"What?" Derwit said. He stared at Munji as if seeing her for the first time. "That would kill us all."
"No, it won’t. It’s the only way to save us all."
"How? It’s impossible. Without the fusion reactors, the engines can’t keep us away from the black hole. It’s the only thing keeping us alive. It would be suicide to shut it down."
"Then answer me a question, Derwit. Why haven’t we already been sucked into the black hole? The reactors have failed four times so far. Shouldn’t we have already been long dead?"
Derwit hesitated, then shook his head. "This is stupid, Munji. Asrana is lying here dying and you’re talking about killing all of us by shutting down the reactor. I can’t listen to any more. I’m going to get a doctor." He started to stand.
Munji quickly grabbed his arm. "Not yet, Derwit. You’re right, you have to save Asrana, but not before you explain to me how we are still alive."
Derwit shrugged off her arm. "I don’t know why. It doesn’t make any sense."
"You mean it doesn’t make any sense with science, don’t you?"
"Okay, yeah, that’s right. Science can’t explain any of it. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"But maybe science can explain the spirits I’m talking about. What about that?"
Derwit closed his eyes, and shook his head. "I suppose... I don’t know…"
Good, now he’s starting to consider what I say.
Derwit continued, almost as if talking to himself. "A black hole is an object with a gravitational field so powerful that a region of space becomes cut off from the rest of the universe. Gas sucked into the event horizon emits large amounts of gamma rays, light, and X-rays. Nobody has been able to explain or prove why any of it happens, so I guess it could be doing something else, too. I guess that means there’s things we don’t know or understand about it, but spirits? Alien ghosts? It’s all so preposterous."
"Asrana believes in it, and she believes in you, too." Munji uncrumpled the note, and handed it to him.
Derwit read it, then leaned over and kissed Asrana gently. Straightening up, he gave a long sigh, and turned to Munji. "Okay, God help me, I’ll do it. I’ll shut down the reactor."
"Good, now this has to be done with precision and timing. I have to know exactly when you are going to shut it down. When you do, I’ll need it off for a full fifteen seconds. After that, you can turn it back on."
"Fifteen seconds? That’s a long time. Maybe too long. The closer we get to the black hole, the more its pull. Its exponential you see, so…"
"Derwit, I understand, but we have to take this chance. It’s the only way."
"I know, I know. I haven’t changed my mind, I’m just nervous. I’ve never done anything this stupid before. I just…"
"Derwit!"
"Okay. I’ll shut the reactor down at exactly 22:10. That’s ten minutes after my shift starts. I’ll have to lock myself in there so you’ll have to tell me when it’s time to open up."
"Asrana will let you know. If she doesn’t, then it’ll all be over anyway."
Derwit nodded, then after one quick glance back at Asrana, he left.
###
There was plenty of time for Munji to work with before the reactor would be shut off. Plenty of time to get the Coven together and ready in her cabin should they be needed, and to tell them of her plan. Plenty of time to say goodbye to all of them, and plenty of time to write a letter to Asrana, though she hoped to be able to tell Asrana her hopes from the spirit world herself.
As the time slowly ticked away, she marveled at how easy and calm she was. There was no nervousness or trepidation. No fear of what would follow. As second by second passed--the last of her life in the physical world--she felt complete, whole and confident. By the time it came to take the fast acting poison, she was ready to face her future.
###
Light dimmed, the noises in the room diminished, and then were gone. In the infinitesimal moment between her body’s last heartbeat, and her brain shutting down, Munji found herself between the physical and the spirit world, between life and death. Here, she could equally connect with either the living or the spirits as easily as she could think a thought. Each and every mind of the thousand colonists, as well as the minds of the countless billions of alien spirits, were within her reach, and in that briefest amount of time, she felt she could perform miracles. Then the moment passed, and Munji was completely in the spirit world.
All of her pain was gone, and even though Munji knew she no longer had a body, she could still feel it. It was just her, and nothing else. There was a wall in front of her. Munji reached out to touch it, acting on instinct, and her hand passed through. She followed it into the next room. Through wall after wall she passed, paying no attention to anything in her way as she surveyed the ship. Munji even passed through people from time to time, but none seemed to notice. Her soul and spirit were free, but something tugged at her, pulling her back. There was something she was supposed to be doing, but what it was she couldn’t remember. Whatever it was, it seemed less important now. Nothing mattered, except the freedom she was feeling, and she reveled in it.
As if calling from a deep, far away place, Munji heard sounds, and made out recognizable voices in the mutterings. She moved closer, and the sounds grew stronger and more insistent. As she got closer and closer, the sounds became clearer and clearer, until she finally knew that they were words. She understood them.
The voices comforted and relaxed her, setting her at peace. As she floated near to the group, she realized she knew these people, these spirits. They were close now, and she touched each one in turn, recognizing the surprise and excitement from each of them. And from each in turn, she gained more and more memory of who they were, and what she had to do. Then her memory and purpose flooded back.
Munji had to act, and do so now. Asrana’s spirit needed to be found as quickly as possible before she, too, decided to stray too far away. Munji reached out tendrils of thought, seeking and searching for Asrana, the young woman she had loved as a daughter. She touched mind after mind until finally she found Asrana racing through one of the colonist’s dreams.
A dreadfully dark and gruesome sight. Jet-black, for the most part, with cold, dark cliffs and raging waters below. Then above, a couple standing. A man who looked to be in his mid twenties, standing with Asrana to his right at the very edge of the cliff. To Munji, it looked as though he was going to jump.
As Munji approached, she could see that Asrana was trying to talk to the man, trying to get him to understand. When Munji was a handful of feet away from the cliff, the man looked up, and stepped back quickly as she raced toward him. She landed on the cliff in front of the man, and next to Asrana.
"I know you, don’t I?" the man asked. Munji ignored him, as did Asrana.
"Munji, what are you doing?" Asrana asked. "The Coven needs you."
"No, they will need you more. Look around Asrana, do you not hear the alien spirits?" Munji waited, while Asrana stood, her head cocked to the side.
"I do hear them, but most are faint and unsure. Does that mean the reactor has failed again?" Asrana said.
"No, it was shut off by Derwit, " Munji said.
"Hey, this is my dream," the man said. "What are you doing here? What are either of you doing here?" the man asked, this time a bit more insistently. Munji glance sideways at the man, and he cowered another step away.
"Yes, of course. Derwit," Asrana said, smiling now.
"Derwit needs you, Asrana. Everyone needs you."
"But Earth Mother, I need to save the ship. I need to get the colonists to help, to lend us their energy."
"No, Asrana, that is my job. You are the one they need, since you are the only one with a body. The only one who can now channel the energies to attract the spirits."
"The only one with a body? What do you mean by that? Where is your body?"
"My body
has died, and I can not go back, but you can, and you must. Only you can channel the energy of the colonists to save the Endeavor and all on board."
"But I don’t know how. You never taught me."
"I’ll teach you now," she said, and ignoring more interruptions from the dreaming colonist, she taught Asrana. Finally, she was done. "We must go, Asrana, for time is short." They left then as the man whose dreams they were in looked on in utter disbelief.
###
Leading Asrana back took little time and effort in the spirit world, but taxed Munji’s patience. Asrana wanted to know more, of course, but Munji had no time for such. She needed to reach as many colonists as she could before Derwit turned the reactor back on. She told Asrana what she needed to know, and guided her to her body, then almost forced her back into it, and into the physical world once again.
Munji reached out, searching for the colonists who were sleeping and dreaming. It wasn’t hard, as many of the colonists had taken to sleeping as often as they could, preferring the comforting, surrealistic world of dreams to reality.
Whether they dreamt of escape, death, the past, their future, or just of someplace and sometime else, they all dreamed of a way out. She touched each in turn, convincing them as best she could and telling each of them to go to the ship’s eating and meeting area, and to see Asrana. Going from colonist to colonist, she continued until a gigantic invisible force grabbed her and flung her away from the ship. Within a time too short for her to comprehend, she was off the ship, floating in the void with countless alien spirits surrounding her.
###
For what seemed like days, Munji traveled through the void, staying as close to the ship as possible so as not to get lost. As the ship sped around in its ever-tightening orbit, she passed countless new spirits, gaining knowledge and new experiences all of which thrilled and excited her. The exhalation she felt from these experiences filled her with excitement and a lust for more. Now she understood why it was so difficult to keep the spirits interested, and why they left so easily. She herself was tempted to leave, to experience more, but she held firm to her desire to see Asrana and the rest of the colonists free of the black hole. If there was such a thing as unfinished business for the dead, then this was hers.
After what seemed an eternity, the call finally came from Asrana as a bright beacon shining and blazing across the void. Like a searchlight, it broadcast its plea, and Munji could see thousands and thousands of Alien spirits answering the call. She could feel Asrana’s presence, amplified by the thousands of colonists lending their energy to her voice, and longed to see her one last time.
Before Munji reached the ship, the alien spirits started to push it outward, away from the black hole. She joined and pushed as well, feeling the power and strength of the forces around her. As the ship moved farther away from the event horizon, Munji felt her energy wane. Even as the pull of gravity lessened, the supernatural force holding the spirits increased. The Black hole’s curse, no doubt. After a time, even the millions of spirits pushing, could move the ship no farther. But would it be enough to get the ship free? She touched mind after mind, until she came upon Chief Tatow’s. Yes, it was enough, she could see.
All that was left was to say goodbye to Asrana. Munji found her bright spirit easily, and touched her.
Asrana, it is time for you to be on your way to Freedom.
Earth Mother, I am so glad to see you. Isn’t it wonderful?
Yes, it is truly glorious.
All but for you. I wish… I wish that you…
Asrana, you must remain strong. You know I can not join you, no matter what you wish. It is time for you to be on your own. There is more here than you can know for me, and a bright afterlife. There are billions that are trapped here, and billions with stories and worlds that are new to me. Do not be sad. Instead be joyous and revel in your and Derwit’s future, for Freedom offers much. What kind of a world it will be, will be whatever you make of it.
I know Earth Mother. I’ll miss you.
And I you, Asrana, now go before the spirits decide to abandon you.
###
Munji watched from the void as the ship’s reactor was brought back on-line. When it did, she could feel the invisible but tangible forces once again push her away. There was no sadness, though, for she knew that Freedom would be a place she would be proud of, and a wonderful place for a witch to live. She wished the best for Asrana and Derwit, and all the other colonists, then turned and headed back to the billions of spirits still trapped near the black hole. There was still so much to experience, and she reveled in the possibilities.
Black Hole Witch Page 2
