Gerhardt chewed his lower lip, which was a habit his marketing director had constantly urged him to control. He knew if he announced Maria’s participation, and she publicly declined the invitation, the media would destroy him for fumbling the opportunity. The requirement to send a SADE with the delegate hampered Gerhardt’s choices. Briefly, he wondered if Oliver would attend the conclave with another choice, but, as quickly as he thought of the idea, he eliminated it.
<Fine,> Gerhardt relented. <Maria, you have full delegate status for the conclave.>
<Thank you, Mr. President,> Maria sent politely. Then, at Oliver’s prompting, she added, <I’ll need to have that in writing.>
<I’ll send you a memo,> Gerhardt said resignedly.
<I think it would be preferable to have it in the media release that you’re about to make,> Alex interjected.
Gerhardt took Alex’s suggestion as a veiled threat, meaning either include the statement about Maria’s status or face the consequences when she refused the offer. Rather than respond, he ended the comm call.
“Maria, didn’t you say something about hauling New Terrans kicking and screaming into a better future?” Renée inquired.
“I was referring to an improved technological future. I guess I should have included the willingness to embrace a more pluralistic universe,” Maria replied.
“Pack for a long trip, Maria, Oliver,” Alex said with a broad smile. “We’re about to broaden your horizons.”
9: Re-Gen
The combined capabilities of the Omnians, the outpost, and the Pyrean miners descended on dome number two’s system, which had been nicknamed Regeneration or Re-Gen for short.
Miriam and the other SADEs stationed the Tripper above an asteroid in the system’s far belt. Three modules were opened containing the cargo shuttle, the drone, and the test equipment.
The first step was to load the traveler with the equipment and set it down on the rock. Afterward, Miriam accessed the drone’s command module. She and the other two SADEs had studied every menu operation within the Elvian module. Consensus was that every operation they required was available.
The drone was directed to guard the equipment on the asteroid. The moment the command was given, the drone swiftly exited the freighter and shot toward its destination. At a height of about one hundred meters, it halted. As the iron-based rock slowly turned and circled its distant star, the drone maintained its position over the test equipment.
Next, the SADEs disconnected the cradle from its power supply, wrestled it into the cargo shuttle, and landed it next to the pile of equipment. Then the cradle was connected to an Omnian power source.
A second command from Miriam ordered the drone to return to the cradle. Immediately, the Elvian fighter descended and settled over its companion ring.
Within the drone module was a procedure for reversing the cradle’s flow of energy. Instead of the cradle being powered by the Omnian crystal, the drone’s power plant would feed the cradle. In turn, the cradle’s connections could be used to supply external equipment. According to Julien, this was how the Elvian domes on the World of Light were supplied with power.
However, the drone’s energy output specifications were never able to be defined. The SADEs intended to solve the problem by employing a transducer between the cradle and the test equipment. Anticipating multiple trials, they brought a plethora of transducers and test equipment. Furthermore, they outfitted those devices with signal transmitters.
Their precautions were warranted.
After connecting the cradle to the transducer and the transducer to the test equipment, they left the asteroid, landed aboard the freighter, and moved the Tripper to a safe distance. Then the Elvian command module sent a signal, which activated the cradle’s energy transfer process.
Instantaneously, the transducer and the receiving equipment detonated.
The signals that managed to be transmitted showed a huge energy spike. None of the transducers the SADEs had brought were prepared to handle the extreme load.
Rather than accept defeat, the SADEs investigated the command module. A relatively innocuous menu item opened to present a series of choices. Each choice held a series of Elvian numbers with labels.
The SADEs searched the translation databases, but the labels were never identified. They appeared to be shortened mathematical or engineering connotations. Of the five settings, the final menu item was selected.
It was easy to achieve consensus, and Miriam selected the first menu item. The SADEs returned to the asteroid, replaced the damaged equipment, and repeated the exercise.
This time the transducer held out for a quarter hour before succumbing, and the SADEs were able to collect a sufficient amount of information to enable them to make adjustments to their most robust transducer model.
Test number three proved to be successful.
Then the SADEs reversed the setup order and sailed the Tripper toward the Re-Gen test moon. Behind them, they left no indication of ever having been there. They knew Alex and Mickey would appreciate that.
Arriving at the dome site, Miriam maneuvered the freighter over the new excavation location. The carrier had arrived before them, and the miners’ equipment was scattered around the site.
<Success,> Miriam sent to Luther and Minimalist. <Excavation status?> she queried.
<To what degree were you successful?> Minimalist inquired.
Miriam shared the details of their experiments with the two SADEs. <I’ve ordered a new transducer from the outpost. The commander will be contracting with the Crocians to build one that can handle higher drone-cradle settings.>
<It does make you wonder at what settings the Elvians supplied the domes, and what power the drone’s rings could generate in defense,> Luther sent.
<Are the miners aboard the carrier or ensconced in the dorm rooms?> a SADE on Miriam’s team inquired.
<They were anxious to see the dome and happily slept in the expansive dorm rooms for the night’s cycle,> Luther sent, sharing his amusement. <After three rounds of paste, they were back aboard the carrier.>
<What about the Crocians?> Miriam asked. <Wasn’t the carrier supposed to pick them up?>
<Change of plans,> Minimalist sent. <We’ll have to return the miners after every work cycle to the carrier unless we wish an insurrection.> His mirth was as evident as Luther’s.
<The admiral has ordered several Tridents to Crocia,> Luther explained. <They’ll be made comfortable in the landing bays. Those areas contain the only spaces large enough to lay specially constructed nanites beds.>
<Mickey and Jess have had their hands full,> Minimalist sent. <I requested forty Crocian engineers and techs, and the commander received over two hundred submissions. Moving the dome might be extremely risky, but the Crocians believe this is a unique opportunity that’s not to be missed.>
<I detect that we’re receiving your comms through the traveler holding station atop a launch tube,> Miriam sent. <Are you the only two individuals in the dome?>
<As if we would be without the company of pesky humans,> Minimalist quipped.
<Then we can surmise that you’re in the company of Kasie, Pia, Edmas, and Jodlyne,> Miriam sent.
<And this pesky person is trying to save the SADEs and the Crocians a tremendous amount of trouble,> Kasie interjected.
The SADEs’ laughter filled the conference comm. Obviously, Minimalist had linked the humans just before he sent his acerbic comment.
<Elaborate, Kasie. How are you trying to help us?> Miriam asked.
<Actually, we’re trying to do two things,> Kasie replied. <We’re hoping to find a shutdown-and-restart procedure.>
<That would be invaluable, Kasie,> Miriam admitted. <Are you having any success?>
<Not with all these interruptions,> Kasie shot back. Her thought carried her humor,
and the SADEs realized she was getting even with Minimalist.
<What’s the other search?> Miriam inquired.
<It’s the old problem,> Kasie explained. <Jess and Lucia have always believed there’s a back channel method of communicating to every console from a single dome. I’ve come to believe that something like this should exist, and that the Colony has been using it to share our troops’ latest attack methods.>
<What if you find this hidden cache of messages?> Miriam asked.
<We might encounter both a difficulty and a strategic question,> Edmas interjected. <The problem might be that the Colony communicated by voice. Can the SADEs translate this speech?>
There was brief silence. Then Luther sent, <It’s highly doubtful that we could give you an accurate translation of any one message. We might ask the commander and admiral to orchestrate certain actions and wait for the insectoids to communicate. In time, comparing messages to simultaneous events might prove illuminating.>
A SADE with Miriam sent, <Was this your strategic conundrum, Edmas? You would want to employ the console messaging application to disrupt the enemy’s actions.>
<That’s what the commander and the admiral wanted to be able to do,> Jodlyne explained. <We think it might be possible but not in the near future.>
<There might be another option,> Pia sent. <I have my doubts that the Messinants provided this, but we’ll be seeking a way to shut down the messaging system.>
<What are your priorities?> the other SADE with Miriam queried.
<The shutdown first. Then we’ll go after the messaging system,> Kasie replied.
<I calculate that we should be ready to supply power by four hours in the outpost’s cycle,> Miriam sent.
<By virtue of your experiments’ details, it appears that we needn’t move the ships. However, should the six of us be kept away from the site until you’ve connected the equipment?> Luther asked.
<I think the risk is minimal, but, for the sake of safety, we should do that,> Miriam sent.
Pia saw Kasie’s face tighten, and she laid a hand on the young woman’s forearm to halt her response. Then she asked, <Miriam, when you initiate the power supply to the miners’ equipment, will you and the other SADEs with you be on-site?>
<Of necessity, we must, Ser,> Miriam replied.
<Then we’ll be on-site too. Time is of the essence to locate these Messinant operations,> Pia sent.
The SADEs might have argued with Kasie in an effort to protect her, but not with Pia, not with one of the Rêveur’s original Méridiens.
* * * * *
The mining captains had noticed the arrival of the Tripper, and they queried the carrier captain for news. They learned that the power supply experiment had been a success, and the Elvian drone would be used in place of their generators.
The news caused concern for some of the captains’ crew members, but word reached them that the SADEs and the four humans in the dome would be on-site during the implementation.
“Think about who will be down there,” Captain Derry said to a collection of his spacer crew. “Miriam and Luther are Mickey Brandon’s top lieutenants. Pia Sabine is Mickey’s partner. Kasie is the commander’s sister, and Edmas and Jodlyne are key engineers for Mickey. Many of these humans are personal associates of Alex Racine. We’re going to look mighty timid if we can’t do what they’re doing.”
Captain Yolandra was more direct with her crew. “If you think you’re going to panic downside, then I don’t want you on the shuttle. You stay put. Am I clear?”
Captains and crew crowded the monitors at three hours. They watched the proceedings at the excavation site.
“That’s eerie the way SADEs move,” a crew member commented. “They move fast and yet so precisely.”
“Belay that talk,” the crew member’s chief growled. “Imagine you’re in trouble. Whom do you want to depend on to save you ... a bunch of us who might not know a problem exists or a SADE who can rescue you ten times faster than any one of us?”
At a quarter to four hours, Miriam triggered the command module to activate the cradle’s output. A single heavy cable extended to the transducer, and from there, multiple cables snaked to charging stations. Then the stations linked to worklights.
“What’s wrong with the lights?” a crew member asked. “They look dim.”
Miriam and the SADEs had noticed that too, and they chose to elevate the Elvian module’s power setting to the next level. Immediately after the change, the worklights glowed brightly.
The crew chief regarded his crew member. “How long would it have taken us to diagnose a power supply issue with a piece of alien equipment?” he asked rhetorically.
Morning meal was served aboard the carrier. Afterward, the miners descended on the site.
Minimalist was in control of the excavation, and he’d laid out the pattern on the rocky ridge. Then he used a holo-vid to image the excavation’s site. Touching any part of the image gave the captains and the crew chiefs the dimensions and the arcs of the hole.
“I want one of these,” Postilano said over the captain’s comm channel and eyeing the holo-vid display.
“I thought you were reticent to get an implant,” Gurtride said.
“You don’t have one either,” Postilano pointed out.
“True, but now I’m thinking I’ve been foolish. How about you?” Gurtride responded.
“The same here,” Postilano admitted. He poked a gloved finger into the image to check the arc degrees for his share of the excavation.
The captains chose to cut the three hundred sixty degree hole into five parts. Each crew would remove seventy-two degrees of aggregate. They’d be precisely guided by Minimalist, who maintained a link to the traveler that floated overhead and was imaging the site.
Kasie, Pia, Edmas, and Jodlyne woke to find a hive of activity on the ridge nearby. The view from the upper deck of the dome offered them a perfect view of the mining crews.
“It looks like perfect chaos,” Kasie commented.
“Chaos directed by Minimalist, which means there’s a method to the madness,” Pia pointed out.
Kasie observed the activity above the new site for several more minutes. Then she turned to her companions. “Well, whatever method they’re using, we need to find the shutdown procedure before the spacers are finished and the Crocians are ready to start on the dome,” she said.
The foursome returned to the console, and, as Luther had done after every human rest period, he reviewed the steps taken previously.
“I think we’re making this too difficult,” Edmas stated.
“You say that just about every time we start,” Kasie shot back. She was frustrated by their lack of progress, and the engineer’s repetitive complaint was grating on her frazzled nerves. It was only with effort that she kept her gates closed.
“Apologies, Kasie,” Pia said. “Maybe Edmas has a point. Let’s take some time to hear his reasoning.”
“I’m in favor of that,” Jodlyne opined. She’d believed that Edmas was right, but she didn’t want Kasie to feel as if she and her partner intended to direct the investigation.
Kasie stalked to the nearest platform and sat down. “Okay, Edmas, you have the deck. Edify us.”
<Kasie,> Pia sent privately, gently admonishing the young woman.
“Sorry,” Kasie said. “Tell us what you’re thinking.”
Edmas took a breath and blew it out slowly. Kasie’s attitude had stirred his blood, and he sought to remember that he was arguing with a strong empath. Jodlyne had made that point to him several times.
“There had to be times when the situation in a dome called for an immediate shutdown,” Edmas explained. “In engineering designs, the shutdowns are in multiple locations and easy to reach. If not, the construction process or operation could become dangerous before the shutdowns could be activated.”
“You’re saying that digging into the console’s menus and trying dual panel operations won’t discover the shutdown procedure
,” Kasie rephrased.
“Yes,” Edmas replied.
Kasie looked at Luther.
“From an engineer’s point of view, this sounds entirely logical,” Luther said.
“Okay, thinking like an engineer, Edmas, where should we look?” Kasie asked.
“Well, the good news is that we should find several of these locations,” Edmas replied.
“At least one or two on each of the lower levels,” Jodlyne interjected.
“What about up here?” Kasie asked, swinging an arm around the platform deck.
“That part I can’t explain,” Edmas replied. “My thinking is that a Messinant on this deck would have needed access too, but, again, it would have to be immediate.”
Pia raised a finger, requesting to be heard, but at the same time, she frowned as if her thoughts were still forming. Her companions waited her out.
“Let’s visualize the dome construction process and the emergency shutdowns as Edmas describes them,” Pia said. “The Messinant engineers are on every level while the work continues. Emergency power stoppages occur for several reasons. What is the most convenient way of protecting themselves?”
Jodlyne slapped her thigh. “The emergency shutdown procedure isn’t in the console, and the switches or panels aren’t mounted on the walls or the equipment,” she declared. “The Messinants carried devices with them.”
All eyes swung toward Luther, who held up a hand to signal that he needed a moment. Then he carefully reviewed the numerous items in the storage room.
“There are several small cases that weren’t opened and investigated,” Luther finally said. “During the operations to install the new gates, they were deemed too small to be of value.”
“Edmas,” Kasie said urgently, as she jumped up and raced for the console.
Swiftly, the pair triggered the console to slide away from the concealed steps to the lower levels.
Then Kasie, without waiting for her companions, raced down the steps.
Jodlyne regarded Edmas and Pia. “Do you think it’s worth cautioning Kasie to be careful?” she asked, shaking her head.