Darkworld: Earth

22.

“Okay. So you were right, Gabriel, seeing the graphical user interface that the Yonohoans use really will help in figuring out how to make our communications sync up,” Antoine said over the radio, his hands flashing through the air as he worked with the surprisingly intuitive holographic interface.

“They’re using primarily holograms for their visual intake. I guess it really hadn’t sunk into them that we don’t have those yet until I said something when I saw that their file structure looked like one of these ant-mounds in Africa. Once I described how the file architecture looks when we pull it up ourselves, both in command line and in a windows environment, their system began rearranging the data we’ve been sending and making all sorts of leaps of logic,” Antoine continued, watching as data flashed before his eyes.

“I must confess, despite the fact that we have all of this technology, I do not believe that we are really that much smarter than you are,” Eolai commented. “Yonohoan technology is the combination of more than a billion years of alien science with one hundred thousand years of human innovation packed on top of it. The computer does most of the hard work for us.”

“Thanks Bob,” Diego said.

“We really appreciate your patience and willingness to help us learn, Eolai,” Gabriel said over the radio. “It feels like we are back in school once more and have kind instructors teaching us difficult and new topics.”

Eolai laughed. “I hope that brings back pleasant memories.”

“It’s also been useful to actually get a look at how you’re receiving our data. Captain, the ships are looking for layers of complexity that, quite frankly, we never even thought of. You have to remember that they have faster than light real time communication. Part of the reason they’re spread out is to measure the difference between the amplitude and red shift of our signals,” Antoine continued as he examined the holographic information that was displayed.

“Why are they doing that?” Gabriel inquired before Captain Moon could beat him to it.

“We are looking for any evidence of gravitic or spacial bending technologies, which are sometimes used to enhance or hide light-based communication methods,” Eolai explained. “I did not think that you possessed that capability, but our fleet layout is standard for communicating with an unexpected guest who is not linked up via a quantum network. Normally we would break off as soon as we decided you were trustworthy, and possibly establish a connection between our ships by exchanging paired particles.”

“Okay, makes sense to me,” Gabriel said.

“Really? You got that?” Diego asked, his hologram touching its ear, where it was wearing the device that allowed Bob to assist him.

“Sure. Honestly it’s beyond anything we’ll be able to do for centuries without ripping apart one of the Toormondas, but it sort of checks out,” Gabriel said.

“Yeah, I also understood that,” Antoine agreed. “It’s hard to imagine exactly how it would work, but I can see how control over gravity and space-time would increase the ways in which radiowaves could be manipulated to speed or hide data transfer.”

“Cool. You nerds keep talking about that cool stuff then. Bob, me need break from braniacs, send me talk to Anders,” Diego said, and his hologram cut out. Antoine barely noticed, continuing to pay attention to the data in front of him as it highlighted the information that the fleet had been receiving from the Seeker over the last week.

“Boo!” Diego’s hologram said when it popped up behind Anders, who promptly turned and grabbed for the bean-bag pistol on his hip.

“Dammit Diego, that’s not funny.”

“It kind of is, Commander. You need to loosen up a bit,” Diego said.

“Sergeant, loose lips sink sips. And there’s a boat named Earth with a hell of a lot of innocent lives aboard it,” Anders said.

“I’m aware of that. I really am,” Diego said. “And I’m relieved that there’s absolutely no possible way that I can lead the aliens to it, even if they torture me.”

Anders blinked and turned to look at the holographic man. “You’ve thought that through? They surpass us in many ways, are you certain that your knowledge couldn’t be used against us?”

“Pretty sure, Anders. Not for locating us at least. Or not, I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t know what you know until the pliers come out and the questioners get creative. But right now I’m choosing to remain optimistic,” Diego said.

Anders sighed. “How certain of that were you when you volunteered to board the alien ship?”

“Sixty-five percent,” Diego declared. “But I was also certain that if I didn’t board the alien ship, then we’d be delayed by so long that we’d completely fail the primary mission of the Seeker and cost the taxpayers trillions of dollars.”

Anders nodded. “Those are no longer the primary goals of this mission, Sergeant. You should have realized that.”

“I agree with you and Captain Moon that establishing relationships with the Yonohoans, and if possible the Topokans slash Sulivans, has become the highest priority, replacing the science goals that were paramount when we launched,” Diego said. “However, I also point out that there is the possibility of doing them both. They are not mutually exclusive.”

Anders paused. “What are you suggesting?”

“We need to retrieve the probes that were launched ahead of us before cosmic radiation begins to eat into the hardware,” Diego explained. “We bought some time when we sent word ahead before coming here, and we jumped ahead of schedule, so if we leave now we can still meet our operational goals.”

“We can’t leave. The Yonohoans are legally obligated to follow us,” Anders reminded him.

“The location of the rendezvous points for the drones are not classified information, are they?” Diego asked. “That’s a genuine question, sir, because honestly I don’t know. If they are you are one hundred percent correct in that the primary mission of the Seeker of New Discoveries is a failure in light of our emerging diplomatic responsibilities. If they are unclassified information, however, then it is possible to utilize the generous gift that the Yonohoan government has given us in order to fulfill our goals. We can test drive the Toormonda at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.”

Anders frowned. “If you’ve thought of this, why didn’t you tell it directly to the captain, Sergeant?”

“Because perhaps I don’t want credit for thinking of it, Sir,” Diego said. “Perhaps I’m happy with just being a grunt and a pretty face. Anything I say over the radio is going to be recorded for posterity. Right now, I’m talking to you through channels that Eolai assured me are as secure as they would use for a vising diplomat communicating with his native government.”

Diego paused. “Unless of course you left the microphone on your suit on. If I’m on a hot mic then I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Anders laughed. “I’ll take your plan under consideration, Sergeant.”

“What plan is that, sir?” Diego asked, saluting.

“Thank you,” Anders said. His opinion of Diego had just been moved up several notches. He’d thought that the man was too laid back and lackadaisical, and had been surprised that a man with so little ambition had made it onto the Seeker in the first place. Now, he was beginning to wonder what other ideas Diego had brought forward from behind the scenes.

“Is Sarah still pining for me, Commander?” Diego asked.

And just like that Ander’s opinion of the man dropped again. “Have you been carrying out a relationship with--”

“I shot her down hard, Commander. More than once,” Diego said. “I filed a report but I guess it might not have gotten all of the way to you. I’m concerned. She seemed almost fixated on me. She thinks I agreed to marry her. I’m worried that it might be a symptom.”

Anders paused his review of the user manual for the crowd control device he was holding. “Say that again?”

“She approached me after our third jump and attempted to initiate a sexual relationship, Sir. I tried to politely decline, and I reported it as is policy. She came back at me one week later and attempted again, having misconstrued my words in my polite rejection. I was more adamant than before, and I again filed a report. This has repeated itself a total of five times, Commander. I know I’m a catch, but I’m not that much of a catch. I’m not someone worth facing disciplinary action over,” Diego said.

Anders frowned. “I’ll look into it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

“I am not filing a formal complaint about her actions, sir. I am raising a legitimate concern for the well being of my crewmate. I don’t want to get her in trouble. I am worried that she needs help, and perhaps doesn’t even realize it herself.”

“I will be delicate but thorough in my investigation of this matter, Sergeant. I thank you for your discretion in bringing this directly to my attention.”

“Yes sir. Doing my job. Do you want my advice, sir?”

Anders paused. Ten minutes ago he would have said no, but Diego had just proven himself to be a more thoughtful and capable person than Anders had previously believed. “I’m listening.”

“I’m going to be honest, the medical equipment on the Seeker is substandard. We don’t have an MRI. We do have a cat scan, but it’s not the highest resolution. I’m pretty sure that the medical scanners that the Yonohoans have can see individual dendrites in the human head. I have no idea how it works, but if you have time I’d visit with Liu before you leave and get her opinion on it. Gabriel thinks that it’s part of the Seeker’s mission, one that isn’t officially on the record or above board, to get baselines on what exposure to the Tunnel Drive does to the human body.”

“Sergeant …” Anders began, his voice growing stern.

“I’m fine with that if it’s true, Commander. I’m perfectly okay with sacrificing my health for science. That’s a risk that I knew signing up,” Diego said. “But if we’re sacrificing our health for science, then we should look at making certain that we’re getting the biggest bang for our bucks, shouldn’t we? I understand why we can’t have an MRI. It interferes too much with the other instruments, or wasn’t in the budget, or they couldn’t fit it on the floorplan, or some combination of the three. But the Yonohoans are giving us one of their functional level one clinics, sir. Why not use them?”

Anders closed his eyes and thought the man’s words through. There was some wisdom in them, he had to admit. He’d heard the whispers of a ‘hidden mission’ in which the crew was being treated as guinea pigs, and he’d tried to quash it for morale.

The problem was that it wasn’t entirely false. One of the objectives of the mission was to maintain the crew’s health by screening for the damage that the Tunnel Drive might cause to the human body. It was effectively a science experiment they were performing on themselves. It just hadn’t been explicitly stated as such during the recruitment drive.

At the same time, using the Yonohoan’s technology would give the Yonohoans more data on the crew. What if they determined that the damage that they were doing to themselves using the Tunnel Drive meant that they were legally required to board the craft and scuttle it?

“I shall handle this investigation delicately and thoroughly, Sergeant. Thank you again for bringing it to my attention.”