Read Online The Ruby Dice by Catherine Asaro - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Catherine Asaro
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lower in the atmosphere." After a pause, Mace added, "This port map is appalling. It hardly matches the one I'm making at all."
"Can you find the beacon?"
"So far, no."
"Keep looking."
"I'm getting a signal!"
Relief washed over Kelric. "From the dam?"
"No. It's a mesh system."
What the blazes? "Cobans don't have mesh systems."
"It's from Viasa," Mace said. "Not a guidance beacon. It's a general comm channel."
He couldn't imagine where the Viasans had obtained equipment to produce such a signal. He toggled his long-range comm and spoke in Skolian Flag, which was used by his people as a common language to bridge their many tongues. He didn't want to reveal he knew Teotecan, the Coban language, unless it was necessary.
"Viasa, I'm reading your signal," he said.
No response.
"Mace, can you increase my range?" Kelric asked.
"Working," the EI said.
"Viasa, I'm receiving your signal," Kelric said. "Can you read me? I repeat, I'm reading your signal. Please respond."
Still nothing. The scout was lower in the mountains now, and peaks loomed around them.
The comm suddenly crackled with a man's voice, words that made no sense.
"What the blazes was that?" Kelric asked.
"He's speaking Flag," Mace said. "Very bad Flag. I believe he said, 'Know English you? Spanish? French?'" The EI paused. "Those are Earth languages."
Kelric wondered if he was speaking to Jeremiah. Do I know any of those? he asked Bolt.
I have a Spanish mod, Bolt replied. I can provide rudimentary responses.
Go, Kelric thought.
Bolt gave him words, and he spoke into the comm, grappling with the pronunciation. The Skolian translation glowed on one of his forward screens.
"This is Dalstern GH3, scout class TI," he said. "Viasa, I need holomaps. These mountains are much trouble. The wind make problem also."
"Can you link your computers to our system here?" the man asked. "We will help guide you down."
"Computers?" Kelric said, more to himself than the man.
"I think he means me," Mace said. "I will make the link."
Kelric spoke into the comm. "We try." At least he thought he said we. The translation came up as I. He continued to navigate, relying on Mace to map the terrain and feed data to his spinal node. He could hear winds screaming past the ship.
"I'm having trouble linking to Viasa's mesh," Mace said. "It's manufactured by Earth's North-Am conglomerate and is only partially compatible with ours."
Kelric shook his head, wondering if anyone existed who had escaped buying products from the Allied Worlds of Earth. Coba, though? He hadn't expected that.
The man's voice came again. "Dalstern, can you send your data in an Allied protocol?"
"Which one?" Kelric asked.
Symbols transmitted from Viasa appeared on Kelric's screen, and he immediately saw a problem. The Viasa system wasn't set up to deal with starships, only windriders. It was trying to specify his trajectory in a system defined on the planet, in coordinates only they used.
"Viasa, we are maybe close to what we need," Kelric said. "Can you transform the coordinate system you use into the Skolian standard system?"
More silence. Kelric hoped his Spanish was intelligible. What he wanted to say didn't match what was coming out. Mace translated his last sentence as Can you send the equations that transform the coordinate system in your primary nav module to the system we use? He hoped it made sense to the people in Viasa.
A peak suddenly reared up on his screens. With accelerated reflexes, he jerked the scout into a vertical climb. G-forces slammed him into his seat as he veered east and dropped past another crag with a sickening lurch. The scout leveled out and shot through the mountains.
"Gods," he muttered. He spoke into the comm. "Viasa, where is beacon to guide aircraft in these mountains?"
A woman answered in terrible Spanish. "Say again?"
"The warning beacon. Where is it?"
"Broken." Her accent didn't mask her suspicious tone. He had just
"Can you find the beacon?"
"So far, no."
"Keep looking."
"I'm getting a signal!"
Relief washed over Kelric. "From the dam?"
"No. It's a mesh system."
What the blazes? "Cobans don't have mesh systems."
"It's from Viasa," Mace said. "Not a guidance beacon. It's a general comm channel."
He couldn't imagine where the Viasans had obtained equipment to produce such a signal. He toggled his long-range comm and spoke in Skolian Flag, which was used by his people as a common language to bridge their many tongues. He didn't want to reveal he knew Teotecan, the Coban language, unless it was necessary.
"Viasa, I'm reading your signal," he said.
No response.
"Mace, can you increase my range?" Kelric asked.
"Working," the EI said.
"Viasa, I'm receiving your signal," Kelric said. "Can you read me? I repeat, I'm reading your signal. Please respond."
Still nothing. The scout was lower in the mountains now, and peaks loomed around them.
The comm suddenly crackled with a man's voice, words that made no sense.
"What the blazes was that?" Kelric asked.
"He's speaking Flag," Mace said. "Very bad Flag. I believe he said, 'Know English you? Spanish? French?'" The EI paused. "Those are Earth languages."
Kelric wondered if he was speaking to Jeremiah. Do I know any of those? he asked Bolt.
I have a Spanish mod, Bolt replied. I can provide rudimentary responses.
Go, Kelric thought.
Bolt gave him words, and he spoke into the comm, grappling with the pronunciation. The Skolian translation glowed on one of his forward screens.
"This is Dalstern GH3, scout class TI," he said. "Viasa, I need holomaps. These mountains are much trouble. The wind make problem also."
"Can you link your computers to our system here?" the man asked. "We will help guide you down."
"Computers?" Kelric said, more to himself than the man.
"I think he means me," Mace said. "I will make the link."
Kelric spoke into the comm. "We try." At least he thought he said we. The translation came up as I. He continued to navigate, relying on Mace to map the terrain and feed data to his spinal node. He could hear winds screaming past the ship.
"I'm having trouble linking to Viasa's mesh," Mace said. "It's manufactured by Earth's North-Am conglomerate and is only partially compatible with ours."
Kelric shook his head, wondering if anyone existed who had escaped buying products from the Allied Worlds of Earth. Coba, though? He hadn't expected that.
The man's voice came again. "Dalstern, can you send your data in an Allied protocol?"
"Which one?" Kelric asked.
Symbols transmitted from Viasa appeared on Kelric's screen, and he immediately saw a problem. The Viasa system wasn't set up to deal with starships, only windriders. It was trying to specify his trajectory in a system defined on the planet, in coordinates only they used.
"Viasa, we are maybe close to what we need," Kelric said. "Can you transform the coordinate system you use into the Skolian standard system?"
More silence. Kelric hoped his Spanish was intelligible. What he wanted to say didn't match what was coming out. Mace translated his last sentence as Can you send the equations that transform the coordinate system in your primary nav module to the system we use? He hoped it made sense to the people in Viasa.
A peak suddenly reared up on his screens. With accelerated reflexes, he jerked the scout into a vertical climb. G-forces slammed him into his seat as he veered east and dropped past another crag with a sickening lurch. The scout leveled out and shot through the mountains.
"Gods," he muttered. He spoke into the comm. "Viasa, where is beacon to guide aircraft in these mountains?"
A woman answered in terrible Spanish. "Say again?"
"The warning beacon. Where is it?"
"Broken." Her accent didn't mask her suspicious tone. He had just
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