Irini thought the space on the other side of Inez’s temporary wormhole looked similar to the space around Scaldigir. It looked different from Iruedim’s space, but that was a given. Maybe, the new space had fewer stars. Otherwise, it looked the same, so why should it make her nervous?
“You smell that?” Meladee called into the cockpit. She sniffed the air with gusto. “Instant regret.” Meladee tucked her nose to her shoulder and gave another whiff. “Definitely coming off me.” Meladee glanced behind her and stared at Irini.
Irini started to sweat. Actually, she felt rather damp already, so she continued to sweat.
“Definitely coming off you,” Meladee said. She studied Eva next. “Don’t smell it on you though.”
Eva just gave Meladee a haughty stare. She was good at it too.
Meladee pointed to Eva’s face. “How do you stand it?”
Eva’s mouth twitched into a smile. “How indeed?”
Irini knew the banter was supposed to be fun, but she was the new girl, the odd one out. She didn’t know them well enough to joke, and even if she did, she wouldn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe they’d changed their minds, risked a trip through the wormhole to Scaldigir, found her on the Ischyros, and popped back through the wormhole to start the journey that Sotir insisted they take.
Irini was so sure that she’d failed. On Scaldigir, she couldn’t find a replacement engineer. She’d started to reconsider a request to Rooks. Then, she hit the Iruedian mage with the suppressant – another big mistake. How could Rooks let Irini take an engineer after that kind of fumble? Irini thought she blew it, every chance to get the mission started. Every final chance to use her golden thread to the fullest. Because once she got her turn in line for unbinding, she would take it.
Meladee leaned over and got a whiff of her copilot, Benham. “I love it on you.”
Irini saw Benham’s face in profile. He grinned. She knew they were a thing, unmarried but a thing.
“Why must the scent of instant regret be akin to the smell of sweat?” Eva asked.
Irini gasped. It hit her. “Do I smell?”
Meladee faced the windshield and laughed. “Nah, I’m just joking. But, girl do you sweat.” Meladee didn’t look back, but she cocked her head. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I think sweating is the appropriate response to this scenario. I’m sweating. He’s sweating. You’re sweating. It’s normal, out here where the Volanter could outnumber us by the thousands, looking for this Pen Pal thing.”
“You all convinced me to go,” Eva said.
Irini sat very stiff.
“Really?” Benham asked. “Thought that was Sten.”
“But you came to my residence and begged it of him,” Eva added.
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re regretful too, even though you can’t sweat.” Meladee punched some keys.
Benham pushed the ship forward, and the view of stars began to crawl by. They moved so slow that Irini found herself distracted. She peered at the helm and watched as little lights flickered over the board.
“I am not regretful,” Eva said highly. “But, if the three of you can’t live with your decision, we have return wormhole bombs. We can halt our forward motion and turn back.”
Irini stuttered, but she couldn’t force an objection out.
Benham held up a hand in protest. “I never said I was regretful.”
“We’re not doing that. We’re going.” Meladee waggled her finger in a come-hither gesture. “Irini, come here. Give me the route to Pen Pal. I prefer that you steer us around any Volanter.”
“Are there Volanter present at all?” Eva asked.
Irini, who had jumped out of her seat at Meladee’s first behest, stopped just behind Meladee’s chair. “Oh, I don’t know.”
“Mr. fortune teller man didn’t tell you?” Meladee asked.
Irini ignored the question. She communed with her thread. She spread her fingers and stared at her hands. Where are the Volanter?
Threads appeared. Of course, there had to be Volanter, but the threads were weak. They hardly shimmered. They drifted, like spiderwebs, out the windshield, lax and whispery.
“They’re few and not nearby.” Irini frowned. “I’ll keep checking though, every so often.”
Eva perked up. Meladee and Benham too.
“Big plus.” Meladee gestured to the window. “Alright. Carry on. Take us to Pen Pal.”
Safest route to Pen Pal. Irini’s thread glittered around a single finger and sped out the windshield. It traced a strong, golden string.
Irini smiled. Now, came the hard part. “Uh, can I pilot?”
Benham leaned out of his seat. “Sure. Take mine.” He stopped before he fully exited the chair. “On second thought. Meladee, get up.”
Meladee glared in his direction. “What? Why?”
“You can do magic. You’re the only one. We might need you available for that.” Benham gestured. “So, get.”
Meladee hopped out of her chair. “Yeah, fine.”
Benham took Meladee’s seat and waved Irini into the one he’d vacated. “Musical chairs. I get the main helm. You get secondary pilot controls. Meladee on com, I guess.”
Irini slid into the seat. It was warm. She stiffened but didn’t complain.
In the background, Meladee and Eva chattered.
Eva said, “I’ll take com. I can speak several languages with comfort.”
“Ouch. I speak Volanter now. Pretty comfortably too.”
“You can have weapons.”
Meladee answered, “Yeah, sure. Good trade.” Meladee’s steps crossed the cockpit.
“More musical chairs,” Benham said quietly.
Irini tuned them out. She pressed the controls forward and got in line with her thread. “I think I need to jump. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” Benham said. “Do what you need.”
Irini knew that the thread should be thicker. If they were close, it would become a highway in space. Big objects and grand settings had an effect on her thread, pulling it into more of a ribbon.
Irini tapped a short superliminal path into the computer. She checked it once. She checked it twice. She checked it…
“It’s good.” Benham hit the button and engaged the superliminal drive.
Voices continued to chatter behind. With the path in place, and the Halfmoon on its way, Irini turned. She listened to Meladee and Eva, though she’d missed a large portion of their conversation.
“I don’t know what to say to that.” Meladee sat cross-legged in her chair. “It’s frankly insulting.”
“It’s far from,” Eva returned.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“I never said I believed in fortune telling. I just said this guy’s track record is a bit impressive.” Meladee held up both hands. “That’s all.”
“It’s magic. You believe in magic,” Eva said.
“So, do you!” Meladee shot back.
It was true, so the cockpit fell silent.
Irini glanced at the board and saw that three minutes remained on her short path. “Did you check it against the coordinates the Pen Pal gave us?”
“Your path?” Benham nodded. “Yeah, we’re heading in the right direction. Got to say – you definitely picked a route I wouldn’t have.” Benham frowned, and his brow furrowed. “Seems good though.”
Irini didn’t know how it could be good when his face looked like that. She spun her chair away, so she wouldn’t have to see him. To Meladee and Eva, she asked, “Were you talking about Sotir?”
“Yeah, we were a bit worried about how little information he gave you.” Meladee looked at the ground. “Do you trust him?”
“With my life.” Irini nodded. “I just hope we don’t let him down.”
Irini wasn’t sure if Sotir had more details or not. Either way, he’d sent her off to figure it out. It was probably the biggest job Irini would have, until she got unbound.
This will be the last time that I use my power just like this, so I’ll do it perfect.
Eva retreated to engineering. She wanted to check on Sten’s brain box. She’d plugged it in, saw that it worked, and fled to the cockpit. Now, she itched to see what it would be like.
Eva stepped up to the main console. Before she could initiate a conversation, the brain box spoke to her.
Hello, Eva. All settled?
Eva glanced around engineering and counted a couple of cameras. She’d plugged the brain box into the ship’s computer, allowing it to do some of the engineering work. Of course, the box should have access to the cameras. Eva stared a little long at one and watched the colors change inside its interior, signifying an adjustment in focus.
Eva faced the computer screen again. He waited, patient, just like…Sten. Eva hesitated to call the thing Sten. As she understood the concept of a soul, it was not a thing that could be copied, but she could put that to the test.
All is settled, she tapped into the computer.
How long will the journey be?
Eva’s gaze darted to the box. Its wire snaked into the console, and it blinked, in varying patterns.
Eva tapped a message. I’m not sure of the length. Why? Are you uncomfortable?
The sound of a camera in motion reached Eva’s ears. She looked up. All three cameras swept the room. They came to settle on Eva.
It’s different. I’ve always had a single viewpoint. Hard to adjust. In engineering alone, I could look in three directions at once, but if you don’t mind, I think I will aim all three cameras in your direction.
I don’t mind.
A pause occurred. I can also see outside the ship. I can ignore the feeds, but it’s hard.
The few AI that Eva knew, who saw the world through cameras, eventually expressed a kind of frustration with watching and never doing. Many of them requested robot bodies to enter and leave as they pleased. And, that was the viewpoint of AI, designed to fit in such an arrangement. For Sten, an AI designed with a humanoid presence, Eva imagined the adjustment would be a lot.
Take your time, Eva tapped into the console. You can have more time to yourself if you need it.
No. The answer came so quick. I mean…Eva…? Do you mind talking to me for longer?
I don’t mind.
Eva wondered what would become of brain box Sten. When she arrived home, she would have two Stens, with two divergent points of view. There would be the one that she left home – the original. And, there would be the one that she brought – the brain box, the copy. They couldn’t both coexist. What would they do? Shut the copy off?
Sten’s copy thought, and his thoughts streamed across the console screen. He thought about nanites and their current experiments, and some of the things he thought seemed unorganized, meant only for his internal needs.
Eva sat down and put her chin in her hand. She read his thoughts and watched as they regained coherence. When he paused, she tapped a message. Nanites are your favored project now?
A moment of silence passed, and Sten answered, Well, yes. What do you think of nanites and their uses in organics? Especially in terms of how they worked for Aria? You can see the possibilities, can’t you?
Everything worked beautifully for Aria. She had immediate success in her treatment, and Eva harbored some curiosity in regards to the nanites’ success. What ailment did they treat? Exactly how did they go about it? How efficient was the process?
Eva saw the possibilities. In fact, she wondered if nanites could extend organic life and keep her world a little wider for a little longer. She kept that thought to herself. Very successful. Nanites might be a possible treatment for many organic problems.
Yes, so I’ve been thinking.
Eva smiled. So, I’ve been reading.
Another pause followed. I am doing my best to vocalize only the fully cooked thoughts. I’m sorry.
Eva frowned. He couldn’t see her smile, with her face aimed down at the console. She had to tell him her mood. Don’t be sorry. It doesn’t bother me. In a moment of reflection, Eva thought Sten might have a new test worked out for the nanites – one having to do with organics. A moment later, she wrote, He’s probably working on it right now.
Who?
Eva wished she hadn’t said it. The you back home. He’s probably working on the nanites.
Right. Well, I hope he makes some progress.
Eva was almost tempted to copy herself and stick that copy in the same brain box, but they would never fit together. She would have to put her mind into a new brain box and connect the two. It might be the only way that this Sten would have company, true company.
Eva wasn’t sure if she should go to the trouble. He seemed like Sten. He spoke like Sten and displayed the same curiosity. However, Eva would only make an Eva copy for a real Sten.
Perhaps, this was how Sten would entice her to do so, whether the copies were real or not. He would guilt her into it.
Eva wouldn’t do it. This Sten existed only to replace the original should something go wrong, and what a miserable existence he would have in the waiting.
Eva?
Yes?
Were you paying attention?
I was thinking about something else. Let me read what I missed.
Before Eva could get very far up the conversation, Sten thought aloud again. Go to the upper deck. You have to see this.
Meladee leaned over the piloting chairs and peered out the windshield at something she could only term a landscape in space. Trees floated, mostly in an upright fashion. The few that bent just seemed like the trees that wanted to grab you while you walked the path home in the dark. Debris littered the area, just tiny specs. It made the whole scene seem to have grass around the tree’s broken routes.
It took Irini’s golden thread – her pathfinder circle – seven jumps to find them something worth exploring. The thread just happened to turn into the fabled golden highway in the middle of the weird space forest.
“You sure you got that spell, right?” Meladee looked down. She turned narrowed eyes onto Irini.
Irini shrunk in her seat. Then, she pointed out the windshield. “Yes, yes. I see the highway right there. It snakes through the trees.” Irini gripped the edge of the console and glared at the buttons and levers. “And, I can’t really do the spell wrong. I always do it the same.”
Grumpy.
“Sorry. Forgot about that,” Meladee said.
Irini didn’t answer or look up.
Meladee inhaled long and slow. “Well.” Meladee tapped Irini’s shoulder. “Give me the seat. Go take weapons.”
“I object,” Benham said.
“I need to see out the window to cast spells. You have main controls, so what’s your problem?”
Benham raised a hand in defeat. “Alright.”
Irini pushed out of the seat and stalked to the weapon’s console.
Benham cleared his throat. Meladee got his meaning, but what could she do? She didn’t know how to deal with offended, possibly troubled, teenage girls. Even when she was one, she didn’t know how to deal with it. Besides, he was the one who didn’t want Irini to touch the weapons. He should start with his own display of reluctant trust.
Meladee ignored his hints, plopped into the chair, and urged the ship forward. Unable to see the golden highway, she steered between the trees. She watched their map and aimed for the coordinates that blinked at the edge of her screen. If she wove too far off course, driven away by thick tree debris, she searched for a way to steer back.
A delicate hand gripped Meladee’s seat. She almost jumped. She did make a sound of surprise.
Irini said, “Just wind through the trees. You keep going off-road and driving alongside it. It’s not that curvy.”
Meladee almost gave up the controls to Irini, but she needed to be at the helm, just in case. “Sorry. I’m just making sure I pick a path that Halfmoon can fit through. I don’t want to disturb any tree in this creepy forest. Might be cursed.” She laughed, with little humor.
Irini pointed, “That space. Take it. That’ll put you back on the highway.”
Meladee eased onto the road she couldn’t see and started again. “So, what happened here, Camellia?” Meladee asked her absent friend. She shifted her voice a bit higher and did her best impression. “A ship was destroyed. Someone bested the Volanter and left their precious trees behind.”
“Where’s the ship then?” Benham played along.
“It was blown into tiny specs,” Meladee said, still doing her best impression.
“Any other theories?” Eva asked.
Meladee glanced back. She knew that disbelief showed on her face, happy disbelief. She watched as Eva tapped at the com controls, probably initiating some kind of scan.
Meladee faced forward again and continued her game, in character, “Well, let’s see. It might not be a ship after all, but a graveyard for Dip..Depin…”
“Dipinta trees,” Irini supplied.
“Yes those,” Meladee added, still in her mock Camellia voice.
Benham snorted. “She would be a thousand times more long-winded than that.”
“Yeah, but I’m not an anthropologist. I don’t know what to say. The only anthropology I’ve got is the stuff I can pull out of my ass.” Meladee eased into the next turn. “Still on the road?”
“Mmhmm,” Irini said.
The trees floated around them, having stopped in time. They had no inertia left to move them through the vaccum of space.
Meladee halted the ship.
“Whoa.” Benham worked his side of the controls. He tapped the button to give him full control.
Meladee didn’t blame him.
Irini stared over Meladee’s shoulder, and Eva crept up behind.
They all beheld a tree – a great big tree, probably hundreds of feet tall. The shape was not really Dipinta like, though it could have lost many branches. Holes ran through its trunk, with one large hole just above the center, almost leaving it torn in two.
“It’s dead,” Benham said.
“Yeah, all the trees are dead, even the ones that are pretending to be a forest.” Meladee glanced around the forest and saw that many of the trees floated upside down. Some lay horizontal, and she deduced that they’d found the source of whatever explosion rocked the space.
Eva stepped to the side of Meladee’s chair and continued to stare out. “I think it’s either the remains of a time bubble or it’s the remains of a planet. For certain, it’s a graveyard.”