It never came. One minute they where being lead towards the wall at a faster speed then they would have liked and the next they where floating silently through space. They where all speechless. The silence was broken by Chan
"Mikol, if this is the afterlife I'm going to. . ." But she was interrupted before she could finish.
"Was the M.D. transmission successful sir?" It was a good thing that Tech had turned off the com because hearing three people laughing for joy would have raised a few eyebrows. "Sir? Sir, are you alright?" Tech signaled for everyone to quiet down as he turned the com back on.
"The M.D. transmission was successful. All lights are green to commence the lesson."
"Vary well sir. You will notice the circular pad in front of you. That is the rudder. When you touch any part of it the ship will respond and turn in that direction. Just to the right of that is a vertical strip. By sliding you finger up and down that strip you can control the sub-light speed of the ship, from full throttle to full reverse. There are two panels on your left. The first one is for the mechanical systems on the shuttle and the one next to it is for environmental conditions. On the right of the central panel are two more. One for communications, as I'm sure you already know, and beside that is one for the weapons."
"I have just one question, what about this big terminal on the left side of the cabin?"
"Ah, that is the most advanced pro-light drive known to man. Instead of having to enter sting after string of equations we have refined it to the point where you simply pick a place on a starchart and it will take you there. The only problem with this is that a rather big computer is required for the calculations."
"And how far could this ship go before it needs refueling?"
"Pretty much as far as you could want to take it sir."
"Right. I think I'll just take it around for a spin."
"Don't forget about the L-variance wall sir."
"Excuse me?"
"We are still traveling at pro-light speed sir. If you where to traverse the Light-variance wall you would revert back to sub-light speed so quickly that there wouldn't be enough of your ship left to fill a waste bucket sir."
"Thanks for the reminder. It just slipped my mind." Tech turned off the com system and looked at Mikol. "Do any of you have piloting experience?" They both shock their heads." Looks like I'll be taking that position then. Mikol, would you man the pro-light unit please? Let's get out of here."
"I think you're forgetting one small thing."
"What's that Chan?" She didn't say anything, she simply pointed at the unconscious corpril laying at their feet." That could be a problem." Mikol's eyes lit up as he thought of an idea.
"Tech, ask them if there is a M.D. unit onboard. But first cut the engines so that we're drifting towards the L-variance wall. Say that the main consol blew up in your face and that you need to abandon ship."
"This better work." He turned the com back on. "Is there a M.D. unit onboard the shuttle?" His voice was raspy and sounded remarkably like he was in true pain.
"Are you alright sir?"
"The main consol exploded right in front of me and I no longer have control." The response was quick but panicked.
"Um. . .the M.D. unit is right across from the pro-light terminal. Simply tell it to take you to deck ten section twelve. That's the sickbay."
"Right, this is corpril Balding abandoning ship." Tech finished with a tone so realistic that Mikol thought that they where actually in trouble for a second.
"That was. . .beautiful." Said Chan as she whipped an imaginary tear from her eye. Tech cheeks turned a little red.
"Lets just concentrate on getting out of here, right?"
"Sure, sure. You want to get the M.D. going?"
"Just give me a second." He walked off toward the terminal. Chan turned to Mikol. "Can you give me a hand with him?" Pointing to the real corpril Balding. Mikol moved over and lifted up his arms as Chan went for his feet. They lifted him up and moved him over to the M.D. unit. While they where doing that Tech had started up a conversation with the computer.
"Computer. Activate the M.D. unit."
"M.D. unit activated."
"Computer. Set the coordinates for the U.E. Guardian, deck ten section twelve." A doorframe emerged from the wall and angled itself sightly clockwise so it would match with it's counterpart back on the ship.
"Coordinates set." Tech turned around.
"We're already over here." "Now get over to the pro-light system and find Simili on those startcharts."
"Ah, the curse of a good reputation." Said Tech as he walked off to the other side of the shuttle.
"Computer. How much time before we hit the L-variance wall?"
"There is approximately two minutes before the shuttle comes into contact with the L-variance wall."
"We need that course in less then two minutes Tech."
"Great, no pressure then."
"Lets get rid of this extra baggage anyway."
"Right, one, two, three." On the count of three they tossed Corpril Balding through the M.D. doorway. As expected he disappeared as soon as he hit the threshold.
"Computer. How much time now?"
"One minute left until impact."
"You hear that Tech?"
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Warning, warning. Proximity alert to dangerous object. Course change is strongly suggested."
"Tech. . ."
"Contact in twenty seconds. Course change is strongly suggested."
"One more second. . ."
"If we get through this alive Tech, I'll do anything that you want."
"Could you just leave me alone? This is hard enough without you talking."
"Contact in ten seconds."
"Almost there. . ."
"Five, four, three. . ."
"Engaging pro-light. . ."
". . .two. . ."
". . .drive now."
". . .one."
The night shift was almost over on the bridge and admril Narvoc was looking foreword to relaxing in his quarters. In fact he would be glad when this whole thing was over. Yes, the sooner he dropped off these kids the better. Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a voice.
"Admril, admril sir." Narvoc looked down into the pit. There was a young technical private standing at a communications consol. He had removed his headset.
"Yes private?"
"Corpril Balding has been forced to abandon ship sir. He has been transmitted to the main sickbay however he is currently unconscious."
"And his ship?"
"The shuttle has disappeared. It seems that it came into contact with the L-variance wall."
"Damn. Does that fool have any idea what that shuttle was worth?"
"Apparently not sir."
"Shut up private."
"Yes sir." The admril was not in a good mood. The clock clicked to the sixth hour. Thank the maker that this shift was over.
"Contact me when the corpril wakes up. I'll debrief him myself."
"Yes sir."
"Dismissed." The private saluted, sat down and put his headset back on. As the admril walked to his quarters he cursed under his breath." I'm surrounded by incompetence.
The trio opened their eyes at the same time. They where alive. Mikol looked out the viewport but all he could see was black.
"Computer. are we at prolight speed?"
"Affirmative."
"Computer. Hoe much time before we reach Simili?"
"We will reach the planet Simili in eleven hours and six minutes." Tech looked surprised at this response.
"We where only on the Guardian for about two hours. That ship must have one hell of a prolight drive." Chan just yawned at this information.
"All I know is that I've been awake for more hours then I care to be. And I don't know about you two but my adrenalin rush has just about warn off."
"Good idea, we don't know what we're going to find when we arrive at Simili so we should get our rest now, while we can." They all walked back towards the cramped sleeping quarters .There where four beds, two bunks high, one across from the other. There was also a small path between the two, so small that only one person could occupy it at a time. Never the less they all slept soundly. Before they went to sleep Mikol had set the ship's alarm to wake them before they arrived.
Mikol awoke to a siren blaring in his ears. He was still in the shuttle but neither Chan nor tech where with him. They must already be in the cockpit he thought as he rose from his bunk and headed down the corridor. To his surprise there was no one there.
"Computer. Where are Chan and Tech?" There was no response. "Computer. Acknowledge." Still no answer from the computer. What the hell was going on? He looked out the viewport and could see the stars. That means they weren't at prolight anymore. Suddenly the stars formed a face. It was the admril.
"I will find you Mikoleth. All you friends will betray you and then, when you are alone, I will find you." As he stopped talking the stars started to shift. Vary slowly a new face took the place of the admril. Suddenly he realized what was happening. It was his face being formed. Why his face? But as the stars slowed down, and finally stopped, he could see that face was ever so slightly different the his. It looked older, more mature. Could this be him in the future? Before he could give it anymore thought the stars exploded in a furry of bright light. He had to close his eyes to shield them from the light. It lasted only a few seconds. Once he could tell that the light had died down he opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the bunk above his own.
A dream, it had all been a dream. But what could it mean? He looked across at the other bunk. There was Chan, sleeping soundly. He just looked at her for a while. How could she betray him? They'd been friends for as long as he could remember. More then friends even. In fact now that he knew the truth about his mother she was the only one that he felt he could trust.
"The shuttle will be exiting prolight velocity in approximately five minutes. All ship crew should report to the cockpit immediately." Mikol got up and headed to the bow with Chan and Tech. They both seemed much more refreshed then before they went to sleep. He, however, wasn't felling that much better. Should he tell the others about his dream? Or was it a dream? It seemed so real. It must have been a vision. What good could come of telling them? No, this would be his secret.
"How was your sleep?" Mikol was just trying to start up a conversation."
"Mine was good."
"Can't complain."
"Good. Once we get there what should we do?"
"Well, I'd like to visit my family, tell them what's happened and that I'll be gone for a while."
"Is that really a good idea?" That stopped Tech dead in his tracks. He looked at Chan.
"What are you talking about? Why shouldn't we see our family?"
"What if they've sent a message ahead of us and there's a legion of guards at each of our houses? Plus if they don't know anything they can tell anyone anything."
"We could simply leave them a message by vidphone." She looked as if she was going to say more but she was interrupted by the computer.
"Reverting to sublight speed in T-10 seconds, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Shuttle is now traveling at one tenth the speed of light." As the L-variance wall disintegrated they could see lights start to appear. The first of witch was the planet Simili and it's three moons. Only two of them where visible at the moment but Mikol didn't doubt that the other was still there. And there was Simili's only space station. Commonly known as moon four.
"Set us a course for moon four."
"Sure. What are we going to do there?"
"I figure that we'll dock the shuttle and find some transportation down to the surface." Their conversation was cut short.
"Attention U.E. shuttle. You are entering the Similarian alliance's control zone. We have renounced our membership from the United Earth confederation. If you do not revers course it will be regarded as a hostile act and we will open fire. You have one minute to respond."
"Just when I thought things where looking up." The smile on Tech's face soon vanished after being on the receiving end of the palm of Chan's hand and one Mikol's glares. How where three kids, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, explain that they where running from the military. Oh, and not to mention that they were an evolved form of humanity.
"Unidentified shuttle. Explain your presence or we will shoot you out of the sky."