Abruptly a figure emerged from the shimmering
noise dressed in academic white with accents of fabric that
glistened like liquid lapis lazuli. It was an outfit that denoted
either great personal wealth or the pretense of it. It made the
dark red and blue design of Kassad's custom tailored spacer suit
look shabby and rough by comparison. The only consolation for
Kassad was that the more expensive outfit of his guest would likely
provide no practical protection whatsoever against a sudden loss of
pressure or burst of radiation.
Seizing the initiative in the conversation
Kassad spoke first. "Cameron, you look younger than I
remember."
It was the sort of thing that was polite to
notice as a compliment to both physical upkeep and the acquisition
of the funds to do so. In fact Cameron now looked younger than his
former student did which indicated the man had undergone expensive
rejuvenation therapy. The man's steel grey hair was now an almost
platinum blonde while the lines and creases of the man's face had
smoothed and tightened in a way that was not the result of simple
sculpting. Kassad guessed Cameron to have the biological age of a
man ten years younger than himself.
Professor Cameron Fitzgerald took a seat in the
booth opposite Kassad and without acknowledging the younger man's
compliment announced, "I need to know that your ship is in good
condition. Those maintenance reports aren't doctored are
they?"
It was an insulting insinuation, but Kassad
managed to restrain his response. "As you may have forgotten I'll
remind you that I was thrown out of University for inappropriate
activities, not suicidal ones." The lack of response on Cameron's
behalf prompted Kassad to add, "I just replaced the primary power
regulator. Perhaps you'd like to inspect the work?" Kassad would
have been astounded if the man knew what any of the vital equipment
in a starship did or looked like.
"That answer is satisfactory." Cameron decreed
as if evaluating an oral exam. "You haven't taken on any crew have
you? Still working alone?"
Kassad tilting his head to one side considering
the surprising implications of this line of questioning before
responding, "Oh, I work with a team from time to time as needed,
but if you're asking if I've taken on a partner, then no. I'm still
my own man."
In clearly relieved tones Cameron announced,
"That's exactly what I've been looking for. I need your help, but
more importantly some of my colleagues need your help."
Waiting patiently for the University man to get
to the point on his own having never been an option with Cameron
Kassad prodded the conversation along by saying, "I'm
listening."
Cameron glanced around uneasily but his eyes
only found the shifting patterns of the obfuscation field and
Kassad's steady gaze. "A few years ago I endorsed an expedition to
study Law's End. The University sent some of its best minds and
equipment out to a newly discovered system just this side of the
Law's End barrier. Several of the system's outer bodies actual pass
from one side to the other in their orbits making it ideal for this
work."
Law's End was so called because it was the
strictly defined barrier where the physical laws that governed the
local Laniakea supercluster gave way to whatever rules governed the
surrounding space. The differences weren't obvious at a distance
and given the distances involved it had taken the better part of a
century to even verify that Law's End existed. After verifying its
existence the process of determining its general shape had taken
even more time for the inhabitants of the hundred thousand galaxies
within Laniakea. Still today the main concern for most of the
supercluster's inhabitants was avoiding the hazards of that area
where the known laws of physics ended.
Kassad didn't need to keep up with the latest
scientific research to realize that such a system would present a
tremendous opportunity to learn about the physical laws that
prevailed in other parts of the universe. "Sounds like a fine
feather for your cap. What went wrong?" Of course something had to
have gone wrong or they wouldn't have been talking.
Cameron glanced down as if embarrassed. "No one
knows for certain," he looked back up to lock eyes with Kassad,
"but it seems the edge of the barrier shifted. That University team
is now trapped on the other side."
Nodding as if this were the most normal thing
for him to be involved with Kassad noted, "So you need a ship with
an old fashioned reaction drive to go in and get them out.
Certainly the University has ships that can do this?"
Old-fashioned reaction drives were fairly
sophisticated fusion thruster systems that converted fuel into high
velocity plasma. Reaction drives were in some ways more complex,
more expensive, and more difficult to maintain than reactionless
drive systems. It was the versatility of the reaction drive that
kept them in use, especially for expeditions near the Law's End
barrier. The old-fashioned reaction drives were ideal as they
relied upon the same physics of stars, and those worked the same
everywhere.
Also useful for less legal purposes reaction
drives had just enough legitimate uses to prevent them from being
generally outlawed. For Kassad's purposes the power signatures of a
reaction drive were different enough from that of the more common
reactionless drive to be useful to escape the attention of most
casual sensor sweeps. This in turn allowed for discrete penetration
of blockades and enhanced avoidance of customs patrols.
Frowning bitterly at what Kassad suspected were
the results of typical cutthroat University office politics Cameron
answered, "The University won't send anyone. They've decided it's
too dangerous and have written the team off as dead."
"But you don't think they are? Why is this?"
Kassad asked knowing perfectly well that The University tended
towards expedient answers dressed up with elaborate rationalization
rather than the more politically painful process of logical
decision making.
With an anger that could only come from having
had the conversation too many times already Cameron pounded a
balled fist into the table. "They're alive. Enough work had already
been done to establish that basic biological processes can function
on the other side. It's possible they could survive for years
before their systems broke down completely. On top of that a body
with a rudimentary biosphere capable of supporting life was in the
system. Even if they lost everything else they could have made it
to that world." Bringing himself back under control Cameron spread
his hands pleadingly. "It's just a week's travel if you leave
immediately."
A lot of tech that worked fine for every galaxy
in Laniakea became unpredictable, dangerous, or stopped working
entirely in the area beyond Law's End. Faster than light drives in
particular tended to fail catastrophically in the region, but even
biological processes began breaking down eventually. It was a
reality that made study of the area difficult, and combined with
its remoteness to discourage any investigation at all.
This obviously wasn't the whole story, but then
Kassad had become accustomed to people holding back on the whole
truth when they hired him. "But I'm guessing the University knows
all this too." Kassad casually pressed for more information.
Backed into a corner Cameron nodded. "The
University claims to be afraid of upsetting the Lawless, but if the
Lawless happen upon the expedition's survivors who knows what
they'll do?"
Lawless was a generic term for the beings that
lived outside of Laniakea. The term indicated that they were
adapted to survive in the region of different physics rather than
indicate they had no system of governance, but no one really knew
what happened in the region. The Lawless had technology that worked
no better inside Laniakea than Laniakeaian technology worked
outside of it, and so the peoples from the one region of space
seldom interacted with the peoples of the other.
"They are alive. They have to be." Cameron's
gaze dropped to the table's surface. "My daughter is with
them."
Last time Kassad had seen Cameron's daughter
she'd barely been big enough to totter a few steps at a time,
although that had been a long time ago, certainly a lot longer than
it felt. "Listen Cameron, I can make time in my schedule, but I
can't take on charity work." In truth it had been a good year and
Kassad had just spent the equivalent of a regular working man's
monthly salary on the boots he prominently displayed. "If I'm going
to risk my neck beyond Law's End it has to make financial
sense."
Most ship captains kept well clear of the Law's
End regions that surrounded Laniakea. Stories of the strange things
that could happen just by getting too close to the barrier were
likely nothing more than stories, but the reputation held. No one
with any sense tempted fate too often by tangling with the unknown,
and stories of horror often made a more convincing excuse than
common sense.
Using words that were a bit too well rehearsed
Cameron said, "I've contacted the families of those in the
expedition and put forward a lot of my personal wealth. We can pay
you three million in preferred University script."
Begrudgingly Kassad would concede that Cameron
was the smarter of the two of them, but three million in preferred
University script was just slightly too much. It was an ample
enough amount in such a way that it must have been calculated to be
so. If it had been ordinary University script it would have been
too little, but even considering the limited utility of University
script in general it was still a lot of money. Under optimal
conditions Kassad could hope to make the equivalent of three
million before overhead costs in five years. He was accustomed to
risking his life for far less working the legally grey areas of
blockade running and smuggling and this was legitimate rescue
work.
As smart as Cameron undeniably was he'd
inadvertently tipped his hand that he could afford a lot more and
Kassad wasn't one to let such an opportunity go. "Thirty million."
Kassad replied calculating that ten times the initial offer should
be absurd enough to elicit a reaction that would allow him to gauge
how much the job was really worth.
Cameron's eyes went wide. It wasn't the wide
eyed desperate look of 'how can I raise that much money' either. It
was the startled guilty look of a man who'd just been caught
cheating at cards.
Recovering badly Cameron complained, "You must
be joking. I might be able to get six together. That's going to
take time."
It was only by the barest self restraint that
Kassad was able to keep himself from smiling as he dramatically
pushed his drink away disdainfully. Cameron's haggling skills were
so poor he'd just given away that he could come up double his
initial offer. Double of anything was not something anyone scraped
together out of desperation, and a clear indication that Kassad
should keep pressing for more.
Making a show of thoughtfully considering the
offer Kassad finally relented, "Very well, and only because of our
history my old friend, I'll come down to twenty."
"That's unreasonable." Cameron blurted in
offense, then seeing that the outburst had no affect on Kassad his
face hardened, "I'll go nine, no more."
Shrugging Kassad removed his glorious new boots
from the table top and moved to leave saying, "Fine, have it your
way."
"No, wait." Cameron hesitated and bit his lip
in frustration. "I can pay twelve."
Had Cameron been paying better attention he
would have noticed that Kassad had left his white noise generator
behind when he began to leave. If he'd been a better negotiator
he'd have suspected Kassad would back down on his price if pressed.
Cameron was clearly focused on other things, but then even Kassad
was distracted from the details of the negotiation.
In addition to forgetting about the white noise
device Kassad had also quickly forgotten about the risks and
unknown variables involved in the venture. In Kassad's mind the
thought of twenty years pay for a few weeks work, no matter how
dangerous, was too seductive to ignore. Not that it would allow his
former mentor off the hook for the consequences of bad
bargaining.
Nodding sympathetically Kassad returned to his
spot at the table. "Because this is about family I'll settle for
fifteen all in advance."
Red faced Cameron hesitated and then conceded,
"Okay, fifteen, but all paid after you return."
Kassad grinned, the man wasn't completely
hopeless. "And I get paid whether or not they're still alive. You
can't hold me responsible for the laws of physics can you?"
Cameron returned a twisted version of Kassad's
grin. "You'll also take along someone who knows the
situation."
"And to make sure I do my best to fulfill the
contract no doubt. Who will this be, you?" Kassad chuckled at the
thought of the University man putting himself in harm's way.
"It's another concerned relative." Cameron
explained while a tone from the mobile device attached to Kassad's
wrist tried to alert him to some event. "They're already looking
over your ship." It only took a glance at the device to confirm
that someone had entered the rented hanger where his ship, the
Sabha, was docked. "Ursula Greene, her husband is on the
expedition, and she did most of the data correlation work on what
they managed to send back."
Cameron extended his mobile device and Kassad
tapped his own device against it. Almost instantly the two machines
reached a legal accord, presenting the final legalese to their
owners for confirmation. After a cursory review of the document
that was mostly a formality both men agreed to the terms as
discussed and transcribed.