Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. A Koorivar.
CHAPTER 1 – A STROKE OF GENIUS
08:41 (Vancouver Time)
Tuesday, November 18, 2319
University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver
Province of British Columbia, Canada
Northern Alliance, Earth
The students and staff members of the University of British Columbia, or UBC, who were entering or exiting the building housing the university’s sciences department all stopped in their tracks when a strange creature stepped out of an air car which had just landed in front of the building. Whispered remarks and exclamations went around as the being, who looked like a kangaroo with an elongated deer head, entered the faculty building. As for the air car, it took off soon afterwards and flew away.
‘’Was that a Koorivar?’’ asked a teenage female student to her friend, as the two girls watched the creature walk in.
‘’What else could it be, Jenny? They are the only extra-terrestrials we know of, thanks to the trip by the cargo ship KOSTROMA to the dwarf planet Eris, some two years ago.’’
‘’Oooh, I would love to be able to talk to one of them: there are so many fascinating rumors and stories about them.’’
‘’And also some tragic ones: don’t forget that their world, Shouria, which we knew as Gliese 667Cc, was destroyed in a collision with a wandering brown dwarf1 some 350 years ago. The 20,000 or so Koorivars who traveled all the way to our system and who now live in the northern part of Vancouver Island are the only known survivors of their race.’’
‘’Still, they are fascinating creatures. I must say that, as different as they are from us, I find them…cute.’’
Jenny’s friend smirked on hearing her last sentence.
‘’Is it the fact that they are said to be hermaphrodites, with a huge pecker on top of a vagina and breasts, that fascinates you?’’
‘’So? A girl has the right to be curious.’’ replied Jenny, a defensive tone in her voice.
Inside the science department’s building, Senior Physicist Koomak, ignoring the stares and whispered remarks around him, briefly stopped what seems to be a staff member to ask him a question. His English could be said to be more than fair after a bit more than a year of studies and practice, while his voice was on a bit higher pitch than the human norm. Of course, being a scientific genius had helped him learn that alien language quite quickly.
‘’Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me where the auditorium is?’’
‘’Uh, sure! It is on the next floor up, left of the main staircase. You came for the big international physics conference I suppose, mister…or miss?’’
Koomak smiled at the man’s confusion, which was most understandable.
‘’I suppose that you could say that I am both, since we Koorivars are hermaphrodites. For simplicity’s sake, we have adopted male terms to designate ourselves to Humans. Thank you for your help.’’
Koomak then walked to the main staircase in his strange gait, caused by his two ‘ϟ’-like legs. Since he wore a set of clothes comprised of a long-sleeved blouse, a wide belt with purse, trousers and soft boots, only his four-digit hands and his head, with its elongated and delicate snout and its pair of long vertical ears, were visible to onlookers. His clothes, made of a silky-like fabric, where of golden color with white and silver embroidering and were from Shouria, his unfortunate home of birth. Koomak actually jumped up from step to step, three steps at a time, like what a kangaroo would be expected to do, attracting yet more stares on his way. Of course, the fact that the gravity on Shouria had been 1.3 G, thirty percent higher than Earth’s gravity, made his aging body look more energetic here than it really was. Once on the upper floor, he effectively saw a large sign standing on an easel, which advertised the international physics conference he had come to attend. Following the signs, he finally arrived at the doors of the big auditorium of the building, where an employee checked his name on his list of guests and attendees before letting him in.
Inside the auditorium, with its inclined floor going down towards a large stage, Koomak saw that over a hundred persons were already in, most of them discussing in small groups at the foot of the stage or along the successive landings along the three wide circulation alleys. Deciding to go mingle with other scientists, he went down one alley, soon stepping on the flat floor surface surrounding the foot of the stage. One man with gray hair hurried to him to shake his hand, a gesture Koomak had quickly learned after he had been awakened from his cryogenic sleep in the VEON SHOURIA, the ship that had brought him and his compatriots from Shouria.
‘’Doctor Koomak! It is a pleasure to see you here at this conference. I am Max Mandel, Head of the Physics Department at UBC and the organizer of this conference.’’
‘’It is a pleasure as well to meet you, Mister Mandel. Did you receive the private message I sent you back after receiving your invitation to this conference?’’
From effusive, Mandel became at once most serious and he lowered his voice to answer Koomak.
‘’Yes I did, Doctor Koomak. As you wished so, the subject of anti-matter will not be discussed at this conference, in order to avoid any, uh, ‘misunderstandings’. If anyone raises that subject, I will then intervene to deflect the conversation to other subjects.’’
‘’Thank you, Mister Mandel. It is very much appreciated.’’ replied Koomak, reassured. The whole subject of the Koorivar anti-matter technology, once known by Humans to exist, had proven very contentious indeed. While most scientists and industrialists had seen it as a way to tremendously improve the space-traveling capabilities and profitability of human spaceships, others, particularly ambitious or vindictive politicians and military leaders, had seen it as a way to create hugely powerful weapons which would eclipse even thermonuclear weapons in terms of destructive power. Tina Forster, the captain of the KOSTROMA, had understood the dangers of seeing that anti-matter technology falling into the wrong hands and had counseled at once the captain of the VEON SHOURIA to destroy his anti-matter drive and erase all files pertaining to it while they were still on Eris, a decision Koomak had found most wise when he had heard about it. However, the poor Tina Forster had then faced a fierce barrage of accusations and criticism from enraged scientists and politicians around the Solar System. That dispute had even cost a life and had caused a failed attempt by the power-hungry head of an industrial group to have the chief engineer of the VEON SHOURIA kidnapped, in order to extract from him the secrets of the anti-matter drive. With that point now settled, Koomak braced himself and faced the first of a small crowd of physicists eagerly waiting to discuss with him. Thankfully, nobody was rude or inconsiderate enough to ask him about anti-matter technology, with most asking questions about the internal workings of red dwarf stars, the subject Koomak was due to present during the conference.
After about ten minutes discussing with a number of physicists at the foot of the stage, Max Mandel went to the lectern set in one corner of the stage and announced the opening of the conference, asking the attendees to go take their seats. As a matter of courtesy, as the lone alien scientist present, Koomak was given a front-row seat next to the stage, where he activated his portable translator unit. He may have been fairly fluent in English by now, but the terms used by advanced physicists often were by no means common words, with an average Human who would watch the conference probably unable to comprehend half of what was said. In that, his translator unit quickly proved most useful, allowing Koomak to fully enjoy the scientific dissertations which followed.
Koomak had time to present his subject matter, answering many questions about it afterwards, then returned to his seat to listen to the next presenter, whose subject was about black holes, worm holes and the deformations they created in the fabric of Space. One sentence that presenter said suddenly made Koomak stiffen and pay even more attention, as an avalanche of ideas cascaded around his mind. When that presentation was over, with a lunch break announced, Koomak feverishly reviewed the audio recording of the parts which had stimulated his attention. He then realized that he was definitely on something that could bring huge consequences, for both him, the Koorivars and the Humans.
18:35 (Vancouver Time)
Central computer compartment
Koorivar starship VEON SHOURIA
Landing pad of Koorivar colony, northern tip of Vancouver Island
A soft, friendly voice greeted Koomak as soon as he stepped inside the heavily shielded and protected central computer compartment of the VEON SHOURIA.
‘’Good evening, Doctor Koomak. What may I do for you today?’’
‘’First off, could you put this compartment in total privacy mode, Shanya. What I want to discuss with you is extremely sensitive.’’
‘’Of course, Doctor Koomak!’’ replied the highly advanced artificial intelligence computer of the Koorivar starship. ‘’Privacy mode now established.’’
‘’Excellent! I heard something today at the international physics conference in Vancouver which triggered an idea in my head. I have reviewed that idea and would now like to pass it to you for analysis, so that you could check if it is both realistic and feasible by checking its parameters and running a simulation on it. I am now going to introduce into one of your data receptors a data chip containing the guiding lines of my idea.’’
Introducing the small rectangular chip into one of Shanya’s data receptor slots, Koomak then waited patiently as the computer downloaded the content of the chip and started analyzing it. Shanya took two minutes before speaking, a very long time for such a powerful computer.
‘’Analysis and simulation program completed successfully, Doctor Koomak. I am happy to tell you that your idea is eminently feasible. In fact, the simulation ran more smoothly than I had expected, so I took the liberty after that to draw the complete schematics of a prototype system that I would like to call the ‘Koomak Drive’. I am now downloading those schematics onto your data chip as I speak.’’
Koomak had to sit down at one of the chairs facing the computer work station, his head suddenly spinning under the impact of the powerful emotions now washing over his brain.
‘’You are sure that my idea will work, Shanya?’’
‘’Completely positive, Doctor Koomak. In truth, your idea is a genuine stroke of genius: despite being a simple one, it was by no means an obvious one. May I in turn make a few suggestions to you about it, Doctor?’’
‘’Please, go on, Shanya.’’ said Koomak, his attention focused to its maximum.