Noah - 27. Chapter 27

Date: 8th November 2419
Location: MMV Noah, Unknown

“How’s the uniform?” I asked Tarr’surn outside his quarters. It had been 48 hours since he had joined us, and had spent most of that time with Sii’nour, getting to know about the ship and the M Military. Now he stood in front of me wearing the Pallner version of an M uniform, identical to Sii’nour’s but with a blue bend signifying his Engineering specialisation instead of Sii’nour’s green Medical bend, awaiting the start of his first official shift.

“Comfortable,” he replied happily, “How did the Ambassador take my defection?”

“He doesn’t know yet. Dr. Danielson has been feeding him with ‘problems’ from your cloning. I’m going to have to tell him before long.” I was not looking forward to that particular discussion.

“He will probably not be very happy.”

“I know, I’m hoping that giving them the Rolstan will placate him slightly.”

“It should help somewhat, but he will still demand my return.”

“You’re an M citizen. I’d no sooner turn you over to him than I would anyone else aboard. Besides, we still have the Spaceborer. I don’t think that the Ambassador wants a journey of several years to get home.”

“Ah yes, the Spaceborer. It’s an incredible device; I know a lot of scientists back home that would love to get their hands on it.”

“Well that’s never going to happen.” I replied certainly. If it meant equal gains, we would have no problem with trading technology, but nothing the Pallner possessed could even come close to the borer technology, “Are you ready for your first duty shift? I’d like to get you working on the Lahstey’s computer if you know what you’re doing with it; Senior Crewman Long has been working on it almost non-stop for the last day or so, but is having a hard time getting her head around it.”

“Of course. My speciality is in the Vacuum Energy Siphons, but I do know a reasonable amount about the computer systems.” He explained, setting off towards a nearby grav lift.

“Vacuum what?”

“The ‘Pallner Generators’, as you call them. Technically they don’t actually generate anything, they drain otherwise unused energy from the fabric of space. I specialise in their maintenance, and before the pirates attacked the Lahstey had even made some most effective modifications to our own.”

“Really?” I mused, “I may have to get you to give some of the scientists a briefing. Up until now they haven’t even been able to figure out the basics ofhow they work. Do you think you could design new models?”

“Definitely. I’ve had a brief look over some of the nanotechnology you use, and I believe that much of it could be used to miniaturise the siphons while retaining most of their output. I also looked at the notes you have on the technology now, and it seems that the Ambassador failed to notify you entirely on the technology’s side effects.”

“Side effects?” I asked, alarmed. The Ambassador had previously made no mention of possible side effects, quite the opposite; he had assured me that the technology was completely safe. “What kind of side effects are we talking about here?”

“Oh, I do not mean to alarm you,” Tarr’surn sang, his complexion both concerned and calm, “The side effects take much time to take effect, and are very minimal on a moving vessel. You see, the vacuum energy is like…” he paused a moment to think of a metaphor, conveniently arriving at the grav lift. Apparently deciding on one, he continued when we reached the level we wanted; “Air pressure. The siphon removes energy from the local area, one removes relatively negligible amounts, barely changing the balance, but prolonged use of many in a small area, as we did on our home world, greatly distorts the balance. The energy is unable to balance itself naturally, and just like air, more rushes in from higher pressure areas. When such a surge of energy comes into contact with a solid object, like a planet, it instantly transferred to the molecules of the atmosphere, the ground…the inhabitants, everything. I don’t think I need to tell you what happens when a large amount of energy is passed onto something in such a short time.”

“Instant incineration,” I nodded understandingly, “Earth was destroyed in a similar manner, though it came about by different means.”

“Yes. Few survived; we had just started to colonise a second planet in the system when it happened. The colony itself was also badly damaged by the surge, allowing the military commanders to take control of the resources. Eventually the colony had to be abandoned, and what was left of our people built the City Ship, scavenging materials from the colony, other ships, even managing to find a little on the home world. Eventually they managed to mine materials from the asteroid belts in our system, using them to expand the City and the fleet. Using solar satellites and hydroponics, there’s plenty of energy and food now, but the military still gives the civilians far too little. The few scientific advances made over the last two centuries have all gone straight to the military, the civilians never see any benefit or get any incentive to study new things. I grew up as a civilian, like Sii’nour, and only joined the military to get away from the poverty; joining up is pretty much the biggest insult you can give to your friends and family as a civilian, I doubt either of us would be welcome in the civilian districts.”

“Well, we’ll certainly see what we can do to help out when we finally arrive. Until then, I’d like to know more about the side effects of the, uh, VES technology. Are we safe using it now?”

“Oh most definitely. It would take many years of stationary use for just one or two siphons to disrupt the natural balance significantly. As long as you keep moving, there is no reason there should be any problems; it is only when you consistently drain a small area that you start to have issues. That is why our ships still use them; even draining a large amount of energy, they move around enough to ensure that there is never any significant depletion of an area. It would not be wise, though, to use siphons to power a colony. Orbital movement is insufficient to offset the drain and eventually there would be a surge.”

“OK, that’s good then.” I replied reassured. Had we eventually located and jumped to a known M system, like Rossiya or Yaponiya, we would have surely used the VES technology on the colony and unknowingly brought about its demise. I felt somewhat angered that the Ambassador had never warned us of this potentially catastrophic possibility.

“Here we are,” I commented as we approached the newly modified quarters in the forward section of the ship which now stood internally two decks high and had significantly higher rated power supply than it normally would.

The Marines at the door saluted upon my approach, standing to attention all the time I was present. I often wondered just how long they maintained that posture after I had entered a room, the two Marines escorting Tarr’surn taking up position opposite the door. However unlikely the chances of them attempting to abduct the two, both he and Sii’nour had escorts as long as the Pallner crew were aboard.

Inside was a large, cream coloured cylinder, utterly plain and devoid of any decoration or markings whatsoever. The only element out of place was the 2 metre wide and tall hatch, currently open, running from the ground to about a third of the height of the cylinder. Inside I could see was bathed in light, the few components I could see covering the inner wall constantly blinking and flashing. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and a very thin mist of smoke seemed to be hanging around.

As we stepped in front of the door, I saw SC Long crouched inside facing away from us, doing something at the base of the wall, several active holopads strewn over the floor, connected to the components in the walls with wires. The source of the ozone and smoke quickly became clear after a loud electrical buzz emanated from where she was working, followed by a bang and another wisp of smoke rose around her, soon vanishing into the miasma.

“Damnit!” Long sighed as she stood up, holding a charred component to her side.

“Problems, Crewman?” I asked, startling her and causing her to spin around in a jump.

“Oh, Sir!” She cried, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Not a problem. Not having much luck, I see?”

“I’m afraid not. This is an exact replica of what I saw aboard the Lahstey, but for whatever reason it just keeps blowing components.” She sighed, nonchalantly tossing the still-smoking component onto a pile of others in a similar state.

“Well I’ve brought someone to help. With a little luck he’ll have the computer up and running in no time.” I motioned to Tarr’surn to join me from where he had been standing near the door, staring at the monolithic cylinder. “Crewman Tarr’surn, meet Senior Crewman Long. She’s the one responsible for getting the computer into the state it’s in now…” I glanced over to the sizeable pile of burnt out components, “Well, she’s doing a good job with most of it anyway.”

“Nice to meet you, Tarr’surn, I hope you can fix this, because I’m running out of ideas.” She greeted him, offering her hand. Tarr’surn’s returned handshake looked incredibly awkward and seemed to require a great deal of concentration from him. Sii’nour had tutored him somewhat on human gestures but it was far from second nature for him.

“You too, Long. You have done an excellent job of reconstructing the core, I see.” He sang. As I understood the Pallner language in its true form, the neural link didn’t translate his speech for me, but to Long it would sound like he was singing in our language. “I believe I may know what this problem is, I remember it well from when I was just learning about the computers…” He looked down at the holopads scattering the floor inside the core, picking each one up until he found the one he wanted. “Ah, yes,” He said after tapping at the screen for a few moments, “Try inserting the component now.”

Quickly walking over to the sequencer, Long created a new component and inserted it into the open space, flinching as she pushed it in completely. The small cream box immediately lit up, different colours racing across its front face before settling on a plain illuminated cream.

“I’ve been trying to get that damned component in for 12 hours; what did you do?” She asked with no small amount of relief.

“It’s actually an anti-tamper mechanism. On several sockets, when a component is removed or disabled, the power supply to the slot is ramped up, preventing it from being replaced by anyone who doesn’t know what they are doing.”

“Even if I knew what was wrong, I don’t think I’d ever have been able to find the right voltage, let alone change it.” Long admitted, “Unless the Captain has other plans for you, I could certainly use your help for, well, as long as it takes to get this thing operational.”

“You’ve got him for this shift. After that I think he’s going to be assisting the scientists for the foreseeable future.”

“Well then,” she replied, turning to Tarr’surn, “Let’s make the most of you...”

Within a few moments, incomprehensible techno babble began passing between the two as one indicated various areas of the computer to the other, said some long, complex words then the other did the same. Totally out of my depth, I hastily retreated to the safety of the corridor.

Outside, I was quickly ambushed by a group of junior officers and crewmen, led by Crewman Lyle. Since the Admiral had taken command of the ship, most of the crew once again felt comfortable socialising with me in the bar, but it was Gavin Lyle and his group of friends who had initially taken me in when I was feeling the isolation of command that I spent most time with, the Colonel joining on the rare occasions where I managed to drag him along. It had been a few days since I’d managed to make it down to the bar, generally being busy dealing with the annoying issues aboard ship that make a first officer’s life so tedious. Though I was Captain of the ship, with the Admiral aboard I had pretty much taken on the role of first officer to her.

“And where have you been hiding yourself?” Lyle asked as soon as I stepped through the door.

“I’ve been busy, you know, what with running the ship and all.” I replied with a shrug.

“Busy now?” He asked, tossing a poker chip to me. Checking the ship’s time I realised that my shift had been over for a good fifteen minutes now.

“Nothing that can’t wait a few hours.” I replied with a grin. “Whose turn is it?”

“Well it would have been yours two days ago, so I say we make up for time there.”

“Fine by me.” I agreed, referring to the location of the game, deciding on my quarters.

I led the way through the ship, the group chatting and joking about everything and nothing along the way. It took around fifteen minutes to get to my quarters, the group immediately making themselves at home when we did; pulling the table over to the bed and surrounding it with the chairs.

Sequencing the cards, poker chips and drinks I joined them for a good evening of gambling and drinking.

The room was littered with poker chips, drinks glasses and two crewmen collapsed over the table when I awoke. Immediately the lighting panels hurt my eyes with their relentless white glow, causing me to groan and try to shield myself from them. Rolling off the bed and onto my feet, I stepped around the two snoozing crewmen and picked my way between the chips and glasses towards the sequencer.

In a green glow, a glass of tomato juice appeared as I approached, which I quickly downed, replacing the glass into the cavity. My head cleared a little following the drink, allowing me to survey the room a little more. Ensign Vasquez and Crewman O’Shea, Command and Medical respectively, were the two of the group who had crashed here. I could remember maybe six drinks into the evening before everything became a blur; I was getting better, last time I could only remember up to drink number five. Stripping off, I pushed my crumpled uniform into the sequencer and headed for the cleanser.

The remaining alcohol in my system was soon removed by the cleanser, leaving me feeling much better, though still rather dehydrated. Unfortunately the cleanser could only remove, toxins and dirt, not add much needed water.

In the few minutes I had been in the cleanser, O’Shea had apparently gained enough consciousness to stumble out of my room, leaving Vasquez as the only other person here. Since he worked in the flight bay, and I knew him to have the same working schedule as myself, I wasn’t too worried since we both still had a couple of hours before our shifts started. Pulling on the fresh uniform awaiting me in the sequencer, I created another glass of tomato juice and set about straightening up the room.

“Wakey wakey, Vas. Time to go home.” I greeted him while shaking his shoulder.

“Cap?” He asked after a grunt, “Oh, uh, yeah, right.” He replied after a few moments of figuring out where he was and stumbling to his feet. Staggering to the sequencer, he created his favourite hangover cure. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but it seemed to glow even brighter than the ceiling. A few moments later he managed to find the door, mostly by feeling his way along the wall, and headed out into the corridor.

Using the empty glasses as containers, I soon cleared the floor and rolled the table back into its usual position. Giving it a quick wipe I took a moment to examine myself in its gloss black finish.

Over the last year, my own physiology had slowly reasserted itself over the null body’s. Aside from the change in age; since I had been 35 before dying and I now appeared 22, I looked pretty much as I used to. My jaw had squared up somewhat, my cheekbones slowly became a little more pronounced. My eyes and hair had changed from the null body’s blue and blonde back to my natural brown. Given the lack of natural sunlight, my skin was still about as pale as before, never really having a chance to darken.

According to the ‘net, SC Long was apparently still in the Pallner computer room, and according to the logs neither she nor Tarr’surn had left since I had introduced them. With only a few things to do, I decided to head towards the room while preparing Tarr’surn’s new assignments. Given his knowledge of the Vacuum Energy Siphon technology, as well as the Pallner drive and weapons systems, he would be far more valuable in briefing our scientists in their basics.

Though I had originally said he would only be assigned to assisting Long with the computer, depending on how well the work was going I might possibly give him another shift there if work was going slowly and he could assist. However valuable he would be in briefing the scientists, there was a potential wealth of data in the computer system which could prove just as useful.

The four marines outside saluted in unison as I approached, standing to attention until I had entered the room. As usual I had the urge to suddenly reopen the door to see if they were still at attention, but I’m sure that even if they weren’t, they would be by the time the door had opened an inch. Quelling my slightly childish urges I headed on towards the cylinder dominating the room.

The faint odour of burned silicon still hung in the air, but at least now the smoke had cleared, so hopefully that meant that no more components had been fried lately. At the very least, the pile of blackened shapes didn’t seem to have grown, and was no longer smoking.

“Oooooh...kay, now!” a singing voice called through the doorway as I approached, tension suddenly hanging in the air. The beige lighting inside the cylinder dimmed for a few moments and a distinctly unhealthy buzzing sound filled the room. I managed one apprehensive step backwards before the buzz subsided and the lighting brightened. The moment was punctuated by an enthusiastic, if rather shrill, whistle from inside.

Carefully I poked my head around the doorway, initially seeing only SC Long in the rather cramped compartment. A few seconds of confusion and an idle glance upwards soon clarified the purpose of the four smooth, apparently unused vertical lines running the height of the computer system; Tarr’surn was standing at least fifteen feet above, his four legs locked nearly completely horizontal, pressing into the grooves as he examined some more components. Though I hadn’t paid too much attention earlier, there certainly seemed to be a lot more bits sticking out of the walls now than on my last visit.

“Ah, Captain!” Long exclaimed when a fleeting glance spotted me. She tried to drop the enthusiastic grin she currently bore, but only succeeded in reducing it to a mere satisfied smile.

“A bell maybe?” I mused to myself out loud, “I do seem to have this habit of surprising people. Do you think a bell would help?”

“Um, I’m not entirely sure.” Long replied, caught totally off guard by the unusual question.

“I’ll have to think about it.” I clapped my hands together and looked around the cylinder, “How’s the computer going?”

“Ah, excellent, Sir.” Long instantly brightened back up, the grin forcing its way onto her face again. Five more components to install and test and we should be ready for the big switch-on. Two hours for the installation, six for testing and we should have our very own Pallner mainframe”

A monotonous clanking sound from above marked Tarr’surn’s slow descent, each leg moving an inch or so down at a time in sequence.

“Eight more hours? I’m not sure about that. I don’t want Tarr’surn to be overworked and exhausted on his first shift.”

“It is not a problem, Captain,” Tarr’surn interjected from a few feet above, “Most Pallner work shifts are equivalent to...” He took a few moments to work out the differences between our time scales, “Seventeen hours, give or take a few minutes. I have no problem with continuing until this job is done.”

I hesitated for a few moments. While Pallner may work much longer shifts, most of them haven’t been very recently brought back from the dead.

“You’re sure? You’ve been through a lot recently, and I don’t want you to burn yourself out. Wouldn’t it be better for you to ease back into working life slowly?” As important as the computer was, he was one of my crew now, and his health was therefore above any short-term gains.

“I am certain, Captain. I can continue assisting Sara, sorry, SC Long for as long as needed, and I will still be perfectly capable of answering any questions that the scientists ask.” He replied, blushing a confident, slightly green hue.

“Very well, you can carry on, but only for five hours. Whatever state the computer’s in after that, SC Long will have to manage by herself, at least until the science teams are happy about the basics. You will have at least 3 hours rest before the briefing, and that’s an order, crewman.”

“Yes, sir.” Tarr’surn happily announced, standing to attention in the same way that Sii’nour had developed and giving a well-rehearsed salute.

“Well, as time is short you’d better get back to it,” I instructed him and, as he scuttled back to the tower, turned to Long , “What do you think, Seen? Is this thing worth the effort it’s taken to get it operational?”

“Definitely, Sir. The processing power of this system is more than double what Europa’s central mainframe would put out. We’ve got five more data modules to install before we’re ready to power it all up, all of them appear to be undamaged. Tarr’surn can’t be certain whether or not any data’s survived, but with the amount of modules we have, we should be able to get something out of it. Since Pallner data storage is based on crystal structure, there’s no reason it should degrade over time, even without power. Even if we don’t retrieve anything of value though, rebuilding this system has taught me a huge amount about Pallner systems. That alone is worth the effort.”

“Eight hours?” I asked, nodding my agreement. The more we learn about Pallner technology ourselves means less we have to rely on the Pallner government to give us, and also gives us something to measure the trustworthiness of their data by.

“Rough estimate, Sir. We’ll have the last modules in within two hours, then it’s however long the system takes to run through its own diagnostic checks, followed by data integrity tests on each DM. Tarr’surn thinks eight hours is about right, but until it’s up and running we have no way of knowing for certain.”

“OK. Keep me informed of any changes, and make sure Tarr’surn isn’t overworked; five hours.” I restated firmly.

“Aye, Sir. Not a minute longer.” She confirmed, standing to attention, then heading back to the cylinder as I turned away.

The Marines were already standing to attention when the door opened, as they always were whenever I left a room. How they did it, I don’t know. They weren’t using the ‘Net, as Marines considered it a luxury, and not something to be relied on, yet they always seemed to know I was coming. One day, I vowed to myself, I’d catch them out.

Sighing, I confirmed to myself that I really had to do this, and that I couldn’t put it off any longer and headed towards the nearest grav lift. The Ambassador had been getting more and more testy regarding the ‘examinations’ of Tarr’surn, and we were running out of excuses. The time had come to tell him of the Engineer’s defection. I could already see in my mind just how bright he was going to turn; he was going to be furious, and with the Space Borer still months away from operation, there really wasn’t much that we had to offer to calm him down.

The Admiral had confirmed her position alongside my own views regarding sharing of our own technology; the most powerful technologies in our possession, such as the neural link, resurrection and wormhole generation could never be traded. Given their energy generation ability, turning over sequencer tech would be handing them an enormous technical and logistical advantage over us, and everything else we had to offer was small fries in comparison.

Right now, the only thing preventing the Pallner from leaving us right now was the promise of returning them home in a fraction of the time it would take them alone, and I was getting the feeling that the Ambassador was getting tired of us playing that chip.

In the time it would take to walk to the Ambassador’s quarters, I’d have to think of something big to win him over. Returning the Rolstan to them would help slightly, but in its current state, gutted by the pirates and currently having anything of value they left behind torn out of it, that wouldn’t placate him for long. I’d just have to spin it well, but the next dilemma; breaking the good news first or the bad...

Stepping out of the grav lift, I headed back towards the stern of the ship, where the Ambassador and the rest of the Lahstey’s crew were currently residing.

The three sections currently taken up with the Pallner crew were totally locked down; one end’s bulkhead was sealed, while the other was under constant guard. All grav lifts in the area had also been locked off.

Passing through the guards I stopped at the first door to my left; the Ambassador’s quarters. Taking a sigh, I tapped the bell on a small panel on the right door, the door sliding open moments later.

“I trust that all is going well, Captain? No more delays?” The Ambassador immediately opened, his temples flushing a light greenish-yellow, signifying his annoyance. By the end of the conversation, I knew he’d probably be flushing enough to illuminate the ship.

“None, Ambassador. Yourself and the remainder of the Lahstey’s crew are cleared to disembark. We’re reasonably certain that the resurrections will have no complications, and we are, of course, always on hand should any issues arise.” I calmly explained, visibly placating him somewhat.

“Well...it’s about time. I shall contact the Horstur immediately.” He began to step towards a device on the table, but stopped, the annoyance draining from his temples, “We understand, Captain, that to resurrect the Lahstey crew required a significant amount of energy, and that you were under no obligation to do so. We may have had some...disagreements lately, but I still believe there is a strong future for our peoples.”

Seizing the opportunity, I decided to try to capitalise on his favourable demeanour; “As do I, Ambassador. In fact, to that end, we have decided to return control of the Rolstan to you. It’s in pretty bad shape, and it seems that the pirates looted anything that wasn’t nailed down, and many things that were, for their other ships. We are already removing our crews and equipment, and should be ready to cede control within the next few hours.”

“You surprise me, Captain. Though I have no doubt that you will have removed anything of value, it would seem that you are making a number of unsolicited concessions.” Initially he flushed a reasonably amiable pinkish colour, before it quickly returned to its suspicious orange which had almost become the default over the last few months, “I’ve read your history, Captain. Your people only make such concessions when trying to disguise what they’ve taken. What is it?”

“Tarr’surn.” I replied simply, the ambassador flushing the same greenish-yellow as earlier and turning away. “He requested asylum, and will not be returning with you.”

The ambassador remained quiet for a few moments, the back of his head not giving even the slightest hint to his emotional state.

“Very well.” He eventually said, turning back to face me, his blush much calmer. “That was not...unexpected. He is considered to be of rather limited use, we accept this trade. We thank you for returning the remainder of the crew to us, now we ask how long you estimate your wormhole device will take to repair.”

I was somewhat taken aback by the ambassador’s willingness to simply give us Tarr’surn in exchange for the stripped out Rolstan. While we had been working with the Pallner for several months, much of their culture and mindset still remained a mystery, and there was no way I could tell whether the ambassador truly valued the hulk of the Rolstan over the knowledge of Tarr’surn, or whether he even know how knowledgeable the low-ranked engineer was. Perhaps the Rolstan’s hulk was more valuable than we had imagined, but whatever the reason, I was glad that he seemed to accept the offer so readily; I had definitely envisioned a much messier resolution.

“Commander Wye estimates repairs to the ship’s structure and the device itself will take approximately five months,” I lied after regaining my composure, I had been around enough engineers to pick up their habit of overstating repair times, “Fortunately, the control software has been successfully recovered and after testing it, we will be ready to begin calculations. If you can identify your star system on our map, we can begin preparations and will be able to initiate the jump as soon as the hardware is repaired.”

“Five months.” The ambassador mused, “This is acceptable. I will have the details you require transmitted as soon as I return to the Horstur.” The ambassador returned to the table and lowered himself onto his stool. “This brings up another matter. In your notes, you state that the Noah must traverse the wormhole first, then the Horstur follows before it collapses; this means that you will be left in our system. Now, lately our relations have been, shall we say, strained and now that you seem to be relieving us of our crewmembers one at a time, I am left wondering what your intentions are when we arrive.”

“We desire only to return to our home. If you wish, we will remain well away from any of your own space traffic until such time as we are able to recharge our reserves and take our leave of you. Of course, we would prefer to garner a better relationship, but if it is your wish that we have no further dealings, we will abide by that.”

“Such decisions are not mine to make. I will make my recommendation to my superiors, whether they act on it or not is up to them.” The ambassador paused for a few moments in reflection, “I believe our business for today is concluded, Captain. Unless you have anything else to discuss, I would return to my quarters to await retrieval from the Horstur.”

“I have no further issues,” I replied, rising to my feet, “the Marines will show you to your quarters, I hope that we meet again soon.”

With a slight nod, the ambassador silently took his leave, allowing me to collapse back into my chair in relief, trying to sort through my thoughts on the meeting.