36 (DSV Nautica) A Plan
Ancient hallways lit slowly. Old conduits not used in a millenia began to flow with will power once again. Rumbling to life, a new section powered on, the data streaming into processing columns.Time started at 12 hours, 57 minutes, 41 seconds. Mark.The countdown began. Yet again.Power at 43 percent. Next recharge cycle in approximately 5 standard days with a tolerance of 12 hours.Space was empty, black as night. Distant stars layered the inky canvas, uncountable. Every type of star was nearby. Well, relatively near. Everything was nearby on the cosmological scale.Towers hissed as power began to fuel their programs, ancient gears turning. Some had lost count of how long this device had been flying. Of how long it had crawled the stars in search of the ultimate answer. They knew this: there was no one answer. It was everywhere around them. They would find it.A lone figure stood among the empty seats, the blank consoles and powerless displays. There was no point. She knew all of it. The entire hull was her mind, her brain, her body. She stood motionless, looking out at the stars. She saw the nearby planets, their parent stars. The nebulae that were 45 light-years distant. The stars at 1000 light-years distant. She saw everything in this pocket of space. Life forms. Heavenly bodies. So beautiful. All of this was carefully logged and stored.
Even more impressive. At the core of the ship, the massive processors ran simulations. Interactions between the atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, their quarks, strange matter, all of it. Simulations ran all hours of the day for years on end. The knowledge was endless. Completely random, but the applications discovered in anything from food production, to weapons research, structure design. It all had an application. It would later be assembled into useful data for the Ayr'een archive.6 hours, 21 minutes, 54 seconds.The clock was halfway done. The black skin of the ship hovered in space, unmoving. Almost invisible to the entire universe. Only an unusual black patch against stars.The figure waited, staring at the black wall toward the front of the bridge. Motionless.0 hours, 34 minutes, 57 seconds.It was close. The only lit display on the ship, was the timer. Shone in giant 5 meter tall figures. She watched them, eyes soft and unfocused.0 hours, 0 minutes, 7 seconds.Time to go.BEEP.The black specter roared to life. Blue veins covered its skin, with a glowing core at the center. A few seconds later, the engines flared and the ship hurled forward at super-luminal speeds toward its next stop. The external displays showed a blue veil outside the ship, almost like an aurora.The giant display glowed again, flashing new digits.
56 hours, 43 minutes, 29 seconds.Aki sat
in the antechamber alone, hands clasped together. Celeste was a surprise no doubt, but the news about her was even more shocking. Her? Used as a bridge? She wasn't as strong-willed as others, or so she believed. And the scrolls? It was true? She bent her head down, exhaling strongly and running her fingers though her hair. This was a lot to take in. They had allowed her time to absorb this information.One of the Acolytes entered quietly."Captain, have you had enough time?""Not even close."The Acolyte stood near the door, waiting for her with a sympathetic look on his face, but she could sense the impatience. He had probably had orders to get her back in there."I wish to appeal to the Matriarch."The Acolyte swallowed, complexion going pale."Pardon me, Captain?""I wish to appeal to the Matriarch, Acolyte."The Acolyte drew in a deep breath. Technically the Acolyte outranked her, but not in the military command, nor was she going to get caught up in the specifics. Aki could sense a mix of emotions between them. Fear? Respect? Disbelief? All of the above?
They stood in silence, but Aki stood her ground. The Acolyte slowly turned and proceeded to the meeting hall once again. The door silently slid shut, leaving her alone in the room again. Her body suddenly felt as if it had turned to jelly, and she had to catch herself as she fell on her knees, leaning on the table. She had just demanded an audience with the Matriarch!? Did she do that!?"Oh...My..." A stream of unintelligible mutters streamed from her mouth, speaking nearly every explicative she knew. The door slid open and the room went cold. There were voices of protests in the other room, one of which sounded rather angry. The door slid shut again. She could feel the power from here. She slowly lifted her eyes, seeing the lone figure at the door. The Matriarch, the leader of their entire race. She stumbled clumsily from both knees to one as she bowed her head. Her feathers rose slightly, skin crawling with chills."I believe you wanted to see me...?"The power in her voice was evident as she spoke. Her tone wasn't even angry. It was neutral and she felt the power.
"Rise." Her voice commanded.Aki's knees seemed to move by themselves, as if her Matriarch commanded her to rise and her knees obeyed instantly, with no effort from Aki.Their eyes met. Heck, she was shorter than Aki by half a head and still managed to be scary as hell."You want to rescue your crew left in AU-945, isn't that correct?"Aki swallowed. Just the reaction that the Matriarch was looking for. She didn't even need to ask. She knew already. "I am sorry...but I cannot let a crew go into AU-945 with only the evidence that your expedition uncovered. It could be anything from an anomaly to a draconid trap. Under normal
circumstances I would deny you...however...there may be another way to get there. And not just to the galaxy. Straight to your crew. Its risky and the inner council will not approve at all. We will be risking another one of our artifacts, but the potential is very well worth it."Aki stood dumbfounded. She hadn't a clue what the Matriarch was talking about. The roller coaster of emotions was making her quite dizzy.
The Matriarch laid a small card of auril on the table. "Here, take this. Follow the instructions on this card. I am ordering you that you are not to let anyone know or see this card, or the information it contains."Aki seemed to be on autopilot. Questions racing through her mind, so many questions, but she couldn't bring her self to ask. It was like the Matriarch was simply using her as a puppet, instructing her every move."We have some work to do, young captain. I trust you will be up to it.Loki smiled at the display. The bridge of the Mors was a ruckus. The exploded star had collapsed in on itself with their help, and had just gone to a class 1a supernova. But that wasn't all. The scroll in the bowels of the ship had made its own changes. Using the mass of the star and the violatile energy, it ripped space-time open in two places. One here, one in AU-945. In short...they had a wormhole established between the two. "The site is reading very dangerous radiation levels." her pilot read to her, summarizing the situation. They had also witnessed a phenomenon. The light and radiation from the star had jumped throughout the galaxy, appearing simultaneously to the entire galaxy, and possibly the entire universe. The shining leftover wormhole was one of the brightest things on the screen at 2 light-years from where they were now.
"Lets take a closer look. All power to the repair systems."Loki smiled softly, relaxing back in her chair.