Part 57- Remembrance of the Magellan Class (V)

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Mitzner spoke the moment the door had shut behind the group.

"I'll just say what we're all thinking," she said, sitting down casually in one of the chairs "It's a rogue Magellan."

"I have to concur," said Dr. Kang.

"It does look that way," agreed the Captain, taking her seat at her desk "It seems obvious at this point that the entity destroyed the Jofuku, a Tereshkova-class cruiser, a ship specifically designed to have a less autonomous computer system. The Armstrong, a Magellan-class, was left unharmed. Now it is sending us messages characterizing the Armstrong as a God. It all adds up."

"You're basing all this, I presume, on the old sailor's stories about Magellan's developing distinctive human personalities and writing bad poetry and so forth?" asked Commander Gibson.

"Has his small-mindedness ever been helpful?" Dr. Kang asked the Captain, pointing to Gibson with his thumb "I've never understood why you have him at these meetings."

"Dr. Kang, your personal attacks aren't very helpful either," said the Captain.

"You should be aware, Commander, that the Magellan phenomenon is a well documented scientific fact. That you get all your information from drunks in bars does not mean the rest of the galaxy shares this limited knowledge pool. I have read very reliable reports," sneered Dr. Kang.

"What's your assessment of the situation, Doctor?" asked the Captain.

"I believe the entity in question was very clear. It wants to exterminate us and recruit the Armstrong into, for lack of a better term, some manner of pantheon. This is consistent with our working theory. Delusions of godhood was one of the most commonly reported personality traits of rogue Magellans."

"What do you suggest we do?" the Captain asked.

"An opening salvo from the ion cannons followed by a full barrage from the mass drivers," said Dr. Kang "We might not be able to see the thing but we can see the absence it is hiding behind quite clearly. Targeting should not be a significant issue."

"I'm only willing to resort to violence in the case of self-defense," said the Captain.

"That's exactly what this would be," explained Dr. Kang "At our current speed we won't reach an inhabited world before we run out of supplies, or in any of our natural lifetimes for that matter. The space/time supremacy this entity enjoys is an existential threat to the ship and the entire crew. If we do not respond to their aggression with violence of our own we will condemn ourselves to die."

"Lucky for us that sounds like a very slow death indeed," said the Captain, wryly "That gives us time to come up with alternatives to violence. We're in communication with this thing. Let's build on that. What are some avenues of approach for negotiating with it that we haven't tried yet?"

Nobody spoke.

"We could threaten it," offered Mitzner, finally "With violence."

* * *

Ensign Guildenstern flicked a few actual physical toggles on his console then returned to his virtual keyboard.

"The relativity drive is engaging," he announced.

"Excellent," said Lieutenant Solarin "I'll page the Captain."

"You'd better," continued Guildenstern "Because I didn't engage it. It's doing this all on it's own and I can't tell how or why."

The void among the stars shot off through a space/time tunnel, and the Armstrong followed close behind.

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