Faster Than Light: Babel Among the Stars

4.

TheHeilmann Drive was not just an engine. It was also the most powerfulweapon in the galaxy, capable of destroying entire planets. Anymatter within the envelope of compressed space during a Heilmann Leapwas fused and destroyed to provide the incredible amount of energyrequired to power the drive. A leap plotted through a planet wouldcut a swath straight through the core of the world, destabilizing itsorbit. Even worse, a leap plotted through a star would create achain reaction within the star that would destroy the entire solarsystem.

Fearconcerning the Heilmann Drive pressed the early People’sInterstellar Republic to put strict restrictions on access to theengine. Only a handful of scientists and engineers were allowed tostudy the design documents . Heilmann Drives were constructed inshifts, so that no laborer would ever see the entirety of the device. Everyone who constructed, repaired, and even piloted a starship hadto be a PIR citizen, living on Earth, under military surveillance.

Thisscheme of secrecy was successful in preventing the use of theHeilmann Drive as a weapon. In almost two thousand years, it wasnever used to destroy a planet or a star. However, the Republic’scomplete control over the engine bred resentment throughout thegalaxy. Many planets attempted to steal the plans for the HeilmannDrive, or bribe scientists to defect. Some even stole ships andtried to reverse-engineer the Drive.

Noone was successful. The Republic’s stranglehold on the HeilmannDrive was complete. It lasted until the Fall and, in fact, was whatmade the Fall possible in the first place. If even one other worldhad access to the Drive, to the plans, or to a single starship, theRepublic would have never been able to successfully stopfaster-than-light travel.

*

Seth’sheart thundered in his chest as he slowly unrolled fragile paper onthe desk in front of him. Even in his wildest dreams, he’d neverthought he could make it this far. The document in his hands was oneof the rarest and most valuable in the entire galaxy. Only a fewdozen people were ever allowed to see it.

Hestared at the design specifications for the power cells of theHeilmann Drive. It was one of the least important parts of thedevice, but it was still protected as a state secret.

BeforeSeth could even see the first words on the blueprint, he felt a handon his arm. It was Commissar Absalom. “I don’t think I can letyou do this,” he said. “Why do you need to see this anyway? This won’t tell you anything.”

Thetwo men were standing in a large starship repair bay near the centerof the German Zone. This was the only place in the galaxy that aHeilmann Drive power cell could received maintenance.

Ithad only been a day since Seth was sitting in a jail cell, wonderingif he would ever see freedom again. Now he was part of the operationto enforce the Spatial Preservation act. He’d already beenformally introduced to the press, where he was identified as the manwho charged the stage during Chairman Stephens’s public assembly.

Beforethe press conference, Chairman Stephens spoke to the reporters. Andhe lied. He told them that he’d personally spoken to Seth inprison and that Seth had a lot of questions about the SpatialPreservation Act. These were questions everyone was asking, so hedecided to appoint Seth as a temporary civilian liaison to theRepublic military. Seth would review the work of Phaer Absalom andhis team and report directly to the people through weekly bulletins.

Sethhad never said anything about weekly bulletins, but it was too lateto go back now.

“Youpromised me access to everything,” Seth replied. “You told me Icould see whatever I want. Besides, you’re right. This won’ttell me anything. I took a physics class once in primary school. That’s it. This is well over my head.”

“Thenwhy?” Absalom growled. “You are wasting our time.”

Sethlooked over at him and smiled. “People think you’re destroyingthe plans for the Heilmann Drive. If I see them, I can tell everyonethat you are doing no such thing.”

Thisconfused Absalom. “Why would we destroy the plans? Theplans are not doing anything to harm the galaxy by themselves.”

“I’mjust the messenger,” Seth replied. His hands were shaking. Hewanted to unroll the paper so badly that if Absalom made him wait anylonger, he might just go crazy.

Absalomlooked up towards a man standing near the back of the room. He was alarge figure with neatly-trimmed salt and pepper hair. Seth wasintroduced to him when they arrived at the repair bay. He was Dr.Kyle Richmond, one of the supervisors of the facility. “You!”Absalom barked. “Tell me, will Mr. Garland be able to understandwhat these plans say?”

Dr.Richmond laughed. “I have advanced degrees in engineering andphysics. I barely understand them. Hell, I’m even the one whotranscribed them from the originals. We just do what they say, andit always manages to work.”

“Fine. Go ahead, Mr. Garland.”

Sethhastily pressed the paper to the ground. He slowly unfurled it,marveling at what he saw. Dr. Richmond was right. It didn’t makeany sense. He could tell that it was a series of drawings of thepower cells, but they were accompanied by numbers and specificationsand equations that were so far out of his depth that they might aswell have been in a foreign language.

Itdidn’t matter. These plans were part of the Heilmann Drive. Hewas actually seeing the design documents for the device that allowedman to spread across the stars. It was almost too exciting for himto concentrate. But he had to concentrate. He had a job to do, andif he failed then the humiliation of joining the Republic militarywould all be for naught.

“Whatif he sees all the plans?” Absalom suddenly asked.

Dr.Richmond hesitated. “What do you mean, ‘all of the plans’?”

Absalomsighed. “By the time this whole charade is over, we’re going tolet him look at each piece of the drive. I don’t know whywe are going to do that. But I suppose he has a point. He can telleveryone that we’re not burning the blueprints.”

“Wait... He’s going to see all the design docs?”

Sethgritted his teeth. He wished they would both stop talking. It wasdistracting him and that was the last thing he needed. He couldn’ttell them that. It would only arouse suspicions.

“Doyou think that’s a danger?” Absalom asked. “Like you said,he’s an amateur. And he will always be under my supervision. He’snot going to steal the plans.” The commissar looked over at Seth. “He’s not stupid.”

Dr.Richmond shrugged. “It’s just unprecedented. I... I want tosee all the design docs. I’ve always been so curious how thecompression modules could work so efficiently without overheating. Their architecture must be so intricate and so perfectlystructured...”

Sethwas done. He’d seen enough. Now it was time to look like hehadn’t done anything at all. “That’s why you don’t get tosee them, doctor,” he said. “Because you could actually dosomething with them.”

“Areyou satisfied?” Commissar Absalom asked.

“Theseare the real plans,” Seth replied. “I’ll make sure to includethe fact that they still exist in my first weekly bulletin.” Helet go of the paper stretched out on the table and walked away. Heresisted the temptation to look back once again. He had to trusthimself.

Absalomshifted his weight to his good leg and started limping towards thedoor. “Good. I can’t wait to get back to the base.” Hegrimaced, stopped in the middle of the repair bay, and took a deepbreath. He was in a lot of pain.

Sethwaited patiently at the door for the commissar. Dr. Richardson,however, rushed forward to try and help. “Here,” the doctorsaid, offering his arm. “Let me--”

Beforehe could even finish speaking, Absalom grabbed his wrist and shovedhim away. “Don’t touch me!” he growled. “I can make it onmy own.”

Richardsonbacked off immediately, creeping towards the far wall. Then he juststood and watched as the commissar slowly made his way to the door.

Sethrepressed a grin. He’d only known Phaer Absalom for two days, butalready he’d proven to be very different from the Republicofficials Seth was used to dealing with. Absalom didn’t care foranyone’s help. He did everything on his own. He planned all ofhis team’s operations from the top down. This philosophy extendedto everything in his life, even his nagging injuries.

Mostpeople in his position would have amputated their leg, replaced itwith a bionic limb, and never looked back. Absalom refused. Thebones in his leg were shattered, held together with steel screws andminiature gravity wells. It was medical technology that had all butbeen abandoned since the advent of realistic replacement limbs. Hismuscles were warped and atrophied, strengthened only by regularphysical therapy that Absalom administered himself. It was like heheld his body together by sheer will. And even with that toovercome, he became one of the most powerful people in the Republic.

Despitehimself, Seth respected the commissar. The Republic was full ofpeople who’d given up on doing something great with their life. Absalom never gave up on anything. That was something worthy ofadmiration.

Andit almost made Seth feel bad for betraying him.

*

Theblank paper was so intimidating. As soon as he saw it, Seth began toquestion himself. Could he really do this? Or did he overestimatehis own talents?

Afterall, he’d never done anything like this. He used to impress theother kids in school with his ability to recite page after page oftheir favorite comics, verbatim, after only a glance. But then hestarted to realize those sorts of talents attracted attention. Histeachers recommended him to several advanced schools that funneledpromising students into Republic bureaucracies. Seth didn’t haveany interest in serving the Republic, and soon started to hide hisskills. He didn’t want the Republic to know about them, becausesome day they might be useful against them.

Thiswas that day. He’d studied the plans for the Heilmann Drive powercells intently for a few minutes. It was more time than he thoughthe needed, but he had to be careful. He wouldn’t get anotherchance to look at it, or any other portion of the Heilmann Drive. Ifhe was going to succeed, he would have to be able to reproduce eachblueprint perfectly.

Sethclosed his eyes. He tried to recall every single line he saw on theplans, every single word and number. Before he could even put it alltogether, he snatched up the pen near his desk. His hand workedfuriously on the page in front of him, reproducing the image he stillheld in his brain.

Itwas working. As the picture took form on the paper, Seth realizedthat he’d been right. He was able to retain enough information tocopy most of the plans. His handwriting was awful and his drawingabilities left something to be desired. But the information wasthere.

Noone had ever managed to smuggle design documents for the HeilmannDrive out of the Republic. That was because they tried to take theoriginals. Or they tried to copy or photograph them. No one hadever attempted to steal the plans by memorizing them. Seth smiled ashe completed one of the drawings. He was going to do it. He wasgoing to save the Heilmann Drive.

Withinminutes, he was putting the finishing touches on the blueprint. Hetook a step back. It wasn’t perfect. It lacked the precision ofthe original. Size and proportion specifications would have to comefrom the equations on the side of the document, not from the drawingitself. But it would do.

Suddenly,Seth heard the chime of the door behind him. Someone was there. While he was in his personal quarters, and enjoyed a certain amountof privacy, he was still technically in the custody of the Republicmilitary. They could enter his room at any time. Fortunately,whoever came to visit him had the courtesy to alert him to theirpresence.

Sethmoved quickly, folding up his new reproduction of the power cellspecifications. He folded them up and tucked them underneath one ofthe drawers of his desk.

“Comein!” he exclaimed, sitting down on the couch near the door. Hepicked up his tablet computer from the coffee table, kicked his feetup, and pretended he was reading something.

Thedoor slid open. Before Seth could even look back, he knew who hisvisitor was. He could hear the sound of the man’s foot dragging onthe floor as he entered.

“Greetings,Mr. Garland,” Commissar Absalom said loudly.

Sethglanced over his shoulder. “Is everything all right, commissar?”he asked.

“Justfine,” he replied.

“Thenwhat brings you by?” Seth set down his tablet and stood up. Hestarted mentally preparing himself for an inspection of the room. Most likely, no one would think to look under the drawer. All he hadto do was keep from nervously glancing at the spot and revealing thehiding place himself.

Absalomshrugged. “I just wanted to see how you were coming along. Therooms here at the base aren’t nearly as nice as the accommodationsat RSIR, I’m sure.”

Sethfurrowed his brow and wondered why Absalom would care about hiscomfort. He still thought of the commissar as an enemy and assumedthat it was mutual. “I’ve been in worse,” Seth replied. “Igrew up in worse.”

Thecommissar forced a weak smile, approaching one of the chairs. “MayI sit down?” he asked. His stiff leg shook as he tried to stand upstraight.

Asmuch as Seth wanted Absalom to leave, he couldn’t turn him down.“Sure. Go ahead.” The commissar carefully planted his arm onthe chair and hobbled into it. He stretched out his leg and breatheda long sigh of relief. “So, what’s next on the agenda?” Sethasked.

Absalomfolded his hands in his lap. “Tomorrow we head to the observationoutpost on Europa for three more decommissions. Many of thescientific records you want to see are stored at the outpost, soyou’ll get a chance to take a look at those.”

Sethfelt a surge of excitement. “Would this be the reports from thescientists who examined the warped space station?”

“Thevery same. And after you take a look at them, I suspect you willunderstand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Veryfew people had been allowed to see the original reports made by thescientists. Redacted versions were published everywhere, but theywere missing so many details that they were practically useless. Thetrue effects of the warped space were removed, as well as anymeasurements within the warped space. No one knew how bad it was. The photographs and videos from the space station were classified.

Theofficial reason for the secrecy was to prevent panic. Apparently thefootage and data taken in the warped space was so disturbing that theRepublic feared that people would not be able to handle it. Sethdidn’t believe any of this, but the prospect of seeing it all stillfrightened and excited him.

“Justin time for my first public bulletin?” Seth asked. He narrowed hiseyes. “You know, I never agreed to speak publicly more than oncewhen we talked back in jail.”

Sethexpected Absalom to lash out at him for challenging the terms oftheir deal. Instead, the commissar very calmly leaned forward. “Iam sorry for that,” he said. “But you have to understand, thiswas not just my decision. You charged on stage and interrupted theChairman of the Republic. He had to clear any deal I made with you. When he demanded that you make weekly public appearances... Iassumed that you would accept that. It should build anticipation foryour book, right?”

Forjust a second, Seth was stunned. He couldn’t believe the commissarwas apologizing to him. It seemed wrong.

“Youdid what you had to do,” Seth said. “I don’t blame anyone forthat.”

Absalomgripped the armrest of his chair and started to pull himself to hisfeet. “Oh, I know. But if you are going to be part of my team, Iwant us to trust each other. I want you to know that I did notbetray that trust.” He groaned as he stood. “That is it. Thatis what I came here to say.”

“Areyou sure you don’t want something to drink?” Seth asked. He bithis tongue as soon as he spoke. Why was he suggesting that Absalomstay? He wanted to get rid of him. Still, he couldn’t stophimself. “I’ve got an open bottle of Yuanian whisky. Valuablestuff now that the trade routes are shutting down.”

Thecommissar shook his head. “I should be going.” He began toslowly limp towards the door. “I’ll see you bright and earlytomorrow morning for our flight to Europa.”

AsSeth watched Absalom go, he had to remember that he was betrayinghim. Absalom was the driving force behind the Fall. He was the manresponsible for its enforcement.

Hewas not Seth’s friend.

*

Sethwatched carefully as the workers dissembled the I.S.S. Prosperity,one of the largest faster-than-light vessels in the galaxy.

Forcenturies, the Prosperity ran a triangular route betweenNewPasTur, Agarion, and Earth. The Prosperity was a passengership as well as a cargo transport. Over one-third of the food onNewPasTur was imported on the Prosperity, and there werealready rumbles that the planet would suffer from famine as soon asthe vessel was decommissioned.

“Thisis going to be big,” Seth said. “You should not have stopped thetrade routes to NewPasTur until near the very end.”

Absalomgroaned aloud. He was standing a few feet from Seth, near the windowout onto the dock. Unlike Seth, he was not watching the slowdeconstruction of the Prosperity. “And why is that, Mr.Garland?”

“NewPasTurcannot survive on its own. They have no farmland, and are incapableof feeding their own people. They will starve, and cutting them offthis early means that everyone will know about it. If you waiteduntil the last minute, until the very beginning of the Fall, theircollapse would go unnoticed.”

“Thoseare good points,” Absalom replied. “Perhaps you are right. Itwould not be too difficult to re-route a few of the remaining routesto provide more assistance to NewPasTur.”

Sethfelt a chill go down his back. Why was he doing this? Why was hehelping Absalom with the implementation of the Fall? He decided hehad to keep his mouth shut and, instead, silently turned back to theworkers in the repair bay.

Theywere methodically dis-assembling the Prosperity piece bypiece. Most of the parts that they removed were far too large andfar too heavy to be carried, so they used special kinetic gloves tostrip them and move them onto large conveyor belts near the back ofthe bay. The gloves, which were small enough to be comfortably worn,emitted a powerful energy field that could be used to carry thousandsof pounds of metal with little effort by the user.

Oneof the workers pointed his palm at the rear of the massive starship. The hull plating began to shiver and shake. Within seconds, a tallsheet of metal bent away from the hull. The worker pulled it freewith a tug of his arm. The metal floated in the air, just inchesfrom his hand, as he cautiously transferred it to the back of hisroom.

“Theydon’t even have to strain their muscles to destroy it,” Sethmuttered. It felt so wrong. The starship they were pulling apart,piece by piece, was the pinnacle of human innovation. Nothing likeit existed before. And no matter what the Republic officials said,Seth didn’t believe anything like it would exist again.

“Whatdid you say?” Absalom asked.

Sethshook his head. “Nothing. I’m satisfied. I’ve seen enough. I want to see the records from the warped space. I want to know whywe’re doing this.”

*

Theline should have been straight. And the more Seth stared at thepicture, the more his mind tried to make it straight. It wasstarting to give him a headache.

“Whatam I looking at?” He was sitting at a desk with several tablets infront of him. They were full of photographs very similar to the onein front of Seth. He’d already looked at dozens of images, butthere was something about this one that he kept coming back to.

Absalompeered over his shoulder. “I believe that is the corridor leadingtowards the medical bay aboard the station. There’s a magnetizedstreak to help stabilize stretchers when they float through thehallway.”

“Sothis is definitely supposed to be a straight line? The magnetizedstreak?” Absalom nodded. Seth narrowed his eyes and tried tofocus in on the picture. “But it’s... It’s...” He couldn’tput his thoughts into words. There was something wrong going on,something twisted within the line. But it didn’t curve or spiral,waver or turn. It was straight and it wasn’t. “It’s off.”

“Inmost of the pictures, the distortion is more obvious. That’sbecause the camera is outside of the same warped space as thesubject. This photograph is different. The area within the medicalcorridor is one of the most distorted areas on board the station. The camera was actually within the warp, so the line still looksstraight. But you know it’s not, don’t you?”

Sethwanted to laugh it all off, to diminish it. He wanted to tellAbsalom that he’d exaggerated. There was nothing on the tabletsthat was particularly scary. It was just a bunch of distortedphotos. They were just lines that should be straight but were not.

Hecouldn’t do it. It was horrifying and he couldn’t explain it. There was something about the pictures that made him sick to hisstomach. And it wasn’t just the photographs. The reports from thestation were almost as bad.

Thewarp happened so slowly that the inhabitants of the space stationdidn’t even notice it. It didn’t have any apparent physicaleffects. It was happening on a level of reality so base that itdistorted everything seamlessly. Walking into a warped area didn’thurt people, even though it displaced certain parts of their body. They couldn’t even feel it, at least not on the surface.

Butthe warp did something to their minds. It was how the Republic firstnoticed that there was an issue aboard the station. Violentaltercations broke out regularly. Almost everyone on board reportedsevere insomnia. Their intake of stimulants and anti-depressantsskyrocketed, with most crew members using both to stabilizethemselves.

Severalof the crew kept personal journals during this time. There wasnothing obviously amiss within them. They read just like any otherjournal, dull accounts of day-to-day life that yielded nothingremarkable. Yet Seth could barely stand to read them for very long. Just like the distortion of the medical corridor, Seth couldn’texplain why it disturbed him so much.

Sethplaced the tablet with the photo and picked up another one. This onecontained several journal entries.

“Whydoes all of this feel so wrong?” Seth asked. “What does thismean? None of this... None of this is that strange at all. But Ican’t...”

“Nowdo you see what I mean?” Absalom asked. “This is why we can’trelease it to the public.”

No. Seth didn’t see what he meant. It made him feel uneasy. But whathe felt didn’t make any sense. He started to read over the journalentry in front of him. He made it a paragraph in before he had tostop. This time, it wasn’t just that he couldn’t continue. Hewas stuck. There was one line, one seemingly meaningless line, thatdrew him in. He read it over and over. Each time, he felt abuilding fear inside of him.

Afew seconds later, his heart was racing and his palms were sweating. He wanted to throw down the tablet and look away. But even more, hewanted to understand. He needed to know why it was having thiseffect on him.

“Idon’t get it!” Seth exclaimed. “This is all... There’snothing remarkable about any of this. Why is it so terrifying?”

Absalomdidn’t reply. He just waited and watched as Seth tried torationalize something that clearly could not be rationalized.

“CanI read this to you? I keep looking at it, over and over again, andI’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep at night because ofthis. It’s... It’s like...” Seth tried to throw down thetablet again, but he couldn’t. He had to see what Absalom thought. He needed to know he wasn’t crazy. “Let me read this to you.”

“Goahead,” Absalom said. And so, with a deep breath, Seth read backthe sentence that transfixed him:

“TodayI looked in the mirror and for the first time I noticed that thecolors have changed. I am not sure if they are better now.”

Amoment of silence hung in the room. Then Absalom grabbed the tabletin Seth’s hands and pulled it away. “So you got to that part,”the commissar said. “I hope you get the point now. Do you seewhat we’re up against?”

Sethwas puzzled. “That ‘one’? Up against? That sentence didn’tmean anything. It was just...”

“Youcan read more, but I wouldn’t suggest it. If you’re havingtrouble with the entry about the colors...” Absalom’s voicetrailed off, as if he didn’t want to go any further.

Beforebeginning this investigation, Seth would have never turned downaccess for more information. He wanted to know everything, and hewanted to be able to reproduce everything. After all, he wasn’tjust building a collection of Heilmann Drive plans. He was alsobuilding a case for maintaining faster-than-light travel.

Buttoday, Seth didn’t want to see any more. He didn’t want to copyanything he’d seen or read. These photos and these words scaredand disgusted him in a way he couldn’t begin to fathom. He wasdone.