by Simon Bown
Crimson and violet light flashed across the ship as a form of cosmic energy unknown to Teafu’s instruments buffeted the ship.
Teafu reported again. “We are being pulled by some sort of odd gravity wave. It is taking us into a new rift. Secure your crash web, I will try and shield our minds.”
The rift opened in a sudden violent expansion, powerful gravity waves pounding the ship as it passed through the opening into normal space.
No Mezzyima and no armada awaited their return. The stabilizing systems had failed to come online leaving the ship tumbling through space and unable to line up on any pulsars that would help them identify their location.
Weedon struggled with the controls to give them even a semblance of level flight.
The crash web securing Teafu at the navigator’s seat would not release him until his seventh attempt. Flashing red icons lit up his display panel with a depressing enthusiasm. “Weedon could I have a status report now please?” he asked.
Weedon got up and examined the engineering display. He replied in a despondent monotone. “The main engines will need a large amount of work before they will function. Our secondary thrusters are functioning only sporadically but when they do it is at only twenty percent. Life support is working well where it is working and artificial gravity is random and unpredictable across the ship. The infirmary is at ninety percent and Sutton is in good condition considering what we have been through.”
Teafu nodded. “What about setting down on a planet? Is there anything nearby we could use as an emergency repair base?”
Weedon was becoming irritated by Teafu’s offhand manner. “We don’t have enough information to work out where we are. I have no idea if there is a planet near us. If you hadn’t decided on leaping into oblivion we might have been able to jump clear of the Mezzyima.”
Teafu turned and looked Weedon in the eyes. “It was a desperate situation I had to think quickly.”
“Ideas inspired by desperate situations rarely produce favourable results.”
Teafu looked at Weedon and frowned. They had just survived being transported across the galaxy, possibly the largest jump anybody had ever accomplished and now Weedon was complaining. “Perhaps a positive outlook would be advantageous at this point.”
Weedon picked up an emergency engineering kit and shouted over his shoulder as he left the bridge. “If you want to find a planet to set down on I suggest you look out the window.”
To feel more comfortable Teafu decreased the gravity on the bridge and settled into a deep meditation.
The infirmary’s sterile ambiance echoed the foul menace of an obscene operating theatre as the emergency lighting’s crimson glare coloured its entirety in an absurd blood red glow.
Weedon glided closer to Sutton wary of the hazards of weightless movement in such a delicate area. All the medical systems connected to Sutton indicated a slow recovery in progress and he decided to leave her sedated to aid recovery. Shifting between weightless and gravity stable areas of the ship caused some uncomfortable sensations and he was starting to feel nauseated. A lack of a full recovery from the temporal assault was contributing to his dazed thought process and he took his time making his way to the engines.
Teafu way enjoying his search of the local star systems a joy now that he didn’t have to keep a permanent telepathic shield in place. Travelling through the stars at the speed of thought was easing his mind from the stress of the temporal shock. As painful as it had been it gave him an insight into gravity’s effects on space time. His first search for a planet of refuge in the two nearest star systems found nothing capable of sustaining life. He then broadened his search beyond the ship’s immediate travel capabilities to a system twelve light years distant. The forth planet had recently had its eco system destroyed by a cometary strike. He was drawn to the third planet as he became aware of its enormous population. The odd thing was the almost complete lack of telepathic potential. Billions of beings completely reliant on speech as a means of communication, a disturbing thought, particularly for a being with Teafu’s extrasensory talent. Closer inspection revealed a complex society on the edge of space travel. He circled the planet looking for a deserted area to land and set up a temporary base. The most isolated place was the southern polar region. Covered in ice and lacking any real indigenous intelligent presence made it the obvious choice. Satellites and a crude space station orbiting the planet made leaving the star-ship in orbit impossible to avoid it being detected. A soft landing on the dark side of the planet’s only moon was the best option to hide the star-ship. They could then use the space plane to land on the planet.
Teafu brought himself up out of the meditation and made his way to the infirmary to awaken Sutton. After he had restored gravity and standard lighting the infirmary had lost its macabre ambiance. He brought Sutton back to consciousness using medical as well as telepathic support.
She sat up and took a sip of water from the glass Teafu handed her. Her voice came as a whisper. “We made it? We beat the Mezzyima?” She leant forward, grimaced and settled back on the bed.
Teafu smiled and reassured her. “All the systems say you are on your way to a full recovery. You are going to be as healthy as ever.”
Even without telepathy she could see Teafu was worried and realised they were not yet out of trouble. “You have a distinct lack of good humor, can I assume we are still in difficulty?”
Teafu was just about to reply when he became aware of Weedon’s telepathic essence requesting contact.
“Teafu I need you to come down to the main engineering bay.”
Sutton and Teafu joined Weedon at the back of the ship. He took them to the central observation port looking out over the main engines. The view revealed a disturbing amount of debris in their wake as parts of the ship broke away.
“How long has it been like this?” Sutton asked.
“Since we emerged from the rift. Approximately two hours.” Weedon replied.
Teafu reported on his discovery. “I found a planet where we can setup a temporary base. It is twelve light years away. Can you get us there?”
Both Teafu and Weedon awaited Sutton’s answer as she walked across the bay. She studied the engineering display and sighed when she saw the amount of red icons. “I can probably rig the engines for one jump, but after that they will need serious attention. All you will have then is the maneuvering thrusters”
“There is a class B moon, we can leave the ship in a geostationary orbit on the dark side out of sight. We don’t want the planet’s population discovering our arrival. Weedon can you do it?”
Weedon raised his eyebrows. “Do I have a choice?”
Teafu smiled as he replied. “Not really, no.”
A twelve light year jump had never been a distance synonymous with accuracy. Weedon studied the space between the ship and its destination looking for gravity wells and any other dynamic spatial anomalies that might throw them off course. He programmed the jump specifics and pulled his crash web over himself. Sutton’s engineering skills had been pushed to the limit in the hours she spent rebuilding the damaged engine components. Her medical condition did not slow her work but her reliance on pain killers would take its toll in time. Weedon gave what help he was able to and Teafu programmed the destination co-ordinates into the computer. Finally, the work was completed and they took their places in the bridge.
Weedon finished all his preparation and asked one last question. “Are you sure this ship can survive a jump?”
Offended by the question, Sutton scowled, tightened her web and waited.
“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Weedon initiated the jump.
The star-ship passed through the event horizon, shuddering as she went. The gravity jump rift opened several hundred miles above the dark side of the moon. They appeared from the darkness and Weedon fired thrusters to halt all movement. Emergency alarms shrilled throughout the ship crying out the demise of the main engines.
Sutton deactivated t
he alarms and checked the condition of the thrusters. “Thrusters are at twenty-three percent. This moon has a low enough gravity to allow maneuvering but don’t push the systems too hard or we may never get out of here.”
“OK, hold on this may get a little bumpy.” Weedon replied.
Several aft thrusters fired in turn increasing in power to bring the ship up to one gee. Teafu looked out of the window searching for the area he had found through his meditative exploration. Various thrusters ignited as Weedon brought the ship down into orbit at a steady rate of descent. The vibrations plaguing the ship’s hull had ceased and Sutton finally begun to relax.
She closed her eyes and focused on easing her stressed muscles. On her display a single red warning icon lit up indicating a problem with the starboard thruster’s fuel feed. She remained unaware of the problem as she entered a slight meditative state. Pressure was building in the fuel pipes and several more warning icons came to life. Finally the pressure became too great and the fuel line burst leaking vast amounts of fuel into space.
Weedon became conscious of the problem as the ship started to veer off course. He switched to secondary starboard thrusters but as they came to life the exhaust ignited the leaked fuel in a ferocious detonation. The entire ship rocked as the blast wave struck sending it tumbling out of control towards the surface of the moon. Crash webbing automatically tightened across Weedon and Teafu but Sutton’s webbing failed and she was thrown against her console as they hit the surface. Momentum carried the tumbling ship across the terrain and parts of the exterior broke apart leaving a trail of wreckage scattered in its path. The main engines broke off as one great piece of debris and shattered on impact with the surface.
The ship came to rest three miles from its initial impact point. A trail of twisted wreckage revealed the true violence of the crash. A continuous high pitched tone was the only sound as Weedon released himself from his web. The red emergency lighting failed leaving only the numerous red warning icons to illuminate the smoke filled cabin. Teafu coughed as he released himself from his web. The high pitched tone ceased as Weedon struggled out of the pilot seat. A fire suppressant system released a strong jet of carbon dioxide into the navigation display obscuring his view of the cabin.
Weedon became aware of Sutton’s absence. He tried to search out in the dark cabin. “Sutton? Sutton are you okay?”
There was no answer and both Teafu and Weedon immediately became concerned.
Teafu opened his telepathic senses and searched for Sutton’s mind. He found an indication, faltering and weak.
Weedon located her trapped in the corner. One of her legs was twisted out of shape and a large piece of metal protruded from her abdomen. Blood seeped from a large cut on her forehead and drowned her eyes. He looked over his shoulder at Teafu who shook his head. He lifted her hand. “Sutton, I’m going to get some equipment from the infirmary. Stay still.”
Sutton searched the cabin but was unable to focus and could not keep her eyes open. She held Weedon’s hand tight.
He began to pull his hand but she wouldn’t let go, he turned to see a defeated Teafu in the pilot seat. Weedon made telepathic contact with Teafu. “Teafu, help me. I can get something to stabilize her from the infirmary.”
“I’m sorry Weedon, I can sense her life-force receding. There is nothing you can do.”
Sutton’s body fell forward and with a sigh her grip weakened. Weedon put his hand to her neck to look for a pulse and found nothing. He remained still as he tried to process this event. Sutton dying was unthinkable. Sure they had gone through life threatening events together but the idea of death actually happening to one of them seemed highly implausible. Logically this didn’t make sense but still that was how he felt. Now he was aware of something missing from his life, something that could never be replaced.
The space plane lifted through the wreckage and cleared the crash site. The last of the ships’ systems were shut down from orbit and Weedon set a course for the star at the centre of the system. There they dropped Sutton’s body into a decaying orbit around the star, Weedon and Teafu watching as her body quickly vaporized.
Teafu returned to his seat leaving Weedon alone by the window. ”We should make our way to the planet and find a place to reorganize.”
“Reorganize what? The ship is destroyed, Sutton is dead. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do?” Weedon was becoming angry.
“I have an idea to get us back to our quadrant but I need time to work on it.”
“Oh you’re very remorseful. Sutton just died! Have you no concept of grief?” He shouted.
“Different people react to death in different ways. I’m sorry I’m not overcome right now but that is just the way I am. Will you take us to the planet or will I?”
Weedon returned to the pilot seat and set a course for the third planet.
TIME TRAVEL DISCOVERED
If somebody had told her three weeks ago she would be meditating in the mysterious, immortal library on Leba Enomi she would have laughed. No, not even laughed, just treated them with half-hearted contempt. Her large apartment on the fortieth floor of the main library building gave Gea an amount of space she was unaccustomed to. The large windows going around the entire building gave her a stunning view. The dark green furniture was of a very old design and seemed out of place in the high-tech building.
She felt her meditation was progressing far too slowly and a certain frustration had settled in. The view of the old city through the floor to ceiling windows did little to aid her quest for a peaceful mind and she had turned to face the wall. It was four p.m. and she still had not found the base grounding framework Jenson had shown her in their session. While finding her way to the alpha state had become easier with practise maintaining control was difficult. All the time in her psychic exploration, an incredible expanse beckoned to her, just out of reach. She ignored it and once again searched for the foundations of her core energy.
“Gea?” Her father, Mistry Aro, entered and increased the lighting. “Hello Gea. I’m sorry to disturb you but I couldn’t sleep.”
“It’s OK dad I wasn’t making much progress.”
Mistry helped himself to a coffee and slouched in the chair by the window. “I haven’t been able to rest since we arrived. You spending so much time with Jenson and everything that has happened has left me feeling rather lonely.”
Gea sensed a contradiction in her father; he had questions he wanted to ask her but was afraid of the possible answers. “Dad you know you can ask me anything, from now on I don’t want there to be any barriers between us.” She sat on the floor in front of him and put her hand on his knee.
“Well Gea, I am a little confused as to why you seem so happy. Your mother has died but you show no sadness, no stress. I am struggling to sleep, to eat, even to think straight but you carry on as if nothing has happened.” He shifted his leg so that Gea’s hand slipped off his knee.
Gea shifted herself back slightly and tried to look into her father’s eyes. “I don’t know what you mean dad. Do you think I feel nothing? Do you think that I don’t think of her every minute?”
“Yes that is what I think.” He got up from his seat. “You have had no emotions as far as I can see, you feel nothing.”
“But dad...” Gea started.
“I’m leaving to go home to your grandmother’s in the morning. If you are coming be downstairs at eight o’clock. I will not wait if you are not there.”
Gea remained silent and watched him as he left. She knew she could not go with him. Her mind needed to be trained to handle what she was going through. A guilty feeling washed over her as she realised she didn’t want to go with him. With him gone she was free to do what she wanted with her life.
Jenson watched Mistry Aro leave the library building. He sensed a certain animosity in Mistry’s mind and he decided to let him leave without contact. He did not know how this would affect his relationship with Gea or even if Gea would leave as well. He took the lif
t to the fortieth floor and made his way to Gea’s apartment. The door opened before he could make his presence known.
“I knew you were coming.” Gea said. “You may close your mind to me but I know when you are near.” She waited for Jenson to enter the room and closed the door behind him. “My father has left as you probably know. He is depressed and upset with me and my apparent lack of feeling for my mother’s death.”
“What are you going to do?” Jenson asked. He could have examined her mind for her intentions but he didn’t want to risk offending or alienating her and besides it was just plain rude.
“I have to stay, I don’t want to become a coma case in some unheard of immortal hospital.” She sat heavily on the couch. Her voice softened. “He said I didn’t care about my mother dying.” She paused for a moment and looked out through the window across the old buildings of the immortal city. “The horrible thing is I think he is right. I do feel sadness at her loss but I’m not distraught, I’m not crying myself to sleep every night. I loved her. Why am I so heartless?”
Jenson felt an unhappiness cloud Gea’s disposition; he sat on the couch opposite her. “What you are experiencing is a part of being immortal. People around you will die and it is seemingly a natural part of an immortal’s emotional makeup that we do not feel grief as ordinary people do. We make friends, we watch them grow old and we watch them die. It is an inbuilt emotional mechanism that protects us from eternal grief.”
“So will I never feel anything for anyone?”
“Oh you will have tremendous feelings for friends and lovers. You will even get married, perhaps to an immortal but this lack of grief will always protect you.”
Gea walked to the window, leant her forehead against it and tried to see the street below. “What if I don’t want protection?”
“There is nothing you can do.” Jenson waited for Gea to speak but she remained silent. He decided to change the subject. “The Mezzyima have requested a meeting with you to see what it is you access through your telepathic talent. Are you OK to meet them?”