Sparks Snippet 4

 So, I received the manuscript back from Goodlifeguide.com early this morning. It should be published tomorrow.

On to the snippet!

Chapter 3

 

The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy

 

Captain Hazel Irons-Takao smiled ever so slightly as the ship went through the final octaves, dropping down lower and lower until they reached the breakout point. The air was ripe with delicious anticipation of what was to come.

Everyone was awake on the ship. She'd arranged the shifts so she would be awake for a good percentage of the thirty-seven-year trip. She'd also arranged it so that she would be awake upon their arrival.

“And five … four … three … two … one, we have emergence!” the helmsman said as all monitors and holographic projectors flashed a blinding bright flash and then went black.

After a moment, dots of light began to appear. They jerked slightly as the ship slowed her forward momentum.

“We're out! All ships in the fleet are out!” CIC reported a moment later.

The cheers rang through the bridge. She smiled and quietly looked at the logs and then tapped out acknowledgments as the ship's A.I. dutifully went through the post jump checklist. She didn't blame the crew for losing their professionalism in a moment like this. Thirty-seven years was a tad long for any trip.

They had gone on the ultimate adventure, a jump not just across the galaxy, but from one galaxy to another. And they had achieved the seemingly impossible. She was proud of her crew and let them celebrate. She even laughed as the XO broke out a big bottle of champagne and popped the cork.

“Drinks all around!” he said.

She nodded but her errant mind went to another time, the last time she'd had champagne in fact. Her adopted father, John, had given her a selection of her favorite things to take with her. He'd even appeared at the ceremony when the mission was about to launch. Shed' been touched by that and regretted being estranged from him for so long. So what if he wasn't her biological dad? He'd been there when her so called “real dad” hadn't.

She had to wonder what he'd been up to in the past couple of decades. Well, once they settled down and unpacked and set the ansible up, they'd find out.

“Ansible status?” she asked after her second sip. She passed the cup off to the bosun to make the rounds.

“Checking … we have a quarter of our starting bandwidth. If we lose another 10 percent … it will be a bit slow but we'll still manage,” the A.I. said as the bridge watch grew silent.

She nodded. “Well, we can work with that,” she said. “Right, sir?” she asked, turning to the admiral.

His image on his deck nodded. “That we can, Captain, that we can.”

She smiled. They had just finished what some saw as the hardest part of their journey. Now they had an entire galaxy to explore, new races to make contact with … it was going to be very exciting for some time to come. That would make up for the decades of sleep and boredom.

She had no idea if she'd live through it all and get to the point when they would return to the Milky Way, if they ever did. For the time being, that didn't matter.

“Where are we on the ship's status?” the admiral prompted.

“Ah … we're getting on that,” the captain said with a look to the XO.

“No rest for the wicked,” the XO muttered under his breath as the crew settled back down into their professional routine once more.

<(((@)))>

Vice Admiral Flies Straight felt his heart pound along with his hearing orifices as the crew celebrated their victory. They'd done it. He was elated. His wings fluttered before he forced himself to settle back down. He wanted to soar but there was no room on his flag bridge. In time he would get the chance to do that again.

Twenty-eight ships had crossed the void, and he hadn't lost a single one in the process. Twelve explorers, four colony ships, two mobile yards, four tenders, and four tankers. One hundred and thirty-six thousand souls all told, crew and families, all committed to the greatest journey in galactic history.

Well, the Milky Way's history, he had no idea about the history of Canis. That was what they were there for, to find out and make contact with the natives.

Each of the ships had been the best the Federation could produce at the time. Each had antimatter drop tanks to supplement their own fuel supplies. Each tank had been consumed by the ships, feeding their replicators. They had only been forced out of hyperspace once, at the midway point for a brief respite to refuel, orient, and do what engineering chores they could before moving on.

They'd managed to stay in the highest octave of Foxtrot band of hyperspace for the entire journey. It had taken careful balance and scheduling with the helm and navigators. They had not only managed to stay on course the whole way, they'd kept the speed up.

And it showed. Foxtrot had a cumulative compression rate, a curious thing. The longer they remained in it the more the compression of time. So, a journey that should have taken just shy of 3,714 years had instead taken them 37 and change.

Which was a relief. They'd managed to do the impossible in a single generation. Once they got the ansible up and running, they'd be able to check in. He knew everyone had taken a grand leap with him into the unknown, never expecting to see their families again, but having that lifeline should be great for morale. Not to mention they could get caught up on any tech advances they had missed out on over the past four decades.

He closed his many eyes and felt a tearing in his heart and then it easing. It also meant all of the loved ones they'd left behind would know they'd survived and that with the ansible they'd be able to talk to them again. Maybe even see them, if only in exchanges of small images from time to time.

His heart soared over that idea. Maybe he had great grandchildren by now? He was curious to find out.

<(((@)))>