Shackleton's Folly (The Lost Wonder Book 1) (27 page)

“Switching to infrared,” said Dancer.

“Trade you seats,” said Alec as he stood up.

Electra got up, and Alec took command of the
Quest
. She returned to the seat at the engineer’s station.

“Survey, please.” Alec watched his console for any readings that would suggest someone had followed them.

The cloud lit up with protostars all around them in what was, otherwise, darkness. They were too young to start the fusion process but were well on the way and warm enough to radiate in the lower energy spectrum. The
Quest
’s course slowly took them in an arc around the cavity, its sensors extended to their fullest to survey the interior space they found themselves in.

The
Quest
’s shields now radiated with the heat of the protostars nearby in the darkness of the nebula’s folds. The vastness of the internal space was becoming quickly apparent.

Dancer checked his readings. “I estimate the void to be about 0.03 light years across at the narrowest.”

Alec looked back at Electra. “Where to?”

Electra came up, stood behind him, and pointed to an object near the center of the void. “There.”

“Make it so,” said Alec as he keyed in a new course. The ship’s sensors, still out in full, took in all the data they could to map the local area of space. There was no telling what the future held, and having a way out was much better than having no way out.

The
Quest
traveled at a more leisurely velocity as it bore through space toward the object growing on their screens.

“Is this another stop on the way to your world?” asked Alec.

“No, this is our destination,” replied Electra.

Alec and Dancer hunted through the data from their scanners, looking for a star that would support planetary life. Not finding any, they turned back to Electra.

“We are not finding any stars in the local group that are far enough along to have planetary bodies in orbits that could support life,” said Alec.

“Of course not. We are in a nebula, and the dust cloud alone is proof that the stars here are too young to support planetary systems that could.”

“You said your people were here,” reminded Alec.

“I did. You will see.” Electra could now distinguish the object in the forward scanners.

Alec could see that Electra’s attention was now focused on something, and he turned to see what she was looking at. The infrared sensors were centered on an object radiating heat from an internal source, yet the surface was dark in the more traditional spectrum for stars. The
Quest
reduced its distance from the object, which now could be distinguished as spherical in shape. No, not
like
one — it
was
a sphere, a construct of sentient life formed on the scale of a red giant star.

Alec looked over at Dancer, who had stopped what he was doing to take in the experience with awe. Alec returned to his console and began to map the sphere. Words failed him as his attention went from his sensor readings to the viewing screen and back again. Surface features were becoming visible as the distance closed.

“No atmosphere detected,” stated Dancer.

“Something strange here. Gravity is… off. We should be getting a lot more pull from it than we are getting,” replied Alec.

The material making up the surface of the sphere was grey, with a matte finish. Alec touched the surface of the panel between him and Dancer. The device glowed momentarily, and then the holographic display constructed a 3D image from the data it had gathered so far. It was not complete, but it showed a good representation. A feature that just popped out at the viewer was a geometric pattern of straight lines at regular intervals on the surface. The
Quest
’s sensor data painted the giant ball with a pattern of hexagons.

“A buckyball! How big?” exclaimed Alec.

Dancer replied, “I calculate that, with a radius of 149.6 million kilometers, there are 1070 hexagons with a total of just 12 pentagons you could fly a star like your Sol through and not chip the paint as you went through the door frame. I estimate it encompasses a volume of space roughly the diameter of Earth’s orbit.”

Alec said to Electra, “I never…” He looked out the port to gain a better perspective on the giant construct. “Your people live in the sphere?”

“Exactly,” said Electra. “You are correct, Dancer. My world does have the number of hexagons and pentagons you have estimated. Have you found a pentagon yet?”

“I can now predict where to find one based on the patterns needed to produce a buckyball — better known as a Goldberg polyhedral G(6,6).”

“A buckyball?” asked Electra.

“It is a geometric shape of Carbon-60 — or, on Alec’s Earth, a soccer ball, from a popular sport. It is a shape containing pentagons and hexagons.” Dancer saw the confusion on her face. “No need to worry. Would you like us to chart a course for one?”

The joints where the hexagons and pentagons met showed signs of stress and slippage. The joints no longer met flush with each other. The
Quest
drifted lower, flying over the structures forming what looked like, from a distance, a rough texture. A tower that rose from the surface ignited and blasted a medium sized asteroid that had drifted too close to the surface for the sphere’s systems to allow. A joint between two hexagons was particularly out of alignment, forcing the
Quest
to increase altitude to fly over it.

“Yes, do.” Electra turned back to Alec. “The pentagons are used as ports to the interior of the sphere.”

A thought struck Alec. “It’s a Dyson sphere.”

Electra looked questioningly at Alec. “Sorry — it was a megastructure first described by a theoretical physicist a long time ago. He later wanted his name removed from it, but it stuck anyway. It should not be possible. There are a large number of issues as to why it should not exist, but I am looking right at it,” said Alec.

Electra was overwhelmed with excitement. She managed, “This is my world.”

Alec gazed out. “You live here,” he stated.

Dancer turned to them. “A pentagon coming up on the port side ahead.”

The
Quest
slowed as the pentagon came close. The sphere was still of such scale that it was hard to sense the size of what they were dealing with.

Dancer pored over the data coming from the
Quest
. “The side of this pentagon is 4.48 million kilometers long. There is a port with a radius of roughly 3 million kilometers.”

Electra looked intensely at Alec. “The prophecy said our salvation would be a seeker.”

Alec reflected a moment. “Well, yes I am a seeker of sorts, but I am a refugee.” His brow furrowed. “In what way is that troubling to your world?”

Electra glanced out the screen. “The prophecy said that, when the red skies blaze, they harken the end of worlds. The seeker would hasten the outcome. I would like to believe that the seeker would stop the destruction.”

Alec took it all in for a moment. “Electra, I will do whatever it takes to stop it from happening.” He looked out the port. “Where do we go? Any special procedure to enter?”

Electra sighed. “No, any port will do.” She pointed to the pentagon they had arrived at.

Alec took it all in. “Dancer, let’s see what’s inside.”

The
Quest
approached the port slowly, with caution. The sphere’s defensive systems were set to take care of rubble and other debris that drifted toward the structure. The system had suffered from extensive neglect. Its self-awareness had assessed its priorities and had focused all of its resources on protecting the gardens from invasion. It resolved that the
Quest
was a powered craft but not a threat and not part of its program for removal. The ship’s course took it closer to the side nearest their starting point. They spotted random chunks of space debris being pulled down the center of the pentagon.

The
Quest
crossed the edge of the port and pointed itself into a downward dive. Their screens filled with a view of the interior of the shell as the ship’s momentum took them through the framework of the port quickly.

“Make sure your sensors get everything. Distance?” asked Alec.

“Approximately 6400 kilometers thick. I am reading that artificial gravity generators are embedded in the shell’s exterior,” said Dancer.

“Yes, gravity has been provided by the builders,” stated Electra.

“Dancer, the scale is beyond me. I know I sound like a fool repeating myself, but, when confronted by a technology so advanced, I am an ant trying to comprehend a faster-than-light drive,” said Alec.

“It’s so vast as to be unimaginable. Although I am an artificial life form, I know of nothing like this. I can calculate much of what is required to build it, but to really bring it to life is more than I can imagine,” replied Dancer.

The
Quest
came out into the interior of the shell and started to drift toward the outside wall. The artificial gravity of the shell pulled at them.

“Dancer, get some distance between us and the gravity well.”

The
Quest
rose above the interior surface, gaining speed and distance from the exterior wall toward the star at the center of the sphere. A yellow sun lit up the inner surface of the sphere. The same hexagon pieces making up the exterior of the shell’s skin shone here with different colors of the light spectrum. It looked as though a great box of precious gems, all of the same cut, had been poured out and spread evenly across the expanse.

Dancer diligently took the readings that poured into the
Quest
and ported them directly into the backup memory crystal blocks. They would be able to support the needs of the explorers.

Alec looked from the port to Electra. “Unimaginable — this could only be one thing: The Eleventh Wonder of the Universe! Am I correct in thinking this is the fabled Emperor’s Hanging Gardens?”

Electra replied earnestly, “It is the Emperor’s Garden, certainly. A great Imperial achievement.”

Alec turned to Dancer. “Better leave a look out here, just in case we did not shake everyone from our trail.”

Dancer nodded. “Dropping marker buoy.”

A small port near the tail of the
Quest
opened, and a doughnut-like marker buoy was released. It fired its thrusters and maneuvered itself out of the way, to one side of the port, seeking to hide itself. The marker buoy was small, to be sure, and would most likely go unnoticed, but it would not take any chances.

Dancer watched the monitor as the marker buoy receded behind them. “Buoy functioning, and we are getting telemetry. Switching to stealth mode for burst communication.”

Alec nodded in agreement.

Dancer said reservedly, “It’s a big place, and I want to leave some breadcrumbs behind. Okay?”

Electra pointed out at the jeweled sky. “They are the Emperor’s Gardens.”

Alec looked again. “Gardens?”

Electra responded, “Each garden represents a world of the Empire.”

Dancer keyed in commands and stated, “Launching probes.”

A section lowered from the ship’s engine support structure with a launching apparatus supporting twenty mid-ranged probes. They came alive and fired their engines one at a time as they rolled over into launch position. Their objective was to get a random sampling of the biospheres nearby.

Dancer analyzed the readouts from the telemetry as the probe data came in to see if there were any familiar ecosystems. “Each of the hexagonal-shaped structures is a unique planetary environment. This was an entire Galactic Empire, in miniature.”

Alec said in amazement, “We could spend the rest of our, and several more, lifetimes here, Dancer, and not see everything.”

Electra blocked their view of the portal as she looked out. “We never had to leave our world to explore the galaxy.” She opened her arms wide. “There are 1058 worlds to explore all here for us.” She moved from the port. The patchwork of gardens and pentagonal ports went off into the distance behind her.

The
Quest
’s course took it back to the surface of the shell, flying high above the garden tops, giving the ship plenty of visual perspective on the surrounding area and the ability to sense if a ship were to come up from one of the gardens or any other place it might be hiding. Atmospheres of blue, green, yellow, and red passed below them in slow procession.

Alec, Electra, and Dancer were at a free-standing table in a room just off the command deck.

Dancer read off his instruments. “It might be a single world that each represents, but a garden accounts for more than any one planet.” Dancer looked up at the screen. “I calculate the living space in just one of the gardens to be the equivalent of 339,032 planets the size of Earth. There are 1058 of these gardens to explore.”

The data streams from all the probes were used to create, in real time, a holographic schematic of the interior of the sphere and displayed the location of the
Quest
in relation to the portal through which they had arrived.

Dancer shook his head. “Alec, we simply don’t have the storage for all this data. There are too many biospheres to explore.”

“Let’s try to pick a few out, then.”

Dancer threw his appendages up in exasperation, “We can’t ‘pick a few.’ These are complete ecosystems from worlds we’ve never seen. It’s priceless.”

Alec agreed. “Yes, but if we cannot save the Gardens from destruction? We will put ourselves at their disposal. Anything they want or need.”

Dancer said with resolve, “Without hesitation.”

Alec drew Dancer closer. “This place could be our new home.” He said to Electra, “Where do we need to go?”

Electra examined the schematic. “I will show you its location.” She keyed in coordinates. The hexagon lit up about a third of the way around the schematic.

Dancer stood up straight. “Looks like we have a ways to go yet. Alec, I’ll redeploy the probes out ahead of us. If they find anything really interesting, they’ll let us know. This will get us a more organized swath of the shell surveyed.”