AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Working with mechanical creatures is so much easier. Give me components and gears any day,” she griped.
Lokmi’s head swiveled. He looked at her. He slapped his forehead so hard, Hope feared he’d given himself a concussion. He rocked, as if on the verge of fainting.
“Lokmi! What—?”
“What is wrong with us? I can’t believe we, a couple of supposedly competent engineers…Hope, how long can your nanobots function in space before they freeze up or radiation fries them?”
She caught on to what he was proposing and came close to delivering a hard smack to her own skull. “Of course! I got so caught up in the containment’s construction, it never occurred to me to think beyond a living creature trying to escape it. The nanos can be programmed to do so.” She began tapping furiously on her computer.
“As small as they are, they’re much larger than the single-celled organisms we’ve sent through.” Lokmi was working his computer too.
“But I can program them to attempt to exit the containment and return. It would have been hit-or-miss using the live stuff.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “The nanos are constructed for our atmospheric conditions. They’d fail within five minutes of exposure to space.”
“Long enough for them to get in and out of a containment field, if it’s possible for them to breach it.”
“And gather vid and samples, if there’s anything on the other side beyond space.” Hope shot him a glance. “What do you say we don’t tell anyone else of this obvious solution to Problem One?”
Lokmi snorted. “No kidding. All right, how many of the little bugs do you want to send through?”
“You know how expensive they are. Piras will have a heart attack if we lose even one.” Hope grinned. “Let’s do three, since the fleet is paying.”
Half an hour later, the three nanospies returned intact, having escaped the containment and returned. They confirmed there was indeed a separate dimension.
“They were in some celestial body’s atmosphere, though not on the planet or moon itself.” Hope scanned the valuable readings the nanos had taken. “Very hostile conditions to life as we understand it. Look at the pressures it exerts. No wonder everything we sent through died.”
They focused on the most important results, the ability to maintain containment shielding in the other space.
“I can work with this,” Lokmi enthused, his expression bright. “I can definitely construct a containment field that’ll hold at least our dimension’s objects, whether animate or not.”
“On to Problem Two then. Time to actually construct a multidimensional containment.” Hope woofed a breath. “The fun never ends.”
* * * *
Tranis paced his clan’s common room, wondering how he hadn’t worn a rut past the unlit firepit in the middle of the room. Imdiko Lokmi and Matara Hope had reported progress was being made on the plan to trap the Dark suspected of riding Hobato. They were struggling to construct a containment spanning two dimensions, but Lokmi was certain it would take no more than three days to iron out a design.
Anticipated success had given birth to second-guessing himself. “Hobato is my commanding officer. The head of the fleet. The only admiral I’ve consulted about his supposed unwilling capitulation to an alien mind is Piras. I should have talked to others, but no one else seems to notice anything amiss.”
Lidon stood to the side, watching him. He exuded calm Tranis couldn’t partake in. “You’re within your rights as an admiral and protector of the empire to determine if the rear admiral is in control of his faculties. If it means subverting the usual chain of command to thwart an unknown enemy, it’s also within your rights.”
“If I’m wrong, if we move against Hobato…I’m working on no more than a hunch! There’s no solid evidence of him being controlled by an entity. Besides his problematic decisions to proceed too carefully—”
“Decisions leaving the empire open to potential invasion.” Lidon was steady in his belief in Tranis.
Tranis wished he felt as sure.
He glanced at Cassidy, who sat next to Degorsk on the massive lounger curving around the firepit. “I could go to prison for this, and our child is on the way.”
“Our child is the best motive to ensure the safety of Kalquor,” Cassidy countered. “It would break me to see you tried and convicted for any reason, but I’ve met Admiral Hobato. If he’s himself, he won’t have you arrested unless he thinks it’s absolutely warranted. He’s the kind of man who takes the purposes for his officers’ actions into account.”
“You have damned good cause,” Degorsk weighed in. “Anyone who spends an hour talking to Dramok Ilid about what he encountered would go out on a limb to make sure the Darks don’t get a chance to come here.”
“How is he?” Tranis asked.
“Beyond wrecked. He’s in for a long recovery, if his parents and I can keep him alive.” Degorsk shook his head at Tranis’ unspoken question. “I realize you need him to look at Hobato to determine if he’s being ridden…but if he is, being in the presence of a Dark will finish Ilid. He’s discharged from the fleet now, so you can’t order him to do it. As his therapist, I can’t permit him to take the chance.”
Ilid was the only hope Tranis had of guaranteeing Hobato had been compromised since the testing on fleet members had yet to begin. Lidon and Piras had finished re-routing Hobato’s ability to communicate orders to the rest of the fleet only that afternoon. Lacking young Ilid’s special sight, Tranis possessed only suspicion and gut instinct…which wouldn’t save him from of serious legal trouble.
“Tranis, you and Piras have agreed on our course of action, as have the members of our clans working for the fleet. This mission must happen. Let’s set aside what might happen for constructive conversation. I have an assignment for Lokmi and Hope once we’ve caught the Dark,” Cassidy said.
