Unbounded

Chapter Ten: Illuminations of Glimmerpool

  Mission Time: +675.53 Earth-years

  A black-robed figure walked down/up the curved floor, hooded head bowed. He was illuminated from below as false-window light splashed him with the colors of florid continents and oceans. Embedded in the white deck, the vista followed under his feet. He reached a door and pushed it open, whipped off the warming robe, and tossed it into the cabin.

  "Mr. Kask! Have you looked at the new parameters?" Tai said as he rushed towards him.

  "For what?" Ryder said, turning and sliding his cabin door shut.

  Tai pointed to the world at his feet. "That."

  "No, I was just looking at the images we have so far. I think Helga will give an extensive briefing."

  "Indeed. I'm heading there now. You?"

  Ryder nodded. "Let's go." He pinched the window closed, and the overhead spots bloomed.

  Helga was already waiting at the head of the table when they arrived. Behind her, the soft green atmosphere of the planet blanketed its night face. Other senior staff were trickling in.

  "Let's begin," Helga said when the chairs were almost full.

  "Mr. Zhao isn't present yet," Ryder said.

  "He's busy with his duties and will join us later," she said. "First on the agenda is the information which--"

  "Just a moment," Tekoha interrupted. "I wish to voice an objection."

  "I haven't even said anything yet," Helga said.

  "Not about words, but about actions. I'm lodging an official protest of our settlement of Echo."

  "You seemed fine with it when we were building the habitats in the desert."

  "I made a complaint in my logs, but I wasn't very vocal--perhaps I should have been. I want to state it in front of you, in person, so that everyone here knows what a bad idea I think it was--is."

  "Tekoha," Helga said, "we all are aware of Planetary Protection Policy and the reasons behind it. If our self-preservation isn't enough of a motivation for you to colonize, then consider this. We, and the new settlers, are very well-equipped to avoid genocide. A century before we launched the spinship, that was obviously not the case. But the Garden World Laws have really changed the face of Earth, have they not? The restriction of humanity to the circular cities and their connecting lines, building up instead of out, the No-go Garden Zones, the resurrection of cloned megafauna and regrowth of the rainforests--this has all proven we are capable of living in a biosphere without ravaging it to mass extinction levels. Our exoworld colonies will carry on this tradition, I have no doubt. I'm glad you're concerned about impacting biomes and destroying civilizations--we should all be concerned, because the stakes are so high. But there is a point at which that concern becomes pathologically suicidal. We must--we will--live amongst others without sacrificing either them or us."

  Tekoha leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

  "Now if we're done with the pleasantries, I'd like to talk about some of the information given us by the shuriken's main computer AI. Obviously, I'm not going to summarize decades of AI-speed conversations, but I need to touch on some relevant points, beginning with their offered solutions to our radiation problem. Doctor Li, give us your report."

  Li Lan cleared her throat. "Yes, um .... The medical computers are continuing to run very detailed simulations meant to assess the full impact of the Pelagoids' proposed therapy on the human body."

  "Wait, 'Pelagoids'?" Ryder asked.

  "Yes, we're calling them that because of their homeworld, Pelagos, and their strong connection to aquatic forms which are similar to our own crinoids," Helga said. "Please, Doctor Li, continue."

  "Well, that's about it. No adverse effects so far. As simulation time continues, the current trend is that the chances of adverse effects are diminishing. If I had to guess, I would say this is going to work. We would be able to withstand radiation levels we never thought possible. Like, up to 7 kilograys."

  "How long until you know for sure?"

  "Of course we can never know for sure with a simulation. But we shall obtain the required level of confidence in about nine hours, ship-time."

  "But will the therapy take seven years to have an effect, as would Tai's medicine?"

  "No, this involves aggressive nanotech. It would only take a day or two."

  "Excellent. If the simulations reach a favorable and reliable conclusion, I want to be notified immediately, and then we'll begin treating the crew ASAP."

  "Yes ma'am," Lan said.

  "How have the Pelagoids survived in space for so long?" Tekoha asked. "Did they use the same technique?"

  "The Pelagoid astronauts are genetically modified. As are we of course, though only in minor ways--cryoprotectant production, mainly. But the Pelagoids have many other modifications in addition to that. Radiation resistance, for example," Helga said.

  "So they do use stasis?" Tekoha asked.

  "Yes. Their stasis system works very similarly to ours, not because of their specific biology, but because of the laws of chemistry and physics. As you know, the process of aging is not some inevitable entropic process of degeneration as we thought medievally. It's a collection of diseases not naturally selected against, in addition to the effects of oxygen damaging our DNA over many cell generations. The Pelagoids were able to extend their life-span by curing these diseases and repairing their genetic molecules. But because of the inevitable oxygen damage and ship-resource consumption, stasis turns out to be necessary. And in stasis, both we and they are technically dead, although--"

  "Now wait, I know that's not true," Ryder said. "We're not kept at absolute zero. There is some molecular motion, and thus metabolism occurring, even if the rate is extremely slow."

  "And you need to take that slowness into a account," Helga said. "When it is so slow that chemical reactions are measured on the order of megayears, when we would be long dead from radioactive decay, we are practically in complete suspension on the intended timescales of travel. But as I was going to say, despite similar principles, their techniques are more efficient than ours, so I think we should study them if they allow."

  The conference room door opened, and one of Fai-tsiri's bodies entered.

  "Ah, Fai-tsiri. You're finished with your conversation?" Helga asked.

  "Yes." After the gynoid entered and stood to the side, a Pelagoid squeezed into the room, followed by Zhong. Except Helga, everyone around the table jumped in their seats and tensed.

  "During stasis, Fai-tsiri and the exo-AI collaborated to build an airlock adapter between Kiwi-class skiffs and the shuriken," Helga said. "Diplomatic relations have begun between our peoples. Diplomatic protocols have been written, jointly, governing the relations. The Listeners have agreed to extradite the Speakers into our custody, who will be transported to our brig today."

  Ryder stared at the Pelagoid. Its feather crown brushed the ceiling.

  "The shuriken's AI is called 'Wave Collector'," Helga said. "Fai-tsiri and Wave Collector will continue to keep an open line of communication between each other and exchange information as needed. No vessel will be expected to divulge information which might compromise the security of its crew." Helga looked around the table. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the Pelagoid, who held the conical translation device attached to the floor by a tube.

  "We need to do some catch-up on the basic facts," Mbali said. "Where are the Pelagoids from?"

  "Some hectolight-years away; they weren't too specific. They do claim their sun, which they call 'Giver', is a type G," Helga said. "Pelagos is very similar to Earth, except the continents are currently smaller, more broken up and spread out; so they have much longer shorelines. They prefer to live close to the sea, and have a stronger psychological connection to it than humans do. Whereas our ancestors emerged from the sea about 400 megayears ago, theirs emerged only 15 megayears ago."

  "That's all very interesting, but anything more relevant for our interactions with them?" Ryder asked.

  "Why don't you ask it yourself?" Helga
said, gesturing to the starkly waiting Pelagoid. "I'm sure you'll find the translation program much improved since the last mission segment."

  Ryder looked at it. Before he could say anything, Tekoha spoke: "What are the feathers on your head?"

  There was a pause for a few seconds. Then the text response appeared on their arm-calcs.

  "You're filter feeders? So those are feeding arms lined with pinnules and cilia?" Tekoha asked.

  "Do you have to submerge in water to feed?"

  Within a human eye-blink, Standing Wave retracted the feeding feathers into its cephalon.

  "And, I'm curious--it's apparent you don't have an exoskeleton, but somehow you appear different than the standard endoskeletal animal," Tekoha said.

  "But you do have a rigid section above your arms," Ryder said.

  Tekoha frowned. "Our brains are very close to our primary sense organs for minimal signal transmission time."

  "This is very interesting, and I look forward to reading more about your anatomy and physiology later," Ariki said. "But I think what we want to cover now is how you survive interstellar travel."

  "All I can tell you is we did what we thought was the minimal amount of gene-editing needed for successful space travel," Helga said. "And that plan was determined by our Earth-based superintelligence, called Mission Control."

  Helga cleared her throat. "I don't want to get into that right now. Before we start the current mission, I believe my crew have some pressing questions to which only your crew may have answers. One of them is regarding other intelligent exospecies in the galaxy."

  "Yes!" Tekoha said. "Have you encountered other civilizations?"

  "But then your contact with us changed your minds?"

  "Then your stumbling upon two technological species was extremely unlikely," Tekoha said.

  "Wait, how do the Shape Dreamers know this, if everyone is too spread out?" Ryder asked.

  "Right, because stars needed time to fuse hydrogen into the other elements," Ariki said.

  "So you're saying the Shape Dreamers are the most ancient civilization you know of?" Tekoha asked.

  "Can you be more specific about mobile organisms? I've always imagined most animals have arthropodoid characteristics," Tekoha asked.

  "But I would think the parent exoplanet would be a gravitational sink for asteroids and comets, increasing impact rates to dangerous levels," Ariki said.

  "I want to get back to the Shape Dreamers for a moment," Tekoha said. "You haven't said much about them. They have taught you much?"

  "How did that happen?" Helga asked.

  "That must have been frustrating, to be ignored for so long," Helga said. "And it is exactly what you did to us."

  "Well, why?"

  "What are the Simulators?"

  "Okay ...." Helga frowned.

  "The Shape Dreamers--why do you call them that?" Ryder asked.

  "Yes, what can you tell us about it?" Helga asked.

  "Their exoplanetary probes are feeding us live telemetry," Fai-tsiri said. "You may have a look."

  Ryder pulled out a VR visor from the table and selected one of the available feeds. The conference room around him seemed to disappear, and he found himself sitting on the shore of a small lake. It was night--the lake reflected the stars, but it seemed brighter than the sky--it swam thickly with bioluminescent organisms. Around the lake, thick vegetation was dotted with yellow lights. The air swarmed with small flying creatures. The display HUD of the sonic histogram indicated the air must have been filled with a cacophony, or perhaps music, of nocturnal calls. Ryder selected a different telemetric output. This probe was flying over the land at a higher altitude on the dayside. The land was covered by the bright red leaves of a jungle canopy, frequently interrupted by blue lakes. The topology consisted of low hills and flat flood plains. Ryder removed the visor. "Breath-taking," he said.

  Standing Wave said.

  "Yes, that might be helpful. Thank you for the offer," Helga said.

  "How would you like to proceed?"

  it said.

  "Yes, let's," Helga said. She stood, and everyone else followed suit. Helga walked around the long table, and was the first to leave the room, followed by Standing Wave, then Fai-tsiri, then the others.

  For a moment, Ryder stood outside the conference room and watched Helga and Standing Wave converse at a console. Then he left Command Sector and went to his cabin. He sat at his desk and pulled all the files made by Fai-tsiri about the Pelagoids and studied them. About an hour later, there was a knock on his door. "Yes?"

  The door opened and Tai stepped in. "The Speakers have been put safely into our brig."

  "Oh? Good."

  "The Pelagoids call the planet 'Glimmerpool'. They'll take the skiff down in a few minutes; I imagine you'll want to go with them."

  "Right. Of course." Ryder shoved the reports into a folder and then turned off his desk. The surface became white.

  "But right now, I am going to visit the prisoners," Tai said.

  "What? Why?" Ryder stood.

  "I'm curious about whether I can discern any difference between Standing Wave and the psychopathic killers of their species."

  "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

  "Why not? There's no danger," Tai said.

  "Maybe not physical danger, but--" Tai was heading out the door.

  "Wait! I'll go with you." Ryder followed him out and along the corridor. After walking ninety degrees around the Habitat Ring, they reached a red door. "BRIG" was written boldly in New Maori with small Globalese text below. They entered and walked along a metal grate in a tall, narrow room. On the other side of the walkway was a railing, then several floor-to-ceiling pistons beyond. They arrived at the two final pistons, and Tai pressed a hand on each corresponding console before the railing. A chime sounded, and the pistons recessed into the ceiling whilst cylinders to which they were attached rose from the deck. The brig's lights went red.

  The cylinders, labeled 'Holding Cell One' and 'Holding Cell Two', were transparent, two meters in diameter, lit from the inside by lights at the top. Each one contained a Pelagoid.

  "Pelagoids are deaf in gaseous media," Ryder said. "They have organs, evolved from an inner set of legs, which are very sensitive to ground vibration. Their leg vibrations are what produces their voices."

  "Right," Tai said. "But the holding cells' walls will detect the sound of our voices, and the translation program will send the output to a device beneath the cell floor; the human voice-detection end of the system can be activated by this dead-man switch." Tai indicated a virtual button on the console's face.

  Ryder nodded. "I'll go first." He rested his fingers on each of the buttons, which changed color. "My name is Ryder Kask; I'm the ship's clerk. Why did you attack us?" He released the button, and it turned back to its original color. There was no response. "Did they test this voice transmission system?" he asked Tai.

  "Yes. They heard you." Tai held the buttons. "You killed my comrades. Why shouldn't I kill you?" He released the button.

  "Are you sure you should say things like that? Did you come in here just to badger them?"

  "Look," Tai said, pointing to one of the consoles.

  A text response was displayed.

  Ryder held the button. "You claim the Listeners are lying to us?"

  "What are you talking about? How?" Ryder asked.

  "You're safe here in our brig. You must tell us." But no more text appeared on the console. Tai glared at their inscrutable forms in the red light.