Bits of catalyst, p.1
Bits of Catalyst, page 1
Bits of Catalyst
Book Three of EarthCent Metaverse
ISBN 978-1-948691-74-1
Copyright 2023 by E. M. Foner
One
“Bridge,” Mouser said when he entered the lift tube. “That was a pretty rough transition, Kruik.”
“I’m sorry that it woke you,” the ex-military Dollnick AI who ran the ship’s systems responded. “I schedule the longest tunnel trips so the entry and the exit take place at night on Human Standard Time because some people suffer from nausea and balance problems if they’re up and about.”
“I thought I’d be accustomed to it after nine months, but sometimes I dream that I’m falling, and then I can’t get back to sleep. Where are we, anyway?”
“Cynth. It’s a Verlock world with an academy specializing in xenoarchaeology. There’s a small Human community, less than thirty thousand people, and they’ve never been visited by a circuit ship.”
“What are they doing here?” Mouser asked.
“According to my data, there are approximately three thousand human students in the xenoarchaeology program which established a special track for short-lived primitive species,” the AI told him. “Twenty thousand of the humans are contract workers and their dependents, and the rest earn a living providing services to their compatriots.”
“Nobody has ever explained to me why the Verlocks are willing to put so much effort into educating humans. I can’t imagine they charge enough for tuition to make back their costs.”
“Education is the passion of the Verlocks, just like gaming is the passion of the Hortens, and engineering is the passion of the Dollnicks. Perhaps when Humans find their passion you’ll advance as a species.”
“We already found it—complaining,” Mouser said with a laugh as he exited the lift tube. “Is anybody on the bridge?”
“Both of the co-captains came up to watch the transition. They seem to be immune to the side effects of hyperspace travel.”
“Mouser,” Sabina greeted the mayor as he entered the bridge, which on a cylindrical Class One Dollnick colony ship, was located at the mid-point of a deck halfway between the central docking core and the outer hull. “Dropping back into regular space woke you up?”
“Usual story, falling forever. I can’t imagine how you and your sister handle the long jumps with your eyes open.”
“Technically, tunnel transitions aren’t jumps,” Katya told him. “We don’t know how the physics works for either of them, but while the aliens have all figured out jumps, the tunnel network is a Stryx thing.”
“I thought tunnels were just permanent, uh…” Mouser trailed off.
“Exactly. Will you be coming down to the surface?”
“I wasn’t planning on it unless my wife wants to see the academy and asks me along. I don’t have a lot of responsibilities as mayor, but most of the problems come up while we’re at stops.” His eyes were drawn to the large hologram of the planet, and he would have sworn that he could see a giant plume of smoke rising into the atmosphere. “Did something happen on the surface?”
“Volcanic eruption, it’s been going on for weeks,” Sabina said. “The Verlocks wouldn’t have it any other way. They seek out geologically active planets to colonize and they often sell off worlds if the volcanoes all go quiescent.”
“But why?” Mouser asked, wincing when he realized how much he sounded like Rayne’s eleven-year-old daughter, Sarah, who sometimes participated in their weekly role-playing game. “I know they have thick skins and can tolerate a greater temperature range than most biologicals, but who would want to live near an active volcano?”
“They would probably ask us who would want to live near a coastline with tsunamis and hurricanes,” Katya said with a grin. “Back when we were kids attending mom’s embassy parties, Sabina and I were always getting questioned by alien diplomats. I think they believed that children would be less likely to lie.”
“I remember a Vergallian ambassador showing us a nightclub video from Earth and asking if we really thought that was dancing,” Sabina said.
“Or music,” her sister added.
“What did you tell him?”
“Her. All of the Vergallian ambassadors are female. And we were around eight years old at the time, so we said it was awful.”
“Cynth ground control is contacting us,” Kruik announced. “Live on the main screen, and I’m adding First Engineer Miklat to the channel.”
A bulky alien with leathery skin and piercing eyes appeared on the screen. “I – am – Rydlan,” he said, his words coming so slowly that Mouser couldn’t help wondering if there was something wrong with the translation. “Flower – contacted – us – about – your – visit.”
“I am Sabina, and this is my sister, Katya,” one of the identical twins replied. “We’re the co-captains of the Miklat and official representatives of the Human Empire.”
“My – understanding – is – that – the – Miklat – is – owned – by – the – Zarents,” Rydlan said.
“Your understanding is correct, but the majority of the ship’s population is human, and the Zarents have subcontracted with Flower to visit human communities that she doesn’t have time in her schedule to service.”
“We Zarents felt it would be easier for all involved to have a Human serve as captain, and two heads are better than one,” First Engineer Miklat added, and the video shifted to his feed as he spoke. “Flower has a Human captain.”
The Verlock took a long minute to process this information. “I – extend - the – welcome – of – Cynth – to – everyone – in – your – confusing – command – hierarchy,” he eventually said. “Do – you – provide – cargo – services?”
“Yes, and we have a shipment for you from Fyndal,” Sabina said. “Flower picked it up and had the containers transferred to us by jump freighter.”
“Four – containers?” Rydlan asked hopefully, holding up two fingers on each hand.
“I believe so. Kruik?”
“Four standard Dollnick shipping containers,” the AI replied. “The loadmaster has them ready to go on the docking deck. The invoice shows elements for an artificial aperture gravity-wave receiver. May I inquire if you are part of a project to communicate with another galaxy, Rydlan?”
“Observe, not – communicate,” the Verlock said. “Gravity – waves – are – limited – by – the – speed – of – light – creating – impractical – delays – for – intergalactic – dialogue. We – will – send – a – freighter – as – soon – as – you – reach – parking – orbit. Rydlan – out.”
“I don’t remember the last time I heard a Verlock sound so excited,” Katya said after the screen went blank.
“Are you joking?” Mouser asked.
“Rydlan was speaking sixteen-point-three percent faster by the end of our conversation,” Kruik reported. “That’s very excited by Verlock standards.”
“I suppose I’ll go down to the docking deck and supervise the transfer when the freighter arrives,” Sabina said. “There’s no point waking Delphi this early in the morning just because the Verlocks can’t wait to start waiting.”
“What do you mean?” Mouser asked.
“I sat next to the Verlock ambassador, Srythlan, when we stopped at Union Station and were invited to an EarthCent embassy dinner. He said that one hundred Verlock academy worlds will be participating in the new experiment and that they don’t expect any results for thousands of years.”
“But I thought if you looked in any direction you could still pick up gravity waves from the birth of the universe.”
“That’s very different than what they expect to get from an advanced civilization in another galaxy playing games with modulating black hole spins,” Sabina told him, and then waved a hand as if to forestall further questions. “I’m sure I know even less about it than you do. I just remembered that bit from my cram course for the EarthCent civil service exam.”
“It’s my turn to visit the surface, so I’ll go down with the first shuttle to pay our respects to the Verlocks and meet with whoever is running the human community,” Katya said, standing and stretching. “With just thirty thousand people, and most of those contract workers, I won’t be surprised if they don’t have any government to speak of. Is there anything you want from the planet, Snap?”
First Engineer Miklat, who led the Zarent community that owned and maintained the ship, reappeared on the large display when he activated his speech pendant. “If you see any educational toys, our apprentices always enjoy a good Verlock puzzle.”
“I can launch the shuttle before we reach parking orbit,” Kruik told them. “Why don’t you go along, Mouser? You said that you wouldn’t be able to return to sleep, and I can have you back by breakfast.”
“I guess I am curious to see what a volcanic world is like,” Mouser said. “Do you mind company, Katya?”
“You can help keep me awake,” the twin said. “We may be the only two people on the shuttle.”
“It seems wasteful.”
“The sooner I pay my official respects for the ship, the better the Verlocks will think of us. And the way the humans on academy worlds mimic their hosts, they’re probably all awake, so the shuttle could be full of shoppers on the return trip.”
“At three o’clock in the morning?” Mouser asked doubtfully.
“Do you think the people on Cynth live on Human Standard Time?” Katya asked with a laugh. “They’re lucky if they keep to so mething like a twenty-four-hour day. On Fyndal, which is a much larger community, most of our people never go outside because the air is too dangerous. All of those volcanic eruptions aren’t good for human lungs.”
“I’m an old man, I keep forgetting.”
“You’re sixty-three, I asked Kruik. If you were an EarthCent ambassador you’d have another twelve years to retirement.” She stopped halfway into the lift tube capsule to keep the door from closing and called back to her sister. “Coming, Sabina?”
“The Verlock freighter won’t leave the surface until we’re in a parking orbit, it’s just the way they do things,” Sabina replied. “I’m going to read through all of the intel reports to get ready for the usual suspects.”
“Usual suspects?” Mouser repeated after the lift tube doors closed and the capsule started moving inwards towards the docking deck.
“Self-appointed political types,” Katya explained. “It’s ironic that they’ve only started coming out of the woodwork now that we’re on a path for the Human Empire to take over from EarthCent. When the closest thing to human authorities on the tunnel network were the Stryx-appointed EarthCent ambassadors, there weren’t any political spoils to fight over. But now that we’re moving towards self-government, all of the power-hungry opportunists are suddenly interested in public service.”
“They can have my job.”
“Would you really want somebody who likes telling other people what to do acting as mayor of the Miklat? The reason Flower and the powers that be stuck you with the job is because you’re a competent manager who just wants to be left alone. Why do you think the Rules Committee on Bits drafted you to be chairman?”
“Bits was an anarchy.”
“You all keep saying that, but the tithe meant that you were practically socialists,” Katya said. “The aliens all think that it’s funny how the labels people stick on themselves have more influence on the way other humans see them than their actions.” She grabbed Mouser’s arm before he could step out of the lift tube capsule and added, “Cleats.”
“Oops.” The Miklat’s mayor clicked his heels together to activate the built-in magnets in the soles of the surprisingly comfortable boots his wife had bought him so he wouldn’t have to fool around with external cleats.
Kruik must have notified everyone who was awake about the early shuttle because there were nearly a hundred people plus a half-dozen aliens on board when it departed the docking deck. The Miklat’s pair of replacement shuttles were designed to seat three hundred Dollnicks and the seats had never been changed out. A wide-awake-looking Gem clone waved to the mayor and co-captain and indicated the two empty seats next to her as they entered the shuttle.
“Belle must want to talk,” Katya said. “I love comparing notes with her.”
Mouser greeted the alien clone and extended the footrest under the seat next to her so that his feet wouldn’t dangle above the deck. “I feel silly using these things at my age when they’re designed for Dollnick children,” he grumbled. “Do you have a special interest in the Verlocks?”
“I visit all of the worlds we stop at,” Belle told him. “It’s my reason for traveling with the Miklat.”
“I keep forgetting that you’re a journalist for Gem Today.”
“You say that like I’m pretending to be a reporter.”
“If I thought you were pretending, I’d remember that you’re working for Gem Intelligence,” Mouser said. “I guess what I don’t understand is why the alien governments on the worlds we visit don’t object to your wandering around.”
“I have to register,” Belle said. “Earth is the only planet on the tunnel network without a registration requirement for alien intelligence agents, and that’s just because there’s no world government to enforce it.”
“What about EarthCent?”
“EarthCent’s function is to provide a bridge between humanity and the other tunnel network species, but they don’t have any policing authority on Earth,” Katya joined the conversation. “Once the Human Empire takes over, maybe we’ll establish a registration procedure for alien intelligence agents visiting our communities, but it probably doesn’t make sense for now.”
“You don’t think it would be useful to keep track?” Belle asked.
“I’m not sure why we would care, but I’ll bring it up next time we rendezvous with Flower and I visit Human Empire headquarters. The bigger issue is that it’s probably a bad idea to ask for voluntary compliance before we have the capability to enforce it.”
Mouser nodded. “When I found out that Flower hosts a community of alien intelligence agents in return for payment, I thought that the people running EarthCent were insane. But when I realized that we have nothing to hide and that allowing spies full access to our communities was the best way to show that we’re harmless, it began to make a lot of sense. I keep waiting to hear that we’ve taken more spies on board the Miklat.”
“It’s probably my fault that they’re staying away,” Belle said. “The Drazens, Hortens, Frunge, and Vergallians are all uncomfortable with clones.”
“And you’re submitting all of your reports to Flower’s shared intelligence pool, so they don’t need an in-person presence on the Miklat,” Katya pointed out. “The worlds and habitats we visit all host smaller human communities than the stops on Flower’s circuit, and I’m sure the other species have a limit to how much intelligence on humanity they want to gather.”
“I don’t remember Lume having any issues with you,” Mouser said to Belle, “and I can’t imagine the Verlocks being made uncomfortable by anybody.”
“All of the advanced species share a disdain for cloning, but our presence is more of an irritation to the aliens who can see themselves in us. The farther our physical appearances diverge, the less upsetting our presence is to them. What makes it frustrating is that we agree cloning was a mistake and we’re working to reestablish diverse bloodlines and natural procreation. It’s bad enough to have other sentients look down on us, it’s worse when they offer a constant reminder of how we look down on ourselves.”
Katya reached past Mouser and grasped Belle’s wrist. “You didn’t choose to be cloned. I mean, you did as a species, but that’s ancient history. None of the Gem alive today are the same as the ones who fought a civil war to eliminate all the other genes from your society.”
“Except for the recently cloned males and their natural offspring, we’re all exactly the same Gem who pursued the genocide of the other members of our species,” Belle said glumly. “That guilt won’t go away until the last of us have died off and no new Gem are cloned.”
“That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard,” Katya said. “Is something wrong? Have you received bad news?”
“I’m not depressed, just practical,” Belle said, forcing a smile. “Being the only representative of my species on board the Miklat with tens of thousands of curious Humans has helped distill my thoughts. Cloning was a terrible mistake that we took to the ultimate extreme. End of story.”
“Well, you’ve certainly depressed me,” Katya said, withdrawing her hand. “When you called us over, I was hoping that you’d know a good Verlock joke I could tell the academy head when I present my credentials.”
“Do Verlocks tell jokes?” Mouser asked.
“Everybody tells jokes,” Belle said. “It’s part of the Stryx sentience test for artificial intelligence. The things that some aliens find humorous might horrify you, but that’s just a question of culture and context.”
“I remember hearing that there are only seven basic jokes in the universe that repeat themselves in different forms.”
“You must have heard that from a Human,” Belle said with a genuine smile. “Gem philosophers have identified over twenty-three archetypal jokes, but keep in mind that this means jokes that are funny to us. It’s extremely difficult to categorize the humor of other species if you don’t find it funny. I’ve heard that the Verlocks particularly enjoy jokes that can be proven mathematically accurate.”
“I don’t suppose you could give us an example,” Mouser said.
“Well, I’ll have to substitute Human terms, but…” The clone thought for a moment. “What’s the difference between a violin and a cello?”
