Enoc C675867-6
The Kliemoshie landed away from the starport at the digs. A
small patch of bedrock had been cleared for traffic near the digs
accommodating the courier and a fat trader belonging to the
League of Suns Expedition.
The site was away from prying eyes and onlookers. Partly
because of the fact it was in the middle of a desert, but mostly
because news of its discovery was carefully monitored. Drert's
one and only comment was: "Another fuckin' desert." But the
scenery was more striking: jagged rocky mountains, a variety of
terrain from dry washes and lakes to intricate canyons,
contrasting to Aramat's shifting dunes.
"Welcome to Enoc, Doctor Malenkoviepr." Dr. Lorain Messandi
stood out on the pad to greet the arriving archeologist. She
wore a light jacket and skirt that looked only slightly out of
place at an archeological dig: just a little too fancy to be out
digging in.
Dr. Malenkoviepr looked down from the hatch of the ship at
the figure now extending a hand to him. He first saw her some
eighteen years ago when he had met with her father. She had been
eight at the time, and he physically the same age as he was now.
Since then he had grown in archeological prominence, as did she,
but every time he saw her... Now what is really known about
sexual imprinting in humaniti? This could be a very interesting
and pleasant psychological experiment...
"Good it is to see you again Lorain. I see you've found
something more interesting than reading dry old papers about the
Sky Raiders."
"It will do for a bit, and it gives me the opportunity to
show you up for once."
"Going to let all the hot air out of the ancients study?"
"Sure, come on over and see my digs, Mako."
Dr. Malenkoviepr took the extended arm and descended the
Kliemoshie's ladder.
- X -
The ancients dome was a low wide structure sixty four meters
in diameter looking like a huge brown saucer sitting on the
ground. Mounds of sand lay nearby cleared away from the site
with grav sifters more gently and quickly than the more
traditional tooth brush would wipe them away.
The dome had only a few entrances: one at the ground level,
and some about fifteen meters above the ground.
The two archaeologists entered accompanied by the crew of
the Kliemoshie, and two rather sullen looking Imperial marines in
battle dress to keep the "dirty Zhos" out of trouble.
Rows of emergency lamps had been rigged up to light the
darkened structure. Lorain flipped on a switch revealing the
inside of the wrecked building. It was mostly empty with large
rising platforms in the center of the dome. Here and there
scattered around the base of the platforms were pools of metals
once molten they had flowed into random shapes forming unlikely
ink blot tests. Malenkoviepr glanced at a few shapes and got a
small insight into his own current state of mind. "But knowing
psychological patterns and desires does not fulfill them." he
thought, "But, unless I miss my guess, Lorain seems to be sending
some non-verbal signals this way..."
"The smaller holes up top seem to be windows." Lorain
Messandi picked up a melted and fused blob of a glasslike
material with five fold symmetry crystals of the same stuff
coming from it at irregular intervals. "We found this stuff
underneath the windows. Haven't figured out what it is yet, but
it appears to have melted, dripped out of the windows, and fallen
on the floor where it cooled. We found traces up there on the
windows."
"I see."
"This stuff melts at 513 degrees Kelvin, and hard enough to
scratch diamonds: hardness fourteen!"
"Viepchakl! Have you analyzed it for components yet?"
"Not yet, but we're taking a small sample back to Alenzei
with us. Our spectrometers are off, the analyzer told me plain
old water was phosphoric acid yesterday."
"Perhaps, I can fix it, or at least allow you the use of
mine."
"Very kind of you." Lorain smiled with a smile that could
melt ice caps. "Over here we have some stuff that must have been
interesting but it's obviously broken. There were what we think
were control panels over here but they all melted into slag.
This place must have been subjected to quite a bit of heat at
some point."
"Was it the weapon that destroyed this place in the ancients
final war?"
"I don't really think so. It seems to me that if heat had
been the weapon used there would have been a lot more damage than
hit here. Possibly vulcanism, but we can get a more accurate
reading from the rocks outside."
"How would that work?" asked Miakr suddenly.
"Well, the magnetic field of planets reverses over the
course of time. By checking which way the magnetic field of the
rocks is pointed we can tell when they were last melted."
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, in any case the slag in this place is certainly
bizarre stuff. Before our spectrometer broke down we analyzed
some of the melted remains of the control consoles. Aluminum,
copper, yttrium, barium, gold, lead, bismuth, and of course
oxides of the lot of them."
"Sounds like the remains of a super computer." remarked
Malenkoviepr thoughtfully.
"A super computer? How do you figure?" wondered Lorain.
"Well, yttrium, barium and copper are in high temperature
superconductors. And it seems to me, a long time ago I had an
electronics course were we discussed the ultimate means of data
storage. If you used a substance where each atom would represent
a piece of binary code, say one element being one and another
being zero, like lead and bismuth, which are soluble to each
other, you could have a very small data storage unit, for
instance, the sum of sentient knowledge could be put in a cube
one centimeter on a side."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, let me see, eleven grams per cubic centimeter so
eleven over two hundred and seven moles of lead or so, times six
point zero two times ten to the twenty third: that makes..."
"Three point five one nine times ten to the twenty third."
supplied Miakr.
"Yes." sniffed Dr. Malenkoviepr. "That is a very rough
estimate, not even taking into account the difference between
pure lead and lead-bismuth. But it's within an order of
magnitude. Three times ten to the twenty third bits of
information should certainly cover the sum of all knowledge."
"Yes... I should think so." said Dr. Messandi impressed.
"I'm beginning to realize just how much difference there is
between studying the ancients and the sky raiders, and just how
far out of my field we are."
"Oh, come on Lorain, it is merely a matter of what you are
used to looking for. I would'nt know a sky raider artifact if I
fell over it."
"Well, I should hope not, some of us have to make a living
you know. If you discovered every archeological treasure I'd be
out of a job." she laughed.
"On a more serious note we have this:" Lorain held up a
large light blue crystal perhaps twenty centimeters long. It
seemed to shimmer under the lights. "It was found in a puddle of
pure gold."
"Hmm!" hmmed Malenkoviepr taking the crystal and examining
it. "Chemical analysis?"
"Unknown, due to the spectrometer again. Though it Does
have a hardness of eleven."
"Perhaps a diamond form of some element other than carbon.
But I think I know what it is used for."
"How?"
"It looks like a crystal that is sometimes used in Droyne
coyn rituals. The fact that it was found in a puddle of gold may
indicate that it was with some coyns when whatever melted this
place did so."
"What sort of rituals is it used in?"
"Well, it is used in a particular one when a young Droyne is
being casted, that is when the Droyne becomes a leader, sport,
drone, technician, warrior or worker. They use this, or
something like this as a focus for their psionics. I read a very
strong aura from it indeed."
The two escorting marines shifted uneasily. Their
expressions hidden by the helmets of their battle dress.
Drert stepped forward, "Let me see that." He took the
crystal from Malenkoviepr's hand. He held it up to the light and
froze.
The crystal began to glow.
A low humming filled the room.
A glowing blue globe came into existence around Drert's
hand.
The globe began to expand. It swelled to thirty centimeters
in diameter and contracted again. Again it swelled this time to
forty centimeters and then contracted back again.
"Drop it!" yelled Malenkoviepr, reinforcing the command with
telepathy. Drert remained a frozen statue holding up the crystal
like a torch.
Suddenly, Jietlshaiepr came flying across the room tackling
the statue of Drert that was becoming eclipsed by the oscillating
globe. Drert fell to the floor but bounced and remained rigid as
though made of wood. Jietlshaiepr and Niedrsha began wrestling
with rigid form to find it's hand and the crystal.
Miakr stood enthralled by the beautiful blue globe. Yes,
it's beautiful. He started for it.
Malenkoviepr flooded him with revoltion. Revolting? Miakr
hesitated, how could something so beautiful be revolting? It was
calling after all... He started forward once again.
Malenkoviepr grabbed him and held him fast.
Dr. Messandi looked on longingly at the globe. Shtam stood
by, but with a hand on her shoulder lest she start forward.
The globe continued to oscillate but began to shrink.
"Hari vieck!" Jietlshaiepr shouted as she diverted the
strength of her mind to her hands. She yanked the crystal from
Drert's hand to the sound of breaking bones. She tossed it away
and it skittered across the floor. The globe became a
hemisphere, and continued to shrink until it winked out. The
crystal lay on the floor, a darker blue than it had been before.
Drert lay frozen on the floor still in the position he had
been in when he held the crystal up.
Jietlshaiepr examined Drert hurriedly, "got a pulse, still
breathing, comatose. I'm taking him to the ship." She picked up
the statue that was Drert and marched out carrying him like a
briefcase under one arm.
- XI -
"Pulse rate sixty... Breathing rate twelve... Blood pressure
one fifteen over seventy... His hand's broken for sure... Wait a
minute... Not one broken bone? Impossible... EEG... no reading.
Whatever hit him it's put him in a psionic shock. Doctor
Malenkoviepr can you read anything from him?"
Malenkoviepr concentrated, and probed. There was none of
the usual flood of sensory input... no surface thoughts...
deeper... deep down...
A very faint image surrounded in blackness... very faint...
a hand? Yes... a hand... a giant hand... no... a fist... a giant
fist, clenched tight... very tight....
But slowly, very slowly almost imperceptible: the fist was
beginning to open.
"Dr. Malenkoviepr?" Miakr hesitated.
"Yes?" Malenkoviepr replied opening his eyes.
"The Imperial Marine commander wants to talk to you."
- XII -
It was early morning the next day when Malenkoviepr walked
back to the ship smiling. "The deadhead commander wanted to know
how dangerous this is. How am I supposed to know? I have never
seen this before and they will not give me a chance to study it?"
he sighed rhetorically.
"The marine commander kept you all night?" wondered
Niedrsha.
Dr. Malenkoviepr glanced at Niedrsha. "I had things to go
over with Dr. Messandi."
"Drert's unchanged," sighed Jietlshaiepr changing the
subject, "but I was sure I broke his fingers when I ripped the
crystal out of his hand. Sure, I tried to be careful but, I Know
I didn't succeed."
"His hand is all right?"
"Apart that it, like the rest of him, is paralyzed yes. No
broken bones not even a bruise. I try to have a light touch but
this is ridiculous."
"You're not all that gentle." chided Niedrsha.
"Be quiet you." she glared.
"Ok, boss, last night Jiet planted some of the targeting
transmitters: one in their motor pool, one at their HQ. I
planted the long range triangulators. All that's left is to set
one of these short range pills on their barracks."
"Good work, no one saw?"
"Nope, I'm invisible with enough cover." explained Niedrsha.
"I teleported in and out." explained Jietlshaiepr. "I have
to wait until my psi strength recovers. But speaking of psi
strength, Doctor Malenkoviepr, how is your own?"
Malenkoviepr concentrated a moment. He should have almost
completely recovered from yesterday's efforts. "Strange, I seem
to be at full strength psionically. As a matter of fact, I feel
even stronger than usual."
"I feel the same way. I realized it when you were gone. It
is as though we didn't have to rest at all after the fracas with
the crystal. I don't know if it will last, but right now I feel
like I'm on a psi booster drug."
"You think that crystal acted as a psi booster?"
"Can't think of anything else we've been in contact with."
"You may be right." Malenkoviepr thought for a moment. "In
the casting ceremony the crystals are used as a focus, it could
be that they store psionic energy."
"Wait, a minute." I'm no psi, but that thing probably
hadn't been touched in a couple of hundred thousand years, how
much charge could it have?" interjected Niedrsha.
"But you are psi shielded, pilot Niedrsha..." began
Malenkoviepr.
Silence descended on the room like a parachute dropped over
their heads.
Malenkoviepr continued, ignoring Niedrsha, "If the crystal
is a storage device, then it might have been building up a charge
over all those years... and after three hundred thousand years of
non use it would have quite a charge built up by the time we
found it."
"Yes, but what would all that energy do to Drert?" asked
Shtam.
"Don't know. We don't even know what it did to us."
"There is one other thing," began Jietlshaiepr, "I don't
know about you all, but I've got a rotten headache."
Meanwhile the giant fist was uncurling agonizingly slowly.
- XIII -
A soft knock at Malenkoviepr's door roused him. Odd, he
didn't even remembered falling asleep.
"Come in?"
The door slid open to reveal Jietlshaiepr standing head in
hand, her expression, body language, and demeanor spoke of
tiredness and pain.
"Look, sorry to bother you, but I'm exhausted, and I've got
a splitting headache, so I'll come right to the point. I need a
psionic probe."
"What?"
"This blasted headache, it started soon after the thing with
the crystal. I can't find any medical reason."
"And you think it may be psionic."
"Yup."
"A telepathic probe is a violation of a noble's right to
mental privacy."
"Who cares?" she snapped tiredly. "Look, I haven't been a
noble for long, until four years ago I was an intendant. I
haven't got any great secrets. Mind you I'd appreciate it if
you'd leave the sexual side of my mind alone, but even that's no
big deal. And besides, diagnosing me will probably save a lot of
time with the others."
"Others?"
"The rest of the crew are irritable to some degree."
"Very well. But I may have to read your entire mind before
I find something."
"Well, leave my id for last will ya please, I'm not an
exhibitionist."
"You'd better lie down." he laughed, "This may take a
while."
- XIV -
It didn't take long to locate the trouble as he found it
broadcasting itself across her consciousness. Jietlshaiepr was
broadcasting her own thoughts and receiving them again.
Telepathic feedback was building up.
"You are a telepath."
"What?" she cried incredulously, "No, I'm not, I was tested
for that a long time ago. I have some psi-talents but they are
all trained or training now. Telepathy just isn't one of them."
"You are getting psi-feedback; that's what is causing your
headache. You are a telepath, but you do not know how to control
it."
It took an hour to teach her to control the feedback, but
soon the headache was gone. Once the mind has been opened,
telepathy is farily easy to control. It's the opening of the
mind that is difficult, and in her case it had been pried open
with a crystal crowbar.
When she was gone Dr. Malenkoviepr wondered at the
pervasiveness of the human libido throughout the mind. Usually
one could probe someone else without getting too much of it. But
in the short time he read Jietlshaiepr he had found a few tricks
to use with psionic bodily awareness he hadn't thought of before.
Pilot Niedrsha certainly had his hands full with the ship's
doctor.
- XV -
"Right, now how are we gonna get that transmitter on the
marines barracks?" asked Niedrsha of no one in particular. "We
need a diversion."
"How about a loud argument in Zhodani?"
"No, the deadheads would not even care." remarked Shtam.
"Wait, how about this," said Miakr excitedly, "Two of us
could act drunk and distract their attention. We could offer
them a drink or start a fight do or whatever we needed to do."
Shtam shook his head, "No thanks, I certainly do not want to
get into a brawl with a bunch of trigger happy deadhead marines."
"And, I do not really understand Your desire to get your head
smashed."
They all thought for a moment. "Well hey," laughed Miakr,
"how about we show a pornographic film on the side of the ship.
If the marines are as bad as they are supposed to be then that
should distract them."
The room went silent. Jietlshaiepr stared at Miakr with
leveled eyes.
She was gone. Her clothes, where they had been, began to
float to the floor.
Suddenly, one empty suit of battle dress got up and worked
it's way out of its rack. It strode over to Miakr, and picked
him up by the collar with its left hand and dangled him half a
meter above the ground.
The right hand pressed a button at the throat, and the
helmet split open like a clamshell. Jietlshaiepr pulled Miakr
close to her and said with ice, "I don't think that's a very good
idea really. Do you?"
Vole chucked in the background sounding like a hyena.
"Hold on, Jiet don't kill him." laughed Niedrsha.
"I'd maim him, just a little, but then again I'd have to
put him back together wouldn't I?"
"All right let us get back to planning." clucked Shtam
tiredly, "This is not going to help, and it just cost you an
hour's rest before you can teleport, Jietlshaiepr."
"You have any ideas?" asked Miakr as he was lowered to the
floor not too gently.
"How about a malfunction in the ship?" suggested Shtam. "I
could rig a sort of spectacular display, alarms, flashing lights,
you outside screaming and yelling: that sort of thing."
"Sounds all right if it's loud enough to make them notice."
"Oh, they'll Notice all right...."
"We only need to distract them for two seconds, just long
enough for me to jump in and jump out."
"Ok, a few hours after night fall."
- XVI -
Jietlshaiepr awaited the countdown in her battle dress ready
to teleport at an moment's notice. Shtam and Vole were ready in
the engine room to control the 'malfunction'. The rest waited
out side. Except of course Drert.
The ship lay quiet in the darkness with a few lights
burning. The light of the moons was barely enough to make out
the white outline of the aging courier ship. She seemed a giant
white creature as she leaked hydrogen gas from her fuel tanks
into the night air.
The sky exploded with blue sparks and red flame. A fireball
leaped up above the Kliemoshie lighting the area in a temporary
daylight. Alarms shrieked and howled, and the crew shouted and
ran towards the conflagration to be showered with water from the
burning hydrogen.
Jietlshaiepr was already atop the Imperial Marines barracks.
She dropped the transmitter on the roof, and looked down. Two
marines in battle dress stood there, one looking at the commotion
from the Kliemoshie and the other pointing straight at her.
"Hey! Uh, look up there, Dorset."
Jietlshaiepr swallowed and teleported.
"What is it Grindley?"
"Uh... I don't know. Maybe it was a bat."
"A bat?"
"Yeah, a big bat... A great big bat..."
Dorset sighed in disgust at his moronic partner.