* Landing Day + 3 months - Nexus *
The starship Tempest's pilot, Kallos, smiled as he sat at his controls. The ship had just exited faster-than-light travel and was shedding its speed as the pilot brought the ship into the docking pattern with the space station known as the Nexus. Built to serve as the "hub" of the Andromeda Initiative, it bore some similarity to the Citadel, the huge structure that was the center of power and economy in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Nexus consisted of two "arms" extending out into space, with a ring connecting the arms at the rear. Spanning the diameter of the ring was the hub to which the four arks had been intended to dock and stay.
Two arks, the vast ships that had crossed the dark space between galaxies, were docked there now: the asari Leusinia and salarian Paarchero. The human ark, Hyperion, had been there, but was now a permanent part of the Remnant Dyson Sphere called Meridian in the Saajor System. The Hyperion had crashed there after having been hijacked by the alien kett species and their now-dead leader, the Archon. The fourth ark, the turian ship named 'Natanus', still drifted among tendrils of the Scourge in the Remav system, a wrecked hulk unable to ever travel again.
Kallos loved the sight of the arks docked with the Nexus and he always took a curving path around the huge station to give himself a long look at the entire station. The product of quadrillions of credits and incredibly hard work, the Nexus was, in his opinion, finer than the Citadel ever could be.
'After all,' he sniffed to himself, 'we built it ourselves! Not some long-dead species.'
He glanced over at his friend and bridge crewmate, Doctor Suvi Anwar. The human scientist sat at her controls, running through checklists, rapidly flipping through haptic displays. He could hear her talking to herself out loud and smiled. For a human, she had the loveliest voice with subharmonics and trills that he found unique to her species. Today, however, he caught a current of anxiety and perhaps something else?
"Well, you've certainly outdone yourself with this idea, Suvi." the salarian said. "You have no less than 4 species excited over your proposals and suggestions. And, I might add, the admiration of one communications specialist?"
For a brief moment, he saw a flush of red run across Suvi's cheeks, nearly as red as her hair.
"I'm sure that I don't know what you're talking about, Kallos. If your eyesight is going bad, maybe you should talk to Dr. T'Perro about it?" she responded sharply.
Kallos chuckled to himself. He had seen the bright-yellow haired communications specialist that came aboard the Tempest when they left Meridian; a human woman named Rynn Gee. Rynn and Suvi had spent a good portion of the journey talking together both on the bridge and in the research center. Kallos was sure he'd seen the signs of what humans called "infatuation" from both of them. (or was it lust? Crush? Humans had so many weird words for sexual and intimate relationships!)
Just then, the Nexus Traffic Control operators contacted the pilot and he turned his attention back to landing the vessel in her usual docking bay. As the Tempest neared her berth, Kallos caught sight of a different sort of ship, two bays down.
'Angaran?' he wondered. It was a configuration he'd never seen before.
'It's larger than a normal shuttle, not quite as big as Tempest, maybe a scout ship of sorts?' He wondered if he'd be able to ask the angaran crew-member Jaal if he could have a quick tour.
The ship settled on its landing legs and extended docking ramp and Kallos clicked off the primary and secondary thrusters with a satisfied sigh. He was only 0.1 meters off the center, as humans measured it. Quite within his own standards, Kellos noted to himself proudly.
Suvi stood, data pads, printouts and other items clutched in her arms. For a moment, to Kallos, she resembled PeeBee, the young and eccentric asari inventor and Remnant expert who was also aboard. Suvi rushed off the bridge towards the rear of the ship with a "Bye Kallos!" and he turned, craning his neck. He caught a glimpse of the communications specialist Rynn, her arms filled with similar materials. Suvi and Rynn were exchanging smiles and enthusiastic greetings.
'Doesn't know what I'm talking about, sure, Suvi.' Kallos chuckled to himself. If his friend was happy, that was all that mattered to Kallos.
Kallos had been off on his count, as there were six species present at Suvi's presentation - humans, turians, salarians, asari, krogan and angara. A huge hologram of the Heleus Cluster floated in the center of the circular presentation room, with Suvi and Rynn standing underneath. To one side, human communications specialist Enzo Ames was busy tapping holographic screens on his omni-tool, feeding slides and information to those in attendance.
"Although the Scourge affects dark matter and energy through means that we still don't understand, its effect on classical, macroscopic physics is measurable." Suvi said. "This effect was how we were able to map out the location of the Dyson Sphere Meridian, using the movement of the Scourge as a way to measure its effect on space and the resultant path that the Dyson Sphere took. We've already noted that the Scourge's energy affects FTL and sub-light travel, as well as seeing possible effects on gravity as we've scanned Scourge-blighted planets. Although we haven't yet gotten good enough scans within the Scourge to measure its effect at the quantum level, I believe that it will there as well."
She paused for a bit, allowing the translators to work and upon seeing the angaran science delegation nod, she continued.
"While we haven't seen a quantum effect at a local-cluster level, I believe a larger scale effect is possible from the Scourge. There's just too much evidence, especially in our quantum-based communication devices. They work within Heleus, but we have a maddening lack of connection at distances measure on the galactic scale. In other words, a little bit of Scourge won't hurt things, but taken as a whole, much like the effect of a black hole, space/time at both macroscopic and quantum levels may be affected."
"And that's the other wild card as well - Ketos, the black hole at the center of Heleus." Rynn Gee added. "We've learned a lot about it, both from our own probes and from what the angara have generously shared with us. We're starting to make sense of what the Remnant.. Err… Jardaan knew of Ketos's effect on space around here, but throw in the Scourge and you've got a wild card in play across the board."
The translator took a lot longer with Rynn's 'colorful' phrases.
"So if you are correct, then the communication issues you're experiencing are similar to the experiences we've had in looking for our lost colonies." one of the angara scientists called out. "Communications around the Scourge can be difficult, if not impossible, and requires either going around it, or finding ways to work with it."
"Yes, exactly." Rynn said. "And that is what made me realize that we had a system in the Milky Way that might help us here. We called it the extranet. It worked on a system of buoys that relay information to each other using the mass effect. We had intended on duplicating that here in Heleus, but the Scourge makes that more difficult. It moves and flows, sometimes in unpredictable ways. With your help, we can begin building a new network here in Helius, a smart, adaptable network. If we encounter an issue, these buoys can route information through a less efficient path, or simply move to a better position, but the information will still eventually arrive. We do that by prioritizing information and sending it in bursts. If we lose a little bit, we can just resend it via a different path. It would take longer, but ultimately should be far more quicker than using shuttles or transports that visit each planet to send and receive data."
"We make our buoys smart by giving them the latest information on the Scourge as we learn more, so that the relays can react and move as the Scourge itself moves through the Cluster. The buoys can also serve as watchers of the Scourge, keeping us updated." Suvi added. "It's a delicate dance, but with the right notes, we can make this cluster sing with communication."
"And how does that help us with our other issue?" asked one of the asari Initiative scientists. "In theory, our QECs shouldn't be affected by anything, so we should be hearing from the Milky Way now. If I hear you right, you're implying that the Scourge is doing something at a quantum level to prevent that?"
Suvi nodded.
"Yes, although we can't directly measure it, I believe that the Scourge as a whole is doing something to space/time on the quantum level that affects our QECs. We don't see it at a local level, as our SAMs have remained connected to their assigned Pathfinders over QECs. At a cluster-scale, as a whole, it could be doing something that we just don't understand yet."
A few more questions were asked and then the presentation ended. Suvi gathered her pads and notes in a much more orderly fashion this time. She, Rynn and Enzo all walked out towards the main atrium where Scott and Sara Ryder waited.
"I'm not even going to pretend I understood half of what you were saying." Scott said. "But it looked like everyone else was very open to what you proposed with a Heleus version of the extranet. Still, that asari kinda had the question of the hour… how does this help the QEC and Milky Way problem?"
Suvi glanced at Sara with an odd expression, then looked at Scott.
"Rynn and Enzo have an idea that I think is right on, but it's not for discussion here. Let's go somewhere where we can talk."
"I know just the place," Scott said and a short time later, the five humans were sitting in a small, unused and extremely cluttered apartment in a corner of the residential area of the Nexus.
"Don't mind the mess… this used to be PeeBee's apartment." Scott explained. "When she left, apparently she had taken it off the records so nobody knows that this is available or even exists. I've used it now and again to catch a quick nap when trying to avoid Tann finding me."
Suvi nodded as she and the others pushed papers, dead pads, bits of metal and wire out of the way and made room to sit. Scott managed to find glasses and a still functioning water faucet and joined the others, handing out the glasses to those there.
"So, you remember when I spoke about the extranet buoy approach and how it could overcome the Scourge more effectively?" Suvi asked. Scott nodded in a not-very-confident manner but Sara grinned.
"Yes!" she said. "I think it's a fantastic idea - making the buoys smart and adaptable, usable by all of us, Initiative and angara. It would greatly improve communications beyond the data drops being done by shuttles and transports. We could finally have some communication that really works."
"Exactly." Enzo interjected. "And, it will be the wire to the balloon so we can talk to the Milky Way!"
Sara's grin faltered. "Um, I'm not sure I understand. I know what a balloon is but…"
"Back in the 20th century of Earth history, when humans were first using radiation waves to carry data and voice communication, it was done directly wired point to point, or via line of sight connections." Enzo explained. "Sometimes, people had to invent ways to be able to communicate, especially in areas that were hilly or in situations that were extreme, like natural disasters or events that didn't permit for established communication relays. One of the funny images that I remember from that time were amatuer groups of enthusiasts putting radiation wave antennas on balloons that they would float in the sky above intervening obstacles, connected to their equipment via wires that hung down."
"So Enzo and I came up with an idea… what if we think of the QEC like that antenna." Rynn continued. "We need to float it out of the Scourge's area of effect, and then hook it back to us, via smart buoys. It would be instantaneous for the most part, notwithstanding the inefficiency of a qubit-based communication device anyway that sends one bit of data at a time. It definitely would give us basic communication in real-time - enough to pass messages and basic data. We'd end up prioritizing the rest of the data into packets and sending it much like the extranet, just a bit slower because of how the QEC works."
Sara's mouth hung open in surprise.
"That's… brilliant!" she exclaimed and Rynn beamed at her, pleased at the praise. "But… the Nexus's QEC is here. We can't move the station."
"Here comes the kicker, I bet." Scott said and Suvi nodded.
"The SAM/Pathfinder connection can be chained to terminals and other individuals by normal communication means in a local area. So why not do something similar at a galaxy level? But… it will mean taking the Nexus's QEC and putting it far away. Perhaps even outside Andromeda and then connecting it back to the Nexus via the smart relays. A wire to the balloon."
"And as far as the buoys, we'd have to reduce the number of buoys we'd allocate to make a cluster wide extranet. We would have just enough for the current outposts and Port Meridian, maybe one or two angaran connections, but if there's more expansion in Heleus, they might not get service until we can make new buoys. We only brought so many from the Milky Way." Enzo added.
Scott whistled. "And you have to convince Tann to allow all that to happen. I can see him getting very upset over the idea of losing direct control over that connection to the Milky Way within the Nexus."
"Well, it's not working now, is it?" Suvi replied sharply. "And that's just what I'll say to Tann. The QEC is silent now. We don't know if we're not able to get messages out, or if we're not hearing messages come back, or both. All we can do is look at the science, come up with a hypothesis and test it. The only way to test this is to take the QEC for a ride, and see what happens."
Scott shot a glance towards Sara. The Ryder twins were aware of another possible reason why the QEC was quiet and it wasn't due to the Scourge. Rather, they knew that shortly after the Initiative left on their journey, the advanced civilizations of the Milky Way had been attacked by an enemy called "the Reapers." They couldn't say anything yet, though, as the Directors and salarian Pathfinder Hayjer were working out how to break that news to the members of the Initiative.
"So, let's say that they agree to let the QEC go on a ride. " Scott commented. "That's a long ride to get to the edge of the galaxy, even at FTL. Maybe weeks."
"I don't know how long it will take, Scott, because I don't know the full extent of the Scourge's effect at the quantum level. More like on the order of months, though. We would need to stop at regular intervals, take measurements and see if we can compare against the known signs of the Scourge. As well, deploying buoys and setting them up to communicate back to the Nexus. At some point along the way, I might be able to give you a better answer, but for now, I just don't know."
"Well, that's not something a shuttle or fighter can do." Scott mused. "Not enough room for supplies and the buoys for a journey. None of the arks are going to be able to make that trip either. So that would mean… the Tempest?"
"We thought of that." Suvi said. "It was my first choice, but then we found another answer - the angara."
"What?" Scott said in a surprised voice. "I thought their fleets were decimated long ago when the kett first invaded Heleus."
"So did I." Suvi answered. "But then we found out the Resistance has a space-worthy vessel that is large enough for a small crew and enough supplies to travel for some time, maybe up to a year. They're willing to let us use it."
"A year?" Scott exclaimed. "That's going to be a long, hard trip. We've become spoiled by how compact the Heleus Cluster is and how fast the Tempest is. It only takes a few days to go from one end to the other. But you're talking about traveling to the galaxy's edge, on probably a slower ship. It took the arks some time to get from the edge to here, figure maybe a few months. That's tough… can't you do this automated?"
"The variables are too many." Suvi replied. "And while we could rig up dropping smart relays and communicating back here that way, the round trip time would still be very slow, much too slow if we needed to make decisions and act quickly. And… the angara want to explore to see if they can find more of their brothers and sisters. This will give them a chance to do so."
"Ohhh.." Scott said, realizing that this had become as much about diplomacy as it was about solving their communication problems. The angara were convinced that there were lost colonies hidden in the tendrils of the giant Scourge cloud, waiting to be found and reunited with the greater angaran civilization. It made sense to use the same journey to attempt to fulfill both goals.
"OK, so the angara are providing a big enough ship and coming along. Who's going to take this open ended journey on our side?" he asked.
"Well, Pathfinder, it makes sense for me to go." Rynn answered with an eager grin. "I know the tech for both the buoys and the QEC. I used to do deep space runs back in the Milky Way for various corporations in maintaining their own communication nets, so I have the experience."
"The angara have already nominated a scientist, a pilot and a soldier from the Resistance, in case we run into any problems." Suvi replied. "And I would be going as well, to help with the calculations and analysis of the Scourge and its patterns, with what I learned from our search for Meridian."
Scott nodded slowly. He hated seeing Suvi leave the Tempest, but he recognized the logic of her going on the journey.
"OK, sounds like a robust team, although I'd want you all to get a bit of tactical and survival training in - crash course, I guess. We can work with the angara and see if they'd be willing to set that up. They know this Cluster and the situations you're likely to run into, we could rely on their experience."
"Still…" he continued, "You all being cut off from us, from SAM, that bothers me. Even if you're dropping comm relays like a breadcrumb trail, we might not hear from you for awhile if there's delays in the buoys syncing up with each other. That was one advantage with the Tempest, I could relay data through SAM and with the Helius connected to the Nexus, everyone would know immediately. If you run into trouble, even if you survive, it may be a long time before we know to even send out a rescue mission."
"We've thought of that too and … well… " Suvi began and then, uncharacteristically, she hesitated and glanced around, obviously unsure of how to continue.
Scott suddenly realized that during all this, his twin sister had been extremely quiet. He turned to her and then frowned. Just like her brother, Sara's emotions were usually very visible and this time was no different. Eagerness, hope and dread flitted across her face and Scott's stomach sank a little.
"So, umm… I may have already solved that problem… " Sara said in a hesitant voice. "You see, with Hayjer mostly staying on the Nexus, and the salarian SAM is already connected to him by proximity and … "
Scott saw where she was going with this and nodded.
"OK, so we have two QEC nodes on the angaran ship - one for communicating with the Milky Way, one that they can use for communicating back to the Nexus via the salarian SAM. Pretty generous of Hayjer to give up his QEC connection to his SAM."
"Well… there's more to it than that." Sara said and Scott looked at her with some surprise. He realized that Sara was fidgeting, something very uncharacteristic of her. He saw that something was still left unsaid.
"OK, out with it!" Scott said.
"I'm going with them!" Sara said forcefully in a rush. "I helped get the angara on board and I already spoke with Heyjer. He's fine with it. I can not only provide that connection back to the Nexus, but as someone with Pathfinder training, I can finally help! I've been sitting here for three months, Scott, and it's driving me nuts! Dad didn't train us to wait, he trained us to be out there! I want to finally earn my keep and do something for the Initiative!"
A bevy of emotions ran through Scott's mind. He couldn't deny the truth of what Sara had said. A stasis pod accident had left his sister in a coma through the early days of the Hyperion's exploration of the Heleus cluster. She had awoken from the coma but required a great deal of rest from the ordeal. On top of that, she'd been kidnapped by the Archon as he sought to conquer the Heleus Cluster. In a bid to help her brother defeat the Archon, she'd interfaced with Remnant technology without the assistance of SAM. That had caused more injuries and forced her into even more bedrest.
"You're right, Sara. You've been stuck for a while. I get it." Scott answered slowly. "And you're right, it's time that you got out there. But this… " and he waved his hands at Suvi and Rynn.
"This is jumping into the deep end of the pool and trying to avoid getting sucked into the whirlpool. You are going out with no backup, with barely enough crew to hold off a kett patrol, much less anything else more serious. Rescue is days, weeks, who knows how long away!"
"Is that much different from what you went through right after Dad.. " and Sara paused. "... made you Pathfinder? You were winging it, you had very little backup. Same as when you went after the Archon and his flagship for the first time. Nobody except your crew. I'll have people with me, we'll go through the training, we'll be OK."
Sara reached out and gently gripped Scott's forearm. She could see the conflict on his face.
Scott sighed. Voices screamed inside him of how wrong this was. Their mother was still in stasis, not knowing that her husband was dead. If something were to happen to Sara, Scott couldn't bear the thought of having to tell Mom that she'd lost her daughter too. And yet, this was what Alec Ryder had prepared them for. To explore Andromeda, to make it their home and to discover what wonders they'd traveled across dark space to find.
"Please Scott. I need you to be OK with this." Sara said in a determined voice. "I need this. It'll be OK. Trust me."
Memories swarmed through Scott's mind - Sara and he running off to explore ducts and forbidden places on the Citadel when they were growing up, watching her get into her first fist fight with a young turian and winning, seeing her jump on the shuttle that took her to Alliance boot camp a month before he left for his own Alliance training. He knew that Sara was more than capable of taking care of herself, as well as working with the scientists and angara. She'd been part of teams exploring Prothean ruins on remote planets in the Milky Way and she'd been his equal in Pathfinder training.
Scott nodded and reached out, pulling his sister into a tight hug.
"I can't say I'm happy with the situation, but I'm also happy you're finally doing what you love. Just… don't go exploring any ducts or get into any fist fights, OK?" he said in a low voice.
Sara laughed and punched his arm. "I got into that fist fight because of YOU, remember!? You're not coming with me, so it'll be just fine."
The others sitting on the small, cramped couch relaxed upon seeing that the twins were in agreement. Suvi flashed a broad smile at Rynn.
"Best get your gear together quickly and pack wisely. We're going on a fine journey in cramped quarters and there won't be a lot of room."
"I don't think that's going to be a big problem, is it?" Rynn winked back at Suvi.
The scientist's face flushed quickly and she coughed. Everyone stood up, talking to each other and making plans. Scott, for once on the outside of planning, was unsure of what to do with himself.
"Pathfinder, I can see by your physiological responses that you are still concerned." Scott heard from the AI in his private channel.
"Using the salarian QEC, I am fully capable of linking with Sara much as I am linked with you." the AI continued. "It is an excellent opportunity to explore a working relationship between myself and a female member of the human species. And I will be able to keep you both apprised of situations immediately. I will do my utmost to keep her out of harm, much as I have done with you."
"I appreciate that, SAM." Scott answered. "I know you'll do your best. It's the unknown and distance that worries me. And.. well.. We've not been apart much since we began working with the Initiative. It's hard to see her go off and to be away from her."
"I have seen how humans experience separation between family members. I have also observed that the emotional bond between siblings can be very strong and make periods of separation all the more intense." SAM said. "Yet, Pathfinder, you will be connected to Sara in ways that most humans do not experience. Despite the distance, you will be able to communicate as if you were next to each other."
"It'll be the best we can have." Scott agreed. "I'll just do like I've always done, trust her that she'll do the best she can. I know that with you connected to her, she'll have the best chance possible."
"Thank you, Pathfinder." SAM replied. "I have observed that trust given can tell others how much one matters. I have seen how much you trust me and I realize that it is deep, enough to allow you to let Sara go on this journey. I will need to process this further to gain insight into how you see me."
Scott merely smiled - nothing else needed to be said.
* Landing Day + 4 months - Nexus *
It was a small crowd that stood in front of the angaran deep space scout ship. Scott and Sara were there, along with Suvi and Rynn. Enzo was busy talking to the angaran scientist Avfid de Novrav as they stowed the last of the measuring equipment. The angaran soldier, Defra, was talking to Jaal and Cora, both of whom seemed satisfied with the preparations.
From a side entry port, Kallos stepped out of the green and white craft, speaking excitedly to what was most likely the angaran pilot.
"Ryder!" Kallos called out, and then he laughed as both Sara and Scott whipped their heads around to see who was calling for them. "I'm sorry, Scott… you won't believe how well constructed this ship is. Everything is so logically thought out and placed, it's quite well done! And Kheltef here was telling me that much of this follows along with designs going back to pre-Scourge, at least as far as they can tell!"
Scott could barely keep up with Kallos speaking so quickly, so he held his hands up and smiled back.
"Tell you what, if you want to go on this trip, who am I to say no?"
"Oh, no, not at all!" Kallos responded back. "I'm quite happy with taking it easy for a while. I've had quite enough excitement for awhile. I still have nightmares of trying to land in volcanoes, about kett shooting at us and flying through armadas of enemies. I'm very happy to allow someone else to have an adventure."
A short while later, preparations were completed and the departing crew stood ready.
"Well, you all have gone through a crash course of survival, and you've got as much food and gear as we can stuff into this vessel." Scott began. "You've prepared for your missions and you have a great pilot to take you there."
The angaran Kheltef beamed at Scott's words.
"I know this journey is important to both our people to try to connect to our pasts. For the angaran, it means looking for lost members who can rejoin your society as it grows into a new age. For the Initiative, it means seeing if we can connect to our roots and let them know that we survived and are thriving. It means we are sharing in the journey of exploration and discovery together, which is what good friends and neighbors do."
Scott looked at each of them and smiled.
"Good luck, good hunting and return as soon as you can." he concluded.
"Isharay! Stay strong and clear!" called out Jaal. Cora waved and smiled.
"Isharay!" replied the angara team members while Suvi, Rynn and Sara exclaimed "Goodbye!"
The crew stepped into the craft, and the airlock door shut with a hiss. Scott, Cora, Kallos and Jaal moved off of the platform and watched the ship gracefully rise into the air, and then fly away quickly. Soon enough, it was lost in the darkness, among the stars.
"Gonna be alright, Scott?" Cora asked as she looped her arm around Scott's arm. He sighed as he continued to look off in the sky.
"Part of me is jealous, part of me is worried," he confessed. "And part of me dreads what we may hear, or not hear, if they get that QEC working. I know we've given them everything we can to succeed, now it's just up to them and to whatever we believe in that there are good things to find out."
Cora tugged his arm. "C'mon, then. Let's let them have their journey and we'll get on with building our new home. Or in your case, staying in shape! I saw your results while you were demonstrating tactics during their survival training. You're getting out of shape, mister!"
"Have I mentioned how much of an overlord you are?" Scott groaned as Cora pulled him back to the Nexus and what was probably going to be another 4 hour exercise and running session.
Thank you for reading!
And they're off! Now you might be thinking that I might write about the adventures of Sara, Suvi, Rynn, Kheltef, Defra and Avfid as they head to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. I'm tempted, oh so tempted… BUT… this story is about if there's a reconnection or not. I want to keep it short and focused, so we'll just see where that takes us.
Probably three more chapters to go!