I Fell From The Dark

13

'So what are our options?'

Mia had taken her goggles off and was sipping some warm, sweet drink, which Pilgrim claimed was the closest she could make to hot chocolate. It was nice being back in the pale, padded greys of the bridge after staring at the hard bright lines of the virtual displays.

Her mind had calmed down somewhat. It no longer felt like she was plunging her fingers into clashing brass gears when she thought about planetary mechanics, or trajectories, or anything else spaceship-related. But it was all still there, ready to be called on, like coiled brass springs.

'I think we should speak to mission control,' Pilgrim said. The robot was filling more squeezy pouches with a sweet-smelling paste.

'How do we do that?'

'We have a limited quantity of quantum entangled particles. We can use them to instantly send text messages home. We're supposed to tell them if we get there safely, or if we find anything dangerous. It's so that people who follow us are prepared.'

'I think this qualifies,' Mia said. 'Time to phone home. Maybe they sent someone ahead of us, and this is a mix up. How far away is Earth, exactly?'

Pilgrim paused. 'Earth? Mia, we haven't come from Earth. We came from Larunda, which orbits Caelestis, and we'll be talking to the controller at the Imperial institute there. No one alive has seen Earth. It's just too far away.'

Mia was surprised, both at this revelation, but also that Pilgrim should give it away so easily, without evasion.

'Really?'

Pilgrim picked up some empty pouches, and pushed them into a hatch in the wall, and then turned to face her.

'Yes. Caelestis is fourteen light years away from Earth, and we're nearly twelve light years from Caelestis, and it took us eighty eight years to cross those twelve light years.'

The scale staggered Mia. 'Eighty eight years? I've been asleep that long? Hang on. In that time, couldn't there have been some kind of scientific breakthrough? Could someone else have overtaken us with some newer, faster engine?'

'There is some good science which makes it unlikely,' replied Pilgrim. 'But even if that wasn't the case... Why are they shooting our probes?'

'Yeah. That's fair. Have you sent the message?'

'Yes, I have. We just have to wait for someone to reply.'

Mia shook her head.

'Eighty eight years... Are you sure there's still going to be anyone to answer on the other side?'

'There will be. That was the kind of timescale that it took the ships from Earth to get to Larunda. The colonisation program lasted for that long. It will endure.'

Pilgrim was speaking in a tone that she'd never used before, a cold certainty in her voice. Mia paused, not sure how to respond.

'Okay,' she said. 'Sure. Shall I do anything while we wait?'

'No need,' Pilgrim said. 'They replied, like I said they would. Let me play it.'

The voice was male, brisk and clipped.

'Acknowledge contact with unknown aggressor. More information requested.'

Mia frowned. 'We don't have much more. Having said that, I was looking at the data from the probes, and I think it's a helium fusion drive. I also think it shot the probe with a laser; everything doesn't quite go dead at once, and there's definitely a heat build up.'

'Okay, I'll tell them that,' Pilgrim said. 'Here's the response.'

'Assume entity is hostile to the ship. Send the activated worker out to engage and destroy,' the voice said. 'Repurpose a probe. Place...' and then then message cut off.

'Oh! I'm not sure what happened there,' Pilgrim said.

But Mia had learned what that tone meant, that the AI was evading telling her the truth; and, besides, the knowledge of how the communication worked was still spinning in her head.

'No, wait, Pilgrim. These are entangled particles. They don't get a bad line or interference. What happened? What did that message mean?'

'I... It's very complicated...'

'No, no it's not. Or rather it is, but you need to tell me. What's an activated worker? Wait... Am I...'

And then, for the second time that day, she collapsed. But this time, it wasn't chemical: it was as if she was a puppet and her strings had been cut. Everything went black even before she hit the floor.