I instructed all the archons to be present at the final emanation, so of course, I was ignored. I supposed that given his troubles, Tielo had an excuse, but Aran’s dereliction of duty shocked me.
Then I discovered why Aran was missing, and I was shocked even further.
At least there is some good news: Ishan has made his achievement[1], and the dirigible is on its way back to New Merenis. I call for a general meeting in the amphitheater, but not all of us are present. A few of us have gone with Tara to help with the final recognitions. By the time of the meeting, Fairchild has received his achievement, and we need only Faulkner and Anthony to complete the pleroma.
I’ve come to agree with Davy. We need every last one of us – the magnitude of this last attack confirms it.
Anyone not working on recognitions is to report. « Let’s begin by having Cüinn explain the theoretical basis for star-shoving. »
« It’s not rocket science,” says Cüinn. « Well, maybe it is, kinda, because rockets employ propulsion technology, which is one possibility. What I mean is that it’s simple – Rainier said the star was shoved, but it could be either of two things – pushing or pulling. Now if it was pushed, that means inertia. Something pushed it, which means an equal and opposite force in the other direction because it’s in Universe Prime, and we have conservation of energy here. Now discounting the presence of a really big person because that’s ridiculous even if it is kind of fun, I thought maybe explosions. But first of all, an explosion of that size would be noticed. And it wouldn’t be natural, not on that kind of star. Well, at least, not on that particular star because it was the companion star BGG476Y5a that was sucking mass off BGG476Y5b, and maybe it would’ve gone Ia in about eight or nine billion years, which I don’t think anyone on Skyvale was really worried about. Although maybe if we’re going to do the immortality thing, we might want to start thinking about long-term planning. »
« In short, » Aran interrupts, « the star was not shoved. »
« Not too likely. But maybe it could be pulled…like if there was a source of gravity that appeared suddenly, say an unstable singularity… »
« CenGov! » says Aran, slamming his fist upon the back of the seat before him. « If they used that trick again, the singularity might have decayed already, leaving no evidence. »
Mickey – still on the outside – quickly investigates. “Doubtful. According to SSOps records, nothing entered or left the Lubrov’s Snowball region.”
« Something could’ve slipped through, » says Valentin. « It’s impossible to closely monitor every pissant system. Also, we already know that CenGov has excellent shielding technology. »
« And our starslick, » mutters Owen.
« It didn’t happen because we didn’t see it, » says Lens. « I admit, my vision has been blocked of late, but that was because it had a mountain in front of it – literally. K2, the mountain atop the rootball. My sight has much improved since we’ve gotten past that event. »
« The probability of Lens not seeing something this drastic is exceedingly low, » agrees Wynne.
« I wish I had my glasses, » mutters Haight. « I can’t make sense of anything. »
« Maybe the Mover doesn’t want us to see, » says Solomon.
That kind of paranoia will drive us mad. « We have to place our trust in I and I. How about the shadow hypothesis? Could it have been done by someone outside of this universe? »
« Well, yeah, » says Cüinn. « Probably a lot easier, since the laws of thermodynamics don’t apply in all universes – nul-space, for example. You know, just a little rip in the right place could cause enough pudge to throw that star off kilter. »
« How? » asks Owen. « You’ve seen the drilling rigs that the SongLuminants used when we planted Yggdrasil. It takes a compost-ton of energy. Again, Lens wouldn’t miss that. »
« But maybe it was done from the other side, » suggests Cüinn.
« The nul-universe is almost solid rock, » I remind him.
« There are watery places, » says Hollis. “Like near Ophion. »
« Our best current predictions have the nul-universe at 96% solid, 2.5% liquid, 1% gas and .5% plasma,” says Cüinn. « But read that as metaphorical because the particles aren’t quite the same. For example, we’re the plasma, but obviously, we’re not. »
« Proportionally speaking, » says Wynne, « 4% is a bad bet, but it’s a shitload of square kilometers in a whole universe. »
« I meant a little rip in the cosmic scheme of things, » says Cüinn. « It would have to be at least the size of the one on Dolparessa in order to budge a star like that – maybe bigger. And also, it would need to be right on top of it, since pudge falls off faster than gravity. »
« But this theory, however unlikely, makes more sense than any other, » says Solomon.
« It also makes it harder to fix, since the presence of the rip will tend to draw the star back off course no matter how much we push it back, » says Ethan. « The best bet is to make another rip which will balance it, but too many rips, and the whole system could deteriorate. »
« I see. I’d like some theories on who would do this kind of thing. »
“It would be insane for CenGov to be the perpetrators,” says Mickey. “Skyvale is an Alliance world.”
« How about Tellick? » asks Diego. « During the revolution, he might’ve gotten hold of the CenGov tech that allows them to produce singularities. »
« You think that he’s trying to frame CenGov in order to get us to go after them? » asks Rand. « I wouldn’t put it past him. »
« Except that the Terran government is not in a good financial situation right now, » says Ross. « Even if they did have access to the technology, do you know how much making a singularity would cost? »
« We can do this, » Owen interrupts, « but we’ll have to go to the BGG476Y5 system. We’ll need to bring Canopus. Also, we’ll need a wormhole pathfinder. Exploration of that system was done by the colonists of Skyvale. There was never any reason to go there from Skarsia. »
For a terrible moment, I think we’re going to have to ask Rivers for a favor again. Then Cyrus says, « Got it. We can arrive in under half a standard day. »
I’m going to have to get used to employing all this new talent that we’ve recruited.
“Our best bet would be to take an SSOps reconnaissance flyer,” says Mickey. “Coated with starslick. Unfortunately, they’re all two-seaters.”
« We’ll go alone, » says Solomon, « and hope that we get back before anybody notices. »
« It’s not going to be easy, » says Barnabas. « In order to cause a rip, we’ll basically need to sink a singularity just the right way, like when Ailann created the rip inside of Eden. Do you know how much energy that’s going to take? »
« I know. I remember it well. However, at that point, we had only Atlas. »
« We also had the grid. This time, we’ll have Canopus on a tether. »
« Then we’ll have to use… »
« No! » insists Rainer. « Can’t you see that Tielo is at his limit? He can’t take any more. »
« I guess I’ll have to, » says Tielo. He tries to smile, but Rainier is right. He looks like he’s been through hell.
« No, you don’t, » says Templeton. « Ophion is more powerful than even Yggdrasil. I can handle it. »
I feel the slightest whisper in the leaves from Tarlach. He doesn’t even have to chatburl for me to understand: Templeton is ten times more mentally stable than Tielo on his best day.
Tielo wasn’t made for this – it was an improvisation. Tielo was made to save Tara’s life and to save the galaxy by communicating with the Denolin Turym. Templeton, however, was tested and tested and tested. He was built not just as a power conduit, but for indomitable strength of will.
« All right, » I decide. « And we will have to tell Tara… »
“Faulkner of Seachange, Siderian Imperial Master of Hawk. 93rd to emanate, 57 in the color scale, resonates to 269. 1.804 meters tall, cock size 16.87 cm when erect, apparent age 30. Falconer. Totem is Caesalpinia pulcherrima, the bird of paradise tree or peacock tree, fixed star is Tarazed, the plundering falcon or beam of the scale. Esoteric symbol is the Etruscan letter 
. Dessert is grenshorn nau’gsh flummery. Function is administrative inspiration, proto-conscious tendency is direction, designated Will. Blazon is argent, within a bordure spring green, a falcon close reversed, proper.”
Get your rootballs down here! chatburls Davy. It’s time for the final recognition![2]
“Give me a minute,” says Mickey. “Once I get this ship in the wormhole, I can use the autopilot.”
[1] For the story of Ishan’s recognition, see emanation egg scene 39b.
[2] The story of Fairchild and Faulkner’s recognitions are told in emanation egg scene 41a – trans.