There was plenty of space on Special Delivery to stretch out and get comfortable. Lane was the only one that hung out on the bridge with Rubin. There was a recreation room with weights, bars, ropes, and things hanging from the ceiling. Sebastion and Mike sat at simulators trying to mix the colors while the others made a complete investigation of the small freighter. It looked like it could hold 20 Abrahms tanks according to Paige. Three times as many if they were stacked on platforms. When they completed the survey, they all seemed to meet up in the weight room. They sat on benches and chairs that were scattered around the place and began to converse.
“What do you think about traveling faster than the speed of light?” Todd asked. “That’s impossible right?”
“I don’t know.” Rebecca said. “I had a close encounter of the 4th kind today. I do not know what to think.”
“It might be time to rethink everything that we thought we knew.” Paige said. “I know that some of this could be faked easy enough, but to what end? I must admit that I am feeling...”
“Different?” Rebecca finished.
“Yeah.” Paige admitted. “It might be some kind of aerosol drug in the air, but I don’t think so.”
“Do you think we could increase the gravitational pull of the deck plating so that we can get super strong?” Todd asked as he messed with the weights on a bench press machine.
The ladies looked at him like he was missing the whole point of the conversation before moving up to the bridge to talk with Rubin.
“Was it something I said?” Todd asked as they left him there alone.
...
The colors in the tubes seemed more vivid to Sebastion and Mike as the ship increased speed. It was getting easier and easier to adjust the mix as they hurried along.
“Do you feel that?” Sebastion asked. “I can feel the effects of fast travel affecting me already.”
Mike had been so focused on his task that he had not noticed. He relaxed his body and assessed the changes in the way he felt. He was different. He felt like he was energized and tingly. His hands felt halfway between falling asleep and rejuvenated. When he examined them, he was surprised to notice that he had little runes faintly drawn on them. They were assorted sizes and designs, but they were all the same shape. They had an outer ring that was segmented like a rune that was turned into a maze. They were drawn on his skin with the same colors as the colors of the fuel. There was a rune in each of the places that Sebastion used when he did his mind meld handshake. Mike turned to Sebastion to look at his hands and noticed the runes were scattered around his face and arms as well. He pretended not to notice, but he gave his own body a reassessment and found that there were runes all over his body. All of them had a segmented outer perimeter like a maze.
“I am going to take a break.” Mike announced as he stood and left the room. Sebastian followed him with his eyes but seemed content to remain behind.
When Mike entered the bridge, he noticed that Sebastian was the only one that was not there. He also noticed that Rubin was plastered in these rune tattoos. He wondered how he had not noticed them earlier. On Rubin they were so dark that they were nearly black. The others had faint rune tattoos as well, but they were growing more prominent right before his eyes.
“Lane, I want to show you something. Have you got a minute?” Mike asked.
Lane looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist and nodded his head.
They walked through the corridor to the men's barracks. It was built for 8 people of average height and build. They sat in some of the comfortable chairs beneath a dart board to talk.
“Um, how are you feeling bruh?” Mike asked.
“Good. Energized. Sebastian was not kidding.” Lane answered.
“You are covered in runes.” Mike revealed.
Lane looked at himself but saw none.
“They are faint but getting more pronounced.” Mike said.
“I don’t think they harm us.” Lane said. “Do you think they have always been there, but we just couldn’t see them?”
“Maybe.” Mike said with a disappointed look on his face. “I don’t know who to talk to about this though.”
“Sebastian probably knows.” Lane suggested.
“I am certain that he does. Maybe I should just talk to him.”
“Why don’t you? Are you afraid?” Lane asked.
Mike nodded.
“Well let’s go together then.” Lane offered. “If he gives you any grief I will kick his ass.”
Everybody was on the bridge when Mike and Lane came back. They were watching the screen, but it did not seem to have any stars whipping past like in star trek. They were all just sitting in the same place. There was a picture in picture of a star map that showed Earth, Jiirdrian, and the ship in between them but it did not seem to change. It reminded Mike of the trip that he took to Hawaii a few years back.
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“Are we still accelerating?” Mike asked as he sat down on one of the chairs.
“One hundred forty-four G’s.” Rubin said. “We will keep accelerating until we are 40% of the way there. Then we will decelerate and change course to a point that the controllers give us. They do that so we do not crash and make a big mess of space debris that would impede travel.”
“I don’t feel anything. No acceleration anyway.” Mike said.
“I assure you that we are accelerating.” Rubin said.
“What is happening?” Mike said. “How does high speed travel change people?”
“It unlocks the abilities that you already have.” Sebastian answered.
Mike gave him a cold look. “How?”
“By moving faster than the speed of light.” Sebastian answered.
“I am asking Rubin. If it happens because of moving faster than the speed of light, then why has it started changing us already?”
“I thought it was happening because of the faster than light travel.” Rubin said.
“How can you travel faster than light? I thought light speed was the maximum.” Rebecca said.
“Einstein was mistaken.” Rubin explained. “The theory of relativity does not take objects that are in motion into account. I like to think of the light being relative to the light source.”
Mike felt like Rubin and Sebastian were dodging the question.
“I don’t care about light speed. I don’t care about Einstein.” Mike said. “We are experiencing effects right now. What is causing them?”
“It must be brought on by really fast travel.” Rubin said. He seemed embarrassed when his idol felt that he was being deceptive.
“I think the changes started when we stepped onto this ship. Could it be the gravity plating?” Mike asked.
“No. There isn’t gravity plating on the ship. It seems easier to explain it as if there is. Science fiction has made gravity plating seem possible, but it is not.” Rubin said.
“Sebastian, you were abducted right?” Paige asked.
“I was.”
“How long were you on the ship before you noticed any effects?” Paige asked.
“I was in stasis. I had vision when I woke up on Jiirdrian.” Sebastian admitted. “Rubin was the one that told me that I got it from FTL travel.”
Everyone turned to look at Rubin.
“I’ve always had it.” Rubin admitted. “I was told that Earthers got it from FTL travel.”
“Earthers?” Lane asked.
“People and animals from Earth.” Rubin clarified.
“Do you mean the cows?” Lane asked. “I always thought that shit was made up.”
“No, chickens.” Rubin said. “The cows were the US government.”
“You stopped by and got some chickens to take to another world?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes. There are chickens on nearly every inhabited world now.” Rubin said. “Did you know that chicken eggs have every amino acid in them?”
“How many Earthers have made their maiden voyage to Jiirdrian while they were conscious?” Paige asked.
“None that I am aware of.” Rubin answered. “Until today.”
“Does anybody feel like they are changed in any way since they have been on this ship?” Mike asked.
All of them raised their hands except Rubin.
“We are changing right now, and we are not even close to light speed.” Mike announced.
“What makes you think that?” Todd asked.
“The runes.” Mike answered. “Every one of us has runes forming on our bodies.”
They all started to examine themselves, but no one saw anything. Nobody except Mike. Not only did they all have them, but they were getting more pronounced every minute. Mike got a pen and started tracing them out on his own hand, and then on Sebastion. He could not draw them well on his right hand, but he showed Sebastian where they were, and when he did his special handshake, he started to feel overwhelmed.
“We all have them.” Mike said. “Even you Rubin.”
Rubin had never seen the runes before. He had Mike trace some of them out on his skin for him and was amazed. The runes on Rubin were generally larger, and in some cases overlapping. The outer ring of each rune had several blank areas in them. When Mike finished drawing the runes on Ruben’s hands and arms, he got a puzzled look. He leaned back in his chair and examined them further. They had a common theme that made Rubin start to panic. He frantically scrolled through some blueprints on the computer until he found something that looked exactly like the runes on his hands. He held them up so that he could compare the runes to the blueprints, and they were an exact match. Sebastian recognized them as the runes carved on the bank columns in the waiting area.
“What are these blueprints of?” Sebastian asked.
“These are the drawings of the flux gravity drives that power the ship.” Rubin said softly. “The spaces in the outside edges are where the fuel and coolant circulate to cause the flux-grav engines to pull the ship through space.” Rubin pointed at the monitor. “See how the fuel types do not ever mix, and how the coolant circulates throughout the engine and in this outside envelope? The other drawings show how it is assembled as a 3D design.”
Rubin held his hands up to the monitor again in disbelief. “Do I have any other runes on me?” Rubin asked cautiously.
Mike nodded. “A lot.” Mike admitted. “And they are getting more pronounced every minute.”
“Maybe they aren’t changing, but your perception of them is.” Rebecca suggested.
“So, what do we do about it?” Todd asked. “Is there anything that we can do about it?”
“I do not think so.” Sebastian said. “Why do we want to do anything about it?”
“Why are we going to Jiirdrian anyway?” Todd asked. “Inter planetary trade? What do Earthers have to offer to people who have the power and ability to move faster than light? It has to be something other than chickens.”
“It is in our charter. Every time we introduce Earthers to FTL technology we are to take them to Jiirdrian for examination.” Rubin said. “This is the way it has been for hundreds of years.”
“And this is the first time that the passengers were awake for the journey?” Todd asked.
“Yes.” Rubin answered.
“And Mike is the only Earther in history to see these runes appear on people's bodies?” Todd asked.
“Yes. The only one ever.” Rubin answered. “My people don’t even have that ability.”
“We can’t go there.” Todd said. “It’s a trap.”
It took only moments for everyone to agree. Rubin began decelerating the ship at full power before sending a communication to the alien hideout. He briefed headquarters about the discovery that they had made and would be heading back as fast as possible to prepare. Mike and the other astronauts were under the impression that the aliens were hiding on Earth due to the time differential for communications, but they were hiding on another planet in the system where they had a hidden base. A moment after they sent their message, they got a response saying that Jiirdrian had already been notified that they were on their way.
“We need to go there even if it is a trap.” Paige said. “We just need to be ready for it.” Her inner marine had kicked in and she started thinking of options.
“There are far too many variables.” Todd said. “There will be no way to be prepared to confront an entire planet”
Rubin agreed.
“Keep thrusting toward it anyway.” Mike said. “We need to appear to not see that it is a trap. If they know we are coming, then we need to keep coming.”