The BridgeBook IV; Epilogue: Into the Shadows of the Starsby euhal allen |
Table of Contents Part 1 appears in this issue. |
Chapter 2: Building Anewpart 2 of 3 |
* * *
Zhelin sat back in her chair and pondered again over the actions of the Gorlon-se. It was easy to say but hard to understand that the Gorlon-se were unusual in light of what the Frawn had come to expect from kre-oti. The Gorlon-se came into a system and destroyed an attacking fleet by diverting the attackers’ own fire back on itself, or they flipped into hyperspace at the last second to let a missile lock onto and destroy one of the attackers’ own ships.
The black “mystery” ships did not deign to fire on any of the attackers. In fact, other than in dodging weapon fire, they did not seem even to recognize the existence of the attacking fleet. Besides popping into and out of hyperspace, most of the black ships sailed through an area on a steady course and speed until it seemed that their current job was done. Then they accelerated out of the area at a velocity that Frawn scientists, both physicians and physicists, deemed impossible. What kind of people manned the Gorlon-se?
Now that the Gorlon-se had passed, a change seemed to have taken place in the background radiation left by the Great Second, the beginning of the universe. Somehow, some of that radiation seemed to have gained the semblance of containing actual information. But when it was examined, the information was most often just repeats of Frawn communications broadcasts.
Zhelin had sent a report in and requested time to examine these things saying, that the answers were there, one just had to be stubborn enough to find them. She had been told to be stubborn and find them. That was weeks ago and still the mysteries plagued her every waking moment.
* * *
The great Black Fleet, having finished its first circuit of the area it was to survey, began coming back now, going a little slower and checking each system more thoroughly. All the ships flew in a formation that changed to meet the configuration of each system revisited.
There was no band that the ships communicated on: that was done in other, quite untraceable ways. There were no replies to inhabitants of systems and to their calls. And since there was never any need, weapons were not fired and great amounts of energy were saved. That was efficient, and those in charge liked efficiency.
Up-surging into hyperspace was quite enough to keep them safe, and races soon learned that if they did not use their weapons they would not have to figure out what to do when their own weapons locked onto their own ships.
* * *
The great strides in Door technology, hidden from the Tunnel Worlds and not even thought of in Galactic Council space, which until recently had never had any of the technology, began to trickle out into the newly combined civilization. It had to come slowly: not only did transport systems officials and employees not loose their occupations, but they would have time to learn the intricacies of this new form of transportation.
For the populace, though, the technology could not come fast enough. The stories of how the Qwell, for great spans of time, had been able to have and use personal Door receivers to go to preprogrammed places set minds and hearts on travel and business not before even thought of. Now one could live on one planet and work on another many light-years away without the boredom of ship travel. That was the most alluring thing many had ever heard.
For the new government this new demand made it easier to coax the populace into paying a bit more in taxes, since what they would pay out was already coming back in savings from not having to use older, costly, and less efficient transportation systems. The trade-off — a seven percent raise in taxes for a thirty percent reduction in transportation costs — was a bargain for both sides. And it created a new appreciation for the economies of scale that, in this case, only governments could cash in on.
The new mobility of peoples to worlds they had never seen also created a new demand for help in hospitality and dining facilities, some of which, because of the needs of a race, were quite strange to those now running those facilities. Some of those strange accommodations and foods led to a new awakening in those occupations, too. Soon new and very delectable cuisines were being found everywhere. And it became quite obvious that if you have never slept on an Mrihlzner pad then you have “never known a true night’s rest.”
With the new mobility came a new surge in scientific breakthroughs as research not done — and perhaps not conceivable — in one area was described by those who had and could conceive of it. This led to great leaps in knowledge followed by the rest of the systems trying to catch up.
Of course, there were those who decried the new transportation grids’ destroying the romance of spaceship travel and the wonders of the universe. That was okay, though, because many who had never before been to space and never had seen the awesomeness of the universe now found it easy to take excursions into space; a glut of unused but quite useable ships stood ready to accommodate them at prices lower than ever before.
It was no wonder that Me’Avi Shapirov, High Speaker of the Galactic Assembly, widow of the most respected composer in the last one hundred years, and mother of little, three year-old, Kalvin Shapirov, found that she had, indeed, a somewhat full life. Were it not for the help of young Joeya, she would have been overwhelmed by all she was called upon to do.
Sitting at her desk — young Kalvin finally asleep on his cot — Me’Avi was beginning to delve again into the backlog of files on her monitor when the buzzer from Joeya in the outer office took her attention.
“Sorry to bother you, Me’Avi, but it is time for you to head over to the Assembly Hall for the vote on the new exploration fleet. If you don’t get there pretty fast those old Admirals from Council territory will start talking again. That would mean an all-night session.
“Kalvin will be all right with me.”
“Joeya, I don’t know how I would do this job if you weren’t here to ride herd on me. You weren’t one of the officials in the old governments, and I don’t know why you are doing this. Just don’t stop, please.”
“Me’Avi, I stood before the Family Heads and threatened suicide if they did not allow my grandfather’s life to be fulfilled. They gave in and promised ten years of instruction to the new bureaucracy. If I don’t give the same ten years, then any shame that may come upon my grandfather’s name will be mine.
“Besides, I like you. And I adore little Kalvin. As a Qwell woman I am expected to give back to society what it has given to me before I add to its burdens by having children. Most Qwell women must wait until their late fifties before bearing young. What I have already done will allow me to do so much sooner.
“The only hard part will be to find a man who will put up with me and my big head.
“Now you had better get over and stop those old guys from talking too much.”
* * *
The Defense Council reported that each system in the Galactic Assembly territory had been equipped with an internally triggered system-englobement shield. The Council therefore declared that there was a small surplus — small by government standards, large by program standards — that could be used to equip and send out exploratory ships into areas not yet mapped.
Exploratory missions would extend the advanced warning systems and, if other races were contacted, might even allow the Galactic Assembly to begin to export some of the excess industrial and commercial products that the government had been storing against the possible return of the Skeltz.
Thus the government would be the recipient of more information — and governments thrive on information — while re-employing the crewmen of ships sidelined by the expansion of the Tunnel Systems. Another plus: the ships would receive the latest upgrades in power and weapons, including Door projectors like the ones the Qwell had used so effectively on the Skeltz so long ago.
In addition, an emergency Door on each ship would allow the crew instant transfer back to one of the safe spots that would be set up on the trip out. If a ship had to be vaporized in self-destruction, an enemy would remain unaware that it had destroyed only a ship, not defeated its crew.
Me’Avi, High Speaker, who had been pushing for the bill for some time now, was quite relieved when it passed easily and the funds were allocated. Like her grandmother, she sometimes tended to jump the gun a little, and some of those funds just allocated could now be revealed as having been expended. It was a small line in a huge budget but better for now being a line with legal backing.
* * *
Dhrazji was shaken to his very core. Without sanction and, therefore, in his very little spare time, he had continued to seek the solution to the language problem that upset him so. Now as he neared the answer he knew a new kind of fear. He could only hope that he was missing some data that would send his investigation in another direction, but none had appeared as yet.
It was obvious that his findings should be reported. It was also obvious that he would not report them. If he was wrong, he would be severely chastised for time he had wasted. If he was right, he would be clapped in irons so that his secret would not spread to others.
Either way, the findings would not be used because, right or wrong, they would not be believed: they pointed to conclusions that were inconceivable to the majority of Skeltz minds. It would have been better to have obeyed the directions to drop the matter than to know for certain the outcome of the immediate future.
* * *
Zhelin continued to be stubborn. Seeing a need to gather more information to fill the data holes, she sought and received permission to travel back in the direction that the Black Fleet had come from. She was to keep absolutely hidden at all times and record everything possible. A number of Messenger probes were included in her supplies and each one was to be sent back with all the information gathered up to the time of its release.
If her ship came under attack, she was to send all her drones out at once and hope that at least one of them made it through. There were no fantasies about rescue from such an attack, and no false hopes for the crew about survival. They all knew the danger of the mission and had volunteered anyway. A chance for the survival of their people seemed a fair price to pay for their lives.
Soon, in the Charity , the fastest and least trackable ship of the Frawn fleet, Zhelin and her crew began their journey. At first there was nothing but quiet and the wonder of the universe to keep them occupied. Systems were noted and logged — those with resources useful to the Frawn flagged — and drones were sent back as information filled their memory banks.
One system had its own drone. It had been heavily mined and stripped by some race in the not too distant past. Time was taken to investigate, and it was seen by the evidence left behind that the race that had exploited the system was the same one they had so recently defeated and whose remaining ships and people were hiding in the useless system nearer their own.
Then, weeks out in their journey, on their long-range screens, a large number of ships began to appear four systems over, flying in an obviously military formation. Putting all sensors in passive mode, the Charity moved into an area where she would be difficult to detect, and the crew watched the oncoming fleet of ships.
Detecting activity in the next system, Zhelin dared a quick scan of that system and found space borne activity that indicated intelligence. Wanting to know what would happen when the strange fleet came into that system, she ordered the fuel-guzzling shielded flight system to be used so that they could try to sneak into the edges of that system and hide in a group of asteroids orbiting the rim. Then, with all unnecessary equipment shut down and everything else on minimum, the Charity watched and waited.
The inhabitants of the system also had discovered the oncoming fleet and began to group their ships for defensive action. It was a pathetic effort that the Charity itself could have overwhelmed. Somehow, Zhelin knew that the system’s inhabitants were, themselves, aware of the hopelessness of their situation, but to protect their people they showed admirable courage in being ready to die.
Something about the scene before Zhelin triggered a memory. It was something she had learned in the past but hadn’t thought of in years. And now she watched keenly to see if that memory would match the drama about to be played out before her.
The invading fleet approached, then entered the system. Then, seeing the local militia ranged up to fight them, it took a parking orbit in outer parts of the system. A little later one of their ships, a small one, headed into the inner system and took another orbit halfway between the two fleets. A number of transmissions went out from the small ship, each in a different language.
Zhelin, startled at the scene, recognized that the large fleet was seeking an open communication with the inhabitants of the system. She was even more startled when her comm officer motioned to her to come over to him. When she got there and picked up the earpiece to listen she almost dropped it on the floor. They were hailing her ship also. There was no mistake, for it was a tight-beam communication aimed directly at her vessel.
Copyright © 2005 by euhal allen
