Escape Velocity (The Black Star Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “We know. It’s ok, Ryn, we trust you.”

  “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. How I could have done something differently. Maybe it would be me,” Ryn said.

  “You know he wouldn’t blame you,” Lia said.

  “We don’t either,” Nikon said.

  “I feel responsible for you all. My small flock. We’re about to embark on a dangerous journey, and before we leave, we’re already fewer than we started,” Ryn said.

  “It’ll be ok, I trust you’ll get us through it,” Lia said.

  “I am going too, and I haven’t been here as long but even I know you’ll keep us safe,” Kali said. “I can’t wait for my first trip to space!”

  “You’ve never been?” Lia said.

  “No, why? Have you?” Kali asked.

  “Yeah, we all have. Kind of like a prerequisite to work here,” Nikon answered.

  “Ryn, we have to take her. She can go on the next trip to take the last gravitational projector up,” Lia said.

  “I think we can make that work. I’ll see if we have an extra seat on the shuttle,” Ryn said.

  A massive, brooding Seraphim at nearly two meters tall, Triumvir Attor walked around the room, looking at the stacks of supplies before he answered. Since ascending to the Triumvirate, many have speculated that his new muscle mass had made him too heavy to fly.

  Upon seeing him enter Ryn said, “Triumvir, I didn’t expect you. How may we be of service?”

  “I just wanted to see how the Triumvirate’s special project was going. I believe you leave within the week?” Triumvir Attor asked.

  “That’s correct, Triumvir,” Ryn said.

  “Good. A word alone Ryn?” Triumvir Attor said.

  “Of course, Triumvir. My office is just over here,” Ryn said pointing to his office. He followed the Triumvir into the office and closed the door.

  “I expect that you will not fail me out there,” Triumvir Attor said.

  “I don’t expect to fail, but this is science, Triumvir. We use conjecture; which is a fancy way of saying our best guess. I have done our best work, but something as simple as a single digit in our calculations could drastically change what actually happens when we execute the experiment,” Ryn explained.

  “I didn’t pay for best guesses, Ryn,” Triumvir Attor said.

  “I thought Trinity Alliance paid, not you, Triumvir,” Ryn said.

  “Do not talk down to me, Ryn. I am not a patient man. You understand my meaning. I expect when you come back you will be able to deliver what I ask for. In case you’ve forgotten: I need a way to manipulate time,” Triumvir Attor said.

  “We don’t even know if it's possible, Triumvir,” Ryn said.

  “You’ll make it possible. I must be able to control it. Is that understood?” Triumvir Attor said.

  “Perfectly, Triumvir. Is there anything else?” Ryn asked.

  “That’ll be all, don’t disappointment me,” Triumvir Attor said walking out of the office.

  _ _ _

  Kali and Lia walked into Ryn’s office and Lia said, “Ryn, guess what?” After she paused looking at him before she said, “There is a spot for Kali on the shuttle!”

  “That’s nice, Lia.”

  Lia asked, “What’s wrong Ryn?”

  “Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Ryn feigned a smile.

  “I don’t believe you, but ok,” she said. She looked at Kali and whispered, “Hey, Kali, will you talk to Ryn? He seems out of sorts, and you two seem to have good rapport.”

  Kali snickered and said at a normal volume, “Rapport? Sure, whatever. I’ll talk with him,” Kali waited while Lia left Ryn’s office. She studied Ryn and she could tell he looked upset. “Lia said you’re off. Care to talk about it?”

  “No big deal. Just worried about everything. You know the pressures of leadership. I want everything to go as planned but I know something will go wrong.”

  “You feel like no one is going to save you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Like you’re trying to right all the wrongs?”

  “Yes, kind of.”

  “You think if you carry on singing some happy song it’ll all be alright?”

  “That’s exactly right. How did you know?”

  “Because that is exactly what it was like for me after my dad. I had the weight of his death pressing me down.”

  “What did you do about it?”

  “Well someone once told me that we have to let go of things like that and just do our best.”

  “Who would say such a thing?” Ryn asked, already knowing the answer.

  “You did. I know it is tough thinking that you must make everything right. I’ve been down some very dark paths. You’re just trying to get a few dozen people across the galaxy.”

  “Exactly. What could possibly go wrong?” Ryn said.

  Chapter 14

  Kali stepped into the life suit; a bulky, airtight suit used to provide life support in space. Nikon heaved the rest of the suit up so she could put her arms in and get sealed in.

  “Thanks, Nikon,” she said.

  “Ok, you have to do a systems check to make sure you’re airtight and sealed,” he said.

  “How do I do that?” Kali asked.

  “You see this button,” Nikon said, pointing at a red covered button on the sleeve, “press it.”

  “Ok,” Kali said. She flipped off the cover and pressed the button, and the life suit split into six pieces and ejected off of her. “Nikon!” Kali shouted, “I just got in this thing!”

  “Well, now you know not to push that button,” Nikon said.

  Lia happened to walk by and witnessed the suit ejecting off Kali. “Did he tell you to push the button?”

  “Yes! I’d just got in the suit and thought I was doing a functions check,” Kali said.

  “Let me show you.” Lia helped Kali get back into the suit and said, “Do you see this green light?”

  “Yes.”

  “That means your environment is sealed and you have life support. If it turns yellow, you still have life support, but you are not sealed. If it is red, you no longer have life support.”

  “Got it. Red, bad. Green, good.” Kali said.

  “Pretty much. You ready?” Lia asked.

  “I am nervous,” Kali whispered.

  “Don’t be, you’ll have a blast,” Lia said.

  “Is that a shuttle joke?” Kali said.

  “Oh, you got it! I like you more all the time.” Lia said.

  “Happy to impress,” Kali said.

  “Shuttle 1382-Alpha now boarding.”

  “There’s our cue!” Lia said. “Let’s go.”

  Not used to walking in the life suit, Kali waddled slower than everybody else. “Wait up, guys!” she called out.

  Lia turned and waited for her. “Come on you! Don’t want to be late. I am trying to get you the good seat!”

  “How do you walk in this thing?” Kali asked.

  “Very carefully,” Nikon said.

  “No one asked you, Nikon,” Lia said, “Just keep your feet shoulder width apart and take big steps. You’ll have to bounce a little back and forth, but you’ll get it.”

  Kali did her best to follow Lia’s instructions. It helped a little but she still lagged behind. When she finally entered the shuttle, she had to squeeze through some tight spaces.

  The bulk of her suit caused her to overestimate the space required, “I am not going to fit through that!” Kali said.

  “Yes, you will just turn sideways and squeeze through,” Lia said.

  “Shuttle departure in two minutes.”

  “Hurry up, Kali, they won’t wait on you,” Lia said.

  “What do I do?” Kali turned and tried to squeeze through the narrow opening. She felt something snag. “I'm stuck.”

  “Stand still, I’ll help you,” Nikon said. He could easily see over her short frame, “There you go, you’re free.”

  “Shuttle departure in 60 s
econds.”

  “Come on, Kali, up here,” Lia said.

  Kali waddled as fast as she could and plopped into the chair. Lia buckled her in before sitting next her and securing her own restraints.

  “Shuttle departure in 30 seconds.”

  “Ok, so they’re going to pull the shuttle down to the launch pad now,” Lia said.

  “What, we’re not launching right now?” Kali asked.

  “Not exactly, no, but I needed you to hurry,” Lia explained.

  “Shuttle departure in 15 seconds.”

  “That’s not very nice, Lia. I’ll remember that,” Kali said

  Lia and Nikon laughed while the announcement counted from ten to one. With a jerk, the shuttle started moving towards the launch pad. The shuttled traveled three kilometers to a launch site.

  “Shuttle launch in 60 seconds.”

  “Did you hear the difference, ‘Shuttle launch,' that means we’re going to space, not down the road,” Lia told Kali.

  “I get it,” Kali said, gripping the seat beneath her.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll all be ok.”

  “Shuttle launch in 30 seconds.”

  “I hope you’re right. I never told my mother I was going up here. She’d kill me if she knew I was going.”

  “Well good news, if you die she can’t kill you,” Nikon said.

  “Shut up, Nikon, you’re not helping,” Lia said.

  “Shuttle launch in 15 seconds.”

  “No kidding,” Kali said.

  A ten second countdown started, and Kali closed her eyes. The shuttle began to shutter with the deafening roar of the thrusters exploding to life. The force of the shuttle breaking gravity from the planet pushed everyone into their chairs. After a few moments, the shaking calmed as the engines continued to roar.

  “Kali, look,” Lia said.

  “I. Don’t. Want. To!” Kali shouted, keeping her eyes closed.

  “Don’t miss it, this is your first time. You’ll want to remember this for the rest of your life!” Lia said.

  Kali partially opened her right eye. Then she opened both eyes. She had never seen anything like it. The view of the twin moons of Trinity took her breath away.

  “They’re so, so beautiful,” Kali said. She watched as they loomed closer, growing larger. The roar of the engines subsided. Kali felt her body rise a few millimeters from the seat until her restraint kept her seated. “Woah, weird.”

  “We’re in zero G. Or zero gravity. It means the gravity of the planet is no longer pulling us back towards it,” Lia explained.

  “It feels, almost like falling in reverse, but not exactly. I don’t know, but I like it!” Kali said.

  “See, I told you,” Lia said.

  The shuttle headed toward their cargo train of supplies and gravitational projectors. “What’s that?” Kali asked.

  “They’re building a space station. It is supposed to have manufacturing and all sorts of docking for spacecraft. It’ll keep shuttling to and from the surface to a minimum,” Lia explained.

  “That would make this a lot easier, I guess,” Kali said.

  “Yeah, with the time difference it should be done when we get back,” Nikon said. He pointed to the left of the construction and said, “That’s our cargo train. It doesn’t look like much, but it’ll get us there.”

  Four massive thrusters, each attached to the end of their own superstructure, provided thrust for the hauler. The crew had attached gravitational projectors to the hauler in the area between the thrusters. A 250 meter by 50 meter cargo bay stored items that could not attach behind the hauler; like food.

  “We just have to put this last thing on it?” Kali asked.

  “Gravitational Projector. We’re going to use it to redirect the gravity from the black hole to starve it and harvest what is left after it devolves,” Lia said.

  “Sounds…” Kali paused, “…easy enough.”

  “Should be a pretty boring experiment once we get set up. I am sure they’ll run scans and tests all the time, but really it’ll be monotony. I am sure you could even learn how to use the equipment and run a few tests,” Nikon said.

  “I doubt that,” Kali said.

  They arrived at the cargo train. “Now for the fun part. Kali, you stay here. We’ll take care of this,” Nikon said unbuckling his restraints.

  Lia followed him through a hatch in the floor, and after a few minutes, Kali saw large bay doors open on the shuttle. She tried, but couldn’t see into the bay.

  A few minutes later a large object emerged from the bay. The shuttle’s crane pushed the object out of the bay.

  Kali watched the object rotate as the crane pushed the object further away from the shuttle. Another crane from the cargo hauler latched onto the object.

  The first crane released and recoiled into the bay. The second crane pulled the object in line with the train of cargo. Kali watched in amazement as someone left the cargo hauler’s airlock, tether floating behind him; and secured the new arrival to the train.

  The shuttle’s crane pushed out more cargo. This time the cargo went to an internal bay of the cargo hauler. Everyone moved in efficient unison.

  Kali saw the cranes withdraw and the person on the train went back inside. ‘I can’t believe I am about to go spend months in space with all these people who make it look easy.’

  Lia returned to the passenger section of the shuttle through the floor hatch, her body floating through the cabin. “Look at me!” Lia said pushing off a chair and spinning.

  “Time to go, Lia, stop playing around,” Nikon said.

  “We have time, let’s let Kali try,” Lia begged.

  “You know how stringent the timelines are. We need to be buckled in, or they will enter orbit, and everybody falls on their face,” Nikon said.

  “He’s right,” Kali said. “I don’t want to have a bad experience like that.”

  “Oh, fine,” Lia said maneuvering into her chair and buckling in. She pressed a button on the panel in front of her to signal the shuttle crew to return to the surface.

  The shuttle started heading towards the planet. “Why are we going around instead of back the way we came?” Kali asked.

  “We have to approach from the dark side. We blast straight out but come in at an angle,” Lia explained.

  Kali nodded and looked at the planet from her seat. Lit cities on the dark side of Trinity glinted below them. She enjoyed the view and would miss her home while she lived in space for the next several months.

  Chapter 15

  Ryn hugged Aurora. She looked up at him and said, “You can’t take us with you?”

  “I tried. I can’t even get our son a position. They don’t want to spare funding for extra mouths to feed,” Ryn explained.

  “You know I’ll be here when you get back. I’ll always be here,” she said.

  “I know. I am a lucky Seraphim,” Ryn said before kissing his wife goodbye. For him, the last time in a few months; for her, much longer.

  “I am ready, Ryn. I’ve loaded our luggage in the taxi, and they’re waiting for us outside,” Kali said.

  “Thank you, Kali, I’ll be right there.” Despite the lingering hold his wife held on him, he managed to get free and followed Kali outside.

  They walked down to the taxi and got in. Kali’s excitement for the trip floated just beneath the surface. She could see in Ryn’s demeanor, he wouldn’t want to talk right now. They rode to the spaceport in silence.

  _ _ _

  When they arrived at the spaceport, they retrieved their luggage and paid the taxi driver. They made their way to their shuttle and suited up. Spaceport workers secured their luggage into locking bins.

  “Kali, do you need help?” asked Lia.

  “Nope, I’ve been practicing,” she said, securing the last section of the suit.

  “That’s good. You’ll be a natural when we return,” Lia said.

  They all entered the passenger cabin of the shuttle and prepared for shuttle departure. Soon the
y arrived at the launch pad and took off to join their convoy.

  “We’ll be boarding a destroyer when we get up there,” Ryn said. “I expect you all to follow their instructions. Once we get to our destination, they will be keeping us safe. It is imperative that we do not cause any grief between our crews.”

  “Yes, Dominus,” the crew answered together.

  Kali didn’t answer. She didn’t view Ryn as her Dominus, or master, or boss depending on the situation. She still viewed herself as Ryn’s protector.

  She enjoyed the view; her second time in space, taking in everything she could. She knew things will have changed drastically when she would return.

  The shuttle maneuvered into position near the destroyer and established an airlock connection. “Ok, time to transfer ships,” Ryn ordered.

  Everyone started unbuckling and moving to get their luggage out of the bins. Kali floated off her chair with a smile. She used her feet to push off the window behind her. She flew the length of the cabin and bashed into the other end.

  “Ouch!” she moaned. She floated back the way she came after bouncing off the wall.

  “Easy, Kali. It doesn’t take much to move. A little push will keep you going until you touch something else,” Ryn reminded.

  “I didn’t expect that,” Kali said.

  “It happens to the best of us,” Lia told her.

  “I broke my suit first time out of the restraints,” Nikon said.

  “Ha, I’d kind of expect that from you,” Lia chortled.

  The airlock opened, and Ryn pushed his luggage through. It fell to the floor with a thud. “See, they have gravity, so be careful going across.”

  Ryn maneuvered his body to a near standing position before he floated into the gravity. Then one by one the rest of the crew followed. The airlock sealed behind them, and the one in front of them opened.

  The commander of the destroyer stood waiting to greet them. Three braids culminating in a bun on the back of her head made her blonde hair appear short. Her blue eyes scanned them before she said, “Welcome aboard the Dawnbreaker. I am Aleksandra.”