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 7 - Gap or Space?
The news was hardly the 'storm' that she had been anticipating. No headlines, no “ground-breaking discovery of intelligent alien life.” Just a payment and thank you. It was just a job, after all, but Lenae's curiosity had been aroused and she couldn't put it out of her head. The payment was significant, though, once the research company analysed the data and found it to be truly intriguing. Or maybe they thought that she was crazy and wanted her to stay away. She pondered a thousand things as she lay in her rented hotel room at a seedy establishment known as the 'Pit Stop,' due to the fact that it was the last semi-civilised region before the lawless infinity that was The Fringe. She was desperately hoping to receive a follow-up mission and so had remained in the area for a while longer.
“Tch. That's it.” Three days and nothing. She jumped up and made for the door, pausing only to grab her day bag. Just as she did, however, her ship-link computer jingled a short tune to announce a message. Feeling a sudden rush of excitement, she hastily unbuckled the device's case and read the message. She jumped in the air and whooped for joy
“A follow up!”
Lenae wasted no time in running out of the room and boarding her ship. As soon as she was able to, she pointed towards The Fringe and was sucked into space by her hyperdrive. She was back again. This time she wouldn't be scared off by some giant alien vessel. This time she'd scan everything properly. According to the researchers, there were gaps in her scan data of the nebula itself, so she powered up her scanning systems, which were slow to react from readjusting after several hours of light speed travel. She half-expected to something within the first few minutes of jumping in, like last time, but she knew better than to be disappointed when nothing did.
As she proceeded through the scanning rituals, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Undaunted, she proceeded towards several asteroids on the edge of the nebula itself, moving at an eager yet cautious pace. She hummed to herself with anticipation as she scanned the first of the rocky shapes.
It wasn't there. Neither was the next one. Or the next one. Or...wait. The fourth asteroid she scanned was partially visible to her scanners. The detail her instruments received faded away as they scanned closer to the nebula-side.
“Of course,” she mused. The readings her ship had received before had shown the same thing but the scientists had written it off as sensor damage. Turning her sensors towards the centre of the nebula properly for the first time caused an involuntary gasp. The nebula wasn't there either. Neither was the interstellar medium that pervaded all of the distance between stars.
There was a hole in space. All of her knowledge of Astronomy and Cosmology told her that was impossible. She could SEE that it was impossible. The nebula was there, a bright multicoloured morass of swirling gases and ionic discharges. Lenae opened up her ship computer and recorded the information to herself.
“I've arrived at the same nebula that the researchers asked me to survey before and it's like it isn't there,” she swallowed down a knot of fear and continued, “I can see it with my own two eyes but none of my scanning equipment can detect it, so I'm going to try a digital image...” a few taps and she was looking at an empty void in space like any other, causing her to curse, “See, there's nothing there, but I can see the nebula with my own eyes. I'm going to investigate further. Lenae Betsun out.”
Just as she tried to do so, however, a small metallic dart shot out of the nebula in front of her, trailing a white stream of material that hurt Lenae's eyes. The object vanished in a flash, almost as quickly as it had appeared, in the same manner as the giant vessel she had seen before, albeit smaller. Her ship was unaffected, but she had captured the unknown vessel on her visual recorder. She looked up again at the dissipating white stream and then at her scanners, registering it as molten metal, then looked at the nebula again.
“Screw this,” she whispered. With that, she jumped back the way she came.
“Tch. That's it.” Three days and nothing. She jumped up and made for the door, pausing only to grab her day bag. Just as she did, however, her ship-link computer jingled a short tune to announce a message. Feeling a sudden rush of excitement, she hastily unbuckled the device's case and read the message. She jumped in the air and whooped for joy
“A follow up!”
Lenae wasted no time in running out of the room and boarding her ship. As soon as she was able to, she pointed towards The Fringe and was sucked into space by her hyperdrive. She was back again. This time she wouldn't be scared off by some giant alien vessel. This time she'd scan everything properly. According to the researchers, there were gaps in her scan data of the nebula itself, so she powered up her scanning systems, which were slow to react from readjusting after several hours of light speed travel. She half-expected to something within the first few minutes of jumping in, like last time, but she knew better than to be disappointed when nothing did.
As she proceeded through the scanning rituals, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Undaunted, she proceeded towards several asteroids on the edge of the nebula itself, moving at an eager yet cautious pace. She hummed to herself with anticipation as she scanned the first of the rocky shapes.
It wasn't there. Neither was the next one. Or the next one. Or...wait. The fourth asteroid she scanned was partially visible to her scanners. The detail her instruments received faded away as they scanned closer to the nebula-side.
“Of course,” she mused. The readings her ship had received before had shown the same thing but the scientists had written it off as sensor damage. Turning her sensors towards the centre of the nebula properly for the first time caused an involuntary gasp. The nebula wasn't there either. Neither was the interstellar medium that pervaded all of the distance between stars.
There was a hole in space. All of her knowledge of Astronomy and Cosmology told her that was impossible. She could SEE that it was impossible. The nebula was there, a bright multicoloured morass of swirling gases and ionic discharges. Lenae opened up her ship computer and recorded the information to herself.
“I've arrived at the same nebula that the researchers asked me to survey before and it's like it isn't there,” she swallowed down a knot of fear and continued, “I can see it with my own two eyes but none of my scanning equipment can detect it, so I'm going to try a digital image...” a few taps and she was looking at an empty void in space like any other, causing her to curse, “See, there's nothing there, but I can see the nebula with my own eyes. I'm going to investigate further. Lenae Betsun out.”
Just as she tried to do so, however, a small metallic dart shot out of the nebula in front of her, trailing a white stream of material that hurt Lenae's eyes. The object vanished in a flash, almost as quickly as it had appeared, in the same manner as the giant vessel she had seen before, albeit smaller. Her ship was unaffected, but she had captured the unknown vessel on her visual recorder. She looked up again at the dissipating white stream and then at her scanners, registering it as molten metal, then looked at the nebula again.
“Screw this,” she whispered. With that, she jumped back the way she came.
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I know what you might be thinking: Two chapters in the same night? Yeah, I'm REALLY back, so tell me what you think or comment about any errors I might have made.OR... Subscribe if by some weird chance it is far better than you thought it'd be!