by Simon Bown
Sutton scrunched up her toes and clenched her fists under the table.
“I would like to thank my assistants for giving all the minor help they were capable of, especially Sutton Courtney the team leader. Opening a wormhole in such a difficult position and sending an intense gravity particle across several light years is not going to be easy and I have to say so far they haven‘t hampered me as much as I thought they would.”
Angry thoughts circled Sutton’s mind. I’m the chief engineer you idiot and you are our guest. We are not your assistants.
“And now if you would like to follow me I’ll show you into the main control centre.” Carlton exited out of the room and was followed by his audience.
Relief was conspicuous on all of Sutton’s team’s faces. She smiled and started the meeting proper. “I know everything is in place I just want to check on a couple of things. Jack have you got the final readings on the neutronium fragment?”
The young blond physicist Jack Rosa leaned forward and nervously replied. “The item is ten yards in diameter and weighs in at point zero zero zero one four solar masses, that is the gravitational mass and not the Baryonic mass.” He sat back and shrunk into his ill-fitting jacket.
“Thank you Jack. Exotics?” Sutton called out.
“Yes, I’m here.” Gary Nonna the quantum specialist raised his hand.
“Are you ready to apply the fine sensors here?”
“We are ready, if there are any pion condensates, Lambda hyperons, Delta isobars or quark-gluon plasmas we will find them.”
“A simple yes would have been enough.” Sutton said. The room laughed and she was glad to see her crew were lightening up ahead of the day’s stressful events. “We will be going ahead as scheduled at ten am. Are there any further questions?”
Jack Rosa raised his hand.
“Yes Jack?”
“Will we have all those people breathing down our necks in the control room?” He asked nervously.
“No. Absolutely not. I’ve talked to the chairman about this, Carlton wanted the media in there but they have been put back to the observation lounge. I know I can trust all of you to do a great job. If we can put up with Carlton for this long, we can do anything. I’m going to get changed I’ll meet you later.” Sutton got up from her seat and made her way to her cabin.
The grand gallery control centre consisted of a vast array of sensor suites controlled by specialists in every field of astrophysics, quantum physics and graviton waveform cosmology.
Carlton joined Sutton at the back of the room. “Hello Sutton. How are you feeling? Are you glad to be here to witness history?” He asked arrogantly.
“If it works the way you say it will I’ll be proud to have been a part of it.” Sutton made a point of looking away from him as she organized her desk.
“I hear you’re retiring after this. You timed it to leave after working with me. Marvellous for you to go out in a blaze of glory.”
“I started planning my retirement twenty years ago, the fact that it happens to occur now is a coincidence. I wouldn’t congratulate myself if I was you.” Sutton struggled to keep her temper. She checked the clock, it was time. She switched the intercom to general call. “Ok people the time is here, stay alert and concentrate.” She called to each specialist by their department. “Reactors, percentage please?”
“Reactors here. We are at ninety-six percent.”
“Gravity emitters?”
“Gravity here. Emitters on standby, inducers at optimum temperature.”
“Exotics?”
“Exotics here. Sensors deployed and operational.”
As Sutton continued with her department systems check list she was aware of Carlton at his own display double checking that everything was as reported. A flash of anger shot through her. He can’t even trust us with a basic roll call she thought.
The entire crew reported a go status and Sutton waited for Carlton to start up his terminal. Instead he stood up, held her elbow and moved her aside. He then helped himself to her position. She glared at the chairman who opened a private channel to her head set.
“Sorry Sutton there is nothing I can do. I know he is an arrogant pain in the ass but half the Amalgam is watching us right now. I‘m afraid you‘ll just have to put up with him for another few hours.”
“Sutton, I have something unusual.” It was Jack Rosa, his face had filled up in a tremendous blush, Sutton knew he wouldn’t have made himself the centre attention unless it was very important.
“What have you got Jack?” She asked.
“There is a wormhole opening in orbit right over our position, I think it’s the Mezzyima.”
“Imaging can you give us a view?”
The main display at the centre of the gallery flickered for a moment before the picture changed to the unmistakable sight of an artificial wormhole tearing open. The gap expanded and three black, ovoid Mezzyima ships emerged in a perfect triangular formation.
Sutton thought things couldn’t get any worse. “What do they want?” She muttered to herself. “Is anyone getting any contact with them? Where’s Heital?”
“I’m here.” Heital Schmidt the group’s strongest telepath waved from the chairman’s observation platform. “I have attempted contact but there is no response.”
A private connection came through on Sutton’s head set. “Sutton, Carlton. This is the chairman. I suggest we continue they are probably only here to observe. If we get into trouble I’m sure they will step in and help us out.”
“Well I’m sure there won’t be any problems…” Carlton said.
Sutton interrupted and addressed the room. “I’m going to hand over to Carlton now.” She stepped back and allowed him forward.
Carlton looked into the main media camera and smiled. “Initiate gravity emitters.” He remained standing and watched the central display as the pseudo four dimensional graphics showed the gravity beam slice into the planet’s crust and tear open a small wormhole. “Gravity, you may widen the beam and activate my protocols.”
The gravity beam on the display turned from blue to red. Tiny pockets of the planet’s crust collapsed around the original impact crater as the mouth of the wormhole quickly cut deep into the planet.
Jack Rosa reported on the wormhole’s progress. “Neutronium fragment is in range, size and mass within expected parameters.”
Two smaller displays showed figures rising in a blur. The wormhole expanded rapidly in a perfect circle creating a large pocket in the previously circular cavity.
“We have the mouth of the wormhole over the fragment and holding position.” Jack Rosa said. “Carlton we are awaiting your conformation.”
Carlton sat at the display and checked the position. “You may continue.”
A display at the top right of the gallery turned red and a warning flashed across its top half. “Carlton, this is reactors. I have a sharp rise in temperature. Power demand is rising faster than projected. It’s outside the safe limits. Can you check it please?”
“I’m sure it is fine but I’ll just have a quick look.” Carlton sat down and tapped some commands into the terminal, his central display changed to show the reactor monitor network. The same red warning pulsed in front of him. He looked at it for a moment with his hand over his mouth.
His indecision was obvious to Sutton and she looked up at the chairman who was surrounded by media reporters. He called something out to the officers behind him and a group of security men appeared and quickly removed the journalists from his platform.
A call from the chairman came through to Sutton and Carlton. “What’s going on down there?” He was clearly very worried.
Sutton studied the display and replied. “It looks like the energy needed is beyond our capability. The power drain is pushing the reactors over their design tolerance. I recommend we stop immediately.”
“No no no. We have to continue.” Carlton got up from his seat. “It will be fine,” he insisted.
Every dis
play in the gallery switched to the same glaring red message, ‘Emergency Reactor Shutdown’.
“Don’t worry I’ll fix it.” Carlton called out. He accessed the main reactor controls and aborted the shutdown.
“What are you doing? “Sutton was furious. She tried to stop him but found herself locked out of the reactor system.
An intense blue gravity beam extended from each Mezzyima ship and intersected the planet-locked wormhole. The active incursion stabilised the circumference and held the neutronium particle in a web of interconnected energy strands. A ball of vibrant red plasma dropped from the Mezzyima and covered the operations building.
“Jack, what are they doing?” Sutton asked.
Jack Rosa worked at his terminal and studied the results. “I think they’ve put a radiation shield over us, if the reactor fails the population will be protected.”
“What about us? We’re right on top of the reactor.” Carlton asked panicked.
Sutton looked at his worried expression, the red warning message cast a deep colourful glow across his face and for the first time since she had met him he appeared ordinary and fearful. “You have to unlock the reactor controls and shut it down.” She said.
“I don’t know if I can.” He sat at the terminal and struggled to type in the bypass with his shaking hands.
“Heital?” she called out. “Why have the Mezzyima not protected us?”
“They say we should have taken adequate precautions. I think they are punishing us.” Heital sighed. “They are not going to let us out until the reactor is safe or it collapses.”
A shrill siren cut into the conversation alerting the room to the reactor’s failure. A radiation count appeared on the main display along with a warning message to evacuate.
Carlton jumped up from his seat but found himself blocked by Sutton. “I have to leave. Let me out.” He said fearfully.
“Shut down the reactor.” Sutton was angry. She pushed him backwards and he fell into the chair.
He looked up to see the media cameras all focussed on him. The terminal keyboard shifted with his first clumsy finger stroke, he pulled it back into position and typed in several commands. Sweat dripped from his forehead, down his nose and onto the desk.
Sutton sat and shared her attention between the reactor desk’s efforts to shut down the overload and Carlton’s incompetence. “Heital!” she called out. “Ask the Mezzyima for help.” She was becoming angry and desperate. The Mezzyima had always been portrayed as friends of the human race and an act of deliberate injury was not expected.
“They are not going to do anything. It seems like they are quite happy for us to learn our lesson,” he replied.
A sudden leaden headache swamped her and she lost her clarity of thought, the room now wavering and sounds echoed and boomed incoherently. The loud thud of Carlton’s head hitting the desk reverberated through her skull repeating continuously until it dissipated into a high-pitched hiss. She collapsed forward off her chair and rolled onto her back watching the flashing red warning light illuminate the ceiling. An amplified warning message cut through her dreadful, altered perception to make a terrifying impression on her. ‘Radiation at fatal level, evacuate immediately’. Finally, her vision failed and she lost consciousness.
Three years later
He was late but then dealing with these sort of people she didn’t expect professionalism or punctuality. Water dripped off the door frame onto her hood and she stepped back into the shadow of the doorway. The rain increased in intensity and she found the draft blowing droplets across her legs. At least she was well sheltered from the street lights.
The man crossed the street under a light and walked directly toward her. The collar of his black raincoat was turned up to hide most of his face and as he got closer he pulled his hat down tight over his forehead.
He was finally here. Sutton looked into his eyes and scanned his face. He was thinner than she expected and older. His grey flecked beard covered most of his scarred face and she noticed his prison tattoo rising up from under his grubby collar.
“Follow me.” He said.
Sutton stepped out of the doorway, her robotic prosthetics aiding both her left leg and left arm as she followed him through the rain. He turned into an alleyway where he stopped, pulled a small device from his coat pocket and scanned the street.
He was satisfied with the results and pulled Sutton further into the darkness. “Do you have the money?” He asked.
“Of course.” Sutton replied.
He grimaced as he caught sight of her scarred face.
“You’re no oil painting either.” She said.
He smiled. “I have what you want up here.” After climbing an old steel fire escape he used a high technology subsonic key to open a dirty window and climbed through into a well-kept spotless laboratory. He waited as Sutton struggled to get into the room. The robotics helped her in most things but they were not designed for climbing through windows.
“First you show me the money,” he demanded.
Sutton opened her coat to pull the bag of cash from her inside pocket. She watched him as he scowled when he first noticed her withered limbs and then looked a little alarmed at the sight of her plasma pistol.
He studied her wasted form. “What happened to you?” Both shock and disgust clear in his voice.
“Have you got the antimatter or not?”
He pulled a steel strong box out of an adjacent room and opened the lid. Inside, packed in a small gravity web, lay a mirrored globe. “It’s in here.” He turned the box around to face Sutton.
She opened the control flap and instructed the holding software to run a quick assessment of the contents. The system confirmed the container housed one gram of antimatter.
“What are you going to do with it?” He asked.
“None of your business. Just make sure you are nowhere near the Mezzyima embassy on Prime next month.” She said.
“Oh now you didn’t say anything about using this for a bomb, I don’t mind selling you this stuff for use in your own reactor but killing people is not what I’m about.” He stepped forward to close the lid of the strong box.
Sutton lifted the plasma weapon and aimed it at his head. “I have designed a trigger that will detonate the device when the Mezzyima open a wormhole. Most of the blast will travel back up the wormhole to them.”
“Most of the blast? But what reason have you got to attack the Mezzyima?” He stepped back away from the gun.
Sutton shouted at him. “Look at me.” She dropped her coat from her shoulders and lifted her emaciated arm. “They did this to me, they could have saved me from this.”
As he looked into her eyes it became clear he had made a startling realisation. “Sutton Courtney,” he whispered.
“I wish you hadn’t said that.” Sutton depressed the activation stud on the gun. She closed the strong box lid and locked it. A telepathic essence slowly encroached upon her awareness, the clarity and pureness of the contact was like nothing she had experienced before.
“Sutton Courtney. I have been watching you.”
The voice originated in the centre of her mind and floated through her senses as a silk thread. A fear gripped her and she turned to look around the room. “Who are you?” She called out, still turning and searching intently with the gun directed ahead of her.
“I am Teafu. I have a proposition for you.”
“I don‘t know you, I’ve never heard your name. What do you want?” Sutton was becoming increasingly worried, she heard footsteps climbing the fire escape outside the window. She turned and aimed the gun ready to fire on the intruder. A face, then a hand appeared on the windowsill. “Stay where you are,” she commanded. The man continued to enter. Sutton was unable to trigger the weapon, she had become frozen in position. A telekinetic hold had completely immobilised her body.
“I like your anger. I can put it to use.” Teafu said. He climbed in and slowly approached Sutton all the time making it clear he w
as looking at her dishevelled body. “I can help regenerate your body, put it back the way it was before the accident on Kurts. All I need is your help dealing with the Mezzyima.”
Sutton was released from the awful telekinetic grip. She looked into his eyes and was chilled by the lack of life there. “No one can heal me, my body is beyond medical help.”
Teafu seized her withered hand and stabbed it with a medical infuser. He took a step back and smiled. “Give your help to me and you will have your vengeance.”
Sutton lifted her hand and rubbed at the small punctures left by Teafu‘s unwanted injection. An energy spread from the small wound and she found movement easy and without pain. The skin loosened around her bones leaving a younger texture. “What have you injected?” She asked.
“The blood of an immortal, for you it will act as a fountain of youth. After several more injections your body will be returned to full health. Will you join me?”
Sutton deactivated the robotic prosthetic around her wrist and flexed her hand, it moved with a looseness she had not felt since the accident. “If you can supply me with the immortal blood and you will help me fight the Mezzyima then yes I am with you.”
CONTACT & DEVELOPMENT
(Current Time)
The monsoon rains continued to fall on Jenson Sollers small island home, pounding on the tall wooden roof in a barrage of small, excited droplets. The sunset had achieved a stunning crimson glow and the striking, colourful sight served to heighten his primitive human awe of nature. Large open windows allowed the breeze to play with the long linen curtains. Jenson sat in the centre of his bed for a short time watching the sublime movement. He closed his eyes, relaxed his muscles and moved into the realm of the mind. All shimmering in the psychic landscape ceased as his awareness reached its zenith, without sensation and without fear he gave away all influence to the ultra-natural. This practised meditation, an ability only available to the immortals, gave Jenson an expansion to his telepathic powers far beyond the human norm. Boundless perception, untainted by his personality, allowed an insight both precise and complete. The universe opened to his meticulous search and he swept the heavens with an unlimited sensitivity. He searched the Galaxy to pinpoint Brightwell Baldwin and so confirm the location of Teafu. A trace of Brightwell’s psyche caught his attention but the connection was far too weak. A link should be easily established but no hint of a rational mind was apparent.