Copyright © 1997, 1998
Last updated on 1/21/98
Engineering - 04:47
'Vouf's all call briefing reverberates throughout the engineering spaces. Munro feels as if the ship itself is holding its breath at the captain's words. Or is it only her? At the idea of going into this total unknown, she can only shake her head. 'Has everyone lost their cabbages?' She wonders 'Do people really want to go in there?!?' Not even the worst exploratory trade trip prepared her for this bunch of looney scientists. Fond thoughts of milk runs flitter through her head for a nano-second and then the associated memory of the dullness overwhelms the fondness.
<< All personnel remain on alert and watch the viewscreens. We may be treated to quite a show. Captain out. >>
The final words snap Munro from her daze. "Doejin. Slave one of the holo-displays to the viewscreens. Let's see what piss pot we're sticking our heads into, eh? Everyone else, get ready. When the bridge asks for power, they're going to need it yesterday."
The holo-display shows the hole outside. A small gasp of wonder escapes despite Munro's best attempt to not show emotion. Watching it intermittently, Munro works her boards, all thoughts not needed for the task at hand firmly ignored. Minutes pass. Tension builds. Munro waits for the call that will plunge them toward the black unkown.
The doors open to engineering. An Aslan enters. Munro tenses and then sighs with relief seeing it's not Aiwi.
"Good morning, Chief Munro. Aolrkhea' reporting for any assistance. Dr. Yorblin has requested that I check up on the crew that check up on the engines." The doctor smiles a pleasant Aslan smile, as if chuckling at an internal joke.
Munro smiles back at her, mouth closed. "As long as you can do it without getting in the way Dr. Aolrkhea." The pronunciation is close but not perfect. "Getting stepped on by Hur'Shurvan is sure to flatten anyone's day. Seriously, if alarms start sounding, either find a nice corner to duck into or move into my office for the duration." Motioning toward engineering and the rest of the crew, she finishes with "Do what you have to."
"Thank you, I will patrol the area unobtrusively. If you require another engineer, I shall avail my skills." Aolrkhea' studies the viewscreen display as the starry background disappears.
Rafe's shoulders tense slightly when he hears 'Vouf announce the Elissa's impending entry into the Hole. He shows no other outward sign of anxiety, continuing to peer at the small repeater display of the ship's sensors.
Inside, however:
This is it. This is what I came here to do. What will happen? If we succeed in finding the Hoop, I may redeem myself. If we fail, we most likely die from lack of life support; adequate but not brilliant. Best hope we succeed.
What would Lynne think? Don't be absurd, she wouldn't be here unless she knew there were humans on the other side. Non-human aliens bore her.
Have I acted correctly in choosing to come here? Is it truly reasonable to want to die honorably, or am I deluding myself that the way of reason lies in self-sacrifice? Zalun said not to die for a cause unless one was absolutely certain the cause wouldn't be better served by remaining alive.
I think I may have made a serious mistake. Ah well, too late now....
Rafe realizes he's tensing up and shrugs his shoulders irritably.
"PATER, if you would please, the medical department channel."
<< As per the captain's orders, everyone be alert. I 'll continue watch in the sickbay and Morton is headed back to Igor. Dr. DaSilva, relax as much as you can, you're the next Medical Officer o' the Day. Dr. Khea, do me the favor of doing a safety walk through of the engineering spaces. The engines have been running at 140% and I'm sure the engineers have been doing the same. Be unobstrusive, but let them know about anything that may become hazardous. Joachim, hang loose, maybe the ship's lounge or the science spaces. Any questions? >>
DaSilva rolls over in his bunk, peels one eye open and glances at the time display, then thumbs his comm unit. << Sickbay, this is DaSilva. Anybody dead or maimed yet? No? Good. Don't wake me until my shift, please. >>
Suddenly aware of what the Captain has said, Limner stops dead in his tracks, unaware he has been pacing. The look on his face mirrors awe, excitment, and more than a bit of fear. It's the same look a young child gets turning over a beachrock to reveal the life beneath. He is barely aware that Dr. Yorblin is talking, then snaps to reality when addressed:
"Morton, I'd like you back aboard Igor, just in case we've got condensed Hoop psionics on the other side of the hole."
"Of course, of course... Umm, just let me make a couple of calls, and I'll be on my way..."
Without waiting for an answer he taps a code on the console. "Captian, Dr. Limner here. If I may make a suggestion? A couple of independent probes recording the hole _From_Both_Sides_ might be extreamly helpful. You could also load them with our current data, so in case of failure it won't be lost."
<< Permission granted, Doctor. Good idea. Bridge out. >>
"PATER: Connect me with Igor" "Igor, begin power up to level 1, prepare for Vacc entrance Alpha, load scan sequence Delta, no confirm"
"Dr. Morser, Limner here. Have you investigated both sides of the event horizon? Is it transparent in one direction? To all frequencies?"
There is a brief pause, then Morser's heavy Bavarian accent responds over the comm.
<< Morrzer here. An eggzellent zzuggeztion, Morton. You rrreally neverrr should haff left ze zzienze team. Ve vill implement it at vonze!! Morrzer out. >>
While making these calls Limner has been sheding his greens, and sliding back into his lightduty vacc suit. Finally done, he turns to Dr. Yorblin and takes out a vac-pak with three hyposprays. "Jan, hold onto these, just in case. The green one is two doses of Psi-Special, the red is a broad spectrum CNS depressent, which should put ANY crew person out." He pauses, just a bit, and hold up the black sprayer. "Treat this carefully, its my own concotion. It's a nanocyte killer. In dire need, use it on Bishop...."
"Gotcha, I'll be very careful." Jan quickly slips the hypos into his trauma vest.
With that, Limner turns and leaves...
"Keep in touch, write if you get work." Jan peers back into the holo display, not really knowing what to expect next.
"PATER, could you give me the location of all personnel, transpose it onto a holodisplay of the Elissa, and route it here"
_Crew locations are as follows, doctor Yorblin._ PATER replies. Simultaneously, the holo next to Jan maps a new volume, showing the Elissa in transparent 3-D blue, with neon green stick figures scattered throughout the space it occupies. Each one is labelled with a small text callout. Munro and her crew are shown clustered in engineering (Shurv is the unusually *large* figure near the stern bulkhead). Likewise, Bhyarrvouf and company are shown in a precise pattern on the bridge. A third clump is present in the ship's armoury, where Farouk and his team are packed so tight that the figures overlap at this scale in the holo-tank. The rest of the crew are scattered throughout the ship, some in their quarters, privately following the ships progress on their own display systems.
And then there's Bishop. He, Talon, and Shrike are shown near the large holo-display on the port bulkhead of the lounge. None are moving, but the limited bio-signs telltales provided by their private commdots indicate all to be in good health.
_Is this sufficient, doctor?_ PATER inquires.
"Excellent, as usual, PATER. Thank you."
Jan had known Morton's suspicions about Bishop, but this latest piece of information raises his own concerns. On the holodisplay, he rapidly locates Bishop in the ship's lounge. Of course, if PATER is in on this, it really doesn't matter, now does it?
<< Dr. 'Khea, how're things below decks? >>
<< Dr. Yorblin, I have just arrived, and Chief Munro has given me permission to monitor the area. Preliminary status indicates a normal situation. >>
As is his wont, Limner's mind is casting about in many divergent directions as his body is rapidly travelling from Sickbay toward Igor in Hold 1. He remembers just in time to close his helmet as the airlock cycles to permit him onto the airless deck. He skirts the area where the VLA modules were, just out of habit, and arrives at Igor's hatch. Checking a telltale on the door he punches in a code, and the door swings open allowing him into the cramped `airlock'. The hatch closes and pressure begins to build. A thin voice is finally heard; _Welcome aboard Dr. Limner. Lock and cabin are equalized at one-half atmosphere, will reach one atmosphere in one minute._
Limner opens the lock door, turns right, and enters the bridge. "Igor, copy main Elissa holodisplay to your holo-display. Locate frequencies for probes zero zero six and zero zero seven and prepare to display them on main view screen. Patch output of station P-1 into auxillary bridge workstation. Realign Zhodtenna to focus on a line between it and the bow of the Elissa. Psishield at full power. Mag and Grav grapples at 100%. Warm up the manuver drive, just in case. Oh, and brew me some tea." _Confirmed. What kind of tea would you like?_ "Hmmm? Oh. Rhylos Black." _Confirmed_
Information starts to wash over Limner, like warm waves. His mind starts to integrate what it's seeing, and from it builds a mental image, a `minds eye' view of the hole and the Elissa. From a point suspended above he sees the strange sight of the Elissa, seeming to be both `here' and `there', with those terms not having a laymans definition. He sees a space in which the most outrageous distortions can be commonplace, and the shortest distance is not between two points. And still, the data flows........
"Oh man, I hate this," Morgan Grey shudders, eyes on the holovid of the Hole. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it a WHOLE lot."
haut-Frieder gives him a frosty look. "Why can't you die quietly like a regular man?"
Grey shrugs. "What's the use of dying if you can't enjoy it?"
Hur'Shurvan ambles up and lays a hand gently on Grey's shoulder. "Morgan, I don't think there is any need to assume that we are going to die. It is true that we are venturing into the unknown, but with the unknown anything can happen. Is it not just as possible that we might live, and discover all sorts of fascinating things?" With a long, dark tongue he removes a speck of something tasty from one of his huge canines, and smiles reassuringly at the human. "Who knows?"
"Man, I wish I had your blood pressure," Grey sighs enviously. He gives the hand on his shoulder a friendly pat, and says, "Thanks, Shurv. I'll be okay-- this is no worse than being on the Alcyon's Bridge and seeing that Solomani fleet come out of Jumpspace...."
"Morgan," says Hur'Shurvan with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm afraid your human circulatory system would not be able to cope with my blood pressure."
Taking care not to tread on anyone's toes, he steps slowly away to get on with his work.
Morser beams at the speaker projecting the captain's address to the crew, obviously eager to get on with the task at hand. Werner is wearing a carefully neutral expression, sitting at his station with his arms crossed. His glaze slowly travels across the room, briefly studying each of his colleagues, stopping a bit longer on Abuko before moving on.
"My God." breathes Sokuku. Leaning towards Johann Abuko, he whispers, "He's going to do it! He's *really* going to *DO* it!!." Gripping the console tightly, he continues raggedly, "I figured he'd shrug off Morser's request. Werner made it obvious enough that he doesn't agree, didn't he? *Didn't* he?" Abuko pins him with a withering why-are-you- -asking-me look, and then returns his attention to the comm broadcast.
Hastily switching comm channels, Morser gestures towards Werner while he hails the bridge. << Brrrich, zis is Morrzer. Ve vill be launching two un-tezzered prrrobes to stand off bozz zides of ze hole unt record our entry. Zis may yield valuable additional data. Morrzer out. >>
Werner completes the prep. "Umbilicals detached. Flight records active. Navigation track downloaded. PATER, launch the probes now."
_Affirmative, doctor Werner._ comes the calm reply. _Launching._
*Thud*, *thud*. Both probes are ejected from their berths, and spin on gravitic drives to head for station-keeping points on either side of the anomaly. Five minutes pass.
_Probe zero zero six and zero zero seven arrival on station confirmed._ advises PATER. _Flight records going to high speed in approximately six minutes._
Sokuku moves away from Abuko, staring furtively at Schmud and Hyrawi, then scoots over next to Niigurd. "This is *nuts*. He's going to run us through a black hole or something!" Sokuku all but wrings his hands, before continuing, "He should put it to a crew vote. That's it! We ought to have a say in this! Don't you think we should have a say?" Staring at the holo, he continues, "I didn't think we'd be going *into* the damned thing. Just a few readings, maybe launch a probe or two. This isn't supposed to be happening!!" If the Elissa were a sinking ship, Dave Sokuku would be shouldering his way to a lifeboat.
"Ahhh, Dave. 'Twas expected... Did you not feel it in the bloody air! There was NO NEED for the social science team to come for a HOLE in space, not unless his tailsome majesty INTENDED getting into the hole, the sodding hole from the very bloody start! And, unless I am very mistaken, we should be damn glad that we are not doing this one by one in spacesuits! --- I can just see him and than cat-crew of his standing before the entire crew and, looking stern and majestic, say `WE NEED A FEW VOLUNTEERS; YOU, YOU AND YOU!'"
Hryawi pins Niigurd with a disgusted stare. "Alliara, one should not be so meek and cowardly. If you are so cowardly, why did you sign up for a mission to explore the unknown?"
Pacing around a few times, Alliara comes back before Dave Sokuku and plants her feet in a parade rest.... "Well, ex boss --- do you think we have the time to mutiny, 'jack a rider and split!? I don't. And I cannot pilot anything, either, so were going to see a hole!"
"In fact, I AM going to do something about it! PUTTER, patch a mid priority message to captain, security chief and sub-commander. Message follows:"
<< Captain, Security Chief and Subcommander, Alliara Niigurd of science section speaking. I hereby officially request an allocation of PATER's faculties for the social sciences - namely - a continual recording of ALL interractions between crewmembers, public and private, in this situation of extreme strees. I am initiating such recording of myself using my own equipment. However, in the interest of psychological and liinguistic research, ALL crewmembers should be thus recorded, preferably on video. I also request an abrogation of privacy for the purpose of these recordings. Alliara out and awaiting reply! >>
Bhyarrvouf's response is wired to Niigurd, Farouk, Aiwi, and Akhouw.
<< Mister Niigurd, you are hereby given permission to record events with your equipment as you see fit, as long as you do not interrupt or disrupt the safe operation of the ship as you do so. PATER's security camera and pickup logs will be stored for later evaluation. As for your request for an abrogation of privacy for this period, we'll discuss that later, when I decide how much access to the logs I want to give you. If you think I'm going to give this ship's loudest-mouthed gossip carte blanche to pry into everyone's personal matters without a kakh good reason, you're out of your mind. Out. >>
After waiting 10 or so minutes, Ger begins a countdown. "50 Meters to hole........... Mark." Five seconds later "45... 40... 35... 30... 25... 20... 15... 10..."
As the count passes ten, 'Vouf whispers, "Slow her down....and...."
At three meters, 'Vouf says, "All stop at one meter."
The Elissa stops dead in space, one meter from eternity.
"Science!" Bhyarrvouf barks. "All sensors and outboard probes should be hot and running. We're going in!"
"Ahead slow, Mister Nanadh," he says calmly. "One meter per second."
"Aye Aye Sir", Ger says with a bit of resignation. "Starting up yet again. Contact on my mark.....Mark", Ger leaves his hand poised over the Full aft manoeuver control...
As Nanadh says "Mark," the nose of the Elissa enters the Hole.
Nothing happens.
"She's coming THROUGH!" The Sensor Ops Tech grins at Stamerra. "Forward motion, one meter per second."
"Excellent," the Captain nods. He turns to the Helm. "Back us off," he says. "Slowly, slowly...."
"This is the part I hate," the Helm gulps, as the Elissa appears to melt into the Nikaido's bow like a double-exposed photograph. They are only seeing an image of an object not yet in their Universe, but having it overlap the point in space where the Nikaido was could be unsettling....
The Nikaido scoots back at a brisk twenty meters per second, until a half-kilometer of space has opened up between her bow and the Elissa.
"Bring us off to the edge of the Gate, Helm," Stamerra barks. "We don't know where she'll be when she comes through."
"Aye, sir." The Nikaido begins to turn and move past the Elissa.
"Why can't they SEE us?" The Navigator's Mate stares blankly at the screens, his nose wrinkling furiously. He reaches up and rubs an ear, chittering. "The dens'tometer read zero, so! It like they a hallucination or somethin'!"
"They are unreal to us, as yet," the Navigator growls, her dewclaw flexing open for a moment. "Until they pass through the Gate entirely, they are still mapped onto their own threespace. When the densitometer jumps, THEN she will no longer be our hallucination...." She flashes daggerlike teeth at the Captain. "WE will be HER NIGHTMARE."
"HAR! Well spoken, Khtahyuserl," Stamerra laughs. "All boarding crews to your ships, all gunnery crews pick your targets...." His voice drops to a snarl. "And DON'T MISS."
The Nikaido pulls to a dead stop, just at the edge of the shrinking Gate. Like a two-headed monster, two opposing images of the Elissa's nose are seen pointing in opposite directions, as if the ship were flying out of the surface of a mirror....
Elissa Bridge 05:00
The calm voice of the Count continues from the helm, seconds later...
"5 Meters, 10..."
As the numbers continue to rise, 'Vouf raises a hand to ask Ger to stop the Elissa, then stops himself. Seeing that the ship is not being crushed, eaten, or melted, and that the sensor readings haven't changed a bit, he lets the ship continue its crawl forward.
Zben Blaine has tried to avoid looking at the displays. `This is some weird shit' he thinks, `worse than that Mykenous dreamweed...' He hears the captain mutter...
"This," 'Vouf mutters, "Is rapidly becoming the biggest anticlimax of my career."
Aiwi, eyes riveted on the sensor displays, favors him with a sour look.
Blaine finally looks at the viewplate, only to see exactly what he'd expected: stars.
A glance out the port and starboard sides shows a full starfield, as if the Elissa is still at the mouth of the hole. The stars are not moving, not even enough for the instruments to see.
"Shave my tail," 'Vouf whispers. "It's like some kind of...of... hrrrrg, otse koubha, hrrrr...." He snaps his fingers. Then he looks at his hand, and snaps his fingers again a few more times, suddenly very pleased with himself. With a vigorous shake, he brings himself back to the task at hand. "Surface tension! THAT'S what it is! The question then becomes, do we just skip along like a water-dancer, or do we have the strength to penetrate the skin? The Elissa has a lot of mass, but we COULD need more than we have...."
As Nanadh calls out, "One hundred twenty" (04:59), 'Vouf frowns and says, "All stop." He sits back in his chair, brooding. "We're nearly three quarters of the way in by now, and absolutely nothing. Let's sit here for a second and gather data before we proceed...."
Nikaido Bridge - 04:59
"Sir!" The Sensor Ops Tech blanches. "She's STOPPED!"
"NO!" Stamerra's fist slams down on the armrest of his chair. He croons at the image on the screen. "Dooooon't stop theeeere.... come a little cloooooser....you're CURIOUS. You WANT to come through!"
Elissa Bridge - 04:59
All over the Elissa, the drama is played out on holodisplays. None of the crew feel any ill effects at all, save perhaps the mounting stress.
By now Zben is entranced by the view of the Elissa. He finds himself thinking about it.. `Hmmm. Some hole! More like a slippery door. A door?' Suddenly, out loud, "A door!"
Turning to the command chair, "Captain? we've been calling this a `hole'. What if its not a hole, but a door? Wouldn't we need a key? Or, at least, ring the doorbell?? If this led to my home, I'd protect it...."
"Hrm. How would you propose we do that?" 'Vouf says thoughtfully.
Zben looks thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I'm not one of those high tension thinkers on the SciTeam, but I guess I'd try a lowpower full spectrum transmission, from VLF to Meson, including all frequencies of visible light, and see if we get any echos. And maybe try a simple 01 algorithm modulation." Looking a little sheepish, "Hey, I Know it's a long shot, but if we do get inside at least we can say we knocked, and not just broke the door down...."
Engineering - 04:59
Aolrkhea' leans over Doejin's "shoulder", genuinely interested in his station. "Are you also controlling the video holo display?"
"Only in as much as this station allows me to monitor sensor readings from the bridge," Doejin replies. As the ship moves toward the hole, his attention is on the hole, but his attitude seems a tad indifferent.
Smythe looks up from the HOLOPTIC display of the VLA data, eyes wide open, as if in shock. Turning to the rest of the science team, he begins, "Holee Sheeyitt! Kahl, Mahnfruhd, thuh hole's goin unstabuhl! Sheeyitt!"
Smythe keys his comdot, << Smythe tuh Cap'n 'Vuhff, Cap'n, thuh VLA uhz showin thuh hole closin fast! Closhuh rate 'az k'selluhratuhd tuh 'bout 75 tuh a 'unrett metuhs puh 'owwuh. It's 'ard tuh say, 'zactly, cuz it's fluctuatin all over tarnation! It's def'nuhtly goin UNSTABUHL! It's now around 1.25 tuh 1.7 metuhs puh sekkuhnd _AND_ k'selluhratin!!! Cap'n thuh hole cuhd be _GONE_ uhn'z'littuhl uhz _FIVE_ minutes! Kahl, Mahnfruhd, ah've piped thuh VLA straight tuh thuh tank, what d'yall think? Cap'n, Ah'd get owwuh nose outta theyuh, o' gitt goin' >>
Werner and Morser both lean towards the holo-display, as if squinting and proximity will improve the rate of data transfer. Morser is the first to react to Smythe's warning. He quickly tabs his commdot.
<< Captain, zis is Morrzer. Doctor Zzmythe is correct zat ze hole hazz akzzelerrrated it'z rrrate of clozzure. Howefferrr, we ztill haff time beforrre ze collapse becomez dane-chur-us. Ve haff a number of zenzorr rrreadings to... >>
Werner stares in shock at his team leader as he slaps his own commdot and interrupts, << Captain, Doctor Smythe is correct. This is very dangerous. The hole is unstable and we should reverse course immediately. >>
<< Nein, nein!! >> blusters Morser. << It iz only a minor varrria-shone in ze rate of zzhrink-age. Ve ztill haff time! >>
<< Captain, >> continues Werner, in a deadly serious tone, << every minute we remain here, we risk destroying the ship. >>
If looks could maim, Karl Morser and Manfred Werner would both have each other in full-body casts.
Bhyarrvouf listens to the argument with growing irritation, and finally flicks on the side scanners. The edge of the hole is rushing toward the Elissa, stars appearing beyond it as it shrinks. As the Bridge crew watch, the edge approaches faster, and FASTER....
Coordinating the two additional probes, their info coming in from two divergent directions, in addition to the data from the VLA, strains Zben's overworked console. So, as the data starts arriving he sets up a feedback loop to the probes, for tracking and data redundancy. He's about to expand on his idea for a transmission when the urgent message from the good Doctors comes in. Their tones snap his attention to the main display where the hole is... g o i n g a w a y . . .
"Ger, hard about," 'Vouf snaps. "Maximum overdrive!"
The Elissa howls in agony as her engines run up to 400% efficiency in a few seconds, and she shudders as she pivots to an escape trajectory. Red telltales light up the Bridge as the Elissa, her hull creaking and wrenching, leaps for the safety of the starry Rift....
With the suddenness of thought the distortions go from outrageous, to impossible, and the `hole' begins to collapse upon the Elissa. To Limner, immersed in the data stream, it's almost as if HE were rushing inward, faster, faster...
"Sweet Mary!" Grey yells as red telltales light up all over his board and alarm klaxons begin to sound. "They've ramped to FULL OVERDRIVE!"
"PATER, stabilize, stabilize!" haut-Frieder's hands race across the boards, desperately chasing emergency markers.
"Here we go again," Silvmane mutters grimly, grabbing a fire extinguisher from the wall.
"Oh my!" declares Hur'Shurvan. The deck suddenly echoes with a rhythmic thunder as he rushes off to try and prevent the power plant from blowing umpteen fuses.
The instant gravity fluctuates, Aolrkhea' has her hand on the automated collision avoidance button on her grav belt. Instinctively crouching uphill with toenails extended, she surveys the room for injuries, unattended warning lights, or other trouble.
Azani taps his wrist comp a few times and shimmers for an instant. His Black HUD then clears showing his face. Azani then clicks his helmet and twists it off. He breathes deeply of the recycled air in the armoury and proceeds to ease down from the tension.
As Azani head towards the wall to lean against, he is suddenly thrown against it and knocked off balance.
"What the hell!" cries Azani as he staggers to his feet. He looks around the room to see the expressions of the other security personnel after the sudden lurch.
With an surge of will, Limner rips his attention away from the information coming in, slaps on the Igor's own Inertial Compensators, and braces himself for he knows-not-what. His gaze returns to the display where...
Anyone who has lived after hearing a ship scream is not likely to forget it. As the red lights flare, time slows for Zben. A split second glance reveals his entire complex comm web. It seems to take forever for his hand to move to the panel, but in reality it's a blur. Slide this matrix here, shift that connection there, route thru this, invert that, and, away....
The Elissa rolls over on her side and aims for the edge of the Hole, her thrusters pounding at an unheard-of four G's. For one agonizing instant, the ship is almost entirely within the rapidly-shrinking Hole.... and that one instant is enough.
The VLA drones and the two triangulation probes watch impassively as the Hole suddenly closes around the frantic ship and vanishes without a trace. They continue to collect data, waiting for the return of those who programmed them.
Even as the Hole is fading a signal reaches the closer probe. A connection is closed, a program runs, and a holocrystal begins to fill with decompressed data.
"No, no, NO!" Stamerra grabs his curly hair with both fists and pulled hard. "WHY is she turning AWAY?!"
"Christ," the Helm breathed. "LOOK at her! She's pulling three, four Gees EASY!"
"They must see the Gate closing, sir," The Navigator snarls. "Their courage has failed them. They are fleeing--"
"SIR! THE GATE IS COLLAPSING! THEY AREN'T GOING TO MAKE IT...."
Armory - 05:00:00
As the hull creaks and groans, and the floor starts moving around, Rafe is thrown against the worktable with a clank of armor. The bastard whelp's lost his nerve! he thinks as he grabs for a handhold.
When the acceleration suddenly ceases, Rafe pulls himself upright and stares at the apparition on the screen. It occurs to him that the view is not unlike the visual phenomena reported during near-death experiences....
At the sudden scream of the main drive, and creak of the hull, Ostyn Smythe twirls around, looking frantically around the lab, and yet at nothing. He turns to Werner, yelling, "Mahnfruhd, whuht thuh heyall'z goin ahn?"
Werner is too busy grabbing the rail surrounding the holo-pit to even notice Smythe's demand, as the lurch overwhelms the inertial compensators and the floor suddenly acquires a noticable 'slope'.
There is no feeling of nausea, as in a Jump. No sudden disorientation, no bright flash of light, no sound or vibration. One moment the Elissa was in the Hole, striving to get out, and the next, the Hole just isn't there to get out of... and neither is the Elissa.
Like a bad hologram breaking up, the blackness of the Hole breaks apart into quantum speckle and fades away, replaced by a soft glow of pure white light. All over the Elissa, telltales flicker to life and data begins pouring in, much of it nonsensical or contrary. But no more nonsensical than the view from the outside cameras....
The Elissa is floating in a tunnel of light. It extends ahead of the ship as far as the eye can see, a softly glowing, gently undulating cylinder of luminescence. There are no landmarks by which the eye can judge distance, no familiar sights or signs-- the cameras may be seeing for miles, or billions of miles. As in the case when the Alcyon was thrown into the Jump bubble, the maneuver drives go offline the moment the stellar-fix is lost, and the Elissa is left floating gently in the midst of a vast, lovely corridor of subtly changing radiance.
Limner's calm demeanor _CRACKS_, and an almost feral grin appears. This is the Limner that has survived on numerous primitive, sometimes hostile, worlds. If you found this professor giving your class, you'd leave, probably at a run. The white light reflects from eyes that seem to see Everything. No longer thinking in mere words, Limner's mind has begun running calculations, faster than most computers, setting up multi-demensional models and knocking them down almost gleefully, one set of numbers and symbols following another, into oblivion, until...
"YES!!" The shout is almost a scream. "A Hyper-Spatial Tube! He Did It!"
Time resumes what passes here for normal. All eyes are drawn to the display. Somehow, to speak above a whisper seems...wrong. But even this wonder can only keep the attention so long. Finding his voice (after a false start or two) Zben breaks the silence. "Ca-uh..Captian? Log away Sir." (under his breath) "I hope..."
Munro does not even notice the new image on the holo-display. All her attention is on her board, stopping fires before they happen. The sudden silence of the maneuver drives jerks her around. Reaching swiftly for engineering com channel, she speak rapidly with a voice loud enough to be heard in the back of the compartment.
"Shurv! *CUT POWER*! *CUT POWER*! Make it 75% of standard operating output before we fry circuits! Everyone report in with injury and damage reports! Aaron - Check the maneuver drives! Make sure emergency overdrive and the resulting power flux didn't blow anything. Boris, check structural integrity! Doejin, check sensor grids! Angus, check gravitics!
Slapping another com channel, she connects to the bridge. << Bridge. Engineering. Power has been reduced to 75% following the emergency shutdown of the maneuver drives. Damage report being compiled. PATER has the preliminaries. Engineering out. >>
Aolrkhea' refrains from lunging to the nearest control panel. Remembering Munro's earlier request for her to stay out of the way, Aolrkhea' can only watch and report in. Standing up, she says, "No immediate injuries or major damage to report, Chief Munro." Dewclaws retract.
As the groans and moans echo throughout the Elissa's frame, Merkle is jabbing fingers at his local holo-display.
He punches for structural schematics, to be overlaid with the results of an overall structural integrity check, with specific priorities for hull breaches, unlogged hull stress patterns, seam ruptures, bulkhead breaches, and bulkhead buckling.
He pulls up additional status displays for airlocks and hatches, for the Elissa's Rider Points, and for Doejin's pool. More displays pop up with readings on the ship's major systems equipment, their physical mountings and their distribution systems.
Then, not recalling who might still be in the holds, Boris punches up visuals of the holds.
Looking over his shoulder, Merkle's eyes sweep across the Aslan Medic, as she moves toward an unmanned station then starts, and backs off, with a wary glance at Chief Munro's back.
"Dr. Alrockayha! I, uh, suggest, er, respectfully to you that there may have been personnel in Hold 1, on Deck 2... ...specifically Mr. Bishop, Mr. Shrike, and Dr. Limner in his Grav Bus. The Hold is depressurized but I have visuals to transfer to that station." nodding toward the station she had started for. "You should be able to access further checks there too!"
Boris watches telltales pulse back and forth between red and amber, as the Elissa flexs under the stress.
Then without any warning he blurts "Ahhhhh SHIT!"
Laboriously, Boris pulls up a tiny status report on the ship's plumbing system, suddenly unhappy with the thought that he is the most qualified onboard with a plunger.
Nishu Neriika knew this was coming.
Why come here, if not to try to penetrate the enigma of the Hole? It was the only clue they had to where the Hoop had gone, leaving Doejin and a ship full of disillusioned explorers behind. Nishu had signed on the Elissa knowing that, like the last time, this might be a one-way trip. And yet, the utter blackness of the circle silhouetted against the stars had still given him pause as they cautiously approached. A blank spot on the map. Here Be Dragons.
Within a day or so, if all had gone right, the Elissa with full tanks would have been trying just this. The instability of the Hole, and the vanishing of the Hamilcar and the other debris (along with the evidence that ships had come from inside the Hole and returned) merely accelerated the inevitable.
Now the inevitable seems to be accelerating at him. Even without the warnings coming up from the scientists, Nishu can see what is happening just by looking at the side-angle display. Like a recording of an ink-stain being run backward, the edge of the Hole is contracting visibly, rushing at them.
He has enough time to wonder what will happen if it closes with the Elissa more than half-way inside, virtually. The deck under him shudders as the inertial compensators fail to dampen all of the sudden, frantic acceleration. The stars seem to move in slow motion as Ger fights against the incredible inertia of fifty thousand displacement tons of starship. Too slow. Every board on the Bridge lights up in flashing red and amber as the aged tender protests this mistreatment.
[And then, everything stops...]
Nishu silences the few alarms on his console with a wave of his hand, without really looking. The navigation software tries several times to establish the Elissa's current location and finally goes off into a corner to whimper to itself. About half the board remains amber.
Smythe turns back to his HOLOPTIC computer, his eyes go wide, and he immediately spins back to Werner again. "Mahnfruhd, weeyv lost ahll contact with thuh VLA!!! Nothin' registerin'. Wun secuhnd, they wuh theyuh, thun thuh next secuhnd, they wuh gone! Hey! Whuht's thuht silunce? Thuh main drive's a cut out already!"
Ostyn continues, "Mahnfruhd, Kahrl, yuh a gettin anythin' on 'xteriuh senssuhs?"
"Quiet!!" thunders Werner, "I'm trying to think!!" Heaving himself back upright as the deck levels out, he lunges for the holo-display console and starts hammering in demands of the sensors. Morser appears to be in a state of religious ecstasy, staring at the infinite tunnel penetrating the main holo-display. His lips move in silence as he mouths a cross between a prayer and a physics dissertation.
"No probe contact at all." mutter Werner. "They didn't come through with us." Ignoring the deafening silence, Werner toggles the hull sensors. "Going to onboard pickups. Where the *hell* are we?"
Goughzar sits tensely at the pilots seat, watching as holodata roles through the forward display at the station. As he manipulates the data coming through the sensors wildly, the floor lurches for a moment.
_Goughzar, the Elissa..._
A white tunnel brilliantly glares through the holodisplay, after the relative darkness of the hole permeating the display. Lurching back himself, and covering his eyes, Zar lets out a short "Vekh?" as the Paladin's computer continues,
_...correction. The Elissa attempted the thrust hard about at 4G acceleration before the drives cut out. The drives abrubtly cut off exactly 2.13 seconds ago. Our maneuver drives remain off line_
Goughzar stares out into the pearlly white hole, his eyes adapting to the sudden change in the compartment's illumination from the holodisplay. "Kharrbyegh, vreskegh ghuekzhabh."
Standing up, Goughzar moves to the back of the bridge, stepping up towards the iris valve. "Warm up some tea in the mess, continue running all systems as in Jump.... give me a line to Pater--"
That's as far as he gets.
Time resumes what passes here for normal. All eyes are drawn to the display. Somehow, to speak above a whisper seems...wrong. But even this wonder can only keep the attention so long. Finding his voice (after a false start or two) Zben breaks the silence. "Ca-uh..Captain? Log away Sir." (under his breath) "I hope..."
"All stop Captain", Ger continues his duties as if oblivious to the surroundings, "I'd suggest that we give engineering a while to clean things up, we were at 400% for a few moments."
"Good," 'Vouf whispers, eyes on the holodisplay. "Good men. Good work." He smiles, and gives his armrest a pat. "Good ship, and a kakh good crew. We're going to be all right...."
The count turns to face 'Vouf, not having anything to monitor at the moment. "Sould you desire, I could turn off the navigational overrides and pilot us through this tube-thingy under VFR, sir."
"Not just yet...." 'Vouf says, still not looking at him.
Nishu lets out the breath he's been holding in a sigh, and curses softly. "Gundam." Aiwi, her claws firmly embedded in the back of his chair, is too stunned by the view to give him a dirty look.
"Where *are* we?"
"Gooooood question," 'Vouf says. "What in the name of--"
He never finishes the sentence.
"*REEYEEEEEK!*" The Navigator's Mate begins to dance back and forth excitedly, pointing at the display. "Dens'tometer kon' off scale!"
One of the images begins to flicker and break up, the other one solidifying. With terrifying swiftness, the image elongates and resolves itself into the shape of the blind, helpless Jump tender.
"All gunnery crews READY...." Stamerra's fist clenches above his head.
"Dens'tometer troppin', troppin'....staple! SHE IN!"
"*FIIIIIIRE!!!!!!*" The fist comes down.
The Nikaido shakes with the explosions as the missiles launch.
Beyond the Hole - 05:00:30
All over the Elissa, lost in the wonder of this strange new place, several things happen in rapid succession.
As Werner works furiously to acquire something, *anything* that will tell them about their current location, Morser becomes to come out of his fugue. "Unglaublich!! Absolut unglaublich!! Dalgliesh *nefferr* pozztulated zis azz a mirrrorrr topology!!"
"What a load of utter..." begins Werner sourly. "Wait a moment." Readings from the hull sensors begin to arrive in waves. "No echoes off the bow." recites Werner. "Twenty-five kilometer radar bounce radially amidships. Astern..." Werner frowns, "Heavy neutrino signature, multiple doppler contacts! Massive bounce!! Heavy IR signatures. I think..." Werner steps back from the holo-display. Even Karl Morser's ecstatic smile vanishes at the sight of the doppler bloom off the Elissa's starboard stern.
"Jesus *Christ*!!" Dave Sokuku's eyes grow huge as he stares at the holo-tank.
"Mein Gott," Werner whispers. Slapping his commdot, he yells, << Captain...!! >>
Adrian Bishop suddenly whirls away from Nick Talon, Andon Shrike, and the lounge holo to face the blank aft bulkhead of the compartment. The blood drains from his face as he whispers, "Oh my *God*."
"What in the name of--" Bhyarrvouf's sentence is cut off as the Elissa shudders with the sound of distant cannon.
_ATTENTION! DEFENSIVE ALERT! INCOMING MISSILE SALVO!_ PATER's voice, tuned to a note of authority and urgency, echoes throughout the ship. On the Bridge alone, he continues, _Captain, request permission to launch counterattack and point defense._
Bhyarrvouf whirls and yells, "Who're we FIRING at--"
The Elissa suddenly rings as if struck by a giant hammer, every pipe and deckplate screaming in agony. The hull-breach klaxons begin to blare.
"BHUYON KHINZAT!" Bhyarrvouf shrieks.
_Aye, sir. Permission to launch all missiles has been noted._
"Ach du meine gutte!" haut-Frieder yells. "I'm reading a massive explosion in the starboard outrider-- eight subdivisions hulled to vacuum! We've lost fifteen percent of our remaining fuel!"
Silvmane says, "I'm showing massive damage to dorsal and starboard turr--"
Dan's sentence is cut off. There is another, louder clang, followed by a thunderous explosion. The entire compartment vibrates, and Silvmane's holodisplay cracks and bursts into flames. Every telltale in the room goes red, and gravity cuts out with a lurch.
"Mother of God!" Morgan Grey screams, clawing for his helmet amid the howl of the hull-breach sirens. "SHURV, the PLANTS have SCRAMMED! Hit the manual vents or WE'LL BE BROILED ALIVE!"
Etienne de Mer recoils instinctively as the ceiling above the Ace splits open in a wall of lurid orange light. The fighter, still intact on its rails, is instantly surrounded by flash-ignited oxygen, a raging inferno. External temperature warnings begin to flash.
de Mer hits the button ordering the bay doors to open. The doors, partially buckled by the blast, refuse to budge. The Ace is trapped.
"SIR!" The Sensor Ops Tech whirls in his chair. "She's launched ordnance! All batteries bearing have fired missiles!"
"WHAAAAAAT?!" Stamerra sits bolt upright, staring at the screen. Sure enough, every turret on the Elissa's starboard and dorsal sides is erupting with plumes of smoke and flame.
"My GOD.... redirect outgoing salvo to point defense!"
"Too LATE!" The Nikaido's missiles shoot past the Elissa's outgoing salvo, ignoring it. The sky erupts with an eye-hurting flash of light, and the glare filters momentarily wink out the image on the screen.
"Impacts on boarding craft," The Sensor Ops Tech says dully. "Resolving...."
"POINT DEFENSE!" Stamerra screams.
"Firin', sir!" The Navigator's Mate looks up from the screen. "They ti'n't ket them all--"
Stamerra's finger comes down on a button on the armrest of his chair. A wailing siren begins to sound all over the Nikaido, and the Bridge crew frantically grab helmets. At that moment, the Nikaido shudders and heels over, and the roar of far-off explosions mixes with the hull-breach sirens and the screams of dying crewmen.
"BASTARDS!" Stamerra's fingers shake as he secures his helmet. "BASTARDS! I don't know how you knew, but I'll make you PAY for this!!" He flicks on the commlink. "Attention all boarding craft: the Red Pennant is flying, I repeat, I am raising the Red Pennant! No terms of surrender, no quarter asked or given! KILL THEM ALL!!"
"Get their Captain on the link," he hisses. "I want him to see the face of the man who's going to slaughter his crew...."
Bridge
With a stomach-churning lurch, gravity cuts out, along with the interior lights and air blowers. With a flickering gasp, emergency lighting comes on, illuminating all decks in a lurid red glow.
"Damage report, DAMAGE REPORT!!" Bhyarrvouf howls, grasping at his seat back to keep from drifting away.
_All dorsal and starboard missile turrets have been damaged or destroyed,_ PATER intones. _Power Plants have scrammed. We have sustained a direct hit to the stern hangar bay. No local cameras are available, but evidence suggests that the Command Shuttle has exploded in the hangar. Life support is out. Internal gravity is out. Inertial compensators are out. Hostile boarding appears imminent through breaches at the stern and starboard hulls. All video sensors in those areas are non-functional, but I show decompression alarms in the powerplant sections on decks one through three, and in cargo bay number two, and an oxygen-flash fire alarm in the Fighter Bay._
Aiwi's ears turn pale, and she whirls to a status board, flipping controls rapidly. "Fighter Bay doors will not respond to commands," she whispers. "If we cannot induce them to open, the heat will detonate the fighter's missiles. Etienne...."
Bhyarrvouf is silent for a moment, eyes haunted. Then he flips on the All-Call.
<< All hands... prepare to repel boarders. >>
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