the participants, seventy-eight thousand years ago. Humans are the sixth species to be moved from the Milky Way to the Triangulum during that time."
I spoke. "Quan, what is the energy level needed... no, skip that. What could be used to overwhelm the sodium skin of the complex without destroying it?"
Several minutes passed before Quan replied. "In an attempt to secure the complex from attacks by others, this subject was studied extensively. Any object striking the active skin, and overwhelming it, would then continue its forward momentum, thereby destroying the complex. For the active skin to be overwhelmed without inertial destruction, a pulling force would have to be applied."
I tilted my head slightly. "A pulling force? You mean like gravity? If we moved a planet close to the complex, would that be enough gravity to overwhelm the active skin?"
Quan replied, "The active skin’s ability to absorb energy and matter has a linear relation to the power available to the active skin. In the case of the complex, the gravity from thirty-seven standard solar masses, placed at a distance of one kilometer, would be required to place the active skin into saturation."
I was startled by a grab to my arm by Frig. "Quan, what diameter would a black hole need to be to create the gravitational pull equivalent to thirty-seven standard solar masses?"
Quan replied, "A black hole of approximately forty-seven centimeters would provide sufficient gravity to overwhelm the active skin of the complex."
Frig smiled. "I know where we can find a black hole, Sir. The supernova remnant will have one at its center."
I held up my hand. "Well, that’s nice, but what are we supposed to do with it? We can’t control a black hole. We don’t even know how they are controlled on our BHDs!"
Frig turned to Quan. "Quan, a species the Humans battled had a weapon that encapsulated a black hole of approximately a meter in diameter."
I grabbed Frig’s arm. "The planet killer?"
Frig continued, "Quan, do you have the designs required to replicate that weapon for a black hole of fifty centimeters in diameter?"
Quan replied, "The Frekkin gravity weapon made use of gravity containment plates, arranged in a structure that allowed the steering and concentration of the gravitational pull provided by the black hole. The designs for this weapon are intact in my memory. If desired, reconstruction of the proper neural pathways for its full access will take three hours, twelve minutes."
I spoke. "Recall that design, Quan!"
I turned to Frig. "Now we just have to figure out how to build a containment complex."
Frig returned to his chair. "I will search the surrounding systems for resources, Sir. We will have to begin with an army of bots to perform the work."
Frig made several swipes on his holo-display. Twelve seconds later, we were in the vicinity of the supernova. An evaluation of the black hole at its center showed an approximate diameter of eight centimeters.
I spoke. "Great. Why is it always one roadblock after another?"
Frig replied, "I believe that may be of sufficient size, Sir. The containment structure will allow us to focus the gravity of the black hole in a single direction. That should provide us with a more-than-adequate force."
After locating a nearby planet and setting up shop, we began to build our army of bots. Bots begot replicators, which begot more bots. Eighteen days after we began, our army of bots surpassed four thousand in number. By the twenty-second day, that number was sixteen thousand and growing. The following day, a simple transport ship was constructed for the purpose of moving the containment structure parts into orbit for assembly. On the twenty-eighth day, the first pieces of the structure were joined together with an ion plasma weld in high orbit above us.
I spoke. "One thing I keep wondering. Why hasn’t the Duke sent ships out to kill us? He has to know that we are here. How could he not be aware of it?"
Frig replied,
I spoke. "Quan, what is the energy level needed... no, skip that. What could be used to overwhelm the sodium skin of the complex without destroying it?"
Several minutes passed before Quan replied. "In an attempt to secure the complex from attacks by others, this subject was studied extensively. Any object striking the active skin, and overwhelming it, would then continue its forward momentum, thereby destroying the complex. For the active skin to be overwhelmed without inertial destruction, a pulling force would have to be applied."
I tilted my head slightly. "A pulling force? You mean like gravity? If we moved a planet close to the complex, would that be enough gravity to overwhelm the active skin?"
Quan replied, "The active skin’s ability to absorb energy and matter has a linear relation to the power available to the active skin. In the case of the complex, the gravity from thirty-seven standard solar masses, placed at a distance of one kilometer, would be required to place the active skin into saturation."
I was startled by a grab to my arm by Frig. "Quan, what diameter would a black hole need to be to create the gravitational pull equivalent to thirty-seven standard solar masses?"
Quan replied, "A black hole of approximately forty-seven centimeters would provide sufficient gravity to overwhelm the active skin of the complex."
Frig smiled. "I know where we can find a black hole, Sir. The supernova remnant will have one at its center."
I held up my hand. "Well, that’s nice, but what are we supposed to do with it? We can’t control a black hole. We don’t even know how they are controlled on our BHDs!"
Frig turned to Quan. "Quan, a species the Humans battled had a weapon that encapsulated a black hole of approximately a meter in diameter."
I grabbed Frig’s arm. "The planet killer?"
Frig continued, "Quan, do you have the designs required to replicate that weapon for a black hole of fifty centimeters in diameter?"
Quan replied, "The Frekkin gravity weapon made use of gravity containment plates, arranged in a structure that allowed the steering and concentration of the gravitational pull provided by the black hole. The designs for this weapon are intact in my memory. If desired, reconstruction of the proper neural pathways for its full access will take three hours, twelve minutes."
I spoke. "Recall that design, Quan!"
I turned to Frig. "Now we just have to figure out how to build a containment complex."
Frig returned to his chair. "I will search the surrounding systems for resources, Sir. We will have to begin with an army of bots to perform the work."
Frig made several swipes on his holo-display. Twelve seconds later, we were in the vicinity of the supernova. An evaluation of the black hole at its center showed an approximate diameter of eight centimeters.
I spoke. "Great. Why is it always one roadblock after another?"
Frig replied, "I believe that may be of sufficient size, Sir. The containment structure will allow us to focus the gravity of the black hole in a single direction. That should provide us with a more-than-adequate force."
After locating a nearby planet and setting up shop, we began to build our army of bots. Bots begot replicators, which begot more bots. Eighteen days after we began, our army of bots surpassed four thousand in number. By the twenty-second day, that number was sixteen thousand and growing. The following day, a simple transport ship was constructed for the purpose of moving the containment structure parts into orbit for assembly. On the twenty-eighth day, the first pieces of the structure were joined together with an ion plasma weld in high orbit above us.
I spoke. "One thing I keep wondering. Why hasn’t the Duke sent ships out to kill us? He has to know that we are here. How could he not be aware of it?"
Frig replied,
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