When the last crystal took its place, I stepped away from the control panel and glanced at Chaya, who seemed frozen. The girl sat at the control console and stared straight ahead in silence. Only her gaze suggested that her thoughts were far from here.
"I think it's time to launch," I managed to get her attention only on the second try. The girl, glancing at me, nodded silently and ran her fingers over the workstation buttons. "And it would be good to inform the others that we are ready to go."
Chaya froze for a moment, then her hand moved to the edge of the console and pressed one of the buttons:
"Engineering section speaking," she said. "We are preparing for reactor launch. Finish your work and report it immediately."
Releasing the button, she looked at me without a hint of regret.
She doesn't like our reluctant ally.
At the moment, the Athosians and Taranian have finished their part of the work. Their task was to replace the designated faulty crystals on several decks. Thanks to this, as well as Koschei's work, the power circuits in the living quarters, galley, sanitary zone, and hangar have been restored. Not to mention that the subspace transmitter, scanners, and artificial gravity are now working.
There's no need to even mention that the ship's backup bridge had no connection to even secondary systems all this time due to the destruction of the control channels. The command bridge, the default control location, functioned solely on reserve circuits. Koschei was currently repairing them.
The voltage there is such that an electric shock would not just be painful—it would cremate you in a couple of seconds. After all, the operation of such a starship requires a colossal energy consumption. Even for secondary systems.
"Alvar speaking," a voice came from the hidden speakers. "The wraith has finished with the last section of damaged wiring. The fuses are in place, the circuit is glowing white."
The Ancients have a very interesting system for warning about malfunctions. If the equipment is working correctly, its internal lighting is white. If there are damages in the main system, it's dim. Destruction of the main circuit, blocking its operation—red. No power in the network or malfunction in the main, reserve, and emergency circuits—no lighting at all. It's quite convenient—you remove the protective cover and can calmly observe whether the system is in order in a specific section.
When the lighting indicates a malfunction, it can be easily detected with a scanner or even visually. The crystals used by the Ancients in their devices, it turns out, have not only the function of microcircuits but also relays, fuses, power controllers, and other protective and regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, it is often they that fail, not the wiring as a whole. Chaya said something about how replacing crystals is much easier than opening walls and repairing wiring. The ancient crystals were deliberately made the so-called "weak link." Quite pragmatic, in fact—it's easier to replace an element that is easily removed than to dismantle half the structure. Or to rearrange the crystals to activate one of the auxiliary or reserve systems instead of the damaged main one.
This explains why, in the events known to me, humans quite often "repaired" damaged technologies of the Ancients (and other races using the same technological principles) by replacing crystals. And very rarely restored damaged wiring. And yes, sometimes it led to catastrophic consequences. Well, how often... Practically always.
But I don't have a technically competent world-saving team at hand, so we have to work on restoring everything that can be fixed. And without any optimistic hopes that it will work out as it did for the humans in the events known to me.
The panel in front of me, as well as the other twenty, in which I had to replace more than half of the crystals, was filled with light. The crystals lit up like a garland on a Christmas tree. Except they didn't blink, limiting themselves to a steady glow and a barely audible hum.
"It seems to be working," I looked at my scanner screen, running it along the row of opened consoles. The smart device did not detect any malfunctions in any of the crystal slots. "What about you?"
"The reactor has reached minimum power," Chaya said. "Energy is being transmitted to all compartments of the ship... Launching diagnostics."
Her voice sounds rather joyless. Although there's reason to celebrate!
In less than two weeks, we managed to bring this wreck into a decent state. We repaired the main systems where they worked on secondary circuits, partially restored the operation of the main and reserve systems in critically damaged areas of the ship, and corrected the power output on several damaged protective field projectors...
We now have propulsion engines, shields, weapons, life support, and much more! And it works not on conditional "twists" and "band-aids," but on full-fledged, albeit repaired, circuits! The ship has been restored in less than a month!
Yes, there's still work to be done on the hyperdrive, but the most extensive work is completed. We'll deal with the hyperdrive later—the necessary spare parts and ultra-dense crystals are currently being manufactured. If ordinary ones can be created from silicon, even if not any kind, then the hyperdrive... Like other highly technological mechanisms of the Ancients that require precision in setup and operation, this equipment required a completely different type of crystal. Strength, optical purity, and a dozen other characteristics that must be considered during manufacturing.
And diamonds are also needed. And quite a lot.
The Athosians mine them on Ermen, but Chaya rejected about eighty percent of the discovered diamonds. She said they were not what was needed. Although, what's the difference if we load them into the installation in the workshop for subsequent melting and purification?
Yes, it had to be admitted that diamonds can not only be polished but also melted, turning into the most expensive glass I've ever seen. I think for a couple of crystals needed to restore the hyperdrive, you could buy one or two planets on the galactic black market. Most likely, even with fortresses.
For about an hour, during which I collected tools and spoiled parts from all over the compartment, sorting them into those that would still be useful and those that could be sent for reprocessing, Chaya constantly watched the colored schematic of the ship displayed on the large monitor.
"Everything is ready," Chaya said. "In two compartments for ammunition storage, there are energy fluctuations in the lighting and power system, but they are not critical for flight. I've disconnected them from the network, and they won't cause any more problems."
"Excellent," I winked at the girl. "It's time to return to the bridge, talk to the others, rest, and tomorrow we'll start repairing the hyperdrive. You said we'd manage in a couple of days, right?"
"A day for dismantling and detailed defect analysis, the same for programming new crystals and repair," Chaya confirmed, being the first to leave the compartment. Tiredness is tiredness, but one shouldn't forget about gallantry.
"We managed in less than a month," I said as we walked. "At the same time, we practically restored the ship to combat readiness. It's strange that the Ancients didn't do this."
"They could have," Chaya said. "The resources of Taranis allowed them to smelt and replace all damaged hull elements or fix mechanical damage. However, the planet lacks deposits of the necessary minerals to fix damage in the wiring and create the necessary crystals for the main systems. Even for auxiliary systems, local silicon is not very suitable. Tens of tons of material would have to be passed through separators to create what we made in a few weeks."
Logically, considering that Lantea-2, from where we took resources for ordinary systems, became inaccessible to the Ancients during the war.
"Besides," Chaya said sadly, "this is just one ship. Moreover, as the wraith said, it was formerly a research ship, but converted into a combat one. Even with an MNT on board, it wouldn't have played a significant role in the concluding war. It was simply left for better times."
"Well, it's good that it wasn't repaired and destroyed during the encounter with the wraiths," I noted. "Now we have a functioning combat starship."
"It will only be functional when we repair the hyperdrive," the Proculucian corrected me.
"That won't be a problem," I assured. "By the way, did you check Koschei's words about there being several versions of battleships of this type?"
"Yes," Chaya replied. "I had to hack into several military databases on Atlantis, but... He's right. For most of the war, the Ancients used only former research starships converted into military ones. They were not very suitable for confronting the numerically superior wraith starships. Only in the last decades of the conflict did the Council of Atlantis order the development of exclusively military starships based on the data collected during the conflict. But there simply weren't enough of them to turn the tide of battles. As far as I understood, the Ancients underestimated the threat of the wraiths for a long time. Koschei was right—they sent their starships without escort further and further into the wraith rear, relying on the power of their weapons and technologies. This led to a turning point in the war—the wraiths ambushed hundreds, even thousands of different types of starships, lost tens of times more ships, but managed to deprive Atlantis of its advantage. After which they went on the counterattack. This is only superficial information; if you delve into the war chronicles with the wraiths in more detail, it will take thousands of hours of free time."
"I think we'll have that after we save the Aurora's crew," I said. "Right now, we simply don't have enough hands to get distracted by history from ten thousand years ago."
"That's true," Chaya confirmed with a sigh and weariness in her voice. "We desperately need competent beings. I'm sure that if we had at least a hundred competent Taranian scientists, you wouldn't have involved a wraith in the work."
So that's it... And she knew he would work for us. But at the same time, as soon as she encountered the facts discussed in advance, she backed down, demonstrating in every way her unwillingness to cooperate with him. Even the fact that the wraith, for the sake of safety, only worked with systems where he couldn't harm us or somehow play a dirty trick, with systems that she independently assigned him as his work front, the Proculucian is still unhappy.
So how should I react to this?
In fact, tired of her reaction and deteriorating mood, I asked the question that interested me directly.
"What's going on? You knew he would work with us. You yourself agreed that it would be right..."
"We only talked about him helping to restore other Lantians," Chaya's voice became stronger and more confident. It seemed that she was also annoyed by all these unspoken things. And as soon as there was an opportunity to correct the situation, she decided to speak her mind. "I agreed to that, but I didn't think you'd bring him to repair the ship! Do you understand how dangerous that is!"
"But you yourself check and double-check his work," I reminded her. "And you said he didn't do anything that could harm us."
"I think so. But, knowing the degree of treachery of these creatures, I can't rule out... that the danger will await us in outer space!" The girl stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked at me with an accusatory gaze.
"And what do you suggest?" irritation appeared in me now. "Sit calmly and wait while we spend a year or so restoring one single starship? Who even knows what could happen during that time? We don't have enough people!"
"I could train the Athosians..."
"So you trust those people who might have wraith genes more than wraiths?"
"Yes!" lightning flashed in Chaya's eyes. "At least they didn't do what they did, sucking the life out of those I knew and who were dear to me! We are cooperating with an enemy who is just waiting for the moment to stab us in the back!"
Here we go again...
"We've already discussed this," I reminded her. "Without him, the plan won't work."
"And is a plan really needed, where we depend on a wraith, bring back intelligent beings to the city who might throw us out of Atlantis or even become enemies?" the angered Chaya clarified. "If you haven't forgotten, the Ascended are closer to them than you and I. And surely, the Ascended don't have a grudge against the Aurora's crew like they do against you or me!"
"So, in your opinion, it's better to spend decades teaching the Athosians or someone else the knowledge of the Ancients, rather than bringing the Ancients themselves back to life?" her "Baba Yaga against" style is starting to annoy me. Even anger me.
"I'll repeat it again—yes!" Chaya said. "In my opinion, it's much more practical than trusting a wraith responsible for the deaths of thousands, if not millions, and hoping that he won't betray us..."
No, I understand all the danger of such behavior. But at the same time, it's too much to worry about every little thing. She worried less about the information about the Queen of Death being right under our noses!
I suspect there's something else here... Something more personal.
And it's not at all the fear that we might be kicked out of Atlantis—we'll find ourselves elsewhere, no problem. Yes, it won't be Atlantis, but... In the end, dozens of objects left by the Ancients are scattered across the galaxy. We'll definitely find ourselves in some of them. Not to mention that on Taranis itself, you could live quite comfortably and wonderfully. Or on Athos... In short, there are no dead ends. Or I don't see them. And Chaya can't provide them, although, being smarter (and there's nothing to be ashamed of) and more competent in communicating with Lantians, she should know what to expect from them.
Not to mention that it's not even certain that the crew is made up of Lantians. We don't have data on this, so, for all reasons, I'd prefer not to fool around and act.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
"You're not telling me something," I stated. "You have a personal motive not to meet the Aurora's crew, don't you?"
"That's my personal business!" Chaya cut off. "I've pointed out the threats to you, but if you think the risk justifies the possible consequences, then you're the one to make decisions. After all, you're the idea generator here, and I'm just an engineer, a master of technology! You said it—I did it! And now, I need to work on the hyperdrive!"
Without another word, the girl, grabbing her tool bag, went down the corridor. But almost immediately, she turned into one of the side passages and disappeared from my field of vision.
What the hell is going on here, I'd like to know?
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Seliz quietly asked, watching Kirik pack his few belongings into a travel bag.
"We're leaving tomorrow," he said, folding a second set of clothes and several backup weapons. Even though the ship was equipped with a small arms arsenal, each person would have at least a pistol or assault rifle, but life had taught the former fugitive to approach trips that could be prolonged with due diligence. "The final preparations and checks are happening while we're talking. The ship has already made test flights from Taranis to Atlantis, and everything is fine. Mikhail doesn't want to wait."
"So why isn't he flying alone?" Seliz asked. "You said Chaya flew between planets by herself."
Kirik sighed heavily.
"Not entirely alone," he admitted. "Mikhail was with her and learning to pilot the ship. He says it's no harder than flying a jumper. But... That's their business, the Ancients'."
"Have they made up?"
"I don't think so. Otherwise, Chaya would have flown with us, not decided to stay on Atlantis."
"I see," Seliz sighed. "If she had flown, I would have stayed with Teila's people. They are good."
"They have a lot of work now," Kirik reminded. "Everyone, even the children, are participating in clearing new fields. I would also like you to stay there, but Chaya said you need to review the material you've covered. Since you want to become a doctor..."
He didn't mention that Sar had uncompromisingly taken the girl under her wing and care as soon as it became known that she had the Ancient gene. Nor that the gene was very weak and there was no hope that Seliz would one day give him a ride on a jumper. But she would still be able to use the most basic Ancestor technologies. And she was very interested in medicine.
"I promised you I'd become a doctor and remove that thing from your back," Seliz said seriously.
"I remember," Kirik couldn't help but smile broadly. "I'm sure you'll succeed. But now that the gene has taken hold, you'll have to study even more."
Seliz became sad. While Athosian children play with each other or are busy in the fields, she languishes under hundreds of meters of ocean in an empty city. And her only interlocutor will be the increasingly irritable Chaya Sar. However, after the gene took hold, the Ancient became more attentive to the girl. Even caring.
"Can I go with you?" the girl asked. "I don't want to sit here alone..."
Kirik, throwing the last thing he wanted to take with him into the bag. Looking at his ward, he smiled and walked to the bed. Seliz sat on the edge, her legs dangling, hugging a cloth doll he had made for her some time ago.
Sitting down in front of the girl, he touched her nose out of habit, continuing to smile.
"You won't be alone," he assured. "Chaya is staying with you. She promised to look after you while we're gone. So you have nothing to fear."
"I'm scared," the girl admitted. "It's so empty here... Everything is glowing, no one is around, and I don't know what to do."
"But you're learning," Kirik reminded. "Chaya says you're doing well with what the computer tells you."
"I'm curious," the girl confirmed. "But there's still a lot to learn. Chaya said it could take a lifetime, as the Ancients had much knowledge. If I want to be useful, I'll have to learn a lot while I'm still young."
"But isn't that better than running from wraiths?" Kirik clarified.
"Yes," Seliz admitted. "And the food here is delicious."
The former fugitive patted her head and stood up.
"Then everything is fine," he said. "You won't have time to miss me before I'm back."
"And will there be more people in the city?" Seliz brightened.
"If all goes well," Kirik confirmed.
"And will there be someone to play with?"
Kirik didn't like lying to his ward. But he also had reasonable doubts that on an Ancient warship, there would hardly be anyone interested in playing with a girl from a primitive (by their standards) world.
Therefore, the child's attention needed to be redirected.
"Is that so, huh?" I feigned a pout. "Decided that since you beat me three times in checkers, I'm not interesting anymore?"
Seliz was very drawn to the game Mikhail had shown her. So much so that she could play it around the clock. But it was hard to find game partners – the Athosian children preferred playing wraiths to slapping round pieces on a checkered board.
***
Contrary to Chaya's promise, repairing the hyperdrive took not two, but only a day and a half. At first, I thought about the worst-case scenario, wondering if the girl had set some trap for us, but the onboard computer and scanning systems, including independent ones, showed that the mechanism was working correctly.
This was also confirmed by our independent expert-cannibal named Kashchei. He also rechecked and confirmed the correctness of the jump coordinates provided by Chaya. Yes, a wraith is not the most reliable source of information, but after the démarche a day ago, Chaya had effectively reduced our communication to a "boss-subordinate" level. For what reason and what demons in her head loved each other to cause such a performance, the Proculucian refused to say. Nor would she talk about anything other than the mission.
And I had no other sources of data. This kind of behavior was starting to annoy me. And I think, after returning from the expedition, I'll need to solve the issue of my own usefulness myself. Possessing the genome of the Ancients, but not their knowledge, being a errand boy, I'm frankly fed up.
The "Hippaphoralkus" is almost fully repaired and ready to head to the "Aurora." So, there's no need to delay. Now, provisions were being loaded onto the ship for a small crew embarking on an expedition. Me, Kirik, Alvar, Tayla, and a dozen Athosians as jailers and guards for Kashchei, who was also traveling with us.
"Dynamic diagnostics have not revealed any malfunctions," Chaya said monotonously. Besides the two of us, there was no one else on board the "Hippaphoralkus." The rest of the crew were currently at their posts – the Athosians were on duty near the generator room, the backup bridge, life support systems, cells, and so on. Or they were just preparing to board along with the valuable cargo. "The systems are working optimally."
The fact that the ship had a teleporter – the same kind of chamber as the network of them on Atlantis – greatly simplified life. No more flights on "jumpers." A couple of seconds – and you're on board a spaceship from the ocean floor.
"You have a third of the ammunition reserves required, but that's enough to fight a whole squadron. I've set the pulse energy cannons to defensive mode, so you'll have something to fend off 'arrows' with. But, I repeat, it's unlikely you'll encounter an enemy at the 'Aurora'."
"Is the wraith mental force blocker working without issues?" I asked. After dozens of attempts to talk to her on other topics, I gave up. If she doesn't want to, so be it. I don't know what it is, female or professional jealousy, but the fact remains – our relationship with Chaya has changed for the worse. No logical argument for us to fly with her moved her. Therefore, we had to make do with numerous spare parts and complete ship schematics. If something goes wrong, we can make minor repairs.
And the ship's control systems are actually no more complicated than those of a "jumper." From the command chair, you can control the starship with your thoughts, and the smart onboard computers will do everything themselves. It's just that launching missiles not from a special compartment is quite problematic. But you can get from the bridge to the required room in a couple of minutes. In that time, our shields won't be breached under any circumstances. At least, if we're talking about wraith technology.
Yes, Chaya said she'd rerouted the temporary control line from the missile launch chair to my console, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.
"Everything is working normally," Chaya replied dryly. "As soon as you reach the ship, just think about docking. The battleship will equalize speeds and dock with the 'Aurora' on its own. Just in case, you have five spacesuits. I've copied the 'Aurora' schematics to your scanner and the 'Hippaphoralkus' database, so you can set something up on board yourself. The stasis chambers installed on board are easily removable and have enough power for a day. That should be enough for you to transfer them to the 'Hippaphoralkus' and connect them to its power system in the storage rooms from the second to the tenth. If the wraith can revive any of the crew members, I recommend starting with the captain, chief engineer, or senior officer – they have the most complete information about the ship and the technologies on board. At least, they should."
"Alright," I nodded. "Any other advice?"
"Don't forget to activate the inertial dampeners first, before turning on the engines," Sar said.
"Understood," yes, I'm not keen on experiencing G-forces either. "Anything else?"
"Kill the wraith immediately if you think she's deceiving you," Chaya said coldly. "Because you won't be mistaken."
"I'll take that into consideration," I promised. "Take care of yourself, Seliz, the city, and everything we have while we're gone. We'll be back quite soon..."
Chaya didn't respond to my remark. She simply nodded to Kirik and Alvar, who entered the bridge, and left us. The guys took their places at the consoles, which Chaya had taught them to operate using an express method during loading, and pretended not to notice anything.
"Tayla will join us soon," Alvar said, looking at the endless cosmos opening before us. "She decided to check the posts..."
I closed my eyes, allowing my mind to connect to the ship's systems. The "Hippaphoralkus," like the "jumper," had no intelligence of its own or anything resembling it. It's hard to describe what you feel when connecting to such systems... Like a trained dog sitting calmly and waiting for your command.
"I think it's time to start," I said, receiving confirmation from the ship that Chaya had left the battleship. Leaving her on board against her will would be utter stupidity. For now, there's a chance to restore relations, no need to get angry.
"Everything is calm on board," Tayla's voice came from the bridge. She slipped behind the auxiliary systems control panel and, like Kirik and Alvar, used the safety restraints. Non-standard equipment, by the way. Apparently, the Ancients didn't have a habit of "buckling up while driving." "Kashchei has been placed in a cell, he's been removed from the scanner and connected to an IV drip with a sedative."
We have enough supplies for the round trip. It worked when transporting him to Atlantis, it will work now.
"Well, then," I gave a mental command to activate the inertial dampeners and the protocol systems. "As they say, 'let's go'..."
A pale green, inkblot-like window to hyperspace opened in front of the "Hippaphoralkus." And the starship was in the glowing tunnel in an instant. My first interstellar flight had begun.
The "Hippaphoralkus" enters hyperspace.