Supernal

Chapter 11

8:20 am Saturday, 23rd June 2029

Toby's Cabin on the OCF

Toby was woken by his pager and realized he must be wanted in the crew room. The digital clock in his cabin read 08:20. He had lain awake for hours mulling over everything they had been told and trying to make sense of it all, and now he had overslept.

He hurried to the crew room where he found Summers, Charlie and Rob drinking coffee in silence. They had finished breakfast. Summers waited impatiently as Toby shovelled down some cereal and poured himself a fruit juice. Then he jerked his head and simply said "SBR".

Summers closed the door of the secure briefing room and sat down.

"Is anyone else getting any vibes off these people because I'm finding a lot of what they're telling us hard to believe?"

"I get the feeling they're scared of Velan," Toby offered. "But everything Mutu told us yesterday seemed plausible to me. It all ties in with what Charlie and I have believed all along."

"The story seems credible," Summers agreed, "but it all seems too altruistic to me. I don't believe all that 'for the good of the Earth and mankind' baloney. There's got to be a hidden agenda."

"I think I was right yesterday," Rob noted. "They've been using Earth as one big experiment so they can cherry-pick all the cute critters and leave us with the mean ones. What's the betting there are no wasps on Vitu?"

"But they've admitted that," Charlie pointed out. "They haven't tried to hide it."

"So what do you make of them messing with people's brains to try and stop them fighting each other?"

"It sounds like a good idea. I wish they'd been more successful."

Summers looked thoughtful.

"But how would it benefit them if there were no conflicts on Earth?"

"It would have made Earth safer for them to visit, I suppose," Toby said.

"Maybe they predicted that humans would eventually have spacecraft and a warlike species would pose a danger to Vitu," Charlie suggested. "Like Mutu mentioned in his talk."

"No wars would have certainly stopped the invention of a lot of very sophisticated weapons," Rob added. "And without them, Earth would be a pushover to invade."

#

Rob's theory was dismissed by the others as being unlikely. The Atikas had been visiting Earth for millions of years and could have easily dominated the planet from the beginning of time if that had been their aim. No one could guess at any other good reasons for attempting to reduce mankind's aggressive nature apart from eliminating the danger to Vitu.

Summers told them the Manitan were arriving at 3 pm. He guessed they were working on Vitu time and that 3 pm was their early morning. He wanted to know if anyone had discovered anything of interest outside of the meetings.

"I discovered I'm really into Jayal. She's a knockout. I had a very interesting dream about her last night," Rob confessed.

"Well, you're out of luck there," Charlie told him. "She likes Toby."

Toby was surprised. "Why would she like me? She can't be more than twenty-five. What makes you think she likes me?"

"When we were in the kitchen yesterday she asked me if you were 'bonded' to anyone. I assumed that meant in a relationship. I said I didn't know and that she should ask you herself but I think she's too shy."

"But I'm far too old for her."

"Nonsense! She's thirty-five, and their years are the same as ours. They're all older than they look. Oh, and she thinks it's funny that you're so tall and awkward. She said you were tottering around like a newborn giraffe when you crossed into artificial gravity yesterday."

Toby's embarrassment was spared when Summers suggested they stop discussing his love life and concentrate on more important matters.

"Okay boss," Rob began. "I've found out a few things. When I took them to the airlock last night I asked how they had docked. They told me they had lifted the plans for our docking ring off the internet. Apparently, they've been picking up satellite Wi-Fi signals for the last twenty years."

"That explains how they knew about our papers," Toby said to Charlie. "I take it yours was published online."

Charlie nodded.

"It also explains how they know about the Mars Project and the OCF, but I find it hard to believe that detailed plans are on the internet," Summers argued. "Everything is still classified."

"They're not, but the plans for the old International Space Station are," Rob clarified, "and they guessed we would use the same type of docking ring so we could carry on using existing spacecraft."

#

Several other facts came to light, gleaned from casual comments. Charlie now knew that Vitu not only followed the same orbit as Earth but also spun at approximately the same speed. That made their year identical and their day almost the same length, although they had their own method of measuring time. They even had similar seasons and climates. Vitu and Earth were true twins.

Rob had entered some of the Manitan words into an online translator and found that they were similar to ancient Tamil words, confirming the connection to India. He had discovered that 'Vitu' translated roughly as 'Home' and 'Manitan' as 'Human'. 'Atikas' seemed to mean 'High Ones'.

"That beggars the question," Summers said, "of how come they speak perfect English?"

"Maybe we'll find that out this afternoon," Toby speculated.

"There's another thing we need to discuss while we have the chance," Summers said. "You know we have a regular weekly SpaceX re-supply shuttle? It's due on Tuesday evening and I'll be going back down with it. I'll return on the following Tuesday. It's the only secure way we have to deliver the recordings to Jane ... I mean, the president, without arousing suspicion.

Rob will copy everything onto an SSD card and I'll carry it in a diplomatic pouch and hand it personally to the president. Rob will then destroy the original recordings so that the president's copy is the only one in existence. You all know why this information can't be leaked, and if you need to use the encoded sat phone while I'm away, remember to speak cryptically. Even if the Russians can't decode it I wouldn't be surprised if the CIA can."

All three nodded their understanding but Rob raised a point.

"The shuttle is a Spaceplane and it has windscreens. The crew might see the blimp."

"Yes, that's a problem I didn't foresee," Summers admitted. "I didn't expect the aliens to stay for more than a few days, but we've got time to think of something. In the meantime, let's have some lunch and then get ready for the meeting."

As they were about to leave Rob suddenly stopped and held up one finger.

"I just thought of another fact we now know about Vitu."

"What's that?" Summers asked.

"They have giraffes."