The Chronicles of Henry Harper

by Jacen Aster

  The alien nodded, clearly dazed. Well, at least the translator was still functioning. Vivian suddenly sat up, but immediately clutched her head.

  “Henry, make the room stop spinning.”

  He snorted but dug an anti-concussion medpen out of his pockets. Probably a bad sign that he carried those, just like his checklist was a bad sign, or perhaps a metaphor for his life. He'd have to ask someone who actually understood what that sort of gibberish meant. Assuming he got out of here. He jabbed Vivian with the medpen and checked the room as a whole.

  Rock everywhere. Well wasn't that lovely. He moved to check where the door should have been and found nothing but a slab of rock. The scanners on his portable were saying it was at least a meter thick, maybe more.

  Vivian groaned as she gained a bit more wherewithal. “How bad is it?”

  “Bad.”

  She looked around and winced. Somehow, he didn't think it was the concussion.

  “Ideas?”

  Henry sagged against the rock-that-should-have-been-a-door. “Sorry, Viv. I've got nothing. I don't think we're getting out of here without help.”

  Aertlie finally spoke, surprisingly calm. “Only no one knows we need help, or could reach us if they did. Did your fix work at least?”

  Henry paused to consider that. “I think so. That last blast was the shield resetting. The energy had to have somewhere to go. Since we aren't phasing through things, I think it worked.”

  “Then at least we die knowing we brought my people hope.”

  Vivian couldn't help but snark. “Yeah, but I'd have preferred to bring them hope and, you know, not die. That would have been the optimal solution.”

  They all grew quiet at that and Vivian looked like maybe she regretted saying it. Minutes passed. Then Henry frowned. The ground had moved.... What in the universe? He moved to the far wall and put his ear to the floor. His eyes widened and he leapt away.

  A giant metal worm broke through the floor where he had been leaning. Serira and Bretallis were riding on top. As soon as she saw them, Serira shouted, “Come! Follow me! Before the ant people shake the world again with their dancing!”

  They all stared for a long moment before Henry shrugged and moved towards the contraption. “Sure, why not. Might as well just go with that one.”

  ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

  I imagine some of you might be nearly as confused as we were back when it happened. As it turned out, Serira's explosives had opened up an unknown underground tunnel system the Xeroteais had originally built for the purposes of studying the energy phenomena of the planet. While it is probable that the government at the time had known about the system, the current one had not. She, and Bretallis when she had gone after her, had discovered the worm-like boring machine and figured they could use it to carve a path to the installation facility underground, unknowing if we had ever been able to reach it.

  Unfortunately, and unknown to them, the tunnels had flooded with a higher density of toxic chemicals than Serira's rebreather and Bretallis's shape changing could handle. The net result was that, by the time they reached us, both of them were higher than kites, as the saying goes. I must say, intoxicated Serira was much more awesome than the regular version of her, though the experience did loosen her up ever so slightly in regards to our team. Though that may just be lingering embarrassment.

  At any rate, both of them recovered fully and my modifications to the phase shield held. While I do not, at this time, know the ultimate fate of the planet, our last encounter with them, before we returned to our side of the galaxy, had already shown marked improvement to the planet's stability. There is every hope that the planet will stabilize completely, though it may take centuries to know for certain.

  It is normally my habit to tell you what has become of those who share in my adventures, however, in this case, only Vivian is among those I truly keep in touch with, and she of course is currently telling the galaxy about her part in things. As such, I will simply leave you with a fond farewell.

  Chapter 12 – The Last Chronicle of Henry Harper

  My name is Jack Amaril, and it is with the greatest sorrow that it is I, not Henry Harper, that must write this, The Last Chronicle of Henry Harper. A better or braver man I have never met, and I wish him peace and happiness in death. The requiem I shall save for the end, however, as first I need tell how this tragedy came to be. For I was there. In fact, I feel that I am in many ways directly responsible for his death. It all started when I called once again upon my old friend Henry, asking him to join me as he had not in many years. That is to say, in the field for a proper adventure, rather than stuck behind desks as I usually am when he visits me.

  As for what that adventure was, well, I had recently come into possession of a rare bit of information. Very rare. Specifically, the location of a star that was about to be born. Only one other time, centuries ago, has any known race observed the phenomenon directly, and the technology available to the Gelomites at that time was vastly inadequate for a proper study. So I had planned to point all the tech I could at it, to see if we might not learn a few things. By what I thought was good fortune, I happened to know that Henry was between jobs. So, of course, I invited my old friend along. It would be just like old times, I thought. I had no idea it would be his last great adventure....

  ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

  Jack beamed as his friend ducked through the hatch of the Kerilonai courier boat. Henry spotted him, as well as his wife Elana, almost as soon as he straightened up. They waved and Henry closed the distance between them with firm strides that belied his apparent age. Jack spoke when he got close enough for them to clasp hands. “You look a little stiff there, Henry. Surely you're not getting old on me?”

  Henry's return grin was rueful. “It's not the age, Jack, it's the parsecs, and I've just spent entirely too many of them aboard a ship with meter and a half ceilings. I'd like to see how you'd move after that.”

  Jack laughed. “Which is why I own a private ship, Henry. I've never understood why you don't get one of your own. I'm sure you could find trouble enough even without princesses to save.”

  Henry grimaced. “Only one princess.”

  “Oh what, so the Duchess of Monterlais doesn't count now? How about the Primquial of Treolveil? I think you're up to at least a dozen princess-like people by now.”

  “Princess-like, Jack! Only princess-like!”

  Jack just laughed again and waved him into their transport. Elana was somehow already inside at the controls, which made Jack's grin increase considerably. He remembered the many times Henry had accused her of secretly being a ninja. Though, admittedly, Jack had wondered himself a few times since he first heard the accusation. Little did Henry know that she only ever pulled that trick when he was around, having otherwise given it up after their marriage. Henry's look when she did it seemed to be an unending source of amusement for her.

  Once they were underway, and Henry had obliged Elana with another baffled look, Henry turned to face him.

  “So, Jack, you were a bit light on the details, but I picked up a bit more on the way here. It seems you're making quite the spectacle out of this star, or rather soon to be star, that you've found. Not that it shouldn't be. But I can't imagine why you need me for something you're selling tickets to.”

  Jack's grin renewed itself. “Ah, Henry, you should know me better than that. The public platform for the event is sitting a bit outside the zone that the Gelomites used for their observations. Perfectly safe, in other words. You and I, on the other hand, will be far closer, managing the research teams that are studying the event.” Jack's grin morphed into a smirk. “Or rather, I will be managing the research teams while you will be making sure that we don't explode. Or perhaps more accurately, that we survive the inevitable explosion. I've heard Samantha's theories about any project you're involved with.”

  Henry groaned and slumped.

  Jack
, dropping the humor, added, “In all seriousness, Henry. I've gotten the second platform as close as I dare, maybe even too close for it to actually be safe. You're a bit of insurance to help make sure that, if anything happens, we all get to go home at the end of the day.”

  Henry straightened and nodded. “I'll do my best, Jack.”

  Jack's grin returned. “As if you know how to do anything else, my friend. As if you know how to do anything else.”

  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

  Jack and Henry observed the ship's arrival in system from Jack's private lounge. The display wall showed a spectacular image of the system as they approached. They were looking down at the system, of course, trying to avoid the relative chaos of the accretion disk, and thus had a clear view into the swirling mass that was the protostar. Well, a clearer view at least. In two small windows at the top of the display, magnified images of the two stations in system could be seen. One was quite some distance, a good ten million kilometers, from the soon to be star. The other was far closer and continuously firing massive thrusters just to maintain position against the tremendous weight of gravity.

  Henry swirled his favorite whiskey, one Jack always made sure he had a bottle of, as he stared into the phenomenon. “It's going to happen soon?”

  Jack nodded as he poured his own drink, a centuries old wine he'd never tried before. He took a sip and decided he liked it. Pity that there were only two bottles in his collection. The only ones in existence so far as he knew. “Technically, fusion could begin at any moment, as it's already reached roughly ten thousand degrees kelvin. Our best estimates are another few days out though. Honestly, without the Gelomites data, we'd have no chance of predicting it at all. It takes these things thousands of years to collapse into a star. I couldn't believe my luck when we stumbled across one that was within just months of finishing its collapse.”

  Henry cocked his head to the side a bit. “Will there even be anything to see? With a time frame so long, it seems like there would be little observable difference in such a short span.”

  Jack shook his head. “You'd think that, heck, I did think that until I looked into the Gelomite data. They reported that, once fusion began, it didn't take that long to transition. The chain reaction was far quicker than, I imagine, anyone would have guessed. But then, we're into the very fringes of anyone's understanding of the forces at work here. Which, of course, is why this find is so important. On the research station, we've got hundreds of the brightest minds in the galaxy, from dozens of species. Some that barely speak with any other race normally.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Hell, two of them we didn't even know about. They'd been hiding and listening in on galactic transmissions for centuries with no one the wiser, but when they heard about this, they simply couldn't stay away.”

  Henry looked bemused. “Are you serious?”

  Jack gave a surprisingly tired grin. “Very. To be honest, it's part of the reason I brought you in. Oh, I had intended to anyway, I wouldn't want you to miss this, but the presence of so many important people on a space station that I intended to be dangerous? I actually tried to back the whole station off to a safer point. I even offered to build a third one at my own expense. No one was interested.”

  Henry grimaced. “Oh great. So you decided to make it my fault if everyone dies. Thanks so much, Jack.”

  Jack just chuckled and took a larger sip from his glass. “Henry, if they all die, I doubt either of us will be alive for them to blame.”

  Henry's head tipped again and his grin nearly matched Jack's. “Fair point that.” He raised his tumbler. “To data or death then, my friend!”

  Jack laughed and met his toast.

  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

  The research station was crawling with potential drama. Jack envied Henry. His friend had somehow escaped it all within moments of their ship touching deck and Jack had barely spotted him since. He had vanished with all the slippery talent of one who hated politics and yet always found himself rescuing princesses. Jack also envied him those princess rescues, just a bit, but right now he'd have gladly taken the political avoidance talent instead.

  He had just slipped away from a particularly onerous conversation when he spotted Henry, who once again seemed to have attracted a young female follower. If Jack didn't know his old friend so well, he'd think he had three girls in every port. This one looked like an assistant to the Frlitei scientists, though knowing Henry, she was probably the grand duchess's niece in disguise and the two Frlitei scientists would be plotting to assassinate her. Jack paused and frowned at that thought. That was entirely too probable given the political climate of that particular world. Better have Elana check into that. The girl left and Jack slid over to the console Henry was working at.

  “Don't worry, Henry, I've already made a note to have Elana check her out. Make sure she doesn't have assassins after her.”

  Henry gave him a flat look. “Despite your delusions, I know plenty of normal people, Jack. She was running an errand for her bosses, wanted some data on the station's shields so they could calibrate for the interference.”

  Jack waggled his eyebrows. “So she came to Henry Harper, the Chief Engineer, right off the bat?”

  Henry shrugged and grinned. “I think Robertson scared her. An old man likely seems more approachable.”

  Jack snorted. “Well, I suppose that's possible. Robertson has a bit of the cranky giant thing going. Good man despite that though.”

  “As if you'd let anyone who wasn't a good man, or woman, anywhere near this station's vitals.”

  “True.” Switching topics, Jack asked, “So how's the station looking? I've been so busy managing the diplomatic drama that I haven't done much more than make sure we're not falling out of the sky.”

  Henry nodded and his fingers flashed over the console controls. “You did a damn fine job when you designed this thing. There haven't been many problems. I've made some small changes, mostly to account for some of the exotic instrumentation you didn't originally have on board.” A cross section of the station appeared on Henry's screen. “I'm a bit concerned about the armor down on deck seven, over the reactor plants. Namely, that your design relies on it to the exclusion of heavy shielding. Jack, we've no idea what sort of crazy stuff that star is going to be giving off. It'd be better if we could get a full spectrum shield down there.”

  Jack grimaced. “I agree, but it was a trade-off. You know shields like that would mess with the reactors we're using. I didn't exactly go for stability here. It was always going to be the highest possible power to size ratio, to get the station in as close as possible.”

  Henry nodded. “Yeah, I freaked out a bit when I saw Soretiz reactors done on that scale, but I understand why you did it. Still, I've got an idea.”

  Jack grinned. “Alright, Mr. Harper, a ten thousand credit bonus if I like it!”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Feeling a bit nostalgic there, Jack?” He shook his head and pulled up another image of the station. This one showed a pair of protrusions sticking out from each side of deck seven. “It's a nice, simple, dirty, solution. A pair of outriggers, nothing more than emergency maintenance bars welded into place, swung out over the reactor sections. Stick a power feed and a small shield projector on each one, then overlap them.”

  Jack whistled. “Nice. It gets the shields just far enough away not to screw with the reactors. Won't be very heavy shielding, but any shields at all are a huge safety net. Can we do it without pulling the station back some?”

  Henry nodded. “Yeah, wouldn't suggest it if we couldn't. We can do the whole thing from the inside. So long as we aren't so terribly unlucky as to have the whole star go up right when we first stick them out through the armor. That'll only be like three minutes, tops. I can have it hacked together in a couple of hours too.”

  Jack gave a firm nod. “Do it. I'm seriously regretting cutting every corner I thought I could on safety just to get us closer. There wasn't supposed to be so many bloody VIPs and galaxy reno
wned geniuses on board. Anything you can do in the time we have to make us less likely to fall into our friend out there, do it. Don't even ask. I trust your judgment.”

  “Sure, Jack, I'll see what else I can come up with.”

  Jack nodded and wandered off to comm Elana, mostly about screening the visitors for princesses and assassins. With Henry aboard, he probably should have done it already.

  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

  Jack couldn't help but snicker as he heard Henry cursing. He rounded the final corner into the small sub-control area Henry had hijacked for the outrigger shields. They would be tied into the main systems when finished, of course, but since they were being hacked together on site, it was easier to fine-tune them in local control first. His amusement only increased when he saw Henry nearly upside down with his head and shoulders buried in the primary local control panel. Henry must have heard his laughter because he slid out awkwardly and gave Jack an evil look.

  “Why is it that I always seem to find you cursing as you tear apart perfectly good pieces of my stations, ships, or colonies, Henry?”

  Henry snorted. “Because you never leave enough room for tinkering in your designs. Would it kill you to consider the poor bastards that have to add on to your work?”

  Jack openly laughed at that. “Henry, you're the only poor bastard who ever tries to add on to my work. Even Ernie wouldn't do it after we passed the blueprint stage.”

  Henry just grumbled. “What did you want, Jack? Or are you just here to harass me?”

  Jack's grin, if it was possible, only got wider. “I just wanted to let you know that dear Elana, at my behest, has nipped your princess problems in the bud! At least this time.”

  Henry's return stare was completely deadpan. “What are you talking about?”

  “Why the sweet young thing you were talking shield specs with, obviously. Turns out, she's the second cousin of the Duchess. Only like eleventh in line for the throne, but still a tempting target. Security just arrested one of the scientists who was planning to kidnap her. I'm sure you'll miss playing hero, but I'm also sure your insurance company will appreciate it. It's gotta be getting hard on the joints.”