Starship Vengeance

Chapter 25

I flinched when I heard the banging on my door. I confirmed that my office door was sealed as I disable the screen at my desk. The words Project Exodus were the last to disappear. I quickly removed the drive and proceeded to place it back in its hiding space. I removed the wall panel and the foot thick shielding that concealed it. It joined a second hard drive. I quickly replaced the panels as the knocking turned to incessant banging. "Give me a second!" I yelled in irritation. It was bad enough I was being interrupted. Once the panel was in place, I activated the nanites and the seam vanished.

I unsealed my office and my door immediately opened. Shahae stormed in, looking upset. "Do you know how long I have been trying to contact you? I finally had to physically pound on your door just to get your attention. What were you doing?"

"I was resting," I lied.

"And you needed to shield your office to do so?"

"It keeps unwanted interruptions away," I stated. Shahae's temper cooled and a hurt look flashed across her face. "It's a good thing that your interruptions are always welcome." My attempt at lightening to mood failed. I sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the Teknali."

"Teknali?"

She shook her head. "This is unlike you. Usually you know everything as it happens. You didn't read Sarah's report on the ancient vessel?"

"I guess not. I've been occupied."

"With sleeping?" She didn't sound convinced.

"Since you want to discuss it, there must be something on your mind," I said, trying to change the subject. "Why don't you give me the highlights, then we can talk about what is on your mind." I walked over to the conference table and motioned for her to take the seat next to me. She ignored the seat and walked around the table to sit across from me.

"The name of the vessel is Teknali, but I'm sure you already deduced that. The story is consistent with what has been previously found on the Tesslani." She paused for a moment. "I am seeing a trend and I am not sure what to make of it. Every ship that has been located has had some fantastic piece of technology. It's as if this whole journey was preordained."

"I know what you mean," I responded. "It feels like someone or something is manipulating us. As grateful as I am for what we have found, I just wish the mystery would end. What new device does this ship have?"

"It's not so much a device as it is instructions," she replied hesitantly. "In all the advances we've made, there has been one constant. I believe you refer to it as Galactum. None of this would be possible without it. The ship contained information on how to harvest raw Galactum and refine it into the stable state that provides power to our ships."

"That's pretty cool, but we can make it ourselves. It sounds a little redundant to me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," she replied. "This was one of the topics I was going to talk to you about. After reading through this information, I reviewed all the data we have on Galactum. It makes an optimal energy source for many reasons. One of its greatest advantages is that it can be stored for countless years with minimal energy loss."

"Ok..." I said hesitantly.

"The Galactum we are using was duplicated from the Galactum found on the Teludan. Galactum has an estimated half-life of roughly one million years. That means that every million years, it loses half of its energy potential."

"I understand how decay works. The part I'm still trying to grasp is that you are saying is that when the Galactum was stored in the Teludan, it had almost ten times more energy?"