The Lost Generation: Issue #3
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English
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.
“So where do you want to start looking?” Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet’s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.
“How the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?” She shoved him. “You couldn’t have known what I found.” Shove #2.
“For someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.”
“Tell me,” she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.
“Arlington’s probably the only person in the universe who couldn’t care less about the Artemis.” An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. “Ah, wonderful, thanks,” he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. “I just told him that we’d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn’t 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.”
Tonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.
“You stay out of my way.”
“That’s it?” Senzen shook his head, disappointed. “Come on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.”
“How about, you don’t stand a chance against me and you know it.” She turned and walked away.
“Eh, better,” Senzen yelled, “but I might surprise you.”
* * * *
By 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’s specialty.
She 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.
Tonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until … ping.
“Son of a —“ 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.
The ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.
“Nice try, Senzen,” 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.
Tonya 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.
She 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.
She brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.
First things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis’ 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.
So 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?
Tonya 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’t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.
Unfortunately, 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 — the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.
Four 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.
It wasn’t coming.
Something did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum’s attempts to unveil the “most comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence” or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.
Now, maybe it was worth a gander.
* * * *
The Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London’s Museum Row. Its façade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the “Parade of the Ancient Earth Kings” exhibit.
Tonya 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 ‘pharaoh’ inside.
“Good afternoon, miss,” 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. “This is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.”
“Pharaoh Khafra?” Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.
“Indeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was –“
“This was a slave.”
“I beg your pardon,” the old man said in a huff.
“Stress 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.”
The old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.
“I …”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.”
“Oh, I wish,” he said, deflating even more. “That was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.”
“So it’s here?”
“The bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.” He slumped onto a bench. “Tell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don’t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?”
“What did you buy?”
“It was a handful of Captain Danvers’ personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to —”
“Whoa, slow down.” Tonya slid beside him on the bench. “You found a copy of the AI program?”
“Janus? Yes, and it wasn’t cheap, mind you.”
“What’s the name of the bank?”
The 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.
The bank’s 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.
Unfortunately, Tonya didn’t have that kind of time.
She was going to have to steal them.
. . . to be continued
“So where do you want to start looking?” Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet’s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.
“How the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?” She shoved him. “You couldn’t have known what I found.” Shove #2.
“For someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.”
“Tell me,” she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.
“Arlington’s probably the only person in the universe who couldn’t care less about the Artemis.” An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. “Ah, wonderful, thanks,” he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. “I just told him that we’d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn’t 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.”
Tonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.
“You stay out of my way.”
“That’s it?” Senzen shook his head, disappointed. “Come on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.”
“How about, you don’t stand a chance against me and you know it.” She turned and walked away.
“Eh, better,” Senzen yelled, “but I might surprise you.”
* * * *
By 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’s specialty.
She 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.
Tonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until … ping.
“Son of a —“ 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.
The ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.
“Nice try, Senzen,” 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.
Tonya 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.
She 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.
She brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.
First things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis’ 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.
So 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?
Tonya 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’t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.
Unfortunately, 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 — the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.
Four 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.
It wasn’t coming.
Something did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum’s attempts to unveil the “most comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence” or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.
Now, maybe it was worth a gander.
* * * *
The Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London’s Museum Row. Its façade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the “Parade of the Ancient Earth Kings” exhibit.
Tonya 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 ‘pharaoh’ inside.
“Good afternoon, miss,” 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. “This is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.”
“Pharaoh Khafra?” Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.
“Indeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was –“
“This was a slave.”
“I beg your pardon,” the old man said in a huff.
“Stress 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.”
The old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.
“I …”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.”
“Oh, I wish,” he said, deflating even more. “That was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.”
“So it’s here?”
“The bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.” He slumped onto a bench. “Tell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don’t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?”
“What did you buy?”
“It was a handful of Captain Danvers’ personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to —”
“Whoa, slow down.” Tonya slid beside him on the bench. “You found a copy of the AI program?”
“Janus? Yes, and it wasn’t cheap, mind you.”
“What’s the name of the bank?”
The 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.
The bank’s 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.
Unfortunately, Tonya didn’t have that kind of time.
She was going to have to steal them.
. . . to be continued
German
Tonya stürmte 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 erklärte. Sie schenkte kaum Aufmerksamkeit; sie schäumte immer noch von dem Stunt, den Senzen gezogen hatte.
"Also, wo willst du anfangen zu suchen?" Senzen grinste, als er in das Hornissennest trat. Es hat funktioniert. Tonya wirbelte zurück.
"Wie zum Teufel hast du ihn auf diesem Gebiet verkauft?" Sie schubste ihn. "Du konntest nicht wissen, was ich gefunden habe." Schieb #2.
"Für jemanden, der so fasziniert von Zivilisationen ist, sollte man wirklich versuchen, mehr über Menschen zu erfahren."
"Sag es mir", sagte sie und schob ihn ein anderes Mal. Senzen seufzte.
"Arlington ist wahrscheinlich die einzige Person im Universum, die sich nicht weniger um die Artemis kümmern könnte." Ein Assistent lief nach Senzen und lieferte eine Tasse Kaffee. "Ah, wunderbar, danke", lächelte er die Assistentin an und kehrte dann zu Tonya zurück. "Ich habe ihm gerade gesagt, dass wir an der Analyse des Fragments gearbeitet haben und etwas gefunden haben, das riesig sein könnte. 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 übernimmt, tat den Rest."
Tonya starrte ihn an. Senzen trank aus seinem Kaffee und wartete.
"Du gehst mir aus dem Weg."
"Das ist alles?" Senzen schüttelte den Kopf, enttäuscht. "Komm schon Tonya, du warst mal witziger als das."
"Wie wäre es, wenn du keine Chance gegen mich hast und das weißt du." Sie drehte sich um und ging weg.
"Äh, besser", schrie Senzen, "aber ich könnte dich überraschen."
* * * *
Als 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. Zurück während ihrer zum Scheitern verurteilten Partnerschaft konnte er Informationen aus den ungewöhnlichsten 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 Spezialität.
Sie entzündete die Motoren, als ein Gedanke, ein einziger paranoider Gedanke, sie packte. Vielleicht hatte Senzen Recht; sie musste anfangen, Menschen zu studieren. Angefangen mit der Möglichkeit, dass er sie nerven würde. Sie führte eine schiffsweite Suche entlang des Rumpfes nach ausgehenden Signalen durch. Während es lief, zog sie die Verpackung von ihrer neuen DeCon/Scan-Kammer und stellte sie so ein, dass sie dasselbe tat.
Tonya sprang herein. Die Sensorstäbe schwangen um sie herum. Es schien, als wäre sie bis zum.... Ping im Reinen.
"Sohn eines -" trat sie heraus und sah auf die Leinwand. Tatsächlich war ein Sender, der nicht größer als ein Kieselstein war, unter ihrem Kragen angebracht. Sie warf es in den Verbrennungsofen.
Die schiffsweite Suche wurde ebenfalls durchgeführt. Es wurden keine unbefugten Änderungen oder Signale übertragen.
"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 ließ den Planeten zurück.
Tonya setzte den Kurs auf den nächstgelegenen Sprungbrett. Sie musste allein sein. Sie hatte ein neues Puzzle und sie musste sehen, womit sie arbeiten musste, also je weniger Ablenkungen, desto besser.
Sie sprang durch den Sprungpunkt in das Chronos System. Die unfertige Masse der Synth-Welt war gegen die ferne Sonne kaum sichtbar. Das UEE-Militär führte in der Nähe Übungen durch, aber Tonya konnte einen schönen Fleck von nichts finden. Sie stellte das Schiff auf Autoreaktion und kletterte vom Cockpit nach hinten.
Sie brachte alle ihre Materialien hervor und sortierte alles auf der Wanddisplay.
Das Wichtigste zuerst; sie stellte ein Programm ein, um ihre Bilder in ein 3D-Modell zu konvertieren. Dann wandte sie sich der Sternenkarte zu. Das ursprüngliche Ziel der Artemis war GJ 667Cc, der (damals) als möglicher bewohnbarer Planeten der Super-Erde galt. Das Artemis-Fragment wurde im Stanton-System gefunden, bei weitem nicht in der Nähe der richtigen Trajektorie für einen Vorstoß zum glizianischen Sternhaufen.
Also, was ist passiert? Warum ist das Schiff umgeleitet? Im Einklang mit ihrer Hypothese, dass die Artemis sich zur Reparatur aufmachten, würde Janus nach dem Neustart des Schiffes an seinen ursprünglichen Bestimmungsort zurückkehren?
Tonya durchstöberte Bücher und Artikel. Sofort beschloss sie, alles wegzuwerfen, was nicht nachweislich wahr war. Biographien, Dissertationen, Simulationen waren Spekulationen. Obwohl einige große Geister versucht hatten, das Geheimnis der Artemis zu lösen, schätzten sie schließlich, und Tonya würde die neuen Beweise nicht mit vorgefassten Vorstellungen färben.
Leider hat dieser Ansatz 98 Prozent des verfügbaren Materials zunichte gemacht. Was blieb, waren nur Datenfetzen, das gelegentliche Zitat eines Crewmitglieds vor dem Start und Archivdateien von NewsOrg über den Start selbst - der Moment, in dem Janus die Kontrolle über das Schiff übernahm und seine Triebwerke aus dem bekannten Raum feuerte.
Vier 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.
Es kam nicht.
Aber es ist ihr etwas in den Sinn gekommen. Das Hartley Museum. Vor Jahren erinnerte sich Tonya an einen Artikel über die Versuche des Museums, die "bisher umfangreichste Artemis-Ausstellung mit schockierenden neuen Beweisen" oder ähnlichem Unsinn zu enthüllen. Damals hielt sie es für eine billige Theatralik, die Saugnäpfe anzulocken.
Nun, vielleicht war es einen Blick wert.
* * * *
Das Hartley Museum verblasste sicherlich im Vergleich zu den ehrwürdigeren Einrichtungen in der Londoner Museum Row. Seine Fassade bröckelte, und zwar nicht in ehrwürdiger Weise. Zerfetzte recycelte Banner flatterten vor der Fassade und kündigten die Ausstellung "Parade der alten Erdkönige" an.
Tonya kaufte ein Ticket von einem mürrischen alten Mann am Schaufenster und schob sich durch das billige Sicherheitsdrehkreuz. Der Ort war leer. Ihre Schritte hallen von den fast marmornen Wänden in die Ferne. Sie untersuchte beiläufig eine Sammlung von Skeletten und Schalen, die wie alte Ägypter aussehen sollten. Sie hielt an einem Sarkophag mit dem Skelett eines "Pharaos" im Inneren.
"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 Überreste des mächtigen Pharaos Khafra, des Architekten der unsterblichen Sphinx von Gaza."
"Pharao Khafra?" Tonya nickte. Sie lehnte sich nach innen, um einen besseren Blick auf die Überreste zu werfen.
"In der Tat. Seine Herrschaft in der vierten Dynastie war -"
"Das war ein Sklave."
"Ich bitte um Verzeihung", sagte der alte Mann schnaufend.
"Stress und Knochennarben um die Knöchel deuten darauf hin, dass er schwere Gegenstände trug, also war er wahrscheinlich ein Architekt der Sphinx, aber eher der steintragenden Art."
Der alte Mann starrte sie an, verblüfft von einer kleinen Verlegenheit, die eingetreten war.
"“I …”
"Es ist okay", versicherte sie ihm. "Ich wollte dich nach der Artemis-Ausstellung fragen, die du versucht hast anzuziehen."
"Oh, ich wünsche es mir", sagte er und entleerte noch mehr. "Das sollte unsere Lebensader zur Erlösung sein. Ich sank jeden einzelnen Penny, den wir hatten, als wir versuchten, all diese Erinnerungsstücke zu sammeln."
"Es ist also hier?"
"Die Bank hat sie als Sicherheit für notleidende Kredite beschlagnahmt." Er stürzte auf eine Bank. "Sag mir, wie soll ich es ihnen zurückzahlen, wenn ich keine neuen Exponate habe, um Tickets zu verkaufen?"
"Was hast du gekauft?"
"Es war eine Handvoll Captain Danvers' persönliche Tagebücher, Schaltpläne und Testmaterial des Schiffes, eine Originalkopie der Janus KI, die ich sogar geschafft habe -"
"Whoa, langsam." Tonya rutschte neben ihm auf der Bank. "Du hast eine Kopie des KI-Programms gefunden?"
"Janus? Ja, und es war nicht billig, wohlgemerkt."
"Wie heißt die Bank?"
Der alte Mann, Melvin Hartley Jr., als sie es herausfinden wollte, sagte es ihr. Tonya verließ Hartley in sein stilles und leeres Museum, während sie selbst etwas graben musste.
Der Vertreter der Bank war hilfreich, aber ablehnend. Sie sagte, dass die Bank alle ernsthaften Angebote zum Kauf der Artefakte in Betracht ziehen würde, aber es müsste überprüft werden, was Wochen dauern könnte.
Leider hatte Tonya diese Art von Zeit nicht.
Sie musste sie stehlen.
. ... wird fortgesetzt
"Also, wo willst du anfangen zu suchen?" Senzen grinste, als er in das Hornissennest trat. Es hat funktioniert. Tonya wirbelte zurück.
"Wie zum Teufel hast du ihn auf diesem Gebiet verkauft?" Sie schubste ihn. "Du konntest nicht wissen, was ich gefunden habe." Schieb #2.
"Für jemanden, der so fasziniert von Zivilisationen ist, sollte man wirklich versuchen, mehr über Menschen zu erfahren."
"Sag es mir", sagte sie und schob ihn ein anderes Mal. Senzen seufzte.
"Arlington ist wahrscheinlich die einzige Person im Universum, die sich nicht weniger um die Artemis kümmern könnte." Ein Assistent lief nach Senzen und lieferte eine Tasse Kaffee. "Ah, wunderbar, danke", lächelte er die Assistentin an und kehrte dann zu Tonya zurück. "Ich habe ihm gerade gesagt, dass wir an der Analyse des Fragments gearbeitet haben und etwas gefunden haben, das riesig sein könnte. 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 übernimmt, tat den Rest."
Tonya starrte ihn an. Senzen trank aus seinem Kaffee und wartete.
"Du gehst mir aus dem Weg."
"Das ist alles?" Senzen schüttelte den Kopf, enttäuscht. "Komm schon Tonya, du warst mal witziger als das."
"Wie wäre es, wenn du keine Chance gegen mich hast und das weißt du." Sie drehte sich um und ging weg.
"Äh, besser", schrie Senzen, "aber ich könnte dich überraschen."
* * * *
Als 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. Zurück während ihrer zum Scheitern verurteilten Partnerschaft konnte er Informationen aus den ungewöhnlichsten 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 Spezialität.
Sie entzündete die Motoren, als ein Gedanke, ein einziger paranoider Gedanke, sie packte. Vielleicht hatte Senzen Recht; sie musste anfangen, Menschen zu studieren. Angefangen mit der Möglichkeit, dass er sie nerven würde. Sie führte eine schiffsweite Suche entlang des Rumpfes nach ausgehenden Signalen durch. Während es lief, zog sie die Verpackung von ihrer neuen DeCon/Scan-Kammer und stellte sie so ein, dass sie dasselbe tat.
Tonya sprang herein. Die Sensorstäbe schwangen um sie herum. Es schien, als wäre sie bis zum.... Ping im Reinen.
"Sohn eines -" trat sie heraus und sah auf die Leinwand. Tatsächlich war ein Sender, der nicht größer als ein Kieselstein war, unter ihrem Kragen angebracht. Sie warf es in den Verbrennungsofen.
Die schiffsweite Suche wurde ebenfalls durchgeführt. Es wurden keine unbefugten Änderungen oder Signale übertragen.
"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 ließ den Planeten zurück.
Tonya setzte den Kurs auf den nächstgelegenen Sprungbrett. Sie musste allein sein. Sie hatte ein neues Puzzle und sie musste sehen, womit sie arbeiten musste, also je weniger Ablenkungen, desto besser.
Sie sprang durch den Sprungpunkt in das Chronos System. Die unfertige Masse der Synth-Welt war gegen die ferne Sonne kaum sichtbar. Das UEE-Militär führte in der Nähe Übungen durch, aber Tonya konnte einen schönen Fleck von nichts finden. Sie stellte das Schiff auf Autoreaktion und kletterte vom Cockpit nach hinten.
Sie brachte alle ihre Materialien hervor und sortierte alles auf der Wanddisplay.
Das Wichtigste zuerst; sie stellte ein Programm ein, um ihre Bilder in ein 3D-Modell zu konvertieren. Dann wandte sie sich der Sternenkarte zu. Das ursprüngliche Ziel der Artemis war GJ 667Cc, der (damals) als möglicher bewohnbarer Planeten der Super-Erde galt. Das Artemis-Fragment wurde im Stanton-System gefunden, bei weitem nicht in der Nähe der richtigen Trajektorie für einen Vorstoß zum glizianischen Sternhaufen.
Also, was ist passiert? Warum ist das Schiff umgeleitet? Im Einklang mit ihrer Hypothese, dass die Artemis sich zur Reparatur aufmachten, würde Janus nach dem Neustart des Schiffes an seinen ursprünglichen Bestimmungsort zurückkehren?
Tonya durchstöberte Bücher und Artikel. Sofort beschloss sie, alles wegzuwerfen, was nicht nachweislich wahr war. Biographien, Dissertationen, Simulationen waren Spekulationen. Obwohl einige große Geister versucht hatten, das Geheimnis der Artemis zu lösen, schätzten sie schließlich, und Tonya würde die neuen Beweise nicht mit vorgefassten Vorstellungen färben.
Leider hat dieser Ansatz 98 Prozent des verfügbaren Materials zunichte gemacht. Was blieb, waren nur Datenfetzen, das gelegentliche Zitat eines Crewmitglieds vor dem Start und Archivdateien von NewsOrg über den Start selbst - der Moment, in dem Janus die Kontrolle über das Schiff übernahm und seine Triebwerke aus dem bekannten Raum feuerte.
Vier 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.
Es kam nicht.
Aber es ist ihr etwas in den Sinn gekommen. Das Hartley Museum. Vor Jahren erinnerte sich Tonya an einen Artikel über die Versuche des Museums, die "bisher umfangreichste Artemis-Ausstellung mit schockierenden neuen Beweisen" oder ähnlichem Unsinn zu enthüllen. Damals hielt sie es für eine billige Theatralik, die Saugnäpfe anzulocken.
Nun, vielleicht war es einen Blick wert.
* * * *
Das Hartley Museum verblasste sicherlich im Vergleich zu den ehrwürdigeren Einrichtungen in der Londoner Museum Row. Seine Fassade bröckelte, und zwar nicht in ehrwürdiger Weise. Zerfetzte recycelte Banner flatterten vor der Fassade und kündigten die Ausstellung "Parade der alten Erdkönige" an.
Tonya kaufte ein Ticket von einem mürrischen alten Mann am Schaufenster und schob sich durch das billige Sicherheitsdrehkreuz. Der Ort war leer. Ihre Schritte hallen von den fast marmornen Wänden in die Ferne. Sie untersuchte beiläufig eine Sammlung von Skeletten und Schalen, die wie alte Ägypter aussehen sollten. Sie hielt an einem Sarkophag mit dem Skelett eines "Pharaos" im Inneren.
"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 Überreste des mächtigen Pharaos Khafra, des Architekten der unsterblichen Sphinx von Gaza."
"Pharao Khafra?" Tonya nickte. Sie lehnte sich nach innen, um einen besseren Blick auf die Überreste zu werfen.
"In der Tat. Seine Herrschaft in der vierten Dynastie war -"
"Das war ein Sklave."
"Ich bitte um Verzeihung", sagte der alte Mann schnaufend.
"Stress und Knochennarben um die Knöchel deuten darauf hin, dass er schwere Gegenstände trug, also war er wahrscheinlich ein Architekt der Sphinx, aber eher der steintragenden Art."
Der alte Mann starrte sie an, verblüfft von einer kleinen Verlegenheit, die eingetreten war.
"“I …”
"Es ist okay", versicherte sie ihm. "Ich wollte dich nach der Artemis-Ausstellung fragen, die du versucht hast anzuziehen."
"Oh, ich wünsche es mir", sagte er und entleerte noch mehr. "Das sollte unsere Lebensader zur Erlösung sein. Ich sank jeden einzelnen Penny, den wir hatten, als wir versuchten, all diese Erinnerungsstücke zu sammeln."
"Es ist also hier?"
"Die Bank hat sie als Sicherheit für notleidende Kredite beschlagnahmt." Er stürzte auf eine Bank. "Sag mir, wie soll ich es ihnen zurückzahlen, wenn ich keine neuen Exponate habe, um Tickets zu verkaufen?"
"Was hast du gekauft?"
"Es war eine Handvoll Captain Danvers' persönliche Tagebücher, Schaltpläne und Testmaterial des Schiffes, eine Originalkopie der Janus KI, die ich sogar geschafft habe -"
"Whoa, langsam." Tonya rutschte neben ihm auf der Bank. "Du hast eine Kopie des KI-Programms gefunden?"
"Janus? Ja, und es war nicht billig, wohlgemerkt."
"Wie heißt die Bank?"
Der alte Mann, Melvin Hartley Jr., als sie es herausfinden wollte, sagte es ihr. Tonya verließ Hartley in sein stilles und leeres Museum, während sie selbst etwas graben musste.
Der Vertreter der Bank war hilfreich, aber ablehnend. Sie sagte, dass die Bank alle ernsthaften Angebote zum Kauf der Artefakte in Betracht ziehen würde, aber es müsste überprüft werden, was Wochen dauern könnte.
Leider hatte Tonya diese Art von Zeit nicht.
Sie musste sie stehlen.
. ... wird fortgesetzt
Chinese
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.
“So where do you want to start looking?” Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet’s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.
“How the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?” She shoved him. “You couldn’t have known what I found.” Shove #2.
“For someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.”
“Tell me,” she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.
“Arlington’s probably the only person in the universe who couldn’t care less about the Artemis.” An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. “Ah, wonderful, thanks,” he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. “I just told him that we’d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn’t 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.”
Tonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.
“You stay out of my way.”
“That’s it?” Senzen shook his head, disappointed. “Come on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.”
“How about, you don’t stand a chance against me and you know it.” She turned and walked away.
“Eh, better,” Senzen yelled, “but I might surprise you.”
* * * *
By 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’s specialty.
She 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.
Tonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until … ping.
“Son of a —“ 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.
The ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.
“Nice try, Senzen,” 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.
Tonya 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.
She 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.
She brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.
First things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis’ 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.
So 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?
Tonya 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’t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.
Unfortunately, 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 — the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.
Four 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.
It wasn’t coming.
Something did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum’s attempts to unveil the “most comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence” or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.
Now, maybe it was worth a gander.
* * * *
The Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London’s Museum Row. Its façade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the “Parade of the Ancient Earth Kings” exhibit.
Tonya 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 ‘pharaoh’ inside.
“Good afternoon, miss,” 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. “This is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.”
“Pharaoh Khafra?” Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.
“Indeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was –“
“This was a slave.”
“I beg your pardon,” the old man said in a huff.
“Stress 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.”
The old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.
“I …”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.”
“Oh, I wish,” he said, deflating even more. “That was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.”
“So it’s here?”
“The bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.” He slumped onto a bench. “Tell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don’t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?”
“What did you buy?”
“It was a handful of Captain Danvers’ personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to —”
“Whoa, slow down.” Tonya slid beside him on the bench. “You found a copy of the AI program?”
“Janus? Yes, and it wasn’t cheap, mind you.”
“What’s the name of the bank?”
The 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.
The bank’s 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.
Unfortunately, Tonya didn’t have that kind of time.
She was going to have to steal them.
. . . to be continued
“So where do you want to start looking?” Senzen grinned as he kicked the hornet’s nest. It worked. Tonya whirled back.
“How the hell did you sell him on that line of crap?” She shoved him. “You couldn’t have known what I found.” Shove #2.
“For someone so fascinated with civilizations, you really should try to learn more about people.”
“Tell me,” she said and shoved him another time. Senzen sighed.
“Arlington’s probably the only person in the universe who couldn’t care less about the Artemis.” An assistant ran up to Senzen and delivered a cup of coffee. “Ah, wonderful, thanks,” he smiled at the assistant, then turned back to Tonya. “I just told him that we’d been working on analyzing the fragment and found something that could be huge. I didn’t 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.”
Tonya glared at him. Senzen sipped from his coffee and waited.
“You stay out of my way.”
“That’s it?” Senzen shook his head, disappointed. “Come on Tonya, you used to be wittier than that.”
“How about, you don’t stand a chance against me and you know it.” She turned and walked away.
“Eh, better,” Senzen yelled, “but I might surprise you.”
* * * *
By 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’s specialty.
She 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.
Tonya hopped in. The sensor bars swung around her. It seemed like she was in the clear until … ping.
“Son of a —“ 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.
The ship-wide sweep was done too. No unauthorized modifications or signals were being broadcast.
“Nice try, Senzen,” 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.
Tonya 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.
She 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.
She brought out all her materials and sorted everything onto the wall display.
First things first; she set a program to convert her pictures into a 3D model. Then she turned to the starmap. The Artemis’ 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.
So 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?
Tonya 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’t going to color the new evidence with preconceived notions.
Unfortunately, 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 — the moment when Janus assumed control of the ship and fired its engines out of known space.
Four 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.
It wasn’t coming.
Something did occur to her, though. The Hartley Museum. Years ago, Tonya recalled seeing an article about the museum’s attempts to unveil the “most comprehensive Artemis exhibit to date, with shocking new evidence” or some such nonsense. At the time, she disregarded it as cheap theatrics to lure in the suckers.
Now, maybe it was worth a gander.
* * * *
The Hartley Museum certainly paled in comparison to the more venerable establishments on London’s Museum Row. Its façade was crumbling, and not in an venerable way. Tattered recycled banners fluttered out front heralding the “Parade of the Ancient Earth Kings” exhibit.
Tonya 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 ‘pharaoh’ inside.
“Good afternoon, miss,” 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. “This is the mortal remains of the mighty Pharaoh Khafra, architect of the immortal Sphinx of Gaza.”
“Pharaoh Khafra?” Tonya nodded. She leaned in to get a better look at the remains.
“Indeed. His reign in the fourth dynasty was –“
“This was a slave.”
“I beg your pardon,” the old man said in a huff.
“Stress 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.”
The old man stared at her, stunned with a little embarrassment thrown in.
“I …”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I wanted to ask you about the Artemis exhibit you were trying to put on.”
“Oh, I wish,” he said, deflating even more. “That was meant to be our lifeline to salvation. I sank every last penny we had trying to collect all that memorabilia.”
“So it’s here?”
“The bank seized it as collateral for defaulted loans.” He slumped onto a bench. “Tell me, how am I supposed to pay them back if I don’t have any new exhibits to sell tickets?”
“What did you buy?”
“It was a handful of Captain Danvers’ personal journals, schematics and test footage of the ship, an original copy of the Janus AI, I even managed to —”
“Whoa, slow down.” Tonya slid beside him on the bench. “You found a copy of the AI program?”
“Janus? Yes, and it wasn’t cheap, mind you.”
“What’s the name of the bank?”
The 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.
The bank’s 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.
Unfortunately, Tonya didn’t have that kind of time.
She was going to have to steal them.
. . . to be continued
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Metadata
- CIG ID
- 12873
- Channel
- Undefined
- Category
- Undefined
- Series
- The Lost Generation
- Comments
- 56
- Published
- 13 years ago (2013-01-31T00:00:00+00:00)