Frozen Soul, and other works: Chapter 228

(INS Merida’s Fortune, Sol System)

Merida Vaughn, Her Royal Empress of the Terran Empire, Guardian of Terra, and Defender of the Realm, held her breath as she stepped from her royal shuttle onto the deck of the ship bearing her name. It was surreal, having a ship named after her like this. Especially since it was about to be formally inducted into Imperial service, where it would serve as one of the vanguards of her power, and a shield against those who would harm her empire.

Less surreal was the feeling that, perhaps, the gravity on the shuttle and the ship were set slightly differently. It wasn’t anything she would notice usually, and she might even be mistaken, but the twin blessings (or burdens, depending on how long it had been since her last bout of morning sickness) growing within her had upset her balance enough that she was more conscious of such things now, as she waddled along, rather than before, when she might just adjust automatically, unless there was a more extreme instance. She could only give thanks that, whatever difference there was between the two gravities, it was not enough to kick off another bout of nausea. It would hardly be fitting to christen a ship bearing her name with her vomit rather than the bottle of champagne brought for the occasion.

The thought of champagne brought with it a sudden turn in her stomach, which she fought down. Damn it all. If it weren’t so important for the Empress to be seen as pregnant, to ensure that the heir was legitimate, and not a clone or something else, she would have the twins put in an artificial womb. The technology was well tested by this point, but tradition stated that the Imperial family didn’t use them, unless there were health concerns. Some mornings, she seriously considered ‘arranging’ some health concerns. But lies like that had been the kind of thing her brother, the Usurper, would do. Easy compromises for the purpose of convenience or gaining power, at the cost of the truth and the respect of the people. She wouldn’t be him.

She took a breath to help center herself (and keep her breakfast where it belonged), and turned to look at the welcoming committee. Admiral Mollen was there, along with his harem. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the teasing grin on her sister’s face. Cheeky girl. To the Admiral’s side were two people, one in the uniform of the Black Star Navy, and the other an Imperial Navy Captain. Captain Shaw, if she remembered correctly. He was to be the Captain of the Fortune, and had oversaw the last stages of construction out at Star’s Reach.

Mollen took a step forward, and offered a respectful nod to her, and her entourage. With a smile, he said “Empress Merida, Admiral Han, Mr. De Lici, welcome to the Merida’s Fortune. At this time, I formally transfer her into the Imperial Navy’s possession. As we speak, I believe the skeleton crew of Imperial Navy and Black Star contractors are meeting with the permanent crew members in the other shuttle bays, and the contractors are leaving the ship in capable hands.”

The Empress smiled at the Captain, and nodded her head. “We have no doubt you and your crew will serve with honor in defense of the Empire. We understand that the formal induction of the Fortune will be this evening, but We have some things that We must discuss with Admiral Mollen. Is there a secure meeting room available?”

The Captain bowed, and said, “Of course, your Majesty! If you will follow me, I will be happy to show you to the meeting room on the flag deck. No disrespect to the Black Stars, but I made sure to have my people go over the ship repeatedly to ensure that there were no listening devices or other espionage equipment installed, with special attention to the flag deck, bridge, and engineering spaces, as per protocol. The ship is secure.”

Admiral Mollen chuckled. “No offense is taken, I assure you. There are some things that cannot be left to chance. And allowing the Imperial Navy to conduct their own tests ensures that everyone is happy with the final product. Happy customers are more likely to become repeat customers, after all.”

Soon, they were in the conference room. From her position at the head of the table, Merida took a deep breath, and focused on Mollen. “All right, Admiral, what is this ‘exercise’ about, really? And what does this have to do with the anomalies? Your message said you were also sending forces to Coldana. Does this have something to do with another Harvester?”

Admiral Mollen took a breath, and said, “Without commenting too much on corporate secrets, I can reveal that the Black Star Company discovered a… repository of Ancient knowledge. As in, literally ancient, from a civilization that predates any of the known ones currently in existence. This repository included scientific data which has advanced our understanding of certain avenues of Lost Tech, and dimensional physics.”

Merida’s eyes went wide at that. The idea of someone stumbling on the knowledge of the Ancients, perhaps even the Gatebuilders, was huge! Anyone who pulled off such a score, and were able to adapt the technology to their own, would have a massive advantage over everyone else in Known Space!

Admiral Han frowned. “If you’ve found a storehouse of ancient technology, why haven’t your ships changed? I’ve spoken with Naval Intelligence, and they agree that you’ve changed your ship designs in multiple ways since you began your rise to power during the Civil War. If you had Lost Tech, why haven’t you made use of it?”

“There’s a difference between uncovering Lost Tech, and knowing what it does. There’s an even greater difference between knowing what it does and knowing how it does it. And going from knowing how it does it to being able to reproduce it in a practical matter is a completely different story.”

“Give a bunch of people in Renaissance Europe modern science texts, and they might be able to work out some concepts, but being able to actually pull off the tech is another story entirely. Try making a nuclear reactor with Renaissance tech. Even if you know exactly how it works, pulling that off will be a major feat.”

He sighed, and said, “However, we have been able to figure out some things, based on the things we’ve found. There are two parts to the problems we’re facing. The first has to do with the damage FTL travel does to the universe.”

Merida frowned. “Damage to the universe?”

“Yeah, apparently, breaking big laws of physics is not exactly great for the fabric of space and time. The Gateways… well, they’re one thing. Since they somehow exist both inside and outside of the universe at the same time, they don’t cause a problem. The Warp drives that are most commonly used are also perfectly acceptable to the universe, since it bends the rules, rather than breaking them. That’s probably why we haven’t found out about this issue before now, honestly.”

“Now, the Anchor drives are where things start becoming sticky. Those things do crazy things to physics that we still don’t entirely understand. But, for whatever reason, the damage they do to spacetime heals back, unless you do a LOT of jumps to the same spot.”

“The real problem, though, is the Transition Drive. That thing basically rips physics a new one every time it is used, and those wounds are damn slow to heal. The more often one of them is used, the deeper the wound can get. The anomalies you’re seeing in Sol System are caused by these wounds, because this is the epicenter of all transition drive use in the galaxy.”

Merida shook her head, trying to process all this. “And how does this relate to the Harvester, or the Shadowgate?”

Mollen leaned forward, and said, “Because there are dimensions beyond the four that we experience. Higher, lower, parallel, whatever. Some of those dimensions don’t work the same as the others. One of them, in particular, resonates with psychic energy. Probably the source of psy powers in general, but we’d need more research to be sure. Regardless, this realm is one of chaotic energy.”

“The problem is that between the general weakness already, and the destruction of the Harvester, including the massive screams it made, things have come to a tipping point. The only reason we know it is coming is because there are some very smart people trying to figure out technology that is far beyond their comprehension. Has something like this happened before, and been fixed, or just ended of its own accord? I can’t say. But there was enough study into this phenomenon that there were apparently designs for engines to use this dimension as a means of travel.”

He took a breath. “The tech is Lost Tech, but it isn’t the kind that was simply forgotten. It was made lost, both because there were better ways of doing things, without the inherent unreliability of going into a dimension where time might not flow at the same rate, and because of the fact that the ‘locals’ of that dimension are apparently hostile to life as we know it.”

“The death of the Harvester, combined with the massive upheaval from the end of the Civil War, is threatening to rip a hole in reality, and Sol System and Coldana are going to be the front lines. I sent ships to Coldana, in order to help deal with things if something happened there, but I brought more ships to Sol, because, frankly, the readings that have been reported to me suggest that the damage is deeper and more widespread here, which means Sol will be the focal point.”

Merida’s head swam with this sudden revelation. Damn it all, if it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Still, Mollen had never out and out lied to her before, not on anything this important, and he’d come through in the past. That earned him some trust. “Do you have any idea how long it will be? We can’t just organize an evacuation of Sol on the fly! Getting shipping to take the people out of here would be almost impossible, especially without the transition drives.”

Mollen shook his head. “We’re operating in the dark, Majesty. That’s why I insisted on speaking in person, without anything going over the nets. The very idea would cause mass panic, and no one wants that, especially when we aren’t sure of the exact timeframe. It could be days, or even months. Probably not years. But the scientists I’ve talked to are warning that it is probably sooner, rather than later.”

Lucio cut in at that point. “There is already some talk in the Nomad community, Majesty. There are too many sensors in the system, and too many anomalies for them to go unnoticed. We’ve never seen anything like this, either, but you have to understand that we come from another world, projecting ourselves here. Our science fiction can be very speculative at times, and most people who would sign up for something like this are at least passingly familiar with it.”

“However, the Nomads in general don’t have access to the same kind of information as Admiral Mollen and his people. The ones that are ‘in the know’, so to speak, are all connected to him, or have been brought into the fold by him. I can tell you that there is growing concern about the situation. Everyone agrees that there is something coming, and something big. People disagree on the exact nature of the something, but they all agree that it is about to get ‘interesting’ here.”

Lucio’s words were cut off by a shudder that ran through the ship, right before alarms began blaring. It wasn’t the fire alarm, or the decompression warning. I hadn’t heard this alarm before. Turning to Captain Shaw, I asked, “What is that?”

Raven, Admiral Mollen’s AI companion, spoke up. “Majesty, I am linked to the Black Star Navy sensors. I am afraid that the Admiral was optimistic when he said days. A breach is forming. Location is in the Oort cloud, beyond Pluto. Estimate one hour until the breach opens completely.”

The Empress clenched her teeth as her stomach jolted in sudden rebellion. No. Not the time for that. “Admiral Han, take command of the Imperial forces in system. I must return to the Aurum Throni. Admiral Mollen, I believe your people will be wanting you on your ship. It seems you came none too soon.”

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