Page 263 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

safeguard against a repeat of the catastrophic failure that previously occurred. Zuul entered the final
sequence of commands and the Polaron generators ramped up their outputs. The switching circuits
seemed to be tripping over in sequence correctly. All was as it should be so far; then the modulation
mechanisms cut in and the energy was sent to the great array. The beam flashed out into the depths
of space in the direction of one of the Lingva colonies that had been in contact only a few years
earlier and had also lost contact with the Home Systems. If they got a reply then they would ramp up
the power further and try other stations farther away.

The system appeared to be stable and he message appeared to have been sent correctly so
the station was switched to receive. It was some time before a reply came; and the Lingva that was
responding seemed surprise by the contact. Miah had to translate the message for the others as it
was in an arcane dialect of Bachi. She had learned it from her Great grandmother while she was still
a child. She used to use it to talk in secret with her mother and Grandmother. She relayed what the
sender had said about the original disaster.
“It seems that the ships containing the Lingva made it to safety in two other systems. The ships
containing the Jungva fared less well; it was they who had attempted to traverse some of the
unstable Quantum Slipstreams in an attempt to get to the Home System sooner. They were unaware
of the conflict on Home world and the Enemy attacks and materialised right in the middle of a fire
fight. They were destroyed almost immediately.” She recounted.
“That’s awful. You have our sympathy. T’luha said. Myra remained silent for a few moments.
“Are those Slipstreams still around?” she asked. Zuul answered
“They may be; but after the incident all races stopped using them and sealed their entrances. That’s
why the Lingva were surprised at our contact. The beam was diverted in some way along one of
those discontinued streams” He said in answer to her question.
“Well we have proved one thing; the system works over the intermediate distance. Is everyone
ready to try a more distant outpost?” Bexar asked. They all nodded in agreement. To the Eloi’s
surprise the power used had fallen short of the projected amount. Midas was the first to realise why
this was. It was the diversion through the Slipstream that had reduced the power requirements.
Adjusting for another two; or three diversions, reduced the power requirements for the distant
communication accordingly. The adjustments made; a second test burst was tried. This time the
system showed a slight fluctuation. It was momentary and the safeguards took care of it. Again they
switched to receive and waited. About an hour later a short message came back in Bachi. Midas
smiled.
“It would appear that we have been asked to identify our location” he announced. The three Eloi did
a sort of short hop on the spot; their equivalent of a cheer. Miah sent an identification code and a
brief account of what they knew; and coordinates of the Platform for further assistance to be sent.
There was a short delay and a curt reply indicated that Home world was now in the control of the
Yenta; a more lenient political movement than the old regime. Home World would send help both to
Hylon and the Platform as soon as the Slipstreams were stabilised. In the meantime their engineers
wanted to know just how they had achieved the stable Beam over such a massive distance. Bexar
prepared a compressed data burst and sent a reply. Turning to Miah and the others
“We had best get the Trask to speed up the reanimations so that more “personnel” would be able
and ready to handle the incoming ships. One of the ships they are sending is the ARCADIA.” He
announced. The Trask all jumped and ran off in all directions diverting power to all the other Stasis
centres…

… At the array a remote control system had been set up on an asteroid; along with a power
generator and the unit. The pieces of the unit had been assembled in situ by a Mechanoid crew. It
was hoped that the strange antenna array had not deteriorated from its long time in storage.