Page 34 of Experimental Voyage
For a moment, the singing intensified before quieting to a whisper. In the upper part of my vision, I became aware of the presence of a prompt like I’d use for a computer. No matter where I looked, the prompt remained, a ghostly overlay.
With a little work, I managed to populate the prompt with an options command. A menu appeared, informing me of my various choices, including an informational database. I discovered I could access the database with a thought, and the wonders within reminded me of a massive library filled with all the knowledge in the universe.
Waldren chuckled. “It took you less than five minutes to locate the primary database. Well done, Camellia. As you become more adept with the link, you won’t even realize the interfaces are there. More often than not, you’ll filter them out of your general awareness unless you need it—and you can summon and dismiss it as you need. The starter chips don’t allow you to dismiss the primary prompt, though. It’s a training tool. Are you experiencing any unwanted noise or discomfort?”
“The singing is a barely noticeable whisper,” I reported. After a moment of thought, I added, “There’s nothing uncomfortable about it. It’s not much different from the computer system we used at school.”
“That’s intentional. When we were setting up your trainer chips, we checked into the computer systems you are familiar with. We used the closest system to what you used to give you the best chance of a quick adaptation. You’ll be able to switch between various operating systems on other chips. My chips have a set of five systems I can use, as that gives me the versatility I need to control my ship completely through my link if needed. Not a lot of pilots do a complete interfacing with their ship like I do. It’s a lot of extra work to learn. But if I’m physically incapable of flying the ship but have retained my mental capacities, I can still fly her.”
“That’s incredible.” I delved deeper into the informational databases, discovering I could also pull up images of plants, animals, birds, and fish with a thought. I understood why everyone had been concerned.
If such images mystically began to appear without warning, I would not have handled the intrusion well. My awareness I controlled—and could dismiss—most of the new inputs kept me from freaking out over the new things only I could see.
“If you begin experiencing any discomfort, let us know,” Waldren ordered. “In the meantime, your job is to familiarize yourself with the system. I’m going to bring up a new system once every two hours. If you hit your threshold for volume, let me know, and we’ll start the exercise over. Ideally, within the next thirty-six hours, you’ll be able to interface with the entire ship, although your chips are restricted on what you can access until you’ve learned how all the systems work. In our current situation, it’s best for you to be busy enough you aren’t worried about where we’re going or if we get there. We’ll all be conjuring similar tasks to keep ourselves busy and mentally sound. You’ll be at the highest risk of a breakdown, however. We’ve been conditioned for this possibility.”
“I haven’t,” I conceded. I considered Squeakers and her feline companion. “But even if we run out of time or must adapt to living on Melody, Squeakers got a second chance.”
“Yes, she did. But the universe works in mysterious ways. I think we’ll be fine.” Waldren’s smile caught me by surprise. “That evolvulite gate took us there for a reason. I suspect we’ll find our way out of here, likely with frightening ease.”
“Why would ease be frightening?” I inquired, furrowing my brows. “I don’t get it.”
“In cases like this, ease means we were not the ones in control of where we went or how we got there. If this goes as I expect, we’ll find a shiftgem gate—and we’ll find it becauseone of us is going to get an unpleasant surprise.” With a rather wicked chuckle, he gestured to the main monitor. A report about someone having become possessed by a shiftgem gate so it could be used came up.
The man in question, ahomo sapienswith gray-green scales and gills, had reported that long after the discovery of the gate, it continued to sing to him, a haunting song reminding him of the time a stone had bent his will.
“How does stone sing?”
“I really don’t know,” Waldren replied. “You know what glass is, yes?”
I nodded. “Of course. We make drinking vessels out of it, and some rich people even use it for windows.”
“You can make glass from shiftgem crystals, and should you apply some friction to the rim of a round glass, you can make it sing. The Veloc have created musical instruments that make use of this property. We’ve found several materials we can create glass from, but shiftgem crystals make the best singing glass. What we don’t understand is how the originalhomo sapienshad lived on their planet for so long without unlocking the power of shiftgem crystals. They used it as building materials among other things, but they never unlocked its full potential.” After a moment, he shrugged. “But then again, had they, the universe would have been theirs to discover. And humanity is many things, but I’ve always felt that we, perhaps, should not be the rulers of anything other than our personal matters. We always find a way to make a mess of things.”
That we did. “So I learn, and we wait. Is that it?”
“That’s it,” he confirmed. “We will hope for the best and plan for the worst. That’s all we can do.”
TWELVE
“We’ll have to increase our security around our home.”
Waldren’s predictioncame true within an hour of him bringing all his ship’s systems back online, but not in the way he anticipated.
The shiftgem gate did not possess anyone.
Rather than deal with waiting for us to figure out how to grid the sector, explore like good little lost spacefarers, and take potentially years to locate it, the shiftgem gate solved the problem through the unexpected relocation of our ship. One minute, we were making plans and struggling to come to terms with our status as lost in space.
The next, all ship systems except for life support cut off. Before we had time to panic, the ship lurched, we got knocked onto our asses, and Squeakers took the first flight of her life, albeit aided by the unexpected removal of gravity.
Had gravity been on when the ship had been yanked across space, we would have endured worse than a few bumps and bruises. The lack of gravity turned the entire ship into a hazard, as everything that hadn’t been secured floated. Withzero training on how to handle a lack of gravity, I discovered momentum worked in a vastly different fashion. Fortunately for me, I crashed into a wall rather than any important equipment.
Waldren came to my rescue, hauled me to one of the seats, and buckled me in so I wouldn’t hurt myself or someone else. He captured Squeakers, handed her over, and took Palta off to his quarters, where she would remain in her nest until he got gravity online and began rebooting the ship’s systems.
Upon his return, he activated the exterior cameras.
A shiftgem gate glowed around us, and the ship hovered in its heart. Some force maintained the ship’s position while Waldren and the Veloc scrambled to restore the ship’s systems and contain the floating hazards. Much like Melody, the gate sang.
Squeakers only needed a little attention to calm, and the bird cuddled close upon recovering from her fright. I suspected I needed more comfort than she did, as my heart raced at a few thousand beats a minute. The link chips sang, loud enough I struggled to hear anyone speak. Fortunately for my sanity, the noise ebbed and settled to a strangely pleasant background noise. Little by little, my heart rate calmed as well, although I would need a shower to clean away the excess amount of sweat. “Is the ship okay?”
