greeted Taur' Regc in the Del-based 'Standard Garhyac'.214
"Pe*bunny*ai" Si' Viyatt Nu said in the more formal Uuma manner.215
Taur' Regc, not expecting the Si' Viyatt to be at this private meeting, gave no reply to either greeting. That earned him a sardonic smile from the Ki'; and a small flair of the Si' Viyatt's nostrils. He missed the one response, and pretended to ignore the other altogether.216
"Please be seated," the senior officer offered as he motioned to the remaining two chairs. The Taur' took the form-chair nearest the door, and activated his mechanism. The Ki' poured a third cup of Chim. 217
As he took the first obligatory sip of the fruit beverage Taur' Regc reflected comfortably that whoever had developed the form-chair, and the more complex hibernation-couch, deserved whatever rewards the Confederation gave to inventors. Space travel would have been so much more difficult without them. When each guest had put their cup down on the intervening table, the Ki' began, "I had anticipated the Si' Viyatt's attendance today. She carries a final private message from her father."218
The Taur' merely said, "I see."219
"My father wishes" she began without preamble, "you both to know that he fears the presence of 'Ab'Garhsheed ' saboteurs on board this or other vessels of the fleet."220
"That was to be expected," the Ki' began, "in…"221
"In both the Delegation and among the expansion crew," Taur' Regc finished the thought. “The captain and I have already taken steps to re-assess all crew. As I’m certain your father planned, you are best placed to assess the Delegation.”222
In response Nu simply requested, “I would like us to meet regularly to share information.”223
“Agreed” each officer said in turn. The captain stood to close the discussion.224
"I will accompany you back to your suite," Taur' Regc announced formally as Nu stood. Si' Viyatt Nu gave a half-smile of assent and the two of them exited the Ki's quarters. They walked in silence to the Delegation's staterooms. At her portal she turned to face Taur' Regc, a soft poignancy in her gaze. He looked down at the Iksoten jewel, then at her eyes.225
"Per, Vitti?" - he asked intimately in idiomatic Uumai. It was the traditional dialect of their elite clans, and their shared childhood language - "Why, little sister?" 'Little sister' was his private term of endearment for her. It was a three-fold question, as she well understood. 'Why - was she wearing the jewel he gave her? Why - had she put a barrier between them in recent years? Why - was she making their relationship so formal now?'226
Si' Viyatt Nu reached up with her left appositive digit. Stroking her childhood sweetheart's leathery face she allowed the familiar, pleasant sensation to course momentarily through her arm. Dropping her hand she answered enigmatically in the same dialect, "Bet Michqueg - nasharruh Bellaxitat 'yn"; the motto of their Uuma culture, 'Service now - Exchange of ideas latter'. She turned, activated the portal and entered alone. 227
When the door had slid closed she turned, placed her left hand on the entry port and said softly in Uumac, "Kla, Rupu vo. Mellaqset vil Nivat. Oktyli vo betta 'yna kyt." - 'Peace, my beloved. May Nivat open your understanding. You are too young for me yet.' Her words went beyond endearment, to intercession. After locking the door she walked introspectively to her dresser and picked up a silver-inlaid box of Merroe wood. A silver band running the circumference of the box separated the upper half from the lower half. The reddish-brown wood set off the deep grey of the antique silver. She opened the box and placed her Iksoten jewel inside and fastened the lid closed.228
She then gently turned one of the feet of the box. She re-opened the box. Inside lay a miniature golden object. Reverently she picked it up and placed it on the dresser. Mere possession of this object was cause for immediate execution under the anti-Nivat laws. The object was a Kontesquet Muzul, ‘the Piercing Pivot-Beam’, the Garhyarii’s most cruel form of public execution. 229
In the Kontesquet Muzul a cross-beam was mounted on a pivot beam containing a special mechanism. The hands of the prisoner were tied to the short crossbeam, facing the pivot-beam, the balls of their feet just touching the ground. He [or she] had then to turn the pivot beam by walking sideways. If they slowed, or were too weak to turn the beam, a mechanism forced razor-sharp pikes out of the pivot-beam into their abdomen. The slower they went, the deeper the spikes penetrated. In addition, their weight stretched their joints and muscles, causing further pain. Some died of fear or exhaustion before the spikes could disembowel them. Others endured great suffering as their intestines were shredded, eventually dying from internal bleeding or faecal contamination. It was not unknown for the execution of strong prisoners to take four or five days. The dead were left impaled on the spikes to rot away as a public disgrace and warning. Such was execution on ‘the Piercing Pivot-Beam’.230
The Kontesquet Muzul. To the traditional NIV worshippers it was the ultimate symbol of blasphemy. Compounding the blasphemy of the Second Declaration of NIV was the claim that after execution the NIVAT had not rotted away, but had been restored to life by NIV. To the few remaining, secret, NIVAT worshippers, it was the symbol of forgiveness, freedom and love. 231
Her small golden Kontesquet Muzul was in the shape of a T, with 8 miniature spikes protruding. “Vu NIVAT,” she confessed, “nitowashtikin waptecashna mayaque”... [My Saviour, you have graciously given me everything I need for life eternal] She stood silently for a long period of time before the symbol of her faith, meditating on the verses of the Second Declaration of Niv. 232
In the corridor Taur' Regc stood awkwardly for a moment, confused, then whirled and strode back to his room. Never had the chief adage of his warrior people lain so heavily on his heart. The absence of 'communication' made the 'service' almost unbearable.233
* * *234
THE TWINS235
Jihr Recq had assigned his second in command the task of reviewing all crew files, in another effort to discern any potential saboteurs. Jihr himself went up to A-Pod command to observe the preparations for transition and sat with his weapons tech. After they passed Vaht, the last planet in the solar system, they would be able to reach the necessary velocity to initiate plasma-drive. The command centre was a hum of quiet conversations.236
Two blossoms of light appeared on his D-Ana, “Sir!” exclaimed the weapons tech, “I have missiles approaching from the vicinity of Vaht’s fourth moon!” The captain turned at the tech’s urgent announcement and made his way down the passage to the weapons carrel.237
“Sir”, Jihr reported, “I confirm that 2 missiles have been launched from the vicinity of the fourth moon, and appear to be on a direct course to intersect us in 17 pars. They are too small for crewed vessels. I judge them to be aggressive. I recommend launching our escorts to investigate the launch point, and the firing of a counter salvo of anti-missiles.’238
“Confirmed,” agreed the captain, “so ordered. I was expecting some sort of last effort before we left the system.”239
Jihr ordered the weapons tech to launch 6 anti-missiles at the incoming missiles. He addressed the captain as he hit the interceptor launch button. “I would have expected more than a few easily defeated missiles, sir.” A slight rippling hiss was heard as the missiles were launch. Then the interdictor siren echoed through the vessel. 240
“Both interdictors report ready for launch sir,” reported the tech.241
“Launch,” ordered the captain.242
Two mild vibrations were felt as the interceptors uncoupled and turned towards the fourth moon. 243
“I have no vessel on my D-Ana, sir. It must be lost in the background clutter of the moon.”244
“Very well,” commented Jihr. “Prepare a second salvo, and point defence should either missile survive or more be launched. The interdictors can deal with any ship.”245
“Captain,” called the communications tech. “I have an incoming message.”246
“Put it on the speaker,” the captain commanded.247
Through some static came a voice dripping with irony. “My dear Ki' Oste, I am Ki’ Pullum-Rij. I have sent you a present.”248
“We have already dealt with your present,” countered Ki’Oste dryly. 249
“Oh, no, I don’t mean the missiles. That was just to get your attention. No, no, captain. I have a genuine present for you. On the far side of the fourth moon, drifting in your trajectory, you will find a life-pod. It contains two very important children, the son and daughter of the Verl Syndicate Commissioner. I’m sure you will want to entertain them.” The corsair captain ended his transmission with a chuckle.250
“Transmission terminated, sir.” The comm-tech announced flatly. 251
“Taur Recq, re-task the frigates to patrol ahead of us, and see if there is a life-pod. If so, bring the occupants, if any, aboard as quickly as possible.”252
“Yes, sir.”253
“Will we return to the homeworld if such VIP children are found sir?” Tu' Venne asked.254
“Why would we do that Tu’ Venne?” replied the captain in some amazement.255
“Because of their status, sir,” countered the vice captain. “They are the Tai’ Gann’scousins! And, sir, because of the repercussions on the homeworld if we don’t.”256
“Our mission comes before anyone’s status, vice captain,” the captain answered coldly. “And the repercussions of the delay to the mission are greater than any temporary trouble the Verl Syndicate or the Tai’ Gann could cause.”257
“Incoming missiles safely destroyed, captain,” Recq announced. “Frigates re-tasked and proceeding ahead at flank speed sir. The weapons D-Ana shows a vessel leaving the fourth moon’s orbit and heading back into the solar system.”258
“Very well. Now we wait to see what trick they have for us. Please have your security team ready to take anyone found into custody.”259
“Already so ordered, sir.”260
“Good. Tu’ Venne, as soon as the interdictors report send a message back to the High Councillor.”261
“Very well Ki’Oste.”262
Jihr left the command centre to confer with his team, and to prepare a room for an anticipated interrogation. That task completed he and the security sub-unit walked back to A-Pod and waited outside the frigates’ airlocks.263
Eventually the Vox announced “Frigates docking.” A further wait, and the airlock lights signalled the arrival of the crews. The airlock from the Pe-Trnod'ynat opened, and two young Garhyarii exited with the crew. The frigate’s pilot smiled at Jihr and said, “May I introduce the twins of the Verl Syndicate’s Commissioner, Treen Del-Mahz and her brother Bahrin Del-Phar.”264
Jihr looked down at the two siblings, and saw two very relieved, dishevelled, and somewhat overawed children. Interrogation? No… Interview - yes. He turned to the nearest communicator unit and hailed the command centre. “Captain, the two cast-a-ways are aboard. Would you please ask Si' Viyatt Nu to meet us in the B-Pod security office.”265
“Yes, but have the frigate pilots report to me now.”266
“Yes, sir. Please come with me Treen and Bahrin of the Del. I need to ask you some questions, and to introduce you to someone I’m sure you will like.”267
The crowd broke up into its parts, security and the twins to B-Pod, pilots to A-Pod, and the frigate crew to their various quarters. While the frigates had semi-private crew space aboard, the quarters aboard the Pelled Krasc were luxury itself compared to the fighters.268
**269
Si’Viyatt Nu arrived just in front of Jihr and his group. She openly assessed the twins. “Who have we here?”270
With some seriousness and etiquette, Jihr Taur Recq extended a hand towards the twins, saying “Si' Viyatt Nu, may I introduce to you the children of the Verl Syndicate’s Commissioner, Treen Del-Mahz and her twin Bahrin Del-Phar.” And then extending the other hand towards Si’ he said, “And honoured children, may I introduce to you, the High Daughter of the High Councillor of the Garhyarii.”271
Treen, at least, had the presence of mind to take the mendicant’s position of submission and honoured Si’ appropriately. To her brother she gave a prompting elbow to follow suit. He was slow to understand, and earned a wry smile from Jihr for his awkwardness. 272
Si’, all politeness and grace, merely gave them each an accepting hug, and led them into the security office. Jihr dismissed his unit and entered the office himself. Si’, as both a diplomat and a nurturing person, had already sat the twins down and begun a conversation; just as Jihr had anticipated she would. He sat and merely listened as they gave their account to her.273
The twins vied with each other to reconstruct the last few rotans, sometimes interrupting, sometimes both talking at once, sometimes nodding assent at the other’s narrative. Both Si’ and Jihr asked several questions to clarify, or to move the discussion back on track. Si’ especially, knew that this debriefing was important for the twin’s wellbeing; as well as for the establishing of facts.274
When the twins had finally wound down, and their stress had bled away, Jihr turned to Si’. “Honoured Si’,” he said with some formality, “would you please see to the needs of these two youngsters, while I report to Ki’Oste. Perhaps among the crew you may find some new clothing until theirs are cleaned. Can Treen share your quarters for the immediate future, and Bahrin stay with me in mine? We’ll make long-term arrangements when I come off watch.”275
“I will look after them,” she said emphatically. As he stood to leave he smiled at the threesome, but mostly at Si’. 276
“Please, Si’ Viyatt Nu,” Treen asked, “what did the Jihr Taur' Regc mean by ‘long-term’ arrangements? The corsairs who kidnapped us said that this ship would take us back to the homeworld.” Bahrin nodded in agreement.277
She smiled, and said, “you may call me Si’ when we are alone. This will be a long voyage and we don’t need to be formal all the time.” She thought for a moment, and then addressed their questions. “This vessel is on a special mission to another solar system; one we expect to be inhabited by sentient creatures. There are groups that do not want us to undertake this mission. Those corsairs were hired to kidnap you to try to stop or delay our mission. Despite your father’s importance as a syndicate official, I doubt that Ki’Oste will halt this mission to return you to the homeworld.”278
The twins looked confused. “Do you mean that we are prisoners?” asked Bahrin.279
“No!” The Si’ replied laughing. “Not at all. I only mean that we cannot turn back from our journey. You will be honoured guests, and will have the additional honour of representing your family in our search for this planet. You are old enough to be taught crew skills and assist in various duties.”280
“Tremendous!” exclaimed both teens simultaneously. For the next few minutes they overwhelmed Si’ with their excited requests for various training and duties. Eventually, Si’ calmed them, and led them off to find appropriate clothing and their temporary rooms. 281
* * *282
ASSASSINS283
When the Ki’ Oste announced to the entire vessel that the twins would stay aboard and that the mission would continue, only the very slightest whisper of disquiet reached Jihr. Tuum' Hvenc reported to Jihr that he had found no suspicious information in the crew records. Jihr had not expected him to, but it was still a necessary exercise.284
“Still,” Hvenc finished his report by saying, “I would like us to keep an eye of Nhil Praw and Nhil Kur.” Jihr raised an eyebrow. “They have a vital role as hibernation technicians, and both have had family problems in recent years. I would consider them vulnerable.”285
“All right, put them on your watch list. Anyone else?” 286
“Mostly that imbecile Tai' Gann, and any of the Mawim.”287
“Agreed,” Jihr said with a slight laugh. The Gann could be dangerous, simply because of his status and personality. Doubly so, now that some of his extended cross-clan relatives were aboard. The Mawim could be dangerous because of their inexperience and vulnerability to extremist visions. “Report to me if anything else bothers you.”288
“Yes, sir.”289
As Tuum’ Hvenc turned to leave the security office the Vox called out: “Jihr Taur' Regc to command, immediate! Jihr Taur' Regc to command, immediate!” Hvenc stood aside as Jihr bolted out the door. Jihr trotted breathless into the command centre and up to his weapons carrel. “Sir,” the tech began, “someone has entered and then exited the Ev-Trnod'ynat. But the pilots and crew were all at meals at the time. No maintenance was scheduled. By the time I had checked all this out the individual had left the craft. 290
Jihr picked up a comm-link headpiece and keyed in Tuum’ Hvenc’s office. “Hvenc, there has been an intruder in the Ev-Trnod'ynat. Take a team and sweep the fighter.” He cut the connection before Tuum’ Hvenc could respond. Next he contacted the chief pilot of the Ev-Trnod'ynat. “Jihr Taur' Regc here. There has been an intruder in your fighter. Meet Tuum’ Hvenc there immediately.” Again, he cut off without waiting for a reply.291
He turned to Tu' Venne, who was standing nearby. “I recommend a Stand-in-Place order sir. That will stop movement within the vessel while the security team checks on crew movements.”292
“So ordered.” Tu’ Venne turned to a comm-link, “This is Tu’ Venne. To all crew and passengers, A Stand-in-Place order is now issued. Except for Security and senior officers, all movement in the vessel is to cease until further notice. I repeat. A Stand-in-place order is issued. All crew stand-in-place, all passengers remain in your rooms.”293
Jihr then spoke into the comm-link, “all security members not on assignment report to your Stand-in-Place stations immediately.” As Jihr was about to leave the weapons carrel comm-link buzzed. The tech answered, and handed the second headpiece to Jihr. “Tuum’ Hvenc, sir. The portal to the Ev-Trnod'ynat has been jammed closed. I have a maintenance tech working on it.”294
Jihr was about to say ‘carry on’, when the weapons tech nudge him, and said quietly, “The Ev-Trnod'ynat’s engines have just been activated, but coolant temperatures are fluctuating wildly.”295
“Withdraw your team immediately from the airlock! You stay with the tech and keep working on access!” Jihr peremptorily ordered down the comm-link.296
“Engine temperatures rising,” the weapons tech droned, his training masking his anxiety.297
“Tu’ Venne, may I speak with you?” Jihr said with deliberate calm as he walked towards the officer. He took him into a quiet corner and explained the situation.298
“What do you suspect?” the vice captain asked. 299
“If we can’t get access then I expect the coolant to fail and the Ev-Trnod'ynat’s engines to go critical. If they implode, then the interdictor will be destroyed, and our vessel damaged.”300
“Damaged to what extent?”301
“Only Tu' Bihr can answer that.” 302
“Tu’ Venne spoke into a comm-link, “Ionator to the command centre. Ionator to the command centre, immediate!” He stood brooding in thought while they waited for the chief propulsion engineer to arrive. As Tu’ Bihr entered the command centre a tech directed him to the two conferring officers. Tu’Venne summarised the situation, and asked, “What damage to our vessel can we expect?”303
The Ionator touched his chin and look up at the ceiling tiles and pipes. “Minimum: loss of the docking bays, minor hull breaches, several critical conduits damaged or severed. Maximum: compromised airlocks, whole systems destroyed and the entire pod made unusable.” 304
Tu’ Vene moved the three officers down to the weapons carrel. “Report,” commanded the vice captain. 305
“Coolant temperature is rising; now just short of critical.”306
Jihr used the comm-link, and called Tuum' Hvenc. “Any progress?”307
“No,” the second security officer responded. “The tech has been unable to over-ride the system. Can we blast the portal open?”308
“Negative!” responded Jihr sharply. “That will permanently cripple that airlock.”309
“Coolant failure immanent,” the weapons tech intoned.310
Is there any other way to shut the engines down than manually?” Jihr asked.311
“No.” the engineer answered. “We have sensors only. We cannot command the fighters externally.” 312
Tu’ Venne turned to Tu' Bihr, “Estimate till they implode?”313
The Ionator looked at the D-Ana display, and said “in 3.”314
Suddenly Tu’ Venne looked perplexed and indecisive. 315
Jihr activated a comm-link, “All crew release from Stand-in-Place! All docking bay personnel leave the section immediately. Repeat. All docking bay personnel leave the section immediately. Security team, stand down and leave the section immediately. Repeat. Security team, stand down and leave the section immediately. Chief pilot, Ev-Trnod'ynat, report to the command centre, immediate!”316
Jihr turned away from the Vox to find Tu’ Venne still lost in thought. “Tu’?” Jihr questioned sternly. The vice captain seemed to come out of his private thoughts, and turned to the comm-link. 317
“Ki’ Oste to the command centre. Ki’ Oste to the command centre, immediate!” His voice had an edge to it. 318
The Ionator challenged the vice captain, “There is no time for the captain to be fully informed and reach a decision. The implosion is immanent.”319
“Landing bays evacuated, sir,” the weapons tech informed Jihr. “Tuum’ Hvenc reports the section is sealed off.”320
Jihr took in the information without comment.321
The captain had not arrived. Tu’ Venne keyed the Vox again: Ki’ Oste to the command centre. Ki’ Oste to the command centre!” The anxiety in his voice was clearer now.322
“Sir! You must jettison the Ev-Trnod'ynat immediately!” The Ionator implored.323
“I agree sir. We can’t jeopardise the mission on the mere expectation of a best case scenario.”324
“We will wait for Ki’ Oste.” The vice captain was intransigent. Jihr grabbed the comm-link and punched in the security detail outside the captain’s suite. “Jihr,” he identified himself. “Are Ki’ Oste and Mil' Gnoste in their suite? If they are,” he continued before the security yeoman-*bunny*-steward could answer, “escort the Ki’ Oste to the command centre immediately! Understood?”325
“Yes, sir!”326
Into a Vox Jihr commanded, “Tuum Hvenc to the command centre. Immediate.” To Tu’ Venne he said firmly, “We are running out of time. I don’t believe we can risk this implosion, you…”327
Tuum’ Hvenc entered the corridor at that moment, “I was already on my way. What’s going on?”328
Jhihr’s comm-link unit buzzed. “Sir, both... they’re dead … they’re dead, sir...” the shaken security yeoman reported. Jihr ordered the weapons tech, “Emergency jettison the Ev-Trnod'ynat immediately!” 329
“No!” commanded the vice captain. You cannot….”330
“The Ki’ Oste and his consort are dead Tu’,” Jihr said in his coldest, most implacable voice. The emergency siren cut off further conversation. The Tu’ moved towards the weapons carrel, but Jihr restrained him forcefully. 331
“Interdictor jettisoned, sir. The thruster-pack has blown it clear, and it is arcing away and falling behind.”332
“Follow me!” demanded Jihr heatedly. He and Hvenc hurried out of the command centre and down the hallways to Ki’ Oste’s suite; Tu Venne and Tu' Bihr following less vigorously behind. They halted at the suite’s portal. A shaken and pale yeoman stood guard. He composed himself and reported, “No one has entered or left, sir. There was no one in the suite except the Ki’ Oste and his consort. They are in the sleeping chamber.” He stood aside to let the officers pass.333
“My self and Tuum’ Hvenc only.” The two security officers entered the suite, located the bodies, and check for life-signs. “Stay here,” Jihr ordered his second in command. On exiting the suite he said, “I confirm that they are both dead. Tu’ Venne, you are now in command. I will investigate the cause of death and report to you as soon as I can.”334
A slight tremor passed through the vessel. The security comm-link buzzed. “Jihr,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Yes, I see. Order a security detail to seal of the bay. Also, send for Tu' Kehrsu to meet me at the Ki’s suite immediately. And order a two-person team to relieve the yeoman here.” Jihr turned and spoke to the pale Tu’ Venne. “The interdictor has imploded. A secondary explosion followed. That was the tremor we felt.”335
“Someone must have placed an enhancing device aboard,” the Ionator surmised aloud. 336
Jihr looked quizzically at the newly elevated captain. The Ionator caught his look, took Tu’ Venne by the arm to lead him back towards the command centre, saying “ I think we are needed elsewhere, captain.” The officer looked blankly at the Ionator, and acquiesced meekly.337
To the guard Jihr ordered, “You are relieved when the team arrives. Instruct the team to stand guard outside. Bring the environmental engineer in to the suite when he arrives, and then give me your full report.”338
“Yes, sir” Jihr heard from behind as he re-entered the suite. He observed that nothing seemed out of place. He moved into the sleeping chamber. “Anything?”339
Tuum’ Hvenc answered, “They appear to have died in their sleep. I see no wounds or external bleeding. That suggests poison of some kind. Look, the eyes are bloodshot, and the skin is ashen. It looks like they both died during their rostered rest period.” 340
The security yeoman and Tu' Kehrsu entered. The Environmental officer made a blasphemous exclamation, and moved to the hibernation couches. As the chief environmental officer he was also the medical officer. He began his inspection of the bodies while the yeoman reported to Jihr and Tuum’ Hvenc.341
“At your order over the comm-link I rang the portal chime, and receiving no response used the security over-ride to enter. I called out from the lounge twice, and receiving no reply entered the sleeping chamber. I found them just as you see them. I checked for life-signs, found none and notified you. I then checked the closets and toileting room for an intruder. Finding no-one I returned to the door and waited for you.”342
“Did you see or hear anything suspicious, before or after you entered?”343
“Not really, sir….Well not suspicious, just strange a little. There was a strong puff of air as a opened the portal.”344
“Inward or outward?”345
“Sir?”346
“The movement of air, was it inward or outward?”347
The yeoman thought for a moment. “Inward.”348
“Thank you yeoman. You are relieved. You may return to your quarters. Do not discuss this with any member of the crew.”349
“Yes, sir,” the yeoman replied dutifully. “As if!” He thought to himself. He wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to gain status through controlling information flow – not hardly! As the yeoman walked out of the room Jihr smiled knowingly to himself. The whole vessel would know, by osmosis if necessary, before the watch finished. Of that he was certain. If only he could be certain that he could catch the culprit.350
“Culprit? Only one? No,” he thought to himself, there must be a cell, a team. But what if there were several, unconnected cells? Would catching the Ev-Trnod'ynat’s saboteur also catch the assassin of the Ki’ and his consort? He re-entered the sleeping chamber. “Anything?”351
“I will have to do blood tests, but I suspect that they were suffocated.”352
“Someone got in and smothered them?”353
“No. I mean that they were denied sufficient oxygen, slipped into unconsciousness while asleep and then died.”354
“But how?” The Tuum asked, incredulously.355
“Easily, in theory. Slowly remove the air in the suite and replace it with a toxic gas. I’ll know which one when I do the tests.”356
“What did you mean, ‘in theory’?” Jihr asked.357
“All life-support is controlled from the Environment section. Any change in this suite’s pressurisation or air quality should have shown up on our monitors. It didn’t, or I would have known,” the Tu' Kehrsu concluded.358
“I will have to interview all you section,” Jihr said frankly.359
“I would have expected that,” the environmental officer replied calmly. “I’ll keep them on stand-by until you can get to them. Now, if you no longer need my opinion, I need to get my blood samples.” He turned away, went to the room’s comm-link and called up his assistant, to order medical tools and a stand-to of his section.360
Jihr and Tuum’ Hvenc left the room and went into the lounge. Declining to activate the contour chairs, they simply sat and talked, turning over various hypothetical scenarios. 361
“It seems to me that our pre-departure intelligence reports indicated multiple but unrelated centres of resistence to this mission. If that was the case, then we presumably have several cells on board. Not coordinated cells, but at least two, each trying to stop the mission for their own ends.”362
“I don’t see it that way at all,” Tuum’ Hvenc rebutted. “To have had two attacks in one watch indicates single coordination and control to me. If we catch one saboteur, then we will break open the whole cell.”363
“All the same, I want us to start our investigation on the assumption that there are two unconnected cells.” He looked questioningly at his number two. “Any problems with that?”364
“None at all, sir.” 365
“Good. Meet me at the office at the end of the watch. I want you to continue with the Interdictor sabotage. I want to start with the environmental control crew.” As they left the suite, Jihr instructed the two yeomen to seal the room once the medical officer had finished. He instructed Tuum’ Hvenc to roster another team. Hvenc went to his assignment. Jihr headed away from B-Pod, and went instead to find Si’.366
* * *367
“We need to talk, now,” Jihr said in a commanding tone when Si’ opened her cabin portal. Having felt the detonation and seeing the urgency in his face she let him in without comment. When the portal closed he told her about the murders and sabotage. Once the immediate shock passed Si’ looked at him sympathetically and said, “You must be very frustrated.”368
“More than frustrated, Si’, perplexed. I am beginning to suspect that one or more of the possible cells are operating out of my own security team. Either that or one or more senior officers.”369
“Or possibly both?”370
“Yes,” he allowed, “very possibly. 371
“Reconstruct things for me,” Si’ asked as she motioned for him to sit in one of the form chairs; “that might make things clearer.”372
“The time schedule, course, crew roster and delegation’s makeup would always have been open knowledge. No special spying needed there. We know both extremist groups, Isolationists, and Expansionists, could have recruited crew ... “373
“Or diplomats…”374
“Or diplomats… without it having come to the attention of the security service. The kidnapping of the twins, and the corsair lying in wait for our passage would have required a great deal of preparation and timing. As long as Ki’ Oste was in command…”375
“And committed to the mission because of his own ambition to take my father’s place…”376
Jihr raised an eyebrow at her insight. “We could be certain that the mission would not be aborted. For he and the consort to be assassinated required access to the environmental D’Ana’s as well as sophisticated technical knowledge. Those are skills lacking in my security team, but not among certain officers and crewmen.”377
“But the simultaneous sabotage of the Ev-Trnod'ynat?”378
“No, I think that was the work of another cell and points to my own security team. It required knowledge of my duties and schedule. And it wasn’t simultaneous it was overlapping. Either crisis could have brought us to an abort. And that suggests communication between the factions.”379
“And that suggests the Tai’,” she said as a straightforward assessment.380
“Indeed, Tai’ Gann and some of the Mawim would be my guess. What perplexes me is how to protect the ship’s mission while I have a spy in my own ranks, and how to expose the cells, when they are protecting each other. I expect that there will be another crisis just before or just after we enter plasma-drive. I do have a fall-back plan that I put into place after I spoke with your father.”381
“Which is?”382
“Which is this…” he began as he detailed his plan to Si’.383
* * *384
Tu’ Venne, now Ki’ Venne’, led the memorial service for Ki’ Oste and his consort. The bodies were cremated, and the ashes stored for their eventual return to the homeworld. The memorial service was arranged by Si’ to strict protocol. Having been fully briefed by Jihr, she guessed that the new commander would not be up to the task of arranging the service. As she guessed, he was more than relieved when she volunteered to see to all the details. 385
All crew were in attendance, except Regc and Hvenc. They were doing a search of certain crews’ quarters. The autopsy had confirmed that a toxic gas had been vented into the apartment, and then sucked out by the exhaust system. The yeoman had entered the cabin before the next cycle of oxygen had fully re-pressurised the rooms, thus the gust of air when he entered. The entire environmental team had been questioned. Nothing was discovered and nothing proved, but Jihr was suspicious of two crewmen; and thus the search during the memorial service. Jihr focused on evidence relating to the murders. Hvenc ran a parallel search for evidence of the Interdictor sabotage. His search turned up some minor, but incriminating technical evidence. 386
It frustrated Jihr to have no full-blown leads. He had suspicions in plenty, but no facts. It was obvious to him that there were at least two groups aboard intent on stopping the voyage. It was becoming apparent to him that he would definitely use the fallback plan that he had implemented prior to the voyage. As a precaution, and a smoke screen, he ordered the two suspect crewmen restricted to quarters until he could do a full interrogation of them, and a search of the D’Ana logs. He needed to convince the saboteurs that he had been fooled. 387
* * *388
Ki’ Venne seemed to regain his composure after the memorial service. Preparations for the shift to plasma-drive were completed on schedule. That activity went a long way to calming the visible tension among the crew. Two traumatic events in one watch had been very alarming. A sense of wariness and lack of trust was building. Transitioning into plasma drive would send a message of resolve to the saboteurs, that the mission would go ahead regardless.389
Jihr and his security team were hyper-alert these last few days before transition. He even co-opted the four redundant Ev-Trnod'ynat crewmembers to assist the constant supervision of propulsion and environmental sections. The last hour arrived. The Ionator informed the new captain that all couplings read optimal. Navigation confirmed correct course. Environmental affirmed that all systems were operational.390
“Transition speed attained and holding.”391
Ki’ Venne turned to the Ionator, and said quietly, “Synchronise compound drive.”392
“Synchronising.” The innate throb of the ship changed to a deeper hum. D’Ana’s were checked, and rechecked. “Synchronisation complete,” was the eventual report.393
“Initiate plasma-drive.”394
“Initiating.”395
The crew felt no physical change. Lacking a picture transmitting technology, only the few view ports gave any indication that the ship’s rate of acceleration had increased exponentially. Some star fields began to blur. The crew knew that the plasma fields generated from the three pods would expand increasingly in the rotans ahead, hurling the compound ship at incredible speeds, shortening the entire trip profoundly.396
Minutes pasted tensely, as the propulsion techs watched their D’Ana readouts. Finally satisfied, the Ionator announced, “Plasma-drive transition complete. All fields expanding optimally. The Pelled Krasc is in transit.”397
Smiles of relief passed through the command centre.398
Ki’ Venne turned to the nearest comm-link, “Transition to compound plasma-drive has been successful. We are in transit to the Hysaron System in Octym 7. Section leaders begin hibernation shutdown procedures.” 399
Some of the crew would be in complete deep-hibernation for most of the voyage. Others would be on rotational hibernation. This would be accomplished in three shifts over several rotans. For Jihr this meant delegating the first partial hibernation watch to Tuum’ Hvenc and a reduced security team. Si’, Tai' Gann, Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha were also scheduled for the first hibernation procedure. But before that could take place, there needed to be a meeting of the diplomatic corps.400
* *401
Meeting in the passenger lounge, Vi’ Viyatt Nu chaired the gathering as administrative secretary. The Mawim sat silently in the background, leaving the floor to the 4 senior members of the party.402
The Tai’, full of bombast and complaint, spent over an hour listing his criticisms of the expedition to date, and the miserable failings of Jihr and Ki’ Venne. In the end he got to his chief points; that they should have turned back, and that if they were now committed to going forward, then there must necessarily be a change of agenda, from peaceful diplomatic negotiation, to one of armed exploitation. How he would do this with one vessel and one interdictor he didn’t explain.403
The two scientists, Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha, ever patient in the face of absurdity, didn’t answer the Tai’ according to his folly, but instead directly reinforced the instructions given by the High Counsellor. Their blunt and logical analysis focused on the scientific and practical. They were on a research and diplomatic mission to find sentient life, and establish diplomacy and trade, and then report back to the homeworld. In the interim, the homeworld would be developing a second generation of vessels capable of exploiting that initial trade treaty. Any deviation from these orders would be a violation of their responsibility to the homeworld’s future viability. As ever, Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha were individuals of logic and integrity.404
Vi’ Viyatt Nu was less direct, but perhaps more effective in her presentation. Her audience were the Mawim, not the Tai. She expected that the Tai’ could be marginalised once they found the expected sentient species, by making him a figurehead immersed in ceremony and formalities. It would be the Mawim who would shoulder the majority of the hard work of the diplomacy, the language and culture acquisition. They were the future. The two elderly advisors would be the backbone of the diplomacy, adding their wisdom and experience. 405
The Mawim were not invited or expected to contribute to the debate. The Tai’, seeing no backing for his position, fumed impotently as the majority, silent or otherwise, seemed to align with the original mission directives. After the meeting broke up Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha took their routine constitutional through the ship. Disdaining the exercise compartment that the crew monopolised at any rate, at their age they preferred the simple pleasure of a complete walk through all the compartments of the ship. The Tai and the Mawim left also, but Si’ remained to enter her notes in the diplomatic log.406
* * *407
Several watches into plasma-drive, with all systems checked and re-checked, the phased hibernation program began.408
Jihr entered his quarters with two medi-techs and donned the gender-specific hibernation suit they had brought. After all connections had been checked and double-checked, and the settings calibrated, they left him to settle into the natural sleep that preceded deep hibernation. In her suite Si’ was undergoing the same procedure. On A and B Pods a roster of the crew were already entering deep-hibernation.409
Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha were taking their final pre-hibernation stroll through the ship. Halfway through, as they neared the now repaired landing bay airlock they heard a noise behind them. Before they could turn both had been hit with a narco slug. Their assailant dragged both advisors into the airlock and jettisoned them alive into space to be incinerated by the plasma field.410
* * *411
ABANDONED412
Jihr Taur’ Recq lay still in the maintenance crawl space. The wiring for the electromechanical systems was warm. The heat-dissipating grillwork of the consoles provided concealment and observation for him, allowing him to overhear everything said within a few meters, and see some of the activity. Nothing he had seen or heard in the last hour indicated that his absence from hibernation had been discovered. Eventually, the two duty crewmen moved to the far end of the navigation compartment. Ever so slowly he began to ease his way back down the crawl way. 413
Half an hour later he was nearing the end of his clandestine journey to his private lair. A muffled thump, and a slight vibration carried through to him. He stopped to listen. As he did so, a second thump and following vibration occurred. The air pressure in the crawl way rose briefly, and then dropped to less than normal. His ears popped. A message came over the Vox, garbled and indistinct inside his tunnel. He hurried his egress, and dropped into the security station in C-Pod. Another vibration shimmied through the ship, but unaccompanied by prior noise.414
The Vox was insistent … “Condition Black! Condition Black! Condition Black! Environmental control compromised! System failure in 17 minutes! Condition Black! Condition Black! Condition Black! Plasma generator compromised! Shutdown in 2 minutes… “Condition Black! Condition Black! Condition Black! All non-hibernating personnel report to A-Pod immediately…all non-hibernating personnel report to A-Pod immediately! Abort hibernation systems… Abort hibernation systems!” The Vox continued to cycle the countdown. Another, sharper vibration.415
Taur’ Recq sprinted down the hallway towards the accommodation section. He passed several personnel as they headed for the connecting passageways, ignoring them as they yelled in warning. As he turned down a corridor a frangible narco-slug pocked the wall next to his head. He drew his own weapon, stopped, crouched and waited for the assailant to appear. He fired twice as soon as a uniform dashed into view. Tuum’ Hvenc crumpled in an unconscious heap against the opposite wall. Jihr found no satisfaction in this confirmation of Hvenc’s treachery.416
Reaching Si’Viyatt Nu’s room he entered his security override code. Stepping inside he sealed the room with another code. Si’Viyatt Nu stood before him in a standard uniform, gun in hand. “What’s happening?” she asked tensely. He put his gun away, and she did likewise. He put his hands gently on her shoulders. She met his eyes, questioningly.417
“Someone has blown the B-Pod environmental controls, and the plasma drive regulator. The vibrations you feel are the fluctuations in the plasma motor as it syncopates. It will automatically shut down in about a minute more. Then the ship will drop out of plasma-drive. I don’t know how badly damaged the environmental system is; but ‘best case’ is total shutdown of pods B and C. Worst case - is a meltdown of the main Hydrolytic Fission Reactor. I’m sure that whoever is behind this will jettison those decks and congregate survivors in A-Pod. It is a self-contained vessel, and they can make it back to the homeworld without major problems.” 418
Her eyes and voice were determined. “Then we have to get to A-Pod now!”419
“No, and I have to release the cadets first.” He swung to the door, inserted a new command, and pulled out his gun again. As the door opened he looked up and down the now empty hallway. Leaving the soundproof cabin they came into the blare of the Vox. “Condition Black! Condition Black! Condition Black!… Environmental control compromised! System failure in 14 minutes!…“Condition Black! Condition Black! Condition Black!…Plasma generator shutdown completed.”420
Si’Viyatt Nu followed Taur’ Recq down the hall, her own gun drawn again. They reached the Mawim’s cabin. The door was ajar. As he entered Taur’ Recq saw three bodies scattered around the lounge. He swore under his breath. Si’Viyatt Nu came in as he moved from corpse to corpse checking their identity. The Maw' Uuma lay closest to the door. He had been shot in the back of the head at close range with a lethal narco-slug. The Maw' Del and Maw' Gir both had defensive wounds on their hands and arms. They had tried to fight back before they were shot. Taur’ checked the bedrooms and bath. No fourth body. The Taur’s face grew stern, his voice angry…. “The Maw' Pentar did this.”421
“I assume that means he was Tai’Gann’s sleeper” she commented in cold anger.422
“Not necessarily. ‘The enemy of my enemy’….Their immediate purpose was to stop the diplomatic mission. Their long-term goals differ diametrically.” 423
“The twins!”424
They exited the room hurriedly and made their way to the twin’s small cabin. Again using his override code he unlocked the door. They both gagged as the door slid open. Two prostrate bodies lay at the door’s edge. 425
“Drag them out!” Taur’ commanded. They each grabbed a body and pulled them out into the corridor. The emergency message continued its countdown from a Vox behind them….”System failure in 11 minutes…”. Si’Viyatt Nu checked both forms for a pulse. “They’re alive.” They began compressing their chests to stimulate breathing.426
“Same trick as with Ki’Oste and his consort Mil' Gnoste, inject carbon monoxide and starved them of breathable air.”427
“Two murderers?”428
“Don’t forget the environmental and engine sabotage,” added Taur’. There are definitely two groups operating. First Treen coughed, then Bahrin. Their eyes opened slowly, leadenly. The emergency message mocked them ….“System failure in 9 minutes…”. 429
“Help them up,” commanded Taur’ urgently. He took hold of the boy while Si’Viyatt Nu helped the lighter female to her feet. “This way.” Jihr guided the others towards the nose of C-Pod. At a door marked “Security Staff Only” he used his private code again and led them into a small storage room. The Vox continued to blare through the open door…“in 6 minutes…”. The sound cut off abruptly when he sealed the door.430
The gun locker contained a range of lethal and non-lethal hand-held weapons in metal cabinets. Several weapons were missing. At the back wall he opened a cabinet, threw a switch, and a panel slid open. What appeared to be a bulkhead faced them. Reaching into an orange-coloured recess he pulled a handle. The bulkhead hatch cracked open and then swung aside. “In! Quickly!” commanded the Taur’ as he stood aside to let them pass. The twins staggered in followed by Si’Viyatt Nu.431
Jihr flipped the storage room switch, walked through the bulkhead, closed and dogged the hatch. He put his override into the lock. An airlock now faced them in the short hallway. A revived Bahrin operated the handle and they all passed into the opening door. In the crowded space Jihr activated the controls, and the doors cycled through their process. They entered a cramped copy of A-Pod’s command centre. “Sit!” Jihr Taur’ Recq commanded as he took the engineer’s console. No Vox operated here, but a readout on one display showed 4 minutes to disaster. Jihr hit the override button and pressed some command switches. “Hang on tight!”432
The lights dimmed, the compartment shook, a long lasting vibration, a muffled roar and rending sounds. The gravity died; there was a sickening plunge. Treen responded to the weightlessness with the ‘dry heaves’ and lost the grip on her chair. Jihr threw several more switches, and a violent forward motion replaced the pit-of-the-stomach sensation. Treen was thrown into the console behind her, and knocked out. Less than a minute later a second, briefer but more violent vibration shook the compartment. The three remaining escapees also blacked out from this. 433
After an unmeasured interval Jihr and Si’ Viyatt Nu came out of their daze. Jihr entered some commands, and the gravity, much lessened, came back on. Then they tended to the twins. Bahrin was shaken; and Treen would have a large bruise on her forehead for several days. “What happened?” Bahrin asked after Treen came round.434
“Someone tried to murder you, and also sabotaged the duplex engines and environmental systems,” Jihr answered. “The Si’ Viyatt and I found you in time. To flee to A-Pod with those still alive would have meant death at the hands of the saboteurs. So I brought you to my lair.”435
They all resumed their seating in the now operating partial gravity. Looking around at the cramped compartment Si’ Viyatt asked, “What is this place?”436
Jihr continued to monitor the propulsion settings. “It is the redundancy-control-room. It is listed as ‘cargo space’ on the re-design. Only the Ki’ and I had access. From here I can operate all the surviving systems of C-Pod. I have been working out of here since the murders of Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha.” 437
“How, when you were in deep hibernation?” queried Treen.438
“I never was in hibernation. I pre-programmed my unit, and Si’ Viyatt Nu’s, to give false readings. She was in a shallow sleep only. I also pre-programmed a change of portal codes so that no one could enter our apartments to assassinate us in our sleep. That left me free to maintain some watch on our unidentified plotters. I did the same with your and the Mawim’s cabins. I guessed wrongly, and the danger to the Mawim was internal, not external.”439
“What do we do now?” Treen continued.440
“Now, I am going to have to assess the damage to C-Pod, and plan repairs. Then we all are going to have to fix what we can, and see what we can do about surviving to complete our mission.”441
“I don’t understand!” Bahrin implored. “What has really happened?”442
“The saboteurs - there were several cells - so damaged B-Pod’s systems that an unstoppable explosion on that pod was immanent. This composite ship was designed to have self-sustaining pods in the event of an in-flight emergency. If main propulsion and environment failed, then the smaller engines and less sophisticated environmental units in A and C pods could be used to nurse the damaged craft back home. The hibernation routine would be strict, and the return transit time would be longer. In an extreme emergency, the pods would be separated, and whichever pod survived would become the sole returning vessel.” 443
“Tthat means the saboteurs controlled A-Pod, separated, and turned back before the explosion?” ventured Si’ Viyatt Nu. Jihr nodded his head. “Are we marooned on this portion of the ship?” she asked.444
“Not quite marooned,” replied Jihr. “We have navigation and propulsion. If the environmental unit is in working order we can survive nicely. Don’t forget, much of the catering supplies are stowed on this deck. A true oversight on the part of the saboteurs.”445
“What about hibernation?’ asked a still confused Treen as she looked around the compartment. “There’s no equipment here.”446
“There is one space suit stowed in this compartment, Treen. I intend to use the airlock to explore C-Pod, and ascertain the extent of the damage. Then I can answer your question, and we can take stock of our options. In the meantime, you will find food and liquid in that storage area,” he said, pointing to a small portal. “I’m afraid the toileting facilities are very primitive,” pointing to what looked like a box in a corner. Treen’s striations coloured as the truth dawned. Si’ Viyatt Nu gave Jihr a sour look. Bahrin was about to laugh, when it occurred to him that their lack of privacy was his also. He coloured too.447
Jihr changed the subject. “The environmental controls are on automatic now. Don’t touch them. The engines are off and we are coasting. First-things-first. Once I find out the condition of the rest of the deck we can see about navigation and propulsion.” The next few minutes were spent in suiting Jihr up.448
* * * *449
Exiting the short passageway into the security room Jihr found cabinet doors flung open, contents strewn, and one cabinet ripped from the walls; all signs of the violence of B-Pod’s blast. Opening the door he walked into a larger shambles. Ceiling tiles littered the floor, all loose furniture lay in damaged heaps, wiring hung from the ceiling. The scene was repeated throughout the hallways. There were no signs of catastrophic decompression however, and no sign that the explosion had breached the hull. 450
Tuum’ Hvenc lay in a twisted heap in a far corner where he’d been thrown; neck broken. As he made his way forward Jihr came across one other crewman in a similar condition. Twice he set down the analyser he carried, adjusted the settings, and scanned the readouts, similar in each case. Radiation levels – normal, temperature – just below standard, air – breathable with contaminants at acceptable levels.451
He moved on to the forward cargo hold. In the airlock he hooked up to the tether spool, activated the outer lock and stepped into space. This was his third external activity, the first two were training exercises years before. He moved to the upper surface of C-Pod, checking all the couplings and hatches. A conduit was damaged, and the wring had spilled out, like multicoloured seagrass in a black ocean. The surface was scorched here and there by the explosive emergency decoupling. Radiation levels spiked in a few small spots; but there didn’t appear to be any blast damage from the disintegration of C-Pod. He worked his way to the rear, and checked the venturi ports.452
These were clear of debris and visible damage. He moved to the side of the ship, and activated the tether, checking as he was drawn back. He repeated the process for the underside, spooling back to the forward hatch. After double-checking the integrity of the airlock he retraced his path through the deck, verifying his first oxygen and radiation checks. Opening each stateroom and storage space, he found no one hiding and only a few additional bodies. Re-entering the security room he removed his helmet with a smile. “The hull seems intact and the air is breathable. Help me out of this suit and we’ll start making plans.”453
“Can we leave this room?” Treen asked.454
“No. Not until we’ve made some… arrangements.” 455
Si’ caught his tone, “Jihr and I will have to make things habitable before we can go back to our suites.” Bahrin elbowed his twin, who got the message.456
“We have two basic options,” Jihr began, “turn back – or – continue. However, both the Si’ Viyatt Nu and I have direct orders from her father to fulfil our mission at any cost. But because we are the only crew, we must be in agreement. Tell me your opinions.”457
Si looked at the twins, who held a whispered discussion. “Go forward,” reported Treen.458
“Continue,” agreed Si.459
“Then its unanimous. It will still be perilous, and much longer than the original transit. But we have sufficient environmental and propulsion resources, as well as rations, to reach the planned destination, and then some. Because our staterooms are intact, we can use deep hibernation effectively. Si and I both have some experience in engineering and environmental systems, and…”460
“We have some experience in navigation and communications on the Verl freighters,” Bahrin interjected.461
“…and you two can be trained…..,” continued Jihr emphatically.462
“…..to use those skills,” Si’ completed the thought diplomatically.463
* * * *464
Si’ and Jihr spent an unpleasant several hours removing the corpses. There were no facilities for cremation in C-Pod. After Si’ Viyatt Nu prayed, Jihr jettisoned the corpses out the forward airlock. It didn’t seem adequate emotionally, but it was standard practice. While Si packed their personal belongings for eventual return to their clans, Jihr straightened the room and then sealed the portal. The room would remain off limits for the duration of their passage. He then double-checked the twins’ suite for habitability. Their tasks done, they returned to the twins.465
“Once we have restored our navigation and propulsion settings, I propose that we do repair and clean-up over the entire ship. It would be bad for our morale if we leave the craft looking like a derelict ‘binge-scow’.” 466
“I agree,” said Treen. “I don’t want to live in a ship that looks like Bahrin’s room back on Verl!” Bahrin tried to punch her in the arm, but she moved aside just in time. They all laughed, and the day’s tension partially passed.467
“Let’s tackle navigation first. Si’, come sit at the console next to me. Twins, stand behind us.”468
Jihr entered a series of questions into the D-Ana. The response did not please him. “We have deviated from our original course,” he explained, “probably due to the emergency decoupling and the shock wave from B-Pod’s explosion.” He entered a range of commands. Again the response did not please him. “Some of our navigational array must be damaged. The D-Ana can only get a fix on half of our nav-points. We can set our course by those, but may very well be half a sector or more off of our intended system I.P.”469
The other three discussed the implications, but reaffirmed their commitment to proceed regardless. Jihr entered the appropriate commands, and after some time the D-Ana indicated that the course was running on automatic. “Now for the hard bit,” Jihr cautioned. “checking the propulsion and environmental systems.470
The amalgamated ‘Pelled Krasc’, besides having compound sections, used a compound drive system. Ion propulsion and Plasma-drive provided interstellar capability. To that was tied the Hydrolytic Fission Reactor electric generation plant, and the manoeuvring nozzles. Hydrogen fuel cells were integrated into the environmental system, which itself utilised every waste product in a recycling process. Scrubbers, bio-fermentation chambers, filters, etc, processed everything fed through the system. Even the small amount of incineratable solid waste was put to use, as plastics, etc. The main propulsion and environmental units had been in B-Pod. Those on C were smaller versions, redundancies. They could do the same functions at a slower rate, and required much closer supervision. “It will take several days to check all the systems manually. I prefer to do that before I check them via the D-Ana.”471
“Why?” asked Treen.472
“First,” answered Jihr the teacher, “so that the three of you can become familiar with the systems you’ll be operating. Secondly, because our eyes may pick up something that isn’t monitored electro-mechanically. And lastly, it will tell me how well you learn.” He chuffed her under the chin, and she flushed. “Machines can worked more quickly than we can; but we can make judgements about moral values and ethical consequences that they can’t.” 473
Si’ Viyatt Nu had never heard Jihr speak about ‘values’ and ‘ethics’ before. Their circumstances had altered fundamentally. Perhaps their relationship could also. She filed the thought away in her mind.474
With the four of them the cleanup didn’t take long. Despite the violent shaking that C-Pod had endured, there were no malfunctions in the catering unit. Lots of mess, but nothing they couldn’t handle. Once they had finished cleaning, Si’ requested that they take the time for a proper meal. They all agreed. Si’ and Treen did the preparation. Conversation and full stomachs aided their morale immeasurably. The meal clean up lay with Jihr and Bahrin.475
The twin’s suite was next on the list. Only a few ceiling tiles were damaged beyond repair. A broken chair was replaced from the Viq’s suite. Jihr and Bahrin ran diagnostics on all the rooms’ systems, recalibrating where necessary. The twins were delighted to be out of the cramped nav-com compartment. Ablutions and a change of clothes went a long way towards rejuvenating them.476
While the twins changed, Jihr and Si’ examined her suite. Her personal cycle-tokens were strewn about. Her precious silver-inlaid Merroe wood box had been flung into a corner, and the diaphanous Iksoten jewel lay to one side. Jihr saw it first, bent down and retrieved box and jewel. He opened the box and placed the jewel inside and fastened the lid closed. When she saw what he held she lost he poise for a moment. Then she held out her hand, and said “thank you,” in anticipation that he would hand it over to her.477
“I gave this to you many years ago, Vitti. I am grateful that you still keep it. You were always my jewel, and have always had my love,” Jihr said sincerely and without rancour. One of the feet on the box was twisted. Jihr twisted it back into position. The box separated. Inside lay the miniature golden Kontesquet Muzul. Reverently he picked it up and placed it in her hands. “But I knew that this was more precious to you than any jewel.”478
Stunned, Si’s striations ran the spectrum of emotions, as she sucked in her breath in deep apprehension. Mere possession of this object was cause for immediate execution under the anti-Nivat laws, and Jihr was a high-ranking Security officer sworn to uphold those laws. She was beyond speaking.479
Jihr saw the fear in her eyes. “Do not fear, Vitti. I have kept this secret for many years.”480
“You….you knew?” she stammered, stunned.481
“I knew from the first, Vitti. I have known you all my life. Such a change in one’s values and commitments, such an abundance of life, is not something hidden from friends of the heart. You may hide your worship, but you cannot hide your change of heart. Our Garhyarii religion of Niv is a dead legalistic sham. Faith in Nivat brings a gift of life. Your father and I….”482
“My father!” she cried in dismay.483
Jihr smiled. “Your father and I have protected you from exposure; I for your sake, he for his own motives. Your assignment to this voyage was part of that protection. A successful mission would place you beyond harm. And, on the basis of your status, would allow the worshippers of Nivat to declare their faith openly once again, without danger of death.”484
“Do you also worship Nivat?” she questioned in a strong tone.485
“We will talk of that in the future. For now, I am fulfilling my vow to your father. For the present that is sufficient for you to know.” He handed her the box, left her suite, walked down the hall smiling gently to himself, to chime the Twins’ portal.486
She replaced ‘the Piercing Pivot-Beam’ in the open the box. “Vu NIVAT,” she confessed in a quiet shaking voice, “nitowashtikin waptecashna mayaque”. She stood deep in thought until Jihr and the Twins entered. Subdued and hiding her confusion, she worked semi-silently with the others to restore her room. Again, Jihr and Bahrin ran diagnostics on all systems. 487
“I plan to move into the Viq’s suite. I think Bahrin and I can handle the repairs488
ourselves, if Treen would like to stay and help Si’ finish off the re-decorating here.”489
“Sure,” agreed Treen quickly.490
Si said, “That will give us some time for women’s talk.” Her face smiled but her eyes didn’t. They were focused on Jihr, and still reflected her inner personal confusion as well as the recent trauma they had all experienced.491
**492
**493
Over the next few days the ‘crew’ set themselves tasks that would make C-Pod fully functional. Si’ tended to roster herself with Treen, and avoided Jihr where possible. She had yet to come to grips with the implications of the ‘protection’ Jihr and her father had provided. 494
Jihr made certain that each member assisted him with diagnostic, navigation, environmental and propulsion issues. The twins, especially, had manuals to study after the days work. As Jihr expected, Treen and Bahrin showed similar aptitudes. Experience and training would help them to mature in judgement and skill. Si’, as he had expected, was already proficient in several areas, and would simply need to review the manuals closely. She hadn’t spent her many years in space doing nothing. He was pleased, and relieved. Completing the mission might just be doable after all.495
When they were alone in the cramped environmental compartment she said, “I know how hard it was for you to make the decision to carry on.”496
“Thank you, Vitti. It was hard, weighing people’s lives against so many variables. The benefits for our race are potentially too great. Besides, we would have been assassinated upon our return if we had turned back. We may still fail, but at least we will have tried. And if we meet a sentient race and can return home, then our enemies’ plans are undone. I have faith that we can do this.”497
“Faith?” she prodded, “Faith in yourself?”498
“Faith, yes; but not in myself, Vitti.” He wouldn’t be drawn again about it during the remainder of their inspection tour, keeping his comments technical and instructive.499
When the deck was returned to some semblance of its former state, Jihr involved them all in the task of inventorying everything aboard. As they went through the craft they found a number of things in their long-term favour. With just the four of them to cope with, the Pod’s downsized environmental system would not be taxed. There were sufficient replacement parts to make most repairs. Though damaged in the detonations, some of the hydroponics units could be repaired, refilled, and their ‘soup’ regenerated.500
The forward cargo hold, besides containing samples of Garhyarii technology, minerals, food, and artistry, held medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Having lost their medical technicians to A-Pod, they would need these supplies. The C-Pod catering-unit had been designed to serve a larger crew. With the hibernation rostering, the supplies would last several cycles, if necessary. It was all reason to give humble thanks.501
The propulsion systems, though far less powerful than B-Pod’s main drives, were more than sufficient to power the remnant vessel towards their goal with little increase of transit time. The coupled drives and redundant Hydrolytic Fission Reactor were designed for interstellar transit. 502
Jihr suspected that the saboteurs, and any B-Pod and A-Pod crew that managed to survive separation, would find the small backup catering section of A-Pod insufficient. Rationing, he suspected, would soon give way to elimination. Non-subversive and non-essential crew would simply be disposed of, literally. The subversives wouldn’t starve on the voyage home; but life on A-Pod would be harsh.503
****504
Si’ still held two unresolved issues. She had been praying about it for days. After a meal, when she and Jihr were rostered for cleanup, she sent the twins on an errand to the cargo hold. Jihr had watched her closely, and seen the agitation quietly build. He wasn’t quite sure what was from the trauma of the murders and sabotage, and how much from her personal dilemma. Since childhood he had seen the same signals of an impending confrontation. 505
Pre-empting the inevitable, Jihr asked, “Something is bothering you Vitti.”506
“I wish you wouldn’t call me Vitti!” she snapped.507
That response confirmed his assessment. He smiled dryly at her annoyance. “No longer ‘Vitti’. Hmm, let me see. Would you prefer ‘voyager’, ‘diplomat’, or perhaps ‘yeoman’? How about ‘second in command’?”508
Her irritation built, and she fumed; until she remembered how he used to undo her moods as teens rotans before. In frustration she looked for something to throw at him. Before she could do so Jihr reached out and took her by both shoulders, asking, “Or would you prefer ‘Consort’?” As commander of this vessel I can declare us bonded, you know. I doubt that any one aboard will object.”509
“I object!”510
“Oh, really? You kept our bonding token, the Iksoten jewel.” Her striations coloured.511
“You have never bonded with another.” He colour deepened.512
“And, because of our current circumstances, we are now of equal status.” {meaning that when her father’s cycle ended she would no longer be the High Daughter} “And,” he looked straight into her eyes, “I have been a follower of Nivat since I left to serve in the Colonies.”513
“I still object!”514
“Per, Vitti?”515
“Don’t call me Vitti!”516
“Because?”517
“Because… because… I was going to ask you, and now you’ve gone and spoiled it!” Her striations flashed the spectrum as Jihr finally held his consort in his arms.518
* * *519
TREEN520
Routines.521
He built their long days around routines. Routines designed to keep them all alive. Routines to fight boredom when individuals were not in hibernation. 522
The toddler Janil certainly helped with that! Nothing was routine with a toddler; especially when you were not the mother, only a nanny.523
Janil had been born during Viyatt’s third rotation. No Garhyar child had ever been born in space. And no child had ever been allowed to travel in space until they had experienced their first natural hibernation. Jihr and Viyatt had decided that the child must experience “parenting” until they reached that first hibernation. Viyatt extended her rotation until the child was weaned. Jihr had overlapped her rotation, as had then Treen, and then Bahrin. Now, several rotations later, Treen was again ‘parenting’ the growing Janil.524
She was a carbon copy of her Uumai parents. Her tan skin highlighted her hazel eyes, hair auburn as her mother’s, and Uumai ochre facial striations across the high cheekbones. Her father’s jaw line, her mother’s smile and nose. And like them, intelligent, strong willed, inquisitive and affectionate.525
Garhyar are naturally communitarian; so, given the limited circumstances, the idea of alternating ‘parenting’ was easily arranged. From all that the four of them could tell, Janil was developing normally. At least as normally as conditions allowed. They even turned the empty diplomats’ lounge into her playroom. There were no ‘toys’ aboard, so each contributed their skills and creativity to construct facsimiles of the toys they remembered. Soft toys from clothing left behind. Some wooden toys made from the panelling in an unused suite. For her short naps she would be placed next to her somnolent mother or father when they were both hibernating.526
Janil was playing quietly with her ‘dolls’ when Treen checked on her. Later they would take their regular ‘tour’ of the ship, and Treen would try to answer all of Janil’s questions, for the zillionth time. She prayed that Janil might have a more normal life, someday.527
Routines.528
The checklist Jihr had developed formed the basis of her routines. Some days she varied the order in which she completed each task, but always she did everything on the list. Environmentals, navigation, propulsion, power, rations, hibernation, and hull integrity must all be monitored, and any repairs made, immediately. 529
She was grateful that she had little Janil to attend to. As gregarious as her twin brother, she did not like loneliness and isolation. Playing with Janil, creating games, telling her stories about the Garhyarii, and reading to her about Niv, Nivat and the Nexus were pleasurable things. They did much to keep her from despondency on her rotation.530
Treen was becoming a woman. No longer Treen Del-Mahz, she had reached Sulyat, maidenhood. Garhyarii culture was not repressive of gender information, so she was not ignorant of her body’s changes. Her mother had been open and informative; as had Viyatt. She was now Treen Sulyat Phar, the Maiden Treen of the Family Phar. She could plait her hair in the ‘maiden’s circlet’. She prayed that someday they would return to her homeworld, and she could marry.531
On this watch she had chosen to have a recording of the ‘Symbol of Pellat Mar’ played over the Vox as she went through her duties. Wherever she went she could listen to, and repeat verbatim, these teachings of Nivat. The Vox could even be adjusted to play basic folk-tunes. Viyatt had recorded the entire Dax Nivat for them all. Jihr, who had a deep and resonant singing voice, had recorded the Shu'Ynat Biz’ul . Word and worship whenever they wanted to listen. Her favourite prayer was the one Viyatt had first taught her, “Nivat, nitowashtikin waptecashna mayaque”. It stirred her spirit just to member it. Now, as she made her way to the navigation bay, where they had first taken refuge, she contemplated how Nivat had indeed provided everything they had needed.532
Routines.533
The comm-link produced only the usual space noise. The D-Ana was set to monitor anything that came across the Garhyarii bandwidths. Nothing.534
Non-routine! An amber light was flashing on the navigation D-Ana. The navigation unit had been set to activate when the light waves emanating from the solar system on their flight path reached a specific strength. That would give them sufficient time and distance to drop their speed and enter the system safely. Treen sat down to look at the display. Proximity warning! Somewhere ahead was a solar body in their flight path! 535
With calmness she didn’t know she possessed, Treen entered the proper instructions into the D-Ana, the engines spooled down, and the forward repulsers began firing at pre-set intervals. Next, she turned to the environmental D-Ana, and typed in instructions to cease the hibernation of her crewmates. It would take three Garhyarii days to slow the ship, and awaken the sleeping voyagers.536
Then it hit her. Treen sucked in a draught of air, and let it out very slowly, trying to calm herself. “Oh, Nivat,” she said aloud, “have we really made it?” question and intercession all in one. She sat there for a long time, crying softly, poised between a childhood forever gone, and a future unimaginable. It was a very scary place.537
At last the ‘Symbol of Pellat Mar’ reached past her shock and the words of Nivat penetrated her consciousness and met her need. “Have I not promised, and shall I not perform it? The Nexus will walk beside you every step of your journey. He will guide and counsel you. Have no fear, for I shall be with you.” 538
Treen stood, and left the navigation bay to check on the hibernation monitors. 539
* * * *540
Routines had all become non-routine. There was a different purpose to them now, an urgency. The ship had slowed to a manoeuvrable speed. On today’s inspection of the navigation bay she had seen the proximity array display. Just at the edge of the display range was a symbol depicting a spherical object larger than their ship. It was in orbit around the outermost edge of the approaching solar system. Asteroid? Moon? Planetoid? As she watched and wondered, a second symbol appeared. She watched mesmerised, an unknown time passing. The second object was creeping away from the first.541
Treen became aware that the D-Ana was blinking a report. She read, and then reread the scrolling text: “Trajectory intersecting - Trajectory intersecting – Traject….”542
Hostile? Missile? – or – Non-hostile? Automated probe? Sentient vehicle?543
In her brief times of conscious faith her experience of associating with the Nexus had been limited. But now she felt a tangible peace envelop her. “My peace I leave with you. My peace, not that with which society anaesthetises itself. Real peace, of which mere circumstances cannot rob you,” Nivat had promised. She calmed herself and waited. On the display she could see that the object would close the distance that watch.544
Time to check on the slowly awakening crew. Time to secure Janil in her parents’ suite. 545
Time.546
Time for the second-most non-routine event of her species’ history.547
* * * *548
After she checked on the status of the semi-conscious but immobile Jihr and Viyatt, she brought in Janil. She made no attempt to communicate the momentous news, as the stress would make the transition out of hibernation much more difficult. There would be time enough if there was to be time at all. She went to Bahrin’s room and stroked her brother’s tense face. He was fighting internally to return, but had yet to move into a semi-consciousness state. 549
She prayed in their suite until the sound of the airlock reverberated through the ship. She finished her petitions, and then rose to face…. whatever.550
* * *551
THE ‘K’-CLASS552
Routines. It wasn’t a question of holding herself together with compulsive routinisation. The multiple workloads actually required that she follow SOP as a redundancy for her lack of skills in certain specialities. Preventative maintenance really was worth a pound of cure, for there were no ‘cures’ for catastrophic system failures while alone in deep space.553
To a softly playing CD of Handel's "Messiah” Chapelle ate her second, and final, meal of the day at 16.00 Montreal time. She planned to review the generator maintenance manual that ‘evening’ before she made her last check of the day’s telemetry.554
he ‘library’ consisted of tens of thousands of fifth generation data and visual disks, covering every conceivable scientific subject provided by SSDA. Chapelle and David had personally selected many volumes of general materials for their tour of duty. This included materials on pregnancy and child rearing, “for the future”. She tried to ration the hours she spent doing brain-candy reading. 555
The library was actually a study carrel located off to the side of the comm-centre. To get some exercise Chapelle walked halfway around the rim before taking a passage tube to the central cylinder. She didn’t particularly like the muted eggshell-grey walls and the pale pastels of the various equipment cabinets. At least the colour-coded conduits, tubes and hatchways provided some variation. What she could do with a few jars of acrylic paint! 556
Routines. 557
A few steps before entering the transit tube the predictable routines of Dr. Chapelle Delacroix were shattered.558
A brilliant light at the intersection of the ring and passage tube began flashing blue. Chapelle jumped sideways in shock, smashing painfully into a shoulder height conduit. Simultaneously, a distant hooter ‘wup-wup-wup-wupped’ up its 4-note scale. Assailed with light and noise her adrenalin surged. Confusion quickly gave way to training as she ran towards the comm-centre’s master computer consoles. The sound level increased as she entered the room. Breathing hard she tried to orient herself to the monitors and digital displays. 559
There! The sector approach warning! She sat heavily at the console. 560
The digital display ran a ribbon of text …“Contact...Contact ...Contact… Tracking an approaching deep space object. Distance from SPEWOP 3, now 73,287.36k. Speed, 29,471kph. Decelerating. Conclusion… artificial body…” The text message began to repeat itself…“Contact…Contact…Contact… Tracking...” Dr. Delacroix hit the ‘kill’ switch on the console. The hooters stopped and she typed in some instructions and called up the Contact Checklist. The SOP contained 5 commands for the computer. Those commands given, she entered the ‘transmit’ command code. Whatever telemetry data the platform’s sophisticated equipment gathered would now automatically be sent to SSDA. As long as the platform was operational, whether she was alive or not, SSDA would have some warning. 561
She left the comm-centre, heading quickly for her room and its toilet, her stomach churning from the excitement. After vomiting up her recent dinner she washed out her mouth, stepped out of her coveralls, used the loo and took a shower. She thought she had just over two hours to intercept the incoming … the incoming what? Satellite? Unmanned probe? ‘unmanned? …un-aliened?’…Intruder?…Attack craft?… to intercept it, and make some sort of contact. 562
Chapelle took her hairbrush from its restraining clip and brushed out the worst knots from her densely curly hair. After attaching a Uridome and medi-sensors, she put on her cleanest EVA under-suit. Two sections from her room was the med lab. Here she grabbed a small specimen collection kit. Walking back to the comm-centre she took a data feedback case from storage and checked the compact computer/video and transponder unit in it. From the ‘library’ she selected several astronomy disks. Spontaneously she also chose a human bio disk. Stepping back into the comm-centre she stood in front of the ship’s video console and typed in a command. 563
Into the lens she said: “An incoming deep space artificial object is approaching this sector. You should already be receiving the telemetry. I intend to take the K-Class shuttle and attempt to make contact. I have a data feedback unit with me and have set the comm-centre for continuous interrogation and onward transmission to you. Dr. Delacroix out.” That snippet of video was already on its way to SSDA. As long as the data feedback unit and the comm-centre were operational SSDA would continue to receive information on the intruder.564
Chapelle moved to the airlock and began to don the outer suit. She checked and rechecked all systems. No use in rushing things. “Steady...take it slow”… she kept telling herself. Finally satisfied she took the case and entered the docking lock to the K-Class shuttle. Chapelle turned the data unit on and made sure that it was interfaced with the comm-centre, then stowed it and the specimen case. Moving forward through the cargo hold, and then through the small passenger compartment, she checked and rechecked all supplies. In the pilot’s compartment she re-entered the realm of routines.565
Slowly, deliberately she ran a diagnostic of all onboard systems. Satisfied with that she went through the pre-flight checklist. Taking off her helmet, she spooled up the engines and decoupled. A short blast of the manoeuvring jets took the craft clear of the platform. The radar and infrared had already locked on to the alien craft. It had indeed slowed and was now in a parking orbit 10 kilometres distance, to far away for visual. The monitor gave her a profile and raw dimensions. She saw that it was between 12 and 15 times the size of her small K-Class. 566
Chapelle, eyes fixed on the radar returns, closed the distance carefully over the next hour. Finally she looked out through the forward view ports. It had never seemed so dark before. Where was the alien craft? A phrase shot across her overloaded mind…’Stygian darkness’…Just as quickly another thought grew clearly… ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overpower it.’567
“Twit” she castigated herself, smiled ruefully, and then turned on the shuttle’s external illumination. The alien craft was caught in the larboard bank of lights. She aligned the craft, turned on the shuttles external video equipment and closed the remaining distance. Maintaining 250 meters separation she began a visual all-round inspection. From the head-on perspective it looked boxy, grey with no symbols visible. A hatch-like portal was inlet in the left front. It looked to be 3 meters high and two wide. Next to the door was a recess painted orange, about three times the size of her hand. In the portal was a ‘view port’; which meant ‘crew’. “The vessel may be manned” she spoke into the recorder set into the console, “I can see a view port facing me”.568
Two brief blasts from the vents brought her to the starboard side of the vessel. A second boost, and she was working her way down the side. Half way along she saw a large door outlined by an orange stripe. Next to the door was another recess, again painted orange. Outboard of the door stripe on both sides were several shackles of various sizes. A meter down the flank from the door was a view port. Chapelle held her position for a few minutes as she inspected that area. Finally she returned to her circumnavigation of the alien ship. All through this time she kept up a running description for rebroadcast to SSDA.569
What she presumed was the ‘stern’ showed two sets of four venturi vents. Swinging under the ship she found it vacant of any ports, doors or shackles. She popped up again in front of the ‘bow’ view ports, flashed her lights and held her position there for a few minutes. This brought no observable response from inside. She then drifted across the ‘top’ of the alien vessel. Here she observed what she assumed were damaged docking collars and other attachment points, outlined with orange stripes and circles. A few cables streamed out of a conduit. They looked damaged also. There were some possible scorch marks elsewhere. 570
SSDA would receive all the video in a few days. They could make all their own interpretations. Physics was physics.571
“Truth time” she smiled to herself as she brought the ‘K’-class around parallel to what she had termed the ‘loading door’. Slowly, carefully, she eased the craft into a matching station. Using the larboard grappling arm she tried to snag one of the shackles. It took four attempts to get a tight hold. She keyed in the ‘stationary lock’ commands and waited for the computer to confirm. Retrieving the med and data cases she moved back to the airlock, donned her helmet and snapped on a tether. 572
The airlock door closed behind her and the cycle began. Two minutes later the external door slid open. Space. She felt peace surround her. “Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” Chapelle attached the tether, took a deep breath, pushed off gently from the hatchway, and impelled herself across the meter and a half of open space. The safety cable snaked along behind her as she coasted across. “Lets see if any one is home” she joked to herself as she probed the orange recess. She found a handle. 573
Too large for her gloved hand she grasped at it with both hands and twisted, first right, then left. No movement. She tried pushing inward. No movement. Finally she braced her feet against the doorframe and pulled. A vibration told her that something was operating. She turned her head and saw the large portal slide away in two sections. Inside was a large but dimly lit cubicle. A second set of doors lay at the end of this entry. A blue light blinked slowly. Chapelle unclipped her tether and attached it to an external shackle. Then she pulled herself into the cubicle. The doors closed behind her. The sense of ‘gravity’ was higher than in her station. 574
She heard the hiss of gas, and pressure on her suit. “I wonder what they breath?” The blue light blinked off. A recessed soft white light began to brighten the compartment. Through the lens of her helmet her eyes began to adjust to the new light level. An orange light blinked twice, and the inner airlock door began to slide open, giving her access to a cargo hold the size of her ‘K’-class vessel. Pallets of modular containers were strapped down at each end of the room, forming a hallway between the airlock door and another door in the far wall. When Chapelle stepped forward into the hold the airlock closed behind her. For a moment she heard what she thought were fans. 575
* *576
ENTRY577
She unclipped the air-sampler, turned it on and waited for the eventual analysis. The readout surprised her: all criteria in the Acceptable zone. The air in the alien ship was breathable, life-sustaining! No known airborne toxins or lethal viruses. She clipped the sampler back on her work belt. Opening the small tech box she extracted three swabs and vials. With one she swabbed the floor and sealed it in a vial. The second she used to swab her suit. With the third she swabbed the interior face of the airlock. She placed the sealed vials back in her case. Once back in the SPEWOP she could analyse for surface viruses or toxins. 578
Environmental analysis was vital and practical. It was also a defence mechanism against the complete unknown, her way of putting off….putting off - what? Sentient beings had build this ship. They were not from this solar system. None of the SPEWOP training and protocols had really been designed for communication. The whole system was defensive, reflecting the paranoia, the inherent human insecurity, of the Conmexus Administration that had initiated the ‘System Periphery Early-Warning Orbital Platform’. 579
Constructed in fear. The corporate anxiety of secular mankind, fearing the unknown. All stemming from the fundamental, unspoken, unadmitted fear that there really was an “other’. Having rejected God, commodified mankind, and raped the planet; there was no basis upon which to accept “the other” in peace.580
The irony of the SPEWOP platform’s name, IRENECON {Reconciler}, had continually annoyed her. But she was not surprised at the human capacity for hypocrisy. While exposed to those fears, they did not motivate Chapelle Delacroix. She was very aware of the zeitgeist of her nation. And, while not immune to it, her faith was grounded in the reality of God’s loving self-revelation, in the Word written, and the Word incarnate.581
Her anxiety was the straightforward apprehension of facing this first extra-terrestrial contact alone. She felt so inadequate, unprepared. She was ignoring the SPEWOP protocols – observe, report, destroy – because she knew them to be immoral. That sense of inadequacy had driven her to deeply searching prayer over the last few days. A divine refrain echoed in her mind – “fear not, for I am with you.” She paused to listen to that inner word, and her anxiety subsided.582
She placed her tech box by the airlock and began to observe the room more closely. The storage units appeared to be labelled in what she assumed was an alphanumeric system. They resembled library shelves; with walk space between the rows of floor-to-ceiling containers. As she approached the units the diffuse light brightened. A panel lit up, also containing an alphanumeric. A list of the contents? Instructions? Warnings? Caution demanded that she touch nothing.583
Walking the few meters to the far end of the storeroom she looked for an exit. The light behind her dimmed while that ahead increased. ‘Motion sensors,’ she thought. “I wonder if there are cameras, or something. Am I being watched?” She came to a portal, narrower than the airlock, but just as high. She touched the orange pad to the left side, and saw that the door cracked open slightly. She pushed, and stood looking into a semi-darkened room the size of her K-class craft. 584
Before she could begin to analyse the layout, furnishings or decorations, the lights at the far end of the room rose, and she saw something – someone - silhouetted in the opposite doorway. She very deliberately slowed her breathing. Her bladder gave way, and she was consciously grateful for the Uridome. 585
Mutually frozen in the moment, the two beings stood, hesitant, cautious, observing the other. After the eternity of the first shock, the ‘other’ stepped fully into the room, and the lights came up completely, dispelling the shadows. Chapelle mimicked the moved and stepped fully into the room. 586
The ‘other’ was well over two and a half meters tall, much taller than herself. Dressed in some sort of light brown jumpsuit, the ‘other’ stood upright on two lanky legs, and generally looked humanoid. Chapelle stared – the other looked - feminine? A mammalian-like bust was obvious under the garment. “Her” hairline was high with very fine long black hair done up in some sort of plaited circlet, and draped over the left shoulder. ‘She’ had hazel green eyes.587
‘Her’ most striking features were the three blue facial striations on both cheeks. They began near the ear and extending across to the nose. Chapelle thought of the facial tattoos she had seen in pictures, only these striations were skin and not ink. As she watched the blue took on a purple tint. “Her” general skin colour was a light tan. Chapelle was grateful that all this was being recorded by her suit-cam, and broadcast to earth via the shuttle’s relay.588
The ‘woman’ looked at Chapelle frankly. Chapelle wondered what she must look like to this ‘other’, dressed as she was in her bulging spacesuit. Ever so slowly she moved a hand to her visor and raised it. The ‘other’ stared, and then smiled. A big, bright smile. Chapelle prayed that it meant the same in the ‘other’s’ culture as on earth. 589
Taking several more ambling steps the ‘she’ walked the intervening meters and stood in front of Chapelle, looking closely through the bubble helmet at her face. ‘She’ cupped her hands before her and spoke in a light, melodious voice: “Nivat muhlumsut. Dhiakholai daz yarrin! Aht Treen Sulyat Phar. Strohni?” 590
Receiving no reply, as Chappele’s spacesuit had no external speakers, the ‘she’ then slowly raised her left hand and touched the side of the helmet. The ‘she’ had three fingers and a thumb on each hand, long, slender, graceful fingers. 591
The refrain again. “Fear not, for I am with you.” The peace was palpable. To break hygiene protocols might condemn them both. To refrain from non-threatening behaviour would surely do so. She breathed out a prayer for their mutual health, and tentatively reached up and undid the seal on her helmet, slowly lifted it off and placed it on a shelf next to the doorway. Controlling her voice, Chapelle said softly – “Hello traveller. I am Chapelle Delacroix. Welcome to this solar system.” Then she smiled back; her teeth exaggerated by her dark skin. 592
* *593
JANIL594
A mirthful yelp came from the far doorway, and the “other” turned and spoke quickly - “Janil! stay! Stay! Janil!” The command had no effect, as the Uuma toddler careered into the room shouting – "Me look! Me look!" Viyatt’s baby poked her head through Treen’s legs and stared. “Who black faced person, Aunty?” she asked Treen.595
Thinking quickly, Treen replied, “Someone who has come to visit you, Janil”. The toddler yelped mirthfully again, and ran to Chapelle before Treen could grab her.596
Chapelle bent on one knee, and folded the alien child into her arms. Janil hugged the bulky spacesuit, and looked into Chapelle’s brown eyes. Inquisitively, and boldly stroking Chapelle’s unstriated face she asked Treen, “Why no House lines?”597
Treen covered her laugh, and told Janil, “Because Nivat made this one special, to be His ambassador.”598
“Mbas-dor? What is?599
“A traveller who brings a message. Understand?"600
“Yes. Yes”, she said, though clearly she didn’t. The child continued to stroke the strange face. “I am Janil. Who are you?” she asked.601
Treen pointed to herself and said – “Treen.” Then pointed to the child – “Janil”. On the second repetition the penny dropped, and Chapelle mimicked the sounds she heard.602
“Jan-eel”, she pointed at the child. “Trene”, she pointed at Treen; who clapped her hands three times with glee. “Chapelle”, she then said of herself. “Chapelle”.603
“Cha’ pil”, was Treen’s attempt. “Cha’pil”? Queried the child.604
“Chapelle. Chapelle”, she repeated for the "others”.605
Janil smiled, then poked and prodded Chapelle’s spacesuit, looking in the tool pockets, feeling the alien form underneath the bulbous outer suit. A question formed in her eyes and she turned to Treen. “Is Cha’pil an aunty?” 606
Treen’s striations flushed purple with wonderment at the child’s question. Treen pondered for a moment, then cupped her chest with both hands. Chapelle understood the sign language, disengaged herself from Janil. Despite all her training about space biohazards and contaminants, this was the time for ultimate trust. She stepped back a meter and began to unfasten her outer suit. Eventually she could pull down the upper half to reveal her nylon undersuit. Once out of the bulky spacesuit, by figure alone, she was quite evidently a hominid female. 607
Treen saw the probable physical evidence of gender. Amazing! Is she female! Praise Nivat! 608
Janil ran around the lounge laughing hilariously – “Another Aunty! Another Aunty!” 609
The laughter, a sign of the aliens’ ‘humanity’ to Chapelle, bled the stress away and both females sank to the floor laughing and crying unashamedly. Janil thought it was a new game Cha’pil had brought, and ran up to hug Cha’pil again. Seeing a metal chain partially visible at Chapelle’s neck, she pulled it, and out popped a gold necklace and the Tau Crucifix so favoured by Saint Francis of Assisi. 610
“Nivat! Nivat! Nivat!” cried Janil in wonderment.611
Treen reached out in reverent amazement to touch the crucifix. “Kontesquet Muzul” she said in awe. Could it be true, that this alien was a worshiper of Niv-Nivat-Nexus, Creator of the Universe, Sustainer of Life, and The Rescuer? The thought was beyond the reach of her experience. Tears welled in her eyes; tears of hope, tears of anticipation, and of frustration. Frustration at a language barrier of galactic proportions. Hesitantly, her heart racing, Treen reached into her own suit and extracted a leather cord and the T-shaped Kontesquet Muzul that Bahrin had made for her.612
“Neevat” Chapelle understood her to say as Treen pointed to Chapelle’s crucifix. Kontesquet Muzul” she heard next as Treen pointed at the symbol tied to her leather cord. Treen then stood and took the supplicant’s position, bowed her head and chanted: “Nivat, nitowashtikin waptecashna mayaque”. It was almost musical to Chapelle’s ears. Treen then outstretched her arms to form a T, hung her head and said, “Nivat basan Kontesquet Muzulnih sa’havadimu.”613
A great peace filled Chapelle’s heart and holding up her crucifix she made the ancient confession of faith: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”614
Impatient for more ‘games’, Janil motioned for Chapelle to accompany her and led the two adults through the portal into the remainder of the vessel. As she stepped further into the unknown Chapelle’s mind repeated the verse – “and a little child shall lead them”.615
616
- The End? -
Author notes
The Ships:
Pelled Krasc: “The Arrow Head”, armed interplanetary exploration & research vessel. Composite ship: 3 mated jettisonable pods: A-Pod command and control, B-Pod engineering & propulsion, C-Pod passenger & catering. All three pods, crew quarters. Hydrolytic Fission Reactor for electrical and environmental systems. Propulsion: Compound-drive Ion-pulse/Plasma, redundant systems on all decks. Crew: 8 officers, 42 crew, 8 passengers.
Ev-Trnod'ynat [Guardian of the Wind] and the Pe-Trnod'ynat [Guardian of the Mist] are two armed Interdiction Frigates, each with a compliment of 4, seconded from the Interplanetary Corsair Patrols to accompany the Pelled Krasc to the Hysaronat System. During Plasma transit the vessels are hermetically mated to A-pod.
Freighters: Interplanetary freighters are owned by the Syndicates, for the transport of their raw materials, products and supplies.
Corsairs: Corsairs are illegally armed and up-engined Freighters, owned clandestinely by various syndicates, which prey on the freighters of competitor syndicates.
The GARHYAR Ethnicities
Phenotypes: The GARHYAR are a hominid species with an elongated bone structure, adults averaging 2.3 meters, with high cheekbones and foreheads. Their primary differentiating characteristic is facial striations on both cheeks, which glisten in response to emotional stimuli or tension. There are 3 striations on each cheek, beginning near the ear and extending across to the nose. General skin colour is a light tan. The Uuma are tallest ethnicity generally, tending to grow to 2.5 meters. All have three digits and an opposable digit on each hand and 4 toes on each foot. Hair is very fine, either black or dark brown. Eyes tend to be brown or green. In intermarriage, striations follow recessive genes in offspring, but dominant genes in the second generation. Facial striations are the only major difference in phenotype.
Genotypes: Each type exhibits a full range of morphologies, and no single ethnicity exhibits a predominance of any single characteristic other than striations. Internal structures and organs are identical in all variants. “Race” is solely a social construct, which intermarriage has made obsolete.
The Four Houses of Garhyar: DEL, PENTAR, GIR and UUMA. Each has dialectical variations of the parent language. Confederation has blended a new Standard Speech, but dialects are preserved in homelife. Prior to Confederation the Houses tended to occupy semi-exclusive continental homelands or ethno-specific settlements within a host House.
DEL: Delai. Garhyar phenotype with blue facial striations.
The Del were the seafarers of early Garhyar history. Their specialty was navigation, and their business trade, merchandise, and piracy. They had trade embassies in all corners of the homeworld. Their network of contacts enabled them to act as the negotiators of confederation.
PENTAR: Pentari. Garhyar phenotype with white facial striations.
The Pentar lived in hardwood subtropical forestlands. Their expertise was in artistic woodworking and skilled practical carpentry. They were the boat builders for early Del exploration. Their timber and wood products were traded by the Del. Their co-operation in setting up the Confederation was crucial.
GIR: Girii. Garhyar phenotype with gray facial striations.
The Gir were master-builders and architects. They created the first urban environments of stone. They were first to suggest a confederation as a means of limiting cyclical wars and famines.
UUMA: Uumai. Garhyar phenotype with ochre [yellow-brown] facial striations. Primarily they are warriors. To seek superiority they became metallurgists, inventors, tool and weapons makers. Strategy, strategic alliances, planning came easily to them. The implied threat of their power helps keep the Confederation together.
Main Characters:
Jihr Taur' Regc : UUMA. Jihr = given name. Taur = High Military rank. Regc = Family name, a minor UUMA nobility. Childhood friend and one-time potential consort of Si' Viyatt Nu. Head of Security on the diplomatic mission.
Si' Viyatt Nu : UUMA. Si' Viyatt = "High Daughter", senior child of the High Counsellor of Garhyar, Nu = Family name of the current High Counsellor. Lost her opportunity to marry Taur’ Recq when her father was elected High Counsellor.
Bahrin Del-Phar [male] and Treen Del-Mahz [female]: DEL. Adolescent names, of the trading family of Phar. Twin children of the Verl Syndicate’s Commissioner.
Diplomatic Corps:
Tai' Gann: DEL. Senator Gann of the High Council.
Viq' Dalabar and Viq' Xutha : PENTAR: Specialist Advisors.
4 Mawim: Diplomatic Corps Cadets, all male : Maw' Del a 'blue-face', Maw' Pentar of the 'pale countenance', Maw' Gir a 'gray-skin', and Maw' Uuma a 'tawny-skin'
Ship’s officers:
Ki' Oste: Ship's Commander
Mil' Gnoste: Oste’s Consort, Second-Vice-Captain
Tu' Venne Vice-captain,
Tu' Bihr Ionator [propulsion engineer]
Tu' Kehrsu Environmental Engineer,
Ng' Ilazor Steersman, [Navigator]
Tuum' Hvenc second CIS officer
Human: Dr. Chapelle Delacroix (nee Devereux widow of David Delacroix), crew of SPEWOP 3.
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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Geez!! That story was long! Just a suggestion: maybe you could separate it into chapters, so someone can read each chapter seperately, and comment on each of them. Because I liked certain parts, and then didn't like others. Anyway, good job.
-ELF (Ellie) -
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Ellie:
Thanks for the read and the comment. People are usually divided about seperate chapters; either they want them for brevity or commenting; or they don't want them because they loose the flow of the story by having to wait for the next installment. 6 of one, half dozen of another - you can't please everyone; as the sayings go.
You might enjoy reading The Alabaster Teardrop. It probably would suit your tastes better.
Bye,
JG
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lol this was very long, but surprisingly good. I would not usually read something like this but I happened to like it. I was way caught of gaurd when I started thought I had to scrool down just to make sure it was not like that the entire way through. But I liked it, good job keep up the good work
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Different very different.
I see i am the first to comment on this very well laboured piece.
I must say I am a sci-fi fan, Star trek, blake's 7,etc.
I some how got the impression i was reading a greek/roman tragedy type story in space.
All the demon traite of vanity and greed seem to be there.
I don't know really what to make of this at all. you have spent a lot of time on it that is very much in evidence, but it is not as good as 'The Interloper' for me.
But we must all try different stuff. God knows i do.
I will give you full marks for being diferent.
Regards Dave -
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G'day Davo,
First of all, thank you for reading this very looong "short story". I hope you didn't go into hibernation to do it.
Yes different. Deliberately so. But yes, I freely acknowledge 'borrowing' ideas from Star Trek and even Red Dwarf, as well as ancient literature and the Bible.
I hope it was more interesting than the Cricket!
JG
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