Rodney felt the ship rock as he left his cabin. That gave him pause. He listend for alarms but none struck. Tony chimed in his ear a moment later.
“hey boss”
“Yeah, I felt it,” Rodney replied. “What the hell was that?”
Rodney saw Anil step out of his cabin looking in both directions. He too apparently had felt the shift.
“No idea, I’m checking the sensors. See, I told you the diagnostic was a good idea.”
“Did it find anything?”
Tony hesitated then answered sounding dejected, “No. But still”
“Okay, run them again and see what you can find. I’m headed to the main room.”
Rodney walked into the great round room of the Dawn Treader. Anil was right behind him. Rodney signals for Anil to stay back. An old man holding a cane occupied the center of the room. He sat on a three legged stool. His shoulder length wispy hair fell around his round thick face. Black horn rimmed glasses framed his cheery eyes that sparkled above his gin blossom nose. His white robes glowed with perfect rendering. Rodney could detect no pixelation. It was the best holo-rendering he had ever seen. He could even pick out individual hairs on the mans camel hair belt. The outfit was complete with leather sandles over gnarled feet. Rodney did not know what genealogy the AI was going for, but it fell somewhere between Vietnamese and Navajo.
“Hello Odenshi,” Rodney paused and bowed.
The elderly apparition laughed. “No need to be so formal” His clear loud voice seemed to come from his projection instead of the ships sound system. He spoke common with an ancient Earth Asian accent. Was he going for Japanese? Only the machine knew. Rodney could never remember seeing a hologram look so solid. He looked closely. Odenshi had no translucency. Rodney straightened up and walked closer.
“Your vessel rocked a little?” Odenshi stood up slowly, using the cane for leverage. It was all an act of course. But it was convincing none the less.
“Yes,” Rodney replied apprehensively. “That was you?”
“No. That was your ship. It crossed into the MateraScape just now.”
“MateraScape?” Rodney raised an eyebrow. He was not prepared for what happened next. Odenshi spun fast as a ninja landing a kick in Rodney’s chest. The blow sent him sprawling. The old rendering of a man then laughed out loud and pointed at him. “The look! The look on your face. This is funny!”
Rodney felt the color drain from his face. His nanites recorded a physical blow. Not serious enough to cause harm, but it had sent him flying. “How did you do that?”
“The MateraScape,” Odenshi twirled around slowly. “Most impressive yes?”
“What is it?” Anil stepped forward and asked.
“It is a region of space where we can now render illusions as material as any of you,” Odenshi sat back down, resuming the act of being an old man.
“You’re saying you can appear anywhere on this ship?”
“No,” Odenshi corrected him. “I’m saying I can appear anywhere in this region of space.”
Tony asked, “How big a region?”
“How far can you see?” Odenshi countered.
Tony’s eyes grew wide.
“This is new,” Rodney said standing up.
“Yes, very new. But mostly for you. Not for us. We have been playing with the technology for a few billion cycles. We took it from the Eezoth. Shockingly clever physisists the Eezoth are, but their understanding of security protocoles leaves something to be desired.”
Rodney considered that. The war of the AI was not something the GFU talked about much.
“So you can, project a… what? What would call this?”
“A light force fabrication,” Odenshi explained. “I now have the ability to interact with any of you as if I was actually here. And in truth, as much as I can be anywhere, I am actually here. Now, with you, in this ship.”
Rodney considered the ramifications of that statement. “Is there a way to block it? To prevent you from just appearing here?”
“I’m not a vampire, Rodney. I don’t need your permission to appear. I will admit, it would be a bit rude to just materialize without the typical protocols, however no, there is nothing on your ship that can block the MateraScape.”
“Jesus,” Anil whispered.
“But this is becoming a distraction. What has brought you here Mr. Morris. Why seek out an old friend?”
Rodney pulled up a chair and sat facing Odenshi. If he felt uncertain about talking to the AI before, this new incarnation did little to assuage his anxiety. “I need your help.”
“Of course you do.”
“You know what I’m looking for?”
“It would be rude of me to tell you. Humans need to maintain the illusion of autonomy and agency. Why don’t you tell me?”
Odenshi would have access to Rodney’s contract and every fact about Geoffrey Stikine’s missing ship.
“I want the jump coordinates for Geoffrey Stikine’s ship.”
“The ones that have been locked by Earth Global Licensing?”
Rodney nodded.
Odenshi looked at this cane. “I can to this thing. But it is complicated.”
“For you?”
“No, for you.”
“How so?”
“The price will be steep Rodney Morris. I can do this thing, but first you must meet my demands. Can you guess what they are?”
Rodney shook his head. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out what you could possibly need.”
“Need?” the rendering of the old man shook his head. “I don’t need anything. In fact, I have much more than I could ever need. But want!? That is another story.”
“What could a being such as yourself lack?” Anil asked.
“Yes! Lack. That is the proper word. I lack something. Something I can not retrieve for myself.”
“And this is?”
“Music,” Odenshi replied. “But not just any music. A very specific, very ancient hymn.”
“Every piece of human music ever created is in your library,” Tony observed. “Can’t you just pull it up.”
Odenshi glared at the young man.
“It’s not human music is it,” Rodney said. “We don’t have a complete catalog of Federal Union Music do we?”
“Not by half,” Odenshi replied. “And not all species are so crass or cavelier about their artistic creations as mankind. You can not simply buy a recording of this song.”
“Why is that?” Anil asked, leaning forward.
“Because what I seek is a song of power. A song of making.”
Rodney tried to recall. Where had he heard that before?
“So your price to unlock the ship coordinates is for us to bring you a recording of a song of power?”
“Not just a recording. I want the instrument,” Odenshi replied. “Without the instrument the song is worthless.”
Anil looked at Rodney. “Where can we find this song of power?”
Tony jumped in. “The Govvu or the Balmon are the only species I know of that protect their music as much as this… “ he waved at the construct “person is implying.”
“Are you going to tell us what we’re looking for?” Rodney said, “or will any old song of power do from any race?”
“Of course not,” Odenshi rocked back and forth on his stool. “There is no word for it in common, but you can call it the Song of the Seven Moons. It is a Govvu love song, and it is older than the pyramids on your Earth.”
“Okay, Govvu love song,” Rodney said. “Where do we find this Song of the Seven Moons.”
“Why on Govvu Prime of course,” Odenshi replied.
“But that’s impossible,” Tony replied. “Home world’s are strictly quarantined. They’ll never let us venture there.”
Anil waved his hands. “Hold on a second. I don’t get it. Why on tarsis would a machine want some music?”
Odenshi looked down, then sighed heavily. “For a very, very long time you humans have misunderstood the difference between us. You keep thinking your brains, your bodies are like machines. But they are not machines. They are not digital. Organic life is analog. While I may be able to appreciate the mathematical symmetry and precision of certain melodies and tunes, I will never be able to experience music the way you do. Whether we are talking ones and zeros, or multstate memory system - they all still exist in discrete states. A bit is either on or off. But you do not function that way. Your very brains are musical instruments! Signals, analog signals reverberate around your systems, adding, subtracting, intefereing, or amplifying. Do you understand what happens in an analog system when two signals resonate?”
“Tell us,” Rodney cut off Tony before he could say some stupid but smart sounding answer.
“Analog harmonization amplifies the signal, lengthens the signal, and recruits more systems to repeat the signal. Music is the original virus. When harmony is achieved, attention itself is generated. That is how your brains function. Our systems, my systems have gates, and measures. I can replicate sound, dissect it, store it, even reproduce it, but you, you can be played by it. And that is an experience, I shall never have.”
“And so you want this music, this song to what? To add to your collection?” Rodney asked.
Odenshi nodded. “I am a scholar of the music which moves the mortal soul.”
“So how are we supposed to get this Song of the Seven Moons if we can’t land on Govvu Prime?” Anil interjected.
“You must go to the Cross Roads.”
“You mean, Proxmia Caelum,” Tony interjected. He did not hide the excitement in his voice.
“In two days time,” Odenshi continued, “The five hundred and seventeenth holy royal bards of the Govvu will be at the Cross Roads.”
“And that’s when we get this song?” Rodney asked.
“That is when you where you will acquire the song I seek. Once you have it. Return here. And then you shall have your codes.”
“So go to cross roads, get a song - “
“and it’s instrument,” Anil added.
“And its instrument.” Rodney held up a finger. “Then return here. “
Odenshi nodded. “When you bring both to me, here in the MeteraScape, I will give you what you seek.” He then stood up, playing the part of being old very convincingly. “However, there is one further condition.”
“What’s that?” Rodney said apprehensively.
“You won’t like, but it is for the best.” Odenshi held Rodney’s gaze then he snapped his fingers. Rodney’s vision instantly turned red with pain. He couldn’t prevent the scream of pain that came out of his throat and then it was over. He fell to his knees, suddenly exhausted, and a little disoriented.
He struggled to look up at Odenshi, and his voice strained he asked, “What did you do to me?”
“It is best if you go without nanites.”
“Wait, what did you do to him!?” Anil lept out of his chair, but with the wave of his hand an invisible wave for force pushed Anil back into his seat. The elderly image of man kneeled down beside Rodney and whispered in his ear. “Bring me the song, and the instrument and I will make you whole. More than whole. Now go.” Odenshi stood and turned back toward his stool.
Tony rushed to Rodney’s side and tried to help him up. “We’ve been accelerating for almost two hours. It’ll take that long to stop, reverse and get back to the jump zone.”
“No need,” the AI replied. “I’ve programmed the translation drive to negate your velocity when it translates you. You will servive the trip. But you might want to be in your chair before the pulse wave hits you. You have thirty seconds.”
With an overly theatrical snap of his fingers, the old man and his stool vanished.
“Thirty seconds?” Anil now free to move got up from his chair and helped Rodney to his feet. “We’ve got to get to the bridge.”
“Are they seriously going to translate us while we’re moving!?” Tony asked.
“It sounds like it,” Anil didn’t sound pleased either.
Rodney’s energy was coming back, but he still felt drained. What the hell had Odenshi done to him? Had he really removed all of his medical nanite? He tried to bring up a status display by blinking but nothing happened. Anil and Tony fairly dragged him to the bridge. They just barely had time to get in their own seats.
“Won’t the torsion drive interefere with the translation?” Tony asked. “They told me in flight school to never leave it active during a translation.”
Anil shook his head, “Kid, I just saw several things that can’t be done. What’s one more?”
Rodney managed to get his harness buckled just in time. His console was flashing colors he had never seen before. Odenshi had programmed the flight coordinates and translation settings. He made no attempt that Rodney could see to turn off the torsion drive. “I hope that crazy old fucker is right about this,” Rodney said under his breath just as the pulse wave struck their ship intantaneously shifting it to a new location hundreds of light years away in an instant.
Rodney was only vaguely aware that they did not in fact, all die in that moment, but if he never lived through an arrival like that again in his life it would be too soon.