Transmat World: Chapter 21, Episode 2
Aboard the See Lurchin’, Monday, December 6, 2145 A.D.
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“Everyone into the 5.0,” said Vince.
They hit the door running, Maria and Julie in the lead.
“Punch it,” said Maria as they all crossed the threshold.
Julie’s finger was on the “go” button in a split-second, not bothering to type a destination code. Anywhere was better than here.
“Wai — ” began Vince. Poink. “ — ait,” finished Vince. “So much for being cautious. I pre-punched the destination code for See Lurchin’ in anticipation that we would come here today.”
Weightless, they emerged from the booth on the lower deck of the See Lurchin’, having just made the longest Transmat jump in history; and were now floating around gaping at the image on the inside of the hull. It was one thing to watch it on a rectangular flat surface with the sterile, safe backdrop of the surrounding laboratory. Once aboard the See Lurchin’ it was like your naked eyeballs were hanging in space trying to wrap their rods and cones around the most incredible spectacle they have ever come across. They drifted upstairs to float behind Enrique and the five over-sized acceleration couches. Enrique was way too busy for them to interrupt.
“Repeat, Station Director Gupta,” said Enrique.
“All personnel are ordered to evacuate.”
“What about the See Lurchin’ crew?” asked Enrique.
“They are ordered to evacuate as well,” said Station Director Gupta. “Now, if you will excuse me I must — ”
The speaker fell silent.
“You must what, Station Director Gupta?”
There was no answer.
“Enrique, we have company,” said Rousseau.
“Thank God. What’s going on down there?” asked Enrique as he swiveled around to face them.
“It sounded like Kleopatra took a direct hit from something big enough to disrupt communications,” said Vince. “Let’s test some other stuff. Ookie, go down to the S5.0 and jump back to the station.”
“I’m a lizard, not a guinea pig,” said Gadzooks in an offended tone.
“Just do it,” said Vince.
Ookie rode Transmat thrusters down to the booth, punched in the numbers with his tail, and hit the activation button. Nothing happened.
“Transmats aboard the See Lurchin’ won’t go to anywhere but Kleopatra, and even then it must go through the verification relay which must be broke, disconnected, or lost,” said Vince.
“Hang on, everybody, I’m going to check something else,” said Enrique.
Everybody hung straight up from the handrails or whatever else they latched onto.
“Hey! Cut it out,” said Julie.
“Sorry. Had to check the thrusters.”
“That means all the one-way Transmats coming from Earth and Mars are still supplying our necessities,” said Vince.
“Enrique, check to see if the Galactic Positioning System signal is still coming through from Kleopatra,” said Maria.
“Nothing.”
“That can’t be good, can it?” asked Julie.
“We can eventually figure out how to backtrack to Earth using our current stellar databases,” said Ernesto.
“How long?” asked Vince.
“Possibly several days and another few days checking out false positives,” said Ernesto.
“Should we head back to offer aid?” asked Julie.
“Even though we rerouted or destroyed any possible collision prone objects we could find and set up active defenses, there were still emergency plans and equipment for Kleopatra,” Vince said. “Rescue ships from other stations and Mars will already be on their way if they need help. We may as well stay here and make the best of it with what we’ve got.”
That question answered, they focused on the object of their journey.
“What if it’s the size of a beach ball, made of neutronium, and only yards away?” asked Julie.
“Their timeline would be so fast they would have already launched an attack and their dense little ships gone right through one wall of See Lurchin’ and out the other. We would notice a small leakage of atmosphere,” said Maria.
Rousseau casually leaned in the direction of the atmosphere control panel while pretending to scratch his thorax with a hind leg.
“Made you look,” said Maria. “That was just science fiction malarkey.”
“I was but making a routine safety check per the Board of Agreement’s Deep Space Code of Shipboard Practices,” said Rousseau.
“There is no such thing as the Deep Space Code of Shipboard Practices,” said Vince. “We are the first ‘deep space’ travelers.”
“Yes, and that’s exactly why I have to formulate it as we go. Future generations of space travelers will thank me profusely for this much-needed guide.”
Vince broke everyone’s skeptical stare. “Into the suits. As soon as an hour is up, we’re heading for the ‘Impossible World,’ neutronium or no neutronium.”
“I vote for no neutronium,” said Enrique, “All in favor say ‘aye.’”
They were giddy with the discovery of Harbinger; inebriated by the drug of wonder; intoxicated by the elixir of the fantastic.
The storage locker level on the ship got busy as suits split for entry, Venus Mantraps eager for their next meal. A round of whooshes signaled the hermetic sealing of five military grade exoskeleton combat suits. Acceleration couches automatically adjusted to the bulk of the suits.
“Where’s my body armor?” asked Rousseau.
“Your upgrade included a titanium-diamond veneer, and they’ll be so scared when they see that ‘Original Grasshopper’ holo, they’ll just run away,” said Enrique.
“Wiseacre,” replied Rousseau.
“What is the strategy to approach this incredibly beautiful and dangerous looking object?” asked Ernesto.
“Zigzag pattern, just like dodging bullets on foot,” said Enrique.
“See Lurchin’s power source is much better than the prototypes, so we don’t need five seconds recharge between jumps,” said Vince. “They can be almost instantaneous.”
“As soon as our laser telemetry gets back telling us precisely how far away this thing is, I’ll program in five jumps with a tenth of a light year back and forth pattern one-quarter second apart,” said Enrique.
“No need to wait for laser telemetry,” said Vince. “According to Ernesto, that could take up to an hour. We have a miniature Transmat X-drive reconnaissance drone. We’ll run that up to their doorstep, take some measurements, and snatch it back. It will take a lot less time to get the same information.”
The reconnaissance drone sat on a rack on the lower level. It was a matter of minutes to program the unit, punch a button on the remote, and watch it disappear with a pop. A Transmat monitoring internal atmosphere supplied air to make up for the missing drone’s volume. A picture-in-picture screen level with the navigation deck popped into view showing several flashes of the mysterious alien construct, each one bigger than the last, until there was nothing but the huge, cryptic object filling the screen. Up close, the mirrored stasis field’s reflection of deep space contrasted with the warm amber glow of the inner photovoltaic Membrane. After a minute of high-speed, high-resolution transmission, the drone transmitted itself back to one of See Lurchin’s Transmat booths.
“It’s a cute little spy drone,” said Julie as she retrieved the little egg-shaped Transmat X-drive drone and put it back on a shelf on the bottom deck.
“You love furry things. There’s no fur on it,” pointed out Furboten from his slippery perch on her exoskeleton shoulder.
“Yes, but notice how the two dials and slide bar on the exterior set of manual controls form a kind of techno smiley face?” responded Julie.
“Looks demonic,” said the feline hedbot.
“You’re just jealous,” replied Julie.
“Hey, look at this, guys,” said Maria pointing to a replay of the drone’s close-up, going right to the screen and tracing a tiny speck moving parallel to the belt-like Rim. “Can you zoom in on that?”
Enrique magnified the moving dot until it was a grainy image several inches long.
“A flying saucer?!” was the chorus from humans and hedbots alike.
They had spotted a scout ship, its flattened disk and bulbous center fitting the description of an archetypal “flying saucer” as described on numerous occasions throughout the last several centuries.
“Isn’t it coincidental that we should stumble upon an icon for all those that thought there was some truth to the existence of extraterrestrials?” posed Ernesto.
“Maybe not coincidence,” said Maria. “Maybe this is what people have seen on Earth. Advance ships from this intergalactic behemoth may have been visiting Earth for some time. Its mode of propulsion is not apparent, so it may be a gravity drive similar to what we suspect shoves Momma Ship around. That would fit in well with descriptions of highly maneuverable craft sighted on Earth.”
“Does this change our approach plans?” asked Enrique.
“No, I have faith in the See Lurchin’s defenses — let’s go,” said Vince.
Enrique programmed in the approach sequence and See Lurchin’ flitted toward the enormous spaceship. It wound up a few million miles behind the track of the observed scout ship and ten degrees above the enormous, shiny outer belt of the orb. From this vantage point, the inside of the Rim was visible, showing the rectangular light and dark patches as they swept around and disappeared behind the glowing golden Membrane. Brilliant sunlight from the windows in the Membrane accentuated the dark ribbon of opacity that framed them.
Light from these huge rectangles turned the atmosphere inside the retainer walls into what looked like flattened, three-dimensional holo screens with abstract patterns of green, white, blue-green, brown, and blue. It looked like someone had peeled habitable planets and carpeted the inside of this giant fabrication with their skins. If you stared at it for a while, the relative motions became clear. Everything was moving, slow to the naked eye but moving, and at different velocities. Sporadically, there were flashes of light.
