Status: Back for the third time and not planning on leaving again. I'd say any people who have read it before have likely forgotten all about it, but in any case I want you to all know that I've revised most of the chapters and expanded some, as well as continuing to add more. ENJOY!
Arafura
Chapter 5 - Aurora
Lenae Betsun tore through space at speeds greater than light itself. As she neared her destination, the ship computer began the sequence to disable the faster-than-light hyperdrive. Unsure of what to call the remarkable device that they had invented, humanity had merely gone with a popular science-fiction term. The name wasn't important, however – the use was. The stars were no longer just for looking at and observing. The stars were, all of a sudden, within reach. Humanity could only expand so far, however, even despite its present size. For expansion the Goroesi first needed information and exploration. Adventurers full of wanderlust and ambition were all too common – like Lenae herself. Now she'd been contracted by an advanced research company to investigate a particularly anomalous nebula several systems away from documented space. The research reasons important to Lenae – she was just as, if not more curious than the scientists themselves. Irregular distortions in the nebula's light magnitude and electromagnetic emission gave her the impression of extraterrestrial interference. If she could discover another species the fame would be legendary.
Her father had always been the pragmatist, working as an independent trader and quietly making enough money to support his wife, son and daughter. When Lenae made the decision to go exploring, Gett Betsun merely grunted and shook his head. He was a straightforward businessman and so was his son, but Lenae had more of her mother's adventurous spirit, except it couldn't be quenched by the travel involved in mere trade. As soon as she had saved enough, she had bought a second-hand Magellan-class reconnaissance vessel. After a bit of tinkering and small-time trade runs to tie up some debts, Lenae had bid her family goodbye and left. She had made money where she could with passenger ferrying and small goods transport, using all time she could to explore. A high-pitched whine sounded to signal her imminent arrival and she drew her mind back to the task at hand.
Her ship entered the locale, trailing multicoloured vapours behind it from the hyperdrive exhausts. She marked the Terran Galactic Co-ordinates in her ship database and engaged the sensor array. With a pang of slight disappointment her ship did not detect any anomalous energy signatures or radiation sources. She knew not to give up that easily though. Lenae tenaciously accelerated her small scout ship towards the massive roiling nebula that swam before her eyes from blue, to indigo, to violet.
As the scanners continued to send out and receive waves of multiple lengths, a small buzzer sounded, for just a half-second.
There was another ship out there.
As soon as the tiny blip had registered on the zonescreen, however, it had vanished. Lenae worked the controls to try and get it to appear again, testing and focusing on different frequencies and wavelengths in desperation. Nothing. She checked the logs and found the time between the computer detecting the anomaly and it disappearing. Twenty-seven milliseconds. Before she could work out what that could possibly mean, the buzzer sounded again, but the object barely flashed on the zonescreen. Thirty-three milliseconds.
“What the-”
Something was coming out of the nebula field. Something huge.
The width of the ship that was facing her was estimated by the ship computer at eight hundred and fifty metres. Lenae stared dumbfounded for several seconds before scrambling to divert more power to the sensors and recordings, expanding the information intake and diverting power from her engines and weapon. The ship was about ten kilometres above the ecliptic from her, appearing to have exited the nebula pointing down, however it was levelling out as she gaped in awe.
An invisible shock wave physically shook her ship, carrying with it a blast of radiation that overloaded her sensors and caused some systems to short out. The ship continued leaving the nebula, finally levelling out eight kilometres above her.
It was over four kilometres long.
Her imaging equipment still worked – albeit badly – and she zoomed in as far as she possibly could. The computer verified that the hull design bore not even the slightest resemblance to anything that had ever been discovered in the history of mankind and the engines trailed an energy signature the computer could not distinguish.
A new species.
Lenae nearly leapt out of her seat with joy at her discovery, but as she inwardly celebrated, the ship started to glow. “Now what?” she thought incredulously. A giant flash of white light suddenly glowed like a tiny sun and completely overloaded her sensors, causing them to completely shut down. Lenae gasped and shielded her eyes with her arms in pain, temporarily blinded by the intensity of the light. As she blinked to regain her vision, the ship had gone without any trace.
The majority of her sensor panels were fried and steaming – nothing that an hour or two of work couldn't fix – but her ship's hard drive seemed intact and undamaged. She needed to get back but first she had to take a breath. Lenae sat back in her pilot's chair with a sigh.
“Wow.”
Her father had always been the pragmatist, working as an independent trader and quietly making enough money to support his wife, son and daughter. When Lenae made the decision to go exploring, Gett Betsun merely grunted and shook his head. He was a straightforward businessman and so was his son, but Lenae had more of her mother's adventurous spirit, except it couldn't be quenched by the travel involved in mere trade. As soon as she had saved enough, she had bought a second-hand Magellan-class reconnaissance vessel. After a bit of tinkering and small-time trade runs to tie up some debts, Lenae had bid her family goodbye and left. She had made money where she could with passenger ferrying and small goods transport, using all time she could to explore. A high-pitched whine sounded to signal her imminent arrival and she drew her mind back to the task at hand.
Her ship entered the locale, trailing multicoloured vapours behind it from the hyperdrive exhausts. She marked the Terran Galactic Co-ordinates in her ship database and engaged the sensor array. With a pang of slight disappointment her ship did not detect any anomalous energy signatures or radiation sources. She knew not to give up that easily though. Lenae tenaciously accelerated her small scout ship towards the massive roiling nebula that swam before her eyes from blue, to indigo, to violet.
As the scanners continued to send out and receive waves of multiple lengths, a small buzzer sounded, for just a half-second.
There was another ship out there.
As soon as the tiny blip had registered on the zonescreen, however, it had vanished. Lenae worked the controls to try and get it to appear again, testing and focusing on different frequencies and wavelengths in desperation. Nothing. She checked the logs and found the time between the computer detecting the anomaly and it disappearing. Twenty-seven milliseconds. Before she could work out what that could possibly mean, the buzzer sounded again, but the object barely flashed on the zonescreen. Thirty-three milliseconds.
“What the-”
Something was coming out of the nebula field. Something huge.
The width of the ship that was facing her was estimated by the ship computer at eight hundred and fifty metres. Lenae stared dumbfounded for several seconds before scrambling to divert more power to the sensors and recordings, expanding the information intake and diverting power from her engines and weapon. The ship was about ten kilometres above the ecliptic from her, appearing to have exited the nebula pointing down, however it was levelling out as she gaped in awe.
An invisible shock wave physically shook her ship, carrying with it a blast of radiation that overloaded her sensors and caused some systems to short out. The ship continued leaving the nebula, finally levelling out eight kilometres above her.
It was over four kilometres long.
Her imaging equipment still worked – albeit badly – and she zoomed in as far as she possibly could. The computer verified that the hull design bore not even the slightest resemblance to anything that had ever been discovered in the history of mankind and the engines trailed an energy signature the computer could not distinguish.
A new species.
Lenae nearly leapt out of her seat with joy at her discovery, but as she inwardly celebrated, the ship started to glow. “Now what?” she thought incredulously. A giant flash of white light suddenly glowed like a tiny sun and completely overloaded her sensors, causing them to completely shut down. Lenae gasped and shielded her eyes with her arms in pain, temporarily blinded by the intensity of the light. As she blinked to regain her vision, the ship had gone without any trace.
The majority of her sensor panels were fried and steaming – nothing that an hour or two of work couldn't fix – but her ship's hard drive seemed intact and undamaged. She needed to get back but first she had to take a breath. Lenae sat back in her pilot's chair with a sigh.
“Wow.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Chapter Five now!Note: I've merged the original chapters one and two together. I'm planning on writing longer chapters from now on, so enjoy!