Titan 5 - Over a Torrent Sea (37 page)

And so they had studied and learned for centuries. They had derived the laws of gravity by watching the motions of the planets. They had studied the stars, learning much from them about the nature of light. Ultimately they had become aware of the invisible forms of light and developed instruments to study them. A living nervous system was a ready-made radio antenna.

Thousands of years ago, before humans or even Vulcans had ventured into space, the squales had sent forth the first capsule like this. But outside Droplet’s magnetic field, away from the Song of Life, the squales had been disoriented and impaired. The unfamiliar field of the system’s star and the emissions of the exotic elements in the debris disk had caused them discomfort. They had decided they could learn enough about the emptiness through astronomical observation, and had turned their attention back to exploring the profundities of their ocean and improving their biotechnology.

But now, Melo said, the arrival of visitors from space had inspired his pod and others in related disciplines to revive their ancient space program, recreating the design from their extraordinary racial memory. As an echolocating species, they perceived three-dimensional shapes in terms of sound patterns, and could literally speak the form of an object in detail. And they had an eidetic recall for sound patterns, keeping the “blueprints” alive in oral memory. Anidel’s team had needed to fill in certain details degraded over time, but it hadn’t proven too difficult to deduce what was needed.

The key difference, Anidel sang, came from a study of
Titan
’s field-neutralizing probes. Their design had given the squales some ideas for how to use the capsule’s nervous system to generate a field that would compensate for the effects of extra-Dropletian travel on squale neurology. They had wasted no time incorporating these insights into the design of this capsule, which would be over ten meters high when fully grown in a week or so.
“Our thanks to you,”
Anidel sang,
“for giving us the final key we need to bring this ancient dream again to life.”

Once they surfaced again, it was some time before Vale could speak. “I owe you an apology, Aili. And them. This is…Tell Anidel I am truly humbled. I think maybe we’re the ones who have the most to learn here.”

“She understands,” Aili told her. “They pick up languages very fast.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t rub it in.”

Riker chuckled. “To be fair, it’s only the equivalent of a Mercury capsule,” he said. “They’re a long way from warp drive.”

“Technologically. Not conceptually. Hell, Will, we’ve seen living creatures with warp capability. If it hadn’t been for their dependence on the Song, they might’ve been the ones visiting our planet, a few thousand years ago.”

“Isn’t that a reason to leave them alone, then?” Riker asked. “Let them develop their own technology in their own direction, instead of using ours?”

Vale glared. “I hate it when you play devil’s advocate.” Taking a slow breath, she went on. “Of course that’s what we should do. Hell, something tells me they wouldn’t tolerate anything else. But that doesn’t mean we can’t…
keep them in the loop. We could recommend that the Federation open diplomatic relations. Just the occasional visit. With slipstream drive, that should be more feasible in a few years. And not just for the squales’ benefit. We could learn a lot from them about biotechnology, medicine…”

“Hmm, something tells me they wouldn’t take too well to the Federation’s policy against genetic engineering.”

“It never hurts to have a contrasting opinion. And like the Denobulans and Choblik, they seem to have adjusted to their enhancements pretty well.”

Riker studied her. “You’ve really come around, haven’t you?”

“Well, I didn’t have the chance for as much close contact with them as you did. They are an impressive bunch of people.” She lowered her head. “Especially for not blaming us for what happened.”

“Hey. Don’t blame yourself, Christine. You made a mistake, but you went above and beyond to fix it. The squales see that, and so do I.” He clapped her shoulder. “You did a fine job, Commander.”

“Thank you, sir.” She frowned. “Although wouldn’t ‘below and beyond’ be more accurate here…?”

HVOV MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, PLANET LUMBU

N
urse Mawson was glad to see things getting back to normal at the hospital. Not only was Administrator Ruddle due back from her rest cure soon, but the city was growing calmer with the war fears dying down. The Cafmor had done a fine job in the last round of debates, restating her position in the finest, most elegant traditional forms and thereby undermining the Kumpen challenge to her victory. Many Kumpen were crying foul, insisting that she had been coached, but the Cafmor had proven a subtler point: by making the same argument in traditional rhetorical structure that she had in more informal words, she had implicitly demonstrated that the form was irrelevant, undermining the Regent’s position enough that a majority of voters in both countries had declared the Cafmor victorious. So Lirht was safe now, and so was Kump, for what would the Lirhten want with that arid, mountainous waste
anyway? All they had there were dilithium crystals, and what good were those?

And then there was the other thing. But Mawson and her fellow maternity nurses had little to say about that. And those who’d chosen to speak of it had soon learned there was little gain in doing so, for the government, the press, and the public were satisfied to chalk it up to mass hysteria, the people’s fear of a looming war manifesting in visions of spirits and monsters. Mawson and her nurses knew better, but they were content to communicate it in knowing looks and shared laughter. In years to come, they might get together and speak of it in reminiscence, maybe privately debate the true origin of the giant men and women and the scaled monster with the hands of a surgeon. For now, they were content to absorb the experience in their own thoughts. For Mawson, it had reaffirmed a faith she had begun to question in these uncertain times, this age of electricity and factories and motor carriages, when nature and the spirit world seemed more distant than they had in her childhood. Now she had confirmation that the spirits were there, and that they had children and loved and protected them just as people did. That reassured her, inspired her to put more passion into her work. But she also knew that the spirits had their own lives to lead, that people could not rely on them to interfere in mortal affairs—that it was up to people themselves to find their own solutions to their wars and plagues and so forth. That the only guidance the spirits could offer was by example. But these spirits had proven to set a fine example—after a rocky start, to be sure, but imminent childbirth tended to do that to people.

As Mawson left the hospital for the night, she looked
up at the stars and wondered if the giant baby and her mother were happy.

DROPLET, STARDATE 58590.2

The capsule ascended on a pillar of wind.

Borne aloft on a thermal by huge, transparent balloons—related to the weather-balloon creatures and bred specifically for this purpose—the fairy-castle rocketship rose toward the tenuous reaches of the sky. When it had risen as far as it could go, a spark from its supercharged nervous system would fire its rockets, sending it…

Well, not far,
Will Riker thought as he watched its ascent. The squales were nowhere near far enough along to get into orbit, since it had been less than two weeks since they’d begun the project, even if their ability to build on ancient knowledge accelerated the program considerably. This was merely a propulsion test, but it was a historic enough event that Riker had accepted the squales’ invitation to remain at Droplet until after the launch.

“Lovely weather for it,” Deanna said, and he lowered his eyes from the diminishing speck of the capsule to gaze upon her. She lounged beside him on a floater-islet beach, while Natasha Miana Riker-Troi nursed at her breast.

He smiled. “Beautiful scenery indeed.”

“Oh, you.”

“I just wish it could last.” He stroked Tasha’s head, but she remained focused on slaking her appetite. “We came so close to losing each other.”

“We have before,” Deanna told him. “And we will
again. But we have a good crew, and I have faith that they’ll always bring us back together. Back to this…the three of us.”

“Sir?” It was Lavena, swimming up into the shallows. Two squales were behind her; Riker couldn’t tell them apart, but he suspected they were her young friends. “They’re ready.”

“I think it would be diplomatic,” Deanna said, “if we joined them in the water for the occasion. After all, they’re extending their first toe into a new sea.”

“But the view is better here.”

“A few meters won’t make any difference to the view. Besides, it’s even more humid here than it was in the holodeck. I’m dying for a swim,” she said, meaning it this time.

Shrugging, he acceded to her wishes. They stayed in the shallows, with Deanna keeping the baby close but letting the water bear much of her weight. But they knew Tasha would be safe so long as the squales surrounded them. Indeed, the squales seemed intrigued by the child, coming up close, extending their tentacles to touch her with great delicacy, and flashing color patterns that Riker imagined were the squale equivalent of doting baby talk.

But soon the big event came. Riker could see little more than a sustained point of light and a distant streak of white vapor, but that was enough to tell him the test was successful. Eventually, the remote roar of the rocket reached his ears. He knew that
Titan
was monitoring the event with full sensors, that Vale and the others on the bridge were seeing it in rich detail, preserving the image for history. Riker would enjoy reviewing that in time. But
there was a greater wonder in being here with the squales themselves, experiencing this first step as they did, without any machines—any unliving machines—in the way.

As the distant roar faded, Riker turned back to his own first step into new seas. Tasha was splashing around, making little cooing noises that sounded like enjoyment. He met Deanna’s eyes, and she sensed his impression and nodded. “She likes the water,” she confirmed. “She’s curious about the new environment. Yes, that’s my girl, isn’t it? My daring little girl, all ready for adventure!”

“Just like her namesake,” Riker said.

“Like her father,” Troi replied. “She’s going to be quite the explorer, this one.”

Yes,
Riker thought as he saw the tiny child testing her abilities, stretching her arms feebly toward the flickering squales as though eager to quest into the unknown.
This one will go boldly.

Who’s who on the
U.S.S. Titan
in
Over a Torrent Sea

Captain William T. Riker

(human male) commanding officer

Commander Christine Vale

(human female) executive officer

Commander Tuvok

(Vulcan male) second officer/tactical officer

Commander Deanna Troi

(Betazoid-human female) diplomatic officer/senior counselor

Commander Xin Ra-Havreii

(Efrosian male) chief engineer

Lieutenant Commander Shenti Yisec Eres Ree

(Pahkwa-thanh male) chief medical officer

Lieutenant Commander Ranul Keru

(unjoined Trill male) chief of security

Lieutenant Commander Melora Pazlar

(Elaysian female) senior science officer

Lieutenant Commander Tamen Gibruch

(Chandir male) gamma shift bridge commander

Lieutenant Commander Onnta

(Balosneean male) assistant chief medical officer

Lieutenant Alyssa Ogawa

(human female) head nurse

Lieutenant Eviku Ndashelef

(Arkenite male) xenobiologist

Lieutenant Kekil

(Chelon male) xenobiologist

Lieutenant Chamish

(Kazarite male) ecologist

Lieutenant Se’al Cethente Qas

(Syrath asexual) astrophysicist

Lieutenant Huilan Sen’kara

(S’ti’ach male) assistant counselor

Lieutenant Pava Ek’Noor sh’Aqabaa

(Andorian
shen
) gamma shift tactical officer

Ensign Aili Lavena

(Pacifican “Selkie” female) senior flight controller

Ensign Torvig Bu-kar-nguv

(Choblik male) engineer

Ensign Mordecai Crandall

(human male) engineer

Ensign Tasanee Panyarachun

(human female) engineer

Ensign Peya Fell

(Deltan female) relief science officer

Ensign Vennoss

(Kriosian female) stellar cartographer

Ensign Y’lira Modan

(Selenean female) cryptolinguist

Ensign Zurin Dakal

(Cardassian male) sensor analyst

Ensign Evesh

(Tellarite female) sensor technician

Ensign Olivia Bolaji

(human female) shuttle pilot

Ensign Waen

(Bolian female) shuttle pilot

Ensign Kuu’iut

(Betelgeusian male) relief tactical officer

Ensign Hriss

(Caitian female) security guard

Chief Petty Officer Bralik

(Ferengi female) geologist

Crewman Ellec Krotine

(Boslic female) security guard

T’Pel

(Vulcan female) civilian child care specialist

Noah Powell

(human male) civilian, son of Alyssa Ogawa

A
s always, thanks go to Marco Palmieri for commissioning this novel and initiating the
Titan
series. I’m indebted to those who have come before me, including Andy Mangels, Mike Martin, and Geoffrey Thorne, and to those who offered advice on the manuscript, including Kirsten Beyer, Keith R.A. DeCandido, William Leisner, and David Mack. The President Bacco quote that opens the novel is from
Destiny: Lost Souls
by David Mack. President Bacco was created by Keith R.A. DeCandido, as was Admiral Masc (mentioned in “The Ceremony of Innocence Is Drowned” in
Tales of the Dominion War
) and the Alrond colony (from
A Singular Destiny
). Information on Arkenites comes from the FASA and Decipher role-playing games. Thanks to Theodore Sturgeon for inspiring Lumbuan linguistics, and to the
Freefall
webcomic for inspiring Doctor Ree’s philosophy on the power of smiles.