Orchestra of Shadows

by Charles Nall

  “What's going on?” Jacob asked.

  Sharon began inputting codes into the console. “I'm calibrating the hyper-drive to Rapture's signature. It won't be long now.”

  The ship vibrated. The hyper-drive let out a droning tone.

  Arnold and Trevor entered the engine room.

  “Hey... Is it supposed to be making that noise?” Trevor asked.

  Arnold surveyed the engine room. “Come on, girl. Sharon, the sails are in place. There was plenty of room in some of the empty weapon compartments near the thrusters. I don't think the ion drive will interfere with any particle collection. Everything is good to go. Not only is she ready to fly, she's ready to jump to hyperspace!”

  Sharon input another code and listened to the vibration of the ship. “That's good news, Arnie!”

  The ship lurched again, nearly knocking Jacob to the floor. “Seriously, what’s it doing? And sails? We have sails? This isn't seaworthy.”

  Trevor pat Jacob's back. “Jake, I don't know much about ships, but I do know that sails they’re talking about aren't exactly the same as sails on sailboats. They pick up particles streaming from stars. Something about exotic particles needing to be used to charge the hyper-drive.”

  “Where did you learn that stuff?” Jacob asked.

  “Well, information is out there if you want to learn it. On expeditions in the past I tried to help in any way I could. Teresa Day told me I had a knack for working the comms. I don't know, I didn't find it that difficult. It sort of just came to me. She claimed it's actually harder than it looks, but I think she was just making me feel better about my performance,” Trevor said.

  A popping noise followed by a groan resonated in the engine room. Smoke poured from the reactor. The energy in the energy channel began to fluctuate wildly. Rapture began to tremble.

  Sharon ran frantically to a console on the reactor. “No! No! No, girl, you can do it!” Sparks and smoke poured from the hyper-drive.

  Arnold ran to the hyper-drive. “Sharon! We gotta disconnect everything! Sharon!”

  “No! It's fine! She's fine! Don't do it!” Sharon yelled.

  The ship shook violently. Metal plates started to fall from the ceiling. Trevor tackled Jacob onto the floor out of the way of falling shrapnel.

  “You good, bud?” asked Trevor as he rose to his feet.

  “I think so.” Jacob struggled to stand.

  The engine room was slowly filling with smoke.

  Trevor called out, “Guys! We gotta get out of here, the hyper-drive is about to go critical!”

  Jacob stood up and held the back of his head. The room spun. He finally came to his bearings in the midst of the chaos engulfing the engine room.

  Arnold yelled, “Trevor, there's a console near the hatch for venting the smoke. Vent it!”

  Trevor hit the button and the smoke started dissipating. “Okay! Now we get the eff out of here!”

  Sharon yelled at Arnold, “Don't you dare disconnect her! She's fine! I got this!”

  “If I don't disconnect her,” replied Arnold, “this whole city block will be destroyed! We can't have that happen! We have to stop this!”

  Trevor grimaced. “The whole block?! Who decided it was a good idea to let you guys monkey with this stuff?!”

  Sharon took a deep breath. “She's okay, she's okay, she's...” A crack went up the energy channel glass cylinder. A warning siren sounded. “She's not okay. Oh god, Oh god, what's wrong?”

  Arnold started unhooking wires and disconnecting hoses from the hyper-drive. “She’s barely meant to fly, much less go to hyperspace! We gotta shut her down!”

  Sharon put her head down and tears began streaming down her face. “Okay. Okay. I'm doing it.”

  The ship stopped shaking. Smoke ceased billowing.

  “Is that it? Are we okay?” Trevor asked.

  Sharon slumped down beside the reactor. She placed her hands into her palm. Jacob sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She turned to him and put her face into his coat and bawled.

  Jacob comforted Sharon. “Look, look, it's okay. We'll get her flying. We'll jump together.”

  Trevor pointed to the crack in the energy channel. “That crack. That's bad. That's bad, right? That's bad.”

  Sharon cried, “I'm a failure. She'll never fly.”

  Jacob cooed, “No, no, no. That's not right.”

  Sharon looked up at the reactor. She placed her hand on the device. “My poor baby is hurt.”

  “Remember what Vis said. You are not a failure,” Jacob said.

  Arnold surveyed the damage. “The reactor seems stable. The outer casing of the channel is cracked a bit but that shouldn't be a major problem. The hyper-drive looks fine. The damage seems to be superficial. Those leads up there don't look too good but the hyper-drive system seems completely fine. In fact...” Arnold looked at the console of the hyper-drive and started to laugh. “What? No way!”

  Sharon looked over at Arnold. “Arnie, what?”

  “It calibrated! It calibrated!” Arnold exclaimed as he pointed at the console.

  Sharon jumped out of Jacob's arms and ran to the console. The words “Calibration Complete – 100% Mapped” appeared on the screen.

  Trevor scratched his head. “Wait, all that... was good?”

  Arnold pointed at another screen nearby. “Sharon, look, look. Hyper-space telemetry. Look, you can tell there's a large gravity well nearby. It's Diana! We're detecting hyperspace!”

  Arnold hugged Sharon. “We did it!”

  Sharon slowly eased herself out of the hug and smiled. “We sure did!”

  Jacob sat up and walked over to Sharon and stood next to her. “What does that mean?”

  Sharon turned and hugged Jacob tightly. “That means we can go to hyperspace! Hook everything back up! Once we clean up this mess we're going to take her for a test drive!”

  Arnold sighed and turned back to the screen showing the nearby surroundings of hyperspace.

  Jacob smiled. “See, we can jump to hyperspace in Rapture before we head off to Andromeda.”

  Sharon nodded. “Yes! Although that was so fun, I don't know if I want to. So have you decided you’re going to Andromeda, then?”

  “No, not really. I'm going where you are going."

  “I'm going where you’re going!” Sharon said.

  Jacob laughed. “I'm going where you’re going!”

  “No! I'm going where you’re going!”

  Trevor rolled his eyes. “Someone decide.”

  Sharon began hooking wires and hoses back to the drive. “It will be sad to leave Rapture here. Especially in this state. I want to fly.”

  “Unfortunately,” Arnold said as he pointed toward the leads going to one of the main ion thrusters, “those are fried. Damn. She won't be flying.”

  Arnold climbed up a ladder on the side of the room. “I can't tell, I'll need to go through the maintenance shafts. We may need one new ion engine. I'm not sure where we will get that. Hopefully we'll just need to do some repairs. That will take some time.”

  “We'll get those repaired! Together we can get that repaired quickly!” Sharon said enthusiastically.

  “There's not enough room in the shafts for both of us. I'll do it. You basically worked on the hyper-drive all by yourself. I'll get this working. And then we can take a test drive before you leave for Exodus, if that's what you decide,” Arnold said.

  “Okay, if you insist,” Sharon said as she looked back to Jacob. “So, what are we doing? Are we going to Andromeda or staying here? We need to decide and tell my dad either way. The deadline is tomorrow and Exodus is launching on the 8th.”

  Jacob smiled. “I'm going where ever you are going.”

  Arnold sighed.

  Trevor picked a piece of metal off the debris-covered floor and said, “No! Not again. Listen, you two lovebirds, just count down from three and both of you pick something. If you both pick the same thing, well, it's all figured out. If it's different, well, you two can h
ave more delightful discussion! …Please say the same thing.”

  “Sure, sure. Okay. Ready? Say Exodus or Artemis. Let's decide,” Jacob said.

  Sharon nodded. “Ready?”

  “Three...” Jacob said.

  Sharon grinned. “Two...”

  Jacob laughed. “One...”

  “Exodus!” called out both Jacob and Sharon at the same time. They both giggled and gave each other a hug.

  Trevor sighed. “See, that wasn't that hard.”

  Trevor picked up another steel plate and threw it to the corner. “I gotta do everything around here.”

  “Oh, I'm going to a whole new galaxy with you, Jacob Carpenter,” Sharon said with a giggle.

  Jacob and Sharon shared a passionate kiss in the middle of the rubble of the engine room.

  Arnold dropped down from the ladder. He turned away from the kissing couple and looked up toward the damaged line. He seethed. Sharon, you won't be leaving until Rapture flies. I can make sure that never happens.

  6

  February 6, 0270 AC – 13:21 Local Time

  USS Freedom

  Orbiting Artemis, Galactic Union Space

  Freedom was floating between the moon Artemis and the orange planet Diana. Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, Exodus orbited the moon as well. Exodus was built to be functional and was not pretty to look at. Dark brown plates lined most of the hull, peppered with many lights and windows. Exodus looked like a typical rectangular skyscraper on its side. The astern solar sails were unfurled, glistening in the starlight.

  Captain John Devereaux stared at the bridge viewscreen of Freedom. He saw Exodus drifting in space. He knew that soon Exodus would be destroyed to fuel the fire for war between the Galactic Union and the Confederate States of Orion. He knew of the conspiracy and the plot. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop it. He would struggle, but he knew it would not help. He was powerless. Devereaux dreaded the day and knew it would be upon him soon. He sat defeated in his captain's chair in the center of the bridge.

  “Everything okay, sir?” Commander Freeman asked. She was looking at a hologram display projecting next to her chair with ship information.

  “I'm fine.”

  “You still haven't gotten your head checked.”

  “I said I was fine. And did you talk to Lieutenant Cinderflake about me? How do you know I haven't been?”

  “You haven't.”

  “Well, yes. I'm fine, though. A little tired, a little stressed. We've talked about this.”

  Freeman swiped her palm across the hologram. She turned away from the fading hologram to the captain. “You are a terrible liar.”

  “Perhaps, but I’m not lying right now. ”

  “Something is wrong. This isn't just stress. I've seen you stressed. Remember the riots on Zeta Volantis III? Remember Anchorage Station? This is nothing. We're babysitting a chunk of metal in space. No one is going to touch it, no matter what nonsense the admiral spouts to your ears.”

  “I'm just not so sure. You know they are reinforcing their borders and–”

  “Captain!” yelled Lieutenant Commander Ember Skyrift from her station. “We're detecting hyperspace fluctuations!”

  The captain straightened his posture in his chair. “What? Overlay on screen.”

  “Lieutenant, were there any scheduled jumps in this sector?” Commander Freeman called out to a lieutenant on the bridge.

  Lieutenant Jaxon Knight replied, “No sir. D-L1 is the only jumpgate with a pending arrival and it is due in an hour, and it is just some civilian traffic. I'm not detecting them on the hyperNEP relays, and I really doubt they are an hour early.”

  Captain Devereaux stood up. “Has there been any pirate activity or anything else of note in this sector? Can you get a fix on the fluctuations? How far are they?”

  Lieutenant Commander Ember Skyrift replied, “It's been quiet, sir, no pirate activity. I can't get a good lock on the flux. The wake is big, at least one large warship. And, sir, it's heading rim-trailward. ”

  “Action Stations! Action Stations! Assume Con-1!” Commander Serafina Freeman yelled.

  The lighting in the bridge turned a shade of red. A warning siren sounded. A computer voice relayed the current condition of the ship.

  Captain John Devereaux placed his hand on his chin and furrowed his brow in confusion. “Trailward? That's from the direction of Confederation space. Any more details on that hyperspace reading? Get me as much information as possible! Why didn't a listening post tell us about this?!”

  The lieutenant commander was reading through the data on her console. “I don't know, sir. The fluctuations are getting closer. I can't get an exact read on it due to some gravitational eddies and some background radiation. I don't think they are using the jumpgate system.”

  “Contact! Bearing three-zero-zero dot fifteen!” Lieutenant Knight called out.

  Two starships materialized with a flash of light just off the starboard side of Freedom. The starships glowed a light blue for a few seconds after entering standard space.

  “I'm reading... Oh thank god, Galactic Union signatures,” said Knight. “Apollo and Callisto, sirs.”

  “Lieutenant Commander, get on the link with the captain of the Apollo,” requested Devereaux, “and overlay.”

  “Aye, aye.”

  A portion of the viewscreen displayed a video feed of the captain of Apollo and the bridge section of that ship. The captain had silver hair and tired eyes. He smiled. “Captain.”

  “Stand down Action Stations. Return to Con-3. Captain Anderson, I was not aware of your arrival.”

  “I understand. We just received the orders ourselves. Our ships were patrolling the border spinward from here and got the command to come here. I here there's a party in a few days. We need a bit more firepower in case there's a fleet wanting to stop Exodus.”

  Devereaux sat back in his chair.“A London-class battle cruiser? I feel much safer with you assisting the defense. The people of Artemis are much more safe now. I do wish I had known you were coming. We were ready to blast you out of the sky”

  “Well, sir, good luck with that.”

  “We are in your debt. It was a bit lonely out here. Apollo and Callisto to the aid of Artemis,” Devereaux said.

  “That is not all, sir,” said the captain of Apollo. “There have been rumors of potential sabotage on Exodus. We're sending a group of engineers to do a final, quick inspection before the launch. We can't let anything happen to it.”

  Devereaux smiled. “Of course.”

  Devereaux began to think that perhaps these two ships were a blessing. They would hopefully uncover the faulty hyper-drive and fix it. But perhaps they were a curse. He knew he was the backup plan in case the original plan failed. Is it better to know bloodshed is about to happen and do nothing, or to cause bloodshed against your will?

  February 6, 0270 AC - 10:54

  CFS Iriguchi

  Edge of Orion Confederate Space

  Lieutenant Riko Maeda pushed a button on the side of the door to Commander Tsukino's quarters. Crewmen walked by her in the sleek metal hallway of the hypership. The light gray walls were clean and functional. At the top and bottom of the walls the trim sharply turned toward the dark metal floor and ceiling. Occasional sections of the wall were raised, dividing the metal hallway that was well-lit by lights lining the edge of the ceiling. Consoles and ship readouts were placed occasionally along the hall.

  Riko pressed the panel again. “Sir. Lieutenant Riko Maeda here. I scheduled an appointment to talk to you.”

  Still no answer. She scratched her short black hair. Did I mess up the appointment time? Dammit, Riko.

  A voice called out from speakers near the panel, “Yes, yes, just one second. Okay, okay. Come on in, the door is open.”

  The door slid open at an angle. Riko walked into the rather spacious quarters. Burnished metal walls lined the room. An aquarium filled with saltwater fish bubbled in the left side of the room. Two chairs and
a small table were sitting next to the aquarium. Rooms for sleeping and showering were through a closed door. A complete kitchen with a range dominated the right side of the room. Resting in the center of the room was a desk with an old globe of Earth. Countless stars of the Milky Way shined through a large window that spanned the starboard wall.

  The door to the personal chambers opened and Commander Tyr Tsukino walked out into the room, buttoning his coat. He bowed to Riko. “Peace, Lieutenant. How can I help you? Please, let's sit here by the fish.”

  “Fish, you have always loved the little guys.”

  Tsukino's weathered face beamed. “Yes. They are quite beautiful. So expensive but worth it. There's something soothing about the bubbling of the tank and the colors of the fish.”

  “Like little cruisers and destroyers swimming around in the galaxy of the fish tank,” Riko Maeda said as she placed her hand on the aquarium. She followed the movements of the fish with her hand.

  “Something like that, yes. I don't think there are any hyperfish in these waters, though,” Tsukino said with a grin.

  “No, I suppose not,” Riko said.

  “Lieutenant, what brings you here? I assume it is not to watch fish swim around in a tank.”

  “Respectfully, I do not understand what is going on. We're doing combat drills nearly every waking hour. We're actually preparing for outright war. We're not doing anything to prevent the war. We were at the Cove to try to investigate the bombing and then we leave. We've had peace for so long now. Can't both sides just talk this over? We're not going to attack them, right?”

  “Yes, Silver Cove wasn't my decision. That was not our call. We're not planning on doing anything irrational. We must defend our honor if it is besmirched and our land if it is besieged. We're working the entire crew hard, I know, but there is a very real possibility of a very bloody war erupting. Everyone must be in fighting shape.”

  “I think over-working your crew is detrimental to the success of any besieging the other forces may do.”