Chapter Three - The Color of Fate

"Good morning, gentlemen, I trust you found this outpost without harassment?"

"Show us the drive, Fyrgoff, we don't have much time here."

Fyrgoff's eyes narrowed. Typical Argon businessmen, they have nothing on their minds but to see my work. If it weren't for my device they would look at me in the eyes as if they were stationed behind a turret. Wouldn't hurt them to be a bit more kind in my presence, I'm sure.

Ti'mos walked up and I handed him the checklist. Quickly scanning the items I had noted for his approval for launch, he looked up and nodded, "Yes, these are minor problems; the launch will be as it was yesterday."

One of the gentlemen loudly cleared his throat and I sighed, "Yes, yes, gentlemen. Be a bit more patient; things have been hectic this week and I have not had the time to clear all of the systems before your prompt arrival."

"Hurry it up then, Fyrgoff. If you're not ready in the next-" the leader paused to check his watch, "Ten mizuras, we're leaving and heading back to the Argon One; produce your evidence."

"Very well then. Ti'mos." I called over to the Boron and he looked up to me in surprise, he shook his head 'no.' Furrowing my brows I stated commandingly to him, "Warm the Enseiken Drive and purge the Vents. We're going to do an immediate test."

His eyes widened and he barely stopped himself from stating that it would be dangerous. "Do it, Tim'os." He isn't stupid. He knows that the moment I climb into that cockpit I could be climbing into my grave. Warming the drive like that could cause numerous inter-spacial instabilities; instabilities that could rip my ship apart and turn me into hydrogen atoms, one at a time.

Ti'mos closed his eyes in a silent prayer and pressed the POSS (Pre-Operation Start-up Sequence) button. The engine burst into life as the vents began to vent the coolant that would be required to maintain the constant low temperatures the engine needed to run efficiently. As the internal rotors re-aligned and the bearings found their marks there was a loud whining that seemed to drown the room with the horrible noise. Yesterday everyone had been wearing auralsets, devices that were developed early in the Jumpdrive Era which protected the ears of the pilot from the high-pitched whine of the engine, and today I'm sure everyone in the bay wish they had put on a pair.

I nodded my thanks to him and he waved to me goodbye. Climbing into the cockpit, I shouted to the gentlemen over the whine of the engine, "The whining is only temporary gentlemen, perfectly normal like a Jumpdrive, but a bit louder as you might observe."

One of the scientists that came with the Argon Military envoy yelled back, "Just how many Joules are you using in there anyway?"

Taking my eyes off the displays for a second I looked at him and yelled, "Just over nine hundred; an enermous burst since we started it up all of a sudden."

"Nine-hundred Joules you say!"

I nodded and turned my attention back to the cockpit and replied once more, "And seven megawatts, but this is only a prototype, sir, and further models will be developed I'm sure to address that problem."

Punching in the program lists that Ti'mos had told me to start up in sequence the day before, I saw the cockpit light up faithfully. We had salvaged parts of it from the command console of the Pandora in the last war, a constant reminder to me of what Enseiken had sacrificed to continue our lives.

Ti'mos came over the cockpit speakers faintly, just barely audible over the engine whine, "Your engine spectrometer is reading various inconsistencies in the sample we loaded today! Should we abort the test? It's around four percent degraded, sir!"

I shook my head, "No! It's now or never, and I intend it to be now if that engine keeps running!"

"Sir! Now I'm getting a G-LOC (Gravity-Lock Observation Computer) error; with that system down we wont know how hot the E-Drive (Enseiken Drive) is running and it could go far beyond recommended levels!"

"Ti'mos!" I yelled before any other errors could cut in, "I'm reading that the engine is forty-percent charged, am I right?"

"Yes, sir. The remaining spectrometers are indicating that level of radioactive charge but-"

"Ti'mos, you keep that engine running. Close down your terminal and just let this bird fly; I have faith in this engine, enough faith to know that it'll get me where I'm going. We've spent too long on this to quit now for a few system errors; we're not aborting."

A long hush came over the comm-link as the engine become even more hot, my in-cockpit spectrometer read the engine's preparations at seventy percent now. Then I heard a whine over the speakers and Ti'mos spoke again, "The console's shut down. As soon as you close your cockpit, I will have no control over the ship. ... Good luck sir."

I looked back to the glass window which Ti'mos looked at me behind with sorrowful eyes. "If we don't see each other again, you've been a damn good scientist, and a good friend to me Ti'mos; don't ever forget that."

He nodded and I looked to the representatives, "Gentlemen, we're about to make history. I'm beginning the launch sequence."

I pressed the button and the engine kicked into overdrive. The walls screeched again and the world began to bend around me. My head suddenly felt light and everything outside the cockpit seemed to darken. Gritting my teeth I read the engine's percentage of readiness.

70...80...85...90...85...40...

I kicked the console, "Don't you dare!"

The engine roared again and the percentage rose faster than ever before.

50...70...90...95...98...

The walls seemed to rip as I screamed. The world smashed into redness and I felt the ship ripping apart; part by part.

Then, in the darkness I heard the faint sound that I logned to hear, "Jump completed. Target desstination has been reached."

Smiling, I slumped against the seat of the ship and happily dozed into the long darkness.