Chapter 10
Now that they had been given approval to investigate the Captain’s controls, Angela, Billy and Dev started to examine the chair to see if they could begin to understand how the controls worked. Fortunately, the chair side, back and front panels were screwed into place and were easily removed.
The more they revealed, the more they realised that the controls were very similar to the ones in the box they had examined earlier, with what appeared to be twelve versions of much the same thing. Although they couldn’t get a completely clear view of the control knob because of the cables within the arm, judging from the number of wires feeding it, it looked as if it simply switched between one control circuit and another. What looked like a power cable was running through the floor beneath the chair and connected to a separate circuit box beneath it. As before, they couldn’t believe how unsophisticated the controls actually were.
‘While we didn’t use a touchpad control on the hand-held version, it might be handy to do so with this. Later, we should be able to add that to future hand-held devices. In fact, we might even be able to make the whole thing hand-portable, making one version redundant’ commented Dev.
‘Well worth a look. While we’re about it, we could see if we could use a radio-controlled version, which would allow the actual control to be placed somewhere more convenient. I imagine it would be a complete pain to work on this at the same time the Captain was in it. All it would need is a power supply. We might even get away with powering it by battery, since it only needs to be powered when a selection is pressed, meaning that the battery should last a fair while. This might also help when we start to look into the inter-reality communications question the Admiral asked us to look into’ responded Billy.
‘Why don’t we separate the controls completely from the chair anyway. That way, the Captain could be anywhere on the ship and still be able to operate the controls. We would need an override to stop the ship and crew being hijacked simply by stealing the control’ suggested Dev.
‘Hmm. True. If we use a touchpad, we could easily program in an access control code, known only to senior officers. Alternatively, we could build in a fingerprint or retinal scanner, with only approved staff entered into the controlling database. The whole thing could be pretty small. At the same time, the two devices could be linked using a code that is sent, say, once a minute. If the code isn’t responded to, the main control will be disabled unless the Captain resets the handset with a control code. In that way, if the keypad is lost or stolen, it wouldn’t be of any use to anyone else.’
‘Why not just use spoken commands? We use it for all sorts of applications?’ wondered Dev.
‘If they were in vacuum, that wouldn’t work, which is why we have manual systems as well. Either way, we’re getting ahead of ourselves but I think that, when we’re in a position to start building a replacement for this thing, we should keep our options wide open, so that we can, if we decide it’s possible, solve both problems either at once or with very little change for the second one. Meanwhile, we need to extricate this lot from the chair’ observed Angela.
Two hours later, they had finally managed to remove all the circuit boards from the chair and had rebuilt it on a workbench they had erected nearby. The switching mechanism had proved harder to remove than they had anticipated and they had had to remove most of that side of the chair before they could free it from it’s mount. After an hour of deliberation, they decided that the best way to deal with the controls was to take them to their lab on the station and analyse them there, with the help of the computer. This would also give the advantage that the computer, having already analysed the hand-held unit, could use the information it already had in its database to help interpret what was happening on the new boards.
Two days later, they had managed to identify all the circuits, how they interrelated and how they were switched. As their earlier visual inspection had suggested, each board was almost identical to each of the others, with only a handful of slightly different components in one section of the board. In fact, in most cases, the components were the same, albeit with different values.
‘I’m amazed. The level of redundancy in this device is astonishing. With so much common circuitry, I can’t see why they didn’t just have one main board and a separate daughter board, or even a single integrated circuit for each of those bits that are different. Looking at the computer analysis and the circuits, we should be able to build something that is highly portable, complete with a separate, radio-linked switch. As Dev suggested with the hand-held switch, I think we should be looking at a software solution longer-term but we’re a way off that at present. Any suggestions before we get the computer to design an initial circuit board?’ said Angela, looking at Dev and Billy.
‘I think we’ve learnt all we can at this stage. I agree, I think we should build a first version of our own and see what happens’ replied Billy.
‘Absolutely! I also suggest that, as the computer is doing its stuff, we use what we know already to see if we can come up with a solution to the Admiral’s request concerning an inter-reality communications device’ suggested Dev.
‘Good idea. I’ll get the computer started on drafting up the circuit board designs and then we can get onto that’ replied Angela, moving across to the nearest computer terminal to start the program. ‘OK, now that’s going, I’m open to suggestions.’
After a long debate, they decided that they should be able to use an adaptation of their updated version of the chair controls to do the job. There would need to be two distinct elements. Firstly, there would need to be an inter-reality gateway. This would need to be low powered and sited well away from anywhere that could result in anyone being switched with the message by mistake. For safety, they decided that it should be located on ‘Roid 2, well away from the existing communications facility there and have the capability of being turned off remotely so that technicians could approach it safely.
There would be a receiver, which would create a message burst and transfer it to a holding memory buffer. The memory buffer would then copy the message burst to a transmitter module, which would switch realities as signals passed through. There would be a matching, complementary pair of transmitters in each reality, located in slightly different locations, to allow them to switch realities as required. Each reality would be equipped with a single receiver, as the receivers didn’t need to switch realities.
To switch the gateway, each ship or other navy transmitter would need to encode any message with a special tone that identified the destination reality and to open the reality gateway to that destination. The gateway would be linked into the Navy’s existing communications networks in the existing base on ‘Roid 2. New receiver and transmitter pairs would need to be placed in each known reality, along with the switching hardware.
They decided that this initial approach was almost certain to change materially as their understanding of reality switching increased, as they recognised that it was an amazingly crude approach to the problem. After all, it was possible that the people in the Zero reality already had a solution to the problem that the team hadn’t discovered thus far.
Once the computer had produced the initial circuit boards for the ship-based switch, they decided, as with the hand-held unit, that they needed to test the unit out, so placed it in a suitable box along with a separate box for the control switch and fitted it into a shuttle. Although they had hoped that they could use the remote from the safety of the captured ship, they decided that they needed to be on board in case there were any difficulties that needed to be addressed. The captured ship would come along to monitor them, as well as provide a backup in case something went wrong. Because of the time periods the crew worked, this took place on the following day. As before, the test would be conducted in the vicinity of ‘Roid 2, with Billy the shuttle pilot this time. The captured ship was to be crewed by a small contingent of those trained by Captain VanDelden, with Angela and Dev on board as observers. Billy would be in a sp
acesuit and had one of the new hand-held units fastened to his spacesuit as a failsafe back-up. He hoped it wouldn’t be needed.
‘Are you ready, Billy?’ asked Captain Moser from the captured ship, now renamed NS Ajax, as they arrived at the asteroid. ‘We’re ready whenever you are to go to One.’
‘Unless Angela or Dev can think of a reason why not, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, Captain. After you’ replied Billy.
‘See you on the other side’ responded Captain Moser, as Ajax disappeared.
‘OK. Here goes nothing’ muttered Billy, as he pressed the electronic switch to, he hoped, relocate the shuttle to reality one.
As soon as he entered reality one, the radio burst into life ‘Looks like you made it OK, Billy. That’s a relief. Should we go straight to two, or would you like to wait a moment before we switch?’ asked Angela.
‘I think I’d rather just check that I can get back home OK, now that we’ve switched away from there. I’ll see you back there, if that’s OK with you.’
‘No problem. I’d hate for you to get stuck in the wrong reality. See you there.’
A few seconds later, Billy re-emerged in reality Three, with Ajax pretty much as he’d left her in One.
‘That seems to have gone OK, Billy. Are you ready to try Two now?’ asked Captain Moser.
‘I’m ready. I can’t see any advantage in hanging around here, now we know I can get back if there’s a problem. See you there’ replied Billy.
He switched to reality two. Despite being able to see NS Ajax, he couldn’t attract their attention, no matter what he tried. His view of the planet looked much as he would have expected but when he started to scan for radio transmissions, he realised that there were none. In desperation, he decided to move the shuttle closer to NS Ajax to try to attract their attention by sight. As he pulled alongside the ship, it appeared to be unoccupied. He was starting to get nervous but decided that it made sense to move across to the ship and take a look. He checked his space suit, went outside and tethered the shuttle to the ship, then set off towards the nearest airlock. When he got on board, the deck lights were flickering but also seemed to be at a lower lighting level than he would have expected.
He checked for air and found it to be present but there was slightly more nitrogen in the atmosphere than was normal. He didn’t think it was enough to cause him any long-term problems. As he didn’t expect to be on board for very long, he decided to preserve the air in his suit and removed his helmet. The air seemed stale, as if the air filters hadn’t properly scrubbed it. As he made his way to the bridge he saw no one, which he thought was odd. In fact the ship was eerily quiet, without any of the normal sounds he would have expected, even down to the low-level background sounds present on all the ships he had ever been on.
When he entered the bridge, it was also deserted. The monitors were all turned on but there was a slight flicker to them that he couldn’t understand. What was even more odd was that the displays on the monitors changed from time to time, as if some unseen hand were changing them. He decided to sit in the Captain’s chair to get a better view of the bridge and was somewhat taken aback when the access door to the bridge opened and closed, although there was no one there.
On a whim, he wrote ‘HELP. BILLY’ on a notepad screen and then held it in front of one of the main monitors. A few seconds afterwards, an unseen hand seemed to write the message ‘GO BACK TO THREE’ beneath his words. He was somewhat taken aback by this, but wrote ‘OK. GIVE ME TEN MINUTES TO GET BACK TO MY SHIP’ underneath, then put the notepad down and ran towards the airlock, so that he could get back to the shuttle and back to his home reality.
Back in his own reality, he was relieved to hear the voice of Captain Moser on the radio. ‘Billy. Do you copy?’
‘Whew, that’s a relief, Captain. That was weird. We’ve obviously got something a bit off with our settings for reality two. My note ploy worked better than I could have hoped but it was very odd when someone responded.’
‘It was even more weird for us, Billy. We called for a while but couldn’t raise you, then your ship moved closer and we tracked you moving through the ship as doors opened and closed, until you got into the bridge. I have to say, when we saw your note, we found it somewhat eerie, as we couldn’t see you. While this was going on, we were trying to work out what must have happened and came to the conclusion that, somehow, you were slightly to the side, so to speak, of the reality we were in. Though there was an overlap, it wasn’t enough for us to see each other. It’s as well that you checked you could get back home before we started. While there were arguments put forward to resolve the error before we do any more tests, we decided it made more sense to carry on checking the ability to visit the remaining nine realities, in case there’s something more substantially at fault. Are you okay with that?’
‘Knowing I can get back home at any time was reassuring, I have to say. In future, if we can’t contact each other, I suggest we hold for ten minutes, in case there’s a communication fault, then return here.’
‘I agree. We’ll see you in Four.’
‘See you there’ replied Billy, switching the setting to reality four. This time, he was relieved when he could hear the Captain without difficulties and, just as importantly, the Captain could hear him.
To everyone’s relief, the same occurred in realities five, six and seven.
When they arrived at reality eight, however, Billy was somewhat taken aback when there was no sign of NS Ajax. He searched the immediate area in case there had been some physical movement as well but still found nothing other than several ships near to the planet and one heading out into space. He could tell from the shape that it wasn’t Ajax, so decided to return home.
There was no sign of NS Ajax here, either. Five minutes later, however, Billy was relieved to see it reappear alongside the shuttle.
‘Welcome back, Captain’ he said into the radio. ‘What happened?’
‘We went to reality eight, but there was no sign of you, so we returned here after the agreed ten minutes.’
‘We obviously need to review our circuit settings for reality eight as well. You OK to go to nine?’
‘See you there.’
Everyone was relieved when the trips to the remaining realities went according to plan and they could safely return to Columbus.
Once they had returned to their home reality, Angela and Dev returned to the shuttle and NS Ajax returned to its patrol area.
As they travelled back to Columbus, they pulled up the circuits for the switch on the computer and compared the originals with those in their own device. After a while, they concluded that there was nothing obviously wrong with their circuitry, so it had to be down to faulty components in their switchbox. Billy, supported by Dev, checked every component and discovered that, for the reality-specific parts of the circuits, a couple of components were operating well outside their tolerance setting, so these were changed.
The following day, they were able, again with the crew of NS Ajax, to test the switchbox for realities two and eight. This time, their trips were successful. As these were the only circuits that had been changed, they didn’t see the need to revisit the other realities.
Now that they had successfully tested their circuits, the next job was to get the computer to refine what they had, with a view to miniaturising the switch box even further. They also wanted to produce a wrist-worn version of the hand-held device that could be worn by anyone travelling between realities, to allow them to be always able to return back to the ‘home’ reality. That way, if anything went wrong and they found themselves lost in an unfamiliar reality, they could always get back home. This device could be very simple, however, as it only needed to be able to transport the wearer one way. As this was a simple-seeming task, now that they had the circuits designed, they programmed the computer to design the device.
The following afternoon, the computer had produced a fully wearable, if slightly larger than desired, wrist-worn switch. T
o make sure it didn’t get triggered accidentally, it was necessary to twist the rim anti-clockwise to open the cover to reveal a button. Pressing it would return the wearer back to the team’s reality. The computer had also managed to further refine the multi-reality switch box and produce a version that was about the size of a camera.
Again, the devices were tested, with Angela being the ‘guinea pig’ on this occasion. Satisfied that the devices did what they were meant to, they decided that they needed to make an initial batch of twenty multi-reality and a hundred of the wrist-worn devices, so sent the details to the navy production team to have them made.