32 Quad 2471 R.E.
Sandstorms raged all day on sevenday and through the night, but showed signs of subsiding on eightday. For the fact that the storm had lasted that long, and carried enough sand to totally cover the RF wheeler, Eltyn was grateful. For the fact that neither he nor Faelyna made any progress beyond the simple commands to open, close, or lock the openings in the station stone he was far less grateful. He was also relieved that Rhyana continued to deal with the riffie captive, although the man refused to eat and would only drink water.
That was the riffie?s problem, Eltyn told himself, especially since he had no doubts that once the storms died away it wouldn?t be that long before the next attack. In the meantime, Eltyn and Faelyna sat, side by side, in her work space, where the projector was trained on the window, and where they could both physically watch the screen that projected and tracked shadow images.
Faelyna had been able to capture the shadow images of the direct commands that floated
"somewhere" in or beyond the stone, almost like a list, but there was no effect if she touched the image on her screen or if she projected a point of shadow at one of the symbolic lines. The door or window only opened or closed or locked if the correct symbols were replicated and projected into the stone near an aperture. Which aperture opened or closed depended on the second symbol. When any action occurred, another set of symbols appeared, a set that looked totally unlike the first set. While the first set appeared white, as did Faelyna?s commands, the second appeared "black."
Interrogative depth of projection? inquired Eltyn.
Depth? It's not relevant. Not in the dimensions into which we're projecting.
Multidimensional multiverse? Disproven by Sancrataz's Theorem.
[snort] The stone of the wall measures less than a yard in thickness. From the energyused to project and return, it's more like a kay. Is the stone impossibly dense…or is the distancetransdimensional? Or…???
What about energy resistant?
Possible, but improbable, given the lack of subsidiary energy scattering or heat buildup.
Eltyn lowered his eyes from the screen, closed them, and massaged his forehead. Treat asa differential?
The door commands/language as a differential of the overall command structure?
Eltyn shrugged. Or an integral. Something like that. Some linkage necessary.
Linguistics as a calculustic structure?
Structurally deterministic is another possibility, he offered. ?????
Interrogative linkage trace from specific command…shadow under/overstructure?
Faelyna opened her virtie-screen to him.
Eltyn studied it, then compared it to the real-time screen before him. Finally, he replied, Color symbolism is culture-centric, but in most cultures, white and black are opposites, if linked.
Some sort of inversion?
That's a guess 2.
More like guess 5! she replied. Linguistic/symbolic inversion? How?
Program the system to invert physical symbols?
Then compare?
Attempt worthwhile for reaction, suggested Eltyn.
Attempting [wry humor].
Eltyn shifted his attention to the images outside the station, where the last traces of the sandstorm were beginning to fade away.
After close to two hours of work, Faelyna offered an "inverted" command.
No reaction at all appeared on the real-time scanning screen.
Change color of command to black? Eltyn suggested.
Attempted already…haven't discovered operatives for color change within stone.
Interrogative change of energy levels? Harmonics? Overtones?
Would require additional modifications to projector.
Eltyn considered the possibilities, wondering whether varying the projected power levels of the signal would have any effect at all. He knew he was missing something…
FLASH! Urgent! Incoming missiles! The local system warning flared crimson through Eltyn?s skull.
Retract and shield! Retract and shield! The repetition was unnecessary, Eltyn realized after the fact, but there was no harm done. Report status.
All shields in place.
Report damage in real time.
The system did not acknowledge the command. Systems didn?t, unless programmed that way, and Eltyn hadn?t bothered to reprogram it.
The two of them sat there without communicating for several minutes.
"The time for "submit and all will be well? is over, it would seem," he finally said.
"The Twenty never meant that all would be well, only that they?d prefer not to use force."
"I wonder how many other isolated stations are receiving similar notification."
"We can?t be the only one, I wouldn?t think."
"No. Just one in a location where no one will see or hear the detonations."
Main scanning antenna inoperative. Local antennae and scanners operative. Power gridoperative.
Unshield local one. Status?
One scanning.
Eltyn accessed the local input, conscious that Faelyna had linked in as well. The image of the area to the east of the station showed a slight cratering just south of the canal wall and roughly even with the east end of the station.
Interrogative scare tactics? pulsed Faelyna. Or do they think we have a comm-link towhat's left of MetCom or The Fifty? ???? Does it matter?
The image from the local antenna abruptly shivered.
Lock all the doors and windows, suggested Eltyn. Visitors before long.
Unless they can't reach us immediately and want to disable comm.
Eltyn thought, then pulsed, Your alternative more likely, but…
Locking station.
Shield local one. Unshield two and report.
Two scanning.
Eltyn accessed the image of the area to the west of the station. Again, the stone and station were undamaged, but a half crater radiated away from the stone south of the west end of the station. That half crater looked to be twenty yards across and at least five deep.
Directed monatomic hydrogen warhead… mused Eltyn. What happens if the next one isnuclear?
We lose all power except what's stored in the capacitor batteries below, because all thecollectors and generations get vaporized, along with the cabling, and The Twenty loses itsreputation for being merciful, and the whole world knows it.
Nuclear "persuasion" unlikely?
Unlikely 3… for now.
They watched and waited for another ten minutes, but no more missiles or warheads arrived.
"Back to work," suggested Faelyna.
"I?ll try to add variable power projection…"
"Thank you."
Abruptly, Eltyn recalled what had struck him just before the missile attack. "I was thinking…whoever set up the control system wanted someone to be able to decipher it. They just didn?t want it to be easy. So what is it that they wanted us to learn?"
"I?d thought that, but I haven?t figured out an answer yet." She smiled, faintly. "I wish I knew more about fermionic entanglement, something more than the basics."
"Maybe the whole universe is entangled."
"We already suspect that."
"Maybe all universes are entangled," he bantered.
"You might be onto something…"
Exactly what, Eltyn had no idea, but he smiled anyway.