Cycle of Stars Read online

  “But that's strictly an administrative function and there is plenty of design work left in retrofitting the iso-reservoir.”

  “Yes, but it is an important function that keeps the whole project moving forward. And I think some of the junior members of your team can finish the design sufficiently. You've made it easy.”

  “I see Dr. Adamu,” said Ally suspiciously. “If you think I can be of more service.”

  “Excellent Dr. Mekur and thank you.”

  “Someone is pushing us out of the project.”

  Dag had met Ally that evening as she ate dinner in one of the restaurants.

  “You think so Dr. Mekur?”

  “Please call me Ally, Dr. Mach.”

  “And remember you can call me Dag.”

  Ally continued.

  “Well I was reassigned today to a support role. He assured me that my project was far enough along that my absence would not be a problem.”

  “Interesting Miss. I think then you are right. But why?”

  Ally noticed he had not used her name. Perhaps it was something in his programming.

  “We are outsiders here Dag. And someone sees us as usurping their authority. How ironic, Without you there wouldn't be a project.”

  “And without your knowledge of ship systems and the isotopics, they wouldn't be as far along as they are Miss. But it doesn't matter when politics are involved I suppose. The heads of the project are trying to tamp down a revolt I guess. We're out.”

  “Well at least we'll be on the test flight,” said Ally, “I don't think Captain Schweiger would fly without us.”

  It was the following day at lunch that Ally got the message. The crew for the test flight had been named. She wasn't on it, neither was Dag.

  The project was three months late but finally finished. Ally and Dag had been allowed into the flight control room as passive observers. They had been seated in the very back row.

  The Adowa One was finished with its fourteen day boost to the area chosen for the test. The eighty-three minute communications delay at that distance meant that the test was already over in reality but the results were still on their way back to control.

  “Control this is Adowa One test beginning now.”

  Besides the communications, telemetry data from the ship was also being recorded.

  After a delay of a few minutes, the comm-link crackled into life.

  “Cont . . . have . . . emergency. Are being . . .”

  The communications trailed off into static. Bizarre sounds were then heard as if someone's voice was being frequency shifted beyond recognition. Then all was silent. Capcom tried to raise the Adowa One. After twenty minutes Ally and Dag left the control room.

  “Poor Captain Schwieger, it sounds as if the ship is lost. What do you think happened Dag?”

  “Too soon to say Miss. Let's wait and see if the telemetry gives us any clues.”

  “How about that last communication? The voice sounded bizarre.”

  “I've got an idea if I can get the audio sample I might be able to prove it.”

  The next day Dag's request for a sample of the communications was denied. In fact, he was barred, as was Ally, from the project until further notice.

  Ally had enough.

  “Don't worry Dag I'll get you a sample,” she said when he told her he was turned down. “Just leave it up to me.”

  By the evening she had the entire communication on her Emmie.

  Dag said admiringly, “I won't even ask you how you got it Miss.”

  “Good,” she replied.

  Dag transferred the sample to his Emmie and asked the Emmie to apply frequency analysis to it.

  “I believe the audio was shifted by the Doppler effect. The same thing happens when a tram or electric passes you in the habitat. The audio is shifted to longer wavelengths or lower frequencies as the electric moves away. In the case of a voice, it would tend to lower the pitch.”

  The Emmie then played the restored audio.

  “. . . what's happening? The ship is off course. We are being pulled to the spot where a wormhole mouth should have opened. But I can't see anything.”

  A moment.

  “Wait! I see a . . . like a drain or something.”

  That was all.

  “What is it? What happened Dag?”

  “If I'm right Miss, something incredible.”

  7

  Earth wasn't a paradise. But it wasn't a disaster either. The threat of population decline had been halted by the incentives the Ems had come up with. Opening vast areas to resettlement had reignited the imaginations of many. James' grandfather had left the tower complexes (city centers holding hundreds of millions in miles-high buildings) for the newly opened settlement regions.

  There, in an area once claimed by the Southern States of America, near what remained of the Appalachian Mountains, James Mulvaney's grandfather had set the builder Ems to work. Everything necessary to support a growing family had been synthesized from the wilderness by the Ems with the help of walking 3D printer journeybots. All the necessities were provided and the family started by grandfather and grandmother grew to six children, two girls and four boys, one of the boys was James' father.

  Although the necessities could be provided for easily anything more required credits or a trade. The grandfather looking around at the available local resources decided he would resurrect an old hobby of his, woodturning.

  After designing the software and hardware to gather and turn the wood and finish it James' grandfather settled on a few classic design shapes such as spheroids and vases. But these weren't simple spheres and vases, James' grandfather had the knack for making the simple craft of woodturning into an art form. And he had the marketing acumen to create widely appealing art by creating pieces with the names Saturn's Rings and Kaffa's Crescent.

  It wasn't long until he had a reputation and his art was bringing in the necessary income for purchasing the tools and equipment the farm needed. James' dad followed his father into woodturning and soon had his own reputation. He was also responsible for exporting their art off-world at first to the rest of the Solar System and then beyond.

  James was twelve when the wormhole drives failed. He heard his dad and granddad discussing it but no one seemed overly concerned. It would affect the family but they would adjust he heard his grandfather say. None of them knew yet the effect their art had on human space.

  “You think we'll be alright Hanson?” asked James.

  Hanson was an Em-based robot that was responsible for shipping and receiving among other things.

  “I think so James. The problem with the wormhole drive does not keep your family from being able to ship the artwork around Earth or out into the Solar System. That should be a large enough market to keep supplying the credits needed to buy and repair any necessary equipment and tools.”

  “So we'll continue just as before?”

  “I suspect so.”

  “Good. Then you and I can continue our explorations around here.”

  “Yes, we will still need to find the proper wood and bring it back. So you and I can still go exploring as you say.”

  James smiled.

  James' dad was right. The failure of the wormhole drive had not affected the family much. They were still able to make the money they needed by shipping the artworks around the world or out into the Solar System. And there were rumors that efforts were being made to open up the old Star Way* which would restore some semblance of trade with the Centauri System.

  Hanson and James still went into the woods two or three times a week looking for trees that could be used to create the artwork. Sometimes the tree was already down and sometimes Hanson had to cut it down and then cut it up into sections that were sent back to the shops on the robotic donkeys which trailed the pair.

  Hanson was busy cutting up a tree trunk for transport when James asked him if he thought that the jump-drive would ever work again.

  “I'm not sure James. I haven't
the expertise to evaluate such a possibility. But I would say that with all the smart people and Ems working on the problem I would expect it to be resolved.”

  “I wonder what it's like out there?” said James. “You know, the places we send dad's and granddad's artwork.”

  “Well, we ship it to other human beings so I expect their immediate environment wouldn't be too different from the house you live in.”

  “You think so? I thought it would be more weird.”

  “You're probably thinking about the surrounding space. Of course, that would be different although if they looked into their night sky as we can I would suspect they would see stars as we do.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. The homes would be the same, huh?”

  “They would still be built to human proportions and human functionality so I would say yes.”

  “That's why dad says no matter where you go there you are.”

  “I've always felt your father was quite a philosopher myself,” said Hanson as he placed the last section of tree trunk weighing hundreds of pounds aboard a donkey.

  “Well let's get back. I've got some packing and shipping to do and I bet your moms got dinner ready for you.”

  They returned to the studio with James plying Hanson with question after question.

  As James went to the house for dinner Hanson began to pack up some artwork. It was in the evening as the family was having dinner that he packed the crates. No one had ever seen him place the self-adhering thin film on the inside bottom of the artworks. A thin film that had remarkable physical effects when energized.

  After hearing the audio Ally had obtained Dag was about to explain to her what he thought had happened to the Adowa One when he heard his name being called. One of the graduate students ran up to him and handed him a note-cube. Scanning it with his Emmie Dag found he had been summoned to meet with Dr. Chandra immediately. He excused himself and left Ally as he followed the graduate student to Chandra.

  He found Dr. Chandra in his office. The graduate student left Dag and Dr. Chandra alone.

  “Please sit down Dr. Mach.”

  “Thank you sir,” said Dag feeling that there was a formality about Dr. Chandra's offer that was usually not present at their meetings.

  “I am sorry Dr. Mach but your experiment did not go well.”

  “Yes it is unfortunate but I think that I have an idea of what went wrong.”

  “Never mind that now Dr. Mach. I wanted to speak with you before I have to face the press.”

  “Very well sir.”

  “I will be telling the press in a few minutes that the project has been canceled and that you are no longer part of the university. I am sorry Dr. Mach but I feel I need to protect the university first. The press will expect someone to pay for the loss of that ship and all those lives.”

  “Even though I was not in charge?”

  “You and I know that but to the public you are the face of the project. It's perhaps unfortunate but you were by far the most interesting scientist because of your, ah, background. And the press used your image and name even more than Dr. Kangia's.”

  “I see, thank you Dr. Chandra.”

  Dag got up and turned to leave.

  “Again I am sorry Dr. Mach.”

  “I'm sure,” said Dag quietly without turning around.

  Ally caught up with Dag later that day at the university.

  “Dag, where have you been?”

  “I've been packing Miss.”

  “Why?”

  “Haven't you heard? I've been kicked out of the department and off campus.”

  “I don't believe it. Who kicked you off campus?”

  “Remember Dr. Chandra wanted to talk to me?”

  Ally nodded her head.

  “It turns out that someone needs to take the blame for the failed mission and I've been chosen. I'll be the face of failure,” he said with irony.

  “That's so unfair. They completely shut you out of any decision making on the project and now they want to blame its failure on you? How ridiculous. It's because you are a robot Dag. You need to tell your side of the story.”

  “To who Miss?”

  “To the news media.”

  “I don't know. All I know is I need to find a place to stay and another job.”

  “Don't worry I know someone who can put you up, my uncle Frank lives here. I'll call him right now.”

  After Ally finished talking to her uncle they went to Dag's campus apartment and got his things before heading to her uncle's place. Dag didn't have much, his Emmie and a trunk full of electronics, mostly parts he thought he might need in an emergency if he were damaged, he called it a triage unit.

  On the electric Ally asked Dag what he thought happened to the Adowa One.

  “Well I'm going to have to do the calculations but here is what I think may have happened according to what I heard from the ship. I think that the calculations that Dr. Kangia oversaw were in error. My guess is that the ship put too much energy into the area and then when they started to extract the mouth that extra energy caused a black hole which pulled the ship in and destroyed it.”

  “A black hole, not a wormhole mouth?”

  “Yes in this case. I think that's why Captain Schwieger said he thought he saw a “drain”. He was seeing material being pulled in by the extreme gravity of the black hole before it then exploded destroying itself and the ship. I wish I had the telemetry data to check for strong gravitational effects,” he said looking at Ally.

  “Okay I'll see what I can do.”

  8

  There are many decisions a society makes as it grows and there are many decisions it doesn't make but are made for it. The Gallan nation had made a decision during its development that was a direct outgrowth of its belief system, that it would never again use extractive techniques upon the soil of Adowa to supply its needs. This one decision set in motion a sequence of events that were a direct result of the failure of the jump-drives.

  Prime Minister Nagassa received a call on his Emmie from the Gallan Defense Minister Aisha.

  “Prime Minister we have Union soldiers on the ground in the demilitarized zone.”

  “Are you sure Aisha?”

  “Yes sir. It has been confirmed by more than one source.”

  “So what we feared has now started. Do you have our response ready?”

  “Yes Prime Minister.”

  “Very well implement.”

  Sergeant Jomo Astatke expected as much. The Union Space Forces had landed them miles from their target. Once unloaded the shuttles had quickly disappeared. So much for surprise. The Gallan forces would have plenty of time to respond to the landing before the Unionists could secure the target area. He hadn't thought much of the plan when he heard about it and he thought even less of it now.

  Never mind, he had his men to think about.

  The squad along with the rest of the Kanjiw Battalion of the Union of Adowa Army would have to form up and make a forced run of ten miles to get to the target. Astatke worried that even if they made it in a timely manner they would be tired and unusually susceptible to an enemy attack.

  “Sergeant Astatke!” yelled the Lieutenant. “Get your men ready to move out.”

  “Yes sir Lieutenant!”

  “Bikila! Ahmed! Tulu! You and the rest grab your equipment and form up.”

  Sergeant Astatke had his men in formation and ready to go before any of the other squads. Eventually, the whole battalion was ready and the Lieutenant Colonel gave the order to move out.

  Tulu was in the front jogging next to the Sergeant.

  “Sarge,” he said.

  “What is it Tulu?”

  “Why didn't we bring any transports?”

  “Surprise Private, the element of surprise. We're sneaking up on them.”

  “Sarge. How about our exo-skels?”

  “Won't need them Tulu, the spacemen gonna drop us right on target.”

  “Right Sarge.”

  Tulu turned
his head to look up and down the long line of men.

  “Sarge.”

  “Yes Tulu.”

  “You sure they won't notice a thousand men running through these hills?”

  “Nah, Tulu. We've got camo on don't we?”

  “Right Sarge, I almost forgot. Thanks.”

  “Anytime Tulu.”

  The battalion was moving through low hills. The men, not use to a forced march without their exo-skeletons, were struggling to maintain the pace. The officers, of course, had theirs on and were having no trouble keeping up.

  After eight miles Tulu was starting to falter. Astatke noticed.

  “Private Tulu hang in there. If I'm right we only have two more miles to the target area.”

  “I'm trying Sarge.”

  But Tulu said it without any conviction and he was starting to stumble.

  Astatke took one arm and Bikila took the other. Together they supported Tulu the rest of the way. It was the kind of act that built loyalty in all who served under Astatke.

  Astatke put Tulu to work making an inventory of munitions which was light work and should allow him time to recover. The rest of the men were put to work securing the periphery or preparing fortifications.

  After deploying his men Sergeant Astatke went with the Lieutenant to explore the mine. The mine was the reason for the mission.

  “That's right Sergeant, this was a rare-earths mine in the early years of the settlement of Galla. We're here to see if it is still viable as such.”

  “But it's in the demilitarized zone now sir.”

  “Just barely,” responded the Lieutenant. “And we are not here to claim the area just the product of the mine if it still has any.”

  They approached the entrance to the mine. The two soldiers with them went ahead to string the isotopic powered lighting. The Lieutenant and Astatke entered the cave.

  “Okay Sergeant we are just here for a preliminary recon. Just note the general condition.”

  Astatke looked around. The entrance to the cave was quite high but it quickly sloped down. A rail system was in place and something like ore cars were on their side. He moved to his right to the cave's wall and began exploring.