Maisie lay in the front lawn of Main waiting for the huge ringed disc make it first appearance of the night against the forested horizon. Beyond it the white light of the main system star seemed purple. The gas giant certainly was. This was reflected almost idyllically on the serene surface of the lakes all about the sprawling city-campus. She wondered if universities did this sort of thing intentionally: find the most beautiful places imaginable only ruin it by holding advanced classes on stellar cartography. She voiced as much to Mara who was busy with trying to set up a holo-array on tripods all across the lawn.
"I think it's more probably Cummings is just odious," Mara replied.
"This assignment isn't even cartography," Maisie said, flinging her data pad out onto the grass beside her. It skipped several times before wedging itself oddly out of the grass. A moment later the ruins of a shattered space craft projected into a wrongly stretched garble into the air.
"Don't break it," Mara laughed. "We're going to need that."
"Cummings doesn't work that way," Maisie retorted vexed.
"What do you mean?" Mara never stopped trying to fix small cameras towards the heavens, pylon after pylon.
"He wants a problem worked out logically. That you actually SOLVE the problem? ...No."
"That's silly. Of course he wants an answer."
"No, I'm serious. Remember that weird guy? Chris? He won't look anyone in the eyes?"
"He won't look you in the eyes you mean," Mara corrected teasingly.
"You know what I mean!"
"He has aspergers."
"Mmm, I didn't know that..."
"You were saying," Mara prompted with Maisie trialed off.
"Er, Cummings went kind of nuts on him last semester."
"Odious...," Mara repeated rhetorically.
"Right, but he said to class the point of the exercises he gives aren't to solve them. It's to understand HOW we solved them. He said people do irrational things and we need to have a grasp of our own false assumptions."
Mara paused in setting out a new tripod. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
"Huh. I always thought he only wrote one equation per day on the board because he was just working the system."
Maisie laughed, "He's working somebody's system- "
Mara grinned, her eyes dancing. "K, it's ready. Give me the numbers again?"
Maisie sighed and stared at the scattered pylons. After a moment she got up and collected her datapad. "Ready?"
"Ready"
Maisie took a deep breath, "19.74, 19583.44, 19447.51, 14717.83, 4127.53, 1650.06, 903.73, 1871.81, 1168.52, 898.74. End."
"Okay," Mara said, moving around a pylon half bent over, adjusting a dial against one side.
"Um... Nothing happened," Mara said, standing up in puzzlement.
"I told you this wouldn't work. He never makes it that easy."
Mara's eyes were dancing again, "And I'm not taking this class over. He can go have a cow for all I care."
Maisie huffed a laugh.
"Oh! Try again," Mara laughed, embarrassed. "Voice was off."
"19.74, 19583.44, 19447.51, 14717.83, 4127.53, 1650.06, 903.73, 1871.81, 1168.52, 898.74. End."
"That's it?" Mara frowned. "I thought there was more?"
"Nope, that's first transmission."
"Alright, what else?"
"Good City, 20921. Stop. 35.75 Stop. 21210 Stop. 26035. Stop."
Mara had her own data pad out now, moving around amongst the pylons. "Go on," was all she said, her eyes consuming the readout from her pad.
"230. Stop."
Mara looked up. "There was a 13 or 33 something wasn't there?"
Maisie shook her head, "He only mentioned that in class. It's not part of the print out here."
Mara grinned, "Like I said. He's an ole. What are other numbers?"
"1313 and 1310."
"Oh!" Mara slapped the side of her head. "Okay! Keep going." She was practically coming apart with excitement! "14, 1, 2, 2, 9. Right?"
"Yep."
The both looked around. Nothing happened.
Mara looked ready to cry. "I hate this class..."
Maisie reached out for her data pad. "Can I see it?"
Mara passed it over.
Maisie looked started at nav-readouts from beacons all over. Most centered around Sol, but not all. At least it was all Federation territory. It was a special access library to search the Imperial records. She never wanted to experience that again. After a moment she frowned, walked over to one of the pylons and slapped it broadside with the pad!
The lawn lit up like an onion head festival! A haze of holograms twisted, distorting grotesquely as the dew of the grass competed with the humidity of the air for reflection. Odd shadows cast their way through the projections made by each individual pylon. These struggled unsuccessfully to merge into a cohesive image. Sometimes it was only the systems just around Sol. Sometimes it was almost a full two quarters of the galaxy.
"Cheap ...," Mara swore something viciously, too low to hear.
"Don't tell your father that," Maisie said with the first tone of seriousness in her voice all night.
Mara said nothing.
Watching the images competing for projection time Maisie looked at Mara gently. "This didn't turn out so bad."
"That's thirty thousand light years," Mara said looking a little daunted.
"No, it's easier than that. We just have to break it down."
"How," Mara despaired.
Maisie pointed to a flickering bit of the hologram that fought to remain distinct from many others trying to solidify. "We only got a partial SOS. The first relay came through at Sol, but there's another out somewhere above Fehu. That's when the SAR team stopped receiving, but those numbers are much larger than that. And they came in chunks. We're fine," Maisie laughed seriously! "Just take them as they came."
Mara relaxed visibly, raised her chin, and then nodded resolved; a moment later she nodded more confidently. "Only farraguts use five decimals right?"
Maisie nodded uncertainly, "That's the rumor."
"Okay, so a private craft then or something small."
"Probably."
"Do you think these are light seconds, light minutes, or light years?"
"No way to know really," Maisie said uncomfortably.
Mara nodded. "K... One pylon per data point. I'm betting the smaller numbers are planets or moons; probably both."
"Good call! Okay!"
...
"I think it's more probably Cummings is just odious," Mara replied.
"This assignment isn't even cartography," Maisie said, flinging her data pad out onto the grass beside her. It skipped several times before wedging itself oddly out of the grass. A moment later the ruins of a shattered space craft projected into a wrongly stretched garble into the air.
"Don't break it," Mara laughed. "We're going to need that."
"Cummings doesn't work that way," Maisie retorted vexed.
"What do you mean?" Mara never stopped trying to fix small cameras towards the heavens, pylon after pylon.
"He wants a problem worked out logically. That you actually SOLVE the problem? ...No."
"That's silly. Of course he wants an answer."
"No, I'm serious. Remember that weird guy? Chris? He won't look anyone in the eyes?"
"He won't look you in the eyes you mean," Mara corrected teasingly.
"You know what I mean!"
"He has aspergers."
"Mmm, I didn't know that..."
"You were saying," Mara prompted with Maisie trialed off.
"Er, Cummings went kind of nuts on him last semester."
"Odious...," Mara repeated rhetorically.
"Right, but he said to class the point of the exercises he gives aren't to solve them. It's to understand HOW we solved them. He said people do irrational things and we need to have a grasp of our own false assumptions."
Mara paused in setting out a new tripod. "Seriously?"
"Yep."
"Huh. I always thought he only wrote one equation per day on the board because he was just working the system."
Maisie laughed, "He's working somebody's system- "
Mara grinned, her eyes dancing. "K, it's ready. Give me the numbers again?"
Maisie sighed and stared at the scattered pylons. After a moment she got up and collected her datapad. "Ready?"
"Ready"
Maisie took a deep breath, "19.74, 19583.44, 19447.51, 14717.83, 4127.53, 1650.06, 903.73, 1871.81, 1168.52, 898.74. End."
"Okay," Mara said, moving around a pylon half bent over, adjusting a dial against one side.
"Um... Nothing happened," Mara said, standing up in puzzlement.
"I told you this wouldn't work. He never makes it that easy."
Mara's eyes were dancing again, "And I'm not taking this class over. He can go have a cow for all I care."
Maisie huffed a laugh.
"Oh! Try again," Mara laughed, embarrassed. "Voice was off."
"19.74, 19583.44, 19447.51, 14717.83, 4127.53, 1650.06, 903.73, 1871.81, 1168.52, 898.74. End."
"That's it?" Mara frowned. "I thought there was more?"
"Nope, that's first transmission."
"Alright, what else?"
"Good City, 20921. Stop. 35.75 Stop. 21210 Stop. 26035. Stop."
Mara had her own data pad out now, moving around amongst the pylons. "Go on," was all she said, her eyes consuming the readout from her pad.
"230. Stop."
Mara looked up. "There was a 13 or 33 something wasn't there?"
Maisie shook her head, "He only mentioned that in class. It's not part of the print out here."
Mara grinned, "Like I said. He's an ole. What are other numbers?"
"1313 and 1310."
"Oh!" Mara slapped the side of her head. "Okay! Keep going." She was practically coming apart with excitement! "14, 1, 2, 2, 9. Right?"
"Yep."
The both looked around. Nothing happened.
Mara looked ready to cry. "I hate this class..."
Maisie reached out for her data pad. "Can I see it?"
Mara passed it over.
Maisie looked started at nav-readouts from beacons all over. Most centered around Sol, but not all. At least it was all Federation territory. It was a special access library to search the Imperial records. She never wanted to experience that again. After a moment she frowned, walked over to one of the pylons and slapped it broadside with the pad!
The lawn lit up like an onion head festival! A haze of holograms twisted, distorting grotesquely as the dew of the grass competed with the humidity of the air for reflection. Odd shadows cast their way through the projections made by each individual pylon. These struggled unsuccessfully to merge into a cohesive image. Sometimes it was only the systems just around Sol. Sometimes it was almost a full two quarters of the galaxy.
"Cheap ...," Mara swore something viciously, too low to hear.
"Don't tell your father that," Maisie said with the first tone of seriousness in her voice all night.
Mara said nothing.
Watching the images competing for projection time Maisie looked at Mara gently. "This didn't turn out so bad."
"That's thirty thousand light years," Mara said looking a little daunted.
"No, it's easier than that. We just have to break it down."
"How," Mara despaired.
Maisie pointed to a flickering bit of the hologram that fought to remain distinct from many others trying to solidify. "We only got a partial SOS. The first relay came through at Sol, but there's another out somewhere above Fehu. That's when the SAR team stopped receiving, but those numbers are much larger than that. And they came in chunks. We're fine," Maisie laughed seriously! "Just take them as they came."
Mara relaxed visibly, raised her chin, and then nodded resolved; a moment later she nodded more confidently. "Only farraguts use five decimals right?"
Maisie nodded uncertainly, "That's the rumor."
"Okay, so a private craft then or something small."
"Probably."
"Do you think these are light seconds, light minutes, or light years?"
"No way to know really," Maisie said uncomfortably.
Mara nodded. "K... One pylon per data point. I'm betting the smaller numbers are planets or moons; probably both."
"Good call! Okay!"
...
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