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Captain Edward van
Allen lounged casually in his chair in the corner of Harrington's Bar. He was very nearly
succeeding in keeping a smug smile off his face as he toyed with the remnants of the meal
he had finished nearly half an hour earlier. Across the table from him sat Captain Petre
Volenski, who was very nearly succeeding in keeping a frustrated frown off his face.
Petre had been van
Allen's first officer during the Terran/Nrthvc War, but he had never gotten used to van
Allen's need for suspense. Petre knew this was far from the simple dinner it might have
appeared to an outsider to be. Even without the half smile on Ed's face there were obvious
clues. First of all Harrington's was empty except for them. The last time that had
happened Ed had told Petre about the approaching Nrthvc Armada. Then there was Ed's
uniform. Where the Admiral's Star had been for the last six years there were now Captain's
Bars. After nearly three hours of sitting there Petre gave up.
"All right
Ed," he said, "I give up. What's going on?"
"I was wondering
when you were going to ask me that," van Allen replied, a smug smile now firmly in
place. He put down his fork, took a drink (an odd blackish concoction from the Deimos
Hydroponics Vineyards), and relaxed even further in his chair.
"Well," Petre
said unconsciously stroking his beard, whose grey hairs he'd often attributed to serving
under van Allen.
Edward van Allen sat up and leaned across the table towards his companion. "Star
Force is giving me a new ship," he said excitedly. Before Petre could reply, he went
on. "Tech Force finally cracked the secret of the Nrthvc's Faster Than Light drive.
The prototype will be complete in a few weeks and I'm to be her Captain. They've
christened her the Alpha."
Petre leaned back to
let this all sink in. When the Nrthvc Armada had been defeated, Tech Force had made some
astonding discoveries. The biggest, though, was that the Nrthvc had developed a Faster
Than Light drive, which had eluded Humankind for centuries. But even more startling was
the fact that the Nrthvc had never used this technology. They had the know-how and the
equipment to build and install their FTL drive on their ships but had not. The Armada had
taken forty years to reach the Terran System when their FTL drive could have gotten them
there in forty days.
Petre Volenski stroked
his black and grey beard, again unconsciously. "I know you too well to believe you'd
have brought me here to gloat, so," he paused, tilted his head and continued,
"where do I fit in?"
Edward smiled. "I
get to hand pick my crew. I want you back as my first officer. It means leaving the
Endeavor and a demotion to Commander, but think of the possibilities."
Petre was doing just
that. He'd taken command of the Endeavor at the end of the Terran/Nrthvc War when van
Allen had accepted the leadership of Exploration Force and the promotion to Admiral that
went with it. He'd served on that ship for twenty-six years now. He'd met Jenny there and
fallen in love with her there. Edward had married them in the Observation Gallery on deck
six. He'd helped plan battles in the conference rooms, watched them executed successfully
from his station on the bridge, helped repair the damage they'd taken in engineering and
even help weld plates to the outer hull. He'd proudly watched his daughter's birth in the
Med Center. He'd been ready for death as a Nrthvc torpedo got through a malfunctioning
shield and then watched in horror as Jenny's consol had exploded after the impact and
threw her shrapenal-riddled body across the bridge to land at his feet. He'd even been in
the command chair during the final battle when the Endeavor destroyed nine of the last
twenty-one Nrthvc ships. It seemed to him that every important event in his life had
occured aboard that ship. To leave it behind... He was going to have to think long and
hard about this one.
"I accept,"
Petre said.
* * * * *
Commander Volenski
stood with Captain van Allen on the dais and looked around the Observation Gallery at the
crew of the Alpha. Many were former members of the Endeavor's crew: Navigator Drew Garrix,
Weapons Officer Vincent Talbort, Sensor Officer Kimberly Jones (who had replaced Jenny at
the post), three quarters of the Med Center Staff, Chief Engineer Ben Joles and half his
staff. The remainder of the Engineering Staff had come from Tech Force, most of them from
the team that had finally cracked the secret of the FTL drive. Another newcomer was Aerica
Longsworth, the Communications Officer, fresh out of the Academy when she had been
assigned to van Allen's staff on Earth. She and van Allen appeared to have a bit more than
a working relationship.
Edward van Allen had
been letting the suspense build now for nearly ten minutes as the crew watched him,
anxious to be on with their first historic mission. The ones he knew were taking it fairly
well but most of the new arrivals were sweating. Good, he thought, almost time. You need
your crew to be slightly on edge, his father, Nathan van Allen, a career Star Force
Officer, had often said. It keeps their eyes open and that's the first and most important
step in making sure they stay alive. Edward glanced across the dais at Aerica. She was
looking down at her left sleeve where she was gently fingering the new gold Leiutenant's
Bars. It was time.
"Leiutenant
Longsworth," he said in a loud voice. Edward noted with satisfaction that she wasn't
the only one who started then snapped to attention. "Activate all ship's
screens."
"Yes, sir,"
Aerica said as she stepped over to the control panel and punched in the codes. Three large
screens and numerous smaller ones around the Observation Gallery brightened to show the
same scene: Jupiter in all its red and amber glory slipping slowly into the bottom left
corner and, beyond the gas giant, the endless reaches of space. Sixty pairs of eyes
watched as the last orangish glow faded form the screen leaving only the stars, which for
the first time were within reach.
Aerica keyed in the next sequence. A small red circle appeared around one of the star.
"That is our first
destination. Twenty years ago the Atlantis, a generation colony ship left in hopes that
one of the four planets detected in orbit would be habitable. We lost contact with them
just six months after they launched and have heard nothing from them since. If the loss of
their communications system was the only major problem they had, they could still be
alive." One of the engineers, Tarkus Varnek, brightened at this; his Uncle Robre had
been on the Atlantis. "And if one of those planets was inhabitable, we may well find
a colony there. Even with the additional resources of an uninhabitable world to repair
whatever damage occured to their equipment, no communication would reach Earth for another
seven years."
He paused and signaled
Aerica. She punched in another code. Another circle, this one green, appeared around a
different star. There were a few gasps. Almost everyone knew which star it was. It was
Nrthvc. It was the star from which the Armada had come, at least according to the experts
at Sci Force.
"Yes," van
Allen answered the implied question. "After establishing the fate of the Atlantis, we
will proceed to Nrthvc, determine if it is indeed their system, and report back to Star
Force. We will not attempt any form of contact with them and we will not confront them.
Our mission is to be one of fact-finding; it is not a military operation. We are not going
out there for revenge." At least not yet, thought Petre.
"Because of the
number of unknowns, that is as far as our orders go. We're basically on our own. Now,
everyone to your stations. We'll pass beyond the orbit of Neptune at 21:09. We will make
the jump to light speed at 22:00 exactly. Dismissed."
* * * * *
21:58:45
Vincent Talbort scanned
the weapons readout. Green lights around. In just fractions of a second he could unleash
an unmerciful wall of death at anyone or anything that got in their way. Not that the
first part of their mission called for anything like that, but you never knew...
21:59:00
Ben Joles looked around
his Engine Room. No matter what ship or who was in command of it, the Engine Room was his.
No matter what these new boys from Tech Force thought. He'd bring them around soon enough.
He'd made more stubborn people than them into part of his team. These guys weren't even
spacers. Pretty soon this Engine Room would be running the way he liked it. He turned back
to his consol and typed in the final sequence; the Nrthvc FTL Drive was now fully online.
21:59:15
Aerica Longsworth
listened to the message then turned in her seat to face the Captain.
"Message from Star Force Commander Fergesen, sir," she said. "They said
`Good luck and smooth sailing.'" The message was a long-standing tradition in the
Star Force. Every time a new ship launched the Commander of Star Force called with that
message. It was actually a bit of superstition. No ship sent out with that message had
failed to come back from its first mission more-or-less intact.
21:59:30
Drew Garrix ran the
tips of her fingers lightly over the controls on the Navigation Console. She already liked
the Alpha; it had a good feel to it. She ran a hand through her lustrous black hair. It
was a little long for regulations but noone ever said anything. She was too good of a
Navigator. And she knew it. Twice during the Terran/Nrthvc War she had brought the
Endeavor out of a five-on-one death-sphere attack. In theory, it wasn't supposed to be
possible; in practice it was even harder. Drew had a feel for what a ship was capable of
doing, even when the design specs said otherwise.
21:59:45
Edward van Allen was
glad to be back in the Captain's chair again. This was where he belonged, not in some
cushy administrative office. There was nothing like the sensation of sitting in the big
chair and knowing your ship and your crew were ready for whatever lay ahead. He had taken
the promotion because he was tired of knowing people were willing to die at his command
and that the survivors would still look to him and credit him for their survival. Three
months later, he was looking for a way to get another ship.
"Leiutenant
Commander Garrix, prepare to engage the FTL Drive, on my mark. Five . . . four . . . three
. . . two . . . one . . .
22:00:00
"mark."
The hum of the engines
increased slightly and the crew felt the ship leap forward before the inertial
compensators could kick in. On the main screen the stars started to move outward, then to
stretch and blur, and then they disappeared altogether.
"We are now
traveling at 1.05 times the speed of light," Garrix reported.
Captain van Allen
pressed a button on his armrest. "Mr. Joles, engine status?"
"All engine
readings are within specifications," came the reply. He continued, "Engine
efficiency at 99.72% of peak efficiency rating according to the simulations we've been
running."
Edward turned to face
Aerica. "Communications?"
"All external
communications cut off when the drive was activated," she replied. "Internal
communications operating normally."
As van Allen was
turning his chair to face the front of the bridge again, Kimberly signaled to Petre to
come over. As Petre was walking towards her, Edward said, "Leiutenant Commander
Garrix, course reading?" There was a long pause, followed by, "Course reading,
Leiutenant Commander." It was no longer a question.
"We were on course
when we engaged the Drive but . . ." she trailed off.
"But what,
Drew?"
"I'm not getting
any coherant readings, no reference points. Most of the Navigational Sub-Systems seem to
be off-line, sir."
"Captain,"
Petre interrupted, "I think you should hear this."
Kimberly spoke up,
"The sensors aren't reading anything but the ship and a few unidentifiable energy
sources. And when we jumped to light speed, I was reading large scale spatial, temporal,
and gravitational fluctuations."
"What was the
source of these fluctuations, Leiutenant," Edward asked.
"Every mass and
energy reading within sensor range, sir"
"Captain, I
recommend we drop back to sub-light, if only to check our location and run some
diagnostics."
"I agree, Petre.
Drew, bring us to full stop."
"Aye, sir,"
Drew replied. Then, "Captain, the controls are not responding. We're still traveling
at 1.05 Light Speed."
Van Alllen hit the Comm
button on his armrest again. "Ben, Navigation Controls aren't responding. Bring us
out of Light Speed."
"Captain, we
shouldn't be going Light Speed anymore. Navigational Controls check out fine, both here
and on the bridge. We should be at full stop."
"Take the engines
completely off-line," Edward said.
"Aye, sir."
"No apparent
change in course or speed, Captain," said Drew.
The screen remained a
perfect flat black.
* * * * *
They tried reverse
the thrust of the engines. They tried using their sub-light engines as brakes, then as
navigational thrusters. They even considered the possibility of firing the explosive bolts
and jettisoning the engine altogether. They tried other tactics as well. The results
remained the same: no change in course; speed could be raised significantly but could not
be lowered beyond 1.001 Light Speed; and the screens showed nothing but black.
Drew Garrix took it as
a personal failure. She refused to leave the bridge. She insisted on being the only one to
man the Navigational Controls. Finally van Allen had a cot set up on the bridge for her.
Ben Joles kept
two-thirds of his staff working at all times. They ran simulations. They checked and
rechecked every circuit, every wire, every connection. They redid all of Tech Force's
calculations, then they redid them again. They tore the entire engine apart and rebuilt it
three times in two weeks. Everything was in perfect working order and was operating
exactly as designed. Eventually Ben began to suspect that that was the problem.
He installed an
auxiliary engineering console on the bridge and he and Drew went to work. By the end of
the third week of the mission, Ben had a cot on the bridge too. Plus a food processor and
he'd added a shower stall into the bridge bathroom.
Four weeks out of
Earth, they finally discovered the answer. By the time Commander Volenski and Captain van
Allen reached the bridge, most of Ben's black hair was white and Drew's had streaks of
grey in it. When they'd finished their explanation, van Allen very nearly had a second
heart attack. He'd had the first just three days earlier when Aerica had told him that she
was pregnant.
As soon as Dr. Henrrix
had reached the bridge and checked his condition, he had Aerica come to the bridge and
turn on the ship-wide Comm System. The crew had had all the suspence they could take the
last four weeks. For once, he saw no reason to add to it.
"Four weeks ago,
we became the first ship in the universe to exceed the speed of light. We've been
travelling in excess of the speed of light ever since, despite all attempts to bring us
back to sub-light. Chief Engineer Joles and Navigator Garrix have been working on a
solution to this problem and they have found it.
"We can not drop
to sub-light. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. The physicists who said FTL travel was
impossible were right. It is, or I should say was, impossible to travel faster than the
speed of light in our universe. When we achieved Light Speed, our universe, unable to cope
with the contradiction, ceased to exist. All that remains is this ship and an area of
space similar to a mobius strip on which it is not possible to go slower than the speed of
light."
He signalled Aerica to
turn off the Comm System. Then, "Leiutenant Longsworth, deactivate all ship's
screens." The flat black of the universe flickered and became the flat black of the
screens' true color. And the Alpha sailed on through the endless black space.
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