"You say good-bye first."
"No, Nick," Jennifer Navarra shook her head, causing the vibrant zebra breeze
to quiver and laugh through her long, long, blonde hair. "I said good-bye first
last time."
"Uh-uh," Nick replied in playful taunt, his warm, sparkling eyes putting a
fine shade of lilac over everything in their acre of ireality. "I said good-bye
first last time."
"All right," Jenn laughed, always enjoying their little sign off dance. "We’ll
do it together."
"Okay. You remember how to find me in the puterverse?"
"Yes," she said, but added with a pout. "It won’t be the same, though."
"I know, but at least we’ll sorta be together then." He lifted her chin up
and gently brushed her lips with his, making Jenn think of cold rushing water
that shimmered through her soul, warming it with bright blue fire and freshly
picked apples. "And maybe you can get to their moon some weekend and we can cast
together there."
"All... All right," Jenn stammered. How much she missed him! She hugged him
long and hard, then stepped back. "One..."
"Two," Nick counted, waving a small good-bye before raising his slim,
muscular arms over his head.
"Three," Jenn said, waving back. She closed her eyes and lifted her arms above
her head, crossed them, then brought them down, canceling the ireality spell.
She opened her eyes and saw only the bulkhead of her quarters, located on the
eleventh deck of the long range passenger liner Forever, one light year from
Earth and over six thousand light years from home.
She watched the air in front of her until the last vestige of her spell had
faded. Mounted on the bulkhead behind the now vanished portal was a simple
picture of a wiener dog floating in a space ship while the people comically
tried to corral it. Colored by her friend, six year old Bobby Dietrich, it would
probably be considered a work of art by his mother, but it wasn’t really all
that good. What Jenn liked about it - in addition to knowing that her mounting it
made him very happy - was that virtually every color marking he’d made had
drifted outside the lines of the drawing. She liked that he wasn’t bothered by
it. He even thought it added to the drawing. She agreed with him. As a little
girl growing up on Centaur’s Heart, Jenn had always colored outside the lines.
And as far as the way she was living now, well, she thought, that’s coloring
outside the lines, too.
She was homesick but decisive. Ever since she’d been abducted by Terrans at
the age of nine, only to be rescued by Nick at the last moment, Jenn had felt a
need to solve the Earth question.
Throughout the known galaxy, wherever humans had traveled, the use of
Pentrinsic code had been a boon. Similar to the Trinary code of the puterverse
and the ancient binary code of millennia past, Pentrinsic code was merely the
use of numbers to create programming. The only differences were platform and
potency. While binary and trinary code could program two dimensional surfaces,
such as computer memory or the vast puterverse; the zeros, ones, two, threes,
and fives of Pentrinsic code was used to program three dimensional surfaces;
what was commonly referred to as reality.
Pentrinsic was available to everyone, provided the caster was willing to take
the years necessary to learn the high mathematics and physical intricacies
required. It had been that way for nearly two hundred years. But with the birth
of Kerri Marks in 2947, a new race of humans - homo Magicus - were able to
grasp and use Pentrinsic code inherently.
Yet in the now three centuries since the first use of Pentrinsic Code - or
magic - it had never worked on Earth. Jenn was determined to find out why and had
agreed to this four month journey back to mankind’s home world as her planet’s
Student Ambassador to explore the problem. It was a very exciting opportunity -
she would also be attending the prestigious Ball Chasers U - but it came with a
price; she would most likely lose her own musing power once she arrived and
while she remained on Earth. No one knew for sure; a homo Magicus being - or
Marks, as others called her people - had never been to Earth.
A gentle chiming and soft puff of sweet air pulled Jenn from her thoughts.
Turning toward her nightstand, she saw a violet and red question mark shimmering
in the holomist.
"Yes?" she inquired quietly.
"Miss Navarra? This is Lieutenant Friedman, the ship’s navigator. The Captain
sends his compliments and requests your presence on the bridge."
"Yes, of course, Lieutenant," Jenn answered, feeling the excitement of
challenge stirring inside her. "I’ll be there immediately." She shifted her
hands, thought of the final seventeen and a third digits of pi, and programmed
in seven fives, three twos and zero. A circle of void opened in front of her and
the Teleport spell was set.
"Uh... If you don’t mind, Miss Navarra," the navigator sounded painfully
apologetic, "the Captain requests you come through the recreation sphere and use
the elediscs."
"Oh," Jenn said, a little surprised. "Yes, certainly. I’ll be there in about
ten minutes then."
"Very good, and thank you, ma’am."
That seemed odd, Jenn thought as she canceled the spell. Why would the Captain
not want her to teleport? No matter, she shrugged. He’s the Captain and I’m the
passenger. She ran her hands down her loose wrap and it became less translucent
and more clingy. Opening the door to her cabin, she stepped off the ledge and
into the air ninety meters above the surface of the entertainment sphere.
A massive sphere made of aligned titanium around which the ship was built, it
was 150 meters in diameter and its entire interior surface was covered with all
the pleasures of entertainment. From musical performances to animal riding to
free fall swimming spheres to gambling tables (from which she’d understandably
been excluded), it was all the long distance traveler could hope for to while
away the weeks and months of traveling thousands of light years. It had
certainly helped her a lot. Though she spent much of her time with the crew and
D’Kint, the ship’s muser, she was also known for her hours-long swims.
As always - as required by design - there was no gravity inside the sphere,
but Jenn still used Flight to move about. The other passengers required either
small gravity thrusters or strong legs and good aim, and she almost pitied them
their helplessness. A few knew the Flight spell, but no one could approach her
grace and ease with magic.
As she floated quietly across the upper portion of the sphere, many eyes
turned toward her. Of the five hundred and eighty passengers on board the Forever, she was the only Marks, making her a different and pleasant sight,
even after four months. Jenn was thin by human standards; one and half meters
tall and massing a meager thirty-five kilos. Childlike in appearance, despite
being a grown woman, she had a slight build, looked only moderately matured, and
had thin, elegant limbs. Her shimmering blonde hair was tied back into a flowing
ponytail that reached below her waist. She had been compared to the elves of
Terran mythology, save that her complexion was too dark and her eyes - which
distinguished her race more than anything - were bottomless wells of coal black
with specks of cobalt blue. It was said that the only thing deeper than the eyes
of a Marks was the depth of their gentleness and peace.
Many adults waved as she passed, while the children shouted their greetings.
She waved back to each and every one. Perhaps it was a misplaced sense of
royalty, but Jenn had felt regally welcome here on the Forever. A curiosity at
first since her people rarely moved off their three worlds in the Centaur
system, Jenn was quickly accepted and "promoted" to everyone’s favorite
passenger. Always willing to listen or help, she became a much sought companion
by everyone from Captain Mills to little Bobby who tried so hard to cast his
first spell, not quite understanding the difference between him and Jenn.
She arrived at the far end of the sphere and landed on the eledisc. The
planed energy sheet flashed once beneath her feet then lifted her up eight decks
to the Bridge. She stepped off, folded her hands in front of her, and waited
quietly to be addressed. It was not her place to disturb anyone.
Of course it was D’Kint who noticed her first. Though his casting abilities
were very limited compared to Jenn’s, his skill was hard earned over the years
and she respected him greatly as muser and friend. The much older D’Kint, in
turn, adored Jenn as a doting father does his daughter, feeling a kinship in her
that he was grateful she shared. He crossed the bridge, his smile broad and
genuine.
"Hello, Jenny," He bowed and waved her forward through the large and active
bridge. All around her, stars extended into colorful lines as the ship - her
singularity drive still engaged - swept through space many hundreds times the
speed of light. The Forever could travel well over forty thousand times faster
than light, but was approaching the Sol system and had slowed considerably.
"Captain Mills? Miss Navarra is here."
At the sound of her name, several heads turned, their faces lighting up with
warm thoughts. Jenn felt herself blushing at the kindness she felt. Though Marks
people were not psychic, there were many elements of reality that stretched into
ireality; emotion not being the least of them.
There came a darker tugging thought and Jenn sensed a fear to her right.
Standing there was a group of five people, uniformed in the Terran militia
colors of gray and green. She’d heard that Earth always required a presence on
ships entering within two light years of the planet, but was unaware they’d come
on board. Perhaps it was for their comfort that Jenn had not teleported to the
bridge. If that were so, she would need to try to keep them at ease.
"Miss Navarra!" The Captain’s tone quickly washed over any tension. "Thank
you so much for coming here. I’d bow, but I’m required to keep my chair when
entering the Junkyard."
"Of course, Captain," Jenn said in her quiet voice and bowing at the waist.
"It is my honor to be here. How may I serve you?"
There came another ripple of fear and... and... something else from the
Terrans. Jenn wanted to look a little deeper, but the Captain was speaking.
"As we talked about earlier, we’re entering the area known as the Hoboken
Junkyard. Did you get a chance to read up on it?"
"Yes, Captain. The Hoboken was the first ever faster-than-light ship. It
was launched over eight hundred years ago in 2245, but due to damage incurred
while going through the Sol system’s asteroid field, the ship imploded and
exploded when it generated its ball, creating the Hoboken Junkyard just outside
of Pluto’s orbit."
"Perfect as always," Captain Mills nodded, making Jenn blush again. "The
Junkyard’s been spreading ever since and for the past five hundred years, we’ve
been helping it. The idea is, the bigger it is, the thinner it is, and the less
chance there is of hitting a piece. And for the past two hundred years, every
ship’s muser is required to use his or her magic to hasten the spread. Commander D’Kint here has done it eight times in the last three years.
"The difficulty, however, is the Junkyard is too spread out for even musers to do much more
than a couple pieces. We’re hoping you can use your inherent abilities to move a
larger section."
"I am only too willing to try, Captain."
"Thank you, Miss Navarra." The Captain’s voice sharpened slightly. "Helm!
Position, course and speed."
"We are on the primary ecliptic approach to Sol system, point eight light
years out and slowed to 700 FTL, sir. We’ll be reaching the Junkyard in less
than five minutes."
"So about an hour to Pluto." Mills said. He nodded at the crystal clear hull
in front of him. "Go to it, D’Kint."
"Yes, sir." Winking at Jenn, D’Kint moved to the open casting section forward
of helm and navigation and raised his arms.
"Pax," he intoned and the area glowed a gentle red, the Haven spell keeping
him focused and sending a pleasant wave of well-being over the entire bridge.
"Midklyian bot hadina."
Moving his hands so they seemed a blur, Jenn watched in fascination as he
slowly opened a breach between realities. His casting was so very different than
hers. She felt his straining and wanted to help but knew their magics would not
be compatible. For magics to work for humans, mass was required. While Marks
people could use mass, it was not required. Nor was it used in the same way,
which was the second lesson learned in kindergarten school, right after learning
how to count to i.
This was D’Kint’s realm, Jenn reminded herself. He knew what he was doing.
Five minutes later, it was obvious to all he knew what he was doing. Floating
a hundred meters in front of the ship was a huge cube of yellow and white
energy, held in place by the willpower of D’Kint. Though he was nearing
exhaustion, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was still in control.
"Bin doucku Lat!" he commanded, and in a silent explosion, the cube suddenly
shattered into five shafts, each stabbing out in different directions, each bolt
assigned a target of ancient and destroyed starship that it would fling ever
further out into space, thinning out the Hoboken Junkyard one more minuscule
step toward oblivion.
The bridge lighting dimmed and D’Kint sagged back, utterly exhausted. Worried
for her friend, Jenn force-transposed the sine wave for ultraviolet light,
trisected the mantissa, decay coded eleven zeros, two fives and seven twos, and
instantly appeared at D’Kint’s side. The BeThere spell didn’t have the range of
Teleport, but it worked much faster. She pulled up a cushion of soft air under
him and cast a Restore spell, keeping it limited to just him. His body glowed a
gentle pink.
D’Kint blinked a couple times and looked up at Jenn. Seeing the concern on her
face, he smiled.
"I’m fine, Jenny." He took a deep, surprised breath. "Rather, I’m more than
fine! I feel I could cast again."
Jenn laughed. "I wouldn’t just yet, D’Kint. You cast a marvelous spell, but
you need to rest now."
"Miss Navarra!" The razor edged tone came from the eldest of the five
Terrans, a man with a deep red face and most rigid posture. He was staring at
her with anger and hatred. Hatred? No, that could not be right, Jenn thought.
Still, he was clearly upset.
Startled that her actions had caused such disapproval, Jenn crossed over to
the man and bowed deeply.
"I apologize for causing you anger, sir," she said contritely while looking
at his feet. "I wasn’t aware that seeing magics disturbed Terrans."
"You don’t frighten me, Miss Navarra," he replied, taken somewhat off guard
by her meekness. "I just don’t want you foolishly wasting your energies flitting
about the bridge and performing minor medical-"
"That will be enough, Major Datsko." Captain Mills was polite but firm.
"You’re scaring Miss Navarra."
And he was, too. Jenn had no idea where the Major’s anger was coming from, but
it was clear from the burning on her back and the sour touch in her mind at whom
it was aimed. Perhaps, she thought, I could still make amends.
"I - I’m sorry, Major," she stammered out. "I did not mean to mislead or
offend. My spells do not require personal energy. Please, allow me to repay you for my
rudeness."
"Just do your job," he replied gruffly, slightly mollified by her
acquiescence and substantially put off by her frail will.
"I am your servant, sir."
Jenn straightened and looked to Captain Mills.
"If I may have the caster’s circle, Captain?"
"Of course, Miss Navarra," Captain Mills’ voice again washed away the tension
and made her feel safe and cared for. She admired him for his ability to not
disown his intense and darker emotions but rather to use them only as needed,
all the while showing and encouraging his gentle, fatherly side.
Jenn walked to the caster’s circle, brushing her hand along D’Kint’s arm as he
made his way slowly to the Captain’s side. Standing in the center, she took a
deep breath and thought about how white her sun’s star was; and what that
whiteness would do to the manmade singularity that pulled the Forever through
space at incredible speeds.
"Captain!" Jenn heard the pilot call out behind her, "We just dropped to 600 FTL!"
"What’s the ball mass and position?" Captain Mills said. Jenn felt his mind
sharpening at the unexpected challenge. Good, she thought. Once he understands
I’m attaching my code to the singularity, he’ll calm the others.
"Ball mass and position is unchanged at forty-five point oh oh one six
percent mass and two point one six eight eight five meters forward of the bows."
Understanding came quickly.
"Very well," Captain Mills said calmly. "Miss Navarra is using the extra
energy. Maintain mass and position and continue monitoring speed."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Pax," Jenn said quietly, casting a Haven spell.
A gust of air and light burst from her, spreading through the entire length
of the 500 meter long ship, coating every living thing with the gossamer touch
of peace. Even the Terrans found themselves relaxing and thinking calmer
thoughts.
Jenn noted the center of the ship, the center of the singularity and the
center of the Hoboken Junkyard. Two glimmers appeared waist high in front of
her. As she found each center the glimmers increased in size and activity. When
the final center had been aligned along the i axis, she inserted a hand into
each glimmer, pushing them in up to her elbows. Somewhere inside was the
absolutely right chronostring.
She began plucking each of the strings, causing a gentle wash of music, color
and scent to ripple through the ship. Without discernible source, the sensations
would be very confusing to humans, so an anchoring spell was required to keep
the five reality senses calmed. Hence the Haven spell.
"550 FTL and dropping," the pilot called out from a great, great distance.
Far sooner than she expected, Jenn found the correct string. She plucked it
tentatively. It didn’t make the sound color she was expecting, so she plucked it
again. It still wasn’t what she was expecting, yet it seemed right. And in
ireality, she knew, what seems is what was.
Her face lit up suddenly. Of course! As happened too often, assumption had
led her astray. As wise and kind as the humans were, they had been trying to
answer the wrong question for five centuries. She opened her eyes.
"Captain?" Jenn asked aloud, still with gentle tone but now also with a
confidence and strength long hidden. Those watching were coming to the
realization that she was in her element now, and it was a thing they could never
comprehend.
"Yes, Miss Navarra?" His voice was much closer to her than the pilot’s had
been, for Captain Mills was a well centered man.
"I fear I must undo my peers efforts so that I may better serve you
and Earth. Am I permitted?"
"No!" came the brittle answer.
"Yes," came the firm answer, Captain Mills instantly canceling out the hollow
authority of Major Datsko.
"Thank you, Captain."
She turned to Major Datsko and the immeasurable depths of her eyes froze him
in position. The obsidian drew him into her and revealed to him her concern and
gentleness while the blue specks gently demonstrated her power and understanding
to accomplish what she wished.
"Do not worry or be concerned, Major," Jenn reassured. "I have the
correct string now and I can sense the answer most vividly. No offense, kind D’Kint."
D’Kint chuckled. Here she stood, thirty years his junior yet many centuries
his superior, and she wanted his blessing.
"None taken, Jenny," he replied. "Now go to work and do your people proud."
He paused, curious. "What are you going to do?"
Jenn gave a playful giggle.
"I’m going to color outside the lines."
Jenn turned forward again, closed her eyes and began programming. Fifty-three
ones, twenty-three zeros, thirty-seven twos, eleven threes and thirteen fives.
"400 FTL and dropping."
Sixty-one zeros, two fives, twenty-three twos, twenty-three threes...
"200 FTL and dropping."
Seventeen zeros, sixty-seven twos, a single one, nineteen fives...
"100 FTL... 50FTL... 30... 20.. Captain, we’re approaching ball
destabilization threshold!"
"Maintain ball mass and position." The Captain’s voice was as solid as time
mounted granite.
Thirty-one threes, twenty-nine fives, forty-seven twos, seventy-three zeros,
ninety-one ones...
"Aye, sir.. 12FTL.... 11.2FTL... NINE FTL!" came the pilot’s incredulous
voice. According to the laws of physics, it was impossible to travel faster than
the speed of light but less than 11.2 times the speed of light. Universal
constants dictated an instant jump from the speed of light to 11.2 FTL.
"Four FTL... Two FTL... Subspace... Captain," came the awed voice of the
pilot, "We are dead in space."
It was a surprise even for Captain Mills. "Ball mass and position!" He
barked.
"Unchanged," came the reply. "I - I don’t know how, sir - well, I suppose I
know how, but not exactly." His voice tapered off and he stared at the small
woman in front of him.
Jenn started building her matrix, pulling the chronostrings out and wrapping
them around and in ireality until they began glowing brightly, spilling over
into reality. The matrix needed to be 4283 by 29 by 113 by 8amber8 T shading by
- and this was the hardest dimension - 16. It was the introduction of a
non-prime number that would cause Jenn the most strain.
Behind her, alarms suddenly started screaming in protest.
"Incoming!" shouted the Sensor Officer from his station.
"Location!" Mills ordered.
"All over, sir! Hundreds... No thousands of particles."
"Size and speed?"
"Nothing larger than a meter, but thousands at just discernible size. The
count is up to half a million now."
Jenn began filling the matrix. Having established the when and how, she now
needed to create temporally null cohesiveness.
1019 zeros, 3547 ones, 1373 twos, 2129, threes, 571 fives...
"Impact in five sec... Wait! There’s a change of course, Captain. One
kilometer in front of the bows!"
Captain Mills frowned and glanced at the Marks girl. No, woman, he reminded
himself. She was fully grown despite her size and appearance. Certainly Jenn knew
that anything brought to the bows would be consumed utterly by the singularity
of his ship. Startled at the thought, he shook his head in disbelief.
"She’s collapsing the Junkyard!" he stated with complete and incredulous
certainty. "She’s pulling it all together in front of our ball to have it sucked
in."
4297 zeros, 3259 ones, 653 two, 4391 threes, 3301 fives...
And so she was. It became apparent that the collecting mass wasn’t
being immediately sucked in. Every person on the bridge turned in wonder to
watch the impossible take place.
4261 zeros, 7369 ones, 5591 twos, 1297 threes, 1009 fives...
Slowly but surely, the crew and passengers of the Forever watched as the
Hoboken, the first ever faster than light ship made, was slowly rebuilt before
their eyes. Its keel laid 819 years earlier in 2243, launched in 2245 and
destroyed only weeks later when it failed to contain the singularity it
generated, a precious piece of mankind’s past was coming to life again.
5701 zeros, 23 ones, 6791 twos, 4001 threes, 3011 fives...
"Sensors to maximum!" Mills suddenly shouted, breaking the eerie silence that
had transfixed the crew. "Scan every millimeter of that ship!"
7741 zeros, 2767 ones, 7919 twos, 4931 threes, 3469 fives...
The ship lay completely reconstructed before them now, floating on an even
keel, undamaged. It seemed poised, as if eager to generate a ball and erase
forever its doomed place in history.
7883 zeros, 7883 ones, 7883 twos, 788...
Jenn opened her eyes, startled. The ship was undamaged! That wasn’t right. It
had sustained damage going through the asteroid field, eight days before
generating the ball. And she was bringing it back from the time only one day
before its destruction, a full week after traversing the asteroid field. So
where was the damage?
Looking deeper into the ship, she sensed a presence; dark, evil and cold. It
sickened her to her stomach and she felt it lashing out toward her. Even as it
did, she realized it was both alien and harmless. Alien because it was from the
puterverse; harmless because it was merely a ghost. It howled in fury and
frustration at being discovered, but it also howled in futility. Though its
existence was blurred to her because of its use of Pseudo Trinary Code, she
could still see it had come to its just end, and existed no more.
So the Hoboken had been murdered, Jenn thought. Why or by whom she had no
idea. She could have delved deeper and perhaps found the answer, but it was not
her place to reveal this kind of Terran history. The entity’s ghost would have
to go back to where it belonged; lost in time, warped by myth and destroyed by
stories untold.
"Captain, if you are finished with your scans, I must release the ship to
your singularity." Though still strong of voice, Jenn was clearly tiring.
Captain Mills glanced at his Sensor Officer, who nodded his head. "Whenever
you are ready, Miss Navarra. And Jenn?" Jenn’s attention caught at his unexpected
use of her first name.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Thank you for letting us see this."
She blushed and dipped her head slightly, embarrassed. "You are welcome,
Captain."
Spreading her arms, the two rifts opened wide, joining into one portal that
throbbed with light. To the crew, it was an astounding sight of colored lines,
pulsing strings and heart stopping music. Painful to watch, it was also
compelling, and their attention was pulled from the Hoboken to the portal.
Shielding his eyes but still staring into the place Marks people called
ireality, Captain Mills saw what it was to color outside the lines.
7883 fives... 4243 fives... 1913 fives... 239 fives... 47 fives... thirteen
fives...
The portal was now blinding as the chronostrings realigned, and Jenn directed
impossibility to its proper place while allowing certainty to once again flow
unimpeded. Seven fives... two fives... zero fives...
i.
The portal vanished and inside the caster’s circle, looking tired but calm,
was Jenn. She smiled quietly at the Captain while D’Kint went to her side to
assist her as she had him.
Captain Mills smiled back at her, then lifted his eyes. The _Forever_ was
back at 700 FTL. The Hoboken was gone and with it, the Junkyard its
destruction had created; all swallowed by his ship’s singularity the instant
Jenn
had dropped her spell.
Though its fate had been the same, Captain Mills somehow felt the Hoboken
rested peacefully now. It had been brought up from its grave in history, shown
to all a final time to be a ship of worth, then lovingly re-interred in a place
where memories and the past did not match, where order was an idle amusement for
a people that lived there at will. Outside history. Outside reality.
Outside the lines.
* *
*
Top
Novel
Library
Home
