feed.” The cube and tesseract were exchanging now about twice per second. “It has been accelerating in a linear fashion. I would estimate that we have less than two hours before the intersection is complete. We must act now with the resources we have.” Winters didn’t respond, but his demeanor indicated grudging acquiescence.
“One final thing. I want a dump of all logs, diaries, and records to this.” She held out a large capacity data key. “In case we are not successful, I wish a record of our activities. We do not have time to filter or edit it, so dump it all.”
“If we fail, won’t that be lost, too?”
“I constructed a small-scale special purpose axial exchanger to act as a sort of time capsule.” She held up a shiny metal sphere with a nearly invisible seam bisecting it. “It can even accept data by radio link, so we can feed our last minute actions to it up until it is activated. I figure we can wait until just prior to phase four, the collision of the Truck and the Bus with the reactor module to destroy the conduit generator, before we activate it.” She pointed at the written checklist she’d produced. “See, it is right there at tee minus ten seconds, ‘Activate log stasis device.’”
“Aye, ma’am.”
“You are doubtful?”
“I don’t see how it’ll matter if we fail.”
“The cosmos may surprise you yet, Ensign Winters. Just because we fail, if we fail, doesn’t mean others might not benefit from what we have learned.”
With that, Winters went off to obey. Logs, diaries, and records, all were dumped into the data key and it was sealed into the stasis device. The countdown began thirty-five minutes later. Truck and Bus were positioned far enough away to be able to attain maximum speed for impact. Natalia went EVA to Bug One to monitor and operate the axial exchanger. Winters was stationed at Kestrel’s command board.
Phase one, the cutting charge severed the link between the temporary power and the entity. Truck and Bus were already moving in, fast. Phase two, the gravitic boosters, aligned to create a suppression field for any artificial singularities, came on line. The PSR feed from Project Control showed wild flailing by the entity. Phase three, their bait was put in contact with the entity through manipulation of the axis of duration. Phase four, a view from Truck as Howard Station grew from speck to visibility. Fifteen seconds to impact, twelve. . . .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DT: 2318-06-24
TO: UNSA-BUINT
FM: WESLEY (NMI) COURSEN, LTCMDR, UNSA, (RET)
RE: REPORT ON ARTIFACT RECOVERED HR2251-A 2318-06-23
DURING ROUTINE DUTIES IN MY CIVILIAN JOB AS TUG PILOT, I WAS ESCORTING COMPONENTS OF WHAT WILL BE PHYSICS RESEARCH STATION F. W. THURSTON. ON APPROACH TO FINAL COMPONENT STAGING POSITION MY COMM OFFICER PICKED UP A RADIO BEACON THAT HAD NOT BEEN THERE ON EITHER OF THE TWO PREVIOUS SURVEYING EXPEDITIONS. THE BEACON WAS LOCATED AND WAS INTEGRAL TO THE ARTIFACT RECOVERED AND FORWARDED TO YOU BY PARCEL EXPRESS (TRACKING # 1ZF37112GH49263AF2). THE SIGNAL FROM THE BEACON IS MEANINGFUL (CRYPTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT IT IS NON-RANDOM) BUT CONFORMS TO NO COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL AVAILABLE TO SHIPBOARD COMPUTER. FORWARDED TO BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AS A POSSIBLE ARTIFACT OF ALIEN DESIGN IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNREG 35-43-9-7-b.2. EXPENSE VOUCHER FOR PARCEL SERVICE AND EXPRESS MESSAGE SERVICE WILL FOLLOW ROUTINE CHANNELS.
COURSEN OUT.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DT: 2318-07-02
TO: UNSA-SIGINT, CHIEF
FM: UNSA-BUINT, CHIEF
RE: HR2251-A ARTIFACT - ORDERS PURSUANT TO RECEIPT OF SAME
YOU ARE DIRECTED TO DECIPHER THE DATA CONTAINED IN THE ACCOMPANYING ARTIFACT AND REPORT TO CHIEF, BUINT AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE DATE.
THIS IS AN ORANGE-FIVE EYES ONLY PROJECT - YOU MAY DRAFT A TEAM OF NO MORE THAN FIVE PERSONNEL TO COLLABORATE ON THIS TASK.
SUBMIT REPORT IN PERSON TO CHIEF, BUINT AT GANYMEDE STATION WHEN READY.
MIKE - NO LEAKS ON THIS, I MEAN IT. LOCK YOUR PEOPLE DOWN TIGHT UNTIL THE BOSS GIVES THE OKAY.
(SIGNED)
BUFORD R. WILSON, RADM, UNSA-BUINT CHIEF
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DT: 2318-11-12
TO: UNSA-BUINT, CHIEF
FM: UNSA-SIGINT, CHIEF
NOTE: HAND DELIVER ONLY - DO NOT TRANSMIT
BUF - WE’VE EXTRACTED THE DATA AND DONE OUR BEST TO TRANSLATE IT. YOU’LL FIND A NARRATIVE OF THE EVENTS DESCRIBED. PERSONALLY, AND FOR THE RECORD, I BELIEVE IT TO BE A CLUMSY HOAX. THE LUDDITES ARE AT IT AGAIN.
MY ADVICE IS TO FILE THIS. PERMANENTLY.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From The Tech—January 5, 2319
F. W. Thurston Comes Online Today
A joint venture between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Berlin Polytechnic Institute becomes operational today with the operational activation of Physics Research Station F. W. Thurston. The new station is located in stellar orbit around HR2251-A and will conduct experiments in probing n-dimensional space from normal three space. The MIT press officer stated that Station Thurston has a complement of 22 scientists, technicians, and crew.
“The remote location is primarily to isolate the experiments from outside interference,” stated the University spokesman. “There is nothing dangerous about the experiments themselves. . . .”
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