Genesis by Lawrence P. White

Author:Lawrence P. White [White, Lawrence P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

The visiting Harbok did not have to suffer through a quarantine. Their voyage to Ariall had taken six months, ample time for any illnesses to show up if they were going to. Ollie’s men, of their own accord, moved into Alliance headquarters where they could more easily limit their contact with the An’Atee. Most of them still disdained the An’Atee. Ollie temporarily moved in with Greg, Arlynn, and Emily, but he did not stay long. He and Admiral Grayson hit it off immediately, and Ollie moved in with Grayson. They spent hours together in discussion, and they trained together in simulators where they exchanged ideas on how best to do things.

A number of ship modifications came about as a result of Ollie’s training sessions, including backup computers located in different parts of the ships. An’Atee engineers insisted it was unnecessary—their computers did not overload—but Greg and Grayson both backed up Ollie, and the cost was not prohibitive. In hindsight, had Jarl’s ship had backup computers, Arlynn might have escaped from Earth on her own.

Not long after reaching Ariall, the Harbok scientists demanded to use the teaching machine. Ollie worried the issue for a couple of days, then he caved in with the admonition that he would carefully monitor them for changes in their beliefs and views.

It wasn’t long before the rest of Ollie’s men demanded the teaching machine, as well, but Ollie balked. He was not yet done evaluating the changes that might have occurred within the scientist group. Several months elapsed before he agreed—out of self-defense as much as anything. He was in constant demand by an An’Atee population who was curious about the Harbok, and his inability to speak without a translator was a huge impediment.

The An’Atee’s version of the cloaking device appalled the Harbok scientists. It was far too primitive for use during battle. Privately, though, Harbok scientists felt gratified that they were ahead of the An’Atee in at least this one area. Some things were impossible to completely reverse engineer, and clearly, the cloaking device fit into that category. Finally able to display knowledge superior to the An’Atee, the Harbok dove into the problem. Results, when applied to the first few ships, astounded Grayson, though not Kannick or Greg. Kannick had seen these things with his own eyes, and Greg, during the training he had given Ollie, knew what was coming.

A casual comment from one Harbok scientist pointed An’Atee scientists in a new direction in their search for a means of locating cloaked ships. Everyone knew that, when cloaked, outside energy flowed around and away from the cloaking device, thereby providing its invisibility. But the Harbok had learned that not all energies from within the ship itself stopped at the boundary of the cloaking device. Specifically, the drive leaked tiny amounts of energy through the field boundary when a ship was underway. If the ship was only coasting with its drive off, no outgoing energy penetrated the field boundary, but as soon as the drive powered up, some energy escaped.

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