Chapter 6

The next morning, Kyle was up before six and instead of trying to go back to sleep, he got out of bed and went to take a shower. After the morning necessity, he dressed and headed to the cafeteria for an early breakfast. Just as he was about to start eating his breakfast, he spotted Paoli walking in and he called out.

"Paoli, over here!" Kyle saw Paoli's head swerved to the source of the voice and smiled when he saw that it was Kyle. He came over to Kyle's table,

"Hey, good morning, I bet you couldn't sleep a winkle last night?"

"Actually I slept just fine but I woke up little bit too early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Really," Paoli frowned, "That shouldn't happened, what time did you set the alarm clock and did you use the downloader?

"Yeah I used the downloader and I set the alarm clock for 7, why?" A worm of concern crept into Kyle's gut.

"The downloader and the alarm clock are connected so when you set the alarm clock for seven, you automatically set the downloader to turn off at that time. The downloader monitors you and once you entered REM sleep, the downloader will keep you in that state and automatically adjust the rate of download so that it'll finish by seven then start the download. But for you to wake up before seven, well, let's say it never happened before. I'm going to have one of the Tchaas engineer checks that out." Paoli lifted his sleeve and typed into his bracer and Kyle asked,

"I've been meaning to ask you about that bracer, what is it?"

"It's called PPC, Personal Portable Computer. You know that new 3G iPhone that's out now?"

"Yeah."

"They're similar except PPC's are far more advanced; they have a small hologram emitter and are built into an arm brace. It is linked to the facility's computer and for those who have their own ship; it will also link to the ship's computer even when they're off the ship."

"Does everybody wear that?"

"Some do, some have similar technologies called a Cyberjack surgically installed into their brain, and some don't use them at all."

"Surgically installed into the brain?"

"Yes, it's an extreme risky procedure and some feels that it's worth the risks."

"Why?"

"When you interact with a computer, there will always be a lag in the time it takes for you to respond to whatever is happening with the computer but some have a specialized computer interaction technology installed into their brain so the lag time will be reduced to nil and response time will be instantaneous. It's popular among the tech guys and hackers. But there are few risks with that, if the procedure is not done right, death is very likely. A large electrical surge could destroy the technologies and fry the brain. That's why I prefer a PPC, it's removable, and I won't be killed by an electrical surge."

"Will I be able to get one?"

"I don't see why not, in fact, if you wanted, we could stop by one of the replicators in the public area and replicate a PPC for you."

"Nah, I'll be fine for now but I think I would like to get one after the ship's done. Oh, by the way, yesterday after you left, P'chai and I talked and I've decided to hire him on as my engineer."

"Excellent! I was hoping you would, there's no better engineer than a Tchaas."

"I know, I used the downloader last night and the Tchaas species was among the files. But there wasn't much information."

"That's how the Tchaas prefer it. There are some species out there who would love to kill as many Tchaas as they can so they are keeping the vital information hidden."

The 'bots arrived with Paoli's breakfast and they ate while waiting for P'chai to arrive. Fifteen minutes before eight, P'chai arrived.

"Hey P'chai," Paoli greeted, "Aren't you going to eat before we go?"

"No, I already ate."

"Well," Paoli turned to Kyle, "are you ready to go?"

"Yep."

"Ok." Paoli stood and the rest followed him out of the cafeteria to the shuttle bay. As they boarded a Pegasus shuttle, Kyle realized that it was the exactly the same shuttle he rode on the way here. Paoli spoke up,

"Why don't you two sit in the passenger section and talk, I've got a co pilot that's transferring to the facility."

"All right," Kyle answered and turned to P'chai, "Come on, I want to learn more about the Tchaas."

"Very well." P'chai replied, "I will try to answer your questions but know this, I will not be able to answer all of your questions."

"I understand, but I believe that most of my questions are simple ones that you will be able to answer."

"Perhaps. We shall see." P'chai sat down in one of the seats and Kyle sat down next to him.

"According to the information I received from my last download, you have the ability to increase your height. The download didn't have much information regarding that and I would like to know more about it."

"The answer is a simple one. The ability to change my size was the result of millennia of evolution. The Tchaas were once a prey and we developed a self defense mechanism very much similar to your cobra snakes or puffer fish. After we became sentient, we struggled to gain conscious control of our self defense mechanism but it is only with the development of nanobots that we finally gained control over the mechanism."

"So you can control the self defense mechanism and use it to increase your height?"

"Yes." P'chai stood up from the seat and gave Kyle a demonstration. Kyle's jaw dropped as he watched P'chai's body began to grow. While Kyle watched P'chai, he realized that the growth was exposing skin underneath the fur. Just as he was about to comment on this, new hairs were suddenly sprouting out to cover the exposed skin. Throughout the entire demonstration Kyle had been hearing a popping sound finally; he looked around for the source then suddenly realized that it was coming from P'chai. P'chai explained that the sound was the result of his bones shifting. He began to feel very nauseous when the growth stopped. Before the demonstration, P'chai was approximately three feet tall and his head were leveled with Kyle's hip but now after the demonstration, P'chai was now a head taller than Kyle.

"Um..." Kyle asked, "How long can you maintain that height?"

"As long as I am conscious, I can maintain this size indefinitely but once I lose conscious such as going to sleep, the body will automatically revert back."

"Is there any side effects from maintaining this for prolong period of time?"

"Yes, there are minor side effects such as soreness in the joints, stiffness, and occasionally headaches."

P'chai sat down again, "For those who don't do this often, there will be an awkward moment as they become accustomed to the size difference. Fortunately for me, I happened to enjoy this size and have some experiences with it."

"If you enjoyed that, then why weren't you that size back at New Athena?"

"It is considered impolite to tower above the elder Tchaas, and I am the youngest Tchaas on New Athena so I was showing respect to the older Tchaas."

"This is the pilot speaking," Paoli's voice came over the PA, "We've just left the New Athena's airspace and will arrive at the facility within two hours."

"Why so long?" Kyle yelled back and Paoli's muffled voice replied from the cockpit, "The facility is on the other side of the Sol system so we have to take a roundabout way to avoid the earth and the sun."

"All right thanks."

Paoli's reply was muffled but Kyle had already turned back to P'chai.

"You said that your people were once a prey, how did you overcome that?"

"We don't have absolute evidences but the fossil records showed that shortly before the Tchaas became sentient, the predator which we called Mai suffered massive declination in their population, it never recovered. It was some time after we became sentient that the Mai became extinct. Our archaeologist discovered that during the period after we became sentient, we developed crude spears so the hypothesis is that when the Mai's population declined, it relieved pressures on us and allowed us to become sentient. After we developed crude spears, it was possible that we killed off the Mai."

"Do you know what caused the declination in population?"

"There are several theories but the primary one is that some kind of space body such as comets or meteors impacted with our planet because there was a thin layer of iridium that covered the entire planet. Iridium is a very rare mineral on our planet but it is common among meteors and comets. That layer was found in the same strata where the majority of the Mai fossils were found."

"Just out of curiosity, what did the Mai look like?"

"When I was researching your planet and its life form, I came across a picture of your Siberian tiger, which very closely represented Mai except Mai was a hexapedal not quadruped."

"Hexapedal, that's six legged right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"If there really was an impact event, won't there be a mass extinction event afterward instead of just one species?"

"There was a mass extinction event and a lot of life forms were affected but strangely the Tchaas did not suffer in any way that we could see."

"None at all?"

"None, the average of Tchaas fossils founded in the iridium layer were the same as any other strata whereas the average for Mai in the iridium layer and above was extremely high compared to the previous layer."

"Now that really is peculiar."

"Yes, it has puzzled our scientists for some time."

"I'm sure; anyway, my next question is about..." For the next two hours, Kyle questioned P'chai about everything that he could think of. Before they realized it, Paoli's voice came over the PA,

"We're coming into range of the shipyard, if you would like to see it, just pick a window on the starboard side."

Kyle and P'chai went over to a window and looked outside, at first, Kyle didn't know what he was looking at then he realized what it was.

"That isn't an asteroid, that's a planet."

"We don't refer to it as a planet," Paoli answered as he walked up behind Kyle, "it's another way of keep the location of the facility hidden."