He stared at Tycho and Jehrico, who stared back.
"Gravitic balances suggest Mercury has not been transported so much as switched," Altas said over the commlink to Xenogears. "It seems that a planet of similar mass orbitted in this region of the system prior to our appearence."
"I presume you have located other planets in this system?"
"Correct. There are five other plants, at one, one-point-five, five-point-one, five-point-five, and ten astronomical units."
"Analysis?"
"Number one is a Earth-type planet, apparently a water world with very little land surface. Mean temperature three-zero-five Kelvin, mass one-point-one Earth. The atmosphere is somewhat thicker than Earth's and is composed of roughly half nitrogen and half carbon dioxide."
"Fascinating..."
"Yes, it is very terraformable. I'd estimate we could do it in two years after we get the nanites and algae we need created. Number two is rocky, sort of Earth-like. Mean temperature is two-seven-seven Kelvin, mass one-point-two Earth. It seems to be in an ice age, and the polar caps extend to thirty latitude. There are small lakes around the equatorial regions, which seem to contain some kind of oxygen-generating plantlife. Atmosphere is eighty percent nitrogen, fifteen percent oxygen, four percent argon. It is habitable."
Xenogears was silent for a moment. "The others?"
"Three is Jovian, but more like Neptune in size. Atmosphere is gas-giant with ammonia and water clouds. An extensive ring system and one massive moon, about Mars-sized. The moon is similar to Earth's, but with some ice content on the surface. Average temperature is two-three-five Kelvins... odd..."
"The moon is generating tidal forces with the planet and leading to the excess heat production?"
"Perhaps... perhaps... planet four is similar to Three's moon, and analysis of its orbit suggest it was originally a part of Three's system. Orbital perturbation from the other moon of Three probably threw it out. Lastly, planet five is Saturnian in appearence, though there are no significant rings. It masses six thirty Earths, or about twice Jupiter. It has six major moons of two thousand to six thousand kilometers in diameter. Two of these are similar to Titan, while two closer to the planet seem to be quite analogous to Io and Europa. Five has a substantial magnetosphere and radiation zone."
"Asteroids, debris?"
"I have seen no evidence of an asteroid belt or zodiacal dust system. The system is pretty clean. The Kuiper belt analog was probably swept up by planet five."
"I see... and the sun?"
"G-zero-V. No noted problems. The solar activity is somewhat higher than Sol's but not too much. No instabilities or hints of extreme variability. The corona is rather larger, and we're actually just inside it, so our radiation count is thirty percent higher, but not enough to cause any problems for us."
"Did you notice anything else about this system that might be of any consequence?"
"Negative."
"Understood." Xenogears closed the channel and leaned back in her chair. The scattered subconsoles stacked neatly on her desk were blank, now. Everything that needed to be done was done, and at last she could rest.
She wondered where Razorback was.
"Right here," he said as he entered waving a stack of metaplas. "Xena," he said, coming close to her and kissing her.
"Mmm. Hi," she said, smiling.
"Hi yourself. Take a look at this." He handed the sheets to her.
"Interesting," Xenogears said as she scanned the page quickly. "Very interesting. This is a journal, not so?"
"Looks like one. Any clue how to work the cipher? My comp is clueless."
She scanned the next page. "There is a pattern," she said. "You will notice that only the first sixteen letters of the alphabet are used, and that each letter is paired with another. It is written in hexadecimal code."
Razorback's interest sharpened. "Oh really...? Can you convert the code to numerics?"
"In zero-to-F notation, the first word is 03-1A-03-0C-05-14. This could be..."
"Cycles," Razorback said. "That's the word."
"Yes. Third letter, twenty-fifth letter, third letter, twelveth letter, fifth letter, nineteenth letter. But the next word is apparently written in another cipher."
"Ah damn. A word-by-word cipher?"
"Yes... this is strange. Very strange. Where did you find this?"
"There was a printer, in a tunnel branching off Three."
Xenogears just shook her head. "I see. I won't even bother trying to figure it out. Let's scan this and see if this machine can do the job."
"I have a funny feeling that isn't a good idea."
"I will sever the links to the colony network so in case the code contains anything damaging--"
She stopped as a flash of light illuminated the darkened room. They both spun toward the source of the light, on the room's back wall.
"Hey, Xeno, Razor!" Delithita said breathlessly. "You have to come..."
She stopped, and blinked as she looked around and figured out where she was.
"Delithita?" Xeno said quietly. "Are you aware that you just walked out of a solid wall?"
