Shockwave

Obsidian Arrows

Year of our Lord Creatos 1538, Thursday the 26th of Augustus

Shockwave!

After more than a month of accelerating we are finally to the point where we can get our trajectory in line. The lieutenant has typied in the equations four times now and the computer is still rejecting his computations.  He was sure that he did it right, but the computer keeps telling him that he has an error. He starts again “ds2= – (a2 – BiBi) dt2 + 2Bi dxi dt + gijdxi dxj, where B = 12.342. d=.00433 i=.2331774, solve for x.  

Error

Error

          “Damn!” the Lieutenant looks away, “What is wrong with you.” 

          “Are you talking to me?” Clarish asked from the other compartment.

          “No!” said Tarnnish then thinking that was too harsh he added, “I’m trying to get the stupid computer to accept our course and speed so it will give us our finaly trajectory.” he paused, “But it won’t let me.” 

          There was no response, so she’s either annoyed with me or mad again.

          “You missed our speed and weight.” Clarish yelled back.

          “It’s suppose to get our speed from the telemetry and our weight was correct when I started, if its off now, its because this stupid machine can’t get it right.” 

          There was silence again as Clarish typed a few entries and then the computer beeped that it was finished.  It then gave a trajectory of 1.68 by 288.556 by 0.097.  

          “How did you do that?” Tarinnish was a bit embarrassed.  This was an easy operation, but his fourth attempt was proving him wrong.

          Clarish walked in and put her hands on Tarinnish’s shoulders.  They were tender and he had missed her touch. “I’m sorry.” She said.

          “For what?” Tarinnish asked.

          “Yesterday Tim made me realized that I had been thinking about having a child for months and I was making you make the decision in seconds.” She paused and then said, “I was just so sure that you… would want that.” 

          Tarinnish did, but not like that.  He loved her and wanted a child that they could raise.  “I do, it’s just our situation.”  He turned around, “If we do this.. We need to make sure that it would be safe.  Our child needs…” He did no finish.

          “Needs what?” She was feeling hopeful again.

          “Needs to have different DNA.” Tarinnish spoke as if this was possible.

          “What?” 

          “Well, if my DNA were to be altered.” Tarinnish was trying to be delicate.

          “Altered how and who would do that?” Clarish was a bit skeptical.

          “I know a few physicians that can… help.” Tarinnish knew this was going to be a touchy subject, but the alteration would be so slight.  It just so expensive.  

          “What would you change and when could we do this?” Clarish asked.

          “So, I’ve been doing some research and due to the intricate combinations of atmospheric conditions, radiation and composition of the water on each planet, they set up a certain sequence in our DNA.  It’s like a planetary signature, so to speak. It has nothing to do with the child’s looks, traits or anything that you could see physically.  We all look the same on the outside, but at the DNA, well it’s like a beacon and if we are going to leave a child behind, it needs to… Not be from Sycarine.”

          Clarish thought about that.  It was a compromise.  She would have his child, not literally, and her parents would have a grandchild.  It seemed right, but she wanted some time to think.  How would they pay for it without anyone else figuring out what they were doing.  And what if this physician sold the information on what they did.  That happens when someone gets caught.  They trade information for leniency. The silence went on for a moment to two...then three.  Clarish looked up into Tarinnish’s eyes.  

          Tarinnish melted when those brown eyes looked at him that way.  She would accept his compromise. She buried her face in his chest and that was that.  The war was over.  

          There embrace was interrupted by the captain, “If your done we’re ready to start the final acceleration test.” And without waiting for an answer he announced, “All hands prepare for one-point-two-five Gs.” 

          The next month was clumsy. Between the floor’s grav plating that was trying to keep you on the “ground” and the ships acceleration is was a difficult time to get around.  Unlike the bigger ships that could compensate for the direction you felt the gravity, this one’s power systems was too small to put inertial dampeners in the walls.  You were simply stuck trying to contend with both forces.  Besides it was only going to be a few sevenths and then the acceleration would back down to three quarters of a G.  

          Clarish had rearranged the their quarters so that the head of the bed was against the aft bulkhead and this way they could sleep half sitting up.  They also spent a great deal of time just lying together listening to each others heartbeat.  Tarinnish never felt so at peace as when his mate was just there, next to him.  She provided a strength he had never felt before.  He only hope he did the same for her.  

          One evening Clarish asked, “Have you asked for shore leave yet?”

          “No.” was all Tarinnish offered.

          “Why not?” Clarish asked.

          “Well I need to find a reason.” Tarinnish offered.

          “What?” Clarish asked in surprise.

          “I haven’t stepped foot on the Colony in six cycles.  The Captain knows I don’t like it down there.”  Tarinnish said and snuggled a little closer. “He doesn’t know why.  He just knows I don’t have any family that I want to visit and few to no friends, besides you three.” 

          “Let’s get married then.” Clarish shot up as she said this then.  Her head started swirling as the two gravity forces reminded her they were in motion. She felt sick and put her hand out to steady herself.  

          Tarinnish saw she was in distress, “Are you okay?” He asked as he held out a hand to help her.

          “Yeah, just a little space sick.” Clarish said.

          Tarinnish looked at her like he knew something but said nothing.  

          “So?” She asked.

          “I guess I’m just old fashioned.” Tarinish said.

          “What do you mean?” Clarish truly did not know what he meant.

          “Well.. I just wanted to be the one to ask, that’s all.” Tarinnish had no intention of asking at this time.  He was going to wait until they reached the other side or at least survived the trip to the other side.  It just seemed fitting, a new place in the universe and a new life.  

          “Well?” She asked again.

          “I guess that works.” Tarinnish conceded.  He brought this on himself.  Why did he have to be born and raised on Sycarine? Why did the love of his life need to leave behind a child?  A child that would certainly be in his or her double digits by the time they met it.  This was just difficult to prepare for and so far away from how he had wanted to leave humanity.  He was supposed to be alone. Now he was going to have a wife and a child.  

          “Oh, and will you be taking my name or are we keeping our own?” Clarish had the impish grin on her face.  The teasing one.

          “Your name?” Tarinnish bristled.

          “I am the ranking officer.” Clarish informed him. She started to giggle.

          It was nice to see her in such a good mood.  It had been almost two sevenths since she was in such good spirits. Not that she was depressed. This was the woman he had fallen in love with.  This was the woman he could spend the rest of days loving and caring for.  “We can share our names. Mrs. Clarish Tarinnish.” he said.

          “Or” she counted, “Mr Tarinish Clarish.” She smiled at him.

          “Oooor.” He said as she climbed out of the bed trying to adjust to the dual vectored gravity. “We confuse the hell out of everyone by making our middle name, each other’s last name.  Like.. Lieutenant Colonel Marisa Tarinnish Clarish.”

          Clarish’s eyes lit up. “I like it.” 

          “This is the captain.” His voice broke through the euphoria that the moment had produced. “All hand prepare to a radiation flare.” 

          Clarish and Tarinnish snapped out of their personal lives and back into their reality.  They were million of kilometers from any type of protection and they had to re-enforce their own shields now.  The flares move a thousand times faster than they do and if they had already seen the sun flare up, it’s only a matter of minutes before it will overtake them. 

          Clarish got to her terminal first as she was closest to the door to their room.  She immediately turned into the first officer, “Bringing fusion generators to 110% of maximum.”  She turned to the cockpit, not that she could see it, but she was addressing the Captain and it just seemed right. “I’m taking main propulsion off line, you will have to keep our course with the thrusters.” 

          “Copy that.” was all the captain said.

          Tarinnish had reached his stations and brought up the shield generator page.  All four generators were functioning.  “What’s the vector of the wave?”

          “Port side.  Vector 1.56.  We’re going to be broadsided!” the captain’s voice was strained.  

          “With your permission captain, I’m going to rotate our starboard shield generator to re-enforce the Port side.” Tarinnish was already typing in the command when the captain added is affirmative to the request.

          “Generators at full.” Clarish told no one in particular.

          “Increasing Port Shield output. Forward and Aft shield generators are spinning up to maximum.”

          The Captain came on the intercom again. “Clarish did we miss something in the forecast?” 

          “No captain.  This is out of nowhere.” Clarish shot back.

          “Outer edge within sensors. Impact in fifteen seconds.  It’s a big one!” Ensign Stone yelled over the intercom.  She was very excited and her voice was shil and loud.  

          “Aborting run, turning into the wave.” The captain said once he realized the size of the wave.” 

          “I’m sending a level one alart on all frequencies. They need to know this is coming.” Clarish barked.

“Affirmative.” Was all the captain side. 

The ship started shaking and then it was hit.  Since the ships main drives were taken off line to provide more power to the shield. Their sense of gravity had returned to normal, but now the ship was being pushed by this radiation wave.  Some call it a solar storm.  The ship shook and vibrated as the waves of radiation washed over them. It wouldn’t last lone. For two long periods the waves of radiation washed over the ship.  During which they would be swept off course and helpless to do anything about it.  It’s a double edge sword.  The shield that are protecting them were also acting as a sail. Giving the radiation ten thousand times more area to push against than the hull would have provided.  But without the shields everyone inside this little sliver of life would be cooked.  So they contend with sun’s rage the best the could, then resume normality afterwards.  

Radiation levels did go up, but nowhere near an area of concern, however the neutrino emissions were off the chart.  Tarinnish swore that he saw spots on the hull that were emitting photons.  But they kept jumping around and he was unable to get a vid of the event.  It would be one for the record books.  So many neutrinos that they were actually interacting with the hulls atoms enough to immite visible photons. Typically these near nothing particles would pass through any matter without even so much as a hello.  But when the emissions are so intense, a few reactions are seen, but not by the naked eye.  So, this wave must have been extraordinary.  

With the wave over and the reports filed, the captain decided to set a course for the quiver.  We needed to do an inspection of the hull to be sure the wave didn’t do more damage.  We also decided to take on our mechanized contingency.  For one, an astromech. A robot, not an android for the purpose of doing spacewalks and hull repairs.  We also wanted to get our A.I.s loaded.  They would have been helpful during our last mission, but they had not been assigned yet.  

The report from the testing stations showed that we were seven point five percent ahead of our projected acceleration curve.  Which is almost four percent above our engineered specifications.  This was good.  It meant we didn’t have to do the test again and we were going home to stay until we received our orders.  

Clarish had gone into full prep mode for our “vacation” on the planet.  By the end of watch she had tickets purchased for a round trip from New South Africa to Botanical Oasis.  The town where her parents lived. She even scheduled the justice of the peace to perform their wedding ceremony.  It was all arranged.  

Tarinnish checked his supply of skin grafts to ensure that I had enough for the scanners.  Most of the time Tarinnish was able to move about with his credential, but on occasion an over zealous security guard would require a scan. That’s when the graphs allowed him to fool the scanners.  Especially in the more backward areas of the planet.  The ones closer to the base were up to date and his fake identity would hold, but where they were going.  Who knew. So he would carry a graft on the top of his left hand and his right hand would be normal.  This way he could present one or the other depending on who was asking and where they were. Tarinnish only hoped the anxiety of being on the planet did not overshadow why they were going there.  It was supposed to be a joyful moment. However, the idea of him offering the wrong hand at any one time would undo what he had spent three decades trying to accomplish.

On their way back to the quiver, Tarinish spent most of his time preparing a speech to Clarish’s parents. He wanted them to like him enough that what he was did not matter.  Eventually they would have to be told, but both of them agreed that that would be after they had left.  And not just the planet, but the solar system.  They needed to be gone.  Clarish knew that when it came to it, her parents would love their child as if it was their own, but she hated the deception. 

Tarinnish had contacted some old friends that his mother had told him about.  They would make the necessary arrangements for him to have his semen altered.  It would have the offending portions of his DNA replaced with the new origin that his records indicated.  His child would not be hated or hunted.  With this done he would take the specimens with him to the impregnation appointment where a dozen or so of Clarish’s eggs would be inseminated.  

It took almost the entire trip back to the quiver to get a surrogate and the doctor to perform the insemination. Typically they would take a fresh batch of semen to do the fertilization of the eggs.  But in this case, Tarinnish had to find someone that did not question the fact that they were using samples “collected” earlier.  Tarinnish explained that they had been trying for a few Alarnars and were unsuccessful due to a low count on his behalf. So they had been accumulating samples for the purpose of this insemination.  The doctor finally agreed to the procedure when he was told that they were scheduled to leave the system within the alunar. Another lie.  

With all the details made and lies spread to the appropriate parties they put in at birth 12A.  It was anti climatic.  No one was waiting for them to disembark and their security badges did not work on the primary bulkhead.  They actually had to call for maintenance to let them back into the barracks area.  Apparently their badges were corrupted by the radiation wave.  This required a full security screening. 

Tarinnish was nervous.  So much time, so much effort and now at the verge of getting what he wanted plus more, he was having to undergo an invasive scan.  He put his right hand out.  The tech scanned it and turned to the monitor.  He turned green and his face appeared on the monitor.  “Thank-you sir, please step up to the counter over their and they will issue you a new set of credentials.” The tech never even looked at him.  He just went to the next person in line.  

Once at the counter Tarinnish had to answer a set of security questions and then have a retinal scan.  This is where things started to break down.  Apparently his scan was off.  Something had changed enough to cause the computer to questions the authenticity of his identity.  The only good part was that the captain’s scan was also in question.  The entire crew was then asked to go into a private room where two security guards were brought in to babysit them.  

Almost two periods later the civilian that was out-processing Tarinnish, just two cycles ago, walked through the door. He was looking over the top file on the stack in his hand.  He stopped and looked at Tarinnish.  “Well we meet again.” 

Tarinnish did not like the way he said that.  

The old civilian sat down at the desk and proceeded to make a show of going through the files.  He had two pads that he was going back and forth with.  A few huffs and “ahaws” and he finally looked up. “You are fee to go with the exception of…” He paused and looked at one of the pads, “Lieutenant Commander Clarish.” 

The rest of the group stood and started walking towards the door.  The civilian told them to pick up their new badges at the counter and then closed the door behind them.  They did as they were instructed and then waited outside the security office.  One then two more periods passed and no commander.  

When the captain tried to make an inquiry as to what happened to the commander he was told it was a security matter and that they would tell him once the matter was cleared up.

So, with that they returned to the ship.  They no longer had quarters in the barracks and the mess hall was closed until the first hour of the watch, so they had no where else to go. No one said anything.  They had worked so hard for so long, that this was just devastating.  What could be so wrong that they would take a member of their crew now.  No one slept, nor did they eat.  The absence was like a huge hole had been opened in their hearts.  It’s not like they hadn’t been apart before, but there was always the knowledge that they would be together again.  This was uncertainty and it was unpleasant.  

Somewhere in the middle of the night watch, they fell asleep.  The captain an ensign on the couch and Tarinnish at his station.  They were awoken by a request to enter at the main hatch.  The captain granted the request and got up to straighten his uniform.  The request came from the commandant.  The Captain ran to the Port hatch to meet here.  They had a few words of greeting and then they went to the main compartment where the captain announced, “Commandant on deck!”

The two remaining crew members went to attention and waited for the commandant to release them.  She did not.  She walked in and stood in the middle of the room. “So, I hear you had an eventful first voyage.” 

No one answered.

She continued, “I’m also told that you had an interesting neutrino storm.” 

At this the captain responded, “Yes mam.”

“Is that what lead the commander becoming pregnant.” The commandants words hit hard.  She looked at Tarinnish and then the captain.  

The captain looked at Tarinnish.

That’s when every eye fell on him.

“We…” He stammered.  He didn’t know what to say, “We took precautions.” He looked around the room, “We didn’t plan it this way.” 

The commandants face lit up, “Congratulations young man.” She paused to let the mood lighten up.  She had had her fun, now it was time to celebrate. “I know why you were going on shore leave, but I thought you were going to have this done in a lab, not here.” She said as she came over to shake his hand.  “I wish you both happiness and a long life together...after the mission.”

End of Chapter 5
Next Chapter 6

This blog contains two books of the Remnant Series If you want to start at the beginning of Book 6, click the link below.

1st Chapter of Obsidian Arrows

If you want to read more about the Remnant Series see the links below.

            Book 1-3: Graham Heights available on Amazon.com

            Book 4: The Grey Abyss available on Amazon.com

            Bood 5: Chaos coming soon to Amazon.com

Book 6: Obsidian Arrows

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

    
  R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.