Attunga - 28. Part 28.

ATTUNGA Part 28.

***

“It looks finished.”

“It's not. Two more days.”

“It's unreal. Has it got everything you wanted?”

A totally proud and excited Thom was with them at the construction area to check the progress of his spaceship. It had taken a couple of months to decide on his final design because after talking with Pirramar and understanding that it really would happen, he'd gone over all his ideas time and time again to make sure everything was the best it could be. Every time Sonic said he was obsessed Thom laughed and agreed.

“It's got more. It's an extra five meters in length and a little bit bigger than my original plan because that way it gets an extra 2G of acceleration.”

“Wow! Really? That's 19 G.”

“Nearly twenty. Pirramar talked me into the extra size so the AIs could build in extra suggestions of their own.”

“That speed can't be right. It's nearly as fast as the Comet.”

“It's actually faster, but the engines can't take the strain for very long. It can't go indefinitely either, because the mass energy conversion engines use a special material which will run out in just over three days at the high acceleration levels.”

“Will Sonic be able to go in it?”

Thom laughed. Trust Calen to think of it in dolphin terms.

“Of course he will. As long as the Comet can be close by for proper security.”

Wirrin was curious about the AI suggestions.

“What are the extra things?”

“They're all from the AIs. They made it a kind of challenge to see how versatile they could get everything. It's even got a mini food-factory.”

“A food-factory? The Comet hasn't even got that.”

“Yeah, I know. It's the smallest one they've ever designed and Pirramar says it so basic the food won't have much taste.”

“Thom, what's the logic in having a food-factory if you can't ever be away for more than three days?”

“You can stay away as long as you like.”

“You just said it runs out of fuel in three days?”

“That's only if you use the engines non-stop at the highest rate. The special fuel gets replenished but it takes time. It can cope with 2G indefinitely but with any thrust greater than that it falls behind.”

Wirrin had a think. The fuel limitation was a trade-off to get the incredible acceleration. The sleek ship they were looking at would be the fastest ship in the Solar System when it was finished and its size was minute compared to the Comet.
Amazing. The AIs had made a significant advance with this design and Wirrin was suddenly even more curious.

“Thom, what other extras has it got?”

“Just about everything you can think of. They've put in full InfoSystems for you and Sonic. There's a scaled-down version of the multi-spectrum defence system, a mini pico-factory, and even a high-level medical facility.”

Wirrin stared and resolved to look into this.

“Did they design any other ships with you?”

“How did you know that? Yes, but they were too big.”

“Are they going to put all these new things into the Comet?”

“I don't know. Pirramar didn't say they would but I suppose so. ...No they won't. Some things would go in easily but not everything. They'd have to build new engines for sure and it would make more sense to build a new Comet. Hey look!”

One of the picobot cables was disengaging and they watched it retract to the main body of Warrakan.

“Will it take long to learn how to fly it?”

“I'm already good from the simulator, but as soon as I get into it I'll have a concentrated three or four weeks to really get to know everything. After that it will be extended courses to learn some basics about the pico-factory and the food-factory.”

“Two more days. That's not long. You'll hardly notice the wait.”

“Ha! Very funny!”

***

“Why?”

Wirrin could hardly believe what he was hearing. Calen had just announced that Sonic was asking for sharks to be introduced to the reaches.

“He says the dolphins need more challenge in their lives.”

“They can have lots of challenge without needing sharks. Baby dolphins will get killed and the pods will be hurt when they try to protect them.”

“They won't be in the home reaches. They'll have special reaches of their own and young dolphins will have encounters when their pods think they're ready. Sonic says it was an important milestone in his life when he faced the tiger sharks at Monkey Mia, and Habitat dolphins are missing out.”

“What? All of them or just the Enhanced dolphins? The others have had sharks all their lives.”

“I think he means all of them. Shark reaches will take quite a while to develop and there will be hundreds of young dolphins in a few years time.”
“What does he mean by an encounter?”

“Young ones will go with a group, and older dolphins will go whenever they feel like.”

“By themselves? That'll be really dangerous when the sharks get bigger. Will they be Tiger sharks?”

“Mostly, but the dolphins from Earth will be matched with whatever species they've had most experience with. Male dolphins like exploring and they often go off by themselves.”

Wirrin and Thom were nodding. That was true. Enhanced male dolphins spent a good deal of time separated from their pods and wild male dolphins even more.

“What will you do if Sonic goes near them?”

“I'll have to stay on the skimmer. I wouldn't have a hope in the water if one came after me.”

“How dangerous will it be for Sonic?”

“A single shark wouldn't have a hope of even getting close to him but if there's a group they might.”

“What does Yajala say? Does he think it's a good idea?”

“He's set things going so we must have agreed to it.”

“He mightn't even have had a choice. When Sonic says he wants something he always gets it.”

“No he doesn't. He's not even allowed to leave Warrakan unless the Comet and two AIs can go with him.”

“That's not a problem. The Comet's always there.”

“It's going to make it harder for Yajala to look after the dolphins but he'll work it out. I bet he'll have extra emergency bots or something like that and if the dolphin gets mauled they'll be looked after it in seconds.”

“Emergency bots? Can they go underwater?”

Wirrin did a quick scan.

“Most of them can't but the ones for the reaches are designed so they can.”

“Instead of having real sharks they could make virtual reality centres. Then they could have encounters without any danger.”

“That's no good. Holos don't work underwater.”

“They could have holo water instead of real water. The dolphins wouldn't be able to tell the difference.”

“Thom, that's crazy. You couldn't take dolphins out of the water long enough for something like that.”

“Yes you could. You could make a special suit or some kind of apparatus to keep them wet.”

“A suit? I don't think they could stand being enclosed like that.”

It was an interesting thought of Thom's and the ideas went back and forth for a while.

***

'Will our great pilot relinquish control to a humble dolphin?'

“Humble? When a humble dolphin turns up I might. Cheeky dolphins haven't got a hope.”

Correctly interpreting the intent behind Thom's reply, Sonic gave a chirp of thanks and moved to examine his console and InfoSystem controls. It wouldn't be now because there was no chance anyone else would fly Thom's ship before he did.
Thom's excitement was totally contagious and Wirrin and Calen were completely delighted that because the takeover was happening on an activity day they were here to share it with him.

“Where are we going?”

“Nowhere till I've done all my checks and we get settled in. I have to make a special link with the Comet so it can stay close to us.”

That was necessary for Sonic's security.

“But we've got all day so I'm taking you to an asteroid aggregate I found. It should be interesting.”

“I've never heard of asteroid aggregates?”

“This one has five big asteroids and lots of smaller ones lumped together and exploring them will be a good adventure.”

“Together? That's very unusual.”

“It's weird, but that's how they show up on the scan. Calen, I've set up a training module so you can learn how to use the visuals properly while Wirrin and Sonic activate their InfoSystems.”

Wirrin grinned. Thom was getting them all organised. Twenty minutes later he was very impressed. The InfoSystem didn't have the huge database availability of the Comet or the Habitats, but this close it could access them almost instantaneously anyway, otherwise it was identical to his home system and the one on the Comet.

“Let's go!”

Wirrin, Calen and Sonic looked at the pleasure radiating from Thom's features. This was a moment he'd been dreaming about.

“Calen, see if you can keep Warrakan centred on the display. This is going to be really something.”

Wirrin turned from his InfoSystem to watch the big screen with the image of Warrakan's exterior. This was the best way to see what was happening.
Yes! They were moving! Warrakan started to recede slowly and Attunga and Freedom came into view. Suddenly a giant force slammed Wirrin against the support of his chair and the Habitats shrank in size faster than he ever remembered on the Comet. The force eased and Wirrin gave his attention to Thom.

“What was that for?”

“I had to go slowly while we were close to Warrakan but then I let three G through the compensators so we'd remember it. That's the fastest we've ever left the Habitats and I'm holding on 15G. We'll jump to nineteen next and stay there for most of the trip. Can you get the Comet on display?”

“Three G? No wonder I felt squished flat. You should have warned us.”

“No way! There's nothing like a good surprise.”

Calen's training with the visuals worked well because after a couple of seconds an enhanced image came into view. Wirrin's adrenaline levels relaxed and he turned to check how Sonic had been affected. Surprisingly he was using his InfoSystem as if nothing had happened.
Thom laughed.

“His pool has its own compensators and he didn't feel any extra push. Three G would slosh all the water out and leave him stranded on the floor if it didn't.”

Wirrin linked to see what Sonic was so preoccupied with. Aha! He was going through the ship controls. Thom would definitely have to let him take over at some stage.

“How long does it take to reach these asteroids?”

“It's over 2 million kilometers so it'll be a couple of hours.”

“Two hours? What are we going to do for all that time?”

Thom just laughed at this attempt to stir him.

“Jump in the pool with the fish Calen. He might teach you how to swim.”

The two hours passed so quickly Wirrin could hardly believe it. He ended up having InfoSystem competitions with Sonic and that was always a brain-straining time eater. Calen couldn't follow so he went back to playing with the ship visuals and then researching the asteroid aggregate. Thom spent the time practising with his different ship systems.

“Hey look! It's weird. The database info doesn't show the same as this.”

Wirrin was looking. They were still hundreds of kilometres away but Calen had an image of their destination centred on the big display. His time learning the visuals had really paid off. At the moment the image was enhanced and rather fuzzy but that would rapidly improve. Wirrin gawked.

“How big are those asteroids?”

“The five main ones range from seventeen kilometers to seventy-three kilometers and the small ones are all different sizes with a median of 2.7 K.”

“I can only see four big sections?”

“I said it was weird.”

Thom nodded distractedly as he applied himself to controlling the final approach.
With every passing second the image on the screen sharpened, as the scanners added more accurate detail, and everyone stared at the jumble of rock and matter. Thom brought the ship to a halt and in an insert window of his InfoSystem screen Wirrin saw the Comet slipping into a close standby position. This aggregate was massive. At seventy-three kilometers the biggest section was half again as long as Warrakan, and from what Wirrin could see, at least twice as wide. The main display suddenly zoomed as Calen focused on a dark transversal feature.

“Look at that! I think the giant piece is really two. There are gaps all the way along.”

The air shimmered and Comet/Turaku appeared.

“Quite extraordinary Thom. This is now the most unusual aggregate formation in our records. I've analysed our close range 3D scans and Calen is correct in his observation. Through some process, which will make interesting research, all five sections have become cemented at innumerable contact points into one loosely stable entity. The great fissure Calen is now focused on is really the interface between the two largest asteroids and our preliminary 3D images show many dramatic internal features.
Thom if you move thirty kilometers laterally to the coordinates I am providing you'll have a unique vantage point.”

When the ship came to a halt again Wirrin wondered what the big deal was till Calen pointed out a star.

“Wombats! You can see right through. How long is that gap Wirrin?”

Wirrin accessed the dimensions with his InfoSystem.

“It's 34.7 kilometers from one end to the other.”

“And how wide?”

That was Thom and there was a tone in his voice which sounded an alert in Wirrin's mind.

“... It varies, but the narrowest section is... sixty-eight meters. Thom, don't you even think of it.”

“Why not? There's tons of room.”

“Think of what?”

Calen had noticed Wirrin's caution.

'Thom is an avid explorer with an exciting idea.'

“He wants to go through that gap.”

Calen's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and then his whole face lit up.

“Wow! Unreal! Like the canyons on Miranda, except better.”

So much for common sense. Sonic and Calen were both taken with this crazy idea.

“It's too dangerous. Thirty-five kilometers with only a few metres clearance? What if there's movement and we get crushed?”

“It's only rock and ore. Our hull is way stronger.”

That was true.

“Well, we could get stuck.”

Thom thought that over for less than two seconds.

“Impossible. The Comet would drill us out with its multi-spectrum beams... Or I could even do it with our own.”

“Turaku, tell them it's too risky. We can't take Sonic into a situation like that.”

Turaku reappeared.

“Your caution is commendable Wirrin but we calculate the risk to be minimal and far outweighed by the value of the projected experience. Thom has completed far more difficult navigational tasks with great competence and relative ease. He is correct about the hull strength and our capabilities in the unlikely event of any entrapment.”

Calen and Sonic anticipated Thom's exuberant outburst and chorused along with him.

“Let's go!” “ Let's go!” 'Let's go!'

The AIs were giving the go-ahead and even encouraging it. This was going to be interesting.

“Thom, keep a full link to the Comet with your controls and close range scanners. They will provide a level of detail and information unavailable from our external position.”

Thom laughed and did some control fiddling.

“Yes, and make certain you can take over if I do anything wrong.”

“Of course.”

The ship started moving and Wirrin's heart thumped as he stared at the jagged walls of the approaching 200 meter wide fissure. For the first ten minutes the silence of mutual awe reigned as the ship edged deeper and deeper into the great rift. Calen, handling the big display screen, mainly kept a forward view, with an occasional pan to some lumpy formation or significant recession of the walls. No one was claustrophobic but the sense of enclosure by the massive asteroids was a powerful first for all of them.

“The first narrow bit's coming up in approximately two kilometers. Do you think we'll get through?”

Wirrin had to smile. Trust Thom to be the first to break the mood.

“Probably not. I think Sonic should take over in case.”

“Ha! Very funny. He gets his turn on the way home. ...Maybe!”

Sonic didn't give the expected comeback.

'Thom is the best driver for this situation. I am feeling overwhelmed.'

What? Wirrin stared in surprise and Calen rushed from his console, launched himself into the pool for physical contact and a rapid interchange of dolphin speech, then climbed from the pool and addressed the anxious onlookers. Turaku was back, and Thom had brought the ship to an emergency halt.

“Everything's okay. He's overwhelmed in a good way. He's never experienced anything like this and it's more exciting to him than it is to us.”

“We don't have to keep going.”

'Thom, I expressed my feelings without consideration. Please continue with this wonderful adventure.'

A trill of sound echoed through the control room and everyone relaxed and smiled at the dolphin equivalent to a human yell of excitement.

'Let's go!'

Turaku disappeared, and with Calen back at the visual controls, movement towards the narrow section resumed. Talking later about Sonic's reaction the trio realised just how limited his experiences were compared to their own. All their life they'd had myriad journeys, visiting real and fantastical worlds with the simulators and virtual reality machines which were denied to dolphins because they didn't work underwater.

“Look out! We're going to collide!”

No one took any notice. It was just a bit of Thom trickery and the closing walls were too engrossing.
Dingoes! The wall on the left was only twelve meters away and the close proximity was giving the impression of rapid velocity. Wirrin checked. Only fifty km/h. Practically a standstill compared to open space motion.

“Ooh!!”

Everyone gasped at the sudden panorama and once again the ship came to a stop. After a few seconds of taking in the new spectacle, Wirrin joined with Calen and Thom in checking how Sonic was coping. Another dolphin yell sounded.

'I am thankful you are guiding us Thom. I think I would have forgotten the controls and crashed into that prominence.'

Wirrin was feeling rather overwhelmed himself. The narrow gap had suddenly given way on one side to an enormous opening which the scans later showed extended to a depth of almost six kilometers. On the other side the wall continued for 500 meters before giving way to an opposing eight kilometer deep cavern. Thom changed their direct course to follow the curve of the wall while Calen, with prompts from everyone else, directed the display to the passing succession of rifts, canyons and jagged outcrops. Wirrin watched as they passed the prominence Sonic was talking about, a highly irregular cone shaped mass jutting half a kilometre from the surrounding wall. On Earth it would be called a mountain, but here, with their sense of up and down determined by the ship's grav-fields, it appeared as if hanging from the ceiling. Changing the aspect of the ship would make it look normal but then everything else would change perspective. Wirrin developed a feeling that this was a miniature world on the inside of a sphere.

'Space caverns are wondrous. Better than sea caverns.'

Sonic was away from his InfoSystem and as close to the main display as he could manage and his body language showed total involvement. The ship started moving faster.

“What's happening?”

“We're only a third of the way through and it's taking too long.”

“Why does time matter?”

“We're meant to be meeting with the Comet.”

'The Comet will wait Thom. As long as we require. We must make the most of a special opportunity like this.'

Calen nodded, and Wirrin was in total agreement. This was unique.

“How long should we allow?”

“I agree with Sonic Thom. Instead of going home today we could check out the cabin tonight and then not leave till tomorrow afternoon if we keep finding things to explore. We've only been along one side of this cavern so far, and according to Turaku's 3D map there are more caverns further on.”

“More? Really? Well that's good enough to me. It means the Comet crew will have to wait for us though.”

That wasn't an issue. Crewing on the Comet was a real cachet and the people who manage to get positions loved all their time there. Wirrin fiddled with his InfoSystem.

“They won't mind. I've just patched our visuals through to the main display on the Comet so they can see exactly what we see.”

“The main display? That will be spectacular.”

The main display on the Comet was half as big again as their wall display at home, and when it wasn't partitioned into subsections for varying reasons, was indeed spectacular. Wirrin recalled the transfixing moment of hush when the Comet was approaching Earth.

The ship made its way past the changing panorama and moved to the opposing side of the cavern.

“Why does it look so different?”

Wirrin was wondering the same thing. Apart from one long feature the surface walls here were relatively smooth.

“It's not the same asteroid Calen. The composition probably makes it different. Move closer to that crack. It must be over a kilometre long.”

“Dingoes! It goes in for nearly three kilometers and then turns weird. Look at all those channels or whatever they are.”

'Take us in there Thom. We want to explore.'

Excitement resonated in Sonic's voice.
Thom did more fiddling and the ship followed along the crevasse.

“There's a wide apart along here which would let us go in for 600 meters but after that it gets too narrow.”

Wirrin gawped at the display.

“Is it safe? It doesn't look like we'll even fit.”

“Easy! We'll have ten meters of clearance for most of the way before we're blocked. Once we start it won't look so narrow.”

The ship edged into the gap and Wirrin stared in amazement at the narrow passageway ahead. It didn't look any wider as far as he was concerned, and when there was a trill of excitement from Sonic he didn't even look. His attention was strongly fixed on the walls, so close, and sliding slowly past. After a few minutes Wirrin readapted. Apprehension receded and curiosity and excitement built. Thom was brilliant. Turaku was right about this being a relatively easy task for him. Their course was indirect as it picked its way past narrow sections and irregularities in the walls till the gap closed even further and all motion stopped.

'We are swallowed by the asteroid and it is holding us in its heart. Is there a way past if we move vertically Thom?'

Three sets of eyes turned to look at Sonic. He wanted to go further?
Thom laughed.

“Not for this ship. The gap is narrower than we are.”

'Can we drill through with our multi-spectrum beam?'

Thom looked at his instruments for a moment.

“No way! Not unless we drill for over two kilometers. There's less than 300 meters of the whole length where it's open enough to let us through.”

Turaku's voice sounded through the control room.

“Drilling is feasible, but time-consuming and profligate of energy use. We suggest the use of several specially designed drones if you wish to explore further in real time. Otherwise we can construct a detailed 3D map for a virtual experience.”

“Virtual reality doesn't work for Sonic.”

“Channelled through your display screen it would, with no apparent difference to your current viewing experience.”

'We will use the drones. Real experience is superior.'

Wirrin agreed with Sonic, except for a major drawback.

“We don't have any drones. The Comet will have to make them and send them in to us.”

“The drones will be made on your ship. It is an excellent opportunity to test your skills with the pico-factory.”

Four sets of eyes exchanged queries.

“What skills? That's part of my new training and it will be months before I can do something like that.”

Thom was right. None of them had any experience at all with pico-factories, unless it had been one of Sonic's innumerable projects, and that wasn't likely because he was giving off distinctly puzzled vibes.

“You mean you'll send the information across and we'll set it going from here?”

“No Wirrin, you will do it all as a challenge. You will design two drones and operate the pico-factory with your InfoSystem. Pirramar has just confirmed that with your capabilities you can easily manage.
Here are your basic parameters.
The two drones need only be simplified versions of a standard surveillance drone, though reduced in size for better access and manoeuvrability in the confined spaces. Thom and Sonic have the practical skills for navigation and you can link the controls of each drone to their respective consoles. The pico-factory is just a dedicated information system. Pirramar assures me the whole process should take you no more than thirty minutes.”

“That's ridiculous! Three months of training for me and you expect Wirrin to do the same thing in half an hour?”

'Wirrin has many special skills.'

“Yes Thom, his advanced training has been with closely related work and will transfer to the task at hand with relative ease. Watch and see.”

Initially Wirrin shared Thom's astonishment but that quickly disappeared as soon as he applied himself to designing the appropriate drones.
A link to the Comet's database brought information about every drone into his info system.
A search for design applications surprised him with a list of thousands.
Build a sorting test to determine the most applicable?
No, wrong approach. Even if he found the best he wouldn't know how to use it without practice. Existing experience with design was needed.
Aha! Yes, that would do it. Now for the pico-factory controls.

“There you are Thom. The two drones will take four minutes each for construction.”

Wirrin was feeling very pleased with himself and enjoying Thom's look of disbelief when a chitter of sound made everyone look at Sonic.

'I am still trying to finish my design and I need some help. You are too fast Wirrin.'

Wirrin quickly synchronised the two InfoSystems and tried to understand what Sonic was doing. It took a couple of minutes.

“I never would have dreamed of doing it this way. It's very clever but it will take a lot of work. I saved time by using Wanna.”

“The Planning Assistant for our living spaces? That's weird. What would he know about drones?”

“Everything now, because I added all the drones specs to his information base and modified his application algorithms so he could use them with the new data types.”

Thom rolled his eyes and called it brainiac gobbledygook.

“You mean you taught him to design drones instead of buildings?”

“No, he already knows how to design. That's built into him. I just made it so he could work with new data.”

“Well it seems sneaky to me. Can I do it that way instead of taking three months for training?”

“You could try.”

Thom laughed because he knew he didn't have a clue about how to even start.

“Which drone's being built first? Mine or Sonic's?”

“Yours? I build it and you call it yours? Well, the one Sonic controls is finishing in about a minute. You'll have to wait a whole four minutes extra.”

A blue signal flashed and Sonic, with an eager trill, abandoned his design efforts. He'd come back to them at some stage but right now the draw of further adventure was too strong.

'That means the drone is ready for me?'

“It's controls are linked to your console and you fly it exactly the same as the Comet. I've allocated the left half of our display screen for your scanners and the right half for Thom's.”

“Gotcha! You just said it was mine.”

“... And Calen is controlling the visuals for both, so he can switch either to full screen if there's something extra interesting.”

The left side filled with a view, the right went blank, and then the drone started moving.

“Hey, wait for me.”

'I am acclimatising to the new controls Thom. I won't go far.'

The view spun crazily as Sonic experimented with his motion controls, then steadied and fixed on the sleek shape of Thom's ship. After a full 360° circuit it darted towards the narrow gap.
Whoo! Wirrin involuntarily caught his breath as the walls closed in again, this time to a matter of metres and looking as if you could reach out and touch. This was a marvellous idea of Turaku's. It really felt as if the Comet was doing the moving, and despite knowing full well that the drone was just over half a metre in width, Wirrin had to fight the impression it was impossible to fit.

“Come back! My drone isn't even finished.”

Wirrin and Calen exchanged grins. The indicator showed thirty-seven seconds to completion.
With dizzying speed the view changed as Sonic made an about turn and showed part of the Comet in the wider space past the narrow entry gap. A small docking port opened and the second drone appeared. When it swivelled on its axis and started moving the second half of the display screen suddenly filled with a wall of rock which then shifted till a close-up image of the docking port took its place.
A glance showed Thom with a big grin and a ton of concentration. His half of the display changed again as he rotated away from the ship, moved towards the gap, then closed with Sonic's drone.
Weird! From Sonic's drone you were looking at Thom's and from Thom's you were looking at Sonic's. Each time Wirrin shifted his attention from one section of the display to the other he had to make a mental flip of reorientation.
Sonic's drone turned again and with an unspoken but very emphatic 'Let's go!' the two explorers headed inward. This adventure lasted for nearly three hours and could have continued indefinitely.
After two kilometers of meandering progress the main crack in the asteroid turned into hundreds of strange channels burrowing even further into the asteroid, and most of the time involved exploring a selection of these. For the first two, Thom followed Sonic's eager lead, but then realising they would see far more, they parted and went wherever their whim took them through the convoluted honeycomb of interconnecting passageways and tunnels.
Sonic in particular had a great fascination for the endless tunnels and somewhat reluctantly stopped when Calen pointed out they'd only had a light lunch over five hours ago, that he was starving, and that since it looked like they might be staying in the giant cavern for the night, it was time to experiment with the food factory.

'There is so much more to see. We must return to our drone adventure whenever we can.'

“We should have a sleep period and start as early as we can, because we have a very busy time coming up on the Habitats.”

Time for Calen and Sonic was always busy so Wirrin wondered what he meant.

“What time do we have to get back to Warrakan tomorrow? If we can make it late we might be able to have another go at the labyrinth, but remember there are still two more caverns ahead and who knows what else before we meet with the Comet again, and we haven't even looked at the other three asteroid sections yet.”

Labyrinth was Sonic's term for the endless narrow tunnels.

'I would like to extend our adventure through all of tomorrow and arrive home late. Is that inconvenient for any of us?'

The trio exchanged glances and quick nods of agreement. Sonic was eager with everything he did but not with this overlay of excitement he'd been showing since they found the cavern, and even more with guiding his drone through the 'labyrinth'.

“It's our second activity day Sonic so we can get home asa late as you like.”

A gyser of water shot towards the ceiling and was followed by a dolphin body doing an aerial somersault. Calen and Wirrin dived in, and after setting some automatic controls, so did Thom. For a quarter of an hour the contagion of shared happiness and excitement bubbled through the interaction of their talk and play.

“Now I'm extra starving. Show us what you can do with this mini food-factory Thom.”

“I don't even know if it's functional. They usually take time to bring online.”

“Of course it'll be functional. The AIs have made sure everything else works. Why would they leave it out? Go and check. ...And make sure we all get plenty. If it's going to be a long day tomorrow Wirrin needs extra energy.”

“Well, okay. I'll have a look, but I'll have to do some figuring so don't complain if it takes a while.”

Thom moved to his control console.

'Thom's ship is a wonderful vehicle. We will persuade him to take us to Miranda and explore the great canyon.'

“All that way? It would take more than a week.”

'We will visit the Uranus dolphins and then we can make time. We must have more adventures together.'

Wirrin looked at Calen to see how he was reading the certainty of Sonic's statements. Had this strong desire for adventure just awakened, or had it been there all along but repressed by other things with a higher priority?
Sonic's unique dolphin laugh filled the room.

'Yes Wirrin, Calen is pondering my behaviour, but he is pleased too because he thinks I work too much.'

“You should have regular activity days and come with us more often. You always enjoy it when you do.”

'We will discuss it with Yajala and Turaku. Regularity might not be possible but something will be arranged.'

Thom gave a call and Wirrin and Calen left the pool. Sonic was in charge of his own food and would look after himself.

“It's easy to work the food-factory but we have to go to the galley to eat. Did I hear Sonic say something about Miranda?”

“He wants to go there and explore the canyon with your ship and the drones. He's really definite about it.”

Turaku shimmered into view and the trio stared in surprise at the slightly fuzzy image.

“While you have your meal I will move your ship to the greater security of the main rift. In your current position the mass of the asteroid reduces our direct communication ability to an unsatisfactory 20% level.”

He shimmered off and the ship started moving.

“Twenty percent? That sounds bad.”

Wirrin and Thom both shook their heads.

“Not really. Everything important would still get through even at three or four percent. It's just the AIs being extra cautious."
The next day was very long, very active, and the expedition arrived home very late.
After more exploring in Sonic's 'labyrinth' Thom moved the ship back to the main rift and through to the next cavern area and the most astonishing sight yet.

***