HAWK

CHAPTER SEVEN: DRIFTERS (3/5)

By the time Kas had finished recounting the story of Selva's destruction and her recent arrival on Lysan, Dante was holding her face in her hands as if to stop it from falling off. She had perched herself on the corner of a polished glass desk, her tiny feet dangling inches above the floor. Her face cream had dissolved by this point and she looked more like her usual forty-something self.

Hik was seated on the floor with Worm atop his knee. The kid had listened intently to Kas's thrilling tale that she had herself been part of and looked disappointed when it was finally over.

Dante cleared her throat and took a drag on the chilled air before breaking the silence.

'You said you picked up some kind of signal?'

Kas nodded. 'That's why we're here. I need your help.'

'Show me.'

Kas turned to Worm. 'You might want to cover your ears, kid.'

Worm immediately jumped off Hik's knee and clamped her hands over her ears.

'Play it, Hik.'

A flurry of digits toppled down Hik's visor as the noise began: the harsh, shrill squeal that had invaded the Calista in deep space.

'Slow it down!' Kas shouted.

The hiss became a purr while the subtle melody of some alien harmonic music filtered into the air to mix with the blue mist. While Dante closed her eyes and listened intently, Kas leaned against the door, watching and waiting for answers.

The sound played for several minutes before Dante finally opened her eyes. She looked at Hik and nodded.

'That's enough.'

The sound faded out and restored the room to an ominous silence. Dante didn't say a word, instead opting to massage her knuckles - a sign she was deep in thought.

Kas waited a full minute before finally cracking. 'Well?'

Dante came out of her trance and un-perched herself from the desk. She paced slowly around the room as she talked.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say it's a databeam... but that's very old technology.'

'What's a databeam?'

'Just another way to communicate, meant for long distance. Interplanetary. But it hasn't been used for years.'

'Why not?'

'It's outdated. We have DM waves now. A few decades ago, if I wanted to send a message to somebody on Holgar, for example, I could encode it into a light beam, send it out with a magnified laser and they'd have it in minutes. That's what a databeam is: data trapped in light.

'The problem with databeams is you need a clear line of sight between you and your recipient, otherwise, the transmission can get blocked. That's why we use DM waves; dark matter isn't affected by obstacles. As soon as that came along, it made databeams redundant.'

'But you think that's what this is? A databeam?'

Dante hesitated. 'I'd have to run some checks, but it sure sounds like one. When a databeam hits an object, it vibrates, and that vibration is turned into sound which is turned into data. But they usually only last for a few seconds. Yours lasts much longer.'

'What does that mean?'

Dante looked at Kas like she'd just asked her what two plus two was. 'It means there's a lot of information.'

'Alright,' Kas said, feeling suddenly dumb. 'So can you find out what it is?'

Dante smiled. 'This room contains five thousand of the most advanced computers the average schmuck like me can buy. Five thousand, all hooked together like neurons in a brain. That's about as powerful a computer as you can hope to access on this whole stinking planet. Yes, I can find out what it is.'

Kas narrowed her eyes, not appreciating the attitude. 'So how long will it take?'

'Depends what's on it. Could be hours. Could be days. Could be--'

'Alright, I get it. If it takes two weeks, it takes two weeks. Let's just get started.'

Dante bent at her hips and bowed low to the floor. 'Yes, ma'am! Right away, ma'am!'

Kas bit her tongue and refrained from speaking.

I took a cap hostage and stole a federal ship to get to this woman...