CHAPTER 17 - DECELERATION
DATE POINT: MARCH 25TH, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL
CAPTAIN HENRY O’TOOLE
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"The moment of truth has come. What's our status, Chief?"
Henry looked across the CIC at the people assembled around him before he settled his gaze on the officer of the watch.
“All sections chiefs report ready, Captain.”
Henry nodded and then opened a Q-Comm line to the Fist of the Argonauts.
“Fist of the Argonauts, the Indomitable Will stands ready to synchronize reorientation and deceleration procedures. How is your status?”
“Fist of the Argonauts reports status green. We are ready and awaiting your orders, Captain.”
“Fleetwide directive, prepare for reorientation and deceleration beginning in T minus thirty seconds.” No sooner had Henry finished speaking than Paul strode into the CIC.
“Oh good, you’re here right on time. I’d hold on if I were you.” Henry said with a smirk.
“Fleetwide Directive, begin reorientation and deceleration procedures now. Lock in one point two-five gees trailing deceleration when complete.”
Paul looked pale as he gripped the rail in front of him. Here in the CIC, they were still under the beneficial effects of the TK fields that worked to counter the extremes of inertia that would otherwise be felt throughout the ship. Nonetheless, the fields simply minimized the titanic forces and acted to counteract them, within the range of their effect. Henry felt his magnetic boots activate and he instinctively lowered his center of gravity as he leaned into the swinging change in gee forces. As the ship finally completed its flip about, he felt his stomach rise in the floating micro-gravity before the deceleration field kicked in.
“Hey Paul, you aren’t looking so good man. You feeling sick?” Jenkins asked, staring at Paul in concern.
“Its my head, I've had a migraine brewing since this morning. Don’t worry about it.” Paul said, waving it off.
“This morning? You mean like ever since we entered the inside boundary of the heliopause?” Jenkins asked with arms folded.
“What are you implying?” Henry asked, intrigued.
“Both him and Ariana are nursing low key migraines since we passed the inner wall of the heliopause, and both are acting like its nothing.” Jenkins said flatly.
“Is this true, Paul?” Henry asked.
“He’s right about the timing but it has to be coincidence.” Paul said.
Henry rolled his eyes. “Jenkins, there's no reason to be superstitious about passing through the heliopause. Dr Rousseau has confirmed it's not dangerous, and since we haven't been roasted alive by cosmic rays, I’m going to trust that he's right. It’s no coincidence that the same people selling this line of bullshit are the same ones we've already warned to stop calling the voyage cursed after turbo over here failed to break the bottle on the bow.”
“Hey! We’ve been over that!” Paul stood in sudden anger before his eyes bulged out and he looked pale and scared. His nose was bleeding, and a single teardrop of blood fell from his eye.
Henry stared, confused for just a moment before a pulsing, burning pain formed in the center of Henry’s brain, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut to try and manage against the onslaught. As quickly as it arose, the pain slackened to a dull throb, and Henry reopened his eyes along with the others that he could see around him. Groans and curses filled the room adding to a high pitched sound that only now had come into focus. Paul stumbled away from the railing, screaming, with his face contorted in pain. He then turned, puked on the floor, and fell to the ground in a convulsive mess. Jenkins leapt back before he looked up at Henry in fear.
“I’ll go find Ariana!” He yelled out, Henry nodded and turned.
“Get me a doctor! You two, roll him over and keep his airway clear! Let’s get this mess cleaned up!”
A flurry of action began and a pair of hospitalmen forward-assigned to their deck burst into the room and detached a hover gurney from its cradle in the wall.
“Make sure you keep his head cool!” Henry yelled after them before he turned to the rest of the CIC.
“Get me another radiation hazard report,” Henry said as he began to browse the automated reports he had access to.
”Looks like the ox levels are good… no abnormalities anywhere in the life support system report. What the hell?” Henry began to trail off as the list of possible causes dwindled as he scanned through report after report as they were forwarded to his station.
“Radiation levels remain elevated outside of the ship, we are about halfway through the thickest radiation belt, but the outer hull shielding and layers of steel have successful kept radiation levels in the core of the ship to within safe margins.”
“Nothing else looks anomalous over here Captain.”
“Alright, thank you all. Keep looking for anything strange.” Henry replied.
An alert popped up on his screen; Jenkins was requesting a comm line.
“Captain, I found her passed out, just like Paul, in the hallway by her room. I called the hospital before you, and help is on the way. So far it seems they are the only two affected like this, but with them getting swamped with calls about migraines from across the ship, we had to keep the call short.”
“Just like in the CIC, strange. We just ruled out radiation or life support issues as the culprit. Keep an eye on Paul and Ariana for me. Comm me the moment there’s a major update.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” The comms link closed on his personal display. He then opened a comm to the Fist of the Argonauts.
“Fist of the Argonauts this is the Indomitable Will, do you read me?”
“Aye Captain, loud and clear.”
“Did any of you experience a short but intense spike of mental pain?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, we were actually getting ready to ask you all about it. Environmental levels are within safe limits, rads okay, nothing wrong with the scrubbers. We got nothing. Do you have any answers?”
“We also have nothing as of yet. Hey, listen… I know you all have an empath in your marine squad, you should check on them. Our telekinetics had it ten times worse than we did for some reason.”
“Stand by Captain…” Henry sat back, hoping for good news. “Just checked and found an unread report here from med bay, he had a nasty migraine. He’s on ice right now bringing it down. Doc says he’ll live, good. Looks like we caught him right away.”
“Good, what's your current status?” Henry replied..
“All system reads are nominal, and the Fist of the Argonauts stands ready and awaiting orders, sir.”
“Carry on with your existing orders, Commander. Keep me apprised of any changes, or if anything at all out of the ordinary happens.”
“Wilco, Fist of the Argonauts out.” Henry sighed; their crew were rock solid, dependable, he didn’t have to worry so much about them. He turned to look at the rather more chaotic scene in his own CIC where two dozen voices all vied to out-talk one another.
“Captain, is Paul going to die?” “My nose won’t stop bleeding!” “Pinch it and put your head back dude!” “That was a sign from the universe that we’ve gone too far! We need to go back!” “Calm down you morons!” “Let the Captain speak!” “Captain, what’s going on!?” “Are we going to be okay?!”
“ENOUGH!” Henry boomed. “Something just happened that clearly affected all of us right now. Something mysterious that may well be benign in the grand scheme of things. The worst anyone has felt was a headache, Paul and Ariana will be alright. We will all be alright.”
“Ariana was affected like Paul?” “Those freaks, figures.” “Am I going to get cancer or something now?” “We’re all probably going to get cancer just by our daily dose of radiation out here.” “All this steel around us blocks that out dumbass!” “Is it going to happen again?” “Can we go home?” “We’re never going home, don’t you get it yet?” “We’re all dying out here.” “You, maybe, I plan to live.”
Henry had enough, and he cut them all off, fearing a similar panic spiral may be starting elsewhere, too. A series of alarming thoughts spurred him to action.
“Fleetwide directive; All hands, this is your captain speaking. By all reports, we just experienced simultaneous migraines of unknown cause. What we do know is we have crew out there working dangerous jobs in small spaces that we need to check on urgently. Officers are to immediately take a headcount, and organize search parties to find anyone missing. We know this was not radiation related, nor was it related to life support issues, nor is there anything wrong with the ship. We will have out best minds here and at home working on the puzzle, but in the meantime stay calm and focused on verifying the health and safety of those around you. The CIC and I will check in with you when we know more, and individually with each section chief in the near future to see to it that your needs are met. The truest, best part of the human spirit shows itself in moments of crisis, but only if we remain calm. The last thing we need is people creating a panic through over indulging their imaginations. Now to those able to assist, go and make us proud. If you are trapped or in need of aid, know that help is on the way.” Henry closed the comms, hoping he had done and said the right things.
“You heard the Captain, back to work!” the officer of the watch called out.
Henry chuckled as everyone turned back to their stations and returned to their jobs. A sudden, horrid thought occurred to Henry and he opened a comms request to Chantal.
Come on... come on... pick up.
As the tone continued to ring, the lack of an answer began to gnaw at him before he dialed her line again to no avail.
“Comms, I want you to try and raise C.L.A.P.P.E.R control, hell, lets get a medical team up there while we are at it.” Henry ordered.
“Aye Captain! Connecting you now.” His comms officer replied.
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Henry turned back to his console. “C.L.A.P.P.E.R control this is Captain O’Toole, how are things going up there, any injuries? How is the head count coming?”
“Good so far, aside from two people nursing secondary migraines, though both have a history of them so its not surprising. Have you seen Chantal? She was supposed to be heading up here.”
“No, I was about to ask you the very same thing. She isn’t answering her private line, I need you to you assign some people to look for her. I have a medical team heading up the spinal elevator to look you over, just in case.” Henry replied.
“You four, split up and find Chantal! This medical team you mentioned, will they be bringing pain killers?”
“Yeah,” Henry laughed in spite of himself, “those hover gurneys have half a pharmacy stocked in them.”
“That’s good, I can see some relieved faces already. We’ll find her Captain, don’t worry.”
“Good, let me know if there is anything I can do for you up there.”
“Thanks for checking in Captain.” Henry moved to cut the feed.
“Comms, check in with the remaining sectional commands and get a list together of the missing and injured as well as what they need. I have to check in with the hospital.”
Henry opened a channel and tried to reach Chantal’s direct line one last time but got nothing. Frustrated, but refusing to panic, he pivoted his attention to the next concrete action item he could take care of. His hospitalmen would have their hands full by now, so it was best to not bother them. He grit his teeth, then called Jenkins, who picked up right away.
“How are things looking down there?” Henry asked.
“Bit of a mess down here, one person got their hand crushed by a falling crate, two people outright died, probably to an aneurysm or something, docs aren’t sure yet until they can perform an autopsy. Paul is out cold still laying on an ice pack. Ariana is… actually sitting up now, hang on I’ll take you to her.”
“Preston? What the hell happened?” Ariana sounded groggy.
“Easy, I have the Captain here with me on speaker. I’ll let him explain.”
“Ariana, glad to hear you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Henry asked.
“Like sunshine and rainbows, sir. Now can you tell me what happened?” Ariana asked with an edge to her voice.
“Approximately fifteen minutes ago, everyone experienced simultaneous migraines of varying severity. It appears those with powers got hit harder. We’ve eliminated the obvious explanations but are just beginning to look into things.” Henry began before Jenkins jumped in.
“I think it has to do with the heliopause, you and Paul both were complaining of a brewing headache all day since we crossed over the boundary, and it spiked right as we passed the peak concentration of energized particles from the interstellar medium a few hours later. Bet you that I’m right.”
“Can’t prove it right now Preston, but you may very well be right. Paul and I have a sort of mass sense that is intertwined with our telekinesis, I think we likely got hit by some kind of feedback loop, which could explain why we got hit so much harder. His mass senses were always more sensitive than mine. You said it was simultaneous?” Ariana added.
“Yeah, including on the Fist of the Argonauts. Whatever it was that came over us affected them the same way.” Henry replied.
“Whatever it was, we'll need to be wary of the possibility whenever we cross stellar boundaries in the future.” Ariana said in a grim tone.
"There’s a big problem. What if we can’t shield against it?! You and Paul were lucky this time. That could have been so much worse.” Jenkins cried out.
“I’ll be fine, Preston, you’re sweet, but I don’t need you worrying after me. Anyway, we can’t shield against something when we don’t even know what caused it to begin with.” Ariana replied.
“Right. So, the mission just continues, then regardless of the risk?!” Jenkins asked slightly angrily.
“The mission continues.” Henry replied solemnly.
“Don’t look so glum Preston. You get to adventure and go to the ends of the universe, see amazing things, and you get to do it all with me! You're lucky that Paul and I are carrying the real risk, here. We're prepared to die for the mission, which begs the question; why would you care so much what happens to us?” Ariana asked in a pointed tone.
"I uh... I mean..." Henry barely managed to stifle a laugh as Jenkins stammered his way through his clumsy attempt at a response.
I should probably bail the kid out...
“Alright already, leave the poor boy alone. Glad to see you alert and aware, if you need anything don’t suffer in silence, reach out, alright? Also, let me know when Paul wakes up.”
“Will do, Skipper. So, Preston...” Ariana began as Henry cut the connection.
He then turned his attention to the list of new notifications that had appeared on screen and started with a review of the first of what would likely be many incident reports.
“Captain! I've got C.L.A.P.P.E.R control for you.” His comms officer shouted.
“Perfect, patch them through.”
“Captain, I just got word back from the search team after they linked up with the medical team you sent. They found her unconscious at the bottom of the quick lift in the port side C.L.A.P.P.E.R. She’s suffered some minor head trauma, a fractured or broken arm, and is being rushed to the hospital in a neck brace. They have assured us she's going to be alright.”
“Oh, thank God. Pass word along that I will come visit the hospital as soon as the situation here stabilizes.” A wave of relief washed over Henry, the crew seemed to be rising to the occasion all over, everywhere he checked.
It was just enough to allow a tiny seed of optimism. Was this was the warning the entity had been trying to deliver? Was this the danger of passing the heliopause? Henry thought with a snort before he refocused himself on his remaining tasks to be done before he could visit Chantal.
“Comms, how are the check ins looking so far?” Henry asked.
“I have one last section chief to check in with, but so far we have three dead, seven injured and one missing crew member.” An involuntary shiver went down Henry’s spine before he actively quelled the feeling. “Of course, an active search for them is in progress. I really hope they got the last of the traps out of there.”
“We've swept those passageways, they're clear. Let's just hope we find them.” Henry said before he opened the comms app and called Alvarez.
“Commander Alvarez, what's your status? Where are you right now?”
“Good timing, Captain, I was just about to check in with you. Nice intercom address, by the way, it helped calm things quite a bit down here. I was still down here in engineering when the migraines hit. I helped organize the local head count and we began a search for a young woman still missing somewhere in the maintenance tunnels. She was en route to fill a maintenance work order to replace an air filter. We're worried she may have fallen into the tertiary fan unit with the filter housing removed. Thankfully the service procedure calls for the fan to be turned off, but if she's in there, she'll need to be rescued. They should reach her any moment now.”
“Very well, carry on. All is mostly well with the rest of the ship, as most people shrugged the headache off no problem. Karst and Ariana got hit harder, something to do with their powers, and… Chantal slipped and fell down the quick lift shaft. She broke an arm and is unconscious with head trauma. I'm getting ready to go down and see her as soon as possible.”
“My god... Henry… Listen, I can set someone up in charge back here to finish up. Now that there is a plan in place they just gotta get everyone to stick to it. Plenty of junior officers down here hungry for a chance to prove themselves. You need to get down to the hospital, I can take the CIC while you do that. I can coordinate the rest of the sectional check ins and relief efforts from there.” Alvarez replied sternly.
“Thank you. I've been going a bit stir crazy wanting to get down there. Plus, it'll help morale down there in the hospital for me to meet with the rest of the injured, as well.” Henry replied.
“Definitely. I’ll be there in five minutes.” The comm closed and Henry felt some relief. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but with some luck they would make it through just fine. They had to; the importance of their mission demanded nothing less.
MEANWHILE…
DATE POINT: MARCH 25TH, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL
LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST
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Paul floated peacefully down the cosmic river feasting his eyes upon the immeasurable sea of starlight around him. The swirls of galaxies and gas clouds brought vibrancy to this place. To his sides, the land was engulfed in flames, or perhaps was made entirely of dancing fire. There was no sound at all in the airless void, nor did Paul feel the need to breathe, the first clue that began to wake his logical faculties to the oddity of his predicament.
“Where am I?” Paul thought
“You are in a deep recuperative dreamlike state induced by your organic brain in an emergency effort to save itself from rapid overheating.” Something Paul couldn't see answered.
“Who are you?”
“Our name is of no consequence. We have been watching you, and believe you are the one most likely able to help us.”
“You’re that entity that possessed Reese, aren’t you?”
“Indeed, we have retained enough psychic energy to contact you while your mental shield was down.”
“Very well, I remember you had an offer of advanced knowledge in exchange for a body. Can I assume this offer will be similar to that?”
“My, but are you a perceptive one. We do desire a body, for the taste of fleshly pleasures is a rare treat for our kind. Tastes, smells, experiences on the other side of the spacetime veil, carnal contact, fear, despair... we hunger for such things.”
“That's not creepy at all... How the hell am I supposed to help you find a body?”
“We require one of weak will to be dominated to let us in, or a willing partner to share their body. Finding one brain dead with working neural connectivity and maintaining physiological functionality is a preference, but such a host form is difficult to the point of absurdity to acquire.”
“I don’t have the first one, or the second one, and I doubt we have a third option, so you are shit out of luck.”
“We had an offer for you, specifically, and you alone. We desire not control of your flesh; we desire a deeper partnership. We will inhabit your body as an observer, our pact must remain a strict secret. We will offer you wisdom when you need it, additional senses and insight, and some limited assistance in combat should we have stored enough psychic energy. The more powerful emotions we are exposed to during their release, the more energy we can absorb for use in combat.”
“I hope you know that I know the secret to exorcising you.”
“We are well aware.”
“Then you have yourself a deal. Nobody will ever know. I will not bow one inch to mental control, so long as we keep this an even partnership we have a deal.”
“We never go back on our word. The deal is struck. Open your mind to us.”
Paul’s body jerked on its bed as he felt his blood run cold and his consciousness expand.
“There may be some pain in integration, but this bridge is essential, this will be the only time we will be required to rewire your synaptic pathways and the process takes time…and energy. Be not surprised at our silence, the greater your energy harvest, the faster our integration. Unlike before, we have no great reserve to draw upon. Thank you, have patience with us, and we will mind the terms of the pact.”
After a moment, the burning headache subsided, and Paul released the deep breath he had been holding as he opened his eyes.
“You’re awake!” Jenkins called out. Paul groggily rubbed his eyes. Was that real or a dream? Nothing seemed to be answering, so he left the topic a mystery as he examined the room to get his bearings.
Ariana was there, so was Jenkins, of course. Henry was fussing over Chantal, who was awake and sitting up with a bandaged head and her arm in a sling. He could see there were three lit up refrigerated morgue units through the door.
“What the hell happened?” Paul asked, his headache seemed to be coming back. Jenkins looked sheepishly over at Ariana who shook her head and rolled her eyes before she spoke.
“About an hour ago every person on both the Indomitable Will and the Fist of the Argonauts experienced a short burst of searing mental pain at the same time, including you. Because of our NPCS and our mass senses, it appears we experienced a far more intense migraine. It is likely we are going to have to deal with this every time we cross a solar system heliopause boundary.” Ariana said bitterly.
“Well, fuck me specifically then. My head still hurts! I’ll live though, if this is the price of exploration I’ll just dose up before we pass the boundary and ride some firehose euphoria instead." Paul joked.
"How they ever picked you to be my handler...” Ariana spat. She towered over him, with storms written on her face and her arms crossed.
“Send Henry over here, will you? I need to talk to him, alone.” Paul asked. Jenkins and Ariana nodded and moved over to fetch Henry for him.
Henry walked over to Paul, who in turn checked to make sure they were out of earshot of the others.
“Glad to see you awake, I was almost about to get worried about you.” Henry laughed.
“You're not getting rid of me that easily! Anyway…” Paul motioned for Henry to get closer. “About these headaches, I think this might have been what the entity was trying to warn us about. Also, there was something else about the entity… shit now what was it...?” A sharp pain tore through Paul’s mind. There was something about the entity, something I need to remember… Fuck... OW!
“I think you are right on the money, I had the same thought myself. What else did you want to say about it?” Henry asked, whispering just like Paul had. Paul shook his head, unable for the life of him to retrieve the information.
“Nothing, I can’t remember it, anyway. I’m gonna rest a bit. I'll let you know if I remember it later.” Paul said, grabbing a fresh ice pack from a wall cooler to his side. Brain boil recovery is the worst.
“Fair enough, Paul, get some rest, you have earned it. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. I’m going to make another round to talk again with the rest of the injured before I head back up to the CIC.” Paul nodded, and then popped a couple of pills that had been laid out for him to dull the pain.
“Cool, you do that.” Paul replied flatly as he pushed the ice pack over his eyes and laid himself back down on the pillow. Paul heard Henry harrumph behind him and walk away in heavy stomps.
Whatever it was, I’m sure I will remember it if its important. Paul thought as he struggled against a horrid, sinking feeling that it was in fact, extremely important.