I last reported, we managed to get off-world in a Rhaqui tramp. Currently we’re adrift in a lifecraft somewhere in the outer limits of the Mayo system. Can you contact your boys and have them look for us in space and not on Mayo? And we don’t need the cruiser.”
“Understood, Jym. Estimated arrival time for the patrol-ship is about three days. Sorry, but that’s the best we can do.”
“Say that again, Cass—slowly.”
“Three days isthe best we can do. There’s nothing closer to you than that.”
“Which is odd, because I’ve got two birds on the scanner right now. Both must have been within a single subspace jump.”
“Then they aren’t Federation ships.” Hover was suddenly serious. “Are you broadcasting a distress signal?”
“No. Only the beacon. Why?”
“It just crossed my mind that a couple of alien stragglers might have outflanked the Space Force counter-strike. Watch yourself, Jym! If there’s any doubt of identity keep all your power levels low as possible and try to sit it out unnoticed. Without the beacon you’ve a good chance of being mistaken for a piece of space debris. We’ll get a cruiser to you as fast as possible.”
“Check! Cutting beacon now. I’ll keep the FTL transmission channel open just so we’ll know when the cruiser gets into the sector.”
“While we’ve got contact, here’s another item which can’t go out over FTL transmission. You remember I thought there was a link between the group who ran into the trigger at Edel and Saraya himself. I struck a dead end trying to trace the men, so I tried investigating Saraya instead. Guess what—Saraya’s home planet has no existence either. He’s another one out of the void with no recorded past.”
Ending communion, Wildheit began to reduce the power levels in the lifecraft, leaving only the life-support systems ticking over. Regretfully he finally took the scanner out of circuit in case the pulsed microbeam of the scan betrayed their presence to a potential enemy. In doing so, he lost his view of the two ships approaching the system and had no means of ascertaining whether their coming was a accidental or purposeful. Soon only the rasp of sub-etheric noise from Mayo’s sun coming in on the open FTL receiver channel disturbed the muted ship noises.
Roamer finally brokethe near-silence. “Coul’s very ancient, isn’t he?”
“I’ve no idea. He’s said to be immortal—but I suppose even immortality is relative.”
“I’ve been reading his Chaos patterns. Did you know his traces go right back to before the Big Bang which began the universe?”
“I find it difficult to believe anything existed before the universe began.”
“Before the Big Bang there was another universe,” she said factually.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Because I can read back to its patterns. In this universe entropy increases with time. In
that
universe it decreased. Our universe expands—theirs contracted. That’s what created the singularity which caused the Big Bang.”
“Cosmology was never my strong point,” said Wildheit, distracted.
Lack of information about the approaching ships was an irritation and a danger. If the vessels’ approach was casual, Wildheit considered the lifecraft had sufficient power to move into an orbital path that would keep Mayo’s sun between them and the newcomers; for this, however, he needed information on their approach paths in order to make the necessary calculations. He decided to risk the scanner for a couple of seconds to see if the intruders’ courses showed any sign of intent. What the scan showed him was that his attempt at passive concealment had been a waste of time. The smaller ship was on an intercept course with the lifecraft, and the larger, though still many hours out, was undoubtedly tracking the smaller. Nothing about the returning signals gave him any clues as to their identity.
“Looks as if we can expect company,” he said to Roamer, trying to
“Understood, Jym. Estimated arrival time for the patrol-ship is about three days. Sorry, but that’s the best we can do.”
“Say that again, Cass—slowly.”
“Three days isthe best we can do. There’s nothing closer to you than that.”
“Which is odd, because I’ve got two birds on the scanner right now. Both must have been within a single subspace jump.”
“Then they aren’t Federation ships.” Hover was suddenly serious. “Are you broadcasting a distress signal?”
“No. Only the beacon. Why?”
“It just crossed my mind that a couple of alien stragglers might have outflanked the Space Force counter-strike. Watch yourself, Jym! If there’s any doubt of identity keep all your power levels low as possible and try to sit it out unnoticed. Without the beacon you’ve a good chance of being mistaken for a piece of space debris. We’ll get a cruiser to you as fast as possible.”
“Check! Cutting beacon now. I’ll keep the FTL transmission channel open just so we’ll know when the cruiser gets into the sector.”
“While we’ve got contact, here’s another item which can’t go out over FTL transmission. You remember I thought there was a link between the group who ran into the trigger at Edel and Saraya himself. I struck a dead end trying to trace the men, so I tried investigating Saraya instead. Guess what—Saraya’s home planet has no existence either. He’s another one out of the void with no recorded past.”
Ending communion, Wildheit began to reduce the power levels in the lifecraft, leaving only the life-support systems ticking over. Regretfully he finally took the scanner out of circuit in case the pulsed microbeam of the scan betrayed their presence to a potential enemy. In doing so, he lost his view of the two ships approaching the system and had no means of ascertaining whether their coming was a accidental or purposeful. Soon only the rasp of sub-etheric noise from Mayo’s sun coming in on the open FTL receiver channel disturbed the muted ship noises.
Roamer finally brokethe near-silence. “Coul’s very ancient, isn’t he?”
“I’ve no idea. He’s said to be immortal—but I suppose even immortality is relative.”
“I’ve been reading his Chaos patterns. Did you know his traces go right back to before the Big Bang which began the universe?”
“I find it difficult to believe anything existed before the universe began.”
“Before the Big Bang there was another universe,” she said factually.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Because I can read back to its patterns. In this universe entropy increases with time. In
that
universe it decreased. Our universe expands—theirs contracted. That’s what created the singularity which caused the Big Bang.”
“Cosmology was never my strong point,” said Wildheit, distracted.
Lack of information about the approaching ships was an irritation and a danger. If the vessels’ approach was casual, Wildheit considered the lifecraft had sufficient power to move into an orbital path that would keep Mayo’s sun between them and the newcomers; for this, however, he needed information on their approach paths in order to make the necessary calculations. He decided to risk the scanner for a couple of seconds to see if the intruders’ courses showed any sign of intent. What the scan showed him was that his attempt at passive concealment had been a waste of time. The smaller ship was on an intercept course with the lifecraft, and the larger, though still many hours out, was undoubtedly tracking the smaller. Nothing about the returning signals gave him any clues as to their identity.
“Looks as if we can expect company,” he said to Roamer, trying to
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