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Authors: Alexander McKinney
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to cement your celebrity further, Mr. Tobin, and of course to bring Mr. Day and Dr. Beal into the limelight.”
After a ten-second pause Calm punched the ship back into motion. “I hope you’re all sure about this,” he announced, “because we’re not going back.”
Serenity dove into the mouth of the wormhole. Black nothingness gave way to pulsing purple. Sensors went off, and screens tracked information. Deklan understood less than half of what he saw, but he was mesmerized by the wonder. The tunnel had narrowed from the gaping maw they had entered, but it was still vast and framed by walls that shimmered with a hypnotic splendor.
Without warning Deklan and the rest of the crew floated out of their seats. A message came up on all of the screens: “Doppler Bubble Drive Disabled.”
Before Deklan could even think of how to react, Calm said, “Releasing probe.” He glanced around him. “We might as well activate the wheel in the sleeping quarters.”
A new screen lit up showing a small probe fired from the ship. It had a spherical head and tendrils that trailed behind, looking almost like a white squid. They tracked the probe for a few seconds before the space around it rippled and the probe abruptly vanished.
Deklan attempted to mimic the nonchalance of the other crew members as they pulled themselves back into their seats. Calm, like Deklan, had been born on Earth, but his actions aboard the ship made it clear that he was thoroughly at home in space.
Another screen filled with diagnostic information. Serenity was in perfect running order.
Jonny broke the silence. “Does anyone have any theories as to why the Doppler Bubble Drive went offline?”
“I do,” replied Calm slowly. “The rules here are different. I feel similar forces around me all the time, but I’m feeling something different in here. It’s something I’ve felt only once before during The Sweep.” Calm leaned back and tapped his fingers on the console, producing a drumming noise. “The Sweep altered our entire world. It had to do something strange to space and time to do that. The Doppler Bubble Drive manipulates space and time. Maybe things are so different inside a wormhole that the drive can’t function as normally it does.”
Deklan was surprised. You didn’t expect celebrities to espouse theories that tackled the ramifications of localized subspace variations on interplanetary travel.
Jonny shook his head. “It can’t be that simple. The probe worked just fine.”
Calm stroked his chin, apparently not annoyed by the dissenting opinion. “It could be the size. It’s well known that, the bigger the object being moved, the less effectively the drive works. It could be that in here this ship is now too large, but the probe isn’t.”
Deklan worried that this was going to make the others want to turn back. “Well,” he said, “that’s an inconvenience, but is it enough to stop us?”
Calm snorted. “Hardly! You aren’t going to find many ships smaller than Serenity that are capable of going on a voyage like this one.” His voice was firm. “No, we continue. I want to see the other side.”
Day 12
CHAPTER SEVEN
New Stars
The undulating wall of the wormhole was visible through the viewport of the bridge. Flares of energy bathed the room in a purple hue.
Deklan sat on the bridge with Jonny. He hadn’t yet got a sense of the man, who was by turns friendly and serious. At the moment he seemed to be in a serious state of mind, non-talkative and focused on the display in front of him. Like Deklan, he wore one of the uniforms that Calm had given them. Uniforms were unnecessary on a relatively small private craft, but Calm had opinions, and it wasn’t as though Deklan’s wardrobe had survived The Sweep.
A series of alerts lit up at Deklan’s station, little icons at the side of his screen. “We have more probes returning,” he announced. “Do you think they’ve found anything?”
Jonny didn’t look up.
After a ten-second pause Calm punched the ship back into motion. “I hope you’re all sure about this,” he announced, “because we’re not going back.”
Serenity dove into the mouth of the wormhole. Black nothingness gave way to pulsing purple. Sensors went off, and screens tracked information. Deklan understood less than half of what he saw, but he was mesmerized by the wonder. The tunnel had narrowed from the gaping maw they had entered, but it was still vast and framed by walls that shimmered with a hypnotic splendor.
Without warning Deklan and the rest of the crew floated out of their seats. A message came up on all of the screens: “Doppler Bubble Drive Disabled.”
Before Deklan could even think of how to react, Calm said, “Releasing probe.” He glanced around him. “We might as well activate the wheel in the sleeping quarters.”
A new screen lit up showing a small probe fired from the ship. It had a spherical head and tendrils that trailed behind, looking almost like a white squid. They tracked the probe for a few seconds before the space around it rippled and the probe abruptly vanished.
Deklan attempted to mimic the nonchalance of the other crew members as they pulled themselves back into their seats. Calm, like Deklan, had been born on Earth, but his actions aboard the ship made it clear that he was thoroughly at home in space.
Another screen filled with diagnostic information. Serenity was in perfect running order.
Jonny broke the silence. “Does anyone have any theories as to why the Doppler Bubble Drive went offline?”
“I do,” replied Calm slowly. “The rules here are different. I feel similar forces around me all the time, but I’m feeling something different in here. It’s something I’ve felt only once before during The Sweep.” Calm leaned back and tapped his fingers on the console, producing a drumming noise. “The Sweep altered our entire world. It had to do something strange to space and time to do that. The Doppler Bubble Drive manipulates space and time. Maybe things are so different inside a wormhole that the drive can’t function as normally it does.”
Deklan was surprised. You didn’t expect celebrities to espouse theories that tackled the ramifications of localized subspace variations on interplanetary travel.
Jonny shook his head. “It can’t be that simple. The probe worked just fine.”
Calm stroked his chin, apparently not annoyed by the dissenting opinion. “It could be the size. It’s well known that, the bigger the object being moved, the less effectively the drive works. It could be that in here this ship is now too large, but the probe isn’t.”
Deklan worried that this was going to make the others want to turn back. “Well,” he said, “that’s an inconvenience, but is it enough to stop us?”
Calm snorted. “Hardly! You aren’t going to find many ships smaller than Serenity that are capable of going on a voyage like this one.” His voice was firm. “No, we continue. I want to see the other side.”
Day 12
CHAPTER SEVEN
New Stars
The undulating wall of the wormhole was visible through the viewport of the bridge. Flares of energy bathed the room in a purple hue.
Deklan sat on the bridge with Jonny. He hadn’t yet got a sense of the man, who was by turns friendly and serious. At the moment he seemed to be in a serious state of mind, non-talkative and focused on the display in front of him. Like Deklan, he wore one of the uniforms that Calm had given them. Uniforms were unnecessary on a relatively small private craft, but Calm had opinions, and it wasn’t as though Deklan’s wardrobe had survived The Sweep.
A series of alerts lit up at Deklan’s station, little icons at the side of his screen. “We have more probes returning,” he announced. “Do you think they’ve found anything?”
Jonny didn’t look up.
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