The Long Road Home

by Max Swan

  The shuttle computer suddenly announced, “Warning: torpedo impact in T-minus forty-five-seconds, and counting.”

  Barrett felt her heart throttle and she turned and yelled to Paul, “Whatever you’re doing do it quickly!” However, Paul didn’t hear her. He had taken a panel off the near the hatch and had his arm deep inside, up to his shoulder.

  His face screwed up in concentration. He said to himself, “Come on. Come to Papa.” Inside the panel his fingers searching for the chip. Barrett continued to monitor the progress of the torpedo heading straight for them intermittently looking back at Paul looking for the chip. She brought up a schematic of the shuttle and to her horror realized Paul is in the wrong place.

  “The chip is in ‘panel G’, you idiot. You’re looking in the wrong place!” she screamed at him.

  The computer announced again, “Warning: torpedo impact in T-minus thirty-seconds, and counting.”

  Paul looked up at her, his face red and sweaty. “It’s a Cabrio-Three shuttle, isn’t it?” he asked

  Barrett looked as if she were about to jump out of her chair any moment. “It’s a fucking Cabrio-Four, you dickhead!” she shouted at Paul.

  Paul had his arm out of the panel, and he ran across the other side, ripping another panel off wall. He remembered that in the Cabrio-Four shuttle the designers had moved the chip so it’s easier to access. He looked inside the panel feeling disoriented for a moment by the extent of the electronic components. Outside the shuttle, the Garan Warscout is oblivious of the dramas in the shuttle, and that of the closing colson torpedo. It continued to fire on the planet below.

  The computer announced again, “Warning, torpedo impact in T-minus twenty-seconds, and counting.”

  Barrett felt panicky now, and screamed behind her, “Major!”

  Paul’s again had his arm shoved inside the wall of the shuttle as he reached for the chip. “Remember, hit that button at ten seconds despite what I’m doing,” he yelled back. Then to his relief he felt chip and grabbed it, pulling it out of the circuit board.

  The computer continued counting down. “Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten—”

  At that point Barrett touched the console, the Shuttles qdrive whirred loudly, forming a gravity well off the starboard bow. The shuttle moved in that direction instantly, throwing Paul into the wall as it did. The torpedo moved silently through the space the shuttle once occupied, and hit the Garan Warscout. A large flash of white light billowed out for moment in every direction. As the light dissipated, the shock wave carried the debris away. Some debris hit satellites causing damage, even explosions, and some entered the atmosphere of Earth burning as they fell. Other debris hit the shuttle, making its electronic shielding crackle. The Garan War-Scout is no more. Nadir slumped back in his chair with his hands in his face, feeling deflated by Paul’s actions. The Bridge went silent as they tried to understand why Paul had so wantonly messed with human history. The crew on Ship faced the prospect that when they get home, it won’t be their home anymore. The timeline has been changed.

  Barrett got back in her seat as Paul sat at the cockpit, still rubbing his head from his recent encounter with the wall of the shuttle. “Colonel, I’m sorry for disobeying you, but you don’t understand all the facts here. We didn’t have time to explain them to you either, given that a torpedo was about to destroy us,” Paul said.

  Dexter noticed Nadir still trying to calm himself. So he asked Paul, “What facts do you mean?” So Paul and Barrett told them about the different continental shape on the Earth’s surface, and how they believed the planet was hit by a meteorite. Barrett streamed all the data they had collected back to Ship, and Dexter examined it as they told them their hypothesis. Somehow, they had not gone back in time, but to make matters worse, they’ve also entered a parallel universe. This Earth is not their Earth, and given the technology level they have detected, there’s no way people on this Earth will stop the Garan’s when they arrive. The ‘Battle for Sol’ won’t happen in this dimension, like occurred in theirs. By destroying the Warscout they bought the planet, and themselves, three-months before the Garan fleet arrived to finish the job.

  The shuttles computer suddenly announced, “Warning, nuclear missiles approaching this vector.”

  Paul worked his console. “They’ve fired some nukes, we had better vaporize them. We’ll be back in a minute,” he said, and the connection terminated.

  Nadir sat with his head down and eyes closed tightly. I hate you, Goddard, he thought angrily. I so fucking hate you!

  Dexter noting Nadirs funk, said, “Sir, I have to agree with Major Goddard and Captain Barrett’s hypothesis. It’s the only plausible explanation for our current predicament.”

  Lieutenant Huang went pale. “Does the data back it up?” she asked

  Dexter nodded solemnly. “It does, Lieutenant.”

  “Then how the hell do we get back home?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Dexter said, feeling sorry for her, and for himself.

  Nadir sat up, and said sarcastically, “Oh come now, isn’t there any Brainiac wizardry you can pull off?”

  Dexter briefly looked at the floor, then at Nadir. “Sir, nobody in human history, or at least ‘our’ human history, has ever travelled back in time or crossed into another dimension. Many theories exist about how dimensional or time travel might be done, but none have been proved.”

  “Still, you will try won’t you, Mr. Crimpson, so we at least have a shot at it?” Lieutenant Huang looked like she’d break if you blew on her.

  Dexter looked over at Nadir daring him to give it to her straight with the look on his face. Belt her down with his Brainiac logic, and destroy any hope she may have. However, Dexter liked Lijuan, and decided that the diplomatic answer is the best one. “I’ll put all my best efforts into finding a solution, Lieutenant. I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll do my best.”

  The Lieutenant sighed and smiled at Dexter. “I knew you would, Mr. Crimpson, and if anyone can do it you can.”

  Dexter turned, and started working at the station in the rear of the Bridge with the shuttle communication hub connected to it. He could feel his heart pound in his chest due to fear. The Lieutenant’s show of faith in him while sweet, there is a limit to what a Brainiac can do. At the moment, all the problems facing them seemed insurmountable. Dexter isn’t one to believe in miracles, but if ever they needed one now is the time.

  Chapter 6

  The door to Nadirs office opened and Paul walked in hearing the end of a conversation between Nadir and Captain Blake.

  “Thanks Gordon, let me know whether anything changes. Nadir out,” he said looking up at Paul motioning him to sit in front of him. Nadir stood and walked to a cabinet a pulled out some vodka and held it up for Paul to see.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Paul smiled.

  Nadir began pouring a glass saying, “After some reflection, I’ve decided that destroying that Garan Warscout was a good idea.” Nadir walked back, placing the glass and bottle on the desk should Paul require a refill.

  I guess that’s the closest to an apology I’ll get, Paul thought. “It does buy us three-months without Garan interference,” Paul said, picking the glass up. He sipped his vodka while looking at Nadirs wrinkly face now sitting opposite him again. The gristly grey hair and stubble, and those soulless black eyes that looked right through you.

  “Even so, Ship is barely fit to fly, and we’re so short-handed that what we face is an impossible task,” Nadir sat back crossing his arms.

  “Sir, respectfully, we can get far enough from here with thrusters alone if we have to. All we need do is get the raw materials from Earth before the Garan’s arrive. Given the technological level of the Garan’s in this century, once we’re past Saturn they won’t be able to track us,” Paul said.

  Respectfully, Nadir mimicked in his mind laughing to himself. “I should remind you that you’re the reason we’re in this mess. Your reck
less acts always end in death, Major, and I don’t want to end like Colonel Abdul.”

  Paul’s head jolt up looking at him with narrow eyes. “How the hell do you know about that?”

  “I have my sources. Some in the Corps think you should face a court-martial for what happened,” Nadir shot back.

  Paul grimaced, “People who don’t know any facts, but all the rumors, no doubt.”

  Nadir shook his head in disbelief. “Major, whatever made Command order us to leave Bolaris so undermanned, has now placed another universe at risk. Not just our lives, but the lives of millions of species. How the hell do you do it? How the hell can one man be such a fuck up?” Nadir sat back raising his hands into the air shaking his head.

  Paul finally understood what worried Nadir. The danger that Ship, and its thirty-fourth century level of technology, could fall into the claws of the Garan’s of this universe. They could never let that happen. It would spell doom for thousands of worlds. They’d have to destroy Ship, and themselves, if they couldn’t escape the Garan’s. Paul quickly filled his glass with vodka and gulped it. The silence hung uncomfortably as they contemplated the stakes. Paul knew Nadir is right, they’re in this mess because of him. Eventually Paul said, “So what do we do now?”

  Nadir put his hands over his face rubbing his eyes in an audible sigh. What do we do, he wondered? I have no fucking idea. He had never felt so afraid in his life. Nadir slumped back in his chair letting Paul’s question hang. The answer is one he couldn’t stomach to say, or Paul to hear for that matter. True defeat, he thought, the powerlessness to change one’s destiny. At moments like this, all anyone can do is put one foot in front of the other, concentrate on the small steps needed. To contemplate the bigger picture will paralyze us. “We do what needs to be done,” Nadir finally said with a shrug.

  “I know I probably don’t need to remind you, but we do have a saboteur on board,” Paul said. He drank the rest of the vodka in the glass, and refilled it.

  Nadir suddenly looked older, if that’s possible, as he digested that. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  Paul’s head tilted as he considered Nadir. “It’s a pity alcohol has no effect on Keepers, because now would be the time to get rotten drunk.”

  “Getting drunk never solves anything, Major. We need a plan,” he said, not hiding his contempt.

  “OK, do you know a twenty-fifth century spaceport where we could pick-up a cheap, second-hand qdrive by any chance?” Paul said flippantly.

  Nadir chuckled. “I’m afraid the nearest one will take us about five hundred years to reach using thrusters.”

  Paul laughed grimly. “Blakey seems adamant he can build a qdrive on Ship.”

  “Theoretically, it can be done.”

  Paul shivered, “Yeah, and kill us in the process. There’s a reason they build qdrives far from any populations.”

  “Have we any alternatives?”

  Paul thought for a moment. “Looks like I’m going planetside then,” Paul said. They couldn’t use a qdrive from a shuttle as it is too small to generate the gravity required in proportion to Ships size. At least I don’t have to be the one to tell the rest of the crew about what’s coming next, Paul thought.

  *****

  The next morning they were all sitting in the D deck mess hall eating breakfast, when Colonel Nadir arrived to brief them. As he walked to the head of the table, they stood to attention.

  “At ease, continue your breakfast,” Nadir said calmly, sitting. The rest of the crew took their seats once he did. Nadir noticed his crew looked dispirited, and a few of them were possibly nursing hangovers. Goddard looks like he made good his promise of getting rotten drunk last evening, Nadir thought, Gordon as well.

  Nadir maintained a sharp posture and a set jaw. He said, “The problems before us look insurmountable, like a mountain we can’t climb. Someone I admired once said to me: ‘The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away the small stones’. That’s what we have to do here if we’re going to have any chance of getting away before the Garan fleet arrives. It means we’ll have work at it one small stone at a time.”

  “Yeah, but once you remove all the small stones, that leaves the big ones,” Blake said, pushing his bowl of porridge way suddenly feeling sick.

  “Gordon, you were positive we could build a new qdrive last night. Why are you having second thoughts?” Nadir said, feeling his heart sink.

  “I was running some math through the computer simulator last night. Looking at how we’ll be able to process the materials here on Ship, as opposed to the qdrive space factories. The computer calculated an eighty-nine percent chance of failure,” Blake said. The others around the table moved in their seats uncomfortably, sighs and moans could be heard.

  Nadir raised his hand making them quiet. “Listen, what we’re about to do is going to be risky, even to the point of death. I assure you there isn’t any other way.”

  “Maybe when the time comes, those of us not needed on Ship can seek a safe distance in a shuttle. Just in case,” Barrett suggested.

  Dexter sneered at Barrett, saying, “All of us should be here on Ship when the qdrive is started. That way, if it blows up our knowledge and advanced technology die with us.”

  Barrett stuck her nose in the air, saying coldly, “You should stay on Ship, I agree. Some of us here can blend with people on Earth, if the worst happens.”

  Paul said sarcastically, “I’m sure you’ll do well as a Garan cow, Captain. So please, be my guest.”

  “Enough!” Nadir shouted, making them all look at him. “There’s going to be many difficulties ahead, but we need to overcome this one first. If we can’t work other, we’ll surely fail.”

  They all glumly looked down at the table, knowing what Nadir said is true. After a silence, Nadir turned to Captain Blake and asked, “Gordon, is there anything else to report from Enginelab?”

  Blake looked at the Lieutenant with a slight smile saying, “Lieutenant Huang’s plan to retrofit some sensor hubs from a few Warbirds looks sound, but it’ll take her a few weeks to finish.” He turned to Nadir saying, “The old qdrive is ready to be removed and dumped. I’m still to discover why the communications hub isn’t working, it has me baffled. The power generator is working fine, so we’ll have full thruster power available for when we reach Earth. Defensively, no qdrive means no disruptors, but torpedoes are obviously working.” Blake gave Paul a sly grin after he said that.

  “We’re not going to Earth,” Nadir announced, making everyone’s head snap up and look at him. “I’ve decided that we’ll land on the dark side of Earth’s Moon, in a crater. Earth has primitive tracking technology, so an orbit of Earth is out of the question.” The crew nodded unenthusiastically, but it was a sensible plan especially if their still here when the Garan fleet arrives. It might buy them some time to get away.

  Nadir turned to Barrett asking, “Captain, do you have any intelligence updates?”

  Barrett hit her palmcorder speaking unemotionally as she looked at it, “Yes Sir. Twenty cities were destroyed by the Garan Warscout. The loss of life and casualties is in the millions. There’s been a planet wide panic, with riots and looting all over. Martial law has been declared across the planet, and local military is clamping down to get control.”

  “What do they think destroyed the Garan Warscout?” Blake interrupted.

  “They think it was one of the nuclear missiles,” Barrett responded.

  The Colonel frowned deeply. “Their nukes aren’t worth a pinch of shit.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Dexter said.

  “Thanks Captain, but it’s time to brief you on the plan,” Nadir said.

  He told them about his plan to send Paul and Barrett to Earth to get the raw materials needed to build the qdrive. The crew left on Ship would be preparing, and building it. The night before, Nadir and Barrett had thought up a plan he knew is risky. Everything we do from now on is risky, he thought bitterly, so why should this be any different
. Nadir cleared his throat. “Captain Barrett, will you tell the others what we discussed last night.”

  She nodded. “Yes sir. I scanned Earth’s scientific knowledge to see whether that could help us, or if they’d been any advances toward unified string theory; when I came across this,” she said. From the center of her palmcorder a three-dimensional image formed of a man around fifty. He looked bald on top with sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and portly.

  He looks like my father, Paul thought. The image disappeared, and Paul looked at Barrett waiting for the next part. However, she continued to stare at him silently. He realized they were all staring at him. “What?” Paul asked, looking at them.

  “Looks like you have a relative,” Blake said.

  “What’s this man have to do with your plan?” Lieutenant Huang asked.

  “He is Professor Richard Starr, Dean of Physics at Melbourne University, in Australia. The Colonel and I propose to accelerate Professor Starr’s research to allow us to use the University to get plutonium,” Barrett said.

  Dexter looked incredulous. “What research?” he asked.

  Nadir said, “Professor Starr has discovered some early precepts that will lead to unified string theory.”

  Dexter laughed when he heard that. “Sir, the science here is mid twenty-first-century at best. They’re at least three centuries from getting near unified string theory.”

  Blake mumbled, “Once the Garan’s move in, its game over.”

  “Oh fuck!” Paul suddenly shouted finally realizing why they picked Professor Starr. “You’ve got to be kidding? How am I supposed to pull off pretending to be a Physics Professor?” I can’t believe I walked into that one, he thought.

  “The physics you learned at the Academy makes you a Professor by this Earth’s standards,” Dexter said, then breaking into a wide grin at the thought of Paul being a physics Professor.

  “Yeah, but my Academy days were quite a while ago, I can’t say I remember much of it,” Paul said, shaking his head.

  Barrett said, “I disagree. On our recon mission you worked out we are in another dimension.”

  “Talk about an ambush,” Paul shook his head in disgust.