Chapter 4: The Preservation of our Conveyance

  Some light red text that was in the corner of my HUD expands until it takes up a large part of my vision before fading back:

  [Suppressed]

  At the same time, Alice begins to speak:

  Currently, this system is limited to internal user resources. All external manipulations and communications are being suppressed by an isolation field. The isolation field is broadcasting valid pre-seeded authentication and authorization codes. It is not recommended to attempt to break isolation.

  “Isolation?” I ask incredulously. “What’s this about? Some kind of alien spa treatment?”

  “Please forgive the suppression field,” a new voice intruded from my right. “It is necessary for the preservation of our conveyance.”

  I turned to look at the speaker: it is a Gray alien, like captain Xylo, although this one appears to be wearing some kind of make-up – their forehead has a slight red tint that goes to a very soft blue in the center, and the corners of their lips are drawn out with some dark paint.

  Perhaps more distracting than the make-up, my HUD chooses this moment to draw a line pointing from the new alien to a small informative block of text:

  [Unknown Species/”Gray”]

  [Age: estimated equivalent 30 years old human]

  [Gender: Embryo-Host]

  [Rank Markings: equivalent ensign (naval)]

  I realize I’ve spent too long staring at the new alien, and then at my HUD, when what I really wanted were some explanations rather than more questions.

  “What’s to forgive?” I ask. “I’m literally unqualified to comment. But usually we start a conversation like this: Hello, I’m Jack and this is Lily, nice to meet you. What were you saying about a suppression field?”

  “Ah, I’ve forgotten my manners, grandfather would be mortified!” The alien’s expression scrunches up and I get a feeling of them being somewhat overwhelmed by their situation. “I’m Sigil Zeya, and I’ve been asked to explain some minor details while the system activations are finished and the final briefing is prepared.”

  “Is ‘sigil’ part of your name or a rank?” I ask, desperate for a breath of normalcy.

  “Sorry, yes, it’s a rank,” Zeya confirms. “It’s equivalent to an Ensign on your naval ships; I’m the lowest in the leadership caste aboard this vessel.” They pause for a second. “Perhaps I can explain about the suppression field?”

  “I believe we would both appreciate it,” Lily says, looking at me for confirmation and getting a nod in return. “I’m particularly interested in the mechanics by which it’s, as you put it, preserving our conveyance.” She smiles.

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  “Understood,” Zeya says. “I should first mention that there is a fair bit of background to answer your question.

  “We are in a very rare type of spaceship designed to operate outside of System space; at last count, there are no more than ten such ships known to exist. Normally, a spaceship will rely on the System to maintain the various components, and they need not be normally powered… or even mobile, in many cases.

  “If you have not heard the term ‘metamaterial’ already, it refers to a material that can be reconfigured with minimal input, usually some small electric field, due to it incorporating nanomachines that can respond to electronic commands.

  “Thus, the average starship need not have things like door motors or servos, or even large power cables for most operations.”

  “But not this ship,” interjects Lily.

  “Correct,” confirms Zeya. “This ship uses many alternative technologies from many different sources, mostly recovered from pre-System archives from many different worlds, of varying levels of technology before their integration.

  “This is not enough.

  “In addition to the recovered (some might say scavenged) technology, we further rely on System-generated stable metamaterials, primarily for the cases where this provides better structural integrity, and most importantly of those, the ship’s inner and outer hulls.”

  “As in, the parts that keep us and all the air inside,” I say.

  “That is correct,” Zeya affirms, “although we might consider equally important the filters that produce the atmospheric mix for us all to breathe. The crew here were chosen for our atmospheric compatibility with your planet – it is not possible to reconfigure the air we breathe until we go back into System space.”

  “So, these metamaterials,” I said, cutting to the chase, “they’re the key to keeping us all alive?”

  "Precisely," Zeya replied, their expression earnest. "The stable metamaterials that make up crucial parts of this vessel are... delicate. They are stable only so long as they are not interfaced with by an active System. And, as you know, your Personal Systems are now active."

  "And they want to play with the shiny new toys," Lily interjected, her tone laced with a hint of academic curiosity.

  Zeya nodded. "Essentially. The nanites within the metamaterials would be co-opted, reconfigured, and ultimately destroyed by your Personal Systems' attempts to integrate them. This would lead to catastrophic structural failure. In simpler terms, the ship would fall apart."

  "So, this suppression field," I said, gesturing to the red text in my vision, "it's keeping us from tearing your ship to pieces?"

  "Yes," Zeya confirmed. "It blocks all external System functions, preventing your Personal Systems from interacting with the ship's metamaterials. It is a necessary precaution."

  "And how long does this precaution need to last?" Lily asked, her brow furrowed.

  "Essentially, until we have returned you to your home world," Zeya replied. "It is unfortunate that suppression of nanite communications also cuts you off from all electronic communications – we could have transmitted data to your systems and they could answer these questions for you – but there is no other choice, given our constraints.

  “The final briefing will explain this again, and part of the resources we will be leaving on your planet will include data banks with as much information as possible about the System and how it works. The briefing will be given after everyone has been activated and has had time to recuperate from the procedures.”

  "And then we get the full tour, right?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "Because I'm just dying to see how you managed to cobble together a spaceship from spare parts, magic dust, and my grandma’s reel-to-reel tape recorder."