Tracking the Trailblazer (Colony Ship Trailblazer Book 1) Read online

  “Of course we do,” Riley answered. “You may speak freely here, as my staff and I are aware of the new missions.” Riley gestured to three people operating the equipment. “The Committee consults us on its plans.”

  Two men and one other woman looked up briefly, but then returned to the work benches where they were looking at screens, or adjusting projections, or gazing into optics and lenses.

  Riley continued, “Swezey. Yvonne, Cagle, and I were instrumental in refining Master Engineer Brink’s theoretical designs, and plans for the prototypes.” The others nodded, but remained silent. Riley spoke it as a matter of fact, not in a prideful way. “We supervised the faster-than-light test flights, with much hands-on assistance from Janet and Cindy. Currently, they are busy with these newest missions, as they are more about practical application, while here, we discuss concepts and ideas. Most recently, they assisted in sending those robotic probes which found the colony ships. I tell you, Ken, it was quite a job getting all that done so quickly. Theory to application is not an easy task.”

  “I can appreciate how hard you must have worked,” Ken replied as he leaned toward her. “Leading people is an immensely satisfying experience, but can be emotionally draining. Human to human interaction is so very important.”

  Riley’s face broke into a smile. “It is so nice to find someone who understands the human toll this all takes. Crucial to all this was the ongoing relationship my AI Nicola has with Brink’s Copernicus, but even those two AIs are under strict rules which limited interfaces. This was all secret, of course, and we still are not allowed to speak to anyone besides the Master Engineer or the Committee. Well, not officially anyway, but we decided if any adventurers sought us out, we would share what we know. After all, you will be gone from here soon enough, and whatever we say will travel lightyears away.”

  Janae pondered an idea as Riley spoke, but did not verbalize it.

  “Riley, what should we know about a micro-singularity?” Ken asked.

  Riley stepped over, and pulled out a chair on wheels. She indicated several other chairs, and then she sat down. Her eyes were dancing with some inner emotions. “The Trailblazer, is it? What should you know? That is an impossible question to answer. It would be ideal that you know everything about micro-singularities; however, the term itself is rather imprecise, vague, and carries a myriad of meanings. I can be of little help. Unless I know how those on the Trailblazer—human or mechanical—define ‘micro-singularity’ I cannot progress any further. There is just inadequate information. The basic concept hearkens back about two hundred and fifty some years ago, to the rudimentary concepts of black holes, and, frankly, most of those concepts are incomplete and lacking.”

  “Aside from word definitions, what do you make of the information from the Trailblazer?” Ken pressed.

  “Whatever they did encounter caused a lot of damage, that is clear. What exactly they encountered is not so clear. I wish I could be more help, but the phrase is too nebulous, the information too sketchy.”

  Ken interjected, “From what I remember, there are theorists who claim miniaturized black holes—what I consider micro-singularities—may have been formed immediately after creation’s Big Bang. That rapidly expanding space just squeezed some regions into tiny, densely-packed, concentrations of gravity. Those spots have as much mass as a sun, but are small enough to fit into this room. Is that correct?” He added his most seductive smile, and it lightened his eyes as well.

  Riley tilted her head at him, “That was just one theory, but there are many others. The term singularity can refer to a gravitational singularity—a one-dimensional point which contains an immense mass, in an infinitely small space. At that singular point; density, mass, gravity, space, time, and much else is thought to curve inward, back upon itself, infinitely. If that happens, all laws of physics are subject to change. That concept has never been proven, nor disproven. However, singularity can also refer to something vastly different. The term can imply the concept of a run-away artificial superintelligence. That superintelligence—a technological singularity—results from a metastatic technological growth. One line of thinking, regarding intelligent singularities, involves an infinite series of self-improvement rounds, or cycles, if you prefer. Simply put, it is rampant evolutionary occurrence proceeding at an exponential rate. Each new and more intelligent generation—or singularity—will emerge more and more quickly, causing an intelligence explosion and resulting in an ever increasingly powerful superintelligence, in a never-ending ascension toward more and more intellectual power.”

  “God?” Ken asked. “It results in a god? Would that be considered a divine encounter?” One eyebrow slightly raised as he looked a Riley.

  Riley nodded. She blushed a bit in response to Ken’s gaze at her. His flirtations were working. “There are certainly better ways to have divinely satisfying encounters.”

  Janae bluntly interrupted, “Well, that does not help at all. You are telling us nothing new. A gravity problem, or a god encounter?”

  Riley looked at Janae, the redness draining from her cheeks. “Those are two possibilities.” She looked back at Ken and smiled. “If you were a god and some large colony ship ran into you, would you be angry or show grace?”

  “It might depend on how deeply penetrating was that encounter, or if it involved some mutually agreed upon roughness,” Ken whispered. “It might be a singularly fabulous meeting.”

  Janae rolled her eyes, and turned her back, speaking out, overly loud, “The Trailblazer encountered something, and you are suggesting it was either an intense gravity distortion, or some deity? Whichever happened, it wreaked massive system destruction. Just a dilemma either way.”

  Riley ignored Janae and leaned closer to Ken. “Singularity, as a term, does not reveal much. Obviously, when the two became one, some sparks were flying. But the term singularity can also have a number of other definitions. In both gravity and technology, there is a tendency to lead toward progressively smaller things, physically speaking, so that might—I repeat—might be where the ‘micro’ term comes from, but I hesitate to make any other guesses at that. But Ken, from my understanding, there is nothing small in some other types of encounters. Am I right?”

  Ken looked crestfallen, “Unfortunately, I must focus on this mission.” He then gave her a slight smile.

  Riley reached out and stroked his hand. “Micro-singularity might be a god, or black hole, but there are other options, and possibilities. I could take time to explain them to you in more detail.” She traced her fingers up his hand and then gently tapped his arm. “How long do you have before you leave?”

  “Alas, I must depart right now,” Ken replied. He lifted her hand ever so gently and placed a subtle kiss on Riley’s fingers. “When I find us all a home, and succeed on this mission, I hope to have much more time for extended discussions.”

  “Yes, the teleportation will be an experience that is unforgettable. Perhaps, the beginning of many others, or so I hope,” Riley said.

  “Come on, Ken. We need to leave before I vomit,” Janae stated, and walked away.

  Again, Riley ignore Janae and spoke to Ken, “Sorry, I could not be more elucidating. The élan of all this is thrilling, and your bravery will not be forgotten.”

  Ken gave a small wave, and moved after Janae.

  In the corridor, Janae was waiting with her arms crossed. “Was this all some game of romantic conquest? An excuse to look brave and courageous? All to the goal of a tryst?”

  Ken started to reach over to Janae, but stopped. His arm held out, but not touching hers. “Janae, I have heard Riley is involved with someone now, so no, this was not about a tryst. I genuinely, and seriously wanted to know what the micro-singularity might have caused, or done. I am utterly serious about this mission. If the dome fails, and we were told it will, we will all die. I want to be part of a solution to that.”

  Janae glowered at him. “Why go with me? Why not with someone who is more compatible with your inc
linations?”

  “And who do you suggest? Many of my friends died too, Karen, Leann, probably Estrella and Vihaan as well,” Ken replied in a choked voice. “Do you think you are the only one who suffered loss?”

  Janae huffed and turned away.

  “I am not diminishing your own grief. Constance was a very special, wonderful, amazing person,” Ken went on. “Now, we should go see the Quartermaster and get more supplies. I am tired of carrying these medical kits around in my hands. I need a backpack, or at least the RAM clothing with all its pockets, pouches, and such.”

  “On that we agree, I too need a radiation absorbing materials suit,” Janae replied. “Is that what we get from the Quartermaster?”

  6

  More Equipment

  AI Rubirosa announced, “Ken and Janae, you are scheduled for the fifth sling launch. I suggest you increase the rate of your acquisition of supplies.”

  “Thank you,” Ken replied. “We are almost to the Quartermaster’s now.”

  “I am well aware of your location, as well as the time you are spending,” AI Rubirosa stated. “I suggest less banter, flirtation, and discussion, and more progression and preparation.”

  Ken laughed. “Why are you so eager to get rid of me?”

  “I am eager for success of the mission,” Rubirosa replied.

  Janae approached the door to the Quartermaster’s supply room. It slid open but beyond was dark.

  “Lights please,” Janae said with surprise in her voice. Usually one had to request darkness in any specific room.

  Nothing happened.

  Ken leaned in, “Willie? It is dark in here.”

  “A brilliant deduction,” a man’s wheezy and somewhat nasal sounding voice was heard from the darkness. “What will you do about it?”

  “Willie, we are here to get supplies, not play games,” Janae answered.

  “Your game would be mancala, if I remember correctly. Will mancala, or ricochet ball get the lights turned on?”

  “No. But how do we get supplies in the dark? Willie, did you break your own utilities?” Janae asked somewhat wistfully.

  “Oh, sweetheart, you know that did not happen. Here let me show you what I have.”

  A beam of light lit up the room.

  “There you are!” Janae teased, “and you are fully clothed.”

  Willie sputtered a bit, and set down the box he was holding. “Did you ever doubt I would be clothed? Oh, dear, that would be more Ken’s department than mine.” Willie was an unusual man, especially as compared to the adventurers. He had one arm in a tan sling, and as far as Janae knew, it was not at all functional. Some old injury had caused that, but Janae did not ever question much about those details. He tipped his head toward Janae, and one of his eyes seemed to be looking at her, but his other eye was looking at Ken. Willie’s strabismus was unsettling to some, even though it was well known. “No offense intended toward you, Ken. No offense intended.”

  “None taken, Willie. But why the darkness?”

  “Well, my dear philanderer, I was thinking about those old colony ships. If one had, say, massive system failures, it might very well lack lighting in some crucial area. It would be dark. Yes, I considered that while I was assembling the packages of supplies you can take. Duly noted is Brink’s mass limit, but he will explain more of that to you, just do not let him get started on the mathematics behind it all.”

  “Willie? You know about the Trailblazer?” Janae asked, but it was more a statement than a question.

  “Yes, honey, I saw some report. Well, one of my eyes did. So, I designed these fusion packs with a quite serviceable light on them. You will have four fusion packs. That is two each, in case your math is lacking,” Willie said.

  “That is a whole lot of power,” Janae began, but was interrupted.

  Ken interjected, “They must be for the teleportation system, as well as all our gear, right?”

  Willie’s eyes darted about. “Yes, Ken, you are right. You get four fusion packs, so take care of all of them.” Using his one arm he set all four on the counter, one at a time. “They will run the gear, as you called it. Most important is the teleportation system. You will be finding me a safe place to go, so do be careful to keep the energy supplies working. Not that there is much that will knock out a fusion pack. Good, solid, and reliable technology, yes they are.” He patted them with his hand. “These fusion packs might be the most important thing you take. I suppose, with effort and ingenuity you could power the receiving pad off some power source you find on those old colony ships, but that would be a lot of work. Not worth the time, so I am trying to make this as easy for you as possible. I am giving you four fusion packs, even though a single fusion pack will power the teleportation receiving pad. Brink has packed all the rest of that teleportation equipment into the scout ship. It includes assembly directions, and you will have your data sticks and readers to help with that. The fusion packs are highly compatible with other technology, so they will also power most any systems you find on that old ship.”

  “That seems pretty straight forward,” Ken said.

  “Also, you will need to get into these flight suits. They are modified RAM suits, and your set is brown colored. You know, most days nobody comes and sees me. Yet today, I am getting visited by fourteen adventurers. Most times, people send me a request, or something to repair, and never stop down to actually talk to me. Maybe that is why my appearance is a low priority to me. Anyway, these RAM suits include everything you are used to on the surface missions: goggles, hoods, gloves, pouches, pockets, socks, and shoes.”

  Janae looked at the RAM materials, and then touched the clothing. She knew with that on she would be safe from radiation, but she also now knew there were other threats right in Dome 17.

  “Janae? Something is troubling you. That beautiful face of yours is carrying an immense load of weight,” Willie said. “I know words are inadequate, but Constance and those others will be missed.”

  Janae reached over and stroked Willie’s face. “Thank you. What else do you have for us?”

  Willie smiled and answered, “Lots of good stuff. Standard food rations for ten days, including water. Also, you both have a basic tool set—molecular torch for cutting, grabbing, welding, and pretty much everything else you will need to build that teleportation receiving pad. All except the raw materials. Those you will get from the colony ship itself. It is in the directions.”

  “Those tool sets are the same as what we always take,” Ken said. “What is new to this mission?”

  “Weapons.”

  “Weapons?” Janae asked as she stared at Willie. “Why weapons?”

  Willie blew out a whistle. “The missions to the dome all were mostly an exploration. Archaeology in its own way. The expectation was that the other domes would be dead. I know machines, and learning how they failed is important. However, those colony ships are alive—so far as we can tell—and that means animals and people. Animals might want to eat you, and, well, people can have evil intentions.”

  “I know that is right, absolutely,” Janae sighed.

  Willie looked at her with one of his eyes, and then continued, “Right. I am sure you know that. But not to worry. As I told the other teams, I am not leaving you undefended. I designed a weapon for each of you.” With his one arm, he carried over some items. “These are your weapons. Jamie, that spunky redhead, called them Willie Wackers. Cammarry had some apparently indecent thoughts about that name.” Willie looked over at Ken and one of his eyes was still sort-of looking at the weapon. “Those sweethearts were nice to me, an old man. Jerome called it a blaster, I think after some old story in a book. Personally, I do not care what you call them, but you must know how to use them.”

  Ken smiled, but then refocused his attention. “Please, tell us more.”

  “This is a high-velocity projectile weapon. This is powered by your fusion packs. The holster allows it to be constantly recharged. Ammunition comes from whatever you can find to load i
nto the chamber here,” He opened the top of weapon, “The weapon itself compresses that raw materials into nuggets. Sweet, perfectly-round, projectiles, which shoot out at high, I mean really fast velocity. Ken, I think you know a thing or two about shooting out loads, but be careful with these. There is a selector lever for power setting. On high power, it could…”

  Janae considered grabbing the weapon and marching off to see Jubal. She could end his tyranny right at that moment. Next, she would kill Doctor Larson, and then expose their evil conspiracy. She imagined hunting them down and stopping it right away. Avenging Constance would happen, and no one else would be threatened, coerced, or in danger. Except, the dome would still fail, and Constance would still be dead. Janae was trying to plan an alternative way of using the weapon to kill Jubal and Doctor Larson, and still keep the missions going, but that would mean knowing all the conspirators, everyone who was in on the plot. She was considering who else might need to be confronted when she heard Willie’s voice.