Chapter 5

ISABELLA

“We made it,” Johan said. The station was a monstrous structure kilometres long and tall. The Manaani found it much to take in having lived most her life in small convoys with a salvaged Corvaal-class carrier as its main hideaway from the elements. Silhouettes of people behind glass walls inside the station could be seen from where they were. As their ferry turned in for docking, she took one last glance at Kharak. Not as stunning as it had been earlier; a sandstorm blew in from the Southeast covering most of the northern seas.

The ship came to a halt. The engines went quiet and the captain spoke. “We have docked and will be opening the airlocks. Prepare to board. Best of luck, travellers.” Born a nomad, she would be one for the next year to come and then some.

They found themselves on metal floor following along with the other passengers. People rushed to get by. They made their way through the crowd to the docking arms. As it became less chaotic, it was clear where they were supposed to go. They gave their blue tickets to the woman behind a desk and were let through to a long windowed walkway. “Whoa,” she said. Looking out, they could barely make out the top or bottom of the vessel we were about to board. “It’s so big!”

“Mark!” someone yelled from across the hall. They all looked, and the stranger nearly tackled him to the floor in a hug. “It’s so good to see you! It’s been what, three years now?”

“Hi Jay,” he managed to say, “something like that, what’ve you been up to lately? There’s so much catching up to do!”

“Well, we’ll have plenty of time on the journey. Me, I have a job up here. Salvager pilot.”

“That’s nice to hear,” he said. “Thing is though, I’m not going. I’m only here to test out the fighters.” He looked disappointed hearing that, but seemed to understand. “Aren’t you packed a little light?”

“Nah, I already moved most of my things, I went back for the little that I forgot. Best not to leave anything behind. I even met someone new, a Gaalsien in fact. Didn’t think any of ‘em would be coming along. We’ve all got our stories though, am I right? Well, it’s good to see you anyway.”

“Huh, odd.”

“Feel free to introduce us any time,” she said.

“Isabella Manaan, a real pain in the ass. She never shuts up.”

“If I recall, your words were: ‘it’s a good thing you’re cute’,” she added.

“Funny. Jay here is one of my oldest friends, known him since the beginning of when I got to the North.”

“We went to flight academy together. I moved on to larger crafts while he stuck with fighters. We eventually drifted farther apart than I would have liked, but sometimes that’s life for you.” Jay was an orphan she found out. He had no known relatives except for an uncle on the Khar-Selim who only contacted him halfway through its ten year journey.

“And call me John. I’ll be captaining a ship when it’s assigned to me. We’re all headed the same way, let’s walk,” he said. “A busy day ahead, best not to lose any time.” They agreed.

“So, you’re testing out the fighters too?” Jay asked her, breaking the silence that came as they walked.

“Yeah, I’d like to see if space fighters are easier than jets. Some say they are, but I wanna be the judge.”

“I wouldn’t say easier, definitely different. It’s an adjustment for sure, no aerodynamics to worry about. Instead there are maneuvering jets along the surfaces to make sure you’re going in the right direction. Some S’jet explained it to me once; if something is moving in a vacuum there’s nothing to stop it so it’ll keep going forever.”

Mark said, “Makes sense, we learn all that air friction stuff at the academy, but that doesn’t help much when we’re not flying inside air.”

The two of them continued talking as they walked. She barely knew Mark and had only just then met Jay, but she could clearly see how opposite their personalities were. Mark, moody and irritable, whereas Jay appeared to be a cheery amiable person. How they managed to be apparently the best of friends didn’t register to her. Then again, she considered how she herself was oddly drawn to him, mostly she found it amusing to annoy him to see how much he could tolerate, the other part of it was avoiding boredom. Though, he was staying behind and would probably never meet again, meaning there were no consequences for whatever she tried anyway.

The buildup of people immediately ahead appeared to be caused by a bottleneck boarding the trams that took passengers aboard the Mothership. After waiting in line with the rest for a good half hour, they were on the final leg of the boarding process. The pressurized tram moved along the rails leaving Scaffold and clearing onto a mess of rail work with the huge rectangular shape of Mothership’s hangar brightly aglow from within. A short one minute ride later, they were inside the bay.

“Go figure, all that waiting for less than a minute,” she said.

“Yeah, and no rollercoaster loops either,” Jay added.

They were escorted to a lobby area where they could relax for a bit before finding their quarters. “Just in time too! Launch is in ten minutes,” Jay said. Couches lined the walls and Kharak could be seen outside the one large viewport. On the opposing side, a blue wing crest was painted taking up the entire wall. The crest of Hiigara.

“I would love to stay and chat, but I need to report in before I do anything,” Johan said.

“Oh, right! I have to go get my Porter ready for the test run,” Jay added. “I hope to see you before you leave, Mark. I’ll be sure to find you when there’s free time.”

“Sure thing!”

The two of them waited on the couch until hearing a voice familiar to all. “This is Fleet Command reporting Mothership prelaunch status. Command online. Resourcing online. Construction online. Cryogenic subsections A through J online. K through S online. Scaffold control, standby for alignment.” Her voice echoed through the ship. She imagined thousands standing like her small group. Anxious, awaiting the historic first step toward their interstellar mission. Mark was in awe, and had to be snapped out of it.

“Hey, we gotta head down below!” she said looking at her watch.

“Uh, right! Coming!”

The elevator brought them to an upper level. A blinding aqua light flooded the deck, but their eyes would soon adjust. A row of fighters hung in docking racks ahead, and a small group of people were gathered nearby, the other test pilots.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” said the older-looking man, still no more than in his thirties. She began to see what John meant earlier about a young crew. “Mark Soban, I presume?”

“Yeah, I mean yes sir, reporting in for fighter testing.” She detested formalities, but saluted too.

“Knew it, you’re a younger version of your father, for sure. Captain Leonard Naabal, to you.” His focus shifted back to the entire group. “I am Strike Command aboard this ship and thus the highest ranking officer as far as you’re all concerned. I take care of my pilots, be they Soban elite or Gaalsien strays. You’re all the same to me. Because I care so much, I’ll go over a few things before you get started. This isn’t the air force. Remember that.”

“The Mothership has cleared the Scaffold. We are away.” Karan’s voice chimed in over his, but he continued immediately after.

“One, listen to Fleet Command. No questions asked. She’s a lot smarter than you are, and you’d better accept that early on because it’s her strategizing that keeps you alive. Two, only launch with a green light. If you don’t, the energy field keeping the air in will fry your equipment. Three, don’t wander off. We don’t have salvagers to spare to go out and fetch your sorry ass if you run your fuel empty. Lastly, well, try not to get yourself killed. We have no way to know what we’ll be expecting on our journey.”

She nudged his shoulder and whispered, “I bet he rehearses that before bed.”

“And when I wake up, and again when I’m done brushing my pearly whites. Your name is?” She was immobilized, as was Mark. They were both sure he couldn’t have heard that.

“I-Isabella Manaan, sir. I must say, your hearing is impeccable for someone of your— she paused, unsure how to finish the sentence.

“What, age? I may be balding, but I’m still in my prime little girl.” The group chuckled.

“Well, I won’t be making that mistake again,” she said under nervous laughter.

“Alright, enough of this. Go find your ships. Flight suits are in the lockers beside the ladders. Gear up and get off my deck!” The two of them ran ahead of the group, primarily to get far from captain Leonard, but also to get the first pick on a ship.

“That guy’s intense,” she said.

“I think you’d better get on his good side fast. That’s an order, maggot!” His imitation cracked her up again.

“Yessir!”

She ran to the first fighter in line. He took the one beside hers. The flight suits were easily put on. They vacuum-sealed themselves to be skin-tight, fitting comfortably to any size. The headgear was simple jet fighter helmets, the kind she was used to. Climbing the ladder felt familiar enough, when unlocking the hatch and seeing the cockpit she smirked.

“I guess they decided to go old fashioned.”

“Sure did. This is ridiculous, it’ll be a blast!”

The controls were identical to the jet fighters she’d used before, the same technology that was used for centuries. The few differences were a couple small screens showing sensors information. Four coloured buttons were in place for aggressive, neutral, evasive and passive tactical presets. From what she could gather it routed power differently to weapons and engines. She started it up, and there began the differences. No engine she’d flown in front of sounded like the rough droning hum emanating from the back of her fighter. The suit buckled into the seat automatically and the hatch closed. Like the newer fighter models, the head-up display was built into the windshield’s glass acting as a screen while her helmet’s visor displayed additional information not crucial to combat or flight.

The light turned green, time to think was over. She pulled on the throttle and shot forward when the clamps released. She dove down the hangar and flew out the opening into the void. She took another quick glance at the planet. The northern hemisphere was now entirely covered in a sandstorm. “A shame,” she said to Mark, “it would look beautiful from here.

“Yeah… Anyone else here above rank six?” he asked. No one answered. “Alright then. Fall into Delta formation. Isabella, on my right.”

“Roger,” she said. The other five listened as well, being unsure who to take orders from. Their current test objectives were formations. Delta was a standard v-shape, but she would’ve rather tried out one of the newer ones only effective in space. Like a Claw or X formation. Best to keep it simple starting off, she figured.

She found she could rename specific ships on the HUD. She entered Mark’s name above his ship. She tinkered with the other controls for a bit while waiting for orders. They appeared on one of the two monitors in the dash. They were given orders to fire on target drones while in formation.

“Well, we have our orders. Let’s test these babies out,” he said, other pilots chimed in sharing his enthusiasm.

The drones came into view. The HUD showed red pentagons around them. When in firing range, the crosshairs lined up visibly easier with the tactical overlay than blind shooting at the tiny orange specs. Mark opened fire and within seconds it flashed out of existence. She did the same seeing three others die off too. He ordered to pull up to start the next pass. She followed along easier than expected. “The fun thing about space is that up is wherever you want it to be,” she said doing a barrel roll.

“I guess they really do handle easier than jets, go figure.” Mark said.

The other five targets took no time to take care of. After the last was finished off, they were given new coordinates. She changed course for the blip on the sensors monitor. Intel’s screen gave new orders.

“Alright guys, lets test out these scouts a little. Engage the speed burst function,” he said.

“Where’s that at?”

“The bigger purple button to your left.” She found it. It threw her back into the seat as the acceleration boost fired off. In the distance, more tiny orange specs came into view. “Same as before, but now set to aggressive tactics preset. “It’ll wire more power to your weapons,” Mark said. “The trade off is lower engine performance. Also, formation is optional. Have fun!” Three of them broke off in different directions. “Sixteen drones this round. I have centre left, first row. You take the one beside it.”

“Got it,” she replied. She stuck beside him. They both opened fire and took care of the targets. On their next pass they did the same but got two each. He got a direct hit on another one and flew through its debris. It didn’t take long to clean up the targets. It was only a test, after all. The data logs would be downloaded once docked back in the clamps to be analyzed by research division.

“All done here, let’s go back to base.”

“What’s your count? I’m at four,” she said.

“Six, I think. Wasn’t keeping track.” He pulled up and twirled his ship around hers before coming up beside her.

“Show-off.”

As Mothership came into view, she saw a salvager launch from the hangar. Jasiid said something about getting his ready for launch, she wondered if it was his. They were guided into the hangar toward one of the central decks two at a time. The two of them took the first entrance, landing as smooth as they could having never piloted a ship of that sort before. The ships were towed away to a conveyor belt on the wall once they got out.

“Oh, so that’s how they do it.” She wasn’t sure. The next two fighters landed rougher than they did. Getting out of there appeared to be a good idea, and so they put their helmets and uniforms in a bin and headed for the elevator, not wanting to risk being squashed.

Mark, realizing he didn’t own a room, scratched his head on the elevator ride up. She invited him to hers, needing to wander a little to find her own anyway. Her bags were already delivered for her as there wasn’t time for that before the testing procedure. On entering, she yawned and lied back in her bed.

“Long day so far,” he commented sitting on the chair by the desk. She checked her watch, it was now past three in the afternoon Tiir time.

“Hyperspace module fully charged. I am ready to initiate the quantum wave generator on your mark. Good luck everyone,” Command said.

“All sections have reported in. Trigger the hyperdrive at your discretion,” responded Scaffold control.

“Stop arguing over who goes first and jump us already,” she groaned. Moments later, she felt an odd sensation pass through her body. It was hard to describe, but it was mildly unpleasant for sure. “That’ll take some getting used to.”

 “Hey you, get up. I’m hungry,” he said.

“But… moving.”

“I don’t need to stick around you, you know. Jay’s surely around here somewhere.”

“Fine, gimme a minute. I haven’t pissed since the hotel,” she said.

“There’s something wrong with that one,” she heard him say to himself after closing the door.

Passing by a viewport after finishing up, Kharak was no longer in view. The journey had begun.