Total Failure

Obsidian Arrows

Time of our Lord Creatos 1539, Sunday the 20th of Jubali

Total Failure

To everyone’s displeasure the gate had failed its test.  How or why, the lab coats wouldn’t tell us.  All we knew was that it failed just two periods prior to installing it in our hold.  We had no recourse but to rebuild another one.  From scratch.  The captain was furious.  He was storming around the dock.  He had been waiting a decade for this.  Now he would have to wait at least one more cycle before we could leave.

          That night at dinner, everyone was quiet.  No one knew how to console their captain.  He ate most of his meal in silence then at the end he snapped back into Captain Trent.  “Tarinnish.  Tomorrow, You and Stone prepare the gate for its send off.” He looked up.  The pain was gone, and a new determination had taken its place. “Marisa there is no reason for you to use that surrogate, I want you to go home.” 

 Marisa was going to protest, but the look in Trent’s eyes stopped her.  She would have nothing to do while the new gate was being built.  It just made sense for her to leave as the bulk of the work would be split between the BL units and the more intricate G units.  Trent would oversee it but have little to do but watch.  Test each phase and ensure that they would not have another delay.  

 Trent started passing out orders, “Stone.” He did not use her pet name, “Get the dock ready for the delivery.” looking at Tarinnish, “Tarinnish, I want you to get the coffin ready and prepare for the gate’s disposal.” 

 Everyone responded in turn.  There would be no consoling him.  Not at this time.  He would have to grieve the loss and move on.  

 The next to periods were slow and painful.  The coffin was readied, and the gate was placed in it as if it were a priceless object.  Once secured, the coffin’s nuclear device was set.  Stone and Tarinnish were to pull it out to the demolition site.  Which was an old mining site on a large asteroid.  It would take about two and a half alunars to complete the trip.  At which point Tarinnish would join Marisa on the planet until their son was born.  Tarinnish was glad the Marisa had left.  The mood on the ship was solemn.  Trent never smiled. Nor did he sleep with Stone.  He had a cot down on the dock near the new gate.  

Tarinnish was in the scout ship and was doing the pre-flight checks.  Their cargo was secured, and the primary reactors were at eighty percent. He was going through the electrical grid when Lt. Stone boarded.  She was upset.  

          Tarinnish wanted to ignore it, but they were going to be on this little ship for two and a half alunars.  If there was a problem, he needed to know what it was and if he could do something to fix it.  He let her settle in.  She took the sleeping quarters as Tarinnish had put his stuff in the common’s room.  They would both sleep in the bed, just not at the same time.  One had to be on duty at all times.  They had decided on four watches.  Five hours on, five off.  That would be the rotation for the entire trip.  No A.I.s on this trip.  

          They cleared the docking ports and had settled in on a .25 g acceleration.  The scouts didn’t have the acceleration power of the Hōkūle‘a, but it will do for this mission.  Once the course was set and the controls locked, Lt Stone left the cockpit.  It was Tarinnish’s watch.  He would have to stand station for at least two more hours as the Defiant, which was the name of his scout ship, made its way through the shipping lanes and out into open space.  It was a frivolous precaution as the nearest ship was some sixteen thousand kilometers away and had a vector that was taking them away from the Defiant. Nonetheless he would man his post until the nearest ship was over a million kilometers away.

 Just before the end of watch Tarinnish got up and headed for the commons.  He wanted to talk to Ashley before she started her watch.  He was captain here and she was his subordinate.  If there was going to be an issue, he needed to know about it, and if necessary, deal with it.

          He found Ashley in her room, he approached but waited, he could hear her crying.  Had she been doing this the entire time?  He knocked.

          After a few sniffles she said, “enter.” 

          Tarinnish saw her on the bed crumpled, with her face reddened from crying. So, she had been back here the entire time, crying.

          “What happened?” Tarinnish asked.

 She didn't look up, she just grabbed a used tissue from the bed and brought it to her nose, “He blames me.” 

 “For what?” Tarinnish could not understand how the Lt could be responsible.

 “For distracting him.” She explained.

 “That’s absurd.” Tarinnish dismissed the notion.

“He does.” She insisted.

“Did he tell you that?” Tarinnish asked.

“Well no…” She sputtered, “But.”

“But what?” Tarinnish responded not letting her continue down this pity party.  “No. He’s a grown man and we all watched the assemble.  We double checked every part and piece prior to installation.  There had to be a flaw in the commoners.  One that wasn’t detected until they melded.“ Tarinnish wanted to put a nail in this conversation, “Something on the nanite level.”  

She met his gaze and Tarinnish said, “We could not have known this was going to happen and even if we did, we certainly couldn’t fix it.” Tarinnish took a step in, “The captain is mad.  At himself, at his luck, but he will recover.  You’ll see.  We will get back and everything will be as they were.  Just give him some space.”  Tarinnish really hoped his words were prophetic and that the captain would be his normal self after they returned.  But he was acting quite strange before their departure and he just might have created a huge chasm between him and the Ashley.  Either way this was going to be a long trip.

On the third seventh, Tarinnish’s second watch, he was able to get a signal to Marisa.  She settled into her old room at her parents' place and had visited the doctor at least twice.  Everything was going well, and she was just one seventh from being half way through the gestation of their child.  The doctor did indicate that the child could be tipping the scales at 4.5 kilograms.  Marisa seemed upset by this.  

Tarinnish just answer, “Wow.” then thought about it. “Oh!”

“Yeah.” Marisa responded

Tarinnish did not have an answer for that, but he did the next best thing, “I’m going to be there with you.” 

“I got a better Idea…” She paused then let it fly, “You have this kid and I’ll fly around the universe.”

“Doesn’t work that way, they tried.” Tarinnish shot back.

“The concept is sound.  It’s just that men are such whooshes and they can’t handle it.” Marisa said with a smile. 

“If you want to make up a T-shirt that says that, I’ll wear it.” Tarinnish said laughing.

Tarinnish didn’t want to end the comm, but they had talked out what they needed to say.  The rest of the time they just sat at two ends of their universe and listened to each other breathing.  

Suddenly Tarinnish’s dream snapped into full view.  He remembered her lying on the debris with the shard driven through her body and all the blood.  She was dead.  Tarinnish chased away the memory and made an excuse to shut down their call.  He didn’t want to tell her what he saw.  He didn’t want to see it again himself.  Every fiber of his will said that this will not happen, but in his vision it did.  And his love was dead.  

Marisa asked, “What happened?”

“Oh. Nothing.” Tarinnish tried to come up with a good excuse for his shocked inhale of breath. “Ashley keeps turning up the environmental systems, complains she’s always cold.” He lied, but he just didn’t want her to know of the vision.  Then he had a thought, “Hey, next time you talk to Trent ask him if we can run in the scout together instead of Ashely and I.  This way we can rendezvous as few times out there in the wild new universe and him and Ashley can have the Hōkūle‘a.

There was an awkward silence.   

It took Tarinnish a few seconds to ask, “What?”

“The investigation on the malfunction of the gate came back.” Clarish said quietly.

“Oh?” Tarinnish said as if to say continue.

“It was Trent’s fault.” Clarish said.

“What?” Tarinnish just about jumped out of his seat.

“Its worse.” Clarish continued.

“What could be worse than that?” The hair on his neck started to rise. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the rest.

“She signed off.” Clarish said.

“Who signed off?” Tarinnish just wanted a straight answer and it was so unlike Clarish to be evasive.

“When Trent installed the secondary nanite infusion he didn’t follow the decon procedure and they were contaminated.” Clarish paused for a moment and then delivered the final blow, “Ashley signed off on the transfer.”

“Shiiittttt.” Tarinnish said.

“The court martial starts tomorrow.” Clarish delivered the final blow.

“Are you saying the Hōkūle‘a is without a captain right now?” Tarinnish asked.

“No.” was all Clarish said.

“So, who is our new captain?” Tarinnish already knew the answer.  And if he was right, there was no way to get her off the ship.  There was no way to keep her alive if his vision came true.

“I am.” Clarish said.

The alarm bells were screaming in his head.  He could not save her. He didn’t even hear her next sentence.

“Your the first officer.  Congratulations Lieutenant Commander.” She said with a sense of pride. 

She didn’t understand why he wasn’t excited.  He was now second in command of the mission and had authority in matters of interviewing new crew members.  He would also be in charge of all the scout missions, crew shifts and assignments.  It was a small crew, but a big responsibility.  

There was some small talk then Clarish asked, “Do you think we should bring three others with us.  Or stick with the A.I.s?” 

“A.I.s” Tarinnish said.  In the back of his mind he thought that if this mission was going to fail, at least the A.I. won’t feel the pain of death.

Captain Clarish asked, “What aren’t you saying here.” 

“It’s just a feeling.” Tarinnish said realizing that he was going to have to tell her something, it might as well be the truth.

 “Feelings are based on emotions and emotions are real, but not tangible.” Clarish was using her infallible logic.

Tarinnish went for broke, “If you stay on the Hōkūle‘a, you will die.” 

The silence was cold and the distance between them grew by a billion kilometers.  

“So, what is it.  You want command.” Clarish didn’t understand where his comment came from.

“No!” Tarinnish said.

“I have trained my whole life for this.  Everything I’ve done since middle school is for this.  And now it’s going to be better than I ever imagined as I’m not just a crew member.  I’m going to be the captain.” The hurt in her voice was clear, “You…” She paused not quite sure how she was going to say this. “You might be my husband, but this is what.. I live for.” 

And then she let if fly, “And no god in this universe is going to stop me. Not yours, my mother’s.  Not even Creatos.”  she was crying now.  

She was hurt and did not understand why he would say such a thing.  He was supposed to be on her side.  He was supposed to support her.

“I’m sorry.” was all Tarinnish could say.

There was no answer.

After a minute of silence Clarish said in a cold voice, “I will send you a copy of all the applicants, please review and send me your recommendations, Lieutenant Commander.

What else could he say.  He was four hundred and ninety seven million kilometers away. “Yes, Captain.”  

“Send your response to the quiver.  I’ll be aboard the Hōkūle‘a and supervising the construction of the gate.”  It was just a matter of statement not meant for comment.

But Tarinnish could not help himself, “And our child?”

“He will be born up there.” She said. 

That was it.  Other than official communications, there were no more personal calls between Commander Tarinnish and Captain Clarish.  

Ashley’s last official duty was to detonate the nuclear device that was attached to the coffin, as the procedure required two officers to complete the detonation.  Then she was relieved of duty.  This made it difficult for Tarinnish as she was not allowed at the controls.  Now he wished they had brought an A.I.

What was even more difficult was that Ashely was placed on suicide watch after being told of the Trent’s Death. Apparently, Captain Trent could not deal with the disgrace of being dismissed so close to a mission.  He committed suicide just one seventh after being discharged.  Tarinnish was hoping that someone would be nearby and could take Ashley back, but the only ship near them was going in the wrong direction.  So, they would have to stay the course and he hoped that he would not have to stop her from taking her life.  She mostly just stayed in her room.  She did wonder out once, completely naked.  She went and took a shower and then returned to her room.  The fact that she took a shower was good, but that she didn’t bother to cloth herself, well that wasn’t.  Tarinnish stayed in the cockpit and watched on the monitors.  She was still under suicide watch and he was obligated to keep an eye on her.  Even though he hated to see her like this.

About three and a half alunars Tarinnish received a message.  He had fallen asleep in the cockpit again when the message alert went off.  It was from a probe that was approaching from the stern.  It was to rendezvous with them. Apparently, Captain Clarish felt sorry for him and sent an A.I. to assist with the final leg of the mission.  Tarinnish responded and calculated that the probe would be off his starboard side in less than sixteen hours. 

The probe was attached to the starboard access port and the A.I. climbed out.  She introduced herself as T446877.  Tarinnish told her to link in and get the mission spects before taking her watch.  She complied and then reported to the bridge.  Once there, she said, “I have a personal message from the Captain.” 

Tarinnish thought it odd that a message would be relayed through this A.I.  

The A.I turned on the message.  Her voice turned into Clarish’s. “I know it’s been a while. So if you need to, please feel free to have relations with the T-model.  It’s why I sent this model instead of the G model.”  The voice stopped and the T446877 said, “Any instructions before I take the watch?”

“No.” Tarinnish was not sure how to take the message.  Was this Clarish’s way of saying that their marriage was over.  Or was she just looking out for him.  Maybe she was worried that Ashley would want such services from him.  No matter how you slice this one, it was awkward and was void of any messages of affection.  

“Please take the con.  I need some rest in a real bed.” Tarinnish got up and went to the commons.  He laid down and was asleep in seconds.  It was a restless sleep as so many issues were flying around in his head as he drifted off.  His marriage, the mission, his vision, and his wife’s declaration that she was going on this mission even if she had to defy God himself.

Ashley only came out one more time, again naked and again to take a shower and return to her room.  On the bright side, things weren’t getting worse, but nor were they getting better.  Tarinnish kept himself busy with some maintenance activities that went undone when he was the only crew member on board.  But even that only took a couple of periods to accomplish and he was back to being bored and worried about what was coming next.  

Tarinnish still debated on whether to tell Clarish, the captain about his vision and that he was convinced that it was a premonition of the future.  A future in which she is dead and if he interpreted the situation correctly, he would be stranded thousands of light years from anything.  That thought was sobering.  The idea of slowly dying as your food and water ran out.  No, that was not the way to die.

One question perplexed Tarinnish.  If he was given the vision as a warning, then he failed.  But if God had the ability to know the future, then he could not stop it.  So, why the warning.  If this nonlinear God had knowledge of all time and he was just a pawn, then why bother.  But if God is merciful then there should be a way to alter that reality to a more favorable outcome.  In the long run, whether it was a warning or a reality of their future, Tarinnish decided that he was going to be with her, wherever that was.  They would be together.  And in the interim he would beg for a solution to prevent the vision.   Truly that seemed to be his only choice he had.  He had made a vow to honor her and support her.  Anything else would undermine her and destroy what they had.  

With this new determination, Tarinnish started to fast and pray.  Pray for their mission to be cancelled or altered so they his vision would not come to pass.  This did not bring him peace.  It was obviously the wrong prayer.  He then switched to prayers of protection.  Again, no peace.  He pulled the small section of bible from his personal bag.  He would have to seek the ancient knowledge on what to pray. 

End of Chapter 8

Next Chapter 9

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

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R. A. Legg

    
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