The Oceans of Emptiness

by Tiffany Weems

  “Probably not,” John said. “The kid was creative. It’ll be a miracle if I can.”

  Patricia shook her head. “Then do you have a backup plan?”

  “Working on it. I’m hoping I can at least look at the schematics of that net they use to give me a better understanding of how it works.”

  “Are they going to be able to tell that you’re trying to hack in to their systems?” Troubalene asked.

  “Probably.”

  “That’s not good.”

  John shook his head as they entered the computer room. “You two should let me work. I’ll go back to the control room when I’ve either done it or failed trying.”

  Patricia watched as the door shut behind her. “Well that’s not encouraging.”

  “Have you met him? Really? Just let him work.”

  “So, what about the rest of the crew?” Patricia asked.

  “What about them?”

  “They deserve to know now. Especially after the crash. How much damage did the net do?”

  “Not too much. Most of the main systems are toward the back of the ship. There just may be some underlying issues later, but nothing we won’t be able to repair.”

  “I think the captain should make an announcement.” Patricia folded her arms in front of her chest. “To be honest, I’d be surprised if the majority of the ship doesn’t already know. None of us are very good at keeping secrets.”

  John poked his head out into the hall. “I’m done.”

  “And?” Patricia asked. “Any luck?”

  “If luck were our friend, we wouldn’t be here in this situation,” Troubalene said.

  John opened his mouth like he was going to say something, just then, the ship lurched. Patricia didn’t hesitate. She turned around and ran back for the control room making it there moments before the other two. The room was silent. On the screen there were two ships. Both different from the ones they had encountered previously.

  “What happened?” Troubalene asked as she pushed past Patricia to get to the captain.

  “They fired on us,” he said in a monotone.

  Patricia looked at the ships carefully. They were much larger, flattened out with raised ridges throughout in a zig-zag pattern. The ships were nowhere near as sleek or well designed. They seemed much older and something about them felt darker.

  “It’s not the same species, is it?” Patricia asked.

  The captain swiveled around to face her. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Do we fire back?” Troubalene asked.

  Captain Creighton took a deep breath. “If they fire again, we will have no choice but to engage.”

  The two ships were still before them. Patricia then noticed that Kekter and all his ships were gone. Where had they gone?

  “Did you find a solution, John?”

  Patricia looked at John in anticipation.

  John shook his head. “The net is far too complex. It’s not made of material, it’s closer to an electronic net that is so powerful it can be seen. It creates a solid connection with the bonds created. If we try to fly through it, it will do as it did before, crush our ship.”

  “And you are unable to recreate what Lance had done before?” Captain Creighton asked.

  “I am unable to recreate those codes. We’re not going to be able to get through.”

  Patricia glanced out the window just in time to see a bright flash of light headed straight for them. The ship gave another violent shake, forcing her to grab the wall to keep from falling over.

  “That’s two sir,” Troubalene said. “Would you like to give the order?”

  Captain Creighton was silent. The entire room was staring at him, waiting for his answer.

  As Patricia looked at each face, the look of desperation etched into them, she knew that if they fought back, they wouldn’t survive it. But if they did nothing at all, it would be over far quicker. She wondered if that was why the captain was hesitating.

  The ship shook again. They had fired a third time and the captain was out of options. Patricia heard him say fire, but the rest seemed to melt away. They were firing weak weapons, things they had expected to use for demolition purposes, not to kill another species, not for an intergalactic battle.

  The ship lurched with every hit. A couple systems began to fail. First the flight system went offline. That was okay, they really didn’t need it until they wanted to move again. Then an engine went down. The commands became fewer and far between. They needed protection. Something to envelope them. Something that would shelter them without preventing them from returning fire.

  Patricia gasped. She ran from the room and to the elevator, repeating over and over again under her breath, “Please don’t let the electrical system fail.” She didn’t want to be stuck in the elevator for that long. The moment she was in, the door slid shut and she called level 7. It was the only place that seemed right, that would have had the item she was looking for. There had to be some on board somewhere. It was going to be needed when they landed.

  The door opened and she was out. A guard was there, but he was too preoccupied with trying to keep his balance to stop her from running past. She bounced off the walls in the hall, checking every door along the way. Then at last she ran into what appeared to be a supply room, where everything was locked away for safe keeping. How was she going to open any of them?

  “I told you not to come down here.”

  Patricia spun around to see Troubalene in the doorway. “Did you follow me?”

  “No. I had the guards notify me alone if you ever tried to come down here again. What exactly are you looking for?”

  Patricia had to hold onto the lock boxes to keep from falling over as the ship gave another lurch. “Hopefully the answer to all our problems. This ship won’t last much longer.”

  “There’s nothing down that will help us. Not in the way that we need.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Do you remember the war? How Capena’s troops managed to come out better than Aries in the dust storm?”

  Patricia watched Troubalene very carefully until at last a look of realization spread across her face. “Then you’ll want this box.” She pulled out her keys and opened a box just a few inches inside the door. “Be careful with this,” she said as she pulled out the small device and handed it to Patricia. “We only brought three.”

  “Three?” Patricia asked. “You only brought three?”

  “It seemed pointless to bring more as most of our generation would long since be dead by the time we needed more. Not to mention the schematics and the son of the inventor are both on board this ship. Less is more when packing for intergalactic travel.”

  Patricia laughed. “I think you might have practiced that last sentence a few times.”

  “Just once or twice.” Troubalene shut the box back up. “Come on. This is the last time you will be allowed down here.”

  “I hope so because once we land, and we better, I want off this tin can for good.” Patricia held the device tightly in her hand. She made it to the elevator when Patricia noticed that Troubalene wasn’t there. “Are you coming?” she called down the hall.

  Troubalene reappeared after a few minutes, exiting from another room and tucking something away into her pocket.

  Patricia noted it, but didn’t ask. “We need to get up there now. This whole thing could fall apart at any minute.”

  They boarded the elevator and went up to the fourth level.

  “Why not go to the first level?” Troubalene asked with a bit of hesitation. “The captain should know what you’re doing.”

  “Then notify him. Do it quick. We need to find the centermost part of the ship to provide the most coverage and the widest area without taking up too much area that isn’t this ship.”

  “Can’t it be contoured?”

  “Probably, but I don’t know how to do that.”

  Troubalene rolled her eyes. She lifted her wrist and spoke softly. “Captain Creighton, First Mate Kathe
rine Troubalene with important information to report, sir.”

  “Go ahead,” the captain said.

  Patricia knelt down, listening to the conversation while she worked on getting the device set up. She had watched John do it a couple of times before; that should have been enough to be able to figure out what she was doing.

  “Sir, Patricia has come up with a plan that could potentially prevent further damage to the ship.”

  Patricia could feel the captain rolling his eyes on the other end of the conversation.

  “And how will she do that?”

  “She’s going to use the atmospheric bubble to encompass the ship.”

  Boom. The ship shook violently and the lights flashed off for several seconds. Patricia held her breath until they came back on.

  She looked over her shoulder at Troubalene. “I know he’s going to be busy, but have him send John to the fourth level. I need help.”

  “Captain Creighton, if you could send John to the fourth level. We need him.”

  “Very well. If this doesn’t work, we will be forced to surrender ourselves.”

  Troubalene lowered her wrist. “It’ll probably take him a few minutes to get to us. Do you think that we have that long?”

  Boom. Another bad hit. The ship was going to snap in half.

  “I sure hope we do,” Patricia said. “Maybe you should go up to be with the captain. We’ll head up after we get this going.”

  “I don’t know if I want to be in the elevator if we’re going to keep having direct hits like that.”

  Patricia laughed nervously. “I had the same thought. Just go. It’ll be fine.”

  Troubalene left.

  Patricia sat in the hall with her eyes closed, the device tightly enclosed in her arms. She listened to every hit, feeling the ship vibrate beneath her feet, in her stomach, through her back. It wasn’t good. They couldn’t take much more. They wouldn’t last.

  “Did you need something?” a familiar voice asked.

  Patricia leapt up and handed him the atmospheric bubble. “I need you to activate it. I can remember how to do it, just not how to prevent anything from entering, like we did in the battle with Aries. You can do that out here?”

  “Matter and mass exist in different ways out in space. I think the basic concept should work the same, but there’s only one way to find out.”

  Patricia watched him work, mumbling random things under his breath as he worked, like he was talking to someone. Another loud hit. The ship went dark. Patricia leaned on the wall, trying to balance herself as she felt several more hits happen. She could still hear her husband mumbling, and noticed a soft ticking sound every time he entered a sequence. Then he activated it and the device lit up, lighting the hall slightly and casting a soft glow on John’s concentrated face.

  Patricia stood still, waiting for another hit. Waiting for the ship to shake, but it didn’t. “Did it work? Or are we dead?” The lights came back on.

  John stood up. “It should have worked. We’ll need to get to the control room to be sure.” He led the way through the hall to the elevator. Patricia got on after him and called out the level number before he could.

  “Well?”, the captain questioned when they came into sight.

  John walked into the room and sat at his station. “They are firing upon us still, but nothing is penetrating the atmospheric bubble at the moment. The ship will remain in this condition.” He then turned back around. “We need to figure out our next problem. How do we land?”

  Patricia cleared her throat. “I actually had a thought on that matter as well, but I’m going out on a huge limb for this. I just don’t know. It’s a big risk.”

  “What is it?” Troubalene asked.

  “This bubble that encompasses us is programmed to allow nothing to enter it. Only what already existed inside it can be inside it, right?” She looked at her husband when she asked.

  “More or less,” he said. That was helpful.

  “Then maybe we should try to fly through the net now. Maybe we can break it. It shouldn’t be able to break the bubble and we shouldn’t crash into it. I think this might work.”

  “Right,” Troubalene said. “I feel like there are a lot of flaws in that plan.”

  Patricia narrowed her eyes.

  “But I’m not seeing a lot of alternatives and we still haven’t heard back from…”

  The screen came to life as Kekter reappeared. “Please don’t do anything stupid.” Then the screen went back to normal.

  Several ships appeared from all sides and began to attack the larger ships that were firing upon them. They swooped in, dodging the attacks and creating their own. Patricia smiled, watching it with fascination. They were late, but amazing.

  “We’re going for it. Everyone to their stations.” Captain leaned forward in his chair. “I will not accept anything less than success.”

  In unison they all answered, “Yes.” With the exception of Patricia. She held her breath as they approached the barrier one more time. Then just as it was too close to stop, as the fighting around them intensified and explosions rocked the ship, she closed her eyes. It had to work.

  20

  A New Home

  Patricia waited for them to hit. Waiting for the crunch and the crash and the screams that would follow. She waited to hear the bubble failing and the battle get closer to their ship. She waited for a disaster, but none came.

  When she could no longer decide how much time had really passed, Patricia opened her eyes and looked around. The ship was silent, but they had made it. They were through the net onto the other side.

  Patricia would have cheered. She was happy, but she couldn’t smile. The site was amazing. There were buildings, like those that once stood on Earth. Some were tall and some short. They dangled, twisted, spiraled and spiked out in all directions. The buildings glistened in the evening light, sparkling like they were covered in stars. On the ground they could make out little beings moving about. From what Patricia could see, though some of them were walking, there were many others who were zooming around in open vehicles somehow. She could make out the hillsides covered in vegetation and what appeared to be a body of water that was so dark, Patricia could barely distinguish it from the land around it.

  The ship descended the further they flew and the lower it got, the more they could see. It was beautiful. There were definitely similarities to the worlds they had left behind, but there were also many differences, which mainly had to do with the species that occupied the planet. They grew close to an open area that seemed as good as any to lower the ship. It sat at the base of a mountain far taller than any others they could see.

  The ship nestled itself in the rock and small spritz of grass. They had landed. Patricia let out a sigh of relief. They had landed.

  It was as though the entire room realized the same thing as she did. There was an eruption of cheers. Patricia ran over and hugged John, almost leaping into his arms.

  “Status updates,” Captain Creighton called above the raucous.

  The room quieted once more as people began to check everything. “It appears we’re in the clear, sir,” Troubalene said. “But just to be safe, I’ll head down to the surveillance lab and examine the scene above, if at all possible.”

  The captain gave a curt nod.

  Patricia felt Troubalene wrap her hand around Patricia’s arm and drag her through the door. “What?”

  “The captain is being generous in letting you stay up here. Don’t push it. I think it’ll be better if you come with me.”

  Patricia shrugged and agreed. “Of course, it was me who just saved all our lives, but that’s okay. Remind me again how I’m not an officer of this ship.”

  Troubalene made a face like she was pretending to laugh. “You’re so whiny sometimes, you know that right?” Troubalene opened the door and ushered Patricia into the room first. The room was empty.

  “Um…should he have abandoned his post?” Patricia asked.

&nb
sp; Troubalene frowned. “No. And I will reprimand him later for it, but for now I think I’m more than capable of pulling up the images I require.”

  Patricia took a step back from the control panel so Troubalene could get to it. Then she watched as Troubalene pulled up the rear exterior cameras and pointed them upward. They could see the net, but unlike out in space where they couldn’t see the planet when it was closed, from underneath they could make out perfectly what was happening above, with a little enhancement. The further out she zoomed, the more that could be seen. The fight was still happening and there were several more of Kekter’s fleet than of the unknown assailants, but it was unclear as to who was coming out ahead. Or how long it would take.

  “What if Kekter loses?” Patricia asked.

  “I don’t know. I think this planet will suffer a loss if he loses, but he said there were other districts, right? Perhaps they’ll take over until someone wins.”

  “Do you think we landed in his district?”

  Troubalene shrugged. “I hope so. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’ll hear soon from whoever’s land we’re trespassing on.”

  Patricia looked up again. The large ship appeared to be falling back. “I think Kekter did it. I think he won.”

  “For now.” Troubalene patted Patricia on the back. “We should get back and tell the captain before he’s contacted. We’ll need to look professional for a good impression.”

  “I take it that means you don’t think I need to be there for another meet and greet.”

  Troubalene shook her head. “I don’t think you need to be there. You should be with Xana on the second level in the gathering room celebrating and toasting a successful journey.”

  Patricia rolled her eyes.

  “But I won’t stop you from standing in the doorway. Just try not to make too much noise or he will kick you out of there.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll be quiet as a mouse.”

  Troubalene walked into the room and took her position next to the captain. John looked over to Patricia who smiled and put her finger against her lips. He nodded and turned to face the captain.