Guess who’s coming for dinner?
Writers : Adrin (The Soverign) and Teal (CharlotteCarrendar)
Ayenee System
Elysium Spiral – Deleta Timeline
6 Months After The Battle of Ayenee
Some of the most legendary battles in history had occurred upon the Elysium Plains, the highly populated cluster of systems that included and surrounded the Ayenee System. From the Chaos Hive War to the most recent incursion by the Umarians, the blood that had been spilt was endless, brothers had lost brothers and entire families had been decimated. The frontiers of space were not alone in their stain, for the planet itself laid within a constant state of uncertainty, dominated by nations of varying ability and strength, continually facing war and upheaval as giants in their own right struggled for ascension. It was the Builder’s majesty; yet now it seemed a barren waste, a place where populations still thrived but an eerie silence blanketed the entire region in a sweetly composed requiem.
There were those who had prevailed, those who had perished, it was undeniable that Ayenee was a world torn by war, a place of enigmatic and potent nations that was well known to both space faring and non-space faring races. Beneath the Hand of Varsinax, Adrin Eitan had rose from the victorious legions of Lorenz which had swept the world in conquest. The Overlord and Chancellor had marred the realm with an unforgettable mark, their statues among others still stood within the time torn grounds of Castle Ayenee, and the Ayen Capital City which had been built to surround the failing landmark. Six months before, the people of Adrin under the command of Aestaesys Koshiro Kiri had returned to Ayenee in an attempt to seek refuge from the Umarians which had taken over the Ryuusei and Unyian Spirals they once called home. The nation they built, the Systems Republic of Lorenz was short lived, and now laid in ruin after the betrayal of Aester Satrina. Sticking to the battle philosophies of the Luminary Lao’Taun, the Umarians had come and once they had left the remains of the Republic smouldering – they disappeared back into the frontiers. This was Ayenee within the time normally seen through the eyes of Iondara.
The starfield distorted, rippling as the fabric of realspace was torn and warped. A gnarled gash tore within the fabric of the space-time continuum as the Vanguard V exited chronometric jump, the time vessel having travelled from the Alpha Timeline on its maiden voyage devoted to trying to fix the shattered streams of time that threatened the end of all things.
The Adrin who had grown up within the Alpha Timeline had studied what they knew about his counterpart in the other timeline, he had become fascinated with the tales of battle and victory of love found and love lost – a life so similar, yet so different than his own. The massive armoured bird-like structure of the Vanguard V emerged into realspace within the debris field just beyond the fourth planet in the system. The ship trembled as pieces of broken up starships blazed past the ship’s shields. Adrin grabbed the armrest of his chair as he lowered himself into the XO’s console. “Evasive action….Come on Navcon….” he said, sparks flying from one of the power conduits at the aft of the bridge. “See what you can do about getting us out of this…” He said, hitting the comm, “Mother…try to get up here.” he called Teal to the bridge.
*
Teal was returning from the dining hall after barely having felt the desire to eat much more than a small bowl of fruit, when the Vanguard V suddenly came out into realspace and right into the the outer reaches of the fourth planet in the system. It was then the ship was rocked by being hit by debris left by broken star cruisers. The shudder from the hull caused Teal to almost lose her balance, and she was thrown against the right side wall of the corridor.
“Surely Nira didn’t follow us this far into realspace just to play tag.” she said as her face creased with concern. Teal tried to get a better footing by pressing her hand to the wall and righting herself, before giving her hair a quick pat. The interior lights that illuminated the passage way suddenly switched to a light blue, indicating that the ship was in serious danger. Bathed in the unnatural light, Teal didn’t just walk, she broke into a run to get up to the bridge, where her son Adrin would be at the helm.
Dashing through the entrance to the command deck, another strike and she was jostled as other crew were trying to get to their stations. It was almost like the Vanguard was under attack, or gone as far as to have flown into an asteroid field.
“Mother…try to get up here.”
“I AM trying..”
Teal took a hold of the railing and climbed the stairs to get to the command platform, taking a quick look out the observation window and seeing the debris for herself.
“EVASIVE ACTION….and…what the hell happened to those ships?” -she cried out, practically falling into the command chair. Again and again the ship was rocked, as it lurched like a drunken man staggering home from the pub. Teal’s eyes widened as she saw a massive piece of what looked to be the rockets of one of the larger vessels that had been blasted apart by unknown foe.
“Brace yourselves!!”
*
“I’m not sure I want to find out.” Adrin replied, the entire drive section of a cruiser drifted past them, crashing into another cluster of debris, within the drive section an unstable pod of antimatter was ruptured, creating a massive explosion which shifted the Vanguard hard to starboard, some offers were literally thrown from their chairs as the ship was sluggish to maintain attitude control. “Navcon!…” Adrin said in annoyed voice, trying to keep the volumetric interface at his terminal online.
“One minute, sir….the debris field is massive – almost three cubic astronomical units.” The Navcon officer reported.
Adrin looked to his mother saying quietly, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” he said, watching the main projection screen. Thousands of vessels were broken, shattered and in various stages of degradation. Entire fleets had come to their ruin before the Umarians and their Leviathans. Explosions resounded as large chunks of ship crashed against the Vanguard’s hull, lights flickering every time they took damage. Adrin pulled himself up out of his chair, nearly being tossed over as he made his way to the Operations table, grabbing a hold of the edge to steady himself. No sooner had he brought the volumetric damage control map of the ship up above the table, the lights flickered and this time they didn’t come back on.
“Main power is offline, trying to switch to emergency systems.” Adrin said, another piece of debris tore down the aft section of the ship, this one made it through the shields and tore through the armoured hull and into one of the field coil assemblies. In engineering, plasma fires burst from behind control panels sending green flames to tear up the walls, flooding some of the compartments with radiation.
“Trying to get the mains back online….It’s going to take some time. Whatever in the hell is hitting us, make it stop!” The Chief Engineer said over the comm, reporting to Teal.
The two pilots seemed frazzled, trying to keep up with the course changes. Even with the assistance of the AI it was hard to predict the course of the moving debris field.
*
The Vanguard was built to withstand all manner of attacks, but when you have lumbering giants of twisted ship wreckage being hurled at the hull at such speed, there was little to no way of avoiding it. As Teal gripped the armrests of her command chair and was being tossed about, with her long teal green plait swinging back and forth behind her, you could see even she was getting frazzled by the constant blows the ship was taking. Adrin was losing patience, yelling out “Navcon!…” in anger, and Teal blurted in frustration “Language!…oh…yes…dammit! Are the forward shields even up?” she cried, as the consoles were now flashing a mirage of colours from many a screen. The situation had become dire, as it now dawned on Teal, that what they were experiencing, was the remnants of an entire battle fleet that had been literally blown apart.
As Adrin pushed himself up out of his chair, and more or less danced past her, in a flurry of movement, trying to reach the Operations table, she quickly drew herself out of her chair, as another operator glided past on his chair, the ship was on a god awful pitch, and it was like trying to walk up a hillside.
“EEEEEEEEHHH” -the operator squealed, as Teal was using consoles to pull her body up to where Adrin was about to bring up the volumetric damage control map. But half way there all the lights on the bridge flickered and then the ship was plunged into darkness. There was a chorus of calls and chatter, as the crew tried to turn the ship over to its emergency systems. Teal finally made it to the Operations table and flicked her long plait out away from her face, as she tried to find Adrin in the darkness.
“Trying to get the mains back online….It’s going to take some time. Whatever in the hell is hitting us, make it stop!” The Chief Engineer said over the comm, reporting to Teal.
Teal was now breathing hard as she dug her nails into the Operations table, and then came up with the only solution that she could think of.
“If we stay out here, we are going to be blown apart, and end up just like the rest of the ships out there. We need to avert our course and make straight for the nearest planet in the system.”
Teal’s vibrant jade eyes searched for Adrin’s face, and asked. “Son, how fast can we restore the power grids…and set course for that planet?” – She then pointed at the observation window, at the world where a great war had been fought and possibly lost.
*
Adrin was trying to keep himself at the Operations Table, the ship was listing and it was obvious that internal dampening fields were either not working correctly or were offline entirely. Either way, he was counting in his head, ‘four, three, two…one….’ the emergency power systems flickered to life, the lights were dimmer but the consoles were on. The damage control map popped up right infront of teal which showed a good majority of the ship was blinking and flashing with red indicators, scrolling blocks of information gave information about the damage that was sustained. “I don’t think we are getting the mains online anytime soon…” He looked at the readouts, all six of the Vanguard V’s Tristram Dimensional Energy Taps were offline and in a damaged status, in fact the two in engineering were showing signs they could be facing cascade failures. “If we don’t stop taking hits…we are going to blow apart.” He looked over towards the pilot’s pit, the Navcon officer was laying on the floor with a large gash in the side of his head caused from impact with one of the support beams.
Adrin moved so that he was close to his mother, but facing in the opposite direction than her, so his lips were right beside her ear. “Those two pilots aren’t doing us any favors, you think you can pilot the ship?” he asked, putting together the loose ideas for a plan. If he could get some of the weapons systems out, combined with careful piloting they might be able to get out of the debris field.
The ship jolted again, this time it felt almost as if they were being torn apart as the lateral side of one of the Norian battleships tore down their ventral axis. The ship bucked and heaved, and Adrin swallowed the lump in his throat, waiting for orders.
*
As if by some miracle, the emergency systems burst to life, giving back operating systems and consoles. This was a start at least, and as the command deck was now partially lit, it meant that they could get to work on getting the crippled Vanguard out of harm’s way. The red indicators showed that the main operating systems were still disabled, and the repair of those to functioning at full capacity was going to require time..time they simply didn’t have.
“If we don’t stop taking hits…we are going to blow apart.” Adrin said, his face grim as the peril of what they faced hit home. It was no time to stand idly by and just let that happen. More or less as Adrin whispered in her ear, that the two pilots were not doing them favours right of this moment, she nodded in agreement and quickly made her way to the left side pilot. Reaching him, she placed her hand on his shoulder and ordered.
“You’ve done your best, but I need you working on the main power systems. Please get up, Officer.” If he did so, Teal would slide into his seat, and then bring up the AI uplink enhancer, to cover her right eye. The streams of data ran across her iris as she stretched her hands out for the holographic sphere that controlled the direction and flight path of the Vanguard. Teal had just assumed full manual control of the ship, and in her mind, she sent words to her adored Falcon that she hoped he would hear across time and space.
“Guide this ship to safety, my Love.”
With all the floating debris that lined the blackness of space before them, you could feel the ship start to alter course, as she tried to line the ship up to pass through the middle of two large floating pieces of a Norian vessel. Her hands started to shake violently, as the ship was again pounded from underneath its hull by more debris.
~Focus…focus, Girl~ she said in her own mind, as Tea; let herself become one with the ship.
*
Adrin looked towards the pilot that his mother had dismissed to engineering, then back at the operations table display. The ship rocked again, and a hostile huff left him as he watched his mother trying to pilot. “Ensign, wait that order…Get on tactical and see what you can do for weapons systems and giving a hand in stopping that crap from hitting us.” Adrin looked towards his mother and then headed towards the lift bank, trying not to fall as the ship rocked back and forth as impact after impact smashed against the hull. He entered the lift, holding onto the rail as the doors hissed shut. “Engineering..” He said, the lift speeding into motion.
Teal’s navigating and piloting skills helped reduce the number of fragments smashing against them, the Vanguard’s sluggish response to her orders with only some of its thruster pods responding to the commands made clearing debris difficult but not impossible. The Ensign took up position at the tactical station, the only thing operational was a few of the point defence turrets, it worked for smaller debris but it was pretty much useless when it came to the bigger chinks.
Engineering
The situation in the Vanguard’s engine room was very different than the bridge, the situation had become intense, billowing clouds of steam poured from broken coolant lines running into two of the Tristram Dimensional Energy Taps that sat central, nested on either side of the Chronometric Drive Assembly. Several of the isolation doors had come down around the access ways to the Slipstream Core and the Six Emergency Matter-Antimatter reactors that were online and currently providing power. “Starboard power coupler is completely shot, trying to bypass it..” The Chief yelled, sparks flying from the panel in front of where she was.
Some of the engineers were obviously already suffering from radiation exposure, Adrin could tell from the blotches on their skin as the lift doors parted. Just as he began to head forwards the main engineering station bank a loud blast resounded from the main core room, two more coolant lines blew from the Dimensional Taps, a loud escalating high pitched sound could be heard as the two cores began to go into overload.
“Jettison system is offline.” one of the engineers yelled, as another set of isolation doors closed around the inner core room.
“Get your people out of here..” Adrin ordered, heading towards the bank of stations where the Chief was, bringing up various diagrams and projections from the diagnostics as he looked up briefly through the transparent pane, toxic plumes rolling through the core so thick he couldn’t even fully see the chronometric drive. His first inclination was standard procedure but he froze, realizing what that would mean.
“Bridge, we are about to pop something down here…” Adrin said, “We may have to abandon ship. I’m going to see what I can do.”
*
The Vanguard was now flying side on as it tore between the twin hulking sub sections of the former Norian battle cruiser. Most of the crew on the command deck were holding on for their dear lives, as Teal tried to navigate the ship between the twisted metal super structures. The concentration upon Teal’s face grew as she turned her hands slowly around the holographic sphere trying to guide the ship through unscathed. Little did she realise that down below in the engineering section, that the situation had taken a far more dire turn, to which Teal was currently oblivious. The Vangurad just glided through by the skin of its teeth, the dull grinding of metal as the last of the ship pulled through was what she thought the worst of it. A clearing had been created when the Chonyosa had fired the Rectifier Cannon, giving the Vanguard a chance to recover, and Teal let out an exasperated cry of relief, only to hear Adrin come through on the comm. What he had to say, chilled Teal to her core.
“Bridge, we are about to pop something down here…” Adrin said, “We may have to abandon ship. I’m going to see what I can do.”
Teal’s head fell forward slightly, with her arms still outstretched, as she refused to take her hands away from the holographic sphere. She knew that if Adrin had made such a call, that there was no saving the Vanguard. The lives of the crew and all on board was now at stake, and Teal had to decide…and fast. Taking barely a fraction of a minute, she went with her gut instinct.
“All hands get to the loading bays and transports. Abandon the ship. Set course for the nearest planet. REPEAT..Abandon ship!”- Teal growled, through gritted teeth, keeping her eyes trained on the display monitors directly in front of her. Teal would find herself to be the last remaining member on the command deck, as the rest of the crew started the evacuation. The pounding of foot falls, and raised voices filled her ears, as she remained vigilant at her post.
*
As the engineering crew left the bay, Adrin ripped the covers off two of the panels, trying to see if he could figure out how to bypass the short that was preventing them from ejecting the drive and the two reactors. The ship rocked back and forth as debris hit the hull, fragment after fragment tearing trhough the niranium plating, in some places the hull had actually ripped, sending equipment and personnel drifting into the vacuum of space.
The ship rocked once more, violently, and then suddenly it stopped. The crew had began to leave their stations all over the ship, heading for escape pods, shuttles and other transports. There was silence, a bluish flicker rolling over the volumetric screen could be seen, but beyond that the majority of the ship’s systems were offline or destroyed.
The Ensign stood back from the console, as he couldn’t target anything anymore. “What the….” he uttered. It was obvious from the scene on the main projection screen, they were moving through the debris field but nothing was hitting them.
*
The view from the outside of the ship was that of all the craft that were being jettisoned and blasting off out from the loading and landing bays. Like rats escaping from an ill fated galleon, so to this scene was one of the hope of survival for its crew. The ship took its last big hit as it suddenly became silent, as right across the ship all the panels and consoles went dead.. The holographic sphere vanished from where Teal held her hands, and she was left sitting there, stunned and confused.
“Noooo!” she cried out, her only hope of guiding the ship now through the debris was lost. A bluish flicker like static electricity rolled over the last of the holographic images as they faded into nothing. The silence was deafening.
Was this the end?
*
Bridge
Alarms began to sound, this time it wasn’t damage alerts. It was the warning alarms for intruder alert. The ship’s AI had detected multiple site-to-site transports onto the Vanguard, but with the majority of the system offline it was unable to pinpoint their location or their function.
A flicker of illumination appeared on the bridge as the volumetric imaging system for the communications system activated. “This is LCS Asalnara to vessel of unknown configuration; we have detected your situation of distress and are in the process of towing you to safe harbor. Please standby as our engineering teams transport aboard your vessel to assist.” The image was distorted, but the man was clearly Norian that stood before Teal. He was tall, roughly a little over six feet in height, wearing an armorized black uniform with a floor reaching vest-style trench coat with the symbol of the former Systems Republic of Lorenz over the right side of the chest.
The Asalnara was a Ne’vexis-Class Battleship that originally had a Chrystalian registration, it had been changed over to Lorenz after reunification prior to the war. It’s Commander was an Admiral that had a rather illustrious reputation for wanting to have nothing to do with the Star Navy itself, forced despite protest to return to active duty at the beginning of the Nepei War, the Professor of Xenobiology and Frontier Colonization was still not pleased to be sitting in the Command Chair. “Myad Tea…” he said, the ship’s replication system materializing a cup on the pedestal next to the command chair, one that he brought very carefully to his lips as he looked up at the scans coming in from the other ship. Wherever it was from, whatever it was – he had never seen anything like it. Genovus smiled slightly, at least it wasnt Ayemvu, he thought to himself. The teacup was rather an ornament, a gift decorated with leafy gold scroll and etch work that looked like feathers, it had the sacred family symbol of the Loreweaver upon it, a precious trinket – one of many Caerlin had given.
Engineering
Adrin could hear what was coming on over the comm, for him it was not a matter of just saving the ship anymore. It was a matter of security. He could hear the engineering team entering, and was working overtime. Finally, he switched around two of the crystal-looke circuit boards and pressed a few sigils into the interface. The outer doors beneath the two reactors and the chronometric drive opened, followed by the ignition of the small ion rockets attached to each of the units which jettisoned them out into space, falling away as designed behind the ship before exploding into a mind shattering flare of dimensional energies.
“We are here to assist..” The one engineer said.
“Then assist..” Adrin said, smiling slightly as he headed towards the lift. As he walked, he began to lockout the main AI core, not wanting their guests to find out too much about them or where they were from.
*
In the most desperate hours often you will either fall, and make peace within or fight with all you had in you. Teal’s reaction to the loss of the control of the ship, was gut wrenching, and thankfully she was alone when this occurred. She rose up out of the flight chair, and started madly pressing any button or glyph to make the holographic come back to life. But it was no use, and as she pounded her fists upon the console, there was a fine flicker and then as Teal turned her head, she saw the outline of a six foot being, dressed in a black amorized uniform; that was floor length. He bore the symbol of the Systems Republic of Lorenz on the right side of his chest, and spoke with an accent, she had not heard in the longest time.
“This is LCS Asalnara to vessel of unknown configuration, we have detected your situation of distress and are in the process of towing you to safe harbor. Please standby as our engineering teams transport aboard your vessel to assist.”
Teal stood, frozen from shock. It was almost like she was looking at a ghost. There was something vaguely familiar about this man, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She cast her gaze to the floor, as though searching her mind, trying to marry up why she felt she knew him. Bringing her eyes back up, just as she was about to ask…his image flickered and he vanished, just as easily as he had came. So that was why the ship stopped so suddenly, and now it was being towed.
Knowing that the ship would soon be overrun by these people’s tech crews and engineers, Teal suddenly had a terrifying thought. ~The Chronometric drive.~ If they got their hands on it, it could spell disaster for the entire universe. She slowly brought her palms together with her up stretched fingers, the top two pointed just under her chin. Surely her son, Adrin knew of the ramifications if they were found…but what was worse was without them they could never return to their own time. It was at this moment, the ship was jarred as the explosion of something that must of been released. Teal ran to the observation window, to see for herself, and sure enough she watched her last hope of returning to her family and Falcon being destroyed. Teal slowly raised her right hand up to the glass, her face crumpling. The ship had been saved….but at what cost?
*
Bridge
Adrin arrived on the lift, just as the ship cleared the debris field. Medics and Engineers from the other vessel had been making their way through, while he was grateful for their help – the Prince was highly protective of his mother and ship. He looked at her, standing at the aft viewport – hand against the glass with that signature worried look on her face. He quietly walked up beside her, slipping past one of the engineers, “I’ve locked out…pretty much anything that might give us away.” he said quietly, looking out the viewport beside her. “I wouldn’t recommend staying with these people long – our crew is great but a single slip could give us away.” He looked over at one of the engineers working on the console. “We will just have to keep an eye on things.” He was happy they were alright, but he was obviously concerned, and a little paranoid of what was going on.
Genovus reinitalized communications. “My engineers tell me that your damage is extensive, we have a rather spacious facility in the Hellespawn System and will tow you back. Since we will have to proceed under sublight conditions, it could take us a day or so to reach the facility. In the meantime, I welcome you, and your command staff aboard my ship as my guests.” The Admiral’s image hovered at the center of the bridge.
Adrin looked towards his mother, quietly awaiting to see what she would say to the invitation.
*
Adrin was right of course. The slightest slip up in front of these crews was the worst thing that could happen at this point in time. Teal pursed her lips and slowly lowered her hand away from the glass viewing portal. The vibrant hue of her jade eyes seemed lost somehow; for she knew her connection with Falcon, had been severed.
“I wouldn’t recommend staying with these people long – our crew is great but a single slip could give us away.”
“Yes..of course.”
Teal took her son’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze, but he would know just by reading her face, that she had let him down. Releasing his hand, she then put on a very brave mask, and turned to face the image of Genovus, who hovered above the centre of the bridge. Teal’s face softened, and she placed her hands before her, holding a noble air about her, nodding right on cue.
“I am warmed by your generosity, and thank you for being so prompt in aiding us with your crews. The Vanguard has suffered greatly after coming through the debris, so their assumptions are correct. Most of our crew have been evacuated, so it is just myself and my son.”
Teal shot a glance over her shoulder at Adrin and tried to keep a stiff upper lip, before returning her attention back to Genovus saying;
“We accept your invitation, and will be coming over, just as soon as the shuttle is ready.”
Teal stood quietly and awaited to be addressed in reply.
*
Genovus’s form remained a moment. “Thank you, I will see you both shortly then.” he smiled and then faded from view, the communications link terminating.
Adrin looked towards his mother and adjusted his uniform; he had a few burns – nothing serious. “So, dinner with some…whatever rank he is. I guess we have to be polite.” He smiled slightly, motioning her towards the lift. “I wonder what the food is like here…” he said with curiosity, hoping he wasn’t going to be disappointed. He was concerned, stressed, worried about the safety of his mother and their crew.
Her encouragement, generosity and ways were steadfast even in the worst of times. It was one of the reasons why he adored his mother. He now had to accept they may never find their way back to their own time — hopefully they would be able to repair whatever damage that had caused the time streams to separate while they were there.
Adrin was rather quiet once they got into the lift, his eyes gazing towards the lift door as if it were some far away star.
*
As soon as communications were terminated, Teal lowered her mask and smile faded. She knew that from here on out, they would have to keep well on what they say and keep mum about the reason for them even being in this part of space. It was going to make for very interesting dinner conversation. Adrin approached, adjusting his uniform that showed scorch marks from the engineering room deep within the ship. Like a mother hen, she gently brushed his right sleeve, even though that was not where the burn marks were. It was a subconscious reaction, more so as she tried to pull herself together and put on a united front.
“I wonder what the food is like here…”
“He seemed civilized. Perhaps it will be like the food humans eat…they may even have cutlery.”
Trying to show a smile, was difficult, but she adored her son, and would do all she could to represent them in the best way she knew how.
“Whatever they serve…just smile, chew and say..”this is quite nice.”
As they made their way to the lift, Teal said something that only she would.
“Should I go pop on a skirt? Or do you think this figure hugging number might keep their eyes on my form, rather than have them berate me with questions about who we are?”
*
“Should I go pop on a skirt? Or do you think this figure hugging number might keep their eyes on my form, rather than have them berate me with questions about who we are?”
Adrin just grinned widely, his hand slipping down to briefly touch the top of his QPP, then he looked over at her. “Oh I can live with either or, just a question if they can or not.” He was not about to go for dinner with these people and have them ogling over his mother. A huff of air passed his lips. “Maybe we should of brought father with us.” He said, reinforcing what he was getting at.
Adrin diverted the lift towards the shuttle bay, the trip taking longer than normal as they had to bypass damage. “We need to get the temporal database up and running once we can get these people off the Vanguard. It might be helpful to know who these people are, the role they have played and their importance in this time.” The one thing Adrin was concerned about, was the fact there was evidence showing anomalies existed in all the time streams, individuals who were aware of the splintering, the eventis and other chrono events.
*
“Maybe we should of brought father with us.”
Adrin had to bring his father. The chink in Teal’s armour and her facade was opened, and she wrung her hands as she walked with her son towards the shuttle. She knew very well what he meant by that, and Teal was unable to hold back, though she spoke in a hushed tone.
“Maybe we should have, but you know as well as I that his path is on a different one from ours. He does this for our family, the reason is quite clear. One does not easily sacrifice the time he has by spending it away from those he loves most without a very good reason.” Teal came to a stop, just as they reached the launching bay and said quietly;
“I can love no other like I love your father, and my time apart from him tears me apart inside. But sometimes the greater good is more important, than just the love of two people. Its..just how it is.”
No longer caring about what she was wearing or how she looked, she continued on towards the shuttle, her long teal coloured plait swinging behind her as she marched up the back ramp, and disappeared inside.
*
“I can love no other like I love your father and my time apart from him tears me apart inside. But sometimes the greater good is more important, than just the love of two people. Its..just how it is.”
Adrin’s distance seemed to grow as his mother spoke the words she did. For him the words twisted with personal experience, the momentary surfacing of intense grief filled him. It was something that would never leave him, the reason he did not tread far from familiarity. The disaster of his life wore quietly away at the rock of the man – he would never forget what had come to pass, he dreaded the day when he was forced to step up with it still eating at him. “…yeh…” he said quietly. “…sometimes the greater good is more important…” He turned his head slightly in either direction, the tension of the uniform helping him maintain his wits.
He was quiet, followed her into the shuttle and sat down in the co-pilot’s seat. “Back to this, probably won’t have site to site transporters available for a while, I kinda rigged their independent power supplies into the jettison control systems for the reactors.” He was tired, worn from the work he had done in the engine room, feeling hot from the damage to the environmental systems, he reached over ensuring the shuttle’s air-conditioning system was set so the shuttle would return to the normal twelve degrees centigrade that their kind found comfortable.
*
Seating herself in the pilot’s chair, she went over the pre-flight checks like she was back in the academy so many years before. Almost subconsciously, her hands dancing over the different dials and sigils, while her son came to sit beside her, obviously worn out from the ordeal they had endured. Reaching up, Teal continued to flick on switches, and then brought her hand down towards the throttle, before hearing the drone of the machinery whirring and gearing up preparing for launch. She paused for a moment, and turned her head towards him, feeling he deserved a great deal more than he had been dealt. Perhaps, she had been a little too harsh with her words. Teal’s nature was one that was unlike most women he had probably come across, but then again, she was his mother.
“It could be worse, you know. You could be stuck with Nira piloting.” Teal shrugged her shoulders and showed a half smile, trying to coerce a chuckle from him at least. Watching him turn on the shuttle’s air-conditioning system, and making sure that it was set at the correct level, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I thought it was just me being all hot and sticky. I don’t see how these uniforms came into vogue. They don’t breathe at all. Like being strapped into a sauna. See..this is why I like skirts….More airflow.” she said with a wave of her right hand.
This was Teal..as Adrin would know her. As colourful as she was a bit eccentric. What had this lot on the foreign ship gotten themselves into allowing her to come on board. Either way…it was going to be one hell of a dinner party.
“Seat belt, dear…I’m a bit rusty.”
Firing up the engines, the shuttle’s undercarriage lights came on as the ship rose slowly hovering and then blasted out of the launching bay towards Genovus’s ship.
*
Adrin had not buckled a belt since he was in the academy and had no intention of doing so. “Hmph….If Nira was driving we would already be planted into the side of the shuttle bay as he would sit here explaining to us how the shuttle’s thrusters were out of alignment.” He forced himself to smile. He didn’t want her to feel bad about the way he felt.
Adrin looked briefly towards the swirling orb in the distance. He had heard so much about the planet, studied so much through the temporal database, all of it’s wonders and dangers unknown to him – but his counterpart within time, had thrived there.
As Teal set the course for Genovus’s ship which was already in position to tow the Vanguard, Adrin checked the shuttles systems and also encrypted it’s AI core so they wouldn’t risk any accidental exchange of information with the other ship.
Adrin whispered quietly, “Don’t worry mom, you’ll get home again..” his words misplaced, but spoken with conviction trailed into a silence that would last until they landed.
*
>Pause
