{"data":{"id":12873,"title":"The Lost Generation: Issue #3","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/12873-The-Lost-Generation-Issue-3","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/12873","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/12873","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"The Lost Generation","images":[{"id":248,"name":"TonyaOrielSerial_FI_1_Crop.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/f2lyrm83u0tc8r\/source\/TonyaOrielSerial_FI_1_Crop.jpg","alt":"","size":680902,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:26:08+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/248","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/248\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Tonya stormed down the hall with Senzen strolling along after her. The Shubin employees got out of her way. Minutes earlier, Arlington had passed off the two of them to one of his assistants, who explained expense accounts and contact protocol. She barely paid attention; she was still fuming from the stunt Senzen had pulled.\n\n\u201cSo where do you want to start looking?\u201d Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet\u2019s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.\n\n\u201cHow the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?\u201d She shoved him. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t have known what I found.\u201d Shove #2.\n\n\u201cFor someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.\n\n\u201cArlington\u2019s probably the only person in the universe who couldn\u2019t care less about the Artemis.\u201d An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. \u201cAh, wonderful, thanks,\u201d he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. \u201cI just told him that we\u2019d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn\u2019t want to speak out of turn before your analysis was done so I rushed here to secure a quick meeting. His imagination, or whatever program in his head handles that function, did the rest.\u201d\n\nTonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.\n\n\u201cYou stay out of my way.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d Senzen shook his head, disappointed. \u201cCome on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow about, you don\u2019t stand a chance against me and you know it.\u201d She turned and walked away.\n\n\u201cEh, better,\u201d Senzen yelled, \u201cbut I might surprise you.\u201d\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nBy the time Tonya climbed back onto her ship, her mind had dismantled the threat of Senzen Turov. He was a smart explorer, sure, but Tonya knew his gift was sociological rather than historical. Back during their doomed partnership, he could weasel information out of the unlikeliest of sources, but this was the Artemis. There was no one to talk to, no snitch to give up information, it was all locked in history. That was Tonya\u2019s specialty.\n\nShe ignited the engines when a thought, a single paranoid, thought seized her. Maybe Senzen was right; she needed to start studying people. Starting with the possibility that he would bug her. She ran a ship-wide sweep along the hull for outbound signals. As it ran, she pulled the wrapping off her new DeCon\/Scan chamber and set it to do the same.\n\nTonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until \u2026 ping.\n\n\u201cSon of a \u2014\u201c she stepped out and looked at the screen. Sure enough, a transmitter no bigger than a pebble was attached under her collar. She tossed it in the incinerator.\n\nThe ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.\n\n\u201cNice try, Senzen,\u201d Tonya muttered as she lifted off. A wall of dark clouds slowly rolled in from the horizon. Tonya watched an army of Shubin engineers prepare to transport the Artemis fragment inside before the storm hit. She pushed through the clouds and left the planet behind.\n\nTonya set course for the nearest jump point. She needed to be alone. She had a new puzzle and she needed to see what she had to work with, so the fewer distractions, the better.\n\nShe bounced through the jump-point into Chronos System. The unfinished mass of the Synthworld was barely visible against the distant sun. UEE military ran drills nearby, but Tonya was able to find a nice patch of nothing. She put the ship on auto-react and climbed down from the cockpit into the back.\n\nShe brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.\n\nFirst things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis\u2019 original destination was GJ 667Cc, believed (at the time) to be a possible habitable super-Earth designate planet. The Artemis fragment was found in Stanton System, nowhere near the correct trajectory for a push to the Gliese star cluster.\n\nSo what happened? Why did the ship divert? In keeping with her hypothesis that the Artemis set down to repair, would Janus continue to its original destination when the ship re-launched?\n\nTonya scavenged through books and articles. Immediately she decided to discard anything that was not verifiably true. Biographies, dissertations, simulations were speculation. Although some great minds had attempted to solve the mystery of the Artemis, ultimately they were guessing, and Tonya wasn\u2019t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.\n\nUnfortunately, that approach knocked out ninety-eight percent of available material. What was left was only scraps of data, the occasional pre-launch quote from a crewmember, and NewsOrg archive files about the launch itself \u2014 the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.\n\nFour hours passed. Tonya stared at the wall, with its swollen list of questions and non-existent list of answers. Tonya spun the 3D model of the Artemis fragment around and around, hoping for some kind of inspiration to hit.\n\nIt wasn\u2019t coming.\n\nSomething did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum\u2019s attempts to unveil the \u201cmost comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence\u201d or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.\n\nNow, maybe it was worth a gander.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nThe Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London\u2019s Museum Row. Its fa\u00e7ade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the \u201cParade of the Ancient Earth Kings\u201d exhibit.\n\nTonya bought a ticket from a dour old man at the window and pushed through the cheap security turnstile. The place was empty. Her footsteps echoed off the almost-marble walls into the distance. She casually examined a collection of skeletons and husks made up to look like Ancient Egyptians. She stopped at a sarcophagus with the skeleton of a \u2018pharaoh\u2019 inside.\n\n\u201cGood afternoon, miss,\u201d a bright voice said behind her. She turned. It was the same old man from the ticket booth, now wearing a different jacket and glasses. \u201cThis is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.\u201d\n\n\u201cPharaoh Khafra?\u201d Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.\n\n\u201cIndeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was \u2013\u201c\n\n\u201cThis was a slave.\u201d\n\n\u201cI beg your pardon,\u201d the old man said in a huff.\n\n\u201cStress and bone scars around the ankles indicate he carried heavy objects, so he probably was an architect on the Sphinx but more of the stone-carrying variety.\u201d\n\nThe old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.\n\n\u201cI \u2026\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she assured him. \u201cI wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I wish,\u201d he said, deflating even more. \u201cThat was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it\u2019s here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.\u201d He slumped onto a bench. \u201cTell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don\u2019t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did you buy?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was a handful of Captain Danvers\u2019 personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWhoa, slow down.\u201d Tonya slid beside him on the bench. \u201cYou found a copy of the AI program?\u201d\n\n\u201cJanus? Yes, and it wasn\u2019t cheap, mind you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the name of the bank?\u201d\n\nThe old man, Melvin Hartley Jr. as she came to find out, told her. Tonya left Hartley to his silent and empty museum while she did some digging of her own.\n\nThe bank\u2019s representative was helpful but dismissive. She said the bank would consider any serious offers to purchase the artifacts but it would have to be reviewed, which could take weeks.\n\nUnfortunately, Tonya didn\u2019t have that kind of time.\n\nShe was going to have to steal them.\n\n. . . to be continued","de_DE":"Tonya st\u00fcrmte den Flur hinunter und Senzen schlenderte hinter ihr her. Die Shubin-Mitarbeiter gingen ihr aus dem Weg. Minuten zuvor hatte Arlington die beiden an einen seiner Assistenten weitergegeben, der die Spesenabrechnungen und das Kontaktprotokoll erkl\u00e4rte. Sie schenkte kaum Aufmerksamkeit; sie sch\u00e4umte immer noch von dem Stunt, den Senzen gezogen hatte.\n\n\"Also, wo willst du anfangen zu suchen?\" Senzen grinste, als er in das Hornissennest trat. Es hat funktioniert. Tonya wirbelte zur\u00fcck.\n\n\"Wie zum Teufel hast du ihn auf diesem Gebiet verkauft?\" Sie schubste ihn. \"Du konntest nicht wissen, was ich gefunden habe.\" Schieb #2.\n\n\"F\u00fcr jemanden, der so fasziniert von Zivilisationen ist, sollte man wirklich versuchen, mehr \u00fcber Menschen zu erfahren.\"\n\n\"Sag es mir\", sagte sie und schob ihn ein anderes Mal. Senzen seufzte.\n\n\"Arlington ist wahrscheinlich die einzige Person im Universum, die sich nicht weniger um die Artemis k\u00fcmmern k\u00f6nnte.\" Ein Assistent lief nach Senzen und lieferte eine Tasse Kaffee. \"Ah, wunderbar, danke\", l\u00e4chelte er die Assistentin an und kehrte dann zu Tonya zur\u00fcck. \"Ich habe ihm gerade gesagt, dass wir an der Analyse des Fragments gearbeitet haben und etwas gefunden haben, das riesig sein k\u00f6nnte. Ich wollte nicht unangebracht sprechen, bevor Ihre Analyse abgeschlossen war, also eilte ich hierher, um ein schnelles Treffen zu organisieren. Seine Vorstellungskraft, oder welches Programm in seinem Kopf diese Funktion \u00fcbernimmt, tat den Rest.\"\n\nTonya starrte ihn an. Senzen trank aus seinem Kaffee und wartete.\n\n\"Du gehst mir aus dem Weg.\"\n\n\"Das ist alles?\" Senzen sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf, entt\u00e4uscht. \"Komm schon Tonya, du warst mal witziger als das.\"\n\n\"Wie w\u00e4re es, wenn du keine Chance gegen mich hast und das wei\u00dft du.\" Sie drehte sich um und ging weg.\n\n\"\u00c4h, besser\", schrie Senzen, \"aber ich k\u00f6nnte dich \u00fcberraschen.\"\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nAls Tonya wieder auf ihr Schiff stieg, hatte ihr Verstand die Bedrohung durch Senzen Turov beseitigt. Er war ein kluger Entdecker, sicher, aber Tonya wusste, dass sein Talent eher soziologisch als historisch war. Zur\u00fcck w\u00e4hrend ihrer zum Scheitern verurteilten Partnerschaft konnte er Informationen aus den ungew\u00f6hnlichsten Quellen herausholen, aber das waren die Artemis. Es gab niemanden, mit dem man reden konnte, keinen Spitzel, um Informationen preiszugeben, es war alles in der Geschichte verankert. Das war Tonyas Spezialit\u00e4t.\n\nSie entz\u00fcndete die Motoren, als ein Gedanke, ein einziger paranoider Gedanke, sie packte. Vielleicht hatte Senzen Recht; sie musste anfangen, Menschen zu studieren. Angefangen mit der M\u00f6glichkeit, dass er sie nerven w\u00fcrde. Sie f\u00fchrte eine schiffsweite Suche entlang des Rumpfes nach ausgehenden Signalen durch. W\u00e4hrend es lief, zog sie die Verpackung von ihrer neuen DeCon\/Scan-Kammer und stellte sie so ein, dass sie dasselbe tat.\n\nTonya sprang herein. Die Sensorst\u00e4be schwangen um sie herum. Es schien, als w\u00e4re sie bis zum.... Ping im Reinen.\n\n\"Sohn eines -\" trat sie heraus und sah auf die Leinwand. Tats\u00e4chlich war ein Sender, der nicht gr\u00f6\u00dfer als ein Kieselstein war, unter ihrem Kragen angebracht. Sie warf es in den Verbrennungsofen.\n\nDie schiffsweite Suche wurde ebenfalls durchgef\u00fchrt. Es wurden keine unbefugten \u00c4nderungen oder Signale \u00fcbertragen.\n\n\"Netter Versuch, Senzen\", murmelte Tonya, als sie abhebt. Eine Wand aus dunklen Wolken rollte langsam vom Horizont herein. Tonya beobachtete, wie sich eine Armee von Shubin-Ingenieuren darauf vorbereitete, das Artemis-Fragment ins Innere zu transportieren, bevor der Sturm losging. Sie drang durch die Wolken und lie\u00df den Planeten zur\u00fcck.\n\nTonya setzte den Kurs auf den n\u00e4chstgelegenen Sprungbrett. Sie musste allein sein. Sie hatte ein neues Puzzle und sie musste sehen, womit sie arbeiten musste, also je weniger Ablenkungen, desto besser.\n\nSie sprang durch den Sprungpunkt in das Chronos System. Die unfertige Masse der Synth-Welt war gegen die ferne Sonne kaum sichtbar. Das UEE-Milit\u00e4r f\u00fchrte in der N\u00e4he \u00dcbungen durch, aber Tonya konnte einen sch\u00f6nen Fleck von nichts finden. Sie stellte das Schiff auf Autoreaktion und kletterte vom Cockpit nach hinten.\n\nSie brachte alle ihre Materialien hervor und sortierte alles auf der Wanddisplay.\n\nDas Wichtigste zuerst; sie stellte ein Programm ein, um ihre Bilder in ein 3D-Modell zu konvertieren. Dann wandte sie sich der Sternenkarte zu. Das urspr\u00fcngliche Ziel der Artemis war GJ 667Cc, der (damals) als m\u00f6glicher bewohnbarer Planeten der Super-Erde galt. Das Artemis-Fragment wurde im Stanton-System gefunden, bei weitem nicht in der N\u00e4he der richtigen Trajektorie f\u00fcr einen Vorsto\u00df zum glizianischen Sternhaufen.\n\nAlso, was ist passiert? Warum ist das Schiff umgeleitet? Im Einklang mit ihrer Hypothese, dass die Artemis sich zur Reparatur aufmachten, w\u00fcrde Janus nach dem Neustart des Schiffes an seinen urspr\u00fcnglichen Bestimmungsort zur\u00fcckkehren?\n\nTonya durchst\u00f6berte B\u00fccher und Artikel. Sofort beschloss sie, alles wegzuwerfen, was nicht nachweislich wahr war. Biographien, Dissertationen, Simulationen waren Spekulationen. Obwohl einige gro\u00dfe Geister versucht hatten, das Geheimnis der Artemis zu l\u00f6sen, sch\u00e4tzten sie schlie\u00dflich, und Tonya w\u00fcrde die neuen Beweise nicht mit vorgefassten Vorstellungen f\u00e4rben.\n\nLeider hat dieser Ansatz 98 Prozent des verf\u00fcgbaren Materials zunichte gemacht. Was blieb, waren nur Datenfetzen, das gelegentliche Zitat eines Crewmitglieds vor dem Start und Archivdateien von NewsOrg \u00fcber den Start selbst - der Moment, in dem Janus die Kontrolle \u00fcber das Schiff \u00fcbernahm und seine Triebwerke aus dem bekannten Raum feuerte.\n\nVier Stunden vergingen. Tonya starrte auf die Wand, mit ihrer geschwollenen Liste von Fragen und der nicht vorhandenen Liste von Antworten. Tonya drehte das 3D-Modell des Artemis-Fragments um und um sich herum und hoffte auf eine Art Inspiration, die er treffen konnte.\n\nEs kam nicht.\n\nAber es ist ihr etwas in den Sinn gekommen. Das Hartley Museum. Vor Jahren erinnerte sich Tonya an einen Artikel \u00fcber die Versuche des Museums, die \"bisher umfangreichste Artemis-Ausstellung mit schockierenden neuen Beweisen\" oder \u00e4hnlichem Unsinn zu enth\u00fcllen. Damals hielt sie es f\u00fcr eine billige Theatralik, die Saugn\u00e4pfe anzulocken.\n\nNun, vielleicht war es einen Blick wert.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nDas Hartley Museum verblasste sicherlich im Vergleich zu den ehrw\u00fcrdigeren Einrichtungen in der Londoner Museum Row. Seine Fassade br\u00f6ckelte, und zwar nicht in ehrw\u00fcrdiger Weise. Zerfetzte recycelte Banner flatterten vor der Fassade und k\u00fcndigten die Ausstellung \"Parade der alten Erdk\u00f6nige\" an.\n\nTonya kaufte ein Ticket von einem m\u00fcrrischen alten Mann am Schaufenster und schob sich durch das billige Sicherheitsdrehkreuz. Der Ort war leer. Ihre Schritte hallen von den fast marmornen W\u00e4nden in die Ferne. Sie untersuchte beil\u00e4ufig eine Sammlung von Skeletten und Schalen, die wie alte \u00c4gypter aussehen sollten. Sie hielt an einem Sarkophag mit dem Skelett eines \"Pharaos\" im Inneren.\n\n\"Guten Tag, Miss\", sagte eine helle Stimme hinter ihr. Sie drehte sich um. Es war derselbe alte Mann von der Kasse, der jetzt eine andere Jacke und Brille trug. \"Das sind die sterblichen \u00dcberreste des m\u00e4chtigen Pharaos Khafra, des Architekten der unsterblichen Sphinx von Gaza.\"\n\n\"Pharao Khafra?\" Tonya nickte. Sie lehnte sich nach innen, um einen besseren Blick auf die \u00dcberreste zu werfen.\n\n\"In der Tat. Seine Herrschaft in der vierten Dynastie war -\"\n\n\"Das war ein Sklave.\"\n\n\"Ich bitte um Verzeihung\", sagte der alte Mann schnaufend.\n\n\"Stress und Knochennarben um die Kn\u00f6chel deuten darauf hin, dass er schwere Gegenst\u00e4nde trug, also war er wahrscheinlich ein Architekt der Sphinx, aber eher der steintragenden Art.\"\n\nDer alte Mann starrte sie an, verbl\u00fcfft von einer kleinen Verlegenheit, die eingetreten war.\n\n\"\u201cI \u2026\u201d\n\n\"Es ist okay\", versicherte sie ihm. \"Ich wollte dich nach der Artemis-Ausstellung fragen, die du versucht hast anzuziehen.\"\n\n\"Oh, ich w\u00fcnsche es mir\", sagte er und entleerte noch mehr. \"Das sollte unsere Lebensader zur Erl\u00f6sung sein. Ich sank jeden einzelnen Penny, den wir hatten, als wir versuchten, all diese Erinnerungsst\u00fccke zu sammeln.\"\n\n\"Es ist also hier?\"\n\n\"Die Bank hat sie als Sicherheit f\u00fcr notleidende Kredite beschlagnahmt.\" Er st\u00fcrzte auf eine Bank. \"Sag mir, wie soll ich es ihnen zur\u00fcckzahlen, wenn ich keine neuen Exponate habe, um Tickets zu verkaufen?\"\n\n\"Was hast du gekauft?\"\n\n\"Es war eine Handvoll Captain Danvers' pers\u00f6nliche Tageb\u00fccher, Schaltpl\u00e4ne und Testmaterial des Schiffes, eine Originalkopie der Janus KI, die ich sogar geschafft habe -\"\n\n\"Whoa, langsam.\" Tonya rutschte neben ihm auf der Bank. \"Du hast eine Kopie des KI-Programms gefunden?\"\n\n\"Janus? Ja, und es war nicht billig, wohlgemerkt.\"\n\n\"Wie hei\u00dft die Bank?\"\n\nDer alte Mann, Melvin Hartley Jr., als sie es herausfinden wollte, sagte es ihr. Tonya verlie\u00df Hartley in sein stilles und leeres Museum, w\u00e4hrend sie selbst etwas graben musste.\n\nDer Vertreter der Bank war hilfreich, aber ablehnend. Sie sagte, dass die Bank alle ernsthaften Angebote zum Kauf der Artefakte in Betracht ziehen w\u00fcrde, aber es m\u00fcsste \u00fcberpr\u00fcft werden, was Wochen dauern k\u00f6nnte.\n\nLeider hatte Tonya diese Art von Zeit nicht.\n\nSie musste sie stehlen.\n\n\n\n\n. ... wird fortgesetzt","zh_CN":"Tonya stormed down the hall with Senzen strolling along after her. The Shubin employees got out of her way. Minutes earlier, Arlington had passed off the two of them to one of his assistants, who explained expense accounts and contact protocol. She barely paid attention; she was still fuming from the stunt Senzen had pulled.\n\n\u201cSo where do you want to start looking?\u201d Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet\u2019s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.\n\n\u201cHow the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?\u201d She shoved him. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t have known what I found.\u201d Shove #2.\n\n\u201cFor someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.\n\n\u201cArlington\u2019s probably the only person in the universe who couldn\u2019t care less about the Artemis.\u201d An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. \u201cAh, wonderful, thanks,\u201d he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. \u201cI just told him that we\u2019d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn\u2019t want to speak out of turn before your analysis was done so I rushed here to secure a quick meeting. His imagination, or whatever program in his head handles that function, did the rest.\u201d\n\nTonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.\n\n\u201cYou stay out of my way.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d Senzen shook his head, disappointed. \u201cCome on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow about, you don\u2019t stand a chance against me and you know it.\u201d She turned and walked away.\n\n\u201cEh, better,\u201d Senzen yelled, \u201cbut I might surprise you.\u201d\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nBy the time Tonya climbed back onto her ship, her mind had dismantled the threat of Senzen Turov. He was a smart explorer, sure, but Tonya knew his gift was sociological rather than historical. Back during their doomed partnership, he could weasel information out of the unlikeliest of sources, but this was the Artemis. There was no one to talk to, no snitch to give up information, it was all locked in history. That was Tonya\u2019s specialty.\n\nShe ignited the engines when a thought, a single paranoid, thought seized her. Maybe Senzen was right; she needed to start studying people. Starting with the possibility that he would bug her. She ran a ship-wide sweep along the hull for outbound signals. As it ran, she pulled the wrapping off her new DeCon\/Scan chamber and set it to do the same.\n\nTonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until \u2026 ping.\n\n\u201cSon of a \u2014\u201c she stepped out and looked at the screen. Sure enough, a transmitter no bigger than a pebble was attached under her collar. She tossed it in the incinerator.\n\nThe ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.\n\n\u201cNice try, Senzen,\u201d Tonya muttered as she lifted off. A wall of dark clouds slowly rolled in from the horizon. Tonya watched an army of Shubin engineers prepare to transport the Artemis fragment inside before the storm hit. She pushed through the clouds and left the planet behind.\n\nTonya set course for the nearest jump point. She needed to be alone. She had a new puzzle and she needed to see what she had to work with, so the fewer distractions, the better.\n\nShe bounced through the jump-point into Chronos System. The unfinished mass of the Synthworld was barely visible against the distant sun. UEE military ran drills nearby, but Tonya was able to find a nice patch of nothing. She put the ship on auto-react and climbed down from the cockpit into the back.\n\nShe brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.\n\nFirst things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis\u2019 original destination was GJ 667Cc, believed (at the time) to be a possible habitable super-Earth designate planet. The Artemis fragment was found in Stanton System, nowhere near the correct trajectory for a push to the Gliese star cluster.\n\nSo what happened? Why did the ship divert? In keeping with her hypothesis that the Artemis set down to repair, would Janus continue to its original destination when the ship re-launched?\n\nTonya scavenged through books and articles. Immediately she decided to discard anything that was not verifiably true. Biographies, dissertations, simulations were speculation. Although some great minds had attempted to solve the mystery of the Artemis, ultimately they were guessing, and Tonya wasn\u2019t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.\n\nUnfortunately, that approach knocked out ninety-eight percent of available material. What was left was only scraps of data, the occasional pre-launch quote from a crewmember, and NewsOrg archive files about the launch itself \u2014 the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.\n\nFour hours passed. Tonya stared at the wall, with its swollen list of questions and non-existent list of answers. Tonya spun the 3D model of the Artemis fragment around and around, hoping for some kind of inspiration to hit.\n\nIt wasn\u2019t coming.\n\nSomething did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum\u2019s attempts to unveil the \u201cmost comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence\u201d or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.\n\nNow, maybe it was worth a gander.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nThe Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London\u2019s Museum Row. Its fa\u00e7ade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the \u201cParade of the Ancient Earth Kings\u201d exhibit.\n\nTonya bought a ticket from a dour old man at the window and pushed through the cheap security turnstile. The place was empty. Her footsteps echoed off the almost-marble walls into the distance. She casually examined a collection of skeletons and husks made up to look like Ancient Egyptians. She stopped at a sarcophagus with the skeleton of a \u2018pharaoh\u2019 inside.\n\n\u201cGood afternoon, miss,\u201d a bright voice said behind her. She turned. It was the same old man from the ticket booth, now wearing a different jacket and glasses. \u201cThis is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.\u201d\n\n\u201cPharaoh Khafra?\u201d Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.\n\n\u201cIndeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was \u2013\u201c\n\n\u201cThis was a slave.\u201d\n\n\u201cI beg your pardon,\u201d the old man said in a huff.\n\n\u201cStress and bone scars around the ankles indicate he carried heavy objects, so he probably was an architect on the Sphinx but more of the stone-carrying variety.\u201d\n\nThe old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.\n\n\u201cI \u2026\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she assured him. \u201cI wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I wish,\u201d he said, deflating even more. \u201cThat was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it\u2019s here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.\u201d He slumped onto a bench. \u201cTell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don\u2019t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did you buy?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was a handful of Captain Danvers\u2019 personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to \u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWhoa, slow down.\u201d Tonya slid beside him on the bench. \u201cYou found a copy of the AI program?\u201d\n\n\u201cJanus? Yes, and it wasn\u2019t cheap, mind you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the name of the bank?\u201d\n\nThe old man, Melvin Hartley Jr. as she came to find out, told her. Tonya left Hartley to his silent and empty museum while she did some digging of her own.\n\nThe bank\u2019s representative was helpful but dismissive. She said the bank would consider any serious offers to purchase the artifacts but it would have to be reviewed, which could take weeks.\n\nUnfortunately, Tonya didn\u2019t have that kind of time.\n\nShe was going to have to steal them.\n\n. . . to be continued"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":56,"created_at":"2013-01-31T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"13 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 11:02:45","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":12872,"next_id":12874}}