Next was the üigtec (WEEG, clerk). If the supervisor was in charge of minding the machines, he was in charge of minding all the people on board. His name was Dich (DEESH), and he was Loüass Sazoïr (Quartermaster Deca-commander). His reddish eyes gleamed with a quiet serenity.
The Ruse (ROOSEH, Vice-Captain) cum almrilbigac (AHLMREELBEEGA, senior navigator) was Deca-commander Rairia. He was a man with a light blue moustache, and a chiseled visage. His smile lent him a friendly and approachable image.
The almtlaciac (AHLM’TLAHKEEA, senior gunner) was Sarrych (SAHRYOOSH), who was also a raicléc (REKLEH, vanguard starpilot). His surname indicated he was a member of a family with a distinguished history even among the Abh, and his eyes were as sharp as a razor.
Lastly, there was the almdrociac (AHLMDROHKEEA, senior communications officer). Her name was Ynséryac (YOONSERYOOA, and she too was a vanguard starpilot. Her hair could only be described as the type of blue one imagines when thinking of it as a primary color, and as for her demeanor, she exuded a calm composure.
They were all Abh, and they looked like they were in their mid-20s. There was no way to tell their actual ages.
“We will depart at once,” said Lexshue once the time for introductions concluded. “Once again, we would be honored if you could accompany us to the gahorh (GAH’HORR, ship’s bridge), if you would be amenable?”
“Of course, my pleasure,” answered Jinto. He glimpsed at the vessel behind him. Lafier still hadn’t exited it.
“Your luggage will be brought to your room by NCCs,” said Lexshue, apparently misconstruing why Jinto had looked back.
“Ah, right... thank you.”
“Now please, it’s this way.” Lexshue pointed the way.
If this had been Delktu, Lexshue would have been appraised as a peerless beauty. While her golden eyes were peculiar, they did nothing to harm her charms. In fact, they only accentuated them.
It wasn’t that Jinto wasn’t used to girls — he’d learned how to conduct himself around people of the female persuasion on Delktu. Now, beautiful older ladies... Those were harder to deal with. The fact that the beautiful lady in question was also the commander of a warship only made her even more arresting.
His place walking beside the Captain had been wordlessly prepared for him, and he kept pace shoulder-to-shoulder with her, but he felt really uncomfortable. That was only exacerbated by the five high-ranked starpilots following in their wake like a gaggle of squires. The “daimon” standard gravity level of the Abh was around half the intensity of what Jinto was used to — and yet, his gait was prone to becoming sluggish.
The bridge was semicircular. Taking into account how the upper portion of the walls was slightly curved, he thought the interior could well be spherical in shape. The floor was two-tiered, while the outer part was one tier lower.
“Lonh-Ïarlucec Dreur Haïder and Captain!” reported the sach laitfaicr (SAHSH LETFEK, escort NCC) assigned to the bridge. Jinto followed the captain onto the tall-centered semicircle.
Nine starpilots stood at attention and gave Jinto a welcoming salute.
“Please, over here.” Hecto-commander Lexshue invited him to take a seat that had been, by all appearances, provided for him on a temporary basis.
“Thank you very much.” Jinto nodded and seated himself.
When the captain took a seat, the other starpilots followed suit. The four high-ranked starpilots also entered the bridge and settled into their posts. Twelve of the officers headed toward the cloüc (KLOH’OO, console) so as to encircle their captain. The other two, Supervisor Gymryac and Clerk Dich, turned their backs to the captain and took seats at the front.
“Show video of the outside.” In accordance with Lexshue’s command, the walls morphed into the star-speckled reaches of space.
Since the starpilots, including the captain, had the access-cables of their circlets connected, that gesture must have been done out of consideration for Jinto and his lack of frocragh spatiosensory perception.
“Prepare for departure.” The Hecto-commander’s voice cracked through the air like a whip.
Jinto couldn’t muster the desire to scrutinize the way they worked with affected detachment; he huddled up in his chair. He felt like some mischievous little scamp who’d barged into the wrong place.
“All engines in order,” reported Engineering Deca-commander Gymryac.
“Interior environment in order,” said Quartermaster Deca-commander Dich.
“Preparations complete for steering.” Vanguard Starpilot Sarrych equipped the control glove.
“Permission received from the Flight Control of the Vorlash Countdom to cross the saudec (SOHD, gate).”
“The permitted time is 15:27:12 by ship’s time,” reported Vanguard Starpilot Ynséryac.
“Ready for departure.” Executive Officer Reiria reported the final announcement.
“Very good.” The captain nodded. “Accelerate at daimon-force 6, toward the Saudec Bhoracec (SOHD VORLAHK, Vorlash Gate).”
Vanguard Sarrych heard her orders. “Veering toward 17-62-55.”
“Authorized,” Lexshue replied.
Thanks to the artificial gravity on board, he couldn’t feel any tremors induced by attitude control. However, the broad swaying of the stars was ample proof that the giant warship had moved its muzzle. Jinto craned his neck from the back of his chair, and was met with the sight of Delktu as a tiny speck.
“Attitude control complete.”
“Daïsairé (DAEESEHREH, setting sail)!”
The patrol ship vibrated lightly at her word. Water flooded into the flisésïac (FLEESESEEA, matter-antimatter-annihilation engine). A stream of antiprotons shot into the water; where the matter and antimatter collided, they voraciously devoured one another, unbinding energy in their wake. All the matter that failed to collide with antimatter absorbed the energy, leapt into empty space, and kicked the enormous ship into motion from the recoil. That was what caused the vibrations.
“Is all this travel wearisome?” Lexshue asked him, concern in her voice.
“Absolutely not,” responded Jinto, quite truthfully. “It’s my first time experiencing this, so I find it fascinating.”
“Do you have any questions for us?”
“Yes.” After some thought, Jinto had come up with a question he deemed safe to ask. “From the introductions earlier, I thought that Vanguard Sarrych was the senior gunner, but now I understand he’s also in charge of steering. Do all gunners also steer?”
“Correct. Steering while in dadh (DAHDTH, normal space) is a gunner’s job. That’s because for patrol ships, steering and battle maneuvers are closely intertwined.”
“I see. I, uh, have another question, if it’s all right...”
“What is it?”
“I was under the impression that clerks do clerical office work. I’ve noticed they have duties on the bridge as well, though.”
“Well observed. They are responsible for checking on whether the gravity control is regular, or whether the interior pressurization is holding. However, they are usually only on the bridge during takeoff and landing, or during battle. Otherwise they’re typically in the secretarial rooms, performing their operational tasks.”
“What do those ‘operational tasks’ they carry out in the secretarial rooms entail?”
“Ahh, you must be all the more interested in that department given that’s where your future will be, Lonh. I’m certain you would learn more asking Dich directly, but...” While he was (somewhat awkwardly) maintaining a conversation with Lexshue, he discovered that the starpilot was, in fact, a kind-hearted woman.
There was, however, a barrier. The captain never broke away from her pointedly courteous comportment, and Jinto, for his part, lacked the courage to dispense with it and slip into more vulgar speech.
Hecto-commander Lexshue was earnest by nature, and she tried to answer Jinto’s queries as much as she could. Though he felt like he was being treated like a child from time to time, that
didn’t bother him. Jinto knew he still had so much to learn about Abh culture.
At last, Deca-commander Reiria’s report came in. “Three minutes until gate transit.”
“I apologize for interrupting our conversation,” said the captain. “Activate the flasath (FLAHSAHTH, space-time bubble),” she ordered.
“Flasatiac (FLAHSAHTEEA, space-time bubble engine) in order,” said Engineering Deca-commander Gymryac.
“Flasath activation confirmed.” The footage in front of them showed a multitude of Vorlash gates. This was the second configuration of yuanons.
The Abh called the first form of yuanons — like the ones packed in the propulsion engine of the Leif Erikson—”saudec lœza” (SOHD LEHZA, closed gate). The second shape yuanons could take, the phosphorescent, spherical pockets of space a mere sedagh in diameter each, was called “saudec graca” (SOHD GRAHKA, open gate), or simply saudec.
“One minute until gate transit.”
“Start counting down by the second at E-minus thirty,” ordered the Captain.
“Roger.”
By the time the countdown commenced, the stars ahead became shrouded in the gentle light of the gates.
“......five, four, three, two, one, traversing.”
Passing through the gate did not cause any turbulence on impact, but the video of the outside changed completely. Gone was the phosphorescent light. So too did the stars and heavens vanish. A vast ashen sky was all the eye could see.
The secret of faster-than-light travel lay in so-called fadh (FAHDTH, flat space), which was governed by different physical laws than dadh or “normal” space. As the name might suggest, it was a cosmic fabric made up of two-dimensional space and one-dimensional time. The interstellar spaceships of the Abh wrapped themselves in space-time bubbles to cross this abnormal space. Time-space bubbles were shreds of normal space; just as compacted sixth-dimensional continuous bodies exist within fourth-dimensional space-time, they were permitted to exist within “flat space.”
The patrol ship Goslauth was now in a space apart from space. If an observer within this space were to look at the patrol ship, all they would be able to “see” would be a meager little floating atom.
In that moment, Jinto knew that no matter what kind of calamity the “normal space” of dadh was hit with, he would have no way of knowing — and that made him shudder.
“Confirm position,” the Captain commanded, and Jinto turned around. “Are you aware that we do not know our current position?”
“What do you mean?”
“When shifting from dadh to fadh,” began Hecto-commander Lexshue, explaining the basics of sotfairh fadhotr (SOHTFEHRR FAHDTHOHT, theory of flat space navigation), “and vice versa, we can only know our position probabilistically. You have heard the term ‘probabilistic’ before, I trust?”
“It’s the fancy word for ‘hit-or-miss,’” he said with evident pride.
“That’s not too far off,” the captain nodded. “The interior of the gate corresponds to flat space, and the exterior to normal space. But we aren’t sure of our exact location. Gates often draw imperfect helical curves upon flat space, but we’re not privy onto which part of those curves we will appear.”
“Confirmation of position complete,” reported the senior navigator.
“Right bank, 117-92 from the terminal edge.”
Two-dimensional video showed up on the floor. The interior of the gate, shaped like a distorted helix, contained a point of shining blue light. That was the present position of the patrol ship Goslauth.
“Assume complete noctamh (NOHKTAHF, mobile-state) at 280 degrees.” After the captain issued her orders, she asked Jinto, “Do you know of mobile-state and scobrtamh (SKORTAHF, stationary-state)?”
“Yes. That much I do know,” said Jinto. He may have been headed to the Quartermasters’ Department, but one needed to know at least that much to earn academy admittance. Although when it came to the nitty-gritty mathematics of these things, he could but throw up his arms in surrender.
If there were an observer in flat space, they would see the space-time bubble as a particle — an elementary particle that gradually shed its mass. This elementary particle could take two states. They were noctamh and scobrtamh.
An easy way to grasp the concept would be to imagine a sphere rotating on the floor. If the axis of rotation is made vertical to the floor, then that sphere will remain at that spot. With a horizontal axis of rotation, the sphere rolls across the floor. The vertical-axis example is to scobrtamh or the stationary-state, as the horizontal-axis example is to noctamh or the mobile-state. (There is no equivalent state for a diagonal axis of rotation.)
When in the mobile-state, the direction of the rotational axis can be freely determined. Moreover, the two states can be switched between instantaneously, thereby allowing one to adjust the velocity as well.
What one mustn’t forget is that whether staying in one place or rolling, it is always itself rotating. In other words, it expends a fixed amount of energy over time.
“Navigating from here onwards is the navigator’s job,” Lexshue murmured, pointing to Reiria. “Our destination is Saudec Sfagnaumr (SOHD SFAHGNOHM, Sfagnoff Gate).
Chart a course.”
A blue, dotted line crossing near the distorted helix appeared near-instantly. Reiria looked up at the captain and said, “Course calculations complete.”
“Acknowledged.” Hecto-commander Lexshue nodded, and said “I leave the rest to you, Reiria. Place us on course.”
“Roger, Captain. Leave it to me.”
The blip of light indicating their current position tried to crawl out from the helix’s interior to the newly accessible area. A green blip of light appeared on the borderline of the helix and began to move. Another green blip passed the blue one by, headed toward the helix. It was a ship headed toward the Countdom of Vorlash. In that time, the blue blip reached the dotted line and started tracing it.
“We’ve converged on the course, Captain,” said Reiria.
“Very good. All hands relieved of preparation duties. Shift to primary response stance,” said the Hecto-commander as she stowed away her access-cable.
The starpilots on the bridge stood up. Only three remained seated. The starpilots saluted her before exiting the room, and Hecto-commander Lexshue stood up to salute them back.
Jinto, unsure of how he should behave in the meantime, just fidgeted in his seat.
“Lonh.” The captain had once again taken a seat. “Despite this being your first experience of such space travel, I believe you will find it quite dull from this point on. The starpilots on duty will remain gloomy and silent, absorbed in the task of scanning the equipment for possible malfunctions. Please allow me to show you to your room.”
But Jinto had made up his mind. “No, Captain, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to continue our conversation.”
“It would be my pleasure, Lonh. I myself find times like these tedious. But what is it you would like to discuss?”
“Do you know of the origins of the Countdom of Hyde?”
“I do. Its conquest was the topic of much talk, after all.” From how she spoke, one might assume the words “conquest” or “invasion” had no negative connotations associated with them. Maybe they just didn’t sound distasteful to her when it was Abhs at the helm of those conquests.
“Then I’m sure you’re already aware, but I really don’t know how to act like a noble.”
“Is that true?” she said, apparently surprised.
“That’s right. I’m lost, honestly. I never learned that kind of stuff.”
“You mean you didn’t associate with the family of the Count of Vorlash?”
“I didn’t, no.” The Count of Vorlash had shown no interest whatsoever in the heir to the Count of Hyde residing in his territory. Nor had Jinto ever harbored any desire to pay the garich (GAHREESH, orbital estate) a visit. “They never extended an invitation.”
“So you’re trying to say that you don�
��t know how best to interact with us?”
“Yes, that’s right,” nodded Jinto. “To strike up a conversation this heavy with a nice lady I just met... tell me if it’s too much trouble...”
“It’s no trouble,” said Lexshue gleefully. “It’s not often at all that gentry gets to dictate the behavior of a grandee!”
“So is my, uh, attitude all wrong? Is a grandee supposed to you know, act big or something?”
“You could certainly get away with it,” said the Hecto-commander. “At the cost of being disliked. Is that all?”
“I’m glad. That means I’m not acting that strange.”
“No.” Lexshue crossed her arms. “Though to tell you the truth, you do come across a tad eccentric. Eccentricity is not always necessarily deserving of criticism, of course.”
“Haha...” Jinto could feel all his self-confidence suddenly dissipate. “Umm, what exactly is a grandee who’s not ‘eccentric’ like?”
“They do have something of an air of dignity about them.”
“I knew it,” said Jinto, deflated.
“How you are, though, is much preferable to nobles who go overboard with the overweening pride, Lonh.”
“Thank you very much.” But not even the Captain’s consoling words could heal Jinto’s heart.
“You do realize that your standing in society is higher than mine, yes?”
“Actually, that’s something I’m a little fuzzy on, too. You’ve been very polite to me this whole time, Captain, but I really don’t feel worthy of that courtesy.”
“Is that so?” The captain seemed perplexed. It was the puzzlement of someone who didn’t quite know how to interact with a person this extremely clueless.
“I mean, I understand the hierarchy of the different noble ranks. What’s never made much sense to me, no matter how much I looked into it, is how those noble ranks relate with their social status. In fact, the more I researched, the harder it became to understand. It’s often the case all across the Empire that nobles work under gentry, for one.”
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