by Drew Wagar
The engines provided a final burst of thrust and cut out. The Eclipse was adrift. Rebecca hit the rear viewer.
For a moment they both saw the surface of Lave’s moon, or at least a part of it. It looked as if the moon had been hollow, with nothing more than the thinnest crust of an exterior. Through the aperture via which they had escaped, they could see the blue sphere expand to fill the remaining volume of the moon. Other apertures appeared, spreading, widening. The surface of the moon flickered, cracked and began to melt away. Lave’s moon became a sphere of blue white smoothness, lacking any distinguishing features at all.
With shocking suddenness the light faded. There was pulsation, a suggestion of a witchspace flux, and the moon was as it was before.
The Eclipse tumbled gently in the void of Lave system space, immobilised, but out of danger.
It was as if nothing had happened.
“… and in breaking news! A sensational report that Lave’s moon has suffered some kind of severe energy disturbance! Ident cameras from a number of ships and ground-based telescopes caught the moment as the moon appeared to be enveloped in plasma radiation!
“There are no reports of personnel or ships in close proximity to the moon at the time, and the infamous hydrogen processing plants were unmanned. Galcop reports no distress beacons or escape pods in the immediate area. Eyewitness reports are yet to come in.
“We understand from the astrogation experts on Onrira that the Lave System is in no immediate danger as a result. The moon was in a distant orbit and had little direct influence on the planet. So far, the orbit seems unaffected.
“This strange explosion on the moon raises serious questions as to safety management in the quest for new energy sources.
“Last year in our investigative report into the underhand way that the money for the hydrogen processing plants was raised, we discovered that permits were granted and permission given to ‘mine’ the moon in most unusual ways. We uncovered serious irregularities in how this whole affair was conducted. Cost-cutting measures in the construction of the controversial hydrogen plants may have led to this accident.
“It has also emerged that bizarre and unexplained problems with the moon’s orbit, mass readings and instability have been covered up. It has been alleged that INRA was experimenting with static jump gate technology in order to provide a way to accelerate in-system transport, tapping into the interior of the moon and something went wrong.
“We have requested an interview with both the Lave Licensing Authority and the planet-side authorities. So far they have declined to comment.
“As we know more, we’ll bring it to you.
“ How will Lave handle its burgeoning energy crisis in light of this incident? Truth is, we don’t know. This is Anna Mereso, reporting live on an explosion on the surface of Lave’s moon for the Tionisla Chronicle, wideband channel three-eight-five-point-two… ”
Rebecca had managed move to the Eclipse into a safe elliptical orbit around the moon, and away from the space-lanes originating near the inbound witchpoint marker. It had taken a while. Only the basic attitude thrusters were working. There she stood down the ship.
It was in a bad way.
The engine coils were virtually burnt out, the hull was leaking air from a number of breaches, three out of five energy banks were non-responsive and so many of the on-board systems were damaged she was wondering whether it would be cheaper to repair them all or chop the ship in for salvage and buy a new one. She and Jim had made some basic repairs so that the ship did not come apart around them, with a view to limping it into one of the Coriolis stations for repair. It would be a long trip, the torus drive was also a hopeless pile of junk.
For a frantic couple of hours they had been literally fire-fighting as system after system became a priority assignment. Jim had seen to Rebecca’s leg, where Zerz had injured her and the energy discharge had also given her an unpleasant burn. Jim found the Raxxla file amongst the scattered debris on the bridge, now looking rather second-hand and tatty. He placed it on the console.
Exhausted, they had time to reflect and decide what to do next.
“So, what happened to Raxxla?” Rebecca asked. “Did we make things worse?”
Jim had some ideas, but he couldn’t see any way for him to test their veracity. He sighed, “I’m not sure. I’m not even sure if I know what Raxxla was. I’m finding it hard to believe that time travel is possible, even given what we saw! If it was capable of manipulating time, it was capable of manipulating space as well.”
“Did we… well, destroy it?” Rebecca said, aghast. “I don’t want than on my record!”
“Maybe, that explosion triggered something all right, but I would have thought whoever designed it would have thought of protecting Raxxla from something like that. My guess is we activated some kind of self protection system.”
“Or maybe they were so advanced and otherworldly they didn’t even think somebody would be so stupid to think of bringing a gun inside there. Still, it’s gone now… ”
Rebecca looked out at the viewer, her expression pensive.
“I’m sorry,” Jim said.
“Sorry? What for?”
“You didn’t get a chance to try to go back and save your family, with Raxxla… ”
“Maybe it’s better this way.”
Jim looked at her in surprise. “Better?”
Rebecca looked at him, her expression resolute. “Yeah, better. Maybe the past should be left as the past. I have a life to lead now. If my family hadn’t died back then, what guarantee do I have that my life would be better now?”
And maybe I’ve got a future worth having…
Jim frowned. “But… your family would be alive!”
“I miss them,” she answered slowly. “Dad butting heads with the Oresrians, Lance and Jenner bickering about ship designs, Jante cussing at Galcop Viper pilots, even Coran – I spent so long trying to get a rise out of him! My brother, Red… ” her voice broke up again and she seemed to be once more on the verge of tears, “I used to hate how he seemed to always be on my case, the perfect older brother! He used to nag me so much about being responsible and all that, looking out for friends and family, being loyal. I thought he was so full of it back then. But he was really just looking out for me… I should have listened to him more.”
“Perhaps we’ll get another chance to… ”
Rebecca shook her head. “No. Red understood choices. He gave me a chance. He died to save me, and how did I repay him? Deliberately endangering myself on a selfish quest… .” Her voice faltered, and she swallowed. “He wouldn’t have approved of what I’ve done since.”
“I wish I could have met him,” Jim said softly.
“You’re quite like him in a lot of ways,” Rebecca said, “which is probably why… ”
She stopped, and looked away for a moment, blinking back tears.
Damn this! It’s so stupid! Just say it…
“I’ve thought it through,” she continued abruptly, looking him directly in the eye. “If I did get my family out of the way, I’d never have been involved in the Q-Bomb business would I? What would have happened then?”
Jim cast his mind back. “I guess I’d have been intercepted by the Vipers on my own, and since they had ‘shoot to kill’ orders, I’d have probably been destroyed without you to fly the ship. I’d have never even thought of trying your mis-jump trick. Zerz would have killed me.”
Rebecca’s face looked pale and drawn at the mention of Zerz. “At least we stopped him… ”
She shuddered.
Jim reached out for her. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“I’ve never killed anyone like that,” she whispered, wringing her hands. “It was so… brutal, so ghastly. He… ”
“He forced you into it.”
“I know,” she looked up at him. “I can’t do this any more. Too many lives, it’s horrible. I don’t want to kill any more. It’s too easy across a few kilometres of space, just lasering dow
n a ship. Up close like that… ”
Jim turned her head gently towards him. “You acted in self-defence. He would have killed you, as would all of those pirates you’ve fought.”
“I deliberately went after them!” Rebecca was trembling. “I went out of my way to hunt them down! I murdered them all… ”
“You’re not a murderer! You’re just protecting those you… ”
He faltered, looking at her. Her eyes glistened, and she looked at him expectantly, almost desperately. The moment passed. The sparkle had gone out of her eyes.
Just tell me Jim, is it really that hard? I need to hear this! It might be all I’ve got left…
“You did the right thing,” Jim said, trying to reassure her. “Who knows how many more people would have died if he hadn’t been stopped.”
“I don’t want to be the one who decides who gets to live and who gets to die,” Rebecca said, “I don’t want to mess about with Raxxla again! Things should stay as they are.”
“I think that’s… wise,” Jim managed to say. “If you hadn’t been involved back then, the attack on Achenar might have gone ahead, the Thargoids might have destroyed Lave. We could be living in a war zone now… ”
“And we would never have met,” Rebecca said, stretching out to take his hand. “You were right, Jim. Giving up the revenge was the right thing to do. You were giving me the same advice Red would have done. I was too stubborn to listen. I wasted two years of my life that could have been… well, better spent.”
“I was worried about you,” Jim admitted. “I tried to stay in contact.”
I don’t want to hear you were worried! I want to hear…
“I knew you wouldn’t approve. But when you were shot… ” her voice began to waver, her eyes welling up, “when I thought I’d lost you as well… Jim, I don’t want to lose anyone else ever again!”
Jim reached across and pulled her into a close embrace. “It’s all right.”
She sobbed, shuddering in his arms, no longer from grief or despair, but from sheer release. She grasped him so tightly that he found it hard to draw breath.
“You must think me such a fool,” she said after a minute had passed, smiling despite herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You’re supposed to be so tough as a trader, never giving an inch, living on the edge, don’t let them see a weakness! I’ve never cried so much in my life as in the last day!”
“Then it’s long overdue,” Jim replied.
She pulled back slightly, and rested her forehead against his. “I did want to come back and see you, you know.”
“I… ”
“And it was bloody torture!” she scolded, laughing through her tears. “You messed me up good and proper! I cursed your name so many times!”
“I was pretty messed up myself, to tell the truth.”
“If I’d known it was going to hurt so much… ” Fresh tears began to well up in her eyes.
“I love you, too,” he said simply.
She stared at him, eyes wide. “Jim… ?”
Jim stopped her with a kiss. It left them both oblivious to everything around them.
When it was over Jim leant back and regarded her for a moment. “So, these dozen or so men around the galaxy you mentioned… ”
She looked chastened, almost desperately sincere. “They don’t mean anything! Just some people I know, really… ”
“I was only… ” he grinned.
“Hey! No teasing. That’s not fair!” she said in mock outrage, her eyes sparkling again. She was about to punch him playfully when the ship trembled slightly, rocking gently back and forth. Then it jolted sharply.
Both of them looked at the scanner, it was blank.
“What was that?” Jim asked.
“That felt like an engine wake,” she said, worried. She rubbed her eyes and cheeks to clear the tears away.
The forward viewer flickered, and a ship appeared out of nothing. It was an Ophidian class yacht. The classic retirement vehicle favoured by those with an eye for comfort, style and a bit of luxury in old age. It looked sleek and new, untainted by the battles that had left the Eclipse a near wreck.
“Cloaking device,” Jim muttered. “Iacob and Reba?”
Rebecca looked over the instruments. They were effectively dead in the water.
“I hope they’re still on our side,” she lamented. “We couldn’t outfight an advertising droidship in our current state.”
The narrowband comm panel beeped for attention. Rebecca took a deep breath and opened up the channel.
“You look like you could use a tow,” came a rough gravelly voice.
The two ships docked, base to base, their airlock clamps locking them securely together. Atmospheres equalised and the hatches opened. Rebecca and Jim looked into the interior of the other ship.
A man, old and grey-bearded, awaited them. It looked like Iacob, but older, less vigorous.
“Iacob?” Rebecca queried.
“Iacobus, to you, young lady,” he replied sternly.
“Iacobus?” Jim queried, confused. “Not Iacob? But you’re me as well?”
“Yes, yes and yes,” Iacobus replied with a grin.
“Then… ” Rebecca began, and then stopped, confused, “what are you doing here?”
“My dear, from your perspective we met a handful of days ago. From mine, just a moment has gone by. I also knew precisely where you would be at this point in time.”
Jim looked at both of them. “You two have met before?”
“Yes,” Rebecca said, suspiciously, “I haven’t had time to explain it. Iacobus here is from the Dark Wheel, he… you… he sent me on this mission in the first place!”
“Closing the loop,” Iacobus said, with a grin. “It becomes important to make sure that events have continuity.”
“You could have told me what was going to happen!” Rebecca scolded him and then turned on Jim. “This is your fault!”
“My fault?” he echoed in surprise.
“He’s you, isn’t he?” Rebecca said, half amused, half angry. “Or a future version of you who comes back to give me grief! When it’s your turn you can be straight with me in that bar!”
“ We tried that,” said another voice, warmer and smoother. It was Reba, though not Reba. She was also slightly older, greyer and more frail, “amongst other things. You didn’t believe us, who could blame you really! It still sounds crazy to me even now. In fact in one iteration you lost your temper so badly you actually shot Iacobus and stole his ship. It was most inconvenient. Took us ages to unravel that one!”
Jim grinned, despite himself. “Surely not.”
Rebecca glared at him.
“I really was a hothead wasn’t I?” the woman grinned at Rebecca.
“Rebka… ” Iacobus began.
“Oh do loosen up Iacobus,” Rebka snapped. “You know as well as I do that there is no longer a harmonious time line, if there ever was one!”
“We shouldn’t tell them any more than we have to!”
“So you’re from further into the future than Iacob and Reba then,” Jim surmised.
Iacobus sighed. “Indeed. We’re from 3199. It is fair to say that the Raxxla affair spans a number of periods in our… in your lives. That’s one of the reasons for the name changes, it does get extremely complex to keep track of events.”
“Reba and Rebka I can see,” Jim complained. “But what on Lave possessed you to decide on Iacobus?”
“Youngsters never know their history,” Iacobus lamented. “Iacobus is the ancient form of Iacob, which is a translation from the old Earth name Jacob, which is… ”
“… the old-fashioned version of James,” Jim acknowledged and then whispered to Rebecca, “Don’t let me become a complete pedant in my old age!”
Rebecca smiled, and then asked of Iacobus, “So, we didn’t destroy Raxxla?
“Destroy it?” Iacobus sounded amused. “You can’t destroy Raxxla, my dear.”
“Then what happened?”
“Raxxla moves according to a complex set of variables,” Iacobus said. “All you did was trigger a move somewhat ahead of schedule.”
“Move?” Rebecca said. “But the moon’s still there.”
Iacobus smiled at her. “The moon yes, Raxxla no. It’s not quite as straightforward as you might suspect. You won’t get into Raxxla again by that route… ”
“The eight channels,” Jim said, “one was disrupted by the gun… ”
“Temporarily collapsed is nearer the truth,” Iacobus stated. “And with the wormhole conduit blocked… ”
“Wormhole?” Rebecca asked.
“You’ve already worked it out, Jim,” Rebka said with a smile. “Go on.”
Rebecca looked expectantly at him. “Oh yes, do allow us brainless clots to catch up… ”
Jim frowned. “Those eight channels containing the witchspace energy… ”
“Yes, yes. Keep going,” Rebka encouraged.
“And there are eight wormholes, linking the galactic charts,” Jim continued. “Witchspace energy being sent across the eight charts? A point from which all the galactic witchspace wormholes are sustained!”
“ Spot on,” Iacobus seemed pleased. “Raxxla is the mechanism that keeps them open, generates them in the first place. It’s not a portal, or even a time machine by design, but it is an alien construct that underpins the very fabric of witchspace. It is linked to space and time. Witchspace itself is a manufactured construct.”
“So Raxxla is a hub, a centre point for those wormholes,” Jim mused.
“That’s one of its functions. Built aeons ago by some alien race, linking parts of the galaxy together. We only discovered it and used it, it’s beyond our means to create a technology like that. Every time you take a galactic witchspace jump, you’re passing through Raxxla… ”