Post Contact: First Days by D.C. Macey

Author:D.C. Macey [Macey, D.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Butcher & Cameron
Published: 2022-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 54. Base Primo

Weeman sat alone at his favourite spot, perched on the edge of the Goliath LPA – a passive observer of the bustle of absorbed scientists and engineers who gathered around the many smaller LPAs arranged at ground level. He turned his head and raised a hand to acknowledge Steph and encourage her approach.

‘Well, Weeman, you passed a message to me that we really needed to talk,’ she said and sat cross-legged, taking the precaution of settling in a spot some two or three feet from the edge. Then she eyed Weeman more carefully; he seemed quite tired, perhaps sad too. ‘Been doing your laundry?’ she said, eyes twinkling as she spotted a neat pile of suits beside him.

‘Yes, I did ask for you. You are now familiar with our production processes, large and small, and the range of craft on the inventory. You understand many of our routines, certainly enough to enable further self-learning. You, and more recently your staff, have been trawling through the LPA systems, trying to get a handle on our technology. That is understandable. I accepted from the outset that was a price I needed to pay to enlist your support in sustaining Base Primo’s functions and activities.’

‘Oh, Weeman, don’t make it sound like I’m looting your home. You gave us the access knowing our leaders were desperate for the knowledge.’

‘I did, I know. Steph, there is more that I need to share. You now have fifteen hundred scientists, technicians, and engineers here, great strides have been made in your collective understanding. But the base is vast; it will take your people a long time to explore properly. Far more still to understand it all.’

‘Acknowledged. But Weeman, you’re sounding glum, surely it’s good my teams have made progress?’

‘Of course, and they must continue to do so. My worry is I have left things too late; there may not be sufficient time.’

‘Time for what, Weeman? Anyway, you’re the maestro; you know a thousand times more than all my teams and I combined, more even.’

‘Yes, but the balance of knowledge shifts a little towards you with every passing day. Therein lies my problem. I fear I do not have so many days.’

‘What? What are you saying?’ Instinctively, Steph reached out a hand. ‘What’s wrong, Weeman?’

‘My problem is time. It’s almost up. When I first linked with you, I told you the truth but perhaps not all the truth. You see, I do need you humans now to help in finding what is happening in the Perseus Arm; that is true. But I am very old; I am nearly at the end. I don’t just need your help – I need you to run the project completely. Soon I will be gone.’

‘Gone? Do you mean going somewhere gone, or do you mean dead gone?’ Steph sensed she already knew the answer but needed clarity – for herself and for the project.

‘I am dying. I have a little time but not enough to resolve the Perseus mystery.

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