Arkship Vengeance Read online

  ‘The food and water, they’ve run out for us. Only for the officers now. There’s too many, see? The Valtais, he’s . . .’ Gibbons covered his mouth.

  ‘You can tell me. It’s okay,’ Derward encouraged, his voice soft.

  ‘The Valtais took over so many arkships, but they don’t have enough stuff to go ‘round. Too many people, not enough stuff. But he don’t care, not really. As long as they’re okay.’ He jabbed his thumb upwards. ‘They got food, they got water. Down here, there’s nothing no more.’

  ‘Are there many of you here?’

  Gibbons nodded. ‘Too many. Mostly women and little kids. The men, not so many. They’re either killed or too busy working. Me, I’m Draig, lived here all my life, but I don’t have a job since my leg went bad. Don’t have a home no more. They took it away, see?’ The man inched closer. ‘You’re a trader? You got a ship?’

  ‘Yes, but–’

  ‘Take her,’ Gibbons whispered. ‘Take my little girl. Get her off here, to somewhere safe, where there’s water n’ food. Please, will you take her?’

  The image of Reader Mallory struck Derward with a vivid clarity. He’d been down this route before. His compassion had gotten the better of him and he’d paid a heavy price for it. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Sir . . . Otomo, you have to,’ the man pleaded.

  ‘Don’t ask that of me.’

  ‘You have to!’ Gibbons insisted, growing louder. He grabbed Derward’s shoulders. ‘She stays here, she dies. You’ll take her!’

  ‘I’ll bring you provisions, but–’

  ‘By Gods, you have to!’ Gibbons went to strike Derward, but he ducked and pushed the man aside. He fell to the floor, a pathetic expression on his tired face.

  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t’ Derward said, retreating from them. He rested at a junction close to the conveyor station, planning his next move. He would explore more of the ship, find out the extent of the suffering under Orcades Draig, then return to the Scribe with his report.

  ‘That’s him!’

  Derward looked up. It was Gibbons, pointing at him as two armed guards raised their weapons.

  DISCONNECTION

  Bara shouted into the com, her voice fighting against the roar of the arkship’s Cube drive. ‘Wynn, we see the problem. We’re going to try to shut it down from here. Stand by.’

  She cut the com link and turned to look up at Gofal. ‘Do you understand what we need to do?’

  Gofal nodded. ‘Someone needs to go out there, onto the engine deck, and disengage the Cube drive manually. Seeing as the engine deck is exposed to space, that someone is going to be me.’

  Bara smiled sympathetically. ‘I’m linking your eyes into the holograph system, so I can guide you,’ she said, working at her console.

  ‘That will not be necessary. I have reviewed the design schematics for the Cube drive. I am a fast learner, Bara.’

  She stepped away from the console, understanding. ‘I’d do this myself, but . . .’

  ‘But there isn’t time for you to suit up. I am faster, more efficient and, frankly, better looking. I was made for this job.’

  Bara laughed, but she felt tears in her eyes. She shrugged off the emotion, turning away to compose herself.

  ‘I’m going to open the shield now,’ Gofal said to Bara and the others. ‘I suggest you vacate the control room and seek shelter in the corridor. Life expectancy will be better for you there.’

  Bara turned back to look at him, then followed the other engineers out of the control room. She stood at the doorway and, as the airlock seal turned green, she gave Gofal a thumbs up through the window. Inside the control room, Gofal responded, raising his long arm to her. He turned, activated the shield barrier, steadying himself as the air was sucked out into space. Gofal stepped through the hatch and onto the engine deck. After a moment, he was out of sight. There was nothing Bara could do but wait.

  Gofal stared at the beautiful vista of cubespace. The colors were dazzling bright, a fusion of swirling patterns that reminded him of a van Gogh painting. But there was no time to appreciate the sight, he had a job to complete. He walked down the steps that led to the engine deck and, engaging the grav-lines in his feet, bounded through the ruined space.

  The Cube drive sat in a sheltered enclosure towards the far end of the deck. Using the appropriate codes, he unlocked the sealed door and entered the generator. All he had to do was remove the protective plating and disconnect the tachyon feed from the drive. That would destabilize the ST bubble, and the arkship would fall out of Cube transit. The transition, however, would not be comfortable.

  Before he started work, he took a nanosecond to review and choose some music. The triumphant blare of a Scottish pipe band seemed appropriate. As the optimistic drumming of ‘Will Ye No Come Back Again’ bellowed in his ears, Gofal removed the protective plate. This first part was simple enough, but the interior configuration differed from the plans he was referencing. The design had obviously been modified recently. He studied the device, systematically checking it against the plans until he had determined the correct cable to disconnect.

  He contacted the flight deck. ‘This is Gofal. I am at the Cube drive. About to disengage tachyon feed. Stand by for ST bubble collapse.’

  He took the cable in his hand and began to turn the connecting port. He felt the mechanism click, and he pulled the cable out of the Cube drive.

  For two point two seconds nothing happened. Then the bubble began to collapse, and Gofal felt his systems shutting down.

  ‘ST bubble collapse!’ a voice cried out. The arkship Vengeance jolted, throwing people to the floor of the flight deck. Wynn, held on, feeling the painful tug of gravity on his body. The vessel groaned, showering white-hot sparks into the air, little points of light that flickered and died as the flight deck lost power.

  Wynn heard a scream growing until the noise became intolerable. His head felt like it was being crushed. He couldn’t move, everything hurt.

  He opened his eyes and the flight deck bled away until all he could see was piercing, cold, painful light.

  It was the light of The Infinite.

  COMMUNION

  ‘Who are you?’

  The voice was ephemeral, unplaceable.

  ‘Who are you?’

  Everywhere he looked was the golden yellow of The Infinite. Wynn squinted, trying to discern details. He could tell he was no longer on the flight deck. He was elsewhere, somewhere old and oddly familiar, yet new and alien all at once.

  The ground was a polish stone, cool against his cheek, his distorted reflection looking back at him. He stood, feeling unsteady and dazed. The noise of the Vengeance had gone, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Slowly, he turned around, trying to find detail in this featureless environment. There was nothing, just the stone floor expanding in every direction, dying into the white nothing.

  ‘Who are you?’

  Wynn tensed. He was alone, but the voice was everywhere, like a scream whispered into his ear.

  ‘I . . .who . . . I can’t see you,’ he replied, his mouth dry.

  ‘Who are you?’ The voice was louder this time, hurting his ears.

  ‘I’m . . . Halstead . . .’ He cleared his throat. ‘Prince Halstead of the House of Kenric.’

  ‘Kenric.’ The word lingered.

  ‘Yes . . . who are you?’

  ‘We are Infinite.’

  ‘Infinite?’ He began to walk, hoping to find the origin of the voice.

  ‘Infinite.’

  In an instant, the stone floor vanished, and Wynn found himself floating in space. In front of him was the pulsing strands of The Infinite. Instinctively, he held his breath, tensing his body against the terror of falling. But he could breath, and his unease vanished. He felt warm, calm like he was being cocooned by the light of the fractured star.

  It seemed as if he hung there for an age, as if time had lost its relevance. He could see the intricate play of the streams of gas and plasma, of neon and hydrogen
, dancing over each other, swirling in a never-ending line of matter.

  He had always thought of it as a dead star, a globe sliced apart, deformed by the Fracture. Now, he looked upon it with a new understanding. This was not a deformed star, this was something unique, something beautiful and original. There was order here: interplay, compromise, purpose. It was alive!

  As he studied it, he imagined it whole again, and as if in response to his thought, it began to change, to coalesce into a glowing ball of light. As he bathed in its resolved visage it broke apart again, forming the tendrils of energy he was so familiar with. In an instant, it became whole again, then split into a rapidly flowing ribbon. It flickered between the two states, getting faster and faster, closer and closer, until it abruptly froze as The Infinite. The moving tendrils stopped, and Wynn began to fall towards them, closer and closer, faster and faster, through the searing lines of light, through the heart of The Infinite, into the dark, compressed black hole at its core. He screamed, feeling his body being torn apart.

  Wynn was elsewhere.

  His surroundings were black and drab, but his skin was aglow, illumination this new world with a golden light that pulsated with the beat of his heart. Rhythmic, hypnotic light, growing stronger until he could see to the edge of this barren world.

  ‘Who are you?’

  The voice again.

  ‘You know who I am!’ he shouted, frustrated.

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I’m . . . Wynn.’

  ‘Yes,’ the voice replied. ‘You are Wynn.’

  Suddenly, the world broke apart, and his vision was bombarded with a chaotic cascade of images.

  He saw himself as a young boy, playing in the dark corridors of the Obsidian’s water processing plant. He shouldn’t be here, it was dangerous and dirty, not for a prince. He kept quiet, knowing Gofal would find him soon.

  He was at his mother’s funeral, so small, looking up at his father’s dispassionate face. He didn’t know what to do with the emotions he was feeling.

  He was fighting after school, venting his anger on the other boys, knowing they would not dare to hurt him.

  He was pulling a hand from a pile of junk. Bara’s! He looked at her face for the first time and felt the flutter of a fragile new emotion.

  He was laid on a table, in a hospital, a doctor working quickly as the Obsidian was attacked.

  He was staring at a metal broach with the Kenric crest of arms carved into it. It held a red cape in place. He focused on the intricate craftsmanship as a friend spoke to him, a friend who was a reflection of himself, yet completely different.

  He was meeting Gofal for the first time, fascinated by the bot’s deep, rhythmic voice.

  He was older now, caressing something in his arms. Its weight was slight, but he held it with the care of a precious object. As he looked down he felt a surge of emotion: he was holding a child. His child!

  He was a baby now, looking up into his mother’s loving eyes. She was more beautiful than he had ever realized.

  He was cold and tired, walking with his son. Their conversation was brittle and sharp, the consequences of their discussion grave and monumental.

  He was dying, slumped in a throne, looking up into the eyes of a machine.

  He was in a lifeboat, racing from the burning Obsidian, his memories a haze.

  He was rushing to save Bara. He had to get there, before it was too late.

  Bara.

  The images were too much, but he couldn’t avoid them, his entire life in a jumble of colliding snapshots.

  The onslaught ended.

  Blackness.

  Nothing.

  The voice spoke to him again. ‘You are Infinite now.’

  GRAVITY

  ‘Flight deck, can you hear me? Respond!’

  Commander Enger Van Leeuwen stumbled back into his command chair, brushing his dark hair away from his face. He ached all over, as if his body had been squeezed and pressed to its limit. As he reached for the com the nausea came over him again, forcing him to catch his breath.

  ‘Commander Van Leeuwen here,’ he said, gripping the sides of the chair. ‘Report.’

  ‘Cube drive is shut down. We’re suiting up to do a status check in there.’ It was the woman from the engine deck. What was her name? Bara?

  ‘What about the other systems, Bara?’

  ‘Engines are dead. Not sure about the maneuvering systems, we’ll get in there and see.’

  ‘Okay, keep me informed. We need anything you can give us. We’ve been pulled into The Infinite’s gravity well.’ He looked up at the windows; The Infinite filled the entire view.

  Van Leeuwen cut the com as he checked the other critical systems. Life support was still working, as were the g-lines. They had multiple hull breaches, but the Gilgore grid was keeping the atmosphere in place, except for on the engine deck. He looked down on the prince, unconscious on the floor, a team of medics tending to him. There was nothing Van Leeuwen could do. He had a ship to save, so he put Prince Halstead out of his mind.

  The glowing fire of The Infinite grew larger with every passing minute.

  ‘Flight deck, this is Bara.’

  The commander activated his com. ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘We’ve finished our first inspection and it’s not good. Breaking thrusters won’t work, they’re fed by the engines, so we can’t slow you down. We still have maneuvering control, so our only option is to use those.’

  Commander Van Leeuwen opened a holograph of the ship, turning it to check its system. Was he missing something? ‘If we can’t stop ourselves from falling into The Infinite what good are maneuvering thrusters?’

  ‘The Infinite’s not solid, Commander. Recommend we fly through it, using its gravity to slow us down.’

  ‘You want me to slingshot through The Infinite?’ Commander Van Leeuwen asked, aghast.

  ‘Yes.’

  For a moment, Van Leeuwen did nothing, letting his mind process the suggestion. It was suicide.

  ‘In your estimation of our situation, this is the best option?’

  ‘Commander, it’s our only option.’

  ‘Thank you, stand by.’ He closed the com, standing to join his officers on the lower level.

  ‘Well,’ he said gravely. ‘You know the situation. Thoughts?’

  The young men and women stared at him, saying nothing.

  ‘Gods! We don’t have long.’

  Adams, a thin officer with a shaved head answered, speaking rapidly. ‘We’ll be crushed. Our only hope it to abandon ship now.’

  ‘We will not abandon ship. The lifeboats do not have the thrust potential to escape the gravity well. We are too far in.’

  Adams reddened, fear flashing over his face. ‘Yes, sir.’

  Marcuson, a middle-aged woman with a hard face spoke up. ‘All possible flight plans have been calculated: none are viable. The gravitational eddies are too severe. The Vengeance will be destroyed.’

  ‘There has to be a way.’

  ‘Sir, with respect, there is not. We can’t go backwards, we can’t go forwards.’

  ‘There’s nothing we can do?’ Van Leeuwen asked, realizing he sounded desperate.

  ‘Nothing,’ Marcuson replied.

  ‘Wait!’ a voice shouted out from behind him. The commander turned to see the prince lifting himself up from the floor. ‘I know a way. The gods will guide us.’

  THE PATH

  Wynn stumbled, grabbing at the closest officer to steady himself.

  ‘Console . . . get me to the nav console,’ he said. His mouth was dry, as if he hadn’t spoken in an age.

  The others helped him to a seat. He looked at the display, uncertain what he was about to do. A moment ago, it had all seemed so clear. The answers were obvious. Now, as the seconds ticked by, he felt like he was walking into a fog.

  ‘My prince, you should rest.’ Commander Van Leeuwen advised.

  Wynn shook his head, fighting his frustration. ‘No! There is a way.’

/>   He closed his eyes and let the air leave his lungs. His thoughts slowed, and he regained some of the clarity he had felt before he woke. As he opened his eyes he saw his hands moving over the console, inputting a new course for the Vengeance to follow. It was a complex procedure, and required several changes of heading at critical time intervals. He could see it all in his head. His hands worked quickly, desperate to convey the information before his mind clouded again.

  His fingers slowed, and he pushed himself away from the console. ‘There. Follow that course exactly and we will survive.’

  Wynn smiled, satisfied, but as his grasp on the images in his mind began to falter, he felt a sense of loss. Tears formed in his eyes, rolling down his cheeks. ‘I saw everything. Now . . . it’s going.’

  He looked up and saw the flight deck officers staring at him. Wynn wiped his face as he stood, hiding his emotions. ‘Commander, follow my instructions.’

  The commander hesitated, staring at the holograph. The new course flashed in front of him, a curving passage that speared through the loop of The Infinite and out the other side.

  ‘We don’t have long,’ Wynn said, seeing the commander’s reticence.

  ‘Very well,’ Van Leeuwen muttered, and the flight deck officers went to carry out their duties.

  Outside, The Infinite grew larger. The windows filtered the fierce luminance, allowing smaller, normally hidden details to emerge. Wynn stared at the shifting plasma, trying to make sense of what had happened to him. The experience had been overwhelming, and already it was slipping away from him. He needed to speak to Bara about it.

  ‘Stand by, everyone,’ Van Leeuwen said, returning to his seat.

  Wynn watched as the arkship Vengeance plunged into the heart of The Infinite, tearing between its immense arms of fire.

  RETURN

  Bara checked her safety line was attached as she pulled herself along the wreaked engine deck. She could feel the pull of The Infinite, drawing the arkship towards it. Loose debris and equipment began to move, sliding along the deck as she advanced towards the Cube drive. She moved quickly, avoiding the objects threatening to slide into her.