Rayne nodded, fighting the sensation of unreality that threatened to overwhelm her. “How far are we from Earth?”
“Twenty-seven point four light years, by our measure of time,” Tallyn replied. “Since our days are twenty-eight of your hours long, it would be around twenty-nine light years of your time. If you’re feeling shock, I can have the doctor give you a tranquilliser.”
“No, I’m fine. But I would like to know how we got here so fast. We could only have been asleep for a few hours, unless you did something to us.”
“I didn’t do anything to you. You’ve slept for five hours, which is how long the journey took. At the moment, we’re waiting for shuttles from the surface, so I have time to explain it to you if you wish.”
“That would be nice,” Rawn muttered, sitting next to Rayne.
Tallyn sat on the sofa opposite. “Obviously we travel a great deal faster than light. We do this by using what’s called a transfer Net. Essentially, we tap into a parallel dimension that comprises pure energy, where things like time, weight and distance don’t exist. By establishing a link with the energy dimension, we draw power from it, and at the same time use it to ferry us through space. You could liken it to one of your electric trains, which draws its power from an overhead cable, and uses it to drive its wheels. The only difference is that the link is also a tow. The energy dimension exists everywhere in the known universe, and everywhere in the energy dimension is in the same place and the same time.”
Rawn shook his head. “You’ve lost me. How’s that possible?”
“As I said, distance and time don’t exist in that dimension.”
“So you go into the other dimension, then come out where you want to?”
“No, not exactly,” Tallyn said. “That’s how it works for the transfer Net with which we transport people and supplies, like the one that brought you here. In the case of the ship, it never actually enters the other dimension. The power needed to achieve that is too much for our machinery to deal with. The ship has no engines, as such. What we have are complicated conduits, through which the energy is channelled. It’s difficult to explain.”
“We’re not morons. Explain it as it was explained to you,” Rawn suggested.
“Okay. Imagine the universe is a series of layers, like a sandwich. We live in one layer, and the next layer is a mass of energy so powerful it exists everywhere at once. We establish a link with the energy, which, since it exists in all places, is able to tow us through space. We plot a course, and the link moves us at the speed we wish. The speed is actually infinite, but our ship’s structure limits it.”
“Why’s that? There’s no substance in space.”
“There’s a great deal of substance in the form of dust, meteors and other debris when you’re travelling at the kind of speed we do. Our scanners warn us of obstacles, and proximity repellers deflect the dust.”
“What are those?”
Tallyn smiled, and Rayne reflected that, although he had a nice smile, she had yet to see him use it with enough enthusiasm to reveal his teeth. Her curiosity about his dentition was growing, meanwhile. He glanced at her, perhaps sensing her stare, and launched into another explanation.
“Proximity repellers are powerful, negatively charged coils of super magnetic alloys. They will repel anything, from a planet to a dust particle. Even air molecules react to a certain degree. We also call it anti-gravity, when it’s used on a planet, but those systems are a lot weaker.”
“Is that how you generate gravity on this ship?” Rawn enquired. “By reversing it?”
“No.” Tallyn was apparently resigned to explaining everything. “The gravity on this ship is generated by a layer of super dense metal on its underside. As I’m sure you know, the denser the object the higher its gravitational pull. This metal is extremely dense, so much so that to call it metal does it an injustice. Lead would be like cloth next to it.”
“Why can’t you use the super magnetic alloy things?”
“The proximity repellers? That would be extremely dangerous, since, if you reversed the polarity and turned them into attracting magnets, they would work differently on different parts of the body. Liquids, solids and gasses all react differently. They would not generate true gravity, but rather a magnetic attraction that, if it was strong enough, would flatten the ship before it made people stick to the floors. You understand? Metal is far more magnetic than flesh.”
“But surely gravity works the same way? The denser something is, the heavier it is,” Rawn pointed out.
“Ah, yes and no. The difference is, a measure of water, or flesh, can be compared to a measure of lead, let’s say. The lead, although a smaller amount, would weigh the same, right? But with magnets, the measure isn’t weight, it’s attraction, and flesh is like feathers compared to lead when you talk about attraction.” Noting Rawn’s blank look, he elaborated. “Look, you know how strongly an ordinary magnet attracts a ferrous metal, right? But it doesn’t do anything to flesh. So imagine how strong it would have to be before it attracted something as nonferrous as flesh.”
“I see,” Rawn said. “We never discovered anything like that. Not as far as I know, anyway.” He looked at Rayne, who raised her brows and shrugged.
Tallyn went on, “But you must understand, these are not ordinary magnets, they attract, or repel, all forms of matter, not only ferrous metals. The comparison is not really valid; it only serves to elucidate my point. An ordinary magnet, no matter how strong, would not attract flesh.”
Rawn nodded. “I get it. And all this runs off the power you suck out of the energy dimension?”
“Correct. Everything that requires power. You never discovered the energy dimension, which is why your culture foundered and destroyed itself by using combustible fuels. A Net link would have saved you.”
“Pity nobody told us about it,” Rawn muttered.
“Unfortunately for you, we don’t interfere with primitive cultures. The destruction of a good, living planet like yours is a great shame. There aren’t that many of them around. Many intelligent races come from worlds whose atmosphere we would find toxic. Most have a metabolism that burns hydrogen, since that’s the most plentiful element around, and generally found in all atmospheres. They’re able to live very comfortably in an atmosphere like yours, but we can’t survive in their air, which often lacks sufficient oxygen.”
Rayne stared at him, the sheer eccentricity of his words leaving her dumbstruck. She would never have considered a metabolism that burnt hydrogen, but why not? It was just as combustible as oxygen, and far commoner. Tallyn, surprisingly, seemed a little embarrassed by her scrutiny, and glanced away. Rayne mused that this was one of the few emotions she had seen him express, apart from the stiff, rather false smiles he apparently forced himself to make. She wondered if all Atlanteans, or, indeed, alien races, were as reticent as him, or if smiling was just not an Atlantean expression, but one he put on for their benefit.
When the silence grew pregnant, Tallyn stood up. “We should find a shuttle to the surface, if you’re ready?”
Rayne asked, “Do Atlanteans smile, usually, Commander Tallyn?”
“Yes, we do. It’s a natural expression of friendship or joy, same as you. Why do you ask?”
“Because you seem to have trouble with it in our company.”
“Ah. Well, we hardly know each other. Naturally things are a little strained.”
“No,” she said. “It’s something else, which you’re not telling us. What’s waiting for us on your planet? A battery of tests and experiments? Perhaps ones you don’t altogether approve of, so you find our company unpleasant because you feel guilty?”
“There will be a few tests, naturally, and a lot of vaccinations. You won’t be allowed to mingle with the populace until your immunity to our diseases is established. It’s for your own good. Our diseases would kill you, otherwise. We still have a few that can’t be eradicated, unfortunately. No harm will come to you, I promise.”
“Even if I’m no
t this Golden Child in your book?” she enquired. “What happens to us then?”
“You’ll be welcomed into our society, given jobs and a house. Eventually you’ll find mates and settle down.”
Rawn demanded, “What if we don’t want to do that? What if we don’t like your world?”
“Then it’ll be up to you to decide what you want to do, but I’m certain Rayne is the Golden Child, in which case, she’ll be well cared for before and after the prophecy is fulfilled. She’ll be a heroine, after all.”
“Unless I fail,” Rayne said.
“Then you won’t have to worry about it. You’ll be dead.”
“Well that’s just great.” Rawn rose to his feet, scowling.
“Please bear in mind that if you’d remained on your own world you’d have perished horribly within the next five years, anyway.”
Rayne stood up and took hold of Rawn’s arm. “It’s okay. Leave it.”
Tallyn glanced at an instrument with luminous alien characters on the wall. “All your questions will be answered, I promise. A first contact officer will be assigned to you. Now, if you wish, I can take you to see the bridge before we leave.”
Rawn nodded. “Yeah, that would be great.”
Tallyn led them to the lift, which ascended a long way before the door opened into a gloomy room. Soft illumination revealed the floor, chairs, and table edges. Other light came from dim images and hundreds of tiny crystals. Crewmembers sat at the various consoles, concentrating on data that scrolled up in front of them, ghostly in the gloom. Rayne’s gaze was drawn to the massive screen that dominated the far side of the room.
It held an image of an orb swathed in pale clouds that swirled in bizarre patterns, reminding her of Venus. Patches of pale green or dark blue could be seen through thinner areas, but mostly the planet shone like a vast pearl. An alien sun blazed with a brilliant, almost white light.
Tallyn said, “Atlan is the fourth planet of this system. It has five moons of various sizes, and is a lot larger than Earth.”
Against the inky backdrop, ships in orbit shone like stars, and further out, several space stations glittered. A few closer ships had strange, spiky shapes, and the moving lights of shuttles seemed to crawl past. Tallyn waited while they absorbed the astounding sight. Rawn studied a nearby ship, clearly fascinated by its strange shape and lack of symmetry.
“That’s a weird-looking ship,” he commented, pointing it out to Rayne.
Tallyn said, “Not at all. Compared to some, that one’s ordinary.”
“Who are they?”
“Those are Wellans, from the planet Predantia in the Urmanian system. If you’re curious about them, I’ll introduce you to some. Now it’s time to go.”
They followed Tallyn back into the lift, which shot downwards, judging by the flicking counter next to the door, the only measure of their progress, since there was no sensation of descending. When it stopped, they stepped out into a vast room where a sleek grey vehicle was parked on a smooth metallic floor. As they approached it, an Atlantean with blond and brown hair emerged. He eyed the humans, and Rayne studied him with equal interest.
Tallyn said, “This is Egan, our first contact officer. He speaks your language, and will be your guide and liaison.”
“Will we see you again?” Rayne asked.
“Of course. I’ll visit you as often as I can, and if you wish to see me, just tell Egan.”
Tallyn left the shuttle bay, and they boarded the craft and strapped into comfortable seats. It drifted off the deck as the hull door opened onto an inky expanse sprinkled with stars. Rayne tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach, slipping her hand into Rawn’s.