Star Wolves (The Tribes of Yggdrasil Book 1) (6 page)

Hyperspace existed as an infinite number of dimensions, above and below our own, and was like vertically ascending a pyramid; the higher up the pyramid you went, the closer objects were between two walls. By jumping up to a higher dimension in hyperspace, the distance between two points in space-time was reduced, as was the time required to travel. The more efficient the hyper drive engine, the higher dimension you could enter, and the faster the effective travel speed.

Instantaneous travel was
theoretically
possible in hyperspace, but neither Human nor Alfar science had progressed that far. For now, the crew would have to make-due with being able to travel the 457 light-years in just under sixteen Earth-days.

A
fter three uneventful
weeks in hyperspace, the
Halygen
dropped back into normal space, greeted by Delta Cygni's trio of stars: the first, a class B9 blue giant; the second, a yellow, class F; and the third, a smallish orange, class K. Their target was the sole planet circling the second star.

"The Delta Cygni system," announced Captain Uriel.

Siani stepped up behind Captain Uriel, placing a hand on the back of his chair and peering at the image of the second star displayed on the main viewer.

The Captain looked up and back at Siani. "We'll be a few minutes taking up orbit if you want to do your preflight checks on the pinnace. All your equipment has been loaded."

"Very well, Captain. Hal? Ready to see what awaits us on this planet?"

Hal nodded. “Absolutely."

T
he pinnace was more
than an overgrown shuttle, and was actually quite a versatile ship in its own right. It was a 100 tonne, atmosphere-capable starship, with a small jump-engine intended for emergency use; it could manage one light year per three hours—or 1/3 the average speed of a starship; and if stranded countless light-years from home, nobody would complain about the speed.

As a trade off for having a jump drive, the pinnace had no armor or weapons at all, and unlike the shuttles which were berthed inside the
Halygen
, the pinnace was hard-docked to the bottom of the
Halygen's
hull in a shallow recess.

Once the crew were safely aboard, Cadfael disembarked the pinnace from the
Halygen
and made for the planet's surface.

The planet itself was a dead world, brown, devoid of anything even hinting at life. Hal learned to appreciate the Earth like planets he came across, which were few enough. Worlds coalescing in what was called the Goldilocks Zone—the distance from a planet's star which was
just right
to support our kind of life—were treasures. Location, location, location. This planet was
not
in the sweet spot. It's only redeeming feature was a tiny moon, also lifeless, but pretty, in its silvery-red garb.

Cadfael's voice interrupted the silence. "Preparing to touch down near the dig site."

Hal was pressing his extra-vehicular-activity helmet against the window and he could see the excavation, he grinned. Archaeologists always seemed to use the same methodology when digging—they laid out a grid; across solar systems it was a ubiquitous pattern.

The pinnace touched down with a thud and was followed by the requisite hissing and groaning; various mechanical systems informing the team the ship’s job was complete. Each team member checked the oxygen levels on their wrist mounted EVA display panels before giving a thumbs-up to Cadfael. When all were secure, he pressed a button lowering the pinnace’s rearward ramp, exposing the team to the toxic atmosphere of the planet.

Like the ship seating, the Alfar EVA suits were organic, and molded perfectly to each person's body - this made for an incredibly comfortable fit. Hal thought he should ask to take a few home.

The dig was only a hundred meters from where the team landed and in a minute they were all standing in the center of the excavated grid— in front of the artifact.

"Gods damn!" Hal exclaimed. “Another runestone!" He shook his head in awe.

"Indeed," said Siani, "we thought you might find this quite a surprise."

Hal stroked the artifact with his gloved hand, examining the deeply carved runes, which seemed to glow a neon-blue. "This is Elder Futhark runic script, just like those we found on Earth." This runestone was massive in scale, compared to those on Earth; this one towered over him, at twelve-meters high.

"Yes." Siani nodded and smiled at him.

"One-hundred and fifteen years ago, my great-great-great grandfather, stood in front of a runestone much like this. And what he and his colleague discovered that day … changed my world forever. What in the nine-worlds will this one tell us? I'm almost afraid to ask."

Siani put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Just as Magnus was not alone, neither are you, Hal. In fact you have the people from three planets at your disposal. I think you’re up to the challenge."

He nodded silently.

In the meantime, Nila, Adrianna, Idwal and Talfryn, were earning their keep pouring over the inscriptions on the rune-stone while Cadfael silently patrolled the perimeter of the dig.

Several of the crew of the
Halygen
came down to the planet in a small shuttle and erected a temporary shelter over the dig, which was capable of being pressurized with atmosphere. This allowed the team to have direct contact with the artifact, as well as moving around with less fuss. It also made it much easier for Hal to drink his coffee.

"How long before we have something?" Hal asked.

"I'd give them a couple of days. They'll be able to tap into the computers on the
Halygen
, so it should be quick. Also, we have a well rounded team here. The progenitors did not want to make it impossible for us. But most importantly, we know what to look for now."

"Here's a silly question," Hal said, "if the gods—progenitors—whatever, wanted us to discover this, why bother going to so much trouble hiding it?"

"I believe there are at least two good reasons," Siani said. "firstly, they wanted your race to mature to a certain technological level, which is why the knowledge of Alfar existence was hidden from you; this the Alfar know from our history. The gods left
instructions
for us to aid you when the time was right. Secondly, which is my theory, they wanted to make sure humans and Alfar could work as a team and take the next step together."

"Why would they do that?" Hal asked.

Siani replied, "Well,
'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'
William Shakespeare I believe?"

"Ah, I wasn't much for the classics myself, I was more interested in swords & sorcery, but well done just the same."

"The multiverse is infinite, Hal, and life is plentiful. If not for the almost unthinkable distances involved, we might bump into each other more often. Which in some cases would
not
be a good thing. Our written history tells us of the Drekkar—dragons. I believe you also have tales of such beasts?”

“We sure do,” Hal said.

“Our tales speak of them out in the galaxy, not on our home planet. If we follow the logic that most of what was written in our myths and tales has become reality, then somewhere out there … are dragons. And who knows what else? There are nine worlds described in our mutual myths, who, or
what …
lives on each of them? We only know of Midgard, Alfheim, and Niflheim. There are six more we know nothing about, nor even where they might be.”

Hal nodded. Indeed, that was a good question, he thought.

L
ater that day
, Adrianna and Talfryn were arguing over some code discrepancy, while Idwal was focusing on the linguistic analysis. Nila, as Astrogator, would get involved if there were more stellar-coordinate candidates in the code; in the meantime she tagged along with Idwal, and judging by their friendly banter, there might be more than professional interest, Hal noted. Good for her, he thought.

Hal sat on one of the portable camp chairs, sipping a cup of steaming hot coffee. Siani sat down beside him, also holding a beverage.

"What're you drinking?" Hal asked

"Ah, derwen bark tea. Very refreshing, and packed with vitamins and minerals. Wonderful for headaches as well,” she offered him her cup, “try a sip."

He took the cup, and sipped tentatively. "Hmm, a little bitter, but interesting." He handed back the cup.

He glanced at Cadfael, pacing around the perimeter of the dig, outside the enclosure in his EVA suit.

"So what's his story?" Hal asked, tilting his head toward Cadfael. “He doesn't say much."

"Cadfael? Well, he is a member of the Rhyfelwyr class. Our warriors are charged with keeping Alfar society safe, which they take very seriously. I think part of their vigilance stems from the fact we have had no conflict for almost a hundred years. Threats to our society seem so elusive the warriors look hard to find any crack, any hint of danger. It’s a terrible burden, I think, but they choose the path, just as members of all our classes do."

"Gotcha, we do the same, but not always for life. And given your lifespans are five times ours, that's a hell of a commitment."

"It is. We have great respect for human society, but there are many differences. Although ... I think we have more in common, than not."

"Brothers and sisters of sorts,” Hal said

"Yes, we truly are."

Suddenly there was some commotion. There were loud voices and yelling, then Talfryn and Adrianna came over to them in a half-run.

"Ok! We've got it!" Adrianna said.

Talfryn nodded encouragingly. "They're bridges!”

Hal looked puzzled. "What kind of bridges?”

"To take you places—very far away places! They’re interstellar bridges,” Talfryn said.

"Ok, to take you where? And to take what?" Hal asked.

Adrianna sat, catching her breath. "Well- we- think the bridge- is the moon."

"Ok, the bridge is on the moon? Where does it go?" Hal looked frustrated.

"No," Talfryn replied, "the moon
is
the bridge! The whole moon becomes the bridge when activated!”

Hal was smiling. "Damn! That's incredible. Ok, now back to my original question, where does it take us?"

Adrianna jumped back in to the conversation. "We're not sure yet, but we know we need to focus a beam of energy of a very specific frequency at the bridge to activate it. We'll need some more time to decode the rest of the passages Idwal translated."

"Well done,” said Siani.

"Great news, team,” Hal agreed. "Well? Don't stand here looking at me...let's get this done.” Hal was beaming.

W
ith two days
of around the clock translating and code-breaking, the team had a workable theory of bridge operation and were ready to begin their first test.

The
Halygen
drifted silently in stationary orbit above the planet's moon. All hands were on deck. Cadfael stood on the bridge, arms crossed in front of him, speaking with Hal, "There are manifold security concerns and unnecessary risks being taken here, Mr. Olsen," he said.

Hal patiently reviewed them all to assuage Cadfael's concerns, and in cases where Hal didn't agree, he had ultimate authority, and exercised it, though gently.

Cadfael's heart was in the right place. The safety of everyone on the mission was his responsibility, and that responsibility was not limited to protection from alien species or wild beasts, it also included risk mitigation for mission activities. Clearly Saeran failed to mention that aspect of his duties before they left Alfheim.

"Siani, is your team ready?" Hal asked

"We’re ready to begin the first test," she replied.

"Excellent, let's do it."

Siani turned to Captain Uriel. "Captain, please have your comms officer target the moon and transmit a ten-second pulse at the frequency I just transmitted to your terminal.”

Uriel nodded to Siani, then turned his head and said, "proceed,” to his comms officer.

The young Alfar made a few keystrokes on his workstation and a golden beam of energy fired at the node. It looked like a laser beam, only in yellow, instead of the more typical red, and the beam was low energy and non-destructive. Slowly, the small, silvery-red moon began to oscillate; its surface gradually transitioning from opaque to translucent, and back again; pulsating in response to the golden beam.

Hal could now see through to the interior of the node. “Magnificent,” he said without meaning to. Inside were crystals facing a hollow core; for a moment it looked just like a geode, only on a far grander scale.

Suddenly, the entire moon vanished, replaced by a hole in space-time. Or was it hole? He was now looking at what appeared to be a different region of space.

"Talk to me, people. What are we seeing here? And yes, I see the hole."

Nila piped up from the astrogator's station. "Boss, what we're sensing on the other side of the bridge is a sector of space from somewhere else.”

“Can you tell where?” Hal asked.

“Yes, but it will take some time, we need to have the computers analyze those stars and look for markers. It could take a day or two.”

“Let’s do it.” Hal said enthusiastically.

"Hal, what we expect to happen next, is it will shut down if it detects no matter passing through the bridge node,” said Adrianna.

"Lets give it a few minutes and confirm. So is this a wormhole?"

Siani approached him. "We do not know. There is nothing on the runestone we have yet decoded explaining the underlying technology. The runestones are what you might call a
User's Manual
. They tell us
how
to operate the bridges, but will not necessarily teach us the science or technology behind them. Talfryn thinks the structure of the moon may achieve harmonic resonance when exposed to the trigger signal, which shifts the state of the matter in the center of the moon. We will need more time to even
begin
to start to understand this device. It is far beyond any Alfar technology. I truly suspect the gods may have had a hand in this. The short answer is, we don’t know," she shrugged.

"Fair enough,” Hal said.

"Time is 4:59, and the bridge is...shutting down. Time 5:00 from activation," said Talfryn.

T
hirty-six hours later
, Talfryn reported his findings to Hal. “The area we saw on the other side of the bridge is immediately around Gamma Cygni! That is over 1,300 light years away. And we can see it from here!" Talfryn was jubilant.

Nila smiled and nodded. “Well, it is exactly 1,351 light years to Gamma Cygni—as the crow flies—assuming this bridge is a direct route. Boss, that is going to save us a bit of time in travel.”

"If it wasn't a fifty-six day flight back, I'd love to give it a shot right now. But if it’s one way only, then that's one hell of a long trip back, even in hyperspace," Hal noted. “We'll have to report back to Alfheim and put a plan together to test the bridge. And if this is any indication of what's in store at all the other coordinates in the constellations, then we'll have dozens of bridges to test."