Page 244 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

knowledge of the Aradash that was invaluable. Quite what the descendants of them meant by the
behaviour of their ancestors was a mystery. From what they gained from Arthur the Aradash treated
him and other species with dignity and respect. But more would come to light when this mysterious
world Hylon was explored. The Endeavour had been “Burst” contacted with the events on Lunaris,
the discoveries about the abductees and about the finding of Arthur. It was decided that the fleet
would remain at the platform and the Endeavour would travel the great distances faster. Just how
fast would come about when the crew received the second part of the “Key”…

… “So…unless I’m completely missing the mark. This Great Beam is a long distance
transporter system” Midas said
“I suppose you could say that Midas Thu; but it’s a bit more than that. It can also be used as a
navigation beacon through Quantum Slipstream Channels. I think I can convey the principle better
with Mind Flash” Hebor; another of Twinkles Children responded and he “flashed” Midas with the
full description of the operating principles of Quantum Slipstreaming.
“It’s like folding space into permanent tunnels, where as our Fold drives are only transitory. Is that
right?” He asked
“Close enough; there are some differences in the way the fields are maintained, but… Yes; that’s
pretty much right. If you use the beam as a “Guide line” then your journey time will end up being
greatly reduced, because of the interaction of the two field systems. The repulsion would send you
along the Slipstream at speeds even we Eloi have never mastered. I envy you as I cannot go along
with you “Mother” needs me here to help maintain the platform.” Hebor replied with a slight tone
of disappointment in his voice. The Eloi had been extremely cooperative; especially since the crew
of the Endeavour had returned the complete key to them. It turned out to be a literal key. It
unlocked the Eloi equivalent of the Platform’s Hive. It was more than just an Artificial Intelligence it
was a vast trans-dimensional database. The Knowledge of countless generations of Aradash and Eloi
was too vast to fit into the physical space of the platform; so it was spread across many parallel
dimensions. All of these were in close proximity to each other and locked within a Quantum
Tesseract. The original Curator race’s crowning invention.
“All the knowledge of the known universe; and then some, all in one place” was how T’luha had put
it when trying to explain the idea to Dagnor “But this is only an access point. The actual Tesseract is
located somewhere near to the centre of the Third Galaxy. Its power source is a super massive Black
Hole!” she added
“This is going to blow the minds of the Central Council. In the meantime we need to find out more
about this artificial world Hylon. You know it’s a pity we haven’t got that abductee here with us; he
may not know it but he could have a clue as to what “Oxygen Breathers” we might encounter. The
Eloi have been so out of touch with the rest of their race they aren’t even sure that the coordinates
they have on file are still valid. I’m hoping that the next Burst Transmission will carry the
authorisation to explore this “Brave New World”” Dagnor responded T’luha wincing at the
reference. Leeson also grimaced; he got the satire only too well.
“I’ve been looking at the platforms Hydroponics. They grow a most unusual plant there. It’s the Eloi’s

principle food source other than excellent synthetics. They call it a Kabrut;
in its natural surroundings it is parasitic. But here they grow it on its own.
The farm is huge; but it needs to be; artificially grown Kabrut is weak in
nutrition. The plant’s natural habitat has perilously high levels of Gamma
radiation. That is one of the plant’s sources of energy that results in the
high mineral content of natural Kabrut. The Eloi are methane breathers like
their ancestors. So they find worlds like the ones the Ulahri and Alurak
come from natural environments. But there is something about the soils of
their home world that provides the right nutrition for the Kabrut’s principle
host plant. That life form is more of a sedentary energy source. It has
Crystals growing in its cells that absorb Gamma radiation as one