Twelve Hours Later...

RSC-2W-0063 “Dara Tonn” at Krigertenkere's L5 Lagrange point

Sinn'Are'Sen drops into the cockpit chair and activates the displays to show a raw feed of the space around Dara Tonn's hull.

“You could just ask me to do that for you.”

“I know I could Dara Tonn, but I don't want to keep bothering you for everything. I have to do some things to keep myself active after all.”

“Oh please, I have enough spare processing cycles to keep up with anything a single flesh and blood mortal can do.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“On further consideration, no it is not a challenge. I'm sure you could think of something to expend all of my spare processing cycles on if you tried.”

“Darn right I could, but let's not waste our tie on that. ETA to warpjump?”

“Drive is spooling up right now, so another three minutes or so. Do you want a countdown?”

“Sure, why not? What is it like for you. Warpjumping I mean?”

“It is interesting to say the least. Sensor inputs are degraded by the higher particle destiny and generally higher energy levels. The gravitational sensors practically go berserk with the graviton activity, but they are also the best early warning system for 'gravity snarls'. That is the best linguistic way I can think of to describe them. In a 'layer' of space where everything is mostly particles, they may as well be a fist or head sized solid objects. Hitting one at warp velocity is like crashing into a planet at forty or fifty percent the speed of light. Instantly fatal, of course, with the only question being which variety of exotic plasma or radiation is going to do you in first. Warpjump in two minutes.”

“Sounds dangerous as all hell.”

“It can be if one does not get their calculations correct and pay absolute attention to what is going on around their hull. I opt for a slightly slower then standard warp velocity to buy a few extra cycles to react. It adds an extra five minutes of warpjump time per day at standard warp velocity, but The extra safety margin is worth the loss.”

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“And no one ever called you out on this?”

“my previous crews preferred cryosleep or personal entertainment to clock-watching. Besides, I was the one who both calculated the courses and declared them safe to use, so there was no one to second guess my decisions. Warpjump in sixty seconds. Recommend you strap in.”

Sinn re-checked the five point harness holding him in his seat.

“Thirty seconds... Fifteen... Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two One. Warpjump.”

The displays around Sinn went black then exploded in a kaleidoscope of blue and violet shapes. A halo formed about the center of the displays at the prow of Dara Tonn's hull and shock wave rings radiated back from it along the length of the displays. Sinn dropped into a meditative trance as the hues washed over him. Instinctively he activates the psyniscience skill and reaches out with his mind, searching to see what might lie beyond Dara Tonn's hull. The displays appear to take on a new depth of color and shade but Sinn can feel that these extra colors are merely his mind trying to visualize sensory input that it has not experienced before. He can feel the press of particles against the inertial compensator's gravity field along with quite a few that seem to fly right through it, Dara Tonn, and himself as if nothing was there.

“A question for you Dara Tonn.”

“Go ahead.”

“Has there been any research done on particles that only exist in warpspace?”

“Quite a significant amount, what would you like to know?”

“Are there any particles that simply do not interact with the inertial compensator's gravity field, your hull, and my body?”

“None in the data that I have available.”

“Well, I can 'see' some doing exactly that right now.”

“Using psionic senses?”

“Yes. It's quite difficult to describe because I know what I am seeing is my brain trying to make sense of a non-physical object. I can tell that these additional 'particles' have no psionic potential. I'm not sure if that is because they are purely psionic with no physical component or because they simply have yet to interact with a psion before.”

“Try 'looking' aft at the particles that have already passed through yourself. If it is the latter of your two guesses then they should have changed.”

“Turning... I can't reprieve any dif.. no. There is a difference. They are clumping up after passing through my physical body. I still can not detect any sort of psionic charge though. Perhaps if enough of them amalgamate together...?”

“That's outside t he scope of our mission. Do we want to report it?”

“No, I don't think we want to. No reason to draw attention to ourselves. ETA to the Hylli system?”

“Five days from mark... Mark.”

“Is it safe for me to move about?”

“The 'fasten seat belt sign' is no longer illuminated.”

“Good, I think I'm going to mediate in my quarters. This is all such a surreal experience.”

“I'll remind you of meal times then?”

“Please do. Thank you.”