At least I now understood how spaceships made of mostly wood and metal could hold together in the vacuum of space.
“That’s got to be the worst I’ve seen someone try to control an artifact,” Skylar said.
Straightening up, I beamed like a moron.
“It worked?” Kelvin said.
“Oh, yes.” I cleared my throat. “Definitely worked.”
I was officially a genius.
Well, in the game, at least.
Thirty-Six
I’ll be the first to admit that having a semi-working CodeX implant was amazing—bypassing decades of study to have information downloaded into my brain whenever I asked.
Concerning gravity, I guessed the game could have any internal rules of physics it liked, along with a history I was keen to explore. All that would have to wait for now though, and I bit back the urge to ask more questions.
“Right,” Kelvin swiped his hand over one of the bridge displays. An image of Horizon Eighteen appeared in mid-air, its whole aft section missing. “For this ship to move through space, we need to activate the refracting gravity engine.”
A bubble formed around the ship.
“This will give us the ability to move,” Skylar said, leaning over and tapping several buttons on the screen.
The bubble made a point at the nose of the ship and flattened at the back. Waves of gravity pushed the ship through space from behind, while the ones in front deflected around the hull as though it were a boat cutting through water.
Next Kelvin brought up an image of a missile. “When I looked at these in more detail, I discovered they’re using their own form of refracting gravity, but with a major difference.”
A bubble formed around the missile too, but its surface rippled and vibrated.
“Is that how they could penetrate the fleet’s shields?” Mason asked.
“How did the Kraythons figure this out?” Eve said. “You can’t even do that to a gravity bubble. It’s impossible.”
“Not impossible.” I walked over. “If we adapt this.” My fingers touched the display, and my brain and newly acquired CodeX information worked together as I tapped at the screen.
The refracting gravity field shifted, and several bubbles overlapped one another, bending gravity in such a way that it made the shield impenetrable to the missiles.
“Of course,” Skylar breathed.
For a split second she seemed impressed, but I tried not to let that go to my head.
Kelvin nodded. “Amazing.”
“What about the internal gravity?” Eve said. “The micro grav modules? What will the shifting fields do to them?”
“They won't be affected,” Kelvin said. “They’ll adapt and counteract any external forces. It’s safe.”
I nodded in agreement, impressed that I was keeping up with what they were saying and wondering if the game would let me take the CodeX implant back to the real world. It sure would come in handy when I started school.
If I could learn to control it properly, that is.
“All we need to do,” Kelvin said, “is use my scanner to find the signal blocker, and once it’s down, send the modified shield designs to the Leviathan.”
Mason snorted. “Yeah. Simple.”
“Now we have a grav module,” Kelvin said, “we can fly over to Horizon Seven, and Leo can use the combined resources to design a better ship. One that’s impervious to the missiles, fast, and all but invisible to Kraythons.”
My eyebrows lifted. “How?”
“Same way,” Kelvin said. “I think you’re already bonded to the ship.”
“But he can’t control the CodeX properly yet,” Mason said.
Skylar folded her arms. “Exactly.”
Kelvin kept his focus on me. “This time we’ll link your CodeX to the onboard AI. Between you, you’ll build what we need.”
“Wait,” Skylar said. “How do you know he’s bonded to the ship?”
Kelvin nodded at me. “Try it.”
“Try what?”
“Walk to the middle chair,” Eve said.
I stepped forward, hands stretched out wide, and Skylar shook her head in annoyance. All the screens changed, displaying hundreds of pages of scrolling ship’s data and various readings.
Kelvin smiled. “Told you.” He sent swirls of magical smoke over the nearest console and turned to me. “Ready?”
“Not really.”
Kelvin twisted his fingers. Hundreds of designs and specifications filled my mind—stuttering images and data about everything from life support to weapons, detailed from aft to bow.
I drew a sharp intake of breath. “I see.”
Kelvin nodded at Skylar. “Take us over.”
Skylar rushed to the front screen. “Hold on.” She swiped her finger over the display.
The ship swung around and glided to the remains of Horizon Seven, and we pressed into the ship’s side.
“Contact.” Skylar stepped away from the screen.
Kelvin turned to me. “Now it’s up to you. Design a new ship.”
I did. I sat in the captain’s chair, feeling my mind, enhanced by the onboard AI and CodeX implant, control everything around me. I could see it all.
I started with the bridge, and no sooner had the thoughts flowed from me, melding with the AI, than thousands of repair ants and drones swarmed over both ships. They were covered in tools, carrying everything from welders and glue to high-tech sculpting equipment and nanotechnology.
The room changed shape around us, the back half of the dome acquiring solid bodywork, with extra shutter protection covering the rest, resulting in a secure, heavily armoured bridge.
I knew it was a game, of course, but the repair ants moved so fast, bringing materials and a whole host of resources from Horizon Seven in a blur of precision movement, combining them with our ship.
I designed and shaped the remainder of the spacecraft around us, working outward. I pulled up Eve, Mason, and Skylar’s apartments, just as they’d left them, then Kelvin’s too—clutter and all—putting him near the workshops and engineering facilities.
Next I changed the interior décor, smiling as nanorobots turned wooden walls white with dark-grey accents and polished floors. Okay, the materials stayed the same, but it was now less Downton Abbey and more Starship Enterprise.
Much better.
One of the last things I did with the interior was move all the cabinets, armour, and artifacts from the hallways, placing them in one large space—a Museum of Cosmic Curiosities and Ancient Artifacts—and sealing it with a heavy steel door.
As far as the exterior and general ship design was concerned, I made it around half its current size but built with security, strength, and speed in mind. A formidable array of armour slid into place, along with scanners and central overlapping gravity engines, ten times more powerful than anything else in the fleet.
“Let’s see the Kraythons take us on now,” I muttered, feeling exhilarated by my new ability.
Space didn’t require any aerodynamics—hence why most Antarian ships resembled flying lunchboxes—but I made this ship sleek, angling all its panels like a stealth fighter because, you know, I could, and it looked awesome. Dad would’ve loved it too, and my chest swelled with pride.
This spaceship was beautiful.
The most glorious design in all of existence.
Skylar glared at me. “Are you crying?”
“No.” I wiped my eyes and sniffed.
“What do you want to call it?” Eve breathed.
I pursed my lips, then smiled. “The Last Horizon.”
Thirty-Seven
Mason slapped me on the back, looked around the bridge of the Last Horizon, and beamed. “This is a great ship, bud.”
“Thanks,” I said, more than a little proud of my effort. How often does life present you with the opportunity to design an entire spacecraft? I thought. Pretty much never.
I lifted my chin.
Yep, the Last Horizon was aw
esome. If this didn’t officially make me a valued member of the team, nothing would.
My health meter remained on seventy-nine percent, which was good, but one hundred would’ve been better. “Have you got any more chirorja?”
Mason snorted. “I thought you didn’t like it.”
“I don’t.”
Mason fetched a tube of the disgusting gloop and I ate.
The numbers climbed. After I’d forced in the last mouthful and swallowed, the meter sat at ninety-two percent. Not perfect, but it gave me plenty of wiggle room.
Bring on more purple vole gits. I could handle them.
“Can we get on with it?” Skylar said. “The Leviathan is two hours and fifteen minutes out.” She turned her scowl on her brother. “So when you’ve stopped congratulating Leo for something the CodeX implant and onboard AI did, we can find this signal blocker.”
My shoulders dropped.
Spoilsport.
But as much as I hated to admit it, she was right. We needed to get a move on.
“You’re bonded to the new ship,” Kelvin said to me. “It’s yours. You are the captain, and only you can assign bridge roles.”
“Oh-kay.” I pursed my lips. “What do you guys want to do?”
Kelvin gestured to the display on the far end, the one with his contraption fitted to it. “I can work that station. It covers tech and engineering.”
“Sure.”
Kelvin sat down.
I turned to Eve. “What would you like to do?”
“I’m happy with communications and standard scanners for now,” she said. “Might change my mind later.”
“You can be bridge watch officer too,” Mason said to her.
“What does a bridge watch officer do?” I asked.
“On Antarian fleet ships, they look after the crew,” Mason said. “They keep a watchful eye on bridge operations, stand in when the captain is away, and act as an advisor too.”
I nodded. “Sounds perfect. Eve, you’re good with the medical bay. Do you mind being our doctor on top of all that?”
She sat in the chair to my immediate right. “No problem.”
Next I faced Mason. “Let me guess . . . security and weapons?”
Mason beamed. “Absolutely.” He dropped into the chair on my left.
Finally, I beckoned Skylar to the seat and display at the front of the bridge. “Would you mind?”
Her eyes widened. “Pilot? Me? Don’t you want to fly the ship?”
“Pretty sure there’s no one better qualified than you.” I pointed through the window at all the debris. “We need to navigate all that crap without scratching the new paintwork.”
Skylar hurried to the pilot’s seat.
“I’ll send live scanning data to you as we move through the field,” Eve said to her. “It will aid visual navigation.”
I sat in the captain’s chair and took a deep breath. “Let’s go find whatever the hell’s blocking transmissions.”
Skylar pulled the screen in front of her, and the Bluestones in her phase-band glowed, sending wisps of energy swirling around her. Once all the sliders were set, she rested her hands on her knees.
A few seconds later, the ship glided through the debris field, resulting in five broad smiles.
We were moving.
Actually moving.
My design worked.
Who would’ve thought?
To be honest, I was expecting it not to.
Once, in Design and Tech class, I’d tried making a pen holder but wound up gluing an index finger to my forehead. It wasn’t even my finger. That’s how crap I am. From then on, I was deeply suspicious of any creative tasks.
I couldn’t complete a jigsaw puzzle without drama, let alone a complicated, high-tech piece of machinery with a trillion parts . . . but even so, here it was.
Freaking miracle.
Go, me.
I gazed out of the window as we moved through the remains of the fleet. “Where do you guys think all the crew and passengers went?”
Where the hell was everyone?
And why couldn’t we see any traces of them?
“Automatic emergency evacuation procedures would take them to the nearest safe planet with the right atmosphere,” Kelvin said. “Along with tolerable gravity.”
I pointed at the ice world. “There?”
“No,” Eve said. “I’ve already scanned the entire solar system and can’t see any habitable worlds nearby. I’m unable to scan beyond that because of the signal blocker.”
“When we shut down whatever is jamming comms and long-range scanners, we’ll find them,” Kelvin studied his display. “And I’m betting that’s when we’ll get answers to all of our questions.”
“Is your locating device working?” I asked.
“Yes. Give it time.”
“How does it work, exactly?”
“It sends out a modulated frequency pulse,” Kelvin said, not taking his eyes off the readout. “The signal blocker produces high-intensity mirror waves. Those transmit a very specific sweeping pattern, meaning I’ll detect it and get an approximate location.”
“How long before the Leviathan arrives?” I said as we continued through the remnants of the fleet.
“Two hours until they reach this solar system,” Eve said.
My stomach clenched. Was that all?
“No signs of missiles.” Mason consulted his own display.
“That’s because they’re behind the ice planet,” Kelvin said.
“Shall I take us around for a look?” Skylar said. “Our upgraded shields will protect the ship.”
“Not yet,” I said. “We don’t want to piss them off unless we have to. Keep us this side for now.”
Skylar swung the ship around, and we continued our trek through the wreckage.
Leaning forward in my chair, I hoped we found the source of the signal blocker before it was too late.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, however, tempers ran high.
“This is ridiculous,” Mason grumbled. “There’s nothing out here.” He glanced at Kelvin, but Kelvin kept his focus on his readout.
“I’ll fly us back through this end of the debris field,” Skylar said, swinging the Last Horizon around for another pass.
Eve sighed. “We’ve already gone that way. Twice.”
“Then we’ll do it again,” Skylar snapped.
“Don’t have a go at me,” Eve said. “Leo, have you got any ideas?”
I pointed at the ice planet as it swung back into view. “My bet is that the blocker is there.” I looked at Kelvin for support, knowing my theory was a valid one.
“Running a focused transmission,” he said, twisting his fingers as though turning up the dial on a radio. Puffs of magic drifted over to Kelvin’s device and disappeared inside. He squinted at his display.
“I’m not picking up any electromagnetic radiation from the planet,” Eve said. “Only the pyramid down there. The one Kelvin found with his drone.”
“Right,” I said. Surely that couldn’t be a coincidence. “Can we have another look?”
Eve swiped her fingers to the side, sending a holographic image across the bridge and expanding it in front of us.
The picture showed a field of solid ice, but in the middle, its outline barely visible, loomed the pyramid. Like the ones in Egypt in their original form, this pyramid had smooth sides created with white casing stones.
Eve rotated the display and zoomed over to the entrance. “It’s the only structure.”
“Exactly,” I said. “A good place to stash a signal blocker.” I muttered under my breath, “CodeX, what can you show me?”
A sudden rush of images filled my mind, making me gasp.
The first hundred showed a tribe of nomadic aliens—the Ancampi. They had dark skin, large eyes, protruding jaws, and wide noses, and their ears were high on their heads.
They wore simple animal skins sewn together, and sat beside campfires, roasting meat
, preparing vegetables, and fashioning weapons and garments while their children played around dome-shaped tents.
The sky darkened.
Fire and destruction replaced the scenes of Utopia.
In space, fleets of ships attacked one another. Black, bat-like spacecraft—Kraython fighters—firing on grey triangular craft with flat backs—the Azurean monks.
The war filled the solar system, and the Ancampi planet got caught in the fallout, weapons and debris scorching the earth.
The images halted at one last picture: an Azurean ship flying from the now-desolate ice planet and the pyramid structure below.
Was it a shrine to the Ancampi? A weak apology for wiping out their species?
Were the missiles remnants of an old war?
Whatever the case, we needed to investigate.
I gestured toward the pyramid. “We’re going down there. The signal blocker must be inside. Agreed?”
They all nodded.
“Hold on.” Eve turned to Mason with a smile. “We’re detecting Mason’s Bluestone crystal nearby.”
His eyebrows rose, and he turned to me. “Could I . . .?”
I nodded. “Go get it.” Mason’s artifact was important, and besides, it might come in handy. We had no idea what was inside that pyramid. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
Mason leapt to his feet and hurried over to Eve. They both peered at her display.
“It’s there.” She pointed. “Among the debris.”
“You’re lucky not to have lost it forever,” Skylar said.
Mason waved her comment away. “How do we get to it? Take Star Chaser?”
“No need. We can use a drone.” Kelvin’s fingers moved through the air with dexterity and an image appeared in front of us, pushing the picture of the ice planet to one side and showing a drone’s point of view—a long tunnel. A hatch at the end opened, revealing outer space beyond. The view zoomed along the tunnel and swung away from the ship.
It banked and turned toward the Last Horizon. Of course I’d seen the ship in my mind when I created it with the AI, but seeing the Last Horizon like this? Real? A solid, sleek object built for space travel and general badassery? It was incredible, and my chest swelled with pride once again.
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