The World Of Alcubierre

Episode III

Xy returned to its sub-float, worn and exhausted from the frenzy of the Zix Moot. Even Zyy was worse for wear, it floated quietly on the far side of the tank its cilia drooping and lifeless. Both were observation purpose-specializations, making neither particularly well suited for the rigors main-tank life, to say nothing of the demands a Moot placed upon to participants. Xy would be quite content to never leave its sub-float for the remainder of its existence, though the conclusion of the Zix Moot made that quite impossible.

Consensus had been achieved. For the first time in over a thousand years, the Zix Collective would make contact with the Pan-Universia Combine. It had been a rare moment of unity amongst the Zix, with all of the carefully tended dividers within the species -- leftight, purpose-specialization, caste-hierarchy -- being bridged almost immediately. Never before had an agreement been reached so quickly. Nor was there precedent for the depth of alignment. Indeed, the Zix spoke with almost one voice on the matter, with very few of the typical disagreement addenda commonplace to any macro consensus.

A diplomatic mission to Halcyon, the bureaucratic seat of Pan-Universia, would be sent, carrying word of the Universal First. The confluence of events was simply too great to ignore. A Universal First was, naturally, cause for excitement, even among the most sober of Lefts, but the nature of the First was of particular interest. It was quite unimaginable that the ten light barrier might be breached, and even more unfathomable by such an extent. Any sensible species would elect for wormhole bores before attempting such insanity. It was immediately classified as a Category Zero First, an exceedingly rare appellation reserved only for Firsts with the potential to create a Universal Last.

The entire matter was complicated by the involvement of the Divinity Angelysia, the long absent progenitors of substantial wonders and chaos across the universe. Zix records indicated that the Divinity Angelysia's experiments had generated no less than thirteen Category Zero's, eight of which had resulted in fantastic destruction before they were brought under control. That Project Sol had been entirely silent before generating such float-boiling First was only more cause for concern.

Xy quite agreed with all of these conclusions, and had welcomed the consensus on these points. It had only entered into disagreement with respect to the requirement that it must accompany the diplomatic mission to Halcyon. It had stopped short of entering a disagreement addendum on the matter, but a decidedly non-Left portion of it had wanted to.

Zyy floated near, a single cilia reaching out to establish a though thread. Despite the desire for isolation, Xy accepted.

Zyy was torn. The thirst for adventure endemic to Rights warred with the desire for peace and quiet observation purpose-specializations naturally sought. Xy shared its own worries and concerns, which only increased as their sub-float groaned as it was disentangled from the main-float. The liquid inside shifted and swirled as the thrust created a temporary gravity, a disconcerting experience for both Xy and Zyy.

The wormhole awaited.

Soon, they would be in Halcyon.

---

Admiral Levinson mulled over Grigg's assessment, flexing his hand and letting his eyes casually settle on the dent in the adamantine steel. "Any idea why my hand isn't broken in a million pieces?"

Jack Griggs nodded, "It looks like the acting object does not receive equal reactive force. Essentially, there's an addendum to the law of intertia: an object in motion tends to stay in motion and utterly obliterate the object at rest."

"Very colorful Jack. Well, let's just hope we're the ones doing the punching out here."

"Yes Sir, I suggest we run a diagnost--" Jack was cut off and was thrown to the ground as the UWS Alcubierre groaned and then lurched to the side.

Admiral Levinson found his feet first, "Red Alert! All crew to stations!" he called out, already charging out of the conference room and into the adjoining bridge. The lights of bridge shifted to a glowing crimson as warning notifications populated the consoles across the command pods. "What's the status Lee?" Griggs and his subordinates clambered out after, making their way to the science pod.

Lee's fingers were flying across the console, navigating through the warning signs as she gathered up as much information as she could muster. "Sir, we're losing the bubble, I'm getting multiple Oranges coming up on engine sensors." Lee replied, managing a steady tone amidst the chaos.

"Bridge to engineering." A beep sounded, indicating that the line had been opened. "What the hell is going on down there Benson? It's lighting up like Christmas up here." Levinson asked, his teeth gritting as the Alcubierre jolted to the side again.

"Looking into it Admiral. Initial reports show we've got a fracture on Containment-C, looks like the pulse injector shot right through the damn thing." There was a series of curse words as the ship groaned and then slammed the crew in a new direction. "Going to lose the bubble if we can't get it back up."

Admiral Levinson furrowed his brow, "Shot through? The containment cells are rated for fifty times tolerance--"

"Sir, they're energy to force based." Science Officer Griggs cut in, his face grim. "Right now they're hitting outside the tolerance, pulverizing the drive. We need to drop the bubble now."

Lieutenant Lee turned and looked back at Griggs, her face aghast. Levinson did not blame her, dropping the bubble without decelerating first was a death wish. The bubble placed them outside of normal space-time, protecting them from the sort of interactions that might prove fatal. Namely collisions. A single space pebble and the UWS Alcubierre would be rubble strewn out across light years. "Any other option Griggs? You know what popping it now will do."

Griggs shook his head in the negative, "The entire engine was built around assumptions that don't hold true any more. We're lucky we got off with a single fracture, it could have just as easily been the ship being ripped apart. We keep the bubble, we're dead for sure."

Levinson closed his eyes for a moment, looking for another way out. The pause was rewarded with another groan and a series of flashing alerts. "All right, drop the bubble Lieutenant. Pull the forward blast shields up to maximum, and full reverse QVT. Maybe we'll slow down before we get obliterated."

Lee nodded, her face pale as she entered the commands. The viewport shifted from a dull grey haze to a haze of smeared lines, the light from stars distorted by their speed.

"How long until we're sub-c Lee?"

"At maximum QVT, two months, thirteen days, four hour--"

"I don't need the minutes Lieutenant," Levinson turned to look at Griggs, "So we've got seventy five days without the bubble protecting us? How bad is it looking?"

"Not bad at all Admiral. We're the object in motion." Griggs flashed a grin, "I just hope for the universe's sake nothing gets in our way."