The moment the Astrum Vitae’s cargo bay door slid shut, Miliam sighed deeply, relaxing her shoulders and slumping forward a bit. She didn’t know when the last time she felt this exhausted was. Unfortunately, this was far from over.
“So…ready to talk now?” Aoibhe asked immediately. Miliam glared at her, but the pilot was unphased. After a moment Miliam relented.
“Fine, but let’s get to the bridge first. We don’t know when or if we’ll be getting that call,” she compromised. They headed upstairs in silence and each took their seats on the bridge when they arrived, with Abigail assuming a spot next to Miliam’s chair.
“Alright, we’re here. Talk,” Aoibhe said, clearly tired of waiting. Eun-ji and Min-ji looked on in confusion.
““What’s going on?”” they asked in stereo from opposite sides of the bridge.
“Oh, nothing,” Miliam answered with false nonchalance. “Just discovered my little brother might have founded one of the most destructive cults in human history. No big deal.”
“What!?” asked Min-ji.
“How is that even possible!?” asked Eun-ji, causing Miliam to remember that she’d deferred telling them about that particular bit of backstory and never gotten around to it later. She groaned, realizing she’d have to do that first just for context.
“I guess now’s as good a time as any…hold one while I call Tessa and Engineer up here. Let’s get this over with all at once,” she told them before calling her remaining crew members to the bridge. The intervening silence was a bit awkward, but there wasn’t much to be said before everything was out in the open.
“Hey captain, what’s up?” Tessa asked immediately upon arriving, Engineer in tow. For their part, the stoic dragonewt just nodded.
“Story time. So, it started when I found this book in my parents’ attic…” Miliam began, jumping straight into it. She’d barely gotten three sentences out before Tessa tried to ask a question, but Abigail helpfully chopped her in the back of the head- lightly, of course- to indicate now wasn’t the time. Ignoring the overeager elf, Miliam continued to explain that she’d been born on 21st century Earth, found an ancient grimoire forgotten by her family, and deciphered enough of the contents to successfully cast a spell, only to accidentally trigger a second one that left her in stasis for hundreds of years.
“Woah. You’re a real-life time traveler. Hey, what did bread taste like seven hundred years ago?” Tessa asked, rounding up, while the twins and Engineer were still digesting the story. Miliam gave her a look of disbelief.
“That’s your first question?”
“To be fair, you are the only person alive that can answer it. Doesn’t that make it a valid question?” Aoibhe asked with an amused grin.
“…it tasted sweeter, but I think that was just how it was made in the country I lived in,” Miliam answered after a few seconds of silence. Eun-ji jumped in next, before Tessa could ask something even more inane.
“Wait, did you already know?” she asked Aoibhe, having noticed that Aoibhe’s phrasing indicated she already believed Miliam.
“Aye. The cap’n left it out for brevity, but we met right after she popped back up, and there was no other way she could have gotten where she was. Abigail over there confirmed the second spell could have done in,” Aoibhe confirmed, waving towards the scholar in question.
“Indeed. The event was statistically unlikely, but possible nonetheless. But let us move on to the more pressing topic: why do you believe Isaiah to be your brother?” Abigail said, turning the conversation back over to Miliam.
“We were both adults last time I saw him. Whatever they used as a reference for the statue couldn’t have been from more than three or four years later. He looked pretty young,” Miliam answered. “What I don’t understand is why. He was a preacher, sure, but he never had the charisma or…ambition to acquire so much power.”
“Maybe something happened after you left,” Aoibhe proposed.
“Or…he found out what happened? Somehow?” Min-ji added, head cocked to the side and one finger to her cheek.
“Mm…I would hazard the first. I cannot think of any possible way the spell could have been traced. If it had been anchored properly, perhaps it would have been possible to detect Miliam even in her altered state, but there should have been no residue otherwise. We also know the book was transported with you, so there should have been no evidence,” Abigail replied, shooting down Min-ji’s idea. That gave Miliam an epiphany, however, that actually proved Min-ji correct.
“No…wait, there was something I left behind. My notes. I had extensive notes on the translation. They would have looked like utter nonsense out of context, but just a month after I left the discovery of magic was announced.” Miliam’s eyes widened as she spoke, horror rising up inside her.
“Just. Assumption,” Engineer grunted.
“They’re right. We don’t actually know that your family ever would have managed to make the connection. They might not have even kept the notes that long,” Aoibhe agreed. Instead of replying, Miliam looked to Abigail.
“…did Isaiah ever talk about anything like that? A family member getting spirited away or dabbling in witchcraft or something?” she asked, figuring Abigail was most likely to know among the crew. To her relief, Abigail shook her head.
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“To my knowledge Isaiah is not known to have had a…sibling,” Abigail replied carefully. “The Isaiaites may have better records of the time, but they are highly likely to have been doctored repeatedly since the faithful migrated to the original Eden. My studies centered most on the origins of the religion and particularly its unique magic, so I believe had any such thing been recorded I would have come across it, however.”
“I bet Isaiah was a clone! Or…a mimic! Some kind of monster that just took the form of your brother!” Tessa contributed, looking almost as if she’d spoken just because she’d gone too long without doing so.
“Uh, crazy theories aside, she might now be too far off. It’s not like we have any way of knowing he wasn’t just a lookalike,” Eun-ji pointed out softly.
“Even if you’re right, whatever happened afterwards isn’t your fault,” Aoibhe assured Miliam, at which her eyes snapped to the pilot.
“…I never said it was,” she replied weakly. Abigail laid a hand on her shoulder.
“You did not need to. It was written upon your face. Aoibhe is quite correct, though. It would not be fair to hold you responsible for the actions of anyone, family or no. You could not have known what the future held, nor can you be sure those events would not have played out regardless,” she said gently, a slight smile on her face. Miliam nodded slowly.
“Yeah. You’re both right. Thanks, I-” Miliam was cut off by a notification from Min-ji’s terminal that the dokkaebi spun around to check immediately.
“We’re getting a call from the TEDF Faith is its Own Reward,” she announced, looking to Miliam for instructions. The captain took a deep breath and tried to shove her worries to the side.
“Engineer, clear out- I don’t know how they’ll take it if they see a dragonewt and it’s best not to risk it. Min-ji, put it on the main screen as soon as Engineer leaves,” she ordered, straightening her posture before remembering to stand and hurrying to do so before the call went through.
“Miss Stern,” said the man that appeared on the screen, emphasizing the title. In spite of the disrespect, Miliam forced herself to remain composed and performed a curtsy yet again. “Captain Brown, commanding officer of the Third Patrol Squadron. I’ve been assigned the task of apprehending the rogue miners and have been alerted to your willingness to assist.”
“Of course, Captain Brown. How may I be of service?” Miliam replied, head still bowed. The young blonde man on the screen showed no interest in allowing her to leave her pose, and she gritted her teeth at his conduct.
“My people are currently working on transferring the warheads from several ship-to-ship missiles onto counter missiles that should be compatible with your launchers,” Brown replied, glossing over the fact that he apparently knew exactly what type of launchers the Astrum Vitae had. As far as Miliam knew they were stock for this model, so that wasn’t too unusual, but he hadn’t actually bothered to check. “The next time the rogue miners assault a ship, my squadron will sortie in response. You will then utilize your drive to intercept them and demand their surrender. If they do not comply, you are authorized to use force.”
A chill ran down Miliam’s spine at that. She really, really hoped they would surrender. Could she even bring herself to order their deaths?
“You…don’t want them brought in alive?” she asked hoarsely. The man snorted.
“Their fates are in their own hands. They have chosen to defy god’s teachings and will suffer their just punishment- one way or another. Do note that we will be reclaiming any missiles you do not fire, and you will not receive any codes except those required to arm them,” he replied as if he thought she’d only cared about the possibility of free ammunition. “Do you have any questions?”
“Ah, yes. My ship is in need of a replacement part that requires orichalcum of a certain purity. May I…request one as compensation?” Even as she spoke, Miliam wondered what she’d even be able to do if he said ‘no.’ Technically they did have a plan b: use their drive to escape the system and cannibalize the point defense lasers to reach a safe harbor. She resolved herself to agree to participate no matter what Brown said, but she had no intention of following through if he refused to pay.
“How…mercenary. I expected little more from someone brought up among heretics, however, much less a woman who acts above her station. You will have your trinket, but I expect results. If that is all you have to ask, then my communications officer will provide you the coordinates to rendezvous with my ship and take on the missiles. You will then be expected to remain on station until you are needed. My quartermaster will provide any needed provisions in the meantime. I trust you are capable of following those instructions,” Brown said derisively before ending the call. Miliam straightened her back at last, displeasure having overridden her earlier worries.
“Arrogant bastard,” Aoibhe growled. The other women on the bridge were quick to voice their agreement.
“He’s a jerk, but he’s also our ticket out of here. We’re using him, not the other way around, and Cardinal-Admiral Howard seemed reasonable- I don’t think he’d let that guy go back on his word,” Miliam responded as she sat back down.
“But…what if he does let him do that?” Min-ji queried nervously. Eun-ji nodded rapidly on the other side of the room.
“…I’ll have Engineer tear out one more of our point defense lasers,” Miliam answered after a moment of thought. “That way all we have to do is make it out of the gravity well if we need to make an escape.”
The twins looked relieved at that answer, which told Miliam she’d been right to consider that possibility for crew morale if nothing else. She still wasn’t entirely sure how easily they’d be able to escape if it came down to it, especially if something went wrong when the Astrum Vitae tried to pick up their reward, which would probably necessitate docking with another ship, but…there were only so many contingencies she could possibly prepare for, and she wasn’t a genius. Honestly, Miliam thought she was probably doing well just to have thought as far ahead as she already had.
“Aoibhe, go ahead and take us up as soon as we know where to go. Stay at the helm while we’re taking on those missiles, though- just in case they try something.”
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Codex: Stasis Magic
Although the name is something of a misnomer, stasis magic is used to preserve people or objects in a given volume against the passage of time. As time cannot currently be directly manipulated with magic, though, this has to be done indirectly. This is typically done by utilizing an aspect of space-time physics: the closer an object grows to the speed of light, the less it feels the effects of time. Gravitational time dilation is a less common method which is seldom used on biological objects due to deleterious effects that are currently unavoidable.
Of course, even spaceships do not travel faster than light by physical moving at speeds approaching c. Accelerating something to such speeds for the sole purpose of reducing time’s influence on it is impractical. Instead, the target’s time is dilated by greatly reducing the speed necessary for time dilation to be experienced within a defined area. Within this volume time is experienced normally, but from the outside it is effectively frozen.
Stasis can also be achieved by manipulation of gravity, but only by applying intense gravitational effects to the target. This is actually less energy-intensive than the alternative, but as no method had been discovered that does not rely directly on gravity it is impractical for use on biological matter. In theory it should be possible to accomplish gravitational time dilation by increasing effective dilation at higher values of gravitational potential, but this remains an unsolved problem in the field of magic.