It Ain't Over

by Robert M Kerns

  “What makes you say that, Srexx?”

  Instead of a verbal reply, the main viewscreen on the bridge’s forward bulkhead activated. It displayed an enhanced image of a massive section of hull plating, rotating in space. Just as Cole was about to ask what the hull plating had to do with anything, the exterior surface rotated into view, displaying “ACS Adran Jordeen” and “D-574” painted in two lines on the hull.

  “Ah…,” Cole said, “…yeah, I’d say that’s a good indicator. Are you recording all this, Srexx?”

  “Of course. I would also like to call your attention to this piece of debris.”

  The image on the viewscreen shifted to another enhanced image. Cole didn’t recognize this image right away, but it soon clicked in his mind that he was looking at a section of reactor housing. The image froze on the viewscreen, and a box appeared to highlight a specific section of the image.

  “What’s that?” Wixil’s question right at his shoulder startled Cole into a flinch. He turned his head to look, and sure enough, Wixil stood just off his right shoulder, though he’d never heard her approach.

  “I thought you were napping.”

  “I woke up.” Wixil shrugged, her eyes intent on the viewscreen’s image and her ears perked. Her tail curled into that almost-question-mark as her head tilted to the side.

  “That, Wixil,” Srexx said, “is a piece of the housing for a nuclear-fusion-based reactor. Please note the highlighted section. If you look closely, you’ll see the edges of the breached housing are curling in, opposite of the outward curvature created by the breach.”

  “Huh,” Cole grunted.

  “What?” Wixil turned her inquisitive expression to Cole.

  “The only way that would happen is if someone put a bomb on the reactor housing. This wasn’t an accident.” Cole stared at the image in silence for several moments. “Srexx, have you identified the computer core or black box in that mess?”

  “I believe so, Cole. May I ask why?”

  “I never would’ve expected to encounter a Dawn-class destroyer so far from the Commonwealth, and now that we’re looking at its debris, I’d like to know just what it was doing out here so far from home.”

  “I calculate a 97.778-percent probability that, should I identify either the destroyer’s computer core or its black box, you will depart the ship to retrieve it. Given that-”

  “Really, Srexx? That low? I would’ve thought you knew me at least a little better than that,” Cole said, grinning.

  “I always allow a margin for error in my probability calculations. Perhaps 2.222-percent was too much of a margin. As I was saying, however…given you have displayed a tendency to permit Wixil to accompany you, I feel it is appropriate to mention I have fabricated a prototype suit for the Ghrexels. Even though she will not have an implant to use the suit’s more advanced functions, this suit will provide protection against the small pieces of metal scattered throughout the debris that would be deadly were she to accompany you in the soft-suit she brought aboard from the mining camp.”

  “How long have you been working on that suit design, Srexx?” Cole asked.

  “Since I recorded the physical parameters of Yeleth and Wixil as they came aboard. I had several processing nodes that were under-utilized.”

  “So…you’re saying you’ve been bored?”

  Silence.

  “Yes, Cole…and I have identified both the remains of the computer core and the black box.”

  Cole looked to Wixil, his eyebrow quirking upward. “So…want to go?”

  “Sure!”

  “Where’s the suit you made her, Srexx?” Cole asked as he stood.

  “It is located in the output hopper of Fabricator 7 on the engineering deck.”

  “Vilaxicar,” Cole said, leading Wixil to the starboard hatch.

  “Yes, Cole-Captain?”

  Cole sighed as his shoulders slumped, but he rallied. “When Wixil and I leave the bridge, seal it to all entry until further notice.”

  “Yes, Cole-Captain.”

  “It’s beautiful! Thank you, Srexx!” Wixil cheered as she held up the suit. It was the same matte-black material that made up Cole’s suit, and just like Cole’s suit, it would reflect a slight green hue if held at the right angle and in the proper lighting. Unlike Cole’s suit, though, Wixil’s suit had a provision for a tail, and pointed ears perked forward on the top of the helmet.

  “You’re welcome, Wixil.” Srexx’s voice sounded pleased.

  Wixil scrambled into the suit and pulled the helmet into place. The helmet sealed to the suit as it compressed to fit Wixil like a second skin. Cole grinned as he watched Wixil caper around the fabrication compartment, turning cartwheels, doing backflips, and performing many other kinds of acrobatics only a youngster whose people evolved from felines could perform.

  After a few minutes, Wixil returned to Cole’s side and performed the motion to detach the helmet from the suit. As soon as the helmet was off her head, Wixil placed it on the deck and threw her arms around Cole.

  “Thank you for being so nice and saving my mother and me. Thank you so much.”

  Cole smiled as he wrapped his arms around Wixil and patted her back. “You’re welcome, Wixil. I’ve enjoyed having you and your mother aboard the ship with me.”

  Wixil released Cole and pulled him toward the hatch. “Let’s go! I can’t wait to try this in space.”

  They took the cargo sled into the debris field, proceeding on course for the coordinates Srexx gave them for the computer core. When they arrived, they found it to be rather massive, and Cole was glad he’d insisted on bringing the sled. After securing the computer core onto the sled, they maneuvered to the coordinates Srexx provided for the black box. That wasn’t as easy to locate, because it was a small object in a large area full of small objects. After a little effort, they did recover the emergency flight data recorder (the actual name for the black box), and Cole secured it on the sled with the computer core before heading back to the ship. The whole time they traveled through the debris field, Cole noticed every small impact on his suit that would’ve shredded the soft-suit Wixil had worn over to the freighter, and he was glad Srexx had made a prototype suit for her.

  Upon their reboarding the ship, Srexx asked them to deliver the computer core and black box to the Secondary Systems Compartment on the engineering deck. Given the relative size of the recovered core, the SSC was better suited to house it, since it had the most available space at the moment.

  Cole and Wixil were chatting and laughing as they entered a dining room on the mess deck. Yeleth looked up from her conversation with Sasha when they entered and regarded them with a steady gaze and an almost-knowing look.

  “Srexx made me a spacesuit, Mother! Oh, you have to see it! It’s the best! And it even has a space for my tail! Cole and I went outside the ship, and it was great! I hope Srexx can make us implants soon, because I bet I didn’t see even a fourth of what that suit can do. Srexx needs to make a suit for you, too!”

  “And is that all you did?” Yeleth asked.

  “We also explored a debris field,” Cole said. “Sasha, I’m sorry. It was the Adran Jordeen, and it looks like it was sabotage.”

  Sasha almost dropped the cup she was holding but returned it to the tabletop. “What? What kind of sabotage?”

  “From the look of a piece of reactor housing, I’d say there was a bomb that breached the reactor’s containment. I don’t think there were any survivors.”

  “Why? Why would someone do this?”

  “I don’t know if we’ll ever know, but the fact the ship exploded after ejecting you into space makes me suspicious. I retrieved the computer core and black box. Srexx is already working on them to see what we can learn.”

  Sasha’s head shot up, and she glared at Cole. “You had no right to that! When the Commonwealth sends a rescue mission, they’ll need the black box at the very least to know what happened.”

  “That’s just it, Sasha. What in all the stars
were you doing all the way out here? At best, we’re…what…three weeks from the Commonwealth border?”

  “The XO said we were going to be conducting Search-And-Rescue training with a ship from the Carnelian Bloc, along with representatives from several local SDFs. The training was supposed to take place in Andersoll.”

  “Okay. That kind of makes sense,” Cole said. “And this was the same XO that called you to his office to drug you before you were put in a soft-suit and ejected?”

  “Yes…oh.” Sasha’s shoulders slumped.

  Cole nodded. “Exactly. At this point, I’d say everything they told you was a partial truth at best, until we get confirmation. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn the Commonwealth had no idea the Adran Jordeen was this far into unaligned space. I doubt there will ever be a rescue mission. I’m sorry, Sasha.”

  “Can you take me to the navy base in Carbuncle, then? It’s a sector fleet base.”

  Cole blinked. “Carbuncle, really?”

  “It’s a gem, like a garnet. There’s a whole sector with gems for star system names. The captain of the survey ship was an amateur gemologist with a fascination for Old Earth stones. There’s a Diamond system, Emerald, Sapphire, and even Onyx.”

  “Wow…didn’t know that. We’ll need a navigation update when we reach Bremerton, in addition to a full outfitting, but I see no reason I couldn’t take you to Carbuncle if that’s where you want to go. I’ll just head up to the bridge and set course for the jump gate to Andersoll. I think we’ve done all we can do at this debris field.”

  Cole sat in the seat at the helm station and started working through the navigation system. He wasn’t surprised to find that none of the star names in the database matched anything he recognized, but he knew enough about the Andersoll star system that he could choose it as their destination, based on stellar properties and the count and type of orbital bodies. That done, he hit a snag.

  “Uh, Srexx?”

  “Yes, Cole?”

  “I’m not finding any controls for jump engines in the helm subsystem.”

  “This ship doesn’t have jump engines.”

  Cole sighed. “Then, how are we supposed to leave this star system?”

  “My people’s technology for interstellar travel was not so cumbersome, and the designation for that technology does not translate well at all. Lacking a better alternative, I shall call the technology a hyperdrive.”

  “Hyperdrive?” Cole asked. “Okay, what’s it do?”

  “Without delving into the physics and math involved, the hyperdrive wraps a bubble of a higher-energy dimension around the ship, and the fabric of space-time pushes the ship through space. The more power one channels to those engines, the more rigid the bubble’s membrane, and the more rigid the bubble’s membrane, the faster the ship travels from origin to destination. These terms are very imprecise and might be very inaccurate. I am uncertain I have conveyed the meaning, even in layman’s terms, as Galactic Standard does not possess terminology for this method of propulsion.”

  “It almost sounds like ‘warp drive’ out of our classical science fiction.”

  “It does? One moment…” Silence. “Unfortunately, Cole, we are out of range of a library computer for anything approaching real-time discourse. May we revisit this topic once I can access and evaluate your people’s classical science fiction?”

  “Sure, Srexx. Since we don’t have jump engines, does that mean we don’t need to return to the jump gate? How do I know whether we can engage this hyperdrive, as you called it?”

  “The ship needs to be at the edge of the star system’s gravity well before attempting to engage the hyperdrive. The few recorded experiments involving engaging the hyperdrive deeper in a stellar gravity well did not fare well for the system’s star, planets, and orbital mechanics.”

  “Gotcha…important safety tip, there.” Cole manipulated the helm station, looking through the various controls until he found a button labeled ‘Engage Hyperdrive.’ It was lit up and active, so Cole assumed that meant they were far enough out to do so safely…and…he would have sworn he’d seen that button before with its label being some incomprehensible word he’d not even tried to process.

  With a shrug, Cole locked in the course for Andersoll and felt the ship move under him; once the ship was pointed toward the destination, Cole keyed the command to activate the hyperdrive, and the ship vanished from Pyllesc.

  Chapter Eleven

  Across the centuries, numerous financial crises destroyed whatever faith the average person had in most banks and financial institutions. The only financial institutions to weather those storms were those with roots in the region known as Switzerland in classical times. In an impressive display of foresight, the major Swiss financial institutions banded together in 2296 to hire a colony fleet powered by the new jump gate technology and sent it to the extreme edge of known space at that time, building jump gates along the way. The Swiss expedition opened many new systems for exploration, survey, and colonization, and in 2356, they claimed a system with a planet similar to Earth. The expedition council named the system Zurich. Across the intervening centuries, the people of Zurich established their system as the sole respected provider of financial services for human expansion to the stars, and they fought—and won—several wars to ensure their continued sovereignty and neutrality.

  Approaching Bremerton Station

  Andersoll System

  29 June 2999, 23:42 GST

  They arrived in Andersoll in the wee hours of the 29th, and a hair over twenty-one hours at half-lightspeed brought them to Bremerton Station, some seventy-six AUs into the system from the periphery. Cole sat at the helm after a nap and some food, and when he brought up the station comms menu to contact a bank for a new account, he found a short list of names that dated back over 1,000 years. Memories of his father saying good things about Credit Suisse made Cole’s choice for him. The lightspeed delay was down to roughly thirty seconds and dropping rapidly, given their proximity to the station and rate of closure, so Cole tapped the command to initiate a call.

  Within moments, a rectangle appeared on the helm console displaying the Credit Suisse logo with the text ‘Initiating Call’ flashing below it. The logo soon disappeared, replaced by a young man with dark hair and a happy smile.

  “Thank you for contacting Credit Suisse! How may I assist you today?”

  “Hello,” Cole said. “I would like to make an appointment to discuss opening new accounts.”

  “Absolutely, sir. I’m happy to assist you with that. What type of accounts will you need?”

  “Well, I need advice. I think I need a personal account but also an account for the ship to handle stores replenishment, docking fees, and charges like that.”

  “Excellent, sir. We can assist with that. When do you anticipate docking?”

  Cole checked the helm console and saw an ETA of midnight before saying, “My ship tells me we’ll be docking at midnight, plus or minus.”

  “Excellent, sir. One of our bankers has availability just a half-hour after midnight. Is that acceptable?”

  “Sure, but isn’t that cutting things a bit close?”

  “Not at all, sir. I will explain to our banker you’ve just arrived in dock. What name would you like to use for the appointment?”

  Cole thought for a moment. There was no way he would say ‘Jax.’ Jax Theedlow died with the Howling Monkey, and Cole had no intention of ever touching any of the assets or accounts associated with that identity ever again. Nothing for it, then…

  “Cole is just fine, thanks.”

  “Of course, Mister Cole. We look forward to assisting you.”

  The call ended, and the window on the helm console disappeared. Cole checked the readouts and saw the ship was gliding toward Docking Bay Four, just two docks away from the station’s central elevator.

  “Srexx?”

  “Yes, Cole?”

  “I don’t remember contacting Bremerton Control. How did we get docking
privileges?”

  “Ah…yes…well, as you have stated on at least two occasions, your goal was to dock here and acquire various items, including a navigation update for the computer. As you were otherwise engaged with Credit Suisse, I contacted Bremerton Control on your behalf and obtained permission to dock. Would you like me to replay the conversation?”

  Cole vacillated for several moments before shaking his head. “Nah…if it becomes an issue, I might, but we’re good for now.”

  “Thank you, Cole. I have informed Yeleth, Wixil, and Madam Sasha that we have docked.”

  “Good. Vilaxicar, if I change the name of the ship as part of the process to register it with human authorities, will that cause any problems for you?”

  Silence.

  “Vilaxicar? Respond, please, and report.”

  “Calculations are proceeding to evaluate the owner’s phrase ‘problems for you.’ Response will be impossible until that phrase is defined.”

  Cole sighed. “I feel like we’re regressing, here. Srexx? What are the ramifications of me changing the ship’s name?”

  “None, Cole…beyond inspiring the faint hope you will remember it.”

  “I’m being sassed by a computer,” Cole muttered. Srexx chose not to comment or respond.

  “May I ask what name you are considering for the ship, Cole?” Srexx asked.

  Cole smiled. He’d been thinking of this ever since leaving the mining camp. Given what the ship meant to him, and to Srexx for that matter, there was really only one name suitable for the ship.

  “I’m planning to name it Haven.”

  Silence.

  “I…approve, Cole. Thank you.”

  “Oh, one other thing,” Cole said. “I want to pay for the station to flush the potable water system and refill it, in addition to the ship’s air. Does the ship have connections for that?”