“Fine.” Gina nodded, as if that made her point. “So if these trunk nodes can connect to JEVEX from light-years away, why can’t
VISAR?”
Murray nodded slowly as he followed the gist, regarding Gina in a more approving light. “You mean, like it could drown javelin out? They wind up the power, and it muscles in?”
“Something like that,” Gina said.
Murray turned his head toward Hunt. “Sounds like a good question to me, Doc. Why not?”
“It isn’t like swamping a radio with a stronger signal,” Hunt explained. “The link terminations on Uttan aren’t simply passive devices that VISAR can force its way into. The nodes here on Jevlen have to be set to a resonance mode that enables them interact with the other end.”
“You mean, like tuning a radio?” Gina said.
“Mom. . . you could think of it that way. It means that VISAR would have to match JEVEX’s operating parameters as set on Uttan.”
“Oh.” Gina propped herself back against the door and contemplated the far wall. She seemed reluctant to abandon her line of thought without at least some token of a fight. “And VISAR couldn’t match them?” she- tried. “Wouldn’t it be like seizing a radio channel with a transmission on the same frequency?”
“I suppose it could—if you knew what they were set to on Uttan,” Hunt said. “But Eubeleus is hardly going to publicize that, is he?” He spread his hands, at the same time sighing in a way that mixed genuine regret with respect for her tenacity. “And even then, it wouldn’t be enough. There’s also an involved coding procedure. When we were upstairs in Osaya’s, Eesyan said that the i—space links would be secured against external penetration. That was what he meant. In other words, after what happened last time they’ll be ready for it.”
“Hmm.” Gina folded her arms and stared down at the floor, stuck for a follow-on but still unwilling to concede. Silence fell upon the room like settling dust.
Then Murray said, “So what did he mean about VISAR getting to JEVEX from the inside? How was that supposed to happen?”
Hunt shrugged. “I don’t know. That was about when he was cut off, wasn’t it?’’
“You say that he said something about it having to be done by us, here on Jevlen?” Danchekker said.
Gina looked up. “Because the nodes here will be coded to interact withJEVEX,” she said, stepping forward and sounding insistent again as a new angle presented itself.
Danchekker nodded distantly. “The parameters for connecting to VISAR are public knowledge. So two channels, one into each system, could be established from here.”
Gina looked around, gesturing excitedly. “And if they could be connected together, before JEVEX is fully operational, the way Eesyan said . . .“ She stood, inviting them to complete the rest for themselves.
“Not bad,” Hunt complimented. “But there’s still a small problem with it. I’m sorry to sound negative and all that, but you’re forgetting that Eubeleus’s people control the nodes. I mean, yes, they’ve obviously got the information to close a line into JEVEX. And as Chris says, anyone with the equipment can get access to VISAR, too. But we don’t have any. And the people who do aren’t likely to be very cooperative. In fact, now that the Ganymeans are out of the way, I don’t think you’d even get near one of their sites with a combat assault team. And personally I can’t think of anyone who’d set up the access codes to Uttan for us, even if we did get inside one. Can you?” Gina stood staring at him with an expression that almost accused him of having created the problem. Then she seemed to deflate visibly. “No,” she confessed heavily, turning away. “I can’t.”
“I can,” Murray said.
A second or two went by before Hunt registered it. “Who?” he asked, swinging his head around at the unexpected response.
Murray shrugged and pulled a face that said if he had missed something obvious and was being stupid, it was just too bad. “Well, you’re the scientists . . . but what’s wrong with the Ichena?”
Hunt stared at him as if he had just sprouted another head. It was a possibility that had not crossed Hunt’s mind. “The Ichena?” he repeated.