Pantheon Snippet 3

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Over the course of the next two weeks, the survivors gave out tech data in barely understood dumps after each delivery of material. There were no directions, index, translation, or references on how to handle the information.

People were disappointed that the aliens didn't land. They did get to see video of the aliens, but all direct transfer was through robots. Apparently, the aliens feared cross contamination. The governments weren't taking any chances either. Everything on their end was either with robots or with people in hazard gear.

Some of the open-source data was mulled over by every university and private think tank on the world. Within a day, enough factors had come in to figure out that some of the equations were high-end quantum theory that related to the alien's hyper portal technology. It is way beyond their ability to replicate or use though. It was still exciting to see, however.

Then some things came in over the next week. Rough concepts about differences in energy and physics. Nothing was applicable initially. There was something of an arms race about who would crack something and get it to market.

Tobin had his company involved in processing some of the tech info, but he was also focused on the threat of alien invasion. He set up an A.I. and team to sort through every bit of data that came in.

They quickly realized that there was no index, and in some cases, the data was only partially translated. Some of it came in from multiple alien species, each with their own language and point of view.

A matrix was set up with Safrin translation software to sort out each language set and build a collective database. The aliens bartered for everything.

He realized by the third week in orbit that the survivors were offering garbage data for essential resources. There is no primer or basics on tech. No ladder to climb and explore. They skipped important steps and tech. Some technology they took for granted or had bypassed.

There was nothing on weapon tech; something the military was keenly confused and disappointed to find out.

Word finally broke about the Celestials as they were called. There was brief panic but that settled down rather quickly as the governments released statements in unison that they were working on it.

They weren't getting much help from the survivors though.

He shook his head. "This is so damn frustrating! How do they expect us to help them or ourselves if they don't give us what we need?" He threw his hands up in frustration and then began to pace.

"Maybe they want us to figure it out?" Penny suggested.

"Why?"

"Aliens being alien?"

"Penny, we're facing an invasion and extinction. The crap cutting should be going full force here," he said. She grimaced. "This is like giving a kid a book in a language they don't know and with the pages out of order and with some of the paragraphs written backwards or in other languages."

"Do you think it is deliberate?" Colonel Pryde asked from his view on the wall screen. He called in every few days to see if they had anything new to report.

Tobin turned to him and then Penny. "Honestly? Yes. I have this feeling like they are offering beads for land."

"Native American reference? Nice one, Safrin," the colonel said.

"It fits. I don't like it, but it fits."

“So, what do we do about it?”

“Probably something stupid,” he said. Penny groaned.

~~>*<~~

Tom Trill turned his lobbyists loose on capitol hill the moment the word of a potential alien invasion came in. Other military companies were doing the same but his was cutting edge. They were going to need the best equipment, real sci-fi shit that the others couldn't handle.

He capitalized on the government's hesitancy to work with Tobin Safrin since Tobin would want control and wouldn't play nice with them.

~~>*<~~

TNT Robotic Technologies was selected to build defenses against the aliens a month after the arrival of the aliens in orbit. They had an edge in modern mecha development. They were a rival of Safrin Tech, though known to play the lobby field, corporate espionage, and bribery over actually innovating.

The bid was supposed to be open to all since it was a government contract. It had been announced in Contract Opportunities but it had been buried. There was some speculation that some shenanigans had been pulled to hide it from the public.

Tobin was amused when the news was made public in a press conference. They pulled out all the bells and whistles with rows of humanoid mechs and the latest TNT weapon systems in rows behind the podium. They even saluted. "I didn't even hear about anything being put out to bid. They just granted TNT a blank check and told them to save the world," he said in disgust.

"Mad that they didn't come to us?" Penny asked. She was peeved that TNT had gotten away with the bid. She had been ready to unleash the lawyers, but Tobin had told her to let it go.

"No. Worried," he said.

Penny gave him a dubious look.

He shook his head. "TNT is in it for profit. We're in it to make sure we can save the world. Profit is a distant second to survival."

She nodded and pursed her lips as she considered what she said. "What else? Why didn't we bid for this?"

"Government work comes with strings. If they control the purse strings, they can tell us what to do and how to do it." Penny frowned again. "I don't want the human race to die or be subjugated because of bean counters. And I don't want to have to explain myself in hearings."

She nodded slowly.

~~>*<~~