Okay, since things are now finalized...
Conference Room
Old Ring, Stellvia
02:00 GMT 1 June
"Sitrep."
Everyone looked up at Noah, who was still standing in the doorway. Yayoi spoke first. "Two hours ago, we picked up two very large DQS events within minutes of each other - one on the far side of Sol from where we are, and the other on Mars."
"Station Commander O'Neill reports that Odyssey is fine," added Takami. "Kohran called from Deimos; they're also unaffected. And we got a Halcyon call from Helium."
Noah blinked. "Natsuko?"
Takami nodded. "Telemetry from Odyssey and the Roadhouse shows most of Mars is now terraformed. Areas surrounding existing settlements are no longer deserts. Helium reports that there is a breathable atmosphere outside their towers."
"Sounds like that episode of Space:1999 ... what was it, again?" asked Noah.
"The Last Sunset - season 1, episode 11."
"Thank you, Prim. Whoever replies to Natsuko, please point out that episode and suggest they not unseal the towers just yet. Anything else, Takami?"
"The report also mentions sightings of something called a banth on the outskirts of the hydroponic farms."
Everyone stopped what they were doing. When Prim looked to explain what a banth was, Noah silenced her with a gesture. "Takami, compile a data package with everything we know about this, and send it to the Convention Authority in Port Luna. I don't want anyone saying we're holding back information."
Yayoi looked at Noah, but said nothing.
After a moment, Takami sighed. "The regular circuits are overloaded, sir, and we don't have a Halcyon node in Port Luna. The closest node is in the Nikaido Foundation's office in the Watchtower."
"That's better than nothing, I guess. Ask Aoi-chan to relay the data, and send one of our node-equipped ships to Port Luna as soon as possible."
Yayoi nodded. "If Helen allows it, we can divert the Thunderbolt to Luna. That would leave Helen stuck on Grover's Corners until we can get another ship to her, though."
"I suspect we could impose on Yomiko for a few hours." Everybody smiled at that; they all knew how close the teacher and student step-sisters were to each other. Noah continued with, "Yayoi, please get that ball rolling. Now, what about the other DQS?"
Miyuri's voice came over the room's Halcyon terminal. "I've looked at the area with some of the telescopes here on Ultima. It's ... another Earth."
After a long moment, Prim said, "The counter-Earth theory was disproven long before we sent probes to observe that area of space. The gravitional forces between planetary bodies would have pulled a planet out of that orbit millennia ago."
"And there wasn't a planet there yesterday," Miyuri confirmed. "But there's one there now. And I can already see it in our optical telescope."
"Wait a minute, Miyuri." Jake shook his head in puzzlement. "You're five light-hours out from Sol. You should still be seeing empty space. Are you saying a planet has always been there, but only for the last couple of hours? That doesn't make any sense. Did some god show up out of nowhere, wave his hand, and change the universe?"
Just then, the DQS sensor went off and the water pitcher on the table in front of Noah began to shake.
"I'll shut up now," Jake added quietly.
A glow formed in the air above the pitcher, then collapsed into the form of a young woman. "Hello, everyone. Mister Scott, I apologize for intruding without announcing myself ahead of time."
Noah offered his hand to the Visitor, helping her off the table. "You are always welcome in my home, milady Skuld. Are you here to tell us what's going on?"
"Sure, as soon as I figure it out." Seeing the expression on Noah's face, Skuld continued, "I don't know everything. Besides, this isn't my universe, and I'm not in charge of your future. I'm here to do some research into just what's going on and whether it's going to affect any nearby universe."
"Why?"
Skuld turned to Jake. "Because somebody in this universe - probably Ben Rhodes, since Noah is just sitting on the spells - is likely to discover how to travel between universes sooner or later, and we have to be ready for whatever changes you people make by spreading handwavium around."
Jake looked at Noah. "You have gate magic? And you're not doing anything with it?"
"Exploring alternate versions of a planet I already know isn't likely to be as interesting as exploring something brand new in this universe. Besides, I like it here. But that's beside the point." He turned back to Skuld. "You're welcome to stay here, if you need a base of operations."
She shook her head. "I need to be closer to the change point."
"Which one?"
"There's more than one? This is worse than we thought ..."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Conference Room
Old Ring, Stellvia
02:00 GMT 1 June
"Sitrep."
Everyone looked up at Noah, who was still standing in the doorway. Yayoi spoke first. "Two hours ago, we picked up two very large DQS events within minutes of each other - one on the far side of Sol from where we are, and the other on Mars."
"Station Commander O'Neill reports that Odyssey is fine," added Takami. "Kohran called from Deimos; they're also unaffected. And we got a Halcyon call from Helium."
Noah blinked. "Natsuko?"
Takami nodded. "Telemetry from Odyssey and the Roadhouse shows most of Mars is now terraformed. Areas surrounding existing settlements are no longer deserts. Helium reports that there is a breathable atmosphere outside their towers."
"Sounds like that episode of Space:1999 ... what was it, again?" asked Noah.
"The Last Sunset - season 1, episode 11."
"Thank you, Prim. Whoever replies to Natsuko, please point out that episode and suggest they not unseal the towers just yet. Anything else, Takami?"
"The report also mentions sightings of something called a banth on the outskirts of the hydroponic farms."
Everyone stopped what they were doing. When Prim looked to explain what a banth was, Noah silenced her with a gesture. "Takami, compile a data package with everything we know about this, and send it to the Convention Authority in Port Luna. I don't want anyone saying we're holding back information."
Yayoi looked at Noah, but said nothing.
After a moment, Takami sighed. "The regular circuits are overloaded, sir, and we don't have a Halcyon node in Port Luna. The closest node is in the Nikaido Foundation's office in the Watchtower."
"That's better than nothing, I guess. Ask Aoi-chan to relay the data, and send one of our node-equipped ships to Port Luna as soon as possible."
Yayoi nodded. "If Helen allows it, we can divert the Thunderbolt to Luna. That would leave Helen stuck on Grover's Corners until we can get another ship to her, though."
"I suspect we could impose on Yomiko for a few hours." Everybody smiled at that; they all knew how close the teacher and student step-sisters were to each other. Noah continued with, "Yayoi, please get that ball rolling. Now, what about the other DQS?"
Miyuri's voice came over the room's Halcyon terminal. "I've looked at the area with some of the telescopes here on Ultima. It's ... another Earth."
After a long moment, Prim said, "The counter-Earth theory was disproven long before we sent probes to observe that area of space. The gravitional forces between planetary bodies would have pulled a planet out of that orbit millennia ago."
"And there wasn't a planet there yesterday," Miyuri confirmed. "But there's one there now. And I can already see it in our optical telescope."
"Wait a minute, Miyuri." Jake shook his head in puzzlement. "You're five light-hours out from Sol. You should still be seeing empty space. Are you saying a planet has always been there, but only for the last couple of hours? That doesn't make any sense. Did some god show up out of nowhere, wave his hand, and change the universe?"
Just then, the DQS sensor went off and the water pitcher on the table in front of Noah began to shake.
"I'll shut up now," Jake added quietly.
A glow formed in the air above the pitcher, then collapsed into the form of a young woman. "Hello, everyone. Mister Scott, I apologize for intruding without announcing myself ahead of time."
Noah offered his hand to the Visitor, helping her off the table. "You are always welcome in my home, milady Skuld. Are you here to tell us what's going on?"
"Sure, as soon as I figure it out." Seeing the expression on Noah's face, Skuld continued, "I don't know everything. Besides, this isn't my universe, and I'm not in charge of your future. I'm here to do some research into just what's going on and whether it's going to affect any nearby universe."
"Why?"
Skuld turned to Jake. "Because somebody in this universe - probably Ben Rhodes, since Noah is just sitting on the spells - is likely to discover how to travel between universes sooner or later, and we have to be ready for whatever changes you people make by spreading handwavium around."
Jake looked at Noah. "You have gate magic? And you're not doing anything with it?"
"Exploring alternate versions of a planet I already know isn't likely to be as interesting as exploring something brand new in this universe. Besides, I like it here. But that's beside the point." He turned back to Skuld. "You're welcome to stay here, if you need a base of operations."
She shook her head. "I need to be closer to the change point."
"Which one?"
"There's more than one? This is worse than we thought ..."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012