Children of the Old Star (22 page)

The captain took a deep breath. “Could you mark the jump nodes for me, Simon?"

"No problem, Skipper,” said Yermakov with a sniffle.

Blue dots appeared across the yellow fabric at the points where the ripples met. Those were the points where one could enter fourth dimensional reality. The thing that caught the captain's attention most, though, was that some of the nodes appeared to occur where there was no intersection. “What are these nodes?” asked Ellis, pointing to one of the points that seemed to stand alone.

"Those?” mused Peters. “All the points there are mapped nodes. Some appear in the middle of nowhere. They seem to be transient."

"What do you mean transient?” asked Ellis as he emerged from the hologram.

"They move around. Sometimes they appear in star systems. Other times, we guess they're in deep space. No one who has tried to see where those go has ever returned.” Peters turned her attention to her work.

"In the Academy, I was told there were no deep space jump points. All nodes were near stars.” The captain's eyebrows came together.

"The military tells you what it wants you to know,” said Natalie Papadraxis, her gaze growing frighteningly clear.

Ellis tugged on his beard, longing for his pipe. “Why wouldn't they tell us about deep space jump points?"

"The military doesn't have that much money,” explained Natalie. “No one wants a bored ship captain to take an expensive ship through an uncharted node and vanish forever."

Ellis frowned. During his days as a ship captain, he had been so busy that it would be hard to imagine being bored enough to do anything so foolhardy. “How long until we reach the jump point for Zahar?"

"About twenty minutes, sir,” reported Peters.

"I'll be in my office. Let me know when we're ready to jump.” With that Ellis returned his hands behind his back and stalked off the command deck.

Clyde McClintlock sat in his office trying to concentrate on the menu for the night. The rolling motion of the ship made him vaguely nauseous and he fought to keep his mind on his work. Every time he looked at the listings of food, though, he felt his stomach turn again.

"For a Navy guy, you look awfully green around the gills,” came the voice of his assistant, Morganna.

"Hi,” said Clyde, meekly. “Navy ships don't rock like this. In fact, I've been on ocean going ships that made me less seasick. What's going on?"

"It's the ship,” explained Morganna. She stepped in the room and pulled up a stool. “They say it's the way it senses gravity waves. Every jump point to another star in the galaxy makes the ship bounce like that."

"Am I the only one aboard that's affected like this?” Clyde took a deep breath, trying to keep his lunch down.

"Most of the crew gets hit at one time or another. Most get over it quickly.” Morganna leaned forward. “If you think this is bad, wait until we spend an hour in the beyond."

"I've been on my share of jumps through spacetime.” Clyde wanted to sound like the seasoned Navy officer he was, but the queasiness of his stomach dampened his spirits.

"Jumps, maybe,” said Morganna, nodding sagely. “This is more like crawling.” She inclined her head and examined the head cook. “There are things out there,” she whispered. “Some are well known, like jump points where none should be. When you leap out of our natural dimension, you sense things, even when you don't see them.” She paused and laughed nervously. “Have you met Natalie, yet?"

Clyde leaned back, letting his head settle into the rest on his chair. “The communicator?"

"Yeah,” nodded Morganna. “Everyone says that implant she uses to communicate with other ships makes her think she's psychic. It wouldn't surprise me if she really were psychic though. It'd be from all those years of going beyond space."

"Are you afraid of what you might find in the beyond?” asked Clyde.

"Not so much afraid,” mused Morganna. “More in awe. It wouldn't surprise me if that Cluster thing that everyone's afraid of comes from the beyond."

Clyde sat up suddenly. “What do you know about the Cluster?"

"I've felt it out there,” whispered Morganna. “That's all."

Clyde grinned and put his hand on Morganna's shoulder. “You shouldn't be afraid of the Cluster. I've seen it."

"You sound like a man who's talked to it, too,” said Morganna, reverently.

"I have spoken to it.” Clyde McClintlock's blue eyes grew wide. “Besides myself, I only know one other person who has.” Clyde folded his hands. “You felt it, but did you hear its words?"

Morganna shook her head. “I've never seen it, much less talked to it. Still, it seemed to be out there with us, in the beyond.” They sat in silence for a moment. “You know, I'm not sure it's the evil that everyone says it is. It seems more ... curious than anything else."

"Curious?” McClintlock didn't notice his nausea any more. “Curious about what?"

"About everything.” Morganna smiled. “I've felt at times that it's looking for something or someone."

Clyde rubbed his hands together. This information was almost more than he could ever have hoped for. A secret desire formed as he wondered if the Cluster were searching for him or perhaps even Ellis, whose visions had been stronger than his own. “I've wondered that myself at times,” said Clyde. “I've actually even hoped the Cluster was looking for something. The problem is, I'm not positive what it's looking for."

"I'd think you of all people would have an idea,” said Morganna.

"What do you mean by that?” asked Clyde, his eyebrows coming together.

"Well, you founded that religion based on the Cluster and all,” she said. “That black hair dye doesn't fool anyone, you know."

Clyde McClintlock's mouth dropped open. “You've known I'm Clyde McClintlock all along?” The evangelist sat forward. “How many other people know?"

Morganna shrugged. “All the kitchen staff figured it out right away. I don't know anyone else who's said for sure who they think you are. But, I'm sure there are those who suspect."

Dread filled Clyde, as the ship's rocking became more apparent again. He began to think that Morganna had only said what she had because she knew he was Clyde McClintlock, founder of the Cluster religion back on Earth. “So, you've been telling me all this about the Cluster just to make me feel better?"

"Not likely,” laughed Morganna. “I don't like you that much. No, I just wanted to save you from preaching to the converted."

"I see,” said Clyde, looking at the floor. “Then you believe that the Cluster is a force of good."

Morganna shrugged. “I'm not sure I'd go that far. I only know it's not evil.” She winked at him. “I'm almost sure I wouldn't go as far as saying it's God, like you do. Do you really believe that?"

Clyde McClintlock's gaze seemed to move to a distant part of the room. “On the planet Sufiro, I witnessed a miracle. A man I know very well overcame everything—his upbringing, his years in the military, his inhibitions—to become a force for good because of the visions the Cluster showed him. If the Cluster can bring miracles like that, it's hard for me to say what it is, if it's not the hand of God."

"Miracles don't always come from God,” said Morganna. “Sometimes, they just come from people like you and me.” Just as she said that, the jump klaxon sounded.

"All hands, prepare for jump,” came the calm voice of Major Laura Peters over the intercom. “Jump to Zahari star system will commence in five minutes."

Morganna reached into the pocket of her cooking apron and retrieved a packet. “You might want to take this. This will help you deal with the jump."

Clyde accepted the packet from Morganna. “Thanks,” he said as he tore the packet open and dropped two pills in his hand. “What is it?"

"Just a little something that helps prevent space sickness.” She stood to leave for her jump station. As she reached the door, she turned and faced McClintlock. “While we're in the beyond, listen for the Cluster."

John Mark Ellis emerged from his office as the jump alert began. About the same time, Kirsten Smart stepped out of her office. “Is the ship set for its jump,” she asked, her attention seemed focused on the captain's auburn beard.

"According to reports, we are shipshape,” reported the captain.

Kirsten Smart leaned close to the captain. Her voice was a hoarse whisper. “Next time, I'll thank you to do a walk-around inspection of the ship before the jump. Don't just trust the reports."

The captain's shoulder's dropped. “But didn't you tell me to read Yermakov's reports, rather than ask him for status."

"I know what I told you,” she said, exasperated. “But, Simon doesn't have time to tour every section of the ship. I have him doing things for the mission."

Ellis shook his head. “So, before every jump I'm supposed to tour the ship personally?"

Kirsten Smart just patted Ellis on the shoulder and smiled, almost sweetly. With that, she turned and went back into her quarters. Ellis heaved a deep sigh and made his way to the command seat. He turned toward Yermakov. “I presume everything's in order?"

"We're in good shape, Skipper,” said Yermakov as he rubbed his nose on his sleeve.

"Good,” said the captain. The tone of his voice did not match the word.

"We are at the jump point and ready to go, as soon as you give the word, Captain,” reported Major Peters.

"Very good,” said the captain with a little more enthusiasm. He reached over and activated the intercom switch. “Ms. Smart, we're ready to jump on your command."

"My instruments are ready,” came her disembodied voice. “Jump when you like."

Ellis nodded to himself then shut off the intercom. “Sound one more jump warning,” he told Peters, “then jump."

The captain sat back in his chair, listening to the final jump warning being issued throughout the ship. Cartographers would be performing one last check of their instruments. He heard engineers and mechanics report as they performed last minute checks of the EQ drives. On a Navy ship, each deck would report its readiness for jump. That chatter was noticeably missing to the captain. Readiness was assumed rather than reported. The captain gritted his teeth, afraid that Kirsten Smart was right. Perhaps he should have inspected of each deck personally.

"Warning has been given, Captain,” reported Peters. “We can jump on command."

Ellis licked his teeth and rubbed sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. Looking over at Yermakov, he saw an expression of relief. Ellis wondered whether the relief was that the jump was coming or that he did not have to give the order to jump. “Jump,” Ellis ordered simply.

Laura Peters’ thin hand seemed to move toward the console in slow motion. She touched a button and reality collapsed.

Clyde McClintlock sat in the little office just off the kitchen, listening. His eyes were closed, but still, he seemed to smell with his ears. He felt as though he was falling though space, though if he concentrated as completely as possible, he could feel that the chair was under him.

As a rule, jumping out of normal three-dimensional space was disorienting. Though, this jump was different for McClintlock, he almost felt he could get his bearings.

On the command deck, John Mark Ellis fought to keep lunch down. His mind wandered briefly to the food Clyde had brought to him a little while before. He wondered if he had, in fact, tasted the evangelist's cooking. Shaking his head, his mind came back to the fantastic sights and sounds around him. Like other jumps, his senses were confused. It did not seem odd that he could smell the color of Yermakov's red shirt nor hear the scent of new plastic.

For the first time, a jump lasted long enough that Ellis realized this was simply the manifestation of perceiving a new dimension. The ship was feeling its way along the same dimension that time traveled, just as an ocean-going ship might move horizontally or a helicopter, vertically. There were theories that suggested that one could make use of temporal dimensionality to travel to other points in history. In fact, though, it seemed that ships only traveled forward with the currents of time.

John Mark Ellis was startled when he realized he could almost see his console. He tried to reach for it, but could not. His neurons, used to working in normal space could not move his arm. He concentrated harder. However, the harder he tried, the less likely he seemed able to succeed.

Trying a new approach, he relaxed and did not try to move his arm. Instead, he just imagined the act happening. His arm was at the console. Unfortunately, his eyes were not registering the hologram as anything more than a mass of sounds. The captain watched the growl escape his lips. Blinking with some surprise, Ellis sat back and tried to listen. All he heard were teddy bears in the night and a vague sense of green.

The ship seemed to hit a bump. At least that was the perception that Clyde McClintlock had as the
Sanson
moved across one of the mysterious nodes that stood in the middle of deep space. “Cluster, where are you?” The whisper rattled his head.

Ellis felt the ship lurch as it passed a node where none should be. The lurch took Ellis’ mind from thoughts of song. Aboard the
Firebrandt
such a lurch would not have been noticeable. He wanted desperately to know where the node went. He seemed to sense that answering that question would help him find the Cluster.

Just as that thought came together, Ellis felt a tightening in his chest as reality converged and the
Sanson
returned to normal three-dimensional space. His stomach lunged for his throat. The captain grabbed his armrests and fought a desperate need to throw up on the deck. “We can't have been jumping for an hour."

"One hour three minutes, Skipper,” said Yermakov checking instruments. His smirk made him look even more like a squirrel than before.

The captain took several deep breaths. That only made the nausea worse. “I take it the ship's okay?"

"You'll have my report.” The first mate sniffed.

Ellis only had time to nod before he found himself running back to the lavatory. There, his lunch came up with a fury. He had not bothered to close the door. The captain reddened when he saw Kirsten Smart looking in at him bemused and a little concerned. “The jump was a success, Captain. Make the ship ready to go again day after tomorrow.” She inclined her head. “You might go to sickbay before the next jump. They probably have something that will help the motion sickness."