The Time Free Zone. Gregory J. McKenzie

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СКАЧАТЬ the normal state of matter, it will fracture down to incredibly small particles that have no ability to travel. If we can reproduce that effect then we will have a weapon more powerful than anything that exists in our galaxy."

       Shock gave way to bitter dispute between the highly intelligent members of the project team and the military advisers. the Professor completely lost all objectivity as he tried to shout down this latest suggestion. As this dispute descended into acrimony and outright abuse the Moderator shut down all access to the digital vid stream.

       Despite this disastrous beginning, the government research project eventually came up with just what they had been tasked to accomplish. Much to the Professor's distaste, his research team's findings were crucial to this successful outcome. This did not stop the Professor from launching repeated attacks on the use of pure research for such a warlike outcome.

       A military appointed scientific team were tasked to come up with some ultimate weapon. Its head scientist drove her team hard. Relentlessly demanded perfection. She succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. At the final testing site for this new weapon a dummy drone solar ship was used as a target. It disappeared without a trace. This prototype weapon was now operational at a very lethal level.

       Like most such weapons, it had been developed long before any defense against its use had even been considered. Any galaxy that possessed such a weapon had a moral duty to safeguard it from theft. The research team's findings were locked away in a cyber attack proof vault. The prototype weapon was kept at a top secret facility. All the project team members were placed under a strict galaxy secret oath.

       To the rest of the galaxy the only information released was that the galaxy had updated its weaponry. No further details were supplied. Galaxy Central were certain they would never have to openly deploy such a frightening weapon. As the Investigator returned to his normal work routine he sincerely hoped that this time Galaxy Central was being transparent not devious.

       The Professor was sure that 'certainty' was a convenient cover for some hidden agenda. He immediately got his quantum computer space ship to scan all military databases. There the highly intelligent quantum computer found a battle plan for using a universe class battleship to house and use this new weapon. All attempts to get into the secret weapons vault of Galaxy Central to extract his notes prove fruitless. This database vault was so deeply buried on a hot planet that it defied modern attempts to crack it open digitally. Still the Professor directed his quantum computer to keep trying as he feared for the adverse outcomes from such a weapon being used in open warfare.

      Chapter 5

       Once you are identified as someone with military experience, it is hard to shake that perception of this being the best use of your talents. So the Investigator was chosen to be the Inspector-General's observer at the latest attempt to stop an invasion by Space Imps. These annoying pirates who always caused trouble in the galaxy border regions were now making chaotic raids on inter galaxy trade routes. They would intercept the enormously large robot freighters that carried trade goods from neighboring galaxies. Then the Space Imps would hold them for ransom. Three galaxy class ships were dispatched to catch these space pirates.

       Finding himself on the same galaxy class ship as before, the Investigator did not hesitate to reacquaint himself with the Captain. They had a beverages session after the Captain's last bridge watch before the ship went to light speed. The Captain was happy to see the Investigator. He said in a conversational tone of voice.

       "So you did get that painful Professor onto the government weapons project team?"

       Realizing that he could say little about that particular project, the Investigator kept his answers brief. In a non-committal tone of voice he said,

       "Yes he was made an expert adviser!"

       Laughing the Captain defused any awkwardness by saying in a joking manner,

       "I pity anyone who had to get advice from that opinionated genius. Well I can see you are not allowed to talk about it, so let's talk about your family instead. Did you get a chance to get back home?"

       Grateful for this act of discretion, the Investigator said in a happy tone of voice,

       "Yes! I had two weeks with them. It was great to be able to use names not titles. I was able to disconnect my universal translator. I really do get sick of those monotone translations, don't you?"

       The Captain nodded his head before saying in a sarcastic tone of voice,

       "Mine sounds like my wife's voice. It never stops nagging away at me to get my pronunciations right."

       Now the Investigator was laughing along with this new friend. They spent an enjoyable session just relaxing.

       Arriving at the time-space coordinates given for the last Space Imps attack, the galaxy ships began tracking with their long range scanners. Faint nuclear trails led in three very different directions so the galaxy ships separated to follow these trails. The Investigator's ship had the furthest to go, so it was soon travelling at light speed. Arriving at the zone where their chosen trail ended, the Captain brought his ship back to combat speed.

       Scanners located a nearby settlement which was checked out first for life signs. As the galaxy ship arrived in orbit around the settled planet, a message was received from the surface authorities. The Captain decided to leave any negotiations between planetary authorities and officialdom with the Investigator.

       The Investigator went to the surface welcome center. Entering the formal welcome chamber, the Investigator, sensing trouble, started negotiations cautiously. In a clearly official tone of voice, he gave the traditional invocation from Galaxy Central,

       "The galaxy government sends its warmest regards to your planet. It needs your help to track down enemies of galactic good order. How say you to this request?"

       There was an inevitable time lapse whilst the translators struggled with these archaic words. Finally one of the local planetary officials spoke. Now it was the Investigator's turn to wait for his translator to search for word matches. Finally he heard this in the toneless voice of computer speak,

       "We welcome the representatives of Galaxy Central. But as a free species we recognize no government but our own. We will help you if it does not involve harming are own species. State the details of your request."

       Every fiber of the Investigator's being was screaming that something was very wrong here with this planetary delegation. For a start his research on this planet showed it to be friendly to Galaxy Central. Then there was the strange way only one representative spoke for all. His research suggested this planet had a very loose commonwealth of subspecies. There was no indication of any one dominant ruler. So the investigator kept his request modest and his purpose hidden. He said,

       "We seek only water replenishment and some guidance. Nothing more."

       There seemed to be a moment when the planetary representatives all seemed СКАЧАТЬ