by SF Edwards
“Now, hyperspace or N-plus space is not a pure vacuum,” Blazer continued. “N-space is not a true vacuum since it is filled with particles, radiation, planets, stars, etc. We are unable to perceive N-plus dimensional objects in hyperspace with our N-space senses but know that they exist because we’ve seen their N-dimensional shadows. The fact that we can see out of jump points proves that light can exist in hyperspace and it also allows the shadows to be visible proving the existence of N-plus matter. Hyperspace drift also proves the existence of matter in hyperspace. Though we cannot track the drift, its existence helps to explain why jump points in hyperspace move about in a manner that does not match their natural movements in N-space.
“Most jump points that survived universal expansion did so by falling into the gravitational null zones that formed between planets and stars. In these gravitational null zones there exists minimal force acting on particulate matter so there is almost no interaction between either universe. This allows the jump points to exist without energy expenditure and to stabilize. Jump points vary in size. Most are large enough to admit several large ships at a time. Gravitational forces can manipulate their size by increasing or decreasing them. N-space jump points are nearly invisible. They appear, no, are perceivable as slightly undulating blue-shifted gravitational lenses. Kind of like what you see when you are traveling in slipstream towards a super massive object right before it blue-shifts out of view. From the hyperspace side they appear as spherical windows into N-space and are the only thing visible in hyperspace other than the mass shadows.
“Matter in normal space and hyperspace cannot coexist and if unshielded, N-space matter that impacts a jump point with sufficient velocity will penetrate into hyperspace where it will be destroyed.”
“How so?”
“I’m getting to that. The N-space mass will basically be absorbed by the hyperspace matter usually with a brilliant flash which is visible from N-space. In fact, that is one of the ways we used to find jump points. A ship would fire high-speed particles out into a gravitational null zone looking for the flash of hyperspace absorption. A properly shielded craft, however, can safely transition the jump point and navigate through hyperspace.”
“Speaking of navigation; how does that work with no references?”
“Oh, my love, you have a touched on a subject close to me. Jump buoys are arranged four at a time around jump points. These buoys mark the equator of the jump point. That equator is established by the Navigator’s Guild. It’s totally imaginary. The jump points transmit jump codes into hyperspace identifying their position in N-space and dictate the direction that ships enter and exit a jump point. You can get into a lot of trouble by entering a jump point from the red side for instance instead of the blue side.
“And I got it!” Blazer announced as he finished installing the fuel pump. “That should finish up the question too. It didn’t ask anything about how to safely transit.”
“The navigation and jump point bits were probably more than what you needed.”
Blazer crawled back out of the access chute with the old fuel pump in hand. “I sure hope they don’t want the math or I’ll spend the next half decle answering the question,” he announced and set the fuel pump down on the platform. He then sat down on the cart next to her. “Did you get all that?”
“Yeah, even with all the cursing.”
He gave her a sidelong glare. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Yeah. I edited it out as you went,” she replied and leaned in to kiss him on his cheek. She stopped short and wiped some grease off his face before kissing him playfully. “You need to take a shower later.”
Blazer rolled his eyes. “Don’t I always when I get off the decks?”
Marda chuckled. “You know I haven’t seen your trainer since I arrived earlier either, I kind of miss watching you work on it.”
“Well, its back in rotation,” he said checking his macomm and the schedule on it. “Yeah, Jocin is out flying her right now and Olif said it handles better than before.”
“How does it feel to have it flying again?”
“Good. Really good. I broke it and I fixed it. It's kind of like riding a neigh. Have you ever?”
Marda gave an enthusiastic nod. “I broke a neigh,” she explained puffing out her chest. “My grandmother saw it as a good training exercise for me. She said, ‘if you can train a neigh you can train a ghost.’”
“Did it help?”
“No. It’s totally different. It did help me connect more to my body and my instincts, which you need when dealing with a new spirit. So I trained a foal from when it was a baby until it was ready to ride. It took about two annura but it had to grow up.”
Blazer caught the chief approaching as Marda finished.
“Are you finished yet?” The Chief called out.
“Just running the BIT check now,” Blazer replied as he checked the maintenance panel. “It checks out blue.”
“Good. You qualified on a Feral?”
Blazer shook his head. “No, sir. We haven’t even begun sim work on anything besides the Dagger.”
The chief nodded. “I understand. I’ll have to get someone else to take it out and test her.”
Wait a cent. Does the chief want me to take it out on a test-flight? Could I even do that if I were type certified? A Feral flew with a crew of six under combat conditions. I suppose that a simple test-flight might only require a crew of one or two.
“How does it handle compared to a Class 4 shuttle?” Marda asked.
The chief looked up at her. “You’ve flown Class 4 shuttles?”
“It was one of my regular duties in the Diplomatic Corps and they’re about the same size.”
“It handles better than a Class 4. More responsive. The mass and maneuverability are in the same class. I’ll sign off on you taking it out if you take him as a copilot just in case.”
Marda nodded and took Blazer’s hand. “Will do, chief. Come on, Blazer! Let’s change for our date.”
UCSBA-13 Feral-F-13-0136T
Blazer’s pulse raced with anticipation when they returned to the flight deck fully suited up and ready to fly. Crossing the deck, they found the bomber waiting for them at the catapult. Marda squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. He smiled back. I could get lost in that smile and those emerald eyes.
“Ladies first!” Marda announced and launched herself towards the hatch high above.
Blazer just stood there admiring the view of her backside while she sailed up towards the hatch twenty metra above them. Never before was he so glad that the academy had issued them new flight suits this semester. The new ones were tailored to them with working nanofibers. She reached the hatch and waved for him to follow. He leapt after at the chance.
They climbed inside and found the chief waiting for them. “Are you coming along chief?” Blazer asked, noting that the chief stood before them in his duty uniform.
The chief shook his giant head. “No. I just wanted to congratulate you on all you’ve done.”
What does he mean by that? Blazer wondered as he settled to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Marda’s knowing smile and she slid away towards the pilot’s seat. What are they up to?
“Call this a graduation exercise. Take this beast out, run it through its paces, bring it back in one piece and you’ll be finished.”
“Sir?”
“You’re done, cadet,” the chief replied as he pushed past him towards the larger side door.
Blazer turned to the chief, his elation about taking the craft out with Marda turning to panic. “What do you mean done?”
“Don’t be pessimistic,” Chief Flind answered. “Your punishment is complete.”
“But I’ve only just finished repairing my trainer so I still have another tridec left.”
“That’s the thing,” the chief went on, scratching his head. “I talked it over with the other chiefs and we decided it wouldn’t be right to keep you on any longer. We’ll miss y
our hands but you have your own job to do here and you’ve done better than we expected.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome but test out this engine first. You’re not released until this bomber has a full blue board,” the chief stated as he jumped out of the hatch before Blazer could say anything further.
Relief washed over Blazer when he slid over to the door and watched the Chief land with the grace of a ballerina on the deck, waving them on. Blazer sighed, sealing the door and the deck hatch as he shook his head. Marda had to know the Chief had planned this. He checked the hatch into the bomb bay, ensured it was sealed before drifting up beside her.
“Congratulations!” Marda said with a smile when he slid into his seat.
“Thanks. Let’s celebrate later.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Marda replied with a wicked grin. “Let’s get these checklists done first.”
Blazer agreed and in no time they were in open space. Flying in the bomber felt almost alien to Blazer. Marda seemed like she’d just reconnected with an old friend as she took them on a quick course around the asteroid shell. Blazer marveled at the sight of Marda, the excitement flowing off her.
“Oh I missed this,” she squealed.
“How does it feel compared to a Dagger?”
Marda looked over at him and smiled. They weren’t wearing their typical helmets. Those were perched on the ledges behind their seats. The open-faced bomber helmets they wore featured emergency hoods for a possible hull breach instead. Blazer liked their open feel and loved the ability to see Marda’s face so clearly.
“It feels more… open,” she replied stretching her arms out. “There are advantages to both. This tub isn’t as maneuverable but it’s got a lav and places to lie down,” she laughed, pointing aft.
Blazer remembered crawling around inside the maintenance tunnel just a few cycles before to service the sensors and cannons of one of the bombers. He would hardly call the relief station built into the walls of the two extended mission bunks lavatories, but they served the purpose. I’m just glad I didn’t have to clean them like Cadet Gord had to last decle.
“How often did you fly the Class 4 with the Diplomatic Corps?”
Marda looked out the viewport, a wistful look on her face. “Just a few times an annura. Mostly, I flew smaller Type 1 and 2 shuttles though. So, what’s our flight profile?”
Blazer called up a maintenance screen on his console. “Not much. We just have to do some basic maneuvers and then run the craft through a slipstream course. It’s already preprogrammed. Just set it and go.”
“What’s the point of that?”
“Anytime you change out a major component of an engine you want to test it and take it through the slipstream course to exercise it pretty well.”
They took the bomber on a quick half hect tour of the asteroid shell’s interior with Marda coaching Blazer through several maneuvers. Blazer didn’t care for the more sluggish handling but he adjusted to it. The principal was the same and he just had to get used to the extra mass and momentum the larger craft carried.
After they’d finished the basic maneuvers, Marda took back control and guided them through the asteroid shell to the slipstream entry vector. Blazer checked over the slipstream drive as they spun it up. The dark matter state changed into dark energy around them, and they watched their effective mass drop before the ship rocketed away.
“How long should this take?” Marda asked.
“According to the autopilot we’ll be there in a little better than a hect.”
“Wow! You’d think after all we just did it wouldn’t need such a long trip.”
Blazer nodded in response and watched Marda release her harness before slipping out of her seat.
“I have to use the lav,” she said sheepishly then pushed off and floated to the rear of the flight deck. “Just watch the controls and make sure nothing happens.”
“We’re on automatic! We’re just fine,” Blazer laughed.
As she reached the back of the deck, Marda reached down and opened the hatch into the crawlspace. “Just see to it that it stays that way,” she replied, disappearing through the hatch.
After about ten pulses, Blazer tapped the intercom. “Is everything OK down there?”
“Yeah everything’s fine,” she replied, poking her head back up through the hatch. “I need your help with something though.”
“What’s that?” he asked as he turned around to see what she was doing.
She shot a look over her shoulder towards the pressure indicators for the bomb bay. “I need you to help me get out of this flight suit.”
She pushed herself out of the hatch and Blazer’s mouth fell agape. What floated before him was a fantasy he’d kept since he’d first met her. Her flight gear removed and her uniform undone, Blazer saw that she wore nothing beneath it. He felt a stirring in his loins and removed his harness.
Marda’s giggling taunted Blazer’s ears as he fumbled with his harness. After it released he turned about and caught Marda keying open the hatch to the bomb bay before she dove in. Hearts racing, Blazer floated out of his seat and launched himself towards her. Stripping away his flight gear, he spun towards the hatch. He kept his eyes locked on her--felt her entice him as she pulled her flight suit open. Already on an emotional high from his release from Chief Flind, Blazer couldn’t resist the invitation to make love with Marda in the weightless bomb bay. Uncertainty no longer remained in his vocabulary this cycle.
He grabbed the hatch and stared in at Marda, every fiber of his being screamed to take her. She beckoned him to come with an outstretched finger and unzipping his flight suit, Blazer launched after her. She caught him and they tumbled through the open air of the empty bay, pulling their bodies close. They kissed.
Blazer felt his way into her flight suit, caressing her flesh and she moaned in response against him. He didn’t care about the cold grey setting they were in, didn’t care about romance in that moment. His only thoughts were of the sexual desires that he’d denied for so long.
He thrust his other arm into her flight suit and grabbing her neck ring he pushed up on it, forcing them to release the kiss. Marda slid her head down and out of the suit and reaching behind, undid her wrist clasps before pulling her arms out of her sleeves. She floated there separated from him by a metra, her flight suit half off before kicking the rest of it off while Blazer slipped out of his own. Blazer’s body shuddered in ecstasy when her hands wrapped back around him and he pulled her in close again. He relished her lips in another passionate embrace. Bringing their flesh together, their hands explored each other’s bodies.
Blazer hoped the moment would never end and kissed his way down her neck eliciting a pleasure-filled moan from Marda. He proceeded across her shoulders and down between her breasts; felt her breath come in throating gasps before she pulled him back to face her. She forced him to kiss her again, felt her tongue explore his mouth as she slipped her hands into his underwear to caress his tight buttocks. He ground against her and slipped one hand down to caress her naked rear before each of them slid a hand to the front.
Blazer moaned with pleasure when Marda took hold of his manhood and he fingered her feminine essence. She shuddered at his touch and bit his ear while they caressed one another’s most intimate places. Soft plaintive moans escaping their lips, they prepared to take the final step.
Blazer could hardly believe it as Marda pushed his hand out of the way in preparation to guide him in. He shuddered in anticipation, as he felt his manhood swell at the touch of her hot passion. Suddenly, everything stopped.
An alert klaxon wailed at them from the cockpit. They hung dead in space and looked forward. Blazer cursed whatever cruel twist of fate had halted them before his training took hold. Breaking from their embrace, both launched back into the cockpit. Marda slipped ahead of Blazer as regret tore at him. God, we were so close! They had no time for that now, and glided back into their seats
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nbsp; Blazer scanned his console, his mind still clouded from the interrupted passion. “I’m not seeing any problems here,” he called, silencing the alarm. “Engines are blue, life support blue, power blue, slipstream drive is within tolerances.”
“It’s the shields,” Marda gasped. “We’re vectoring towards a high rad zone and their not self-modulating to compensate.”
“What?” Blazer cried pulling up the display, his blood going cold.
Sure enough, their course had them speeding towards a highly radioactive cloud of stellar plasma that the local star had kicked off. That shouldn’t be a problem, but why aren’t the EM shields tuning to block the cloud?
“I’ll have to increase power instead,” Blazer called out and increased the ion output to their EM shields, thickening the barrier to deflect more of the radiation. “These should be auto tuning, but they’re not,” he went on, running a quick BIT check and found the problem. “It’s a minor glitch, a relay’s stuck.” He breathed a sigh of relief and floated out of the seat while the shields shifted to block the radiation.
Marda shook her head. “At least you fixed it,” she said with a sigh of relief.
They sat and stared at each other for a long moment. They had come so close and had nearly taken their relationship to the next phase. They still could since nothing was preventing them. Blazer floated over to her but she shook her head, stopping him.
“No. Stop,” she replied, turning away for a moment.
When she looked back at him, he could almost feel her eyes caress his body. He could tell she wanted him just as bad as he wanted her but the moment had passed.
“Blazer, I want this.”