with in 2117. A month before Lucia’s arrival, faint emissions had heralded the destruction of the Linde and the wholesale reorganization of the system. Days later, everything had returned to normal. Fearing that she was in danger, too, Lucia had disguised herself as an asteroid and tumbled through the system, taking snapshots as she went. Only upon awakening months later did she discover that the photos showed nothing unusual. However, upon further examination, she made another discovery: One of the photos was missing.
In Lucia’s mind, the absence of that photo constituted hard evidence of foul play. Thor agreed with her findings, and so did Alander. The only problem was that the interference had taken place decades before the Spinners and the Starfish had arrived in the area. As there had been no further disturbances that Lucia had noted while continuing on her journey beyond pi-1 Urea Major, the question was open as to what exactly was in the system, and why it was there at all.
Frank Axford reasoned that it was a Spinner base designed to coordinate the local gift-dropping exercise, or some sort of advance party. All attempts to look in the system resulted in rapid destruction and a thorough cleanup, so it was hard to tell for sure. The time lag between arrival in pi-1 Ursa Major and the deposition of the gifts was symptomatic of a galactic time-scale, he said. Forty years was nothing to beings who might cross the gulf between galaxies as if it were nothing more than a stroll across a road.
The other alternative, of course, was that Lucia was wrong—or worse, crazy—which meant the whole plan was founded upon nothing whatsoever. And in that case, Alander had nothing to be thankful to Thor for except possibly an early grave.
“We have no choice but to accept Lucia’s findings,” he said. “Time is ticking, and we’re no closer to finding another way out of this.”
Sol nodded as she turned back to the schematics. “Is there anything I should know here? And I ask only out of curiosity, you understand. Strictly as an observer.”
He came back to the table but didn’t sit down. “Some of the probes were attacked by forces the gifts could help us resist. It’s pretty exotic stuff, and I’m not sure I follow half of it, but there are nanofacturers working on some sort of shield effect that will protect us from the worst of it. If we keep quiet and don’t disturb anything, we’ll probably have a chance.”
She nodded as her eyes scanned the sheaves of electronic paper before her. Diagrams and explanations scrolled up and down at her touch. There was no way to tell just how much she absorbed from the casual glance, but he knew better than to underestimate her.
“This is hairy stuff,” she said. “Playing around with fundamental constants is not something you do lightly or easily. I’m not sure I like the idea of being on either end of this sort of technology, especially when we only have the Gifts’ word that it’ll work.”
“If it doesn’t, I guess we won’t have long to curse the fact,” said Alander. “I can’t imagine the Starfish taking prisoners.”
“Except in a specimen jar.” She sagged back into her seat, sighing. Despite advanced biomods and incredible hormonal control, she was still a victim of stress.
He came around behind her and rubbed at the muscles in her neck.
“I don’t want to die, Peter.”
“So take a leaf out of Axford’s book. Copy yourself; leave a backup somewhere. Bury it deep enough, and it might just slip through the Starfish net.”
A strange expression crossed her face. “Why should it when nothing else we’ve left behind has managed to survive the wake?” she asked. “If only the Gifts would fight with us. But they won’t even defend themselves!”
He didn’t say anything; this was ground they’d covered many times before.
“I know I shouldn’t hang my hopes on someone stepping in to save us at the last minute,” she said, “but I can’t
In Lucia’s mind, the absence of that photo constituted hard evidence of foul play. Thor agreed with her findings, and so did Alander. The only problem was that the interference had taken place decades before the Spinners and the Starfish had arrived in the area. As there had been no further disturbances that Lucia had noted while continuing on her journey beyond pi-1 Urea Major, the question was open as to what exactly was in the system, and why it was there at all.
Frank Axford reasoned that it was a Spinner base designed to coordinate the local gift-dropping exercise, or some sort of advance party. All attempts to look in the system resulted in rapid destruction and a thorough cleanup, so it was hard to tell for sure. The time lag between arrival in pi-1 Ursa Major and the deposition of the gifts was symptomatic of a galactic time-scale, he said. Forty years was nothing to beings who might cross the gulf between galaxies as if it were nothing more than a stroll across a road.
The other alternative, of course, was that Lucia was wrong—or worse, crazy—which meant the whole plan was founded upon nothing whatsoever. And in that case, Alander had nothing to be thankful to Thor for except possibly an early grave.
“We have no choice but to accept Lucia’s findings,” he said. “Time is ticking, and we’re no closer to finding another way out of this.”
Sol nodded as she turned back to the schematics. “Is there anything I should know here? And I ask only out of curiosity, you understand. Strictly as an observer.”
He came back to the table but didn’t sit down. “Some of the probes were attacked by forces the gifts could help us resist. It’s pretty exotic stuff, and I’m not sure I follow half of it, but there are nanofacturers working on some sort of shield effect that will protect us from the worst of it. If we keep quiet and don’t disturb anything, we’ll probably have a chance.”
She nodded as her eyes scanned the sheaves of electronic paper before her. Diagrams and explanations scrolled up and down at her touch. There was no way to tell just how much she absorbed from the casual glance, but he knew better than to underestimate her.
“This is hairy stuff,” she said. “Playing around with fundamental constants is not something you do lightly or easily. I’m not sure I like the idea of being on either end of this sort of technology, especially when we only have the Gifts’ word that it’ll work.”
“If it doesn’t, I guess we won’t have long to curse the fact,” said Alander. “I can’t imagine the Starfish taking prisoners.”
“Except in a specimen jar.” She sagged back into her seat, sighing. Despite advanced biomods and incredible hormonal control, she was still a victim of stress.
He came around behind her and rubbed at the muscles in her neck.
“I don’t want to die, Peter.”
“So take a leaf out of Axford’s book. Copy yourself; leave a backup somewhere. Bury it deep enough, and it might just slip through the Starfish net.”
A strange expression crossed her face. “Why should it when nothing else we’ve left behind has managed to survive the wake?” she asked. “If only the Gifts would fight with us. But they won’t even defend themselves!”
He didn’t say anything; this was ground they’d covered many times before.
“I know I shouldn’t hang my hopes on someone stepping in to save us at the last minute,” she said, “but I can’t
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