Free DUALITY: The World of Lies by Paul Barufaldi

into the hologram. “System, expand that signal line... keep
going... more.... pan out.”
    The line grew as the holograph zoomed out
until the curve of Ignis Rubeli became distinct. “Ok, stop there,”
Aru commanded. “Put a marker on each end of that. Those points are
where you'll find the transmission and reception vehicles. What
we're looking at here is a satellite communication
ring.”
    System extrapolated the concept out with a
ring of fifty-four equally spaced satellites on the specified orbit
around The Red Star. Aru knew he was correct about this, and so did
Mei.
    “Dang, Aru, I believe you're right!” she
remarked. “But why would anyone need a communication ring within a
star? One or more of the satellites must be receiving outside
transmission through the corona. Otherwise, I mean, what would be
the point?”
    An even more relevant question was what kind
of materia could survive in this environment for any extended
length of time to propagate these signals? Even the Kinetic, the
very pinnacle of Mnetechian space technology, which had been
heavily outfitted for this specific mission, could not hope to
endure here for more than a handful of days.
    “System, display proposed orbital paths for
our search target,” Aru ordered.
    A number of lower altitude curves appeared on
the display, marking the best deductions for where an object “on
the ecliptic traversing a sunspot over 20 minutes” sixty-four days
ago would be now.
    They both stared into the display intently.
“Refill,” Aru added. Mei must have deactivated the autorefill via
halo.
    “This theorized satellite configuration...”
Mei pondered aloud, “Those intervals would be optimal for
maintaining constant, uninterrupted communication with an object in
our target's supposed orbit.”
    Aru recognized that she was speaking in
conjecture upon conjecture, but he also recognized that it all fit
together with an undeniable elegance. He took this lateral
reasoning approach another step forward.
    “System, pan out all the way to the orbit of
The Stones.”
    There were two stones, The White and The
Black, on opposite ends of a shared orbit around Ignis Rubeli.
Little was known of these dwarf planets, as they were the seat and
exclusive domain of the Emperor, Logos. Their bare surfaces hid a
buzzing hive of machine world activity, the brain and the mind of
the Emperor. They were also forbidden space. Any ship or object
that approached within a quarter million kilometers of their
positions was met with certain obliteration by an unerring particle
beam, which is why on entry they'd taken great care to penetrate
the corona from the star's southern tropic, giving that domain a
wide berth. The inner space of Ignis Rubeli was presumed forbidden
as well, but never explicitly stated as such. In gearing up for
this mission quite a few eyebrows had been raised, since even
Mnemtech himself, who had learned the hard way, never meddled in
any space north, south, or within the Stones' orbit.
    Panning out that far had the effect of
reducing what had just been a curvature of the star to a full red
circle at the center with the Stones' orbit displayed at the edge
of the holograph. It had also melded their position, the theorized
satellite ring, and their target's orbit into a single
undifferentiated circle hugging the red disk.
    Magnify the center? No, that wouldn't do.
“Convert to 2D full floor display,” he ordered.
    The holograph collapsed to the floor and
exploded out in all directions flush to the walls of the chamber,
with Aru and Mei left standing upon it. Aru stumbled forward a few
steps spilling his drink a bit, unprepared for the sudden dizzying
effect. Mei was quick to grab and steady him with a girlish
giggle.
    She looked down and around at the broad
display, and an understanding came over her face with a grin.
Taking over, she ordered, “Kinny, animate all objects’ orbital
motion, 10000x speed.”
    The predicted low altitude orbit of the target
began