Galaxy Dog by Brett Fitzpatrick

Author:Brett Fitzpatrick [Fitzpatrick, Brett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781524224943
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

Two weeks later they were still looking for Knave's goods elevators. Altia was in the center of a likely chamber floor, a chamber that was not near the center of the complex, but was more of an outlying structure. It wasn't well connected either, with just a single door providing access. The Vipers were at the doorway, and spread down the corridor, leaving Knave and Altia to investigate the room. Knave was just standing and staring, taking in the huge wall opposite the chamber entrance. It seemed to be a mural.

"I'm no expert," Knave said, "But won't these pictures be useful in deciphering the Drifter language?"

"Decrypting," Altia said.

She was kneeling in the center of the room, looking at one of the items of repeating floor topography that had still not given up its secrets.

"What?"

"The process is called decrypting," Altia repeated, "and it's on hold at the moment because I'm trying to help you get to some secret lower level, even though there is no direct evidence for the existence of such a level, other than a feeling you had."

"If it helps," Knave said, turning to look at her in the center of the room, "I'm getting that feeling very strongly now."

"Really? Because, as far as I can tell, this latest item of repeating floor topography looks like a simple vent, or maybe a heat sink or something. It doesn't look like an elevator or a grav platform."

"No," Knave admitted, "Perhaps not."

He watched her taking readings with some sort of scanner, then unpack some tools from her utility belt. His attention wandered to the walls of the chamber again. They were absolutely covered in technology of one form or another. There were conduits, pipes, switching places, circuit boards, control panels, all in the robust bronze finish preferred by the Drifters, all carved over with symbols, and yet, beneath the mess of, what seemed to Knave, later additions, there was a mural. It looked like an abstract relief sculpture, with disjointed shapes and flat areas, but knave felt there had to be some meaning there.

"Remember when you were telling me about your idea of flow?" Knave said.

"Hmm?" Altia was distracted.

"You told me," Knave carried on, whether she was listening or not, more for himself, "that you had the idea of flow. You said that was the breakthrough. You told me that once you had decided to look at everything through this one prism, it had all started to take shape."

"This isn't a simple vent," Altia mused, not really listening to Knave, "but then again, what about Drifter technology is simple?"

"The grav shafts are simple," Knave volunteered.

"Simple to use," Altia nodded, though neither were looking at each other, she engrossed with her floor feature, he with his mural, "but far from simple to construct."

"This mural seems simple too," Knave mused, "but perhaps it hides some sort of complexity."

Altia looked up. He had succeeded in attracting her attention, but she didn't say anything. She just put her tools down on the floor of the chamber, laid her hands in her lap and observed him.

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