that technology.”
“How did you determine he’s that knowledgeable?”
Jake smiled, “Do you want to tell her?”
After a brief pause Junior said, “I also want to know how you came up with that bit of information.”
“It’s obvious. Our ship and armor development made huge leaps at the time of your birth. You and your parents are the first computers that became an intelligent life form. Since your parents weren’t around, it had to be you that caused the improvements in our technology.”
“I don’t think it’s obvious at all, and you made an intuitive leap making that determination. However, you’re right. The computers used in our ships are a product of the Algeans, Spiders, and me. The armor was just a side product of those advances.”
Jake looked at Cynthia, “Satisfied?”
Cynthia sighed, “Valerie will have my hide if anything happens to you, Jake.”
Jake smiled, “The girl is a persistent sort, isn’t she?”
“You have no idea.” Cynthia thought a moment and said, “Let’s go, Junior. We’re burning time.”
Junior laughed and said, “Buckle up; we’ll arrive in fifty seconds. I’m jumping through four other universes before jumping to the moon.”
Jake and Cynthia sat in their chairs and felt them mold around their bodies as the the universe turned around them.
“Valerie?”
“Yes Manny.”
“They have just jumped.”
“Pray for their safety, Uncle.”
“Valerie, I sense more than just concern in your thoughts.”
Valerie sighed heavily, “It makes no difference; he belongs to another.”
“Perhaps there is someone for you, child.”
“Perhaps.”
Jake watched the four universes flash briefly on his display, then he saw the surface of the moon in all directions. Junior announced, “Welcome to our home for the foreseeable future. I’m going to drop a passive scanner every fifty miles as I take us around to the planet side.”
Jake looked out of his display at open space, “Do you think they’ll allow you to see anything coming in system?”
“Actually they’ll be looking for anything that blocks light from the stars. They will then triangulate on the area that has the anomaly to determine if it’s in orbit or moving in system. If it’s moving in, then all of the sensors will home in to see what’s coming.”
Cynthia frowned, “How are you going to receive the data from them? Won’t the creatures read any energy we use?”
“They will broadcast the data using magnetic waves. This moon is one giant magnet and will block the small readings from these sensors. As the moon rotates I will continue to drop sensors until we have a complete band around it.”
“You aren’t concerned about being detected as you move around the surface?”
“No, Jake. This ship is a recent design and it bends light, energy and even cosmic waves around it. I will not be using any kind of thrust that would disturb the surface. If your skull caps work, then we should be undetectable.”
“What about you? You’re also telepathic.”
“That’s true, Cynthia, but I can control when I use it.”
Jake watched the surface moving under them. After an hour he saw the planet start to peek over the horizon. “How are you going to get me down to the surface?”
“I’m going to teleport you, of course.”
Cynthia stood up and said, “You will not. They will see him for certain if you try it.”
Junior gave an audible sigh, “Cynthia, you know that teleportation cannot be tracked.”
“No, but it can be seen and read by energy scanners.”
“Only if you use a two-way screen.”
Cynthia sat down, “What are you talking about?”
“The normal teleport screen produces a silver colored screen that you can enter from either side. You see the screen, but only because it is usable on both ends.”
Jake said, “Just like the screen that I used to arrive at the casino. I could have walked back into that screen and gone back to where I started.”
“Exactly; but if the screen is only set on one end and does not allow one to enter from their destination, no screen appears.” Junior saw Cynthia was not buying in to his plan. “I’ll show you how it works. Jake, go down to the galley and wait for me to tell you what to do.”
Jake left the bridge and Cynthia said, “What are you going to do, Junior?”
“This ship is shielded from any scan. I’m showing you how it works. Are you in the galley, Jake?”
“Yes, I am. Do you now see the teleport screen?”
“It is right in front of me.”
“Cynthia, do you see a screen here on the bridge?”
Cynthia looked around the bridge did not see a screen, “No, I don’t.”
“Jake, step through the screen.”
Jake stepped forward into the screen and Cynthia saw him appear on the bridge out of thin air.
“There won’t be a screen on the other end to scan, Cynthia. It only exists on our end. This is the only effective way to get Jake down to the community with the clothes and things he’ll need to fit in with the population.”
Cynthia had been struggling on how they were getting Jake to the planet, “Why have we not seen this process?”
“It’s too dangerous to reveal to the general population, Cynthia. It would give criminals a tool that would make it impossible to prevent illegal entry. However, all the Gamma ships are equipped with the device. We will have to reveal a screen when it comes time to bring Jake back, but I’m assuming at that point we would be making a hasty exit from this universe.”
Cynthia looked at Jake, “Are you ready to go down?”
Jake nodded, “As ready as I’ll ever be. Junior, how did you collect all this information about the colonies language, customs, and dress?”
“The smartest thing that Searcher did before she was killed was fire a stealth probe into each of those three colonies. They collected information and remained passive until the self-destruct signal was sent. The probe from the ship emerged and the three on the planet uploaded all they had stored in milliseconds before the Gamma exploded. We began organizing and processing that information immediately after the probe arrived. All we learned was in Jake’s download when he boarded.”
Cynthia looked at her display as the planet moved directly overhead and asked, “Where are you sending him?”
“The records we collected show a home in the central part of the community where the occupant was taken by the creatures just before the Gamma’s destruction. The normal behavior is to send a new occupant from another part of the colony to the residence to replace the one taken. I’ve scanned all the homes that were empty, and all are now occupied except for that one.”
“Won’t Jake throw their population count off from their previous reading?”
“We have seen that whenever they scan the community everyone’s bracelet briefly flashes. Jake’s bracelet is identical in appearance to the real thing, but will not be seen by their scanner. As long as he remains out of view of these creatures he should be fine.”
“Are we going to be able to communicate?” Jake’s question was greeted with silence. “Don’t tell me I’ll be in the dark about anything that happens.”
“Jake, I’m going to be honest. I don’t know of any way to communicate with you without using some form of energy. I can’t take that kind of risk without evidence that our communications won’t be discovered.”
