Second Wave - 13
Chapter 13
After the initial excitement of the acceleration and after we got used to the ship's environment, things seemed to move slowly. The voyage to the Sunnys' system took longer than I liked and we'd had time to be bored for almost a day. My concern about time measurements was borne out when I finally managed to understand that the voyage would take about fourteen days.
Shortly after I'd finished conversing with the two Sunnys, I found my way to a cabin and fell asleep. After a couple of hours, I became conscious of a difference in the background sound of the ship and it woke me up. I hadn't satisfied my sleep requirements and was feeling as if I couldn't fully wake up, but I decided to go investigate.
The cabin I'd chosen was adjacent to those of the other three humans and, as I went into the hall, Frank came out of his cabin. He looked at me inquiringly and asked, “What just happened?”
“I don't know. I'm on my way to check it out.”
“Do you want me to come along, in case you need help?” He was still suspicious of the Sunnys.
I decided that it might not be a bad idea to have him come. It was the first action that I'd seen him take that indicated any independence of thought. He'd previously focused his actions on satisfying Erin's orders and guarding her safety. This might be a good chance for me to get to know him a little better. I figured I could use all of the allies I could get.
“Yeah. Maybe you'd better come with me. It wouldn't hurt and you can make sure that everything is going well,” I agreed.
“Look, I know what you think. It's not that I don't trust you, but I've made a promise to Erin to protect her. I know she's unreasonable at times, but what can you do?” He shrugged and gave a grin, indicating that he sometimes found it hard to put up with her, too. I didn't ask, but I suspected that he enjoyed the challenge. He was always nearby whenever she was out of her cabin. He certainly took good care of her.
“Frank, you don't know me, but I want you to know that I need for the four of us to stick together. This is a very risky raid we're making and it's one that I wouldn't have voluntarily chosen, but we got transported to Oberon by accident. It's kind of like it was meant to be that way. I've been communicating with the Sunnys and I'm convinced that they are our best friends in this effort. Their people are enslaved and they think we're their only hope of changing that. I've got a wife and child on Earth and I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure their safety.”
He nodded, solemnly and replied, “I'm with you, brother.” He held out his hand and I gripped it. We looked into each other’s eyes and I read a sense of well-meaning honesty in his aura as we touched.
Turning down the hall, I continued, “Besides, this isn't unpleasant. We've got food, it's warm and we've got a good place to sleep. It could be a lot worse.”
“How long do you think this ship will take us to get to their planet?” he asked, coming back to the issue at hand.
“They gave me an estimate, but I really couldn't understand their measurement. I don't think it will take too long; maybe a couple of weeks – ” We entered the bridge and I forgot what I was going to say.
The view through the wrap-around glass was very strange. There were stars directly ahead, but the nearer ones seemed to move in a curve towards us. It was kind of like being at the bottom of a funnel while water was being poured down the sides. The stars accelerated in our direction and became elongated and appeared to turn into colorful streaks as they passed our sides. The beauty of the view was enhanced by the fact that they changed colors as they flew by, becoming noticeably red-hued as they approached the back edge of the viewing port.
“Dis the faster-than-light travel!” Whistle was sitting nearby and had noticed our stunned amazement. “We get der soon now.”
He added an unexpected comment that made me wonder again how the FTL drive worked. “Is like what you call surfing. We ride the universe waves. Dey very fast.”
I realized that the constant background hum of the EmDrive had ceased and that was the change that had woken us. The FTL system didn't seem to make any audible sound at all. It was dead quiet in the ship. The only effect was the disconcerting visual distortion of space as we traveled. It apparently was 'very fast' indeed.
“We might as well go back to sleep,” I turned to Frank.
“You go ahead. I'm going to stay here and watch the light show. It's amazing,” he replied.
“OK,” I paused and then added, “remember that these guys are our friends.”
“That's not necessary. I'm committed to this game,” he chided me.
“Sorry. I just can't help worrying about everything,” I shook my head deprecatingly.
“Don't worry about it. I'll let you know if anything happens and I'm not going to frighten the little guys again,” he put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a push towards the door. “Now go on back to sleep.”
I decided that I had to trust him. There really wasn't much choice about it. The four of us were locked into the voyage and we had to stick together. Besides, I was still sleepy.
Just as I was about to enter my cabin, Erin stuck her head out of her door. I sighed and turned to see if she was going to pitch another fit, but she seemed calm.
“What's going on?” she asked.
“Nothing, really. We transitioned to faster-than-light speed and it woke me up. Frank is on the bridge watching the ship and he'll wake us if anything happens that needs our attention.
“Then it's alright. If he's out there, I mean. He's very trustworthy,” she nodded her head as if trying to convince me. “It's just that this is so strange – ” She paused and then added, “I know I've been difficult, but I'm frightened and lonely.”
Now, I'm not too good with women. I like them, but I've never been able to really understand them. My mental abilities helped, but I'd developed a personal ethos that mostly kept me from reading my companions’ minds unless it was an emergency. I didn't exactly read her mind in this instance, but her intent sort of soaked through and I slowly realized that this was an invitation. My thoughts immediately went back to my wonderful wife. I'd just left Liz a few days ago and now this complication came up.
I decided that my best approach would be to deliberately misunderstand her, “I'm lonely, too, and this is a frightening situation. It's not like humans have ever gone on an interstellar voyage before. But, remember, this isn't so bad. We've got food and a place to sleep. The Sunnys are our friends and this ship travels so fast that we'll be there and back in a very reasonable time.”
I smiled at her and entered my cabin. Just before I shut the door, I turned to her and added, “Now, go back to sleep for a while and I'll catch up with you over breakfast.”
She sighed and turned back into her room. I made sure her door shut, before shutting mine. Once I was inside my cabin, I sent a mental image to Whistle of him waking me if anything happened. I received a sense of confusion for a moment. He hadn't realized that I didn't have to be facing him to communicate, but then his thoughts cleared and I received an image of him opening my door if he needed help. That was good enough. I terminated my contact and laid down. Sleep came quickly.