Chapter 3: I am Neon (SOTU)



This conference room was several thousand light years distant and near the top of a 20,000 meter tall stratosphere scraping building. The building was the headquarters of SII-Energy Inc. a wholly owned, but very independently operating subsidiary of Schwartz Intergalactic Industries.

The view from its floor to ceiling view ports was spectacular and allowed a spectator to look over the entire Eastern continent and the big ocean of Forestall planet.

The being standing by those windows was Balthazar Steelgrip, the General manager of SII-Energy Inc.

Schwartz Intergalactic Industries was by far the biggest mega cooperation in the known universe. Officially known as the “Good Company’ as it had never been involved in any scandals or openly reported bad news in the entire 3000 year history. SII had officially not participated in the controversial Gene Clone experiments that led to the Gene Clone revolt so long ago. SII had been involved in the Corporation wars.

SII was the biggest employer and had a stellar reputation to care for is employees. The phrase ‘we take care of you if you take care of the company’ had been a recruitment slogan for almost the entire three millennia of the companies existence. SII was squeaky clean on the outside and no official evidence to the contrary ever surfaced.

But there were whispered rumors to the contrary, most citizens dismissed them as just that, rumors and baseless conspiracy theories seeded by the envious smaller corporations. Arguing quite validly that something would have been surfaced after all these many years.

Balthazar knew better. The corporation was ruthless and without any moral boundaries, it was just more successful in hiding its dark side than the others.

He himself was devoted to two things only to his boss and mentor, the almost mythical immortal president and CEO of Schwartz Industries, Mr. Rex Schwartz himself and to profit.

Balthazar was two hundred and thirty centimeters tall and appeared human in shape and proportions, but he was not human.

He turned with a fluid motion and faced the four other beings present, revealing his artificial appearance. The president of SII-Energy was a Sentmac, a sentient machine. Unlike the well known Ex-One-oh-ones he was not a product of Mothermachine. He had been found along 35,000 other sentient robots guarding a forgotten military depot of the Seeinans. A technological very advanced species that had been disappeared over a million years ago.

Balthazar wore a tailored business suit over his heavy almost indestructible metal body, his dome shaped head rested on a short flexible neck. He had neither mouth nor a nose and instead of eyes he had an omni directional visual sensor band. Where the mouth would have been was a audio acoustical system, allowing him to speak.

Without the need of doing so, he still turned his head towards the light green skinned humanoid female to his left. “I like the numbers I am seeing, Flora. We have increased our net profit margin by twelve point eight percent. As you know I am about to depart for Onyx planet where I will meet with other general managers and with Mr. Schwartz himself. I always like to tell him good news.”

The woman who was native to Forestall planet, gave a faint smile. Her department lorded over many millions of MOLGAS dispensing operations. From small intersystem refueling depots, for small personal space craft to massive battle ship and freighter refueling points throughout Union space. MolGas was the trade name for molecular compacted gas. Any source of Hydrogen or Helium could be refined and used as compacted fuel for the matter / antimatter annihilation energy based ISAH engines that allowed time dilatation free Faster than light travel.

One of its most practical sources were water or ice planets and from very early on Union technology developed technology to tap the vast resources of the universally abundant gas giants. Planets with liquid water were usually deemed to valuable for fuel production, but not so the very common and seemingly worthless gas giants.

Flora had just projected the latest sales numbers and market projections. Especially the market projections were quite interesting as they were broken down into regional projections.

Balthazar highlighted a region of sparse star population between two galactic arms and said with an almost nonchalant manner. “What about our little project in the Aplarox system. It is sort of a pet project of mine. Are we soon to begin production there?”

He sat down and stapled his fingers, just as he saw his idol Schwartz do. “If I recall the gaseous orb was well suited for refining operations.”

The Seenian Sentmac did not ask Flora, but another non human being at the conference table, a tall four armed green lizard, with short wings that no longer enabled the being to fly and distinct gray colored throat folds.

The Shiss answered right away.“It is indeed, Balthazar.The planet is in a prime location for a very profitable refinery and stop over operation.”

“I hear Enroe Fuels is considering putting up shop on one of the two rock core planets. If I read these corporate Intel-reports correctly, they intend to haul MolGas to that planet for fuel distribution, banking on the possibility that we are not being able to utilize that Gas giant.

“Yes Sir, that is indeed their plan, but the transport costs will add considerably to the price, they of course also speculate on the Kupershine system, at almost two hundred light years as an alternative stop over.”

Another human at the table added.“We have claimed a rock core planet in the Kupershine system. Enroe and DeNoir have already jointly claimed the only gas giant there. Setting up shop in that system will be a workable solution but with a slim margin of profit.”

“I care not about workable solutions. I want to tell Mr. Schwartz at the next annual meeting that we have successfully secured the lion share of the MolGas market in that region. Anything to big for space train passing in that region will make a stop at that system. I want hotels there, ship maintenance and repair facilities. Entertainment and leisure options on these rock planets, moons and whatnot.” The powerful Seenian robot managed to color his voice with intensity.“And I want these ships to buy our MolGas, preferably sourced locally for maximum profit.”

The human shifted in his seat and took a sip of water.” Balthazar, I am resource development, I have to come up with less than ideal solutions if the Science Council decides to close Shirrocco planet for utilization.”

Balthazar stabbed his finger at the projection that now showed a holo image of that planet.“It shouldn’t take the Science corps that long to come to a decision and send their findings to the Council. What is taking them so long?”

The human answered. “The lead investigator, a well respected Kilonian believes he has observed life.”

“Life? While I am a Seenian Sentmac and not an experienced Xenobiologists, I can read the digested findings. The data shows nothing supporting that idea.”

“True, but in the original survey report of the UE Vandegris the psionic talented Science officer reported a brief feeling of a conscious thought emanating from Shirrocco planet.”

“Such a report would have caused the Science department to send a psi talent or a ship with Leedei psi tech.”

“We were successful in somewhat altering the reports, and convince the talent not to recall anything unusual, but maybe there was an unofficial component to the report or something we have missed. Altering Explorer survey data is very complicated, difficult and very risky.”

Balthazar knew the human was right. “We were lucky then that the system was surveyed by the Explorer corps and not by a fleet unit. Will they not ask for another PSI talent?”

“We are currently dealing with the telepath and should they ask for another one, this one will be on our payroll and we can be certain that there is nothing indeed.”

“Out of machine borne curiosity. Is there something alive and even sentient?”

“Very unlikely Sir.”

The Shiss added.“If there is, not for long.”

He was a Shiss and he had taken citizenship and shelter within the Union during the last years of the Union Shiss war.

Shistaa, the former home world of the Shiss and center of the Shiss empire was now mostly destroyed with an Union Army occupation force lording over the last vestiges of the once proud and mighty Shiss empire. Many surviving Shiss lamented the fall of the old Shiss Empire.

His name was Hzzzagthy and he had little use for old Shiss glory sentiment. He was an Union citizen, but he also was the director of the SII Alternate Resource Procurement (SARP). A clinical name for a black operations division using any and all method to secure an object or an objective for SII Energy. A private intelligence and clandestine strike group with virtually unlimited resources, operating outside all moral, ethical or legal boundaries.

Hzzzagthy’s own nestling brother had been a close confidant to the All White Nestling, the once unchallenged leader of all Shistthah, yet even at the very height of Shiss power and influence, his brother had a fraction of the tools available to him. Also even the Shiss leadership had moral and cultural based taboos and lines they could and would not cross, SARP had none of these limitations. Hzzzagthy loved his job and he was good at it, as he had been at this post now for nineteen years.

The Shiss touched a contact before him and a tall good looking man in a fashionable star sailor cut business suit stepped into the room. While the man appeared to be physically present, he was actually an Avatar projection of Ralph Iseratte made of a hard light form field. fed by a live constant data feed of the few thousand light years distant GalNet terminal inside a small guest suite aboard the Stormrider station.

The Shiss said.“We were just discussing Shirrocco planet. I assured my superiors that everything is going according to plan and we will not have to develop alternative operations in the Kupershine system. Isn’t that so?”

“Yes, Mr. Hzzzagthy.”

--“”--

-Stormrider Station - Study Lab -

Claudia had spend the last two days pouring over every detail of the survey recordings and the analytical data. She had forgotten to pay attention to the ever swirling motion in her ever present tea cup, as she knelt on the vari from chair. She was leaning over the work desk with both her arms tugged underneath her chest. With one hand at her chin also holding a multi point stylus in pencil mode only to shift position to call up a new document upon the work surface or to take a sip of tea. The study lab was darkened and the only light came from the table surface itself.

Chimeer came in, looking at her in her many sizes too big real wool sweater, just as he has looked at her so many times thirteen years ago, when she still was his academic mentor.

The Kilonians had been Union members now for over eleven hundred years and were a well established member society. You could find Kilonians in almost all aspects of social life. As soldiers of course first and foremost, as officers and crew in the Spatial Navy. There were Kilonian lawyers, actors, construction workers, engineers, and businessmen. But even today it was rare to find a Kilonian scientist or scholar. It carried no longer the same stigma to be a knowledge seeker, as it once had, but it was far from an easy choice.

Kilonians always had scientists but they also were the natural born bullies in a society that elevated bullying into an art form and encouraged it. The humans had a very apt term for those who were on the receiving end of being bullied. The term was Nerd or on his home world the derogatory term Yuixi was used.

Kilonian scientists were not held in high regards and even today preferred to study and learn abroad and stay away from Kilonian worlds.

Chimeer was the very definition of a Yuixi. He was the last that crawled out of his parents egg nest. Already missing several of his legs and his last segment, chewed off by his much more aggressive siblings.

While Chimeer had been born to an affluent family and to a time when the Kilonians were Union members for a long time, being a Yuixi was still a stigmata and a social handicap.

In the very old days long before Union membership, the brightest Yuixi were sent too the feudal lords as “Thinkers” and once they were able to prove themselves useful by coming up with an invention, preferably a weapon or something to outdo the other feudal lords, had a fairly safe existence, until of course one of their inventions failed to impress or was outdone by the invention or development of the Yuixi of another feudal lord. However those who weren’t accepted by a feudal lord’s household would live out their lives at the margins of their societies. Trampled upon, bitten, if hunger was strong eaten or simply killed for sport.

The Kilonian society took almost 60,000 years before they ascended to Tech level three and discovered faster than light travel.

While formidable and terrifying fighters on the ground, their natural fighting abilities were useless and hopelessly ineffective against more advanced societies.

All this and the struggle for survival was in the past, Kilonians were Union members, profited from the technological and scientific advances of the Union society as a whole,

The bullying mentality against Yuixi was slowly eroding, especially as the Kilonian held the thinkers of other species in high regards.

Slowly eroding didn’t mean it had been eliminated, he remembered his time in Union school and being the target of hurtful and humiliating bullying. His parents would much rather had him joining the Union Army where most Kilonians and two of his siblings ended up, or perhaps joining one of the successful wrestling teams. Nothing kept Kilonians more mesmerized than Kilonian wrestling. Seeing two powerful and dangerous looking centipedes coil in complex strangle holds has become a quite popular sport even beyond the boundaries of Kiloni society and was the subject to sports entertainment shows with million credit competitor contracts. That it held no appeal to him was of course another disappointment for his parents.

He was a good student though and eventually was allowed to go off planet for his 22 month citizen service. He served it at the Science Council and his interest into biology, xenobiology and then especially Xenobiology had been kindled forever.

Being lucky he was allowed to go to New Cambridge, where he met Claudia Bloch. She never saw him as a Kilonian but as a shy student hungry for knowledge.

Chimeer secretly loved this human female more than anyone, and respected her more than the Hundred segmented Kilonian god that was supposed to exist.

She noticed him.“How long have you been there?”

“I don’t know, Claudia. I wanted to ask if you needed anything...”

“No I don’t need anything, Chimmie but I know why you came. You wanted to see if I had found anything.”

“Have you?”

" I am afraid not. There is nothing out there that is alive at least this is my preliminary...”

She paused as she looked at a recording of a storm. Then she said. “System, page Dr. Sudvahl please.”

Chimeer crawled closer to the table.

The head of the Blue appeared floating in mid air and the projection said.“Yes Dr. Bloch?”

“I am sorry to disturb you at this hour but would you join me in my lab?”

“Dr. Bloch it is third hour standard day and well within working hours, you are not disturbing. I was expecting your call any time now anyway. I am on my way.”

With an impatient gesture she swiped all the files of the surface and populated the clean work space with repeating short video images of storms. She had pulled eight such short recordings and spread them across the work surface, as Dr. Sudvahl came in. “Yes I knew you would come across them.”

Chimeer joined them moments later, clicked his pinchers and addressed the bald headed blue skinned humanoid. “What is it you talking about?”

“I am not saying it right now and I have the same reason you had for not telling Dr. Bloch what to look for, as I can not explain what we are seeing.”

Chimeer looked over the motion repeating images of swirling storm cyclones. Chimeer feared his senses played tricks or he simply misinterpreted what he saw, but there were directed lightning bolts hitting particular dense relative small storm cyclones. The lightning was going back and forth between the individual cyclones in a pattern that didn’t seemed random at all, but had a definite pattern to it.

“These lightning discharges seem directed and...“, he stopped in mid sentence.

The woman’s facial features were starkly highlighted by the light of the working surface as she tapped a command into the system to slow the speed of the recordings even further.“Yes, Chimmie I can not explain it either, but it appears these storm cyclones somehow generate these discharges and communicate with each other. There are hundred of these discharges every second and they are going back and forth.”

The Blue shook his head slowly. “Not hundreds, Dr. Bloch. I am certain there are millions of these discharges produced at any given moment.”

He reached for the file folder and manipulated the display. Moments later hundreds of the short video recordings populated the area above the table. He reduced magnification and thus allowed many hundreds more to be seen. He started the recordings.

Claudia wordlessly arranged the now three dimensional recordings with swiping motions of her hands.“This isn’t random. These are patterns. Definite patterns.”

Unnoticed, the Saran doctor had entered the study room and she too looked at the recorded lightning flashes passing from storm cyclone to another. “Synaptic activity, that’s what that looks like to me.”

Dr. Sudvahl groaned.“But these are just gaseous storm cyclones. There is nothing there but gas. No solid matter, nothing but gas.”

The Kilonian still stared at the repeating patterns.“Maybe we just want to see something, but I am certain we looking at something alive. Something we just don’t recognize as life.”

Claudia sighed.“You are right, Chimmie. I am glad you called me, but we are a long way from showing that this is life and more so sentient life.”

The Blue said.“But it is enough to convince the science corps to extend our research, is it not?”

The Kilonian turned his terrifying head towards the woman.“Unless you tell the science corps that you consider this potential sentient life, SII will be able to move in on their claim.”

“Before I risk my reputation on something we can’t really explain yet, but we have a start. we need to have more than a few recordings of electric discharges to convince the SC and thus the Assembly.”

She patted the Kilonian on the hard shell of its segmented body. “We still have time.”