Deborah’s medallion vibrated. Either Walter or Adelle wanted to talk to her.
“What’s that?”, a sleepy Lapidot asked.
“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep, my beloved. I’ll be back in a little while”
Deborah dressed quickly and minimally, and went outside. The night was black with a million stars. She pulled out the medallion and pushed the button.
“Deborah here”
“Deborah, this is Walter. We have a problem”
“What’s that?”
“We detected an object in low earth orbit. It has detected us, and is moving towards us now. ETA is about 20 minutes”
“What do you mean, there is something in low earth orbit?”
“I mean that something is on an orbit that will intercept our orbit in about 20 minutes. It’s in an elliptical orbit, not a parabolic orbit, so it must be under the control of something. I looked through the sensor logs and it has appeared sometime in the last couple of hours. It’s another timeship or a visit by an extraterrestrial. This can only mean trouble”.
“I have to pack up some things - give me two minutes”
Although she trusted Lapidot, some of her tools could be really nasty in the wrong hands. Rather than take a chance, she quickly threw all of her gear in to her backpack. There was no time to finish dressing. If I leave my clothes and jewelry, that would indicate to Lapidot that I intend to return. Too bad he is illiterate, otherwise I would left a note. She went outside again, pressed the red button on her medallion.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Beam me up”
And she was gone.
Walter’s voice came over the loud speaker in the transporter room.
“Meet me on the main flight deck”
“On my way”
She left her pack in the transporter room and ran as fast as she could (the 1/6th of normal gravity helped) to the flight deck. It took precious seconds getting through the air lock, but she decided that she should take the time to make sure that the air lock was secure.
“I have the tactical situation here on monitor 1. Here we are, and here they are. Time to intercept is 12 minutes. However, we don’t know what their intentions are, or how well they are armed’
“Incoming transmission from the other spacecraft”, Adelle told them, “Mixed audio and video.”
“Can you open a two way channel with them?”
“Yes”
“Do it”
A window opened on another monitor and Deborah and Walter saw a man with brown hair, a neat mustache, and brown eyes.
“Please identify yourself”, he demanded.
“I am Deborah Schwartz, in command of this spacecraft. This is my co-pilot, Walter Brown. Who are you?”
“I am Unrar, in command of the timeship Orion. Maintain your current orbit. Surrender, and prepare to be boarded”
“Unrar, why should I let you board my ship?”
“You will be boarded, or you will be destroyed”, Unrar responded, with no emotion in his voice.
There was a button on the screen labeled “close”. Deborah clicked on it.
“Walter, I think it’s time you earned your salary”
“What salary?”
“I am not going to give up this timeship without a fight. The people that built it armed it with offensive and defensive weapons. Let’s see how they work”
“May I suggest that before you start shooting, you might want to find out the extent of his capabilities?”
“Okay, what do you suggest?”
“Time travel about 1 hour forward. That will put him on the opposite side of the planet from us”
“Okay. Adelle”
“yes”
“Prepare to time travel. 1 hour into the future. Maintain current position and velocity”
“Ready”
“Execute”
The tactical map position changed.
“The other timeship is 600 kilometers above longitude 123 degrees east, latitude 25 degrees north and We are 700 kilometers above longitude 97 degrees west, latitude 18 degrees south”, Deborah said.
“Okay, let’s see if he can find us”
The tactical map changed again. This time, the Orion was 100 kilometers away, in the same orbit.
“Incoming transmission”, Adelle said.
“Let’s hear what he has to say”, Walter suggested.
“Adelle”
“yes”
“Open communications with the other timeship”
“I can match any maneuver you can do. Now surrender and prepare to be boarded. I have no wish to destroy your ship, but I will if I have to”
“Why?”
“People in this time and place do not go traveling in Earth orbit. Obviously, you have come here from somewhere or somewhen to do something to Earth’s history. I cannot allow you to do that”, Unrar said, still no emotion.
“Are you with the chrono police?” Deborah asked.
For the first time, Unrar showed some emotion. He laughed. “The chrono police will never find us here, unless you do something stupid like light up a chronobeacon. I’ve fought with them before, and they would love to find me. They haven’t yet. I don’t want you to help them”.
“I’ve never met them”, Deborah said, “But I’ve been told to avoid them. Perhaps instead of firing at one another and making threats, we should negotiate with each other”.
Walter started typing. A window opened on one of Deborah’s monitors, and she read Are you sure that this is a good idea?. Deborah typed back I’d rather talk to him and maybe make a friend then fight with him and make him either an enemy or a victim.
“I am prepared to negotiate. Surrender, prepare to be boarded, and then we can talk”
“Why can’t just talk over the radio, like potential allies rather than as potential belligerents?”
“Face to face is so much more human”
“Demanding a surrender is rude”
“You are in outer space, thousands of years from home. This is not a tea party. Surrender and prepare to be boarded”
Distance: 90 km, closing at 10 km/min Easily in range of one of our projectile weapons now.
“Unrar, I would much rather have you as an ally rather than as an enemy. But I would like an alliance of equals, not as a vassal.
Prepare two projectiles, but do not fire until I say so
“Your preferences are noted. I even admire them. However, surrender and prepare to be boarded”
I don’t have privileges to use the weapons
Deborah opened another window and typed Adelle
Yes>
grant weapons privileges to walter
Enter your password
Deborah typed in her password. Of course, it didn’t echo.
“I am waiting. I am losing patience with you”
Incorrect password.
Enter your password
Keep calm. Just because a man is trying to kill you is no reason to lose your cool. Deborah entered her password again
Incorrect password.
Enter your password
Take your time - he’s still a ways away.
Password correct
Weapons privileges granted to Walter.
Deborah went back to the second window. You have privs. Prepare two projectiles and fire one at him.
“I see we’re going to fight some more. Very well. When you are ready to surrender, contact me” Unrar’s image vanished.
“Adelle”
“yes”
“Change orbital inclination to 65 degrees immediately, using maximum acceleration” Where did that order come from?
“Changing orbital inclination to 65 degrees using maximum acceleration”
The timeship’s current velocity was 7500 meters/second in an equatorial orbit. Changing to a high inclination orbit would require a velocity change of 8500 meters/second, because velocity is vector, it has direction in addition to magnitude. At the end of this maneuver, the timeship would still be traveling 7500 meters/second, but in a different direction. Deborah was testing her foe’s ability to engage in high acceleration maneuvers. She was also testing her own limits. Maybe he would run out of fuel or reaction mass. Of course, maybe she would run out of fuel or reaction mass, too.
On one of her monitors, she could see the diagram of the timeship’s orbit changing, apparently very rapidly.
Adelle announced: “Orbit now at 65 degrees inclination”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“How long did it take to make the change in orbit?”
“10.3 seconds at maximum acceleration”
“What is the maximum acceleration?”
“The timeship is capable of accelerating at 850 meters per second squared”
“So we just accelerated at roughly 85 Gs?”
“We accelerated on average at 84.2 Gs”
Walter popped in, said, “He just matched our orbit. Range 2500 kilometers, range rate closing at 10 kilometers/second. Deborah, I’ve studied war, put me in command”
“Walter, you are my prisoner, and you haven’t had the years of training in timeship operations I’ve had. However, if you have some advice, I’d like to hear it”
“Firing a projectile weapon was an exercise in futility. He’s trying to kill you. Us. You have to kill him first”
“I don’t want to kill him”
“My commanding officer is an idiot. It doesn’t matter what you don’t want to do, it is a matter of what you must do to survive.”
“How do you know he wants to kill me?”
“If he didn’t want to kill you, then he would negotiate something with you. No, his second statement was surrender or be destroyed. Because you used such a weak weapon with him, he thinks you are weak. He thinks he can use psychological intimidation to defeat you, which is cheaper than fighting you, if it will work. That’s how Adolf Hitler defeated Neville Chamberlain in 1938. He didn’t fire a shot, yet he got the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. ”
“How did you know about that? You come from an alternate future where that didn’t happen”
“I am a student of war. Your history is much more barbaric than my history, so it made for fascinating reading. I especially liked how the assassination of one pipsqueak duke started your first world war. But I digress. Unrar understands that if he can intimidate you verbally, then he doesn’t have to actually fight with you in order to accomplish his objectives.”
“Well, it’s working”
“Don’t you have a husband who is waiting for you? Are you going to make him a widower?”
“That’s right - I do. I have to fight a war, too, on the ground, not in space. I have a mission. Okay. Okay. I’ve had enough of this crap. Who the hell does this Unrar think he is, taking me away from my husband on my wedding night. Adelle”
“yes”
“Arm the anti-proton beam”
“Now, we’re talking”, Walter smiled.
“Range to the other timeship?”
“Range now 2400 kilometers, closing at 10 kilometers/second”, Walter informed her.
“Fire a 5 second burst”
“You must issue commands for weapons from the keyboard. I am not authorized to accept weapons commands using speech recognition”
Forgot about that. I wonder what else I’ve forgotten that’s important.
Deborah looked for a button on her monitors labeled “space weapons”, found it, pushed it. A menu opened.
Target select: timeship Orion
weapons select:
O antiproton beam
O ultraviolet laser
O yellow laser
O Gamma radiation
O Powered guided missile with kinetic warhead
O Powered guided missile with nuclear fission warhead
O Powered guided missile with nuclear fusion warhead
O Fusion mine
O Unpowered Projectile
Deborah touched antiproton beam.
Select power
O 1 TW
O 10 TW
O 100 TW
O 1 PW
Deborah touched 1 Petawatt.
“Range 2200 kilometers and closing at 10 kilometers per second”
Select duration
O 1 sec
O 10 sec
O 30 sec
O 60 sec
O 90 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O 120 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O 150 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O Return to select power
Deborah touched 30 seconds
Activate antiproton beam
O fire now
O fire at optimum range
O fire at most accurate range
Deborah touched fire now.
firing
Deborah watched the clock, watched the tactical display. The Orion was gone.
The ship lurched sideways. Walter was thrown against the opposite bulkhead. Deborah managed to catch herself on the arm of her chair, but she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“What was that motion?”
“We have been hit by an ultraviolet laser”
“Damage report”
“Working. The gold shielding reflected 99.2% of the radiation. However, the gold shielding is destroyed in an area approximately 40 meters in diameter on the forward upper left quadrant. The underlying aluminum is pierced completely about 30 meters in diameter. The underlying compartment is in vacuum. An unknown quantity of iron shot is melted. We are also spinning at 3 revolutions per minute”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Emergency despin”, Deborah ordered.
“Executing. We will be at rest in 35 seconds”
“Walter, are you okay?”
“I’m good”
Adelle was talking:
“At the moment we fired the antiproton beam, the other timeship traveled forward in time 12 seconds and in space 2000 kilometers. Incoming communication”
“Put it on”
A window opened, and Unrar’s face appeared. “I can destroy you. Surrender now, and prepare to be boarded”
“Unrar, do you know how tiresome that refrain is getting?”
“I am not amused. I am prepared to destroy you. Surrender”
“and prepare to be boarded. Yes, yes, yes. I mean no, no, no. Will you guarantee the safety of my copilot and myself?”
“Surrender must be unconditional”
“This conversation serves no useful purpose, and is terminated”
Deborah pressed the close button. Then she pressed the space weapons button.
“What are going to do?”
The weapons menu opened
“Try the Ultraviolet laser”
Deborah selected ultraviolet laser. She selected 100 Terawatts, the highest it would go, and 1 second duration. A window opened on her monitor showing the stars with an edge of the earth on one side. The view was turning away from the earth. She felt the ship turning in space. A circle appeared on the screen, and a plus sign at the center. The circle came closer to the plus sign, then overshot, then corrected. The circle turned green. There was a flash of light.
“Adelle”
“yes”
“What is the status of the other ship?”
“It appears unharmed. Range 1805 kilometers. Closing at 10 kilometers/second. ETA 3 minutes 5 seconds”.
“Let’s let it get a little closer and try the ultraviolet laser again. Remember the inverse square law”, Walter suggested.
“What if he fires his laser at us?”
“Incoming missile”, Adelle reported.
“ETA?”
“93 seconds”
“Will the Ultraviolet laser target the missile?”
“No, it is moving too fast”, Adelle replied.
“What about the yellow laser?”
“The yellow laser will target this missile”
Deborah clicked on the space weapons button. A menu opened.
Target select: incoming missile
weapons select:
O antiproton beam
O ultraviolet laser
O yellow laser
O Gamma radiation
O Powered guided missile with kinetic warhead
O Powered guided missile with nuclear warhead
O Fusion mine
O Unpowered Projectile
Deborah touched yellow laser.
Select power
O 1 TW
O 10 TW
O 100 TW
O 1 PW
Deborah touched 100 Terawatts
“Range 1600 kilometers and closing at 10 kilometers per second”
Select duration
O 1 sec
O 10 sec
O 30 sec
O 60 sec
O 90 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O 120 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O 150 sec (unavailable at this power level)
O Return to select power
Deborah touched 30 seconds
Activate yellow laser
O fire now
O fire at optimum range
O fire at most accurate range
Deborah selected fire at optimum range.
“The yellow laser will fire in 70 seconds”, Adelle reported.
“I wonder why he didn’t use his laser?”, Walter asked nobody in particular. He started typing furiously at his work station.
“The yellow laser will fire in 45 seconds”, Adelle reported.
“Deborah, change our orbital inclination a few degrees.”
“Why?”
“The yellow laser will fire in 40 seconds”, Adelle reported.
“I think his timeship was damaged. I think we took out his sensors, which is why he is using a missile. The missile would be safely in his ship until he launched it.
”“The yellow laser will fire in 35 seconds, Adelle reported.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
If I change the plane of our orbit by 5 degrees at 84 Gs, will the yellow laser be able to track the incoming missile?”
“Yes”
“Change orbital inclination to +5 degrees now at maximum acceleration.”
“The yellow laser will fire in 35 seconds. Changing orbital inclination by +5 degrees. Completed”
“Did the missile change course to intercept us?”
“It did. The yellow laser will fire in 30 seconds”
“Did the enemy timeship change its orbit to match ours?”
“No. The distance between the Orion and us is increasing at 20 Kilometers/minute. The yellow laser will fire in 25 seconds”.
“Well, Walter, you wanted the experience of being in combat. You’re in combat, for your life. How do you feel?”
“Helluva time to ask”.
“We have 22 seconds to wait until something happens. We might as well talk”
“The yellow laser will fire in 20 seconds”.
“I’m scared. I always visualized that I would be in command of an army, a navy or an air force”
“This is like an air force: we’re using a lot of high technology, and we can’t see the targets without machine assistance. Air combat is like that, at least, at has been like that for a long time”
“You’re not a soldier, you’re a scholar. How are you able to keep so cool at a time like this?”
“The yellow laser will fire in 15 seconds”.
“I’m dressed in a cotton robe that really hides the perspiration stains. If I was wearing a standard jumpsuit, then you would not think I was that cool”
“Had I known you were going to take us into combat, I would have dressed more appropriately”
“The yellow laser will fire in 10 seconds”.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“What is the range rate to the enemy timeship?”
“It is increasing at 22 kilometers/minute”
“You want me to take us out of combat?”
“I don’t want to die. You don’t want to die. Take us out of combat”, Walter stammered.
“Coward”
“Nonsense. I want to fight a battle I can win. If we die in space, then the battle we’re supposed to fight is lost”
“The yellow laser will fire in 5 seconds. 4. 3 2 1. Yellow laser firing. Sensors report a direct hit. Missile surface temperature now 800 °C”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Increase orbital velocity by 3 meters per second”
“Orbital velocity increased by 3 meters per second”
“Did the missile change course to intercept us?”
“No. Missile surface temperature now 1600 °C”
“What is the melting point of aluminum?”
“660 °C”
“Did the missile melt?”
“Unknown. Missile surface temperature now 2400 °C. Missile course unchanged. Missile will miss us by 24 kilometers”
“What if the missile is made out of Titanium?”, Walter asked. “Adelle”
“yes”
“What is the melting point of Titanium?”
“1,668°C”
“Walter, I think we destroyed the missile. I don’t think it blew up, I think it just melted”
“Thank you. Now, let’s get out of here, so we can live to fight another day”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Using time travel, put us in an equatorial circular orbit altitude 200 kilometers around Europa.”
“What’s Europa?”, Walter asked.
“It’s a moon of Jupiter. ”
“Ready”, Adelle announced
“Execute”
And they were gone.
Surrender
Walter was fiddling with his joystick. Then, he touched his screen, and moved some sliders.
“Well, look at that”, he said.
“What?”
“I see a spherical surface that is vaguely blue and has lots of lines crisscrossing it. There is apparently no topography. It is very dark here, even though we are on the sunlit side”
“That’s Europa. It is completely covered by water ice”.
“Is that why did you came here?”
“Well, that’s one of the reasons. The other reason is that this place is far away so we will be hard to find”
“Adelle”, Deborah spoke up.
“yes”
“Is there enough liquid water on Europa to beam up directly to the reaction mass tanks”
“There is”
“How thick is the ice?”
“200 to 300 meters”
“But you can beam water through it”
“Yes”
“Very well, then do it”
“It will take 4 hours to finish filling all of the tanks”
“Okay, please begin immediately”
“Executing”
Walter spoke up. “Uh, captain, we have a problem”
“Now what?”
“Unrar just popped into orbit. He is 2000 kilometers away, on an intercept orbit. Time to intercept is 23 minutes”
“How did he do that? Adelle: is it possible to track a time ship?”
“Yes”
“Outline the procedure”
“Unknown”
“Then how do you know it can be done?”
“Because Unrar is doing it. Space is very vast, and time travel makes it even vaster. The fact that he found us so quickly is remarkable. He must be able to find us somehow”
“Walter, I am trapped by the physics of the situation. I can’t seem to out run him, I don’t know why. I think I can’t destroy him using the weapons at my disposal. I think he can destroy me. I’m out of ideas”
“Perhaps because you keep thinking in terms of physics”
“Go on”
“There are other forms of combat besides physics. There is also chemistry and biology. This timeship is stocked with chemical and biological weapons.”
“Really?”
“Yes. However, the timeship’s engineers didn’t consider these weapons to be of any use in a battle in space, because everything is sealed against the vacuum.”
“Ok. I assume Unrar is going to show up in a spacesuit, in case we decide to put poison gas in the airlock. How do we get the chemical or biological agent inside his spacesuit before he shoots us?”
“Use the transporter”
“Oh! So we take a little bit of deadly toxin, and transport it into his space suit. He dies. We win.”
“Something like that”
“Could we transport the toxin into his timeship?”
“We could, but we have to know where in his timeship he is. Our sensors can’t penetrate it. If he’s smart, then he closed his airtight doors just like we did, so if we beam the toxin to the wrong place, it won’t affect him. Also, I can see how having a spare timeship might be useful, and I am not thrilled about cleaning out a deadly toxin. The trick is going to be convince him to trust us to the point where he leaves his timeship in a space suit”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Do you have a biological toxin effective against humans, kills within 60 seconds, but which dies from oxidation in one hour or less”
“The biological weapon Botulinus N1B45 meets that description”
“What is the lethal dose”
“50 micrograms”
“How is the Botulinus N1B45 delivered to its target?”
“It is stored in a steel tube 2 centimeters long by 5 millimeters in diameter, with an explosive charge at one end. When the tube arrives at its target, the explosive charge is detonated by remote control.”
“Can you beam Botulinus N1B45 into a space suit?”
“Yes”
“Prepare some Botulinus N1B45 as you described to me and be ready to beam it into Unrar’s space suit at my signal. When I say the word “Madagascar”, that will be the code word for you to transport the Botulinus in to Unrar’s space suit and release it. Do you understand?”
“When you say the word ‘Madagascar, I am to transport the Botulinus N1B45 toxin into Unrar’s spacesuit and release it. I understand.”
“Good. Walter, have you ever played a game called poker?”
“No, I’ve never heard of it”
“Too bad. I am about to play a very bad hand. Adelle”
“Yes”
“Open a channel to the Orion”
Unrar’s face appeared in the monitor.
“Unrar, I can’t fight you any more. I am almost out of water, so I can barely control my orbit. My time travel system needs time to recharge, and you won’t give me that time. You also seem to have the ability to follow me across vast distances. One eighth of my pressure hull is a vacuum. My most powerful weapons do not harm you. I surrender. I can only hope that you will be merciful to my faithful crew”
“Deborah, that is very wise. Prepare an airlock.”
“I am rolling my ship so that the airlock is facing you. Adelle”
“Yes”
“Roll the ship clockwise 122 degrees at the rate of 5 degrees per second”
“Rolling the ship clockwise 122 degrees at the rate of 5 degrees per second”
The ship started to roll. Deborah waited.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Open the outer door of external airlock number 1”
“Opening the outer door of external airlock number 1”
“Show the view out of external air lock number 1”
A window opened on a monitor showing the edges of the airlock, along with the Orion, now floating about 500 meters away.
Unrar spoke. “I see you have rolled your ship and opened an airlock door. Very good. I am sending my Avatar to you now”
“Your avatar?”, Deborah fought hard to keep her voice even. Her bluff had just been called, and she didn’t have any aces.
Deborah and Walter looked at the window. On the Orion, they could see an airlock open, and a figure about the size and shape of a man emerge. They could see jets of gas as the figure oriented itself and started moving towards the timeship. Then the figure pitched 180 degrees and entered the airlock feet first.
Unrar spoke. “Close the outer airlock door”
Deborah said, “Adelle”
“Yes”
“Close the outer door of external airlock number 1”
“Closing the outer door of external airlock number 1. Outer door is closed”.
“Turn on artificial gravity in external airlock number 1”
“Artificial gravity on in external airlock number 1”
“Open the middle door of external airlock number 1”
“Order rejected: the outer chamber of external airlock number 1 is still a vacuum”
“Pressurize the outer chamber of external airlock number 1”. Damm computers.
“Pressurizing the outer chamber of external airlock number 1”
“Open the middle door of external airlock number 1”
“Middle door is open”
Walter and Deborah watched as the Avatar walked into the inner chamber of the airlock.
“Close middle door of external airlock number 1”
“Middle door is closed”
“Open inner door of external airlock number 1”
“Inner door is open”
The avatar walked out of the airlock and into the corridor.
“Well, Walter, maybe we should go meet our guest”
The avatar looked like a human made of gold. It stood about 2.5 meters tall. It walked on two legs, had two arms, with hands with 5 fingers. Its chest and abdomen had several openings, all closed now. Deborah could see what looked like rocket exhausts at the shoulders and hips. The “eyes” were pitch black. There were no obvious ears.
Deborah heard Unrar’s voice. “Take me to a place where I can interface with your computer at the fastest speed”
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“I want to take the avatar to the a point where it can interface with you at highest possible speed”
“There nearest point is CPU complex 3, behind door 174243.
“Can I interface there?”, the avatar asked.
“Well, I don’t know about building a compatible interface, but that’s where the CPU is so that would be where you would have the minimum latency due to the speed of light”
“Very well”
The three of them walked about 300 meters along the corridor. They came to a door that was labeled with the number 174243. However, unlike most of the doors in the corridor, this door was armored.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Please open door 174243”
“Order rejected: there are unauthorized personnel present. 3rd law violation”
“What is a 3rd law violation?”, Walter asked.
“There was a famous Science Fiction writer named Isaac Asimov. He created the three laws of robotics. They are:
Adelle was designed so that her own existence is protected. If somebody unauthorized is near the door, then that person might try to destroy her, err, it. Adelle reasons that if I really wanted to go in there, then I would not have unauthorized personnel around when I wanted to go in. Adelle may also be reasoning that I am acting under duress, and might not accept an order from me under those circumstances.”
The avatar said, “I can solve the problem. Adelle, you will carry out your last order or else I will kill Walter”. And a door opened on the Avatar’s abdomen to reveal the muzzle of what was obviously some kind of weapon.
Door 174243 opened. The three of them walked in.
The inside of the chamber was uncomfortably cool, and remarkably quiet. Deborah had been inside server rooms, and was expecting a lot of noise from fans, Against one wall of the chamber was a cylinder about 2 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters high. There was a window on the side of the cylinder. Behind the window, at what looked like the center of the cylinder, was a sphere about 4 centimeters in diameter connected to a cylinder 6 centimeters in diameter and 10 centimeters long.
The avatar said, “Adelle, can you communicate with me via radio at 10 terahertz?”
Adelle didn’t say anything.
Deborah spoke up. “Adelle, I have surrendered this ship. Please follow the instructions and answer the questions from the Avatar”
Adelle said “Yes, I am capable of interfacing with you at 10 terahertz”
“Good. Start transmitting your alphabet at 10 terahertz until I am able to understand your transmission. Good. I hear your carrier. I have decoded your signalling system. Listen for my response”
Adelle said, “I hear your response. We are now in communication”
The avatar said, “Deborah, Walter, please leave us. I will contact you when I am ready”
Deborah and Walter walked out into the corridor.
“Well, I am ready for a shower, a meal, and some sleep”, Walter exclaimed.
“How can you think of such things at a time like this?”
“Easy. Because I can’t think of anything else to do. I’m a human being, and I have to be able to eat and sleep. Staying clean isn’t really essential but it seems like the best thing to do at this time. In apparent time, it has been over thirty hours since I first contacted you about Unrar. Since that time, we have been in continuous conflict. Tell you what: you take a shower and I will take a shower and then we can have the best reconstituted chicken teriyaki anywhere outside the orbit of Mars”
“That’s the best offer I’ve heard all day.
