Exultant (Destiny's Children, 2) by Stephen Baxter

Author:Stephen Baxter [Baxter, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780575076556
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 2005-10-24T23:00:00+00:00

Exultant

stationary. You find an equilibrium, but it is not stable. Then when you try to fly, the smallest

instability disrupts the solution. Your running child trips on a pebble, Commander, and the pole is

dropped."

Nilis laughed out loud. "You have spent a long time studying human idioms."

"We have little else to do," the Ghost said.

"So," Darc growled, "what do you suggest instead?"

"It would be better to operate the projector when it is being carried at close to lightspeed."

Nilis frowned. He walked up to the image and poked his finger into its shining innards. "But that

would bring us up to this region." It was the complex border between order and chaos. "The shield

would be no more than meta-stable."

"But solutions in this part of the phase space, on the edge of chaos, would be responsive to small

adjustments."

"Ah." Nilis nodded. "Which would make the shield more manageable, because it would respond

more sensitively; we could control out the instabilities before a catastrophic disruption."

Darc was visibly unhappy. "How rapidly would we have to react?" He brought up a Virtual of his

own, ran some quick calculations. "There," he said in triumph. "Look at that! Your meta-stable

shield will flap like a sheet in a breeze. There's no way we could react quickly enough to respond to

it."

"Of course you could," the Ambassador said. "You have arbitrarily high processing speeds available

on your ship. Your CTC-processor technology—"

Darc shot to his feet and stalked up to the Ghost, fists clenched. "Is that the game? How do you even

know about that? If you think I am going to let you anywhere near the CTC system—"

Nilis said, "Commander, please. We're simply discussing possibilities."

Darc remained standing, glaring at the Ghost. "Why are you doing this? Humans destroyed your

kind. Why would you help your conquerors?"

"Curiosity," the Ghost said.

"And nothing else?" Darc asked heavily.

"Nothing. You recreated us at a whim. You could destroy us as easily. We have no hope."

Darc's eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he stayed silent.

Nilis was still thinking over the idea. "This would actually simplify the overall design, of course...

You don't seem happy, Ensign."

Torec said, "I'm a pilot, sir. No pilot likes giving up control."

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