Vortex incursion, p.14
Vortex Incursion, page 14
“And Pashtani wouldn’t want to send it to you, an unknown,” Claudia surmised.
Through the slate’s vid sensor, Samuel watched Claudia shake her head.
“A possible second alien venture into our system is detected, and fools are playing games,” Claudia said disgustedly.
“So, the scouts are on their way,” Claudia said. “Will they inform me of what they find?”
“Yes, I see,” Claudia said quietly, as if she’d discovered a truth. “For now, this is your home too.”
After the call, Claudia sat down to her dinner. She considered how her perspectives had changed post the arrival of the Alexander. She’d spoken of two alien visitations with Samuel, and she had given a thought to the multitudes arriving from the Thartath system. In addition, she had more faith in information from Samuel, a digital entity hiding with the Truth Matters partners, than she did with the likes of Fillery Partus.
11: Ovoid and Sphere
EMPTY SPACE
FAR ANOMALY’S EXIT
While the Vivian’s Reflection left Naiad orbit, dropped below the ecliptic, and prepared for transit, Trium studied the program received from Samuel. When he located the probe in the timeline, he sought its disappearance date.
When the Reflection exited its transit and approached the anomaly’s mouth, Trium decreased the ship’s velocity, shut down the primary drives, closed the ship’s clamshell doors over the engines, and engaged the hull coating to reflect the ship’s surroundings.
Seconds later, the Reflection sailed into the anomaly. Energy radiated from the space-time funnel, as if to announce its ire at being mistreated by a solid object.
Soon afterward, the scout ship sailed out of the anomaly.
When the space-time funnel’s disturbed energy dissipated, the Reflection’s hull coating transitioned from the radiation signatures to a view of the dark, with its pinpoints of starlight.
While Bethley secured the local star configuration, Killian and Trium searched the incoming telemetry for signs of danger.
Trium and Bethley would have opted for closing on the massive objects, but Trium followed Killian’s request.
The Reflection floated in the dark about nine million kilometers from the two objects.
Then the scouts focused on an intense creative session on their latest vid, while they waited for their antennas to collect fine details.
It was nearly two days later before the imagery gave the SADEs a hint about what was happening.
Killian enlarged sections of the recorded data.
After several more days of observation, Trium asked,
Killian speculated.
Bethley mused.
Killian regarded Bethley, and he touched his nose with a finger and pointed at her.
Bethley smiled.
The scouts had seen an ancient Earther vid, and a character had indicated a companion’s astute statement by performing the same movement.
Suddenly, something clicked for Killian.
Trium noted.
The scouts returned to their pastime. Having completed a vid series for release to the outposts and their nearby worlds, they turned their talents to devising something for distribution among the Naiads. The population was small, but they thought it would be best to be first to market.
About six cycles later, Trium examined the sphere again. The outer ribbing was complete, and the first structures were being placed inside. Without hull cladding, the interior was clearly visible.
Killian and Bethley halted their vid work and examined the sphere.
As the cycles rolled past, the scouts were no more enlightened about the sphere’s purpose than when they’d arrived. By now, the interior was about half complete.
Trium sent, halting his vid efforts.
Trium didn’t receive a response from Killian, and he hadn’t expected one. The scout leader had halted all unnecessary operations to focus on the sphere.
Bethley and Trium envisioned the sphere as Killian requested.
Killian offered.
The scouts were struck by the enormity of what they’d discovered.
Killian accessed Bethley’s star calculations. If the local anomaly was shut down, the Reflection would take nearly a third of an annual to reach Naiad. Worse, if all the humans’ anomalies were unsafe for passage, the remainder of the outpost fleet at the Thartath system would be more than two annuals away.
Bethley sent,
When the Reflection was prepared, Killian approached the sphere slowly. He kept the new construction between their ship and the ovoid.
Trium monitored the service vehicles, searching for any change in their behavior. Bethley did the same for the ovoid.
At a distance of twenty kilometers, Killian halted the ship.
Effectively, the scouts’ ship was ignored.
Then Killian eased the Reflection forward. Considering the ship’s capabilities, he closed the distance at a crawl. With only ten meters from the bow to the nearest girder, the ship’s forward progress was halted again.
The space left room for the service vehicles to maneuver between the scouts’ ship and their duties. They often passed within mere meters of the Reflection’s bow.
The constructor paused, and its arms tested the obstacle. Within minutes, service vehicles surrounded the ship’s bow.
Then the scouts’ ship was pushed far enough from the sphere to allow the vehicles to continue their work.
Killian waited until the path was temporarily clear. Then he moved the ship forward until the bow was a meter inside the sphere’s outer circumference.
The first vehicle to discover the intrusion communicated to other vehicles.
Try as the vehicles might, they couldn’t dislodge the Reflection. After a quarter hour of effort, they reversed and resumed their efforts on the sphere.
Trium made a quick vector change within his program. However, if the ovoid rotated around the sphere, he would need to augment the controller settings.
The huge ovoid moved slowly, and the scouts waited while it circled the sphere.
Bethley sent urgently. Ticks later, she added,
With the Reflection’s bow protruding between girders, Trium immediately reversed the ship. He waited while the ovoid’s tiny devices flew toward them. Then he executed his program.
The scouts’ ship sped away from the sphere and its attacker. Then it transited and reappeared the required distance away.
Immediately, the scouts examined the recorded telemetry.
Unfortunately, the small devices appeared as blurs.
A cycle later, the scouts discovered the ovoid did nothing. When the ovoid had a clear firing solution at the obstruction, namely the scouts’ ship, it didn’t take it. Afterward, it didn’t move.
Killian surmised.
Killian replied.
