The Fall of the Absolute

by Karen Page

Chapter 27

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Chapter 27

"Let's wait several ticks and see if it clears," Jennifer said, trying to remember what the Igorotoran had said about the changes. They just said communication would be down. There was no mention on how long that would be.

"If not, what do we do? Go to back to Earth?" Kelly asked.

Jennifer thought about overriding the lockout but held off. She'd save that for the last resort. "No. How close can you get us to the station? How far is uncontested space?"

"Too far to jump and use the thrusters."

"You used a different drive mode to get to Earth quicker, didn't you?" Reggie asked.

"Yes," Jennifer responded, wondering where Reggie was going. She had a different way of thinking which brought fresh ideas to the table.

"Perhaps it has switched communications to a form that the Station doesn't recognise. Try putting yourself back."

"We used that mode when we came back from Earth last time." Kelly pointed out but tried it. It was a good idea but was still no joy.

"Kelly, can you call Star Bright. I'd do it myself, but..." Jennifer trailed off, unable to say the words.

"You don't seem to have any problem talking to them at other times," Hope said sarcastically, and then put her hand over her mouth. "Did I really say that out loud?"

Kelly nodded, gazing at partner in shock.

Jennifer said in small voice. "I'm glad you did. We need to be open with each other. I try not to be in the same room as them. It hurts me. It hurts my family when I am there as they can see I don't want to be talking with them. It hurts you all, but especially you Hope. It is for you that I try not to. It is why I asked Kelly to call to see if they knew what was wrong. Can we talk about it when we get back?"

Kelly made the call, not waiting for anybody to say anything else.

"Hello Kelly," Ashleigh answered, sounding surprised.

"Mrs Head. Sorry to disturb you. Are you aware of a communication issue with the Rohastin Station?"

"Yes. We don't know why. You sound too close to be there."

"We are in Astraea and can't get back to the Station."

"Hang on a second," Ashleigh said and to everyone listening in the ship, it sounded like Ashleigh was talking as she was walking.

They then heard some muffled talking before, Becky said, "Hey Kelly. I'm on speaker phone. I hear you can't connect to the Rohastin Station to get back."

"Yes. Do you know what's happening?"

"No, but it might be that Vers'am has authorised the communication upgrade. Jennifer made a very good argument."

"She would say that", Jennifer thought, but still blushed.

Kelly continued, "Can this ship open a communication tunnel at the same frequency as the third tunnel? The one that blocks the ships?"

"We tested it. We can give you that ability. Why?"

"I was wondering about opening a tunnel near the Urattr. Since the station is silent, it might give them an extra chance. No normal tunnel could then block them and stop them moving when they realise."

"I see your plan. Who is with you?"

"The four of us, and Reggie. It might not work as we can't jump near the station. It is claimed territory."

Jennifer crossed her fingers that her Ma wouldn't give the hidden secrets of the ship away.

"Jump to Earth orbit. I'll prep a package for your comms update. You will then need to jump into the Zone of Silence. Jump near one of the gas giants there. We will take Eos and jump near the station, in orbit over that gas giant. I will call you using that third tunnel and see if that helps get the Urattr home."

They jumped to Earth orbit and Kelly rang again. It wasn't possible to maintain a communications tunnel over a hop.

It was Becky who answered. "I see you in orbit. She is a fine ship. I've uploaded the new frequency but had to do it in the bespoke area."

Jennifer understood and screwed up her face.

"I think that's understood," Kelly responded, seeing Jennifer's agonised face.

"I've just been told, Eos isn't available. You will need to try the tunnel yourself from the Rohastin system. Jennifer will get you there. Sorry. Have you been away from the station more than ten hours?"

"No."

"There is a menu option called 'ten-hour home' that will return you to where you hopped from when you left the station. Good luck."

The call ended and everyone on Astraea looked at Jennifer.

"That was rather cryptic," remarked Hope.

"There are toys on this ship that you haven't discovered yet," Jennifer responded.

"Do you want me to sit in the back?" Reggie offered.

"NO!" Jennifer said, exasperated.

"I've no idea about these toys either," Kelly said. "I've been through it and haven't seen anything like Becky described."

"It's locked to me. I can't give this to anybody else. And that is a can't not won't. Probably so I can't be coerced."

"So, get us there already," Kelly said. "We've no idea how long the station has been down, and how long it will stay down."

"Hope, give me the coordinates of the planet near the Rohastin Station," Jennifer requested and busied herself by unlocking the hidden items. "Once we're there, I'll need coordinates of one of the gas giants near the Zone of Silence so we can communicate there."

"Ready," Hope said, putting the details into Astraea's navigation system. "I've done it for the other side from the Station. Not that anybody would see us; we are too small."

Jennifer pressed the button and they appeared in orbit over the planet.

"Should we try to do a communications tunnel to this planet?" Theo queried. "Point it at one of the swirling clouds, which is where Kantu said they were. It will be more of a wakeup call to them, rather than the Zone of Silence. That might just bring more here."

"Trying one of the clouds," Kelly said, opening a tunnel. The sending tunnel opened, but they didn't get a response.

She tried a second cloud. They all sat there, looking at the screens on the front console. The clouds were mesmerising and had an eerie beauty, but no response.

"Try another," Theo urged.

"Opening to a third cloud."

Four ticks later, a response tunnel formed. It was small, but there.

"YES!" they all screamed.

A strange noise came out. All garbled. It made no sense to them, but it proved that they were there. It didn't last long, before the tunnels shut. But it proved, the Urattr could open tunnels.

"Look," Hope said, pointing at the planet. A few of the more colourful clouds altered their shape and, in a moment, the colour drained leaving the cloud looking less vibrant and more like the other clouds of gas.

"Hopefully this means they've gone home," Reggie said.

"Should we move around the planet a bit?" Kelly asked, her fingers over the buttons. "See if there are any remaining colour spots."

"Don't use thrusters. Do a hop taking us round a third of the planet."

Kelly nodded, and they moved. No sign of those deep colours. Nor was the next.

"Well done," Jennifer said. "I wonder how this will go with the Council. They just disappeared. We can't tell them we did it."

Even Reggie understood that.

Jennifer looked through the unlocked screen and found the 'ten-hour home' entry. She clicked it and then hopped into their usual slot in Hangar Five.

"Jennifer?" The Station said, as soon as she switched on her Device. "I didn't authorise your ship to dock."

"Your Interdimensional communications are down."

The Station was puzzled. "I'm not reading that, but I haven't had any ships request docking ... Validating ... You are correct. I can't open a tunnel. Someone has tampered with my systems."

"Physically or system?"

"I don't know. It is like I forgot the system was there."

Jennifer frowned at that. How could it forget? It was a computer. "Who has override control over your systems?"

"Only the head of the Rohastin Council."

Jennifer looked up and saw she was being looked at. "The Station is being attacked. Theo, only the head of the Rohastin Council should have that control."

"Trudy was the previous head of the Council," he mentioned, before taking off on a run for the Transport Hub.

Jennifer connected back with the Station. "Who do you have as members of the Rohastin Council?"

"Only one. The Reginadde Ambassador. She is also head of the Council."

"Connect me to Theo," she said.

"Theo", he responded, sounding like he was moving with purpose.

"The Station only recognises one member of the Rohastin Council. A female Reginadde Ambassador who is also the head of the Council."

"I'm on the floor below. I didn't want to chance going direct."

"Good luck. We will try other methods."

"You too," and Theo ended the connection.

"What's going on?" Kelly asked.

"A coup." Jennifer quickly told them what she'd found.

"So, what do we do?" Reggie asked, worried about her grandfather. "I can't connect to the Reginadde system. The constant tunnel for that is gone too."

"I think we need to get off the grid. There is a nice bar near here. Our location is hidden there, but we can communicate."

"But shouldn't we be fixing it?" Reggie asked.

"We don't know the extent of the issue yet. But sitting in here isn't going to help."

"Before we go, I think you should let your ma know," Hope said. "Someone off station. It's pointless letting Miss T know until we know more."

Jennifer set up the Direct Tunnel Device, and Kelly connected her phone again. "Mrs Head," Jennifer heard Kelly say, but there was no indication which of her parents Kelly was talking to.

Kelly was very succinct. She told them they were in the station, and it seemed the Urattr were gone. She said there was a Station communication issue but didn't elaborate on what that meant.

"Your parents are going to contact some of the other species home worlds," Kelly said when she'd finished.

"Thank you for doing that," Jennifer said, putting the DTD back into her rucksack.

They left the ship, locking it behind them and made their way to somewhere quiet. As they went, they saw that the station was generally operating as it normally did. People were moving about, doing whatever they did. Nobody seemed to be in a panic.

"I'm on the floor," Theo said. "I was authorised but that had been forgotten. It seems the memory can be jogged. First target is Vers'am."

"We're heading to the hidden bar where we can plan in peace. Join us when you can."

"Understood. Good luck with your psychotherapy. Your patient might be a difficult case."

Jennifer laughed aloud, which made Hope look at her strangely. Kelly just carried on, never surprised what her friend did.

When they got to the bar, Reggie gave a gurgled cry and rushed forward. Sitting at one of the tables were the Reginadde and Human ambassadors.

Jennifer, Kelly and Hope went to the bar, leaving Reggie some space with her grandfather. They were soon joined by Georgina.

"You can stay with her too," Hope said.

"Not yet. Not at a day like today," Georgina replied, not refuting Hope's accusation. Seeing them ordering soft drinks, she said, "I thought you lot would be getting something stronger than that."

"At a time like this, we need clear heads," Kelly responded, and Hope nodded in agreement.

Reggie was no longer hugging her grandfather, so they all went back and joined them.

"I thought you'd left the station?" The Reginadde Ambassador stated. "How did you get back with the communications down."

Reggie answered. "As you say, grandfather, you can't return without the station giving you a landing pad. So, you must have been mistaken about us having left."

He smiled. "I see you are learning from your friends. This is fantastic news."

Reggie looked confused for a moment and then smiled lovingly at him. She really did seem to have a much closer outlook on life than with her actual parents.

"Any ideas who's behind this?"

"We have a theory," Jennifer said. "It isn't good. Three groups trying to manipulate the situation for their own ends. You were postulated as suspects for a time, but I think tonight proves who it is."

"And?"

"Trudy was the name she gave. She is the Reginadde Chief Advisor, and ex-ambassador."

"She's not permitted here," he said, frowning. "Did you see her here or elsewhere?"

"Here."

The Reginadde Ambassador started to get up, "I need to see Vers'am."

"Theo is already on that mission," Jennifer responded. "As far as we can tell, she wants to remove you as you are in the line of succession. The only way the Yvestigans and Earth First can see humans removed from the council is if the Rohastin no longer exists. Currently the Station only recognises one Ambassador being in the Rohastin. A female Reginadde."

The Reginadde Ambassador muttered some words in his native language. Reggie looked shocked.

"That isn't a nice thing to say," Kelly muttered in the Reginadde language.

"Okay, I'm going to have a nice chat with the Station. Kelly, Hope, you have plotted where things are. Where would you look first?"

"Connection seven," they responded in unison.

In English, Jennifer said, "Watch your six."

They nodded, downed their drinks in one, and were gone.

"There are two things she needs to do for this to work. She needs to remove the current Law Bearer and stop the next in line from being available. She could take you out or remove you using the same technique she was removed."

"Because she was living with someone from a different species," he confirmed.

"Yet love is blind," Jennifer said. "You can't help who you fall in love with. On Earth it used to be frowned upon for falling in love with someone of a different skin tone. It used to be illegal to fall in love with someone of the same sex. It used to be against the rules for a British Monarch to marry someone who was divorced or worshipped the wrong religion. We all have our prejudices. I'm just surprised an enlightened species like yours still has them."

"We are islands," the Reginadde Ambassador stated.

"You listen to The Oracle too much," Jennifer retorted.

"How do you feel?" Georgina asked Reggie.

"My best friends are human. Why should I not have a human grandmother?" Reggie said. "But I'm not like other Reginaddes. I grew up in a multi species environment. Those at home know there are different species, but they might go through their whole lives without ever seeing one with their own eyes."

"I think I need to go to home world," Reggie said, standing up. "At least we don't need the Station to authorise departure. I just won't be able to come back until it's back online. Can I use your ship, Ambassador?"

"Of course," he responded, startled that she was using his title rather than grandfather.

Reggie turned to Jennifer. "Please look after them both."

Without waiting for a response, she left, leaving the two ambassadors in shock. Reggie had come into her own.

"And then there was none," Jennifer muttered, more to herself than the others.

"Hi Station," she thought. "How are you doing?"

"I'm still confused. I keep getting conflicts."

"Do you remember me?"

"Yes. You I do remember. I have you stored in protective memory as I gave you upgraded clearance."

"Do you remember why?"

There was a pause, which was worrying to Jennifer. A computer system didn't pause enough for a human to notice. "You and your friends saved an ambassador. But the memory of that ambassador isn't there or is hidden. The event is in protected memory so has to be accurate."

"Do you know who the others that helped that day?"

"Yes. Hope, Kelly and Theo. They are in protected status too. I let Theo into the Ambassador area earlier when he reminded me."

"Hope and Kelly are going to go into restricted areas. They are trying to find if someone has messed with your connections."

"Understood. Please help me. This duality of data hurts."

"I know and we are trying. We think we know who has done this. We think we know why they've done this. Knowing that though doesn't solve the issue. They have privacy mode and discreet mode."

"You have those available to you, but that doesn't mean you are doing me harm."

"No, but it protects them. You can't tell me where they are and I wouldn't ask you because it might hurt you."

The Station almost said sadly, "You'll have to hurt me at some stage. Someone is messing with my knowledge and there aren't many with that authority. Those with that authority, I'm programmed to protect."

Jennifer disconnected and rubbed her eyes. How was Trudy doing it? Were there others with her? A message came through. She glanced and smiled. Theo. 'Found who I was looking for. Authority not recognised. Protecting. Floor appears deserted.'

Reggie calling stopped her thoughts. "I'm at the ship. It took longer as I had to be reauthorised."

"Who authorised you?"

"The head of the Rohastin Council."

"That's currently Trudy. Be careful you aren't falling into a trap. If she authorised you, she wants you doing what you're doing. There is a saying—"

Reggie laughed.

Jennifer smiled and continued. "You have to walk into the trap, to spring it. You are aware. Turn the trap to your advantage."

"I'll try. See you soon."

And she was gone.

Jennifer felt her heart skip. It was one thing asking Hope, Kelly and Theo to do what they were doing. It was another to ask Reggie. She wasn't trained for going into the lion enclosure. Yet it was Reggie's decision. It was Reggie's choice. But would Reggie have made that choice if she hadn't been pushing her? Jennifer just didn't know.

She turned to the Reginadde Ambassador. He'd been watching Jennifer, wondering what silent conversations she'd been having and with who.

"Ambassador, earlier you said that Trudy was banned from the station. Why?"

"She had been the head of the Rohastin Council. That carries a certain privilege and access to the station computer. Her sudden removal meant she never had chance to relinquish that authority. She said she wouldn't return to not cause issues for Vers'am."

"Sorry if this is rude, but how long do Reginadde live?"

"It equates to just over two hundred Earth years. She was the one in charge when the two interventions occurred on Earth."

"So, in some ways she is the mother of Earth Fist," Georgina said.

The Reginadde Ambassador nodded. "True, but she is also responsible for the creation of who Jennifer works for."

"I work with Reggie in the shop," Jennifer said automatically.

The two ambassadors looked at her in disbelief, but Jennifer didn't flinch.