L Modesitt - Empress of Eternity

Once he finished, he stood and stretched, then flicked off the lamps powered by the turbine-powered unitary system that the Ministry had grudgingly installed for him, since the area was too chill for an efficient biosystem. He frowned, because every time he turned the lamps on or off, the same recurring thought came to mind. What powered the "doors" of the old building, and what power allowed the "windows" to pass light?

Even his most precise equipment failed to detect any energy flows. That confirmed, unsurprisingly, that the material comprising the canal and the building in which he was living and working was totally opaque to all energy flows. Yet the doors and windows had worked for the hundreds of years that the Caelaarnans had observed them, and doubtless for thousands and thousands of years before that.

He left the workroom and crossed the main room, then paused at the foot of the ramp that led up to the overly expansive second-level room that served as their combined bedchamber and private sitting room. Had he heard the wind howling, the precursor of an early storm or blizzard?

His lips curled in amusement. How would he know? The oblong sections of the walls that approximated windows only transmitted light, not images or sounds-unless they were actually set in the open position, a position that they?d only hold for a third of an hour before automatically sealing. The walls blocked the sound of even the loudest of storms, and no outside vibration was ever transmitted to the interior of the station.

With a shake of his head, he started up the ramp to rejoin Maarlyna. When tomorrow came, and the days to follow in Caelaarn, he would deal with what they brought. What other choice did he have?

8 Quad 2471 R.E.

Eltyn?s virties focused on the external readings on the sandstorm that raged outside, another of the seemingly unending silicon tempests that continually assailed the station. Inside the ancient dwelling, he felt nothing, heard nothing. His bio-eyes took in the information on the local net not linked to RucheCom. The data readings on the small console showed no change in the surface temperature of the outer wall of the station or of the midcontinent canal walls at one-kay intervals over the fifteen kays to the east.

Interrogative storm dust/sand density? came the question from the geosat continent operations monitor.

Sampling sensors shuttered. Last data matched Category 8, Eltyn pulsed back to the GCMC. There was no point in leaving the samplers exposed, not with the wind velocity and sand/dust concentration bombarding the station and the southern walls of the MCC. Unlike the stone of the station, the unsealed sampling sensors would have been damaged by the sand granules propelled at storm velocities. The other-sealed-sensors continued to report temperature and pressure.

Interrogative rationale for shuttering?

Ruche MetCentre wanted a reason? They had the data.

Eltyn pulsed back, Air mass velocity exceeds 400 kays. Estimated deposit 5ktonnes/hour/K 2. Temperature stable at 64° S. Just a "mere" twenty-seven degrees above blood temperature, with enough fine sand to bury the southern side of the station halfway up the wall in a few hours. Farther than that if the storm remained in the area more than the projected six hours.

The ancient building had conduits that accommodated cables and plumbing. There might be hidden passages. Neither he nor Faelyna had found any, but they had discovered and charted the ducts in the walls and floors that opened if human touch pressed against them, provided the outer wall wasn?t buried in sand or snow. The stone of those conduits flowed around cables and pipes to provide a seal against the weather…or any other intrusion. The western MCC

MetStation hadn?t seen snow in centuries. There hadn?t been significant precipitation in the area for decades, despite the Ruche?s priority efforts on climate mods. As for the structure presumed to be the eastern station, no one had ever been able to enter it.

Faelyna glanced toward him. Idiots. That was a private pulse, on the direct freq that Eltyn continually checked to assure it remained shielded from RucheCom monitoring. That was vital, given their project.

Concur 3.

For a moment, neither looked at the other or pulsed. Then Faelyna asked, Progress onapproach(8)?

Testing of new installation to be complete by 1330 tomorrow. ?????

Eltyn had kept the details to himself, very unRuchelike, even if no one from RucheCom was able to monitor his work that closely. Still…Faelyna might save him trouble by going over matters now that the system was in place. SysConfig…here.

[Appreciation/understanding].

Eltyn tried to ignore the feathery touch of her inspection by rechecking the latest data on the sandstorm. Even her comm touch was…He shook his head. That would have to wait. They couldn?t afford anything that would jeopardize the project. They were TechOversight professionals, working for the good of the Ruche.

After several moments, Faelyna pulsed, Inquiry?

Acceptable.

DNA substrate positioning suggests fractionally post-pressure. Sensitive response systemwould register DNA prior to or simultaneous with contact pressure.

Eltyn had considered that, but he hadn?t been certain of what interval might be best. The idea was to create an artificial method for opening the doors and ducts of the station. If he could accomplish that, it was logical that the results would provide guidance toward a more comprehensive system for uncovering other means of access to what lay beneath the eternal blue-gray stone. Suggested mod?

A flow/power/response schematic appeared before his virties.

Prelim, offered Faelyna.

Eltyn considered it, then traced out the key elements, admiring its elegance as he did. 200 nanosecs closer? Measured response time on current doors…

The hint of a frown hung behind the non-pulse before Faelyna replied, Point taken. 500 might be better.

Mod will require rework of decision cortex.

[Apology].

Not required. Good observation. Still, accurate as her observation was, that meant another hour or so rebalancing the flows.

As he set to work, he found himself humming under his breath. Perhaps he should have adopted sliding parameters based on the DNA substrate positioning time…but then…how much would the pressure change, and would the canal?s systems detect that differential?

Possible differential required for each activation? Faelyna?s suggestion was pulsed oh-so-gently. Precise human pressure gesture not replicatable on nanoscale, even microscale.

He couldn?t help but nod. She was absolutely correct. Even in the best of circumstances, even with the best of Ruche training and education, the precision of human entities lagged far behind that of their tools and systems.

He hummed happily as he continued to improve the system. He did glance at Faelyna more than once.

Duhyle and Helkyria sat across from each other at the small table on the lower level. That was where he served all their meals. He preferred the wall-diffused more natural light of the main and upper levels, but not to the extent of carrying food, dishes, and utensils up the ramp…and then back down.

He took a methodical swallow of the bergamot tea, then set down the silvered crystalline mug. When Helkyria didn?t speak, he did. "You worked late last night. You didn?t come to bed until past midnight."

She lowered her mug and nodded. She?d been holding it just below her chin and savoring the scent and vapor of the tea. Her irises remained their natural silver.

"The environmental parameters…or the treasure hunt?" he pressed. "Or something else?"

"The first drives the second. The latest reports from EnvCentre in Vaena aren?t good,"