Alicia Jones 3: New Frontier (4 page)

A month went by before anything exciting really
happened.  The fleet had their first tournament, the computers keeping
score.  To my surprise the ship that won didn’t take leave on Earth, they
exchanged some money for gold, left at FTL, and headed to Tressia which was
just hours away in our newest ships.  I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise,
one of the perks of fleet should be meeting aliens and stepping foot on other
worlds.  I just hope they don’t wind up in jail somewhere.

The moral in the fleet seemed to be up, especially with the
shore leave schedule fully in swing.

I’d spent a lot of time running simulations, and pouring
over the multi-dimensional math for gravity, and seeing how exactly dark energy
fit into it.  I knew the forces were related in some way, or at least,
that was the theory.  It was at the end of the month that theory, and my
work, paid off.  I’d designed a power converter, and power conduits that
reached through the whole ship.  I let the fabricators take care of the
big stuff, and put the nanites on the smaller tasks.

It still took a few days.  Every system on the ship now
had two power sources, I wasn’t sure if that would ever change.  Having
fusion backup local to every system just made sense.  Just in case the
ship did take damage, and wasn’t destroyed, and an important powerline was cut. 
Doubtful, but possible.  Plus, if I didn’t leave it there Kristi would
make fun of me.

“Al, go ahead and bring the converters online.”

Al replied, “Converters are active, and are running at
eighty-six point four percent efficiency.”

That… was actually really good.  All it meant was
compared to what we figured on paper, it was fourteen percent less power that
it could draw.

“Al, switch all systems from fusion to the dark energy
reactor.  And then run diagnostics and put the systems through their
paces.”

“Power switched, the tests will take fifteen minutes.”

I nodded and looked over at Kristi.  I could tell she
was deep in VR, probably trying to get the weapons to work.

“Any luck?”

Kristi shook her head slightly, “Not yet, I have some ideas
but they’re too impractical.”

I nodded and started going over the data as it came
in.  The anti-mass and EM fields were about twice as strong due to the
higher energy availability.  That meant they could make it across the old
Knomen empire space in a day, instead of two.  Across the galaxy in just
four days.  That was insane.  I also saw that it would be hard on the
equipment, the converter was capable of more power, but those systems would
fail if any more was applied.  Unfortunately, the plasma cannons were
already operation at their limits.

It also meant the ship could take about twenty missiles
before the EM field failed, at least twenty of the ones currently in use. 

I looked down at the percentage of power being used verse how
much was possible.  It was sitting at point zero
zero
five percent.  My eyes widened, this much from a micro singularity?
 I couldn’t imagine the power surplus if we made it even bigger.

Well, that’s not true, I could calculate it, but it would be
a number so large as to be meaningless to a human perspective.  The power
of stars.

“Impractical?” I finally asked.

Kristi frowned, “Well the only thing that concentrates or
attracts dark energy is a black hole.  Even a collapsed dwarf star, or
something with close to the gravity of a black hole isn’t good enough to affect
vacuum energy.  So… a dark energy weapon would have to create a
singularity, and have powerful enough emitters to push it out at another
ship.  Considering most battles happen at thousands of miles, to millions
of miles, it’s flat out impossible.”

I nodded, “Well, running the ship twice as tough and fast,
we still have ninety-nine point nine
nine
five
percent power available.  Can we redesign the plasma turrets to
be…
I don’t know, a whole bunch more powerful?”

I frowned at my next thought, “We could probably make dark
matter torpedoes, but let’s not.  Sounds like overkill.”

She shook her head, “They’d be too big, it would take a
fairly large fusion reactor to create a singularity.”

I nodded, “Unless we armed them as they went in the
tubes.  The ship could connect and provide power to form the singularity,
then the missile would be self-sufficient if it used that power until it came
time to explode.”

She snorted, “Okay, I’ll buy that, but it’s still a bad
idea.  I can design plasma weapons that make the current ones look like
pop guns against artillery.”

I frowned, “Also, I’m thinking the attack shuttles,
Shield
missiles, and missile boats need to stay the
same.  The former lands on planets, the latter are recalled to the ship,
and for some reason having sixty-one dark matter reactors on a ship makes me
very nervous.”

She nodded and grinned, “Me too.  So we have a lot of
power to burn, I’ll design those plasma cannons, you start working on a wormhole
drive.”

“I almost forgot about that, I’ll see what I can do, we
definitely have the power, and if not we can double the size of the
singularity.”

She tilted her head, “Is there a practical reason? 
From what you said we move pretty damned fast already.”

It only took me a moment to think of it, “Sure, if the
Seltan attack Leira again, getting there in five minutes is a whole lot better
than a day.”

Kristi looked a little sobered at that comment, “And I call
you the naïve one?”

I grinned, “Does it feel like to you, that we just put an
eight-cylinder engine on a tricycle?  I keep trying to think of something
to add to eat up that energy.  Maybe you can not only update the strength
of the plasma cannons, but add a bunch more to the hull.”

She pointed in mock anger, “Bad alien, wormholes, now.”

I sighed, “Yes mom.”

I read something in the morning reports that woke me up even
better than coffee.  Two thousand light years away rimward, and we ran
into another species in space, but only stellar, not interstellar.  All
indications were they didn’t detect the stealth ship dropping off a
probe.  This made me think of Marlon, surely they were a species we should
find out all we could soon.

Of course, if they didn’t take my suggestion, we’d have to
depend on the probe we dropped off and what we could glean off of television
and radio signals.  Considering how skewed aliens would see Earth based on
our television, I was sure the Intel wouldn’t be very good.  Not much was
known about them yet, but they were on par with what Earth’s technology was
just last year, before I’d stumbled onto anti-mass and FTL.

We weren’t even sure what they looked like yet, all I knew
was there were several artificial satellites in orbit, as well as a couple of
larger space stations.  The planet itself was larger than Earth, a little
closer to their sun, and had a slightly weaker electro-magnetic field.  It
had a slightly longer day, twenty-five point three hours long, and the gravity
was at point nine two of Earth normal.

I was sure future reports would have a focus on that world
compared to others, and looked forward to it.  Again, a part of me itched
to take my ship there and take a look myself, but I had plenty of work to do as
admiral of fleet, and a scientist with my own project, and watching over the
company.

We also now had over a two thousand light year buffer that
was covered by sensors, so assuming any craft coming from that direction
travelled as fast as we did, we’d get at least a couple of hours’ notice.

It took me a couple of days to design a wormhole generator,
and according to my calculations it would take forty percent of the dark energy
reactor’s potential energy generation to open one.  To put that in
perspective, that much energy from the reactor, would be enough to power eight
thousand ships of our current configuration.

We really did have energy to burn, and outside of the
wormhole generator we would be barely scratching the surface.  I
considered the idea of layered EM shielding, increasing the size of the ship by
many factors to make use of that power, and by placing many plasma
cannons. 

However, it occurred to me it might send the wrong message
to the rest of the galaxy.  It would be a juggernaut, and something built
for war.  Perhaps if the galaxy went to hell, we could build a few of
them, but for now I’d have to be happy to at least have one system on board
ship that used the higher energy now available to us.

I had other concerns as well, I had no worries about the
current board, or me, trying to take over the galaxy, but human nature also had
me reluctant to design such a ship.  I wasn’t naïve enough to think no one
else would, once the patents were in and the designs were in the hands of the
governments.  But I was also sure the tech would eventually leak out to
other worlds and restore the balance.

I believed most wanted a peaceful state in the galaxy of
trade and defense, but power corrupts.  Sometimes those thoughts made me
wonder if even the dark energy reactor, and wormhole drive was too much.

I snorted, maybe it won’t be in the budget for them to buy
any?

The ironic thing was I’d be only able to patent the energy
converters and wormhole generator if it worked.  There was no new tech in
creating a dark energy reactor, it was a rather simple, if intense, artificial
gravity device.  I considered the idea of classifying the dark energy
reactor, even with the dark energy converter and wormhole patent, no one else
would be able to make use of it because of not meeting the energy requirements.

Wormhole generation was something purely on paper.  I
had a design, but didn’t know if it would even work.  And if it did work,
there was the matter of aiming the other end.  I thought about creating a
second test ship to keep experiments separate, but in the end decided to just
to use the same one.  Hopefully Kristi’s newer and bigger plasma cannons
wouldn’t blow up my experiment, and I wouldn’t blow up hers.

I also spent time with Al to get a test regimen.  We’d
need a lot of test probes, and to experiment how to determine size, direction,
and distance.  It would be a tedious time consuming activity, but one
easily monitored by an A.I.  Once I monitored the first one or two
openings, assuming it worked, Al could take it from there and get the thing calibrated.

The next few days I went back and forth in my mind as the
wormhole drive, or generator, was built.  Moral science, what did it
mean?  Some purists would say I should just publish everything and the
consequences be damned.  Others would say the knowledge was too dangerous
and should be suppressed.  I believed there was a balance in the middle
somewhere.  Cautious, hopeful, but not without giving weight to the
possible outcomes.

I decided in the end to highly classify the power source as
much as was possible, but I would be submitting patents for the power
converter, and wormhole drive.  Even with patents, it would take others
time to figure out how it actually worked, and then they’d be without a power
source capable of making use of either.  It wouldn’t hold forever, or even
all that long, but all I could do was hope that was long enough for cooler
heads to prevail to avoid the negative outcomes.

Al said, “You have a call from Nadia Avdonin.”

“Answer it please,” after a moment I said, “Good afternoon
ma’am.”

Nadia sighed in disgust, “Call me Nadia, and that’s an
order.”

I smiled, “Of course… ma’am,” I said teasingly, “Nadia it
is.”

She snorted, “Are you and Kristi free tonight?”

“I believe so, what do you need?”

Nadia replied, “Need?  Nothing.  Nora and Senna
want to get out of the complex and see what life really is like on Earth. 
I was wondering if you two wanted to join us on a girl’s night out.  I was
thinking dinner, then something fun like a pool hall, followed by a late show
on Broadway maybe?”

Huh.  Sounded like fun to me.

“Sounds good, should I bring security, or you have that
covered?”

Nadia made a considering sound, “I have it covered, but I
wouldn’t mind if you provided the transportation.”

I grinned, “Sure, I can do that.  I think the sports
shuttle is big enough for the five of us, I assume our escorts are following?”

I knew the sports shuttle was secure enough, New York could
be nuked and the little shuttle wouldn’t even get scratched.

Nadia grunted, “Good, be here around five?”

I agreed and hung up.  And then I called Kristi to fill
her in.  It was going to be tough to dress and fit in at both a pool hall,
and a Broadway show.  I supposed Nadia wanted to show them diversity…

We left work early to stop at the house, get out of our skin
suits, and take a shower.  I wound up wearing a black skirt and a red
blouse, with red three inch heeled shoes.  I did my normal light touch of
makeup, hair, and some matching jewelry.  Of course, I was wearing the
protective bustier underneath.  Not one person had tried to kill me yet,
at least not anyone from Earth, but it seemed prudent.  I’d probably be a
little overdressed for a pool hall, but better that than trying to wear jeans
to a nice restaurant, or a Broadway show.  At least, that was the theory.

I thought I looked pretty good, although it wasn’t very hard
to achieve when I could control my body and looks.  The hard part was
not
overdoing it in that area.

Kristi looked great in a dark green summer dress, and a pair
of black high heels.  When we got back into the shuttle and headed east
toward New York I realized we’d only be a couple of minutes late.  I was
proud of
Earth,
the world I grew up in.  Yet… I
didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday.  I was hoping there wouldn’t
be any problems, but the fact was this girl’s night out was two humans, and
three aliens all of different races.  I had purple eyes and spots, Nora
was blue, and Senna was extremely tall and thin.  We would stand out
pretty well.

Well, we’d have security to keep an eye on us, and I had my
gravity ball just in case, Kristi most likely had hers too.  The truth was
though, I’d been welcomed most places I went outside of a few stares,
surprisingly so, hopefully this night would go the same.

It was a small production once we got there.  Security
arranged us in cavalcade of sorts with two black SUVs in front and back of
us.  They were probably bulletproof, but next to the shuttle they might
have well been tissue paper.  At best, they were calling attention to us,
at worst, they were putting themselves in danger for no reason. 

The good thing was Nora and Senna were thrilled to see me
and Kristi.  They both had huge smiles that reached their eyes and I gave
them both a light hug on impulse, then found myself in one with Nadia.  I
hoped they’d enjoy a night on the town in New York.

Nadia wore a similar sundress to Kristi’s, but black instead
of green, with a pair of red two inch heels.  Nora and Senna had similar
attire to me, skirts and blouses, but done in their own culture and home
world.  It was similar, but really stood out for the slight differences,
styles that had never graced our planet before, yet, were somehow still
familiar.

“Where are we eating?” I asked.

Nadia winked, “Planet Hollywood.”

Huh, I hadn’t been expecting that, but it would work. 
I’d eaten there once a long time ago.  We all piled into the sports
shuttle.  Nora, Senna, and Nadia fit into the back, barely.  It was a
good thing they were all slim and petite in nature.  We made our way out
of the complex and into the streets of Manhattan.  The streets were packed
this time of day, but no huge traffic snarls.

When we got out I told Al to circle around if he couldn’t
find a spot, there was no way I was letting a valet in a shuttle that could go
FTL.  Not that he’d have been able to operate it.

It was hard not to notice the people staring, but outside a
few catty looks that told me I looked good tonight, most of the faces were
friendly.  An extremely large and intimidating man in leather, he had the
look of a biker, opened the door for us, and shocked me with his words.

“Thank you Alicia Jones, for all you did for us.”

I paused for a second and smiled at him before walking in,
not quite sure how to say your welcome for saving the planet.  I never did
learn how to take a compliment gracefully, and that one is always seems to big.

I almost choked with laughter at what I heard from two
random men outside as the door closed.

“God, she’s a hot one.  Did you see those purple eyes,
and that
body.”

“Don’t I know it?  I wouldn’t say no to one of her
friends either.  That blue one has a really nice…” the rest of the words
cut off as the door closed.  Even with my stronger than human hearing it
was too loud in here to hear what he liked about Nora.

Nora blushed, which was interesting, her cheeks turned a
purplish color.  What I didn’t expect to see or sense was the intrigued
look in her eyes.  For some reason it never occurred to me Nora would be
interested in human men.  Which was stupid of course, since I’m an alien
interested in one particular human man myself.  Sometimes I forget that
little fact, despite what I see in the mirror, I grew up native after all.

Nadia cleared her throat and the host looked up.

“Five, for Avdonin.”

He smiled and grabbed five menus, “This way please,” and led
us to our table…

Dinner was excellent, and fun.  Especially when we got
a couple of drinks in us, and I finally relaxed and killed my inner
hermit.  Senna actually won the most reserved award out of the five of us,
which was a change for me, but she was definitely having fun.  I got the
impression she didn’t get out of the palace very much back on Leira.

After, letting Al drive, we went to a pool hall with a full
bar.  There was more staring and comments, but it was kept to a minimum,
and I was pretty sure our security was the reason for that.  They weren’t
loud and crude about it either.  Mostly, it was just that my sense of
hearing picking up things most people wouldn’t.  Some of it was very
flattering actually.

  The first game, Kristi and Nadia played a game of
nine ball, while I explained the rules to Senna and Nora.  They didn’t
look all that excited about it at first, but before we left they were quite
addicted to the game.  It almost came to the point where we just skipped
the show, but we decided to stick to the plan.

I’d have rather gone dancing.

However, it wasn’t meant to be.  On the way to the
Broadway show we got stuck in traffic, just sitting still.  Manhattan was
one of the places I wasn’t allowed to fly, so I couldn’t just go over the
traffic, at least not legally.  Accidents weren’t that common an
occurrence anymore, so I didn’t think that was the problem.  Not since
A.I.s could drive, and although the cars weren’t like my shuttle, they
did
run
off of small fusion reactors instead of gasoline, and were extremely reliable.

We all exchanged looks.

I asked curiously, “Al, what’s going on up ahead.”

Al took a moment to respond, I assumed he was checking the
net for information, “There is some kind of hostage situation on the roof of
the nearby building, a man holding a woman at the edge.  The man is
threatening to kill himself and take his wife with him.  There has also
been an accident because of the gathered crowd before the police arrived, and some
people are stuck in their car, emergency vehicles are in route.”

I thought about it for a second, then moved to get
out.  Kristi just looked at me and followed outside of her door. 

I smiled, “I thought you’d argue with me.”

She replied, “Only if you went alone.  I followed you
into space battles, did you think I’d stop you from dealing with a jumper, and
an accident.”

I snickered, she had a good point.

We heard the others get out and follow as we walked between
the card toward the scene.  Outside of some strange looks by the other
drivers, no one stopped us until we got up to the police barricade.

The officer said firmly in a strong New York accent, “Go
back to your car ma’am, everything is in hand.”

I looked up and saw the jumper on top of the six story
building, standing on the edge with who I assumed was his wife, in a
headlock.  I could also see the car crushed against the telephone
pole.  I wasn’t exactly a hero, but I was here and had the technology to
help. 

I shook my head, “I can help.”

The officer looked me up and down with a doubtful look,
until his eyes reached back up to my face, perhaps seeing it for the first
time, and he froze a moment.  Then he noticed the people behind me.

He still looked unsure, “How exactly can you help?”

I smiled, “Gravity.”

Kristi coughed to hide a laugh.  I had to admit it
wasn’t much of an explanation.

“I mean, I have a device that can create gravity fields, it
isn’t in the open market yet but it is available to law enforcement. 
Don’t you guys have them yet?”

He frowned, “It’s part of the riot gear, how would that help
here?”

I shook my head, “It can do a lot more than just make people
feel heavier.”

Maybe I’d have to talk to someone in charge and educate them
about what they now had access too.  This thing could move a tractor
trailer off the side of the road easily, much less a jumper on the edge of a
roof.  For that matter, during a police pursuit it could lift a car a few
inches off the road.  There were so many uses and I wasn’t even thinking
that hard about it.

Figuring that asking forgiveness was better than permission,
I took my mine out.

“Al, get those people down, and subdue the man so he can’t
hurt the woman.”

The last thing I wanted was for the man to snap his wife’s
neck when he realized he could no longer throw her off a building.

The ball disappeared from my hand and shot up into the
sky.  The roof was too far away for the field to work, way further than
fifty feet up, but then the gravity ball could fly itself up there.  I really
needed a better name for my invention…

The crowd gave a gasp of horror as the unhappy couple were
pulled right off the roof, and the man’s arms were pulled to his sides. 
Perhaps I should have specified to Al how it should be done, that poor woman
must be terrified. 

The gasps gave way to sounds of confusion as the couple did
not fall to their deaths, but floated down sedately toward a couple of police
officers in the middle of the street.

I shrugged sheepishly, “I can use it to pry open the car
too.  It’s capable of subtlety but also brute force.”

He gave me a look of speculation, “A person could fly with
one of those things.”

I laughed, “Yes, they could.  They could also make a
car fly, if I can ever get approval for public sales we’ll finally get those
flying cars they’ve been promising for the last hundred years or so.”

Obviously mine didn’t count, it was actually a
spaceship.  The good thing about using artificial gravity for flying cars
was that they wouldn’t be able to exceed light speed.  I wasn’t sure that
kind of power would be good in the general public’s hands.  It would only
take one suicidal nut deciding he wants to take the world with him or her to do
it, or some kind of crazy terrorist.  Granted, safety protocols were
involved, but someone determined enough could probably find a way.

The cop laughed and his voice was a little wistful, “That
would be something.”

Nora said without a trace of condescension, “It will come,
when we first discovered the technology it took years before it was commonplace
on Tressia.”

The emergency vehicle finally made it, and I did wind up
assisting them in getting the doors off.  It was probably better this way
anyway, let a medical professional decide if it was safe for the occupants to
move or not.  There was no danger of the vehicle exploding after all,
without gasoline that simply didn’t happen anymore.

Regardless, our little side trip made us late for the show,
so we decided to go dancing after all…