Chapter 1.7

The N22 station was fitted out with some of the missiles playing the part of engines, and several carrying the MRV’s into the sun. Freeman sat at his desk, wondering if they would even notice the light of the warheads hitting the sun. Probably not. They weren’t that powerful in comparison to the star they were aimed for.

N22 started accelerating from Earth even before the warheads hit the sun. Smythe called Earth as they were leaving orbit and wished them well. The feelings were reciprocated and the station was on its way.

Freeman flipped a switch and spoke to N21, He knew N22 would be a long way from Earth by the time N21 received the message. It would be several years from now. Perhaps several centuries from now.

Excerpt from N21 Part 1, Chapter 4

Hello again, N21.  This is Freeman.  We have found something very disturbing.  For the last fifty years, our people have been sifting through the damaged palace of Wallace.  250 years after the the broadcast from your ship, the decaying structure collapsed.  Our people had to pull the remaining shell down.

Apparently, there is a ‘special surprise’ for you.  According to records, it is supposed to make any and all other pale in comparison.  The others, we were able to dig to find out what was supposed to happen, but this one is only referred to as the ‘total fun’. What it is, we cannot tell, nor do we know how it is started.

I’m sorry we don’t know.  We are going to continue to search.”

He didn’t tell N21 about N22. Not for any reason other than he didn’t want to get their hopes up. Too many things could go wrong, and if N22 missed N21, they didn’t need to be blaming themselves for the possible death of Smythe and his people.

In space, a thruster fired changing the course of the vessel slightly. This would not be noticed by anyone for many years.

It had been fifteen and a half centuries since Earth heard from the N21. Still, the people on Earth knew that just a few minutes had passed on the station, so Freeman headed up an archaeological expedition to find as much information as they could. He was no longer the president of Earth, but a new one, his old friend Paul Robson, had taken over the roll.

Robson had made it clear that unless something happened to Freeman, he would remain the person to talk to N21. They knew him, and they trusted him. He hoped.

A message was received by Earth, and Paul had it saved and sent to Freeman.

Freeman watched it and realized what it could do for N21. Stopping all of the computer’s actions was exactly what they needed. He called his archaeological teams and took them off the project they were on. He had them start researching where the old operating system for N21. They couldn’t find it.

He debated sending the one for N22. That could be found, but when it was looked at, the station obviously had new hardware on board, and the operating system was simply not compatible with N21’s computers.

His people continued looking.

Fredrik decided he needed to think, so he headed to his favorite spot on Oahu, at the overlook. It was getting late in the day, and when he got there, a craft was already parked. He pulled up beside it and was not surprised to see that it was Paul’s

He climbed out of his craft and walked to his favorite rock.

Paul was sitting in his usual spot, and looked over at his friend. “I can see why you always came here,” he told Fred. “This is a great place to think.”

“Especially this time of night. The lights below, the ocean out there. The stars above.”

“Can’t see the stars like you could in Montana,” said Paul.

“No, but it’s cool nonetheless.” Fredrik paused for a bit, then asked. “What’re you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking how much easier it was to be your head of security, then your vice.”

“I hear ya. I’m so much happier being an archaeologist again.”

There was silence for a long time, then Paul asked. “Have you found anything yet?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure where it would be. We’ve checked all of Willem’s spots he might have worked on it. He had to have a copy. Somewhere.”

They were silent again, then “Fred, you know that station was built before Willem took power, right?”

“The Pearl City Science Museum,” Freeman said thoughtfully. “They have some stuff on all the N Stations. Maybe they would have something. They’re right here in town too!”

“It’s worth a look,” Paul responded.

The next day, Freeman went down to Pearl City and looked through the science museum. No luck. He asked the curator where he might find such a thing.

“Right here,” was the response.

“Show me?”

The curator hesitated, then motioned for Freeman to follow. He said, “I’ll show you, but I cannot let you touch the unit. It’s over thirteen thousand years old. Very fragile.”

Damn! thought Freeman. It’s here, or we think it is, but I can’t touch it. How do I get a copy of it?

It was a cylinder about ten inches high, and four inches in diameter. It had a holographic matrix inside that stored the information. It could last for millennia the way it was, but the power source would eventually die, causing the information to be lost. He wondered how to get the information stored in side. It was stored on a shelf in the back room, in a glass box.

“Are you sure this is the OS for N21?”

“Certainly.” He pulled the case down, and turned it. Etched in the side of the brass cylinder was Defense Platform – N17-N21 – SCO Unix 2500.2.12597.

This was it! He needed to get it. How? Fredrik had an idea, but would it work? “You know that the information will be lost eventually, right?”

“Of course. That’s the nature of things. Ebb and flow. Yin and Yang. In and Out. In essence, things are made then lost. There is nothing that can be done about that.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Fred told the curator. “The information on that unit is priceless. The people on N21 need it desperately. It is just as valuable as the canister. More so, actually. There are many canisters like that, but the information is one of a kind!”

The curator’s eyes began to sparkle. He nodded. “I can see what you mean, but I will need some things in exchange for the info.”

“What?” Freeman asked.

“Funds.”

The curator swept a hand to take in the whole museum. “This museum is going downhill. I’m the only person here now. I could hire help to catalog everything in this room if I had the money. Right now, I can’t.”

Freeman decided then and there, that if he had to, he would provide the money himself.

He stepped away from the curator, saying, “Give me a minute.”

He pulled out his comm unit and called Robson. He explained the situation: Robson expressed the same feeling that Freeman had. If he couldn’t get the government to go along with him, he would sponsor the museum himself.

Freeman ended the call and stepped back. “We will transfer the funds to you tomorrow.”

The curator smiled. “That will be fine.”

It took a bit longer, as the government decided to foot the bill for the museum, and as is typical of a bureaucracy it moved very slowly, but the funds were eventually in the hands of the curator. For his part, as soon as the money was confirmed in the museum’s account, he opened the glass case and allowed Freeman to connect a computer to it. The download took less than ten minutes. The canister was placed back in the case. The curator attached a brass tag to the case which had a description of what information was on it, and carried it out to the main part of the museum. It was going to be on display.

Freeman took the OS back to his home. In his personal office, he hooked the computer up to his comm system and attached the OS. He pressed send.

Not long after he sent the communique, he was alerted to a problem. He hurried to Paul’s office and asked what the problem was.

“Follow me, Fred.”

They started down a hall, and Fred stopped. “I’m not authorized anymore.”

“Would you come on? You’re with me.”

Fred started again and they entered the situation room.

“Fill me in,” Paul ordered.

“We’re showing a slight variation in the magnetic field of the Earth,” one of the people said.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Not as far as we know.”

There were three women in the room, and suddenly they jumped up. Two were on the other side of the table from the door, and they both ran to the wall, clearly terrified. The other opened the door and ran as fast as she could. Fred was still standing and he jumped away from the woman who made it through the door before she touched him. Paul was not so lucky.

He fell to the floor as the woman bowled him over. As he lay on the floor, his body started to change. In a few moments, he was a woman. He stood and realized he was in a room full of men. The two women on the other side of the room were screaming for the men to stay away from them. For their part, the men got as far away as they could. Fred jumped away from his friend, terrified, and Paul turned and ran from the room. Part way down the hall, his pants could no longer stay up, and he, or rather she, had to pause to pull them up, then she headed for her office. She slammed the door shut and locked it. With a deadbolt and combination that only she knew.

She let out a sigh of relief, then stopped and wondered what the hell had just happened.