Starmind Chapter 22 (Patreon)

It took Bekeri the rest of the day to build the Teletic Fabricator, with Varlanda helping a little. It would have taken longer, but I asked Temeri, and she said we could use a mana crystal, which really let Bekeri speed things up… somehow.

As he worked, I watched him curiously. He was moving things between the regular fabricator and the crystal deposition lathe. There they’d… have crystal deposited on them, probably, before he’d take them out and do some manual work on them. Finally he’d add them to the assembly that was slowly becoming the new Teletic Fabricator. Whenever he worked by hand, he had the mana crystal nearby, along with several ingots of various materials. I could tell that he was slowly draining the crystal, but I couldn’t tell what he was actually doing with the mana. I’d never seen him use a mana crystal for anything except boosting the drive.

I didn’t want to bother him, but finally my curiosity got the better of me and I blurted, “What are you using all that mana for?”

“Hmm? Oh, one moment,” he mumbled. He was completely focused on his work, and I felt a little bad for interrupting, but he didn’t seem to mind. He finished what he was doing, let his spell dissipate, and settled back in his chair. “Right. What was the question?”

“I wondered what you’re using the mana crystal for. I know Varlanda uses the extra mana to let her spells correct the precision and accuracy when she works so she can go faster, but that doesn’t seem to be what you’re doing. You’re working at the same speed you usually do, but there’s a lot more mana being used. So… where’s it going?”

“Oh, that!” Bekeri’s ears twitched in a slow cadence, the way they sometimes did when he was looking forward to something. “Well! You know what the fabricator and the lathe do, yes?”

“They deposit and shape materials into finished… things. Whatever you’re making.”

“Right! But they have limits to how much or how little material they can add or remove at a time, yes? For more they have to make multiple passes, and for less they have to put down more than necessary then carefully shave away the excess and fill the space in with whatever material is supposed to surround the detail. That’s very slow. And sometimes the details get so fine or so close to each other that the machines I have can’t even do it. That’s where my fabrication spells come in!” His ears perked all the way up, and he raised his wand as if to show it to me. “I can do anything my tools can, and the speed and precision of my spells is really only limited by how much mana I have available. Now, I could do all of this on my own, but I only have at most twelve standard units of mana to work with, and I’m getting barely one-and-a-half back every hour. But this little beauty—” he picked up the crystal in his free hand, “—holds a hundred mana, and I can use it at whatever rate I want! That way I can leave the bulk of the less fiddly components to the fabricator, while I make the few trickier ones myself.”

“Oh, I see! So you can’t work faster, but you can keep working with as high precision as you need until the crystal is drained?”

“Exactly! Or I can, for example, dump it all into the drives to let them supercharge the reaction mass. With any luck, I’ll be able to do the same with this new fabricator, too; it looks like it’ll need some mana to operate.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Yes. Haven’t I said? It’s even got a slot for mana crystals.”

“What about the Phase-Disruption Field Generator. Will that need mana, too?”

“Oh, yes! Absolutely! It’s got a slot, too.”

“We’re going to need more mana, aren’t we?” I said, pushing some air around to approximate a sigh. 

“I suppose we will,” Bekeri said, his ears drooping slightly. “I’m sorry if this is a surprise. I could have sworn that I said… well, there’s nothing for it. We’ll prioritize!”

“We’ll have to,” I agreed.

Mana. So much came down to mana. Mana crystals to make things, mana crystals to speed up making things, mana crystals to get us out of trouble. Mana to move things, mana to keep the gravity working properly, and mana to let me improve myself. And now mana to run the new fabricator so Bekeri could make more things that would need mana, too.

Mana. I needed more mana.

“Temeri,” I said to the captain, “I think we need to change some priorities.”

Temeri was in the armory on Gunship-Me, going through the weapons and armor there to see what was salvageable. She was holding some sort of projectile weapon, like a longer version of the one she had in her cabin. She looked… happy probably wasn’t the right word, but there was definitely a look of satisfaction on her face as she fiddled with it. When I spoke up, I must have really surprised her, because she changed her grip on the awful thing, pushing it into her shoulder so she wouldn’t drop it.

“Oh, Star,” she said and relaxed after a split second. “What was that? Priorities?”

“Yes, Temeri! We’re going to need a lot more mana!”

“Well, sure, more mana is never a bad thing, but why is it suddenly so urgent?”

“Everything needs mana, Temeri!” The words burst out of me, louder and faster than I’d ever intended. “I just can’t keep up! And now Bekeri tells me that the new fabricator needs mana or mana crystals to operate! What’s the point of asking Bekeri to build things if we can’t run them?”

“Okay, Star! Okay!” Temeri started answering before I was even finished. Her fingers drummed on the weapon in her hands. “So what do you actually want to do? Do you have a plan, or do you want to talk about it?”

“A plan?” Did I have a plan? Not really. I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.

“Right,” Temeri said, putting down the weapon and bringing out her slate and stylus. She tapped the back of the stylus on the slate a few times then said, “What are our options?”

“Options? Oh, um… there’s a whole category in my Development options!”

“But it’s expensive, right? Your developments use mana.”

“It takes five thousand mana to unlock, yeah,” I said unhappily. “It’ll take a little over two days. And then it’s probably two-and-a-half thousand to actually get anything in the category.”

“Okay. Two days is either an eternity or no time at all, but in either case, the sooner you start, the better. Star, I know you wanted to unlock the crew developments once the Light-Weight Structure one is done. Would you be willing to put that off?”

“I think I have to. Sorry.” I felt awful saying it. Compared to the memories I had of them back on Mundus, they had so little right now. I wanted desperately to give them everything they lacked, but it was all I could do to keep them fed, warm, and breathing.

Temeri sighed. “Star, that isn’t anything you need to apologize for. We’ve all gone through survival training. Compared to those weeks, this is a luxury vacation. Let’s get that category unlocked so we know your new options, alright?”

“Alright.” I still felt bad, but her words helped.

“Thank you. Then, can you think of anything else?”

“If we could get closer to the planet, the strength of the ambient mana field would increase,” I said.

Temeri must have heard the doubt in my voice because she asked, “Is that realistic, though? We’re already burning mass at a fair rate to keep ourselves hidden from Erebus. Maintaining an even lower orbit without exposing ourselves…”

“It would get pretty expensive, yeah. Though there is a lot of material on this body we don’t really need. We may be able to do it for a while.”

Temeri frowned. “Let’s keep that as a back-up plan, shall we?” Her fingers drummed a steady rhythm on her slate as she thought. “Can you use mana crystals for your Development Matrix?”

“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t felt like I can use the crystals at all. I can only make them. Or, well—”

I cut myself off because it seemed like a dumb idea, and I was sort of embarrassed about it. But Temeri just waited patiently, and there was this kind of expectation in the air that grew so heavy that I felt I had to continue.

“Um…” I said finally. “I could just leave some crystals lying around. That would strengthen the local ambient mana field as they dissipate.”

Temeri nodded slowly and mused, “That’s not a bad idea. That would let you finish your developments faster. How many do you have in storage right now?”

“Thirty-one.”

Temeri went into one of her stillnessess, and I instantly felt bad.

“I’m sorry it’s not more! I could have made so many crystals if I’d just been paying attention to my mana reserve, but—!”

“Star…” It was barely a breath, almost like a soft, tired sigh. Then she raised her voice to a normal volume and said, “Don’t worry. That’s plenty, so please, go ahead and leave some out. But we can still use all the crystals we can get, right? Can you have more than one Condensation Matrix? I know multiple Matrices of the same type are generally redundant, but this one does nothing except produce mana crystals, right?”

“Oh, that’s right! I don’t see why we couldn’t have more than one!”

“And if I remember my introduction to mana field theory correctly, they should all work at full effect, right? Assuming they work at all?”

“I think so! Let me ask Simeon!” There was a pause as I told Simeon what we planned to do and asked some basic questions that I could have probably found the answers to in the archives. Then I said, “Okay! According to Simeon it’ll get a little complicated with the crystals sitting around. They’ll dissipate faster, and we’ll have some losses. But the strength of the mana field should be the same no matter how many things are drawing on it, and I can just replace the crystals as they get drained!”

“Good. In that case I’ll have Artificer Bekeri and Enchantress Tell prioritize getting two more Condensation Matrices running. Do we have the materials for that?”

“There isn’t quite enough in storage, but—”

I cut myself off because, at that same moment, Harvin sat up straight at his console and exclaimed, “Star! Star, are you seeing this? That’s a ship, isn’t it?”

I looked at where he was pointing on the sensor display. There was a… something, just over Avara’s horizon. I hadn’t noticed it myself, but then I’d been talking to Temeri and only half paying attention to the sensors. I really couldn’t tell if it was or wasn’t a ship, though.

“It might be,” I said uncertainly. “It’s too small or too far away to say for sure.”

“I’m sure that I’m sensing minds in that same direction,” Harvin said. He got out of his couch and approached the illusory board. “Please tell the Captain, Star. And put it on the board. It’s really far out, so a high orbit, probably. We’ll have to approximate to start and refine as you gather more readings.”

*

Half an hour later, we had established that Harvin was right. It was definitely a ship. It was also both small and far away, sitting in an orbit a little more than a hundred thousand miles higher than ours.

I called it the Small Ship. Not very creative, perhaps, but my best estimate put it at fifty to seventy feet long and no more than thirty wide in any direction. Compared to me, it was tiny! Harvin was pretty confident that there were only two minds onboard, which was a relief — I imagined a little thing like that would get cramped quickly.

“And they’re just sitting in orbit?” Temeri asked, walking a slow circle around the illusory board. I’d placed the Small Ship confidently in orbit around Avara, with some helpful arrows and circles to show its trajectory, altitude, and distance from us.

“They are!” I said at the same time as Harvin said, “Yes, Captain. They—” We both hesitated. I was first to say, “Sorry! Please go on, Harvin.”

“Thanks, Star. As I was saying, they’re in a high, stable orbit. No thrust. Since we’re actively matching Erebus’s orbital period, the bogey’s going to have eyes on us for about four days, then be in shadow for half a day before coming back into view. That's assuming they don't maneuver at all, of course.”

“You think they're just there to watch us?”

“That seems like the most likely reason. We’ve… defeated two much larger ships than this one already. I’d want to be careful and gather some intel if I were them.”

“Agreed. Still, they could have some strike capability. Hell, it could be a torpedo boat of some kind for all we know. Star?”

“Yes, Temeri?”

“I want to know the moment that ship fires its thrusters. Can I ask you to keep an eye on it at all times?”

“You’re the captain!” I said earnestly.

“I’ll take that as a yes. You too, Alder. Whenever you’re on duty, I want you to keep your focus on that ship. Anything you pick up, I want to know immediately. I don’t care what time it is; wake me up if you have to.”

“Yes, Captain. Do you want me to try and contact them?”

“Not yet. Let’s stick to observing each other for now.”

“As you say, Captain. But, ah… they’ll probably be in communication with Erebus, or wherever these ships have been coming from. That’s not great.”

Temeri sighed. “It was bound to happen. I was hoping it would take them another day or three, but at least it’s only a single watcher for now instead of a squadron of gunboats or a flight of interceptors. You’re right, though. It’s… not great. We need those thrusters fixed. Star, would you call the rest of the Crew up here?”

A few minutes later Bekeri came up the access tube. He’d been a little annoyed at the interruption; he and Varlanda were almost done with the Teletic Fabricator. With her help, he’d been, as he put it, “just making sure it won’t blow up when we turn it on.” I imagined he wanted to get back to that. When he saw the captain, though, his scowl disappeared and his ears twitched anxiously.

Varlanda was right behind him, but she looked more curious than anything, especially when she saw the mana crystal I’d set in a small fixture in the ceiling. “Does this meeting have anything to do with…” she waved her hand toward the crystal, “that? There’s one in the artifice bay, too, but Star just said she was busy and she’d tell us later.”

There was a short pause while Temeri looked at her, and Varlanda finally added, “Captain.”

“Not directly,” Temeri said, as though nothing extremely awkward had just happened. “Though you should know. Ah, and here’s Healer Tell. Around the board, please.”

The Crew gathered around the illusory board. “At around 1615 hours, Star and Alder detected a ship coming around Avara,” Temeri said, gesturing to the blip that represented the Small Ship. “We know little about it, except that it’s considerably smaller than us or either of the previous hostiles. Alder estimates it to have a crew of two. It’s holding a stable orbit at about one hundred and fifty thousand miles above Avara and appears to be observing us. That’s all we know for now.”

“That was quick,” Simeon muttered.

“Indeed,” Temeri said, giving him an annoyed look. “But we all knew they’d come at us again, sooner or later. Frankly, it doesn’t change much, except that I’ve asked Alder and Star to keep a close eye on it at all times. We also need to be prepared for something coming at us fast in our own orbit. Bekeri, I’ve asked Star to keep two mana crystals at high capacity in the engineering section at all times. If we need to bug out, use them to boost the drive. Star can replace them as needed.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“I also want you to begin producing the housings and blanks for two new Mana Condensation Matrices. Bekeri, Enchantress Tell, once this new fabricator is done, those Condensation Matrices will be your top priority.” Temeri paused for just a moment before adding, “I’ve already cleared this with Star.”

Simeon had been looking worried and thoughtful, but now his face opened up. “Oh! That’s why she was asking me about mana fields, isn’t it, Captain?”

“Good catch, Tell. You’ve all noticed the mana crystals Star has placed around the ship. It’s a little unorthodox, but we’ll be using the way they naturally dissipate to increase the local strength of the local ambient mana. That way, Star should be able to finish her developments faster.”

Varlanda cleared her throat, making Temeri look her way. “Yes, Enchantress?”

“Captain, I’m all for helping Star develop faster, but do we really have the crystals to just let them sit around and bleed mana?”

“Apparently so. Star, how many did you say that you have in storage?”

“We had thirty-one,” I said, still feeling guilty that I hadn’t made more. So much wasted mana! “But I’ve placed nine around my main body, so twenty-two now.”

“Thirty-one?!” Varlanda said incredulously. “Star, you had thirty-one mana crystals in storage?”

“I’m sorry it wasn’t more! I should have—”

“No, no, Star! Please don’t feel bad. Thirty-one is a lot of mana crystals, even when they’re small ones! Gods beyond, Captain, I withdraw my question!”

“Is it really a lot?” I asked the room at large, feeling a little better about myself. “I didn’t mess up too bad?”

“Yes, Star,” Temeri said, “thirty-one or twenty-two or even ten mana crystals is a lot. We left port with a standard allotment of one crystal in storage per member of the crew, three of which Enchantress Tell used to power the Teleportation Matrix. The last two were for emergency use, but from what you’ve told us, they weren’t there when you first looked. Gods only know what happened to them.”

“Oh. Oh! I’ve done good!”

“Yes, Star,” Temeri said, and there was a hint of a smile on her face. “You’ve done good.”