The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #1, Inception (5 page)

Cat touched his arm and smiled "That's OK... I know what you mean."

He returned her smile with a genuinely warm one of his own. "Shall we head to the Bowman?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting a team here that worked with my father..."

"I knew him well... He has been sorely missed. Bob tries hard but it's just not like an AI is ever going to replace a man like Robert."

"So you are part of Dad's team?"

"Absolutely... As I said... I'm a geek... Especially when it comes to hyper-field engineering."

"This is strange on so many levels" Cat commented in bewilderment. "I'm surprised a man of science would also be a man of God."

"Not really that big a mystery. I have always been good at math. I loved hyper-field theory even before I read your papers. Yet the more science taught me... the more I realized what it could not teach me. After that I became convinced that the m-verse without a God is harder to explain than an m-verse with a God. Besides... Many of the greatest scientists in history have been monks and priests. I'm just continuing a time-honored tradition."

Fearing she was about to receive a sermon she quickly diverted the conversation. "So tell me about the 'Bowman'"

"Well, what's to say? The Bowman is our first serious attempt at building an interstellar spacecraft. The tech is a combination of stuff we found at the D'lralu crash site and innovations that came out of your hyper-field work."

"How close are you?"

Kirkland pinched the bridge if his nose. "That's the rub. We think we have everything figured out but the darn thing will not initialize the hyper-field matrix."

***

The USC Bowman was by any estimation a 'Big' ship. She measured 400 meters across and was roughly teardrop in shape. Cat immediately understood the reason for this. A quantum fold generated by a hyper-field generator would be asymmetrical along one axis while fully symmetrical along the other two. This would allow preferential displacement in n-dimensional space along the asymmetrical axis.

The problem was
, the math behind a successfully generated asymmetrical quantum fold was prohibitively complex. Even with fifty years of technological advancements Cat was doubtful that human technology was up to the task.

This was the crux of the problem the engineering team headed up by the charmingly strange Dr. Ken Kirkland was facing. He had taken the time to explain in broad strokes what their difficulties were as the two traveled via rail car to the orbiting shipyards where the Bowman was undergoing final assembly.

"So even if you could calculate a set of initialization parameters you would be stuck at your destination until you could calculate return parameters" Cat commented while taking in the incredible view of the exterior of the ship.

"Absolutely correct...
and the problem is, in the time it takes you to calculate the parameters normal cosmological drift has invalidated the solution" Ken added.

"Exactly... What you need is some type of heuristic solution that can rapidly bound your solution set to a manageable calculation."

The red-breaded man turned to look at her and chuckled in a deep voice that reminded Catherine of Jolly Saint Nick at Christmas. "I swear by all that is holy... Your father said exactly the same thing!"

"Well, he was a smart man" she said with a wink. "Did he develop the heuristic?"

"He started to but that was when he had the heart attack... A good ten or so years ago. Bob was created by your father, when he first started having heart trouble, in an effort to try and continue the work should something happen to him… and the android has made real progress but we are still two or three orders of magnitude from where we need to be."

Cat paused and bowed her head. Her father had been dead for years now
but for her the memory was much newer and much more painful. Sensing her pain the pastor/engineer that was Ken Kirkland placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He was a man of deep faith and passion. He loved you as only a father could and I know he is smiling now, knowing that his little girl is alive."

Looking at the engineer's red robes and the office they signified she could not help but question even that. That she was alive was beyond doubt... But was she truly the daughter of Robert Kimbridge? It was no wonder the military didn't know what to make of her when she wasn't sure herself.

Her musings were interrupted by a polite “ehem” from behind them. As she turned she saw a tall middle aged man of Indian descent in a crisp USC Captains uniform. Instinctively she began to salute until she realized she was not in uniform and technically not even a member of any armed forces. To cover her awkward movements she quickly switched to a handshake. "Mira nam Catherine hay" she said politely.

The newcomer grinned. "You speak Hindi! Ajah
hay!"

"I'm afraid only a little Captain."

"Well that's OK, truth be known I use it so little these days I wonder if I even know it. I'm Captain Debu Ramchandani"

"I am most pleased to meet you, Sir. Is the Bowman yours?"

A broad grin lit up his face. "She most certainly is... That is..." switching his attention to his engineer "if we can ever get her out of dry dock!"

"Actually Captain that's why I have Dr.
Kimbridge with me today. If anyone can figure out what her father was up to it would be his brilliant daughter - the author of most of the hyper-field equations we have today."

"Yes, Admiral Faragon told
me you would be coming. He was even good enough to grant a special request of mine." Turning to Cat he said in a formal voice... "Commander, I believe you are out of uniform."

"Sir?"

Captain Ramchandani pulled a tablet PDA from the cargo pouch of his uniform and began to read:

"Effective this date, your commission in the United States Air-force is transferred to the United Space Command. In acknowledgment of your exemplary service to date as well as your willingness to make
great sacrifices for humanity... Etc. etc. etc... It goes on for a while. The bottom line is you have been promoted in rank to a full Commander and are being offered a commission in the USC. Do you accept?"

"Absolutely! ... I mean 'Yes, Sir!'"

"Excellent, we'll do a formal swearing in later... For the moment consider your previous oath to the U.S. Air-force as binding. Your duty station is the Bowman where you will serve as my Science Officer."

"Outstanding... Sir!"

"In that case carry on Commander. Oh... Before I forget I took the liberty of having your personal effects brought on board. In addition, you will find a full set of uniforms in your cabin. Try and make sure you are properly dressed in duty fatigues when you join the rest of the senior staff in the captain's mess at 18:00 sharp."

***

True to his word, when the newly promoted Commander Kimbridge found her cabin several hours later, she found the entire contents of her Lunar One apartment
was carefully stowed away in her 400 square foot, three room cabin. To say she had never seen shipboard accommodations so... 'Accommodating' would be an understatement.

She quickly put on her new uniform. Whoever had tailored it was spot on.
It fit perfectly. As an O4 officer she had four rank pips on her collar. She rubbed her thumb briefly over the four small metal nubs. She repressed a sudden desire to chuckle. It had taken her fifty-four years but she had finally made 'Commander'... She wondered what her father would have thought. She supposed she could talk with Bob but she knew the conversation would ultimately disappoint.

An attention light blinked in sync with a soft blip sound near the computer interface. "Computer, play message"

The voice of the Chief Engineer (and apparently also the ships chaplain) filled her room. “Cat, I know you are just getting settled in but we really need to get you fitted for a sub dermal comlink. Having to leave you a message on your console is not going to make you any friends... Especially if the captain has to do it."

"Computer, open a link to Lt. Commander Kirkland."

"Link open" her as yet unnamed personal AI replied.

"Ken? This is Cat. What's up?"

"The medical bay is between your quarters and the captain's mess. We should have enough time to get you fitted for a link if you want to stop by."

"Sounds like a plan. Can you pick me up? I've not had a chance to memorize the layout of the ship yet."

"No problem... Are you ready now?"

She looked around the room. Saw herself in a mirror and decided she was indeed ready. "Whenever you get here I'm ready."

"Good, I'm right outside your door... Let's go."

Opening the door Cat was presented with another surprise. Ken was in his fatigues rather than red robes. He obviously saw her start. They had spent the afternoon in engineering going over hyper-field initialization parameters - the whole time he was in his vestments. "This is what I typically wear around ship. The robes were for a wedding that I did on base... It ran a little late and so I didn't have a chance to change before I picked you up."

"Ahhh" she mouthed silently.

"Speaking of changing... Might a lowly Lt. Commander remark you look rather fetching in a uniform Commander?"

"You may, Lt. Commander... By the way... Didn't you say you were married?"

"Indeed I am... Rebecca Ann will be joining us for dinner. She is a civilian and, I might add, the captain's
personal chef." 

***

The trip to the medical bay was short. Just around the bend from her quarters was a turbo shaft that took them up one deck. There, they exited right next to the medical bay, and a short city block further down the hall was the officer’s mess followed by the captain's mess.

The medical bay itself was exactly what Cat expected.
After all, she had spent the bulk of the previous month being poked and prodded by various medical personnel in various facilities on Earth, the moon and even briefly on Mars. She knew the drill even if she had grown to dislike it.

The doctor on call was pleasant enough. His name was Riley. His name was Irish
but his accent was heavily German. Cat knew there was a story there, but she did not ask.

"Zo, you need a
comlink implant. This we can do." Dr. Riley reached into a cabinet and pulled out a nanite infuser. "You would be zo kind to roll up your sleeve, please."

Cat did as instructed. The doctor placed the infuser against the inside of her arm and pressed the actuator nub. There was a slight hissing sound. "There. The nanites will self-assemble your
comlink near your auditory cortex. It is tuned to this ship but can be retuned on command should the need arise."

Cat rubbed her arm near the injection site. A metallic blob that looked remarkably like quicksilver oozed out of the injection site.

"What the..." Ken started to say. This had the effect of focusing the doctor’s attention on Cat's arm.

"Don't touch them!" Dr. Riley yelled. "They have been programmed for her and God only knows what they would do to you and your existing link." He brought a glass beaker over and used a plastic tongue depressor to encourage the pool of nanites into the jar.