Vaughn Heppner - Star Fortress

True to his word, the bright objects blurred as the blue-green object took on a distinct form. It was disc-shaped and possessed a Great Dark Spot, much like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. A few white high-altitude clouds appeared at the edges of the spot. The distant ice giant gave off three times the heat it received from the Sun.

“Neptune,” whispered Tan.

Uranus and Neptune were sometimes referred to as “ice giants” as compared to the more regular term “gas giants” for Jupiter and Saturn. The reason was the high percentage of icy water, methane and ammonia that composed the majority of the two distant planets.

Euthyphro nodded as he continued to tap his scroll. The blue-green ice giant kept expanding until it filled the screen.

“This is extreme magnification,” Euthyphro said. “Military Intelligence attempts to count the anomalies, supposing that will give them the number of cyborgs ships. I’m afraid, however, that it isn’t going to be that simple.”

“The cyborgs are fond of stealth fleets,” Tan said. “Logic indicates they will use decoy forces, too.”

“Precisely,” Euthyphro said. “Therefore, the probability of this, hmmm, situation being an accurate assessment—”

“Show me your indicators,” Tan said. She had little time for discussions and debates. She was too busy juggling the many political factions of the Jupiter System. There were the Helium-3 Barons, the former philosophers of Callisto, the industrialists of Europa and the patriots of Ganymede, to name a few. It was difficult to maintain power, because by pleasing one group she usually angered several others with competing desires. There were constant political attempts on her position. So far, she had outlived the attempts and remained in control. She credited the success to her hard-won wisdom and because she was better than anyone else was at playing one faction against another.

Euthyphro sighed as he shook the scroll. “This is slim data from which to proceed.”

“My time is limited,” Tan said. “So no more objections, if you please. Show me the indicators.”

Euthyphro bowed again. “You have spoken.” He tapped his computer-scroll. On the screen, a flash appeared beside the ice giant.

“What color was that?” Tan asked.

Euthyphro glanced back at Tan, his eyes wide with surprise. They were the most interesting thing about him, big blue eyes full of intelligence. A hint of fear showed in them as well. He recovered quickly as once more he tapped the scroll.

The flash reappeared, but this time much slower than before. It cycled through a number of colors: red, green, purple, orange, blue and bright white at the end.

“Why the variations?” asked Tan.

“Precisely,” he said.

“That is not an answer,” Tan said, for the first time becoming angry.

“Excuse me, Chief Strategist, I simply marvel at your swiftly intuitive grasp of the—”

“I am not here to dialog with you, Advocate. I have decisions to make and meetings to attend. You said this was critical. Now explain this to me succinctly and quickly.”

“Chief Strategist, my techs believe we are witnessing a Fuhl Event.”

“I am not familiar with the term,” Tan said.

“I’m relieved. It shows you’re not omniscient after all, which I had almost come to believe a moment ago.”

“You are testing my patience with no perceivable reward in sight. Instead of achieving rewards, you are risking demotion.”

“Chief Strategist, the evidence frightens me. It is the reason for my strange behavior.”

“Explain your fear.”

“A Fuhl Event contains the needed parameters or factors toward creating a black hole,” Euthyphro said. “But not a haphazard black hole, rather, one needed to fold space.”

“A worm hole?” asked Tan, with mockery in her voice.

“Our physics has long disproved the possibility of worm holes, warp drives and other such nonsense,” Euthyphro said. “However, at the Callisto Academy—before its destruction—Higher Status Mathematics had conceived of a Fuhl Event.”

“What you’re really saying is that the cyborgs are experimenting with FTL,” Tan said, “a Faster than Light drive.”

“I would quibble with your statement on several counts. Firstly, we do not know who experiments with the Fuhl Event.”

“Since this occurs at Neptune,” Tan said, “the cyborgs are the logical persons.”

“True, but that doesn’t conclusively prove it is them.”

Tan waved her hand. “Give me your next ‘quibble,’ if you please.”

“Are we witnessing an experiment?” Euthyphro asked. “Why couldn’t it be an alien race visiting Neptune and now departing?”

Tan glanced at the ceiling. Trust a philosopher to add layers of complication to a thing. “Let us stick to high-end probabilities, shall we?”

Euthyphro bowed his head. “The highest probability indicates that this…flash was of cyborg origin or design. However, we should not discount the idea that holdout capitalists used an experimental device in order to flee from the cyborgs.”

“Do we have records of such experiments?”

“I have not discovered any, no.”

“Hmm,” said Tan. “Such evidence, if it existed, could have been destroyed on Callisto during the Cyborg Assault.”

“That is conceivable, yes.”

Tan studied the screen. “If the cyborgs have developed an FTL drive…”

“Certain possibilities come into play,” Euthyphro said. “One: could this drive be used in our Solar System? Instead of taking months or years crossing the system, could a warship make the trip in days? If that could occur, it would give the cyborgs a decisive military advantage.”

“This Fuhl Event,” Tan said, “have the theorists formulated any limiting factors to it?”

“That is an astute question.”

Tan scowled. “You are not here to pass judgment on my questions. Simply answer them as you are able.”

“Of course, Chief Strategist.” Euthyphro pressed his lips together before he said, “Theory indicates that a heavy gravitational body such as a planet would disrupt a Fuhl Event from occurring. The question becomes, naturally, what was the flash? Maybe the cyborgs foolishly attempted a Fuhl Event too close to Neptune. Maybe a group of human scientists risked their lives using the FTL drive, hoping to escape conversion.”

“We know so little about the cyborgs, other than their ruthlessness,” Tan said. “We need more data on our enemy.”

“There are some who believe it was a mistake allowing Marten Kluge’s cyborg to leave for Inner Planets.”

“That decision is not open to discussion,” Tan said.

“Of course not,” Euthyphro said. “Because we lack precise data on the event near Neptune, we must infer from our scanty evidence. Therefore, probabilities come into play.”

“Please, spare me the prologue. Just get to the point.”

Euthyphro rolled up the computer-scroll as he faced Tan. He took a deep breath and began to speak as he exhaled. “To date, the cyborgs have shown great and crafty intelligence. Clearly, they are winning the Solar War. I doubt the flash occurred because the cyborgs foolishly attempted to create a Fuhl Event too close to the ice giant. That would lend weight therefore to the notion that free-will humans still exist in the Neptune System. However, logic dictates that a cyborg victory occurred there and that it was of a total nature.”

“Where does that leave us then?” asked Tan.

“I believe an accident occurred. How, why or what caused this accident, I have no idea. I do think what we witnessed was the attempted creation of a Fuhl Event. The cyborgs appear to have or seem about to have an FTL drive. That should concern us deeply.”