Transmat World: Chapter 21, Episode 1
Kleopatra Mining Complex laboratory, 8:30 A.M., Monday, December 6, 2145 A.D.
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See Lurchin’ was an object of incredible mental and physical potential energy. For humanity’s collective psyche, it was in the running to become a totem for the ages. Greater than the Saturn V rocket or the space elevators, it represented the hope of mankind to go to the stars, to explore the galaxy and beyond. It could leap tall planetary systems in a single bound. It could go faster than a speeding photon. It was the most magical of magic carpets.
“When are we going to get this heap moving?” asked Rousseau.
“Patience, Grasshopper,” said Enrique.The display of the outer environment covered the inside of the sphere. An organic light-emitting diode film had been applied to every square inch of interior wall of the ship’s spherical shell and every surface parallel to that wall, such as storage compartment doors, internal struts, and the hatch. Anywhere Enrique looked, the vast cosmos peered back.
He spotted the send-off party standing in the large window of the lab looking toward the See Lurchin’. He gave in to an urge to wave even though they were looking at the shell of See Lurchin’ and could see him. One waved back. Julie had been watching a monitor showing the pilot’s area while the others looked out the window. Enrique made a funny face only she would see. He could see her pointing at the monitor now and put a blank expression on his face by the time everyone turned to look. Now he could see Julie’s fist shaking in the air. He turned on the intercom.
“What?” asked Enrique.
“You know what,” said Julie.
Enrique zoomed in and noticed her freckled face turning red, but her eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Children, a little decorum please,” said Vince, smiling to himself, “this is a historic event.”
The countdown to launch was complete. See Lurchin’s powerful battery was charged. Hundreds of alternating layers of flexible indium oxide and graphene-based semiconductor film nested between the inner and outer hulls form a capacitor with an energy density of several watt-hours per kilogram and a shelf life of years. It was large enough to absorb the lightning energy of several thunderstorms. The graphene acted as a controller, funneling this vast energy store into usable portions when and where needed.
“Battery check — fully charged,” said Enrique, “and that’s a ‘go.’”
The disconnected umbilical cables hung dejectedly under the end of the tunnel-boom as if missing the intimate connection with the ship. Enrique guided See Lurchin’ away from the delicate, rotating mass of 216 Kleopatra like a sparkling black pearl through a molasses of stars. Thruster-test dancing started a thousand yards out. A pinpoint of barely discernible, different kind of blackness is all they saw from the magnified screens in the lab when Enrique hit the button to start a pre-programmed series of jumps that would take him to the vicinity of the mysterious, star-disturbing mass. No one noticed that the See Lurchin’ carried 7,501 spines sticking out of its shell instead of 7,500.
Enrique did notice the hairs still rose on the back of his neck, but the normal Transmat puff of air on his eyeballs was missing as the See Lurchin’ transmitted itself and the air inside a third of a light year in an instant. See Lurchin’ recorded every electromagnetic spectrum recordable in 360°, high definition for a full minute and then initiated another jump. It recorded sound, but space was silent, and the only thing anyone reviewing the recordings ever noticed was Enrique’s exclamations, Rousseau’s commentary, and muted conversations with the lab crowd as they witnessed the same things Enrique saw a tiny portion of a second later.
Forty-three times See Lurchin’ jumped, skipping across space like a flat stone on water with only the splashes visible. On the forty-third jump, Enrique hit the op-out button for See Lurchin’ to cease its relentless 700-billion-league-boot march across the galaxy. It was easy to see why. The Harbinger of Light and Justice hung in space before him, the apparent size of a beach ball a yard away. After thirty seconds of silence, someone spoke.
“It appears one of God’s Christmas tree ornaments got away from him and has been rolling across the Milky Way,” said Julie.
“Faberge must have gone to work for God when he died,” said Enrique.
“Maybe God’s right behind it, chasing it down,” said Ernesto.
“Keep an eye out for a big foot while we check this thing out,” said Vince.
“What if it’s a big tentacle,” countered Julie.
“In His image,” quoted Vince.
“Perhaps that was more of a metaphysical or mental/spiritual image,” said Maria.
“Sunday school is over, people,” chirped Rousseau, “and we got a big, funny-looking, alien thingamajig here.”
Individual spokes were clearly visible, spanning from the horizontal Rim to the cylindrical hubs at the poles in graceful, starlight-spotted arcs. The stasis field surface of Harbinger reflected the Milky Way in all its glory. A pale amber glow of the spherical photovoltaic Membrane bounced off the edges of the spokes and Rim, giving the stasis-field parts of Harbinger a warm, golden trim. A shadow of the grid-like inner cage holding Betilon in place was just visible on the Membrane. The silvery tracings of stasis field spokes and Rim against a golden Membrane were, indeed, reminiscent of a jeweler’s fantasy. A dark, horizontal band stretched around the Membrane 10 degrees above and below the belt-like Rim, making the Rim’s super-chrome surface prominent; a perfect mirror framed in black.
“Recording feeds are optimal,” said Enrique. “So what is it?”
“It is a very large space ship for one thing,” said Vince.
“There should be another word for a spaceship that big,” said Julie.
“There is,” said Ernesto, “and it’s called a Dyson Sphere; at least as close to one as we will ever see. I suspect at the heart of this thing is a star, and that is where it gets its energy. We’ll just create a new class of objects right now called Dyson Spherical Transports.”
“Radio signals. I’m running them through the computer,” said Enrique. “No recognizable language. Maintaining record mode and resetting the radio alarm for a known language.”
“There is no visible form of propulsion,” said Julie.
“If the gravitational force theory of propulsion is correct, you won’t be able to see it, assuming gravitons are always invisible,” said Maria. “I would have to defer to Professor Barrera for a more definitive opinion.”
“I should think an artificially produced gravity field would be just as transparent as a natural gravity field,” said Ernesto.
“One thing we do know; this was built by an advanced race; and we are close enough to see it; so I’m going to assume it can see us,” said Vince. “We’re going to play dodge ball before they even throw. Enrique, I want you to jump perpendicular in any direction to a line drawn between See Lurchin’ and that thing.”
“I don’t think that is necessary,” said Ernesto.
“Why not?” asked Vince.
“Because from this thing’s point of view, See Lurchin’ only popped into existence a couple of minutes ago,” said Ernesto. “We know from the gravity anomalies it has the mass of a small star system. If it has the size to match that thing is about 370 million miles away. It will take the image of the See Lurchin’ another thirty minutes to get there.”
“I guess we might as well have coffee and a donut,” said Vince.
“Since their response is limited to the speed of light, it will be another thirty minutes before a massive, high-powered laser tries to turn the See Lurchin’ into the See Scorchin’,” said Julie. “With an hour to kill we might as well head back to the Ozone Lounge for a proper sit-down breakfast.”
“Wait a minute — you’re not going to leave us in the Lurchin’ are you?” asked Enrique.
“After a pun like that, I’m afraid they will,” said Rousseau.
“I know this is a very impressive artifact fabricated by obviously advanced beings, but the truth is the See Lurchin’ is but an infinitesimal speck to this thing,” said Ernesto. “Let’s wait an hour. If there has been no response in that time, we can board the See Lurchin’ and proceed with our investigation.”
“I think we should play it safe,” said Vince, “and wait until the See Lurchin’ has made physical contact with this object. Even then, we should not go right away.”
“Getting cold feet?” asked Maria.
“No, I’m getting cautious feet, Miss Magellan. This is one of the biggest finds in the history of exploration but it won’t do us much good if we’re — ”
WONK! WONK! WONK! WONK! ….
“The meteoroid warning! That’s impossible. We’ve checked all orbits, everything has — ”
“This is Station Director Gupta. Evacuate at once. Meteoroid of indeterminate size on collision path with station. Repeat: Evacuate now.”
Personnel, some already in emergency vacuum suits, were heading for the one and two-man booths; transmatting back to Mars, Moon, or Earth.
