I don't want to write this chapter, but I have to: in order for the story to make any sense at the end, certain events have to happen, regardless of how we feel.
Echoes of future past, part 33
In the end, the Free Vacuum Energy Generator/Bomb was a bit of a dud.
For reasons no one would ever understand, it only released 50% of its maximum potential energy release. That said, considering the maximum amount of energy it as capable of, 50% was still on a par with a Nietzschean Maximum-charge, or some similar device when it came to sheer destructive power.
In a micro-second, everything within 1000-meters of the bomb was reduced to component atoms as a churning ball of plasma expanded, fuelled by the release of energy generated when the bomb tore a hole in the very fabric of the universe, connecting the parallel realities of normal space and slipstream.
The plasma sphere kept expanding, hungry for more fuel.
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Tyr saw the red warning light start to flash, and checked the down-view scanner: the glowing ball of plasma was making its way up chasm after the Maru. Reacting instinctively, he pulled back on the controls, raising the ship's nose, and pointing its main drive towards the maelstrom of raw energy. He pulled the throttle all the way back, sending the cargo ship upwards like a firework.
Despite Tyr's efforts, the glowing wall of energy started to gain on the Maru as the Nietzschean jinxed left and right, dodging outcroppings of rock and falling derbies shaken loss by the planet-wide earthquake the bomb had coursed. The shaking was so violent that the AG field was un-able to keep us, and the others found themselves thrown about like rag-dolls as Tyr tried to get them to safety.
Dylan wedged himself between a bunk and two walls, holding a helpless and dying Rommie tight as Trance managed to strap herself down into one of the galley seats. Rommie was truly scared: for the first time in her life, she was totally and completely helpless. True, she felt safer being in Dylan's arm, but to a warship, that is a poor substitute for a body that could lift a metric tonne.
Trance closed her eyes tightly and tried to concentrate on the perfect possible future she had always worked for: despite all that had happened, and all that could happen, there was a good chance that this time she could pull them all through. One thing bugged her though: how had the Spirit of the Abyss managed to get to the landing site, and where had it gotten a Gauss Gun capable of hurting Rommie from?
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Viewed from the outside, the world that contained the Point Singularity Projector seemed to glow slightly: continent sized cracks appeared in its surface, the blinding glow of the plasma sphere putting the captive miniature sun in the World Ship's center to shame. The Point Singularity Projector seemed to melt slightly from the inside, then collapsed under it's own wait as the AG fields that kept it in place where destroyed, vaporised by the plasma.
A closer observer would have see the cargo ship Eureka Maru blast clear of a collapsing cavern like a demon emerging from the fires of hell. The deep cavern it had emerged from started to collapse in on its self, but the outer reaches of the plasma sphere reached it first, vaporising the last of the rock, turning the planet into a short-lived star. Travelling at a speed that was approaching 50% of the speed of light, the Maru escaped the hellish temperatures of the plasma, but not un-touched.
Just as Tyr was taking the ship into Slipstream, a tendril of energy whipped out from the plasma sphere and struck the rear of the ship, sending it tumbling through slipstream, lost and beyond control.
The Plasma sphere, starved of fuel, began to dissipate.
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Dylan came too an hour later, the side of his head bleeding where it had been smashed against the wall with enough force to knock him out. Trance sat slumped in her chair, seemingly out-cold. He could see Tyr's arm hang limply down the side of the pilots seat, and the stars outside the view port spun-round slowly. Dylan looked down at the figure lying limply in his arms, "Rommie?"
The androids eyes flickered slightly, her voice low, "Did we do it, did we destroy the Point Singularity Projector? Did we win?" Dylan smiled slightly, brushing a few stray hairs way from her face, "Yes my love, we did it, we won." Rommie's smiled weakly, "Good. Dylan, I feel so cold." Dylan wrapped his arms around her even tighter, "Stay with me: I need you. I love you!" Rommie smiled, "I love you t…"
Her eyes closed.
To Be Continued.
