Free Koban by Stephen W Bennett Page A

fields. Those
fields are not entirely in this universe, and there certainly would be no material
connection to the ship from a Trap field in Tachyon Space. Jake, what about a laser
or particle beam hit on the hull or the projectors? Our field sensors must be giving
us bad readings because they show the fields down, but internally they seem tuned
and drawing power.”
    “Sir, there
was no laser or beam activity detected.”
    Mirikami had a question. “Jake, are there any unusual equipment
malfunctions listed in your data base that can cause a spherically closed field
to register zero curvature?”
    The AI had a litany of negatives. “A closed field cannot change
its curvature to become an open field; it would first require an infinite amount
of energy to expand to essentially zero curvature. A closed field can only expand
to the limit of energy furnished, or collapse. An open field must be generated from
its origin as an open field, and can never become closed. An open field will also
require a continual increase of energy input to support it as it radiates toward
infinity. All open fields collapse when they reach the limit of their energy supply.
It is extremely improbable that all of our independent sensors would have failed
simultaneously, and virtually impossible for all of them to fail in precisely the
way required to incorrectly register a closed field’s curvature as zero.”
    “Jake, we are now feeding energy into all the field projectors,
yet we measure zero field curvature. Despite what your physics programming says
about a closed field, what purely hypothetical field configuration would allow these
readings?”
    The reply was not immediate this time. Several seconds passed
as the computer re-evaluated the billions of bits of data recorded from the instruments,
and information stored in the physics database.
    “If both closed fields were actually changed to open fields,
our field sensors would therefore register as zero curvature. Both fields would
then tend to expand to infinity at a linear rate. However, our spherical fields
could not become open, since they were not generated that way initially.”
    Mirikami
called the Drive Room again. “Ms. Willfem?”
    “Here Sir”
came a prompt reply.
    “Nan, if the projectors were broadcasting open fields Jake says
that we would see zero curvature readings. An open field will draw more power with
time. Please check the power monitors for the field projectors.”
    There was a momentary pause at the other end. “Captain, we do
show a steady increase in power drain to the field projectors. I hadn't noticed
it before, nor did I expect any change. The circuits are tuned for the tachyon energy
we want. Except every field mechanic knows that you can’t open a closed field.”
    “Nan we only have another eight or nine minutes till company
comes again. Tinker with whatever you want on the secondary to see if you can determine
where the energy is going, and why. Don’t work on the primary Trap. I'm reluctant
to tamper with it in case it’s still really up and closed, and we can either catch
or already have a Jump particle and just can't sense it.”
    “I'll do my best Sir. Wait a second while I try something...”
There was the faint click of a switch followed by another. “I toggled a single projector
off and on for the secondary Trap. No indication from the sensors of a field curvature
change, but when I sent the shutdown signal I saw a slight decrease in the total
power drain followed by a slight step back up, as if that projector is radiating
into a field. Impossible as it sounds, Jake may be right.”
    “Do what you can Nan, but don't start anything that will take
longer than five minutes to get results.”
    “Yes Sir, I have a few things I can try, ...Uh, hold a sec Captain,
Motorman Johnson is calling me...” She cocked her head and listened on her own com
unit channel for a few seconds, then looked into the video pick up again. “No visible
damage to any of