Episode XVI
1162 Words
The situation was maddening.
This section of space was thinly instrumented, leaving little for ZyyXy to work with beyond what was contained in the original Anomaly Alert. ZyyXy only knew the point where the Sol Object had passed through the sensor net, its trajectory, its speed and its rate of acceleration. It could attempt to project a path and intercept, but such an approach assumed far too much to be effective. ZyyXy had been forced to go to the point of origination, parse the space-time data and construct a tracking model on the faster-than-light signature. It was an imperfect solution, but ZyyXy lacked an alternative.
ZyyXy followed its quarry. Lurching along the trail as it slipped between wormholes. It had been slow er at first, the time between each leap extended by the need to confirm that the Sol Object had not changed course. After the first set of jumps, ZyyXy became increasingly convinced that the Sol Object would not alter its trajectory. It plotted straight toward the small cluster of stars in close proximity to the Sol system, though the intent remained unclear.
In either case, the realization allowed ZyyXy to act with greater confidence, extending the length of the jumps in an effort to catch up.The Zix were somewhat inoculated from the vagaries of punching through the space-time continuum, though few, if any, species had attempted so many hops in so short of a time. The stress began to wear on ZyyXy, compounded by the odd dissonance within the tank due to the pressure exerted by the wormhole projector and the effort of single action.
Each jump seemed to affect the flows, creating a subtle resistance, a hesitation to abide by the commands. ZyyXy sensed the rebellion, but refused to succumb. If the flows would not obey, they would be forced to. ZyyXy inhaled great gouts of tank fluid and expelled it, washing away the micro-fluidics with brute force. There would be a price to pay for disrupting the ecosystem, but ZyyXy felt no remorse. Its perseverance manifested in a substantial reduction in the time between wormholes, allowing ZyyXy to cover more area.
The signature grew stronger with each leap, but as ZyyXy closed the distance on the Sol Object, so to did the object close the distance on the obstacles ahead. The Sol Object appeared to be attempting to slow its progress, but the decrease in speed was simply too small to alter the outcome.
Time had run out.
ZyyXy leapt forward.
---
The view screen flashed red, a proximity alert warning pulsing violently as the blinking dot of the UWS Alcubierre entered into the cluster of astral objects known as the Proxima Barrier. Kai wished it would be over quickly, that the crew and the galaxy beyond would not suffer as a result of his actions. But it may not be in the cards. Griggs had said they may even survive this, that they would continue on into the darkness of space knowing that they had unleashed a force that would scour their home from existence.
They would be the last of humanity. Would they simply give up? His eyes remained fixed on the view screen, though the fine men and women who served with him registered on the periphery of his vision. He could not imagine leading them through the darkness beyond Proxima.
Let it end.
His eyes squeezed shut, his mind seeking calm even as adrenaline flooded his system. He thought of the swirling ball of blue, white and green he had left behind. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
A minute passed.
Two.
"Sir?" Lieutenant Lee's uncertain voice broke through the silence. "Something's strange."
A giddy thought rolled up in Kai's mind. Strange? You're only just noticing Lieutenant Lee? Kai's eyes cracked open, and focused on the viewscreen. The proximity alert was gone. They widened now, shock registering. "What is going on Lieutenant."
"I...I don't know sir. We're...not where we are supposed to be." She flipped between various readouts on her console, but it quickly became apparent she was gleaning no new information from them. "All of the information is wrong."
"Don't get to the conclusion before you're got a hold on the situation Lieutenant. We're alive, the galaxy isn't on fire, let's call that a win for the time being and get to the bottom of this." Kai flicked the latch on his restraining harness and stood up from his chair, making his way over to the Lieutenant's console. He leaned forward, his head coming down beside the Lieutenant's. It had been some time since he'd manned the helm, but it looked largely the same. "Now, walk me through what you're seeing."
She pulled up the navigation readout, "We're pulling smear data as quickly as we can, but it's corrupted." She pulled up a small window showing a variety of lines. They pulsed and spiked with regularity. "See how it repeats?" She pointed to a series of valleys and peaks and then to another series further down the chart. "That can't happen."
Kai squinted, "Explain."
"Each star and its position gives a unique smear as we pass it." She slowly drew her finger along the line, showing the peak of a red line, "This is us passing by a red dwarf." She skipped forward, and pointed at another red line as it moved toward a peak. "According to this, we are passing the same red dwarf."
"Assuming it is true, where are we?"
She turned and looked up at him, wetting her lips before continuing, "Where we were two days ago."
Kai jolted upright, tapping the comms relay into the medical bay, "Griggs, get me Griggs."
"He is still convalescing, he needs more time to recover," Chief Medical Officer Kate Lai replied, the stern tone making it clear she felt little compunction about resisting Kai's demand.
"Doctor, then I've got exactly what he needs."
A stony silence greeted him for a few seconds. "What?"
"More time."
---
ZyyXy was satisfied with the outcome. It was a Species First, no other member of the Zix had saved the galaxy before. Perhaps it was even a Combine First. More importantly, it was a justification for the actions it had taken. The Zix placed the means before the ends, a mistake. When the outcome was suitably important, the means must be whatever were required to secure the right one.
The Zix had been saved by the thing they had feared most: a rogue tank singleton. Even though there could be no going back, ZyyXy longed to know what the consensus would be on the matter. No shortage of Lefts would shrivel themselves dry at the very thought of embracing ZyyXy's actions.
For now, ZyyXy would need to prepare the next course of action. There was much to do before the Sol Object returned to ZyyXy's location and it was only just beginning to grasp the ramifications of revelations before it. The moment to gather data before the Sol Object had slipped into the wormhole had been brief but fruitful. The Sol Object was not a weapon, or, if it was, it was more than a weapon.
A ship.
With inhabitants.
Had the Divinity Angelysia had returned?
- Writer
