Things you do not wish to Chapter 9: Find out, an alpha centauri fanfic

Things you do not wish to...

An Alpha Centauri fan fiction by Shade

I say this only once before beginning. I don't own Alpha Centauri, owning myself is difficult enough. I intend no harm. Now that we're clear about this, let us begin... (PS: sorry for the late upload... I was busy suffering Nature's 'gift' to women...)

9) Find out.

During the ten years that followed Sean's arrival in University Base as a pupil of Zakharov's, rumours had started to rise about the Academician. Some rumours were far from true, but others were oddly consistent with the situation between Deirdre and him. And of some of the rumours he wished they were true. He made the way he felt about Deirdre no secret because he wanted her to know that, in the event that her feelings about him change, he would immediately be hers.

But right now, the scientist was poring over a book, all thoughts of Deirdre pushed in a more remote corner of his mind. Sean was sitting beside him, whispering thoughts as he read.

"The density of matters... blah, blah... Hey!" He rose from his seat, his face betraying outrage. "It says here that matter will not change its properties. I'd agree with that, but what about the boreholes?" This made Zakharov look up in amazement.

"The boreholes, yes... You're right, Sean, absolutely right!" He dialed a number on his commlink and the face of Tamar appeared, who had been named scientific coordinator three years after Sean's arrival - that was almost seven years ago now. "Tamar?"

"Academician... I take it our young genius has another idea."

"No, this time he gave me an idea of my own. Tell the civil engineers that we want a borehole at five miles from the base. I want to run some tests..." He didn't notice his grin, but Tamar did and grinned back at him.

"Understood, Academician. I'll go tell our workers the joyous news." The screen turned off and Zakharov turned back to Sean.

"Take the rest of the day off, you've deserved it.", he said to the nonplussed youth - Sean barely overcame his amazement long enough to get out before his mentor could change his mind, it seemed. Zakharov chuckled as he heard him stumble outside and turned back to the book, closing it before taking out his notebook again.

Sean's insights were of tremendous importance and Zakharov always made sure that his pupil was listened to. Every new technology or scientific discovery was transmitted to Deirdre, mostly in return for a technology or scientific novelty of the Gaians. Their alliance had proven fruitful to everyone, and now Lal had entered the alliance as well - he had doubted it initially, but when Deirdre said that it was only a name for a friendship between the leaders (exemplifying by the one existing alliance that was founded because she and Zakharov were friends), he allied himself to both Deirdre and Zakharov and shared his research with both. It was a sign of the establishment of the new order that none of them seemed to consider giving up the independence of their factions in favor of a greater whole. 'Well, who would've known that we'd come to love the titles given to us...', he thought as he heard his commlink bleep.

Incoming message, sender identified as Sergeant Hayes. Receive? 'News from the recon troops? I didn't expect their report so soon... must be urgent or special...' He clicked 'receive' and saw the worn face of the older commander.

"Academician, we've found another alien artifact... and a Unity data pod." The news surprised Zakharov, for normally Unity data pods were immediately cracked on the field and deserved no special attention.

"Yes, and?", he asked, a bit impatiently.

"Excuse me, Academician, if this seems a waste of your time. But our laptops were useless. The datapod encryption on this pod is something else, it's too complex for our computers to hack into..."

"Bring it here, we'll see what's the matter.", he said. "I'm sorry for being a bit snappish, Sergeant, it's been too long a day already." He sighed and then thought of the hour. "I'm keeping you from your meal, I think. Return to the base and bring the artifact and the datapod here. Maybe the Network Node can mean something..." The commander nodded and signed off, leaving Zakharov to think...

The next day, after having studied the artifact and learning from it a great deal of techniques that led to an advancement in their knowledge about weapon technology - a branch that Zakharov personally hated more than anything else, save perhaps Morgan - the datapod was scrutinized by about a dozen different scientists before ending up with Zakharov.

"It's useless, Academician, even I have tried...", Tamar said almost apologetically as she brought it in. "I can tell you one thing, though: it's not broken or erased. The data on it must be - or have been - of utmost importance.

"I understand. And the Network Node?", the older scientist asked, mentioning the strongest equipment the data engineering team had. Tamar shook her head almost sadly, it seemed.

"Not a thing. As clueless as we are, Academician..." With that, she left him in his study. Lifting the datapod and looking at it from every angle, Zakharov pondered for awhile on how to crack the security around its contents - and musing on its contents as well.

"Professor? They were looking for you in the labs... oh." Sean had entered - he had the rather annoying habit of entering without knocking on the door or saying something, so that people only knew he was inside when he said something. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you..."

"It's nothing, Sean, come in. In fact, you can help me with this." He motioned for a chair next to him and smiled. As Sean sat down, he continued: "This is a datapod from the Unity that is proving extremely stubborn to open. Its encryption software is apparently of a higher level than the decryption tools we have until now."

"Encryption, eh?" Sean took the object from Zakharov's hands and looked at it in a way similar to the way Zakharov had looked at it only moments before. "Well, I can hack into anything... or at least, I try to. But if I can't crack the code..." He then looked up to his mentor. "Oh, that's right! I can't, I'm supposed to be leaving for home in a week!"

"Wait a minute..." He turned to his commlink again and dialed Deirdre's number. After a few seconds, her face appeared on screen.

"Hello, Prokhor - oh, erm, Academician...", she corrected herself as she noticed Sean's presence. This earned her an amused look from her brother.

"C'mon, Dee, we all know you're on first name terms with a genius..." Then, with a blush, he realised that he had interrupted. "I'm sorry, professor..."

"It is allright. Deirdre, do you remember when Sean went with me, when I said I might call in a return favor sometime?" As she nodded, he continued: "It happens that I've collected a datapod that proves extremely difficult to decode. The Network Node can't even give us a possible solution... But Sean is a self-proclaimed master hacker and I think that - if his genius extends to this field of science as well - he stands a fairer chance than any other assistant at my base. I would have him stay longer." Deirdre smiled upon hearing him talk of his Network Node.

"Technology has its imperfections, after all, Prokhor...", she said, "About the favor... I think it's okay, but what Eliza will say...? How much longer did you have in mind?" Now Zakharov smiled.

"They have been engaged for fifteen years now, a few more years would only be a continuation of the same. But three years, and not a moment longer."

"I think she can live with that", Deirdre said. "Nine o'clock?"

"Nine o'clock - as usual. The company keeps getting better every day."

"Same here." It was a joke that had slowly arisen from their almost-daily conversations over the commlink. "Bye then. Behave, Sean!" She signed off after Zakharov's almost customary wink, leaving the professor to turn back to Sean.

"There, that is settled. Don't pack your belongings yet – your contract will get renewed tomorrow..."

Deirdre had been enjoying the quietude that the absence of Sean brought for the past ten years: even she, who would defend her brother time and again, had to admit that it was much quieter and less exciting at the base. His geniality was gravely missed as well: the physicists had made less breakthroughs in the ten years that had passed than in the ten years of his full-time employment.

But at that precise moment, she didn't ponder about Sean's absence as she was busy doing her own work. Her lab coat was spattered with muck and smelled like dung, and her hair was tied up in a neat bun in order for it not to start clinging to her face – which failed miserably, for the strands of brown clung to her cheeks wherever they had gotten loose from the bun. She took one of the plants out of its patch of soil and smiled.

"What have we got here? ...These look like roots lumped together... almost like a potato..." Looking at the name-card for the plant, she saw only grime: the name was obscured by a thick layer of mud which she couldn't wipe away. "Okay, I guess your name is 'Sandy' for the time being... Will someone please hand me the test subject chart!", she said to the group of assistants that was by now idly standing about. One of them jumped, rummaged about in the box on the desk behind him and gave her the chart with the test plants' specifications.

"Here you go, Lady..."

"Okay, now let's see... what alterations were made?" Quickly leafing through the chart, she rapidly found what she was searching. "Genetic code adapted, genetic material of desert plants spliced in... Ladies and gentlemen, this plant...", she said while holding the scruffy little plant up so everyone could have a proper look, "...has become, by the simple alteration of genetic material, a source of emergency food. These root lumps must be filled with water and carbohydrates. Can anyone do the normal tests with this?" One of the assistants nodded, took one of the lumps with her and went to the lab next door, where the test animals were: 'the normal tests' meant that some of them would be fed a diet of new plant food for a week while being monitored closely. Grinning as the image of a small white mouse nibbling a turnip entered her mind, Deirdre went on to the next plant, carefully placing 'Sandy' back into the soil...

That evening, she was patiently waiting in her private quarters for the customary evening conversation with Zakharov, watching a newly reinvented form of entertainment: television. One of her assistants had come up with the idea to try to set up new transmission equipment and infrastructure for a new televising network, and she had encouraged and supported the idea. It was a way to lift the solitude and calmth that had fallen over Gaia's Stepdaughters as Sean was gone. There were three channels currently available: the Gaian Network which was the official channel, supported by Deirdre and the first one to have broadcast; the Planetary Channel, something like National Geographic Channel had been on earth – filled with documentaries; and the commercial channel GaiaVision, which she secretly admired because it was run by those that had worked hard and were ready to invest in the new and rising economy. With a soft smile, she looked back at the documentary on monoliths and alien artifacts that she had been following for the past hour. The camera crew for the documentaries was superb and she had willingly let them go with one of the recon crews to shoot their footage. The next documentary was as innovative as it was bold: an unmanned camera had been recording the native life in a fungus field for 48 hours, and the documentary told of the peculiarities that were visible.

Deirdre watched in awe as the first images showed a magnificent dawn, setting the fungal nodes ablaze in wondrous and alien colors. A colony of Glow Mites came to the surface, gathering the spores that the morning dew had dragged down from the fungal stalks – and then Deirdre couldn't help but notice that a few of the Glow Mites kept rubbing their antennae against the fungus. The images went on, commentated by one of Deirdre's brightest xenobiologists, and then the Glow Mites suddenly all scurried from sight. The screen showed only fungus for a moment, then a larval mind worm boil passed the camera. Moments passed again in silence, then the Glow Mites reappeared and continued gathering the spores. Deirdre watched on, fascinated, as the documentary got a few very good shots of Razorbeaks catching a few mind worm larvae and a demon boil – Deirdre thanked God for the fact that she had only seen such a boil from afar and not at the perimeter of one of her bases – passing in the distance. Then, suddenly, she was rudely drawn away from the documentary by her commlink.

"I though I turned it off...", she said with a sigh: it was her habit to block all incoming messages until about eight o'clock – and it was only half past seven.

Incoming message, sender Academician Prokhor Zakharov. Receive? 'What could be urgent enough to make Prokhor call early?', she wondered as she pressed 'receive' and saw the Academician's face.

"Hello, Prokhor - oh, erm, Academician...", she corrected herself as she noticed Sean's presence. This earned her an amused look from her brother.

"C'mon, Dee, we all know you're on first name terms with a genius..." Sean then blushed, apparently having realised that he was interrupting. "I'm sorry, professor..."

"It is allright.", Zakharov said with a friendly smile before turning to Deirdre. "Deirdre, do you remember when Sean went with me, when I said I might call in a return favor sometime?" She nodded, and he continued: "It happens that I've collected a datapod that proves extremely difficult to decode. The Network Node can't even give us a possible solution... But Sean is a self-proclaimed master hacker and I think that - if his genius extends to this field of science as well - he stands a fairer chance than any other assistant at my base. I would have him stay longer." Deirdre smiled upon hearing him talk of his Network Node: they had only had a conversation about the use and uselessness of technology the day before.

"Technology has its imperfections, after all, Prokhor...", she said with a soft smile before turning to the matter at hand. "About the favor... I think it's okay, but what Eliza will say...?" At the mention of his fiancée, her brother's face showed a rapid succession of contrasting emotions, which showed he would like to stay. Deirdre sighed softly. "How much longer did you have in mind?" Now Zakharov smiled.

"They have been engaged for fifteen years now, a few more years would only be a continuation of the same." He added reassuringly: "But three years, and not a moment longer."

"I think she can live with that", Deirdre said, silently hoping that her best friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law would agree. "Nine o'clock?"

"Nine o'clock - as usual. The company keeps getting better every day."

"My brother... a genius under the wings of a genius. But how will Eliza react when I tell her that I just agreed to my brother's staying three years longer to crack the encryption on a datapod?" A sudden sound startled her: looking up, she saw the door to her office close softly. A soft smile made its way onto her features. "Maybe I don't need to tell her anymore..."