"Don't you just want to hug him," said Heartness, seeing Hogart's shocked look.
"I didn't realize he was so big!"
Puppy let out a long purple tongue and his translator said, "That's what they all say." Then he closed one of his six eyes briefly. A wink?
Hogart almost laughed. "Ah, funny guy, are you? Good. I need people like you on the Center bridge. You’ll be my security officer." He recognized the clicking of the alien’s legs. So, it was Puppy that had been clapping.
He turned and whispered to Heartness, seriously. "Funny guys usually die first. How'd he make it through his tour of duty?"
"According to some reconstructed memories, he's only really funny between missions."
Hogart nodded, then looked at his sheet again. "Cud..dly," he glared at Heartness, who gave him a winning smile, then he turned back to the crowd. "My second officer and communications advisor." A large green caterpillar-like creature with many segments, a number of sucker-like legs on the front, and a much larger translator system around its middle, inched up to the stage.
Heartness leant over and whispered, "Cuddly is a bit shy. Make sure he gets lots of toilet breaks, and try not to mention it."
Hogart nodded, and turned to Cuddly. "I heard you can channel beings as well. Can you teach me telepathy?"
"I'll do my best, sir," Cuddly's translator rasped.
"Great! Probably not this mission, but definitely soon!" Hogart looked at his sheet again. "Geo, the best mathematician in the fleet, and you're an astrophysicist too!"
A ball with many light-colored tear-drop shapes in various positions around it rolled down the middle of the room, the drops shifting around its body to accelerate. Then a drop shape flicked out, and Hogart could see two big black eyes, surrounded by hair, hiding in the middle of the ball. Geo held up a drop and put it down again. His way of greeting? He rolled up the steps and settled down next to Puppy.
"Alright," said Hogart. "Amy!" He looked for her in the crowd. "Stellar Flash is fitted with the latest in medical and repair systems for aliens and robots. But, anything can happen in space, and if the system fails, Amy will step in. Our ship's doctor and astrobiologist."
A splashing, squelching sound began coming from the left, and a greenish, transparent blob of gelatinous material shifted through many of the other aliens, sliding between their legs, sliding over their shells and even briefly turning into a wall to quickly flow through a close group of plant aliens.
Hogart nodded appreciatively. One of the xenosexuals.
Amy made it to the stage, and immediately formed a human female shape with curves in almost all the right places, but with hair that seemed to drip rather than hang, she flipped it with her hand suggestively, then stood next to the other crew, squelching down into an amorphous blob. Hogart momentarily gaped before turning away.
Then he suddenly realized why she was called Amy, and turned to Heartness. In a quiet, slightly strangled voice he said, ‘as in Amoeba?”
Heartness winked.
Hogart grimaced, then looked at his sheet again.
"And finally, Torus."
There was a flash, and suddenly a toroidal-shaped energy ball materialized on the stage. "Thank you Captain Hogart," it vibrated. "It is with great pleasure that I accept your invitation to join your crew."
Hogart smiled. "Torus will be our engineer and technician, and be a backup for everyone else.”
"That's only six," whispered Heartness. "There are eight stations, so you need one more! Where’s your pilot?"
"Yes," said Hogart, mysteriously, continuing his speech to the crowd. "The Stellar Flash is in need of a pilot. It can flash to any location in this and other universes, of course, but someone needs to drive it once we get there. I will be giving most of this responsibility to the AI. However, we will sometimes need a backup pilot and I will then contact other crew on board. Let's plan for a guest pilot of the week!"
"Hogart.” Heartness sounded worried. “You can’t. The Stellar Flash is a conscious entity on another level. The AI can operate it, but it can’t fully integrate with it. At some point you’re going to need someone who has a similar consciousness.”
Hogart leant over to her and urgently whispered back. “Since the issue with your previous pilot, Earth has asked me to find a way around having to have a permanent one, as the only real benefit to merged consciousnesses is slightly faster reaction times.”
Heartness looked thoughtfully at him, shifting back into playing the role again, her voice loud enough for all to hear. "Hmm. Well. As long as they're chosen fairly. Don't just invite all the pretty females in return for favors."
Hogart looked at her with a pretend shocked expression on his face. "Would I do that?"
Then he turned back again to the hundreds of alien crew members that stood patiently, listening and translating. "So, what do you think? I'm sure there are some aliens here who want a go at being a pilot. Show of hands and err, tentacles, tarsus, leaves, whatever you have, if this is something that would interest you."
A few of the aliens near the back spat in the air, made a hoot sound or flashed various colors. Hogart nodded. At least he had their attention.
He looked over at his Center crew on the stage. "Well team, are you excited? Ready to take us all to Frequency One for our first mission? I'm sure you are!"
There was, of course, no real reaction. Perhaps Spiney's spines changed color a little. Perhaps Amy's translucent body shifted a few molecules or Torus' energy field flickered more, but there weren't any sounds from the translators, and they weren't programmed to translate alien body language anyway.
He walked in front of his new alien crew members and looked them up and down seriously, then remembered Jorjarar, realizing now that he agreed with him. This twenty minutes of posturing and posing was a crucial part of the whole launch, and helped get them continued support from various government departments, private enterprises and charity organizations on Earth.
None of the alien races did anything similar on their worlds, but they were happy to attend, and the viewers back home loved it. He knew that this would be broadcast to billions of people in the Solar System, though he would have left on the mission before the signal actually got anywhere, and even then it would be edited into a one-minute news story on people's mind viewers for them to decide whether to watch or not.
He briefly touched his temple and checked the time via his mind view, then turned and gave Heartness a knowing wink. She had been playing along with his antics, giving the viewers something to talk about. The wink was to let her know he was about to finish. He turned back to the rustling crowd.
"These are your superior officers." He pointed his hand at the beings next to him. "Please treat them with the respect they deserve. Please also feel free to ask them for help if you need it. For many of you who have never been to Frequency One before, you can contact any of them if you need any help through the transitions."
He looked back over at Heartness. "Any last words?"
Heartness shook her head. "I think you've covered everything. Now you've got about 15 minutes to get to the ship!"
Hogart pretended to look horrified. "Gaah!"
He quickly rolled up his plastic info sheet and checked all his pockets. They'd tried to work out what would be a great thing to do to get a heading on some of the news feeds. 'New Captain Almost Misses Launch Window,' might get some attention. “New Captain is Rude to Admiral’ probably not so much. Then again ‘New Captain is a Womanizer’ might get more shares. Any publicity is good publicity, he thought. "Alright team, it's time. Let's get to the Stellar Flash."
Heartness gave Hogart a grin, her face showing that she was relieved that was over. "Wish you all the best Captain." She saluted him.
Hogart saluted back. "I wish you all the best too, Admiral."
Then, as if on cue, all the aliens in the room pressed, flicked, activated or otherwise engaged their address relocation systems, and materialized in their designated rooms o
n the Stellar Flash, their personal effects having been transported there earlier that day.
Hogart tapped the bright silver flash band on his wrist and also disappeared.
As the flashes in the meeting hall died down, and the light of the environment faded back to normal, Admiral Victoria Heartness looked about the empty room. Her tour of duty between the frequencies was over. She could now take that desk job that she’d just been offered, and manage many of the ships from afar. "Well then," she said sadly, then strode purposefully out.
She was sure her new duties would have nothing to do with the Stellar Flash.
She had no idea how wrong that would turn out to be.
Chapter 2
Frequency One
Captain Jonathan Hogart flashed to the bridge of his new ship, and saw that his crew were already at their stations. "Good work!" He looked around appreciatively. Heartness had given him a brief tour weeks ago, but it was like taking a test drive in someone else's vehicle. There was that feeling of it finally being yours. He couldn't stop himself from grinning. The best spacecraft in humanity's fleet, and he was the captain. What did his grandfather used to say? Ah, that was it. 'How awesome!'
The Stellar Flash was the latest in human technology, based on alien designs from the Interdimensional Coalition. The I.C. remained in Frequency Seven, and rarely had anything to do with the lower frequencies besides send some alien technology ideas to engineers in their dreams. When this information had begun appearing a few decades ago, engineers had quickly come up with new ways to utilize it, sending ideas via mind view to every other engineer on the planet.
The relocation technology utilized the electromagnatheric energy that existed in another level of reality, and allowed for instantaneous transportation of anyone and anything, anywhere in the universe. When it was finally understood that objects were not in a location, the location was part of the object, and that it was possible to superimpose the vibration of a new location on the current object’s location vibration within an isolation field, Earth became a utopia almost overnight.
With unlimited free energy, and no longer any need for any kind of costly public transportation system, an economy of time trading had quickly replaced money, as the expert you needed for absolutely anything, that also wanted your unique expertise in exchange, would be able to appear before you anywhere in the universe in minutes. The massive leap in technology had transformed the entire human race in under twelve months.
Of course, none of this could have happened if Alien Shift hadn't happened in 2033, allowing for the next generation of people to accept rapid and total change every minute. Previous generations wouldn't have been able to cope. Even Hogart, a homo galacticus human born near the end of the 21st century, was still coming to terms with the rapid leaps in technology every day.
Hogart thought about his ship. It was so completely different to what many had expected a future ship to be like. Many of the books he’d read, old gamevids he’d seen and even some of the stories he’d written had predicted long rocket-like vehicles with wings and lines. No one would have ever thought they’d be flying around in something like the Stellar Flash.
The ship was quite nondescript. Completely functional, from a distance it looked like a black triangle with a large sphere in the center. While the surface seemed to be some undefinable shade of shiny black, within the metal teemed billions of repair bots dealing with anything from radiation damage to metal fatigue.
On each corner of the triangle was an airlock that led along internal crisscrossing corridors that formed more triangles leading to the center. The ship was big but Hogart knew it wasn't much bigger than a large 21st century shopping mall. And everything was on one level. No lifts, stairs or ladders to cause too many problems for any aliens.
Inside the sphere was the Center, or bridge / command deck / observation room / control sphere, or whatever other captains, engineers or aliens called it, and it was surrounded by a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spherical screen that displayed the immediate outside of the triangular ship.
When the door to the Center closed behind Hogart, it was almost like they were on a small opaque floor with eight station stands floating in the vacuum of space, with a white energy column in the center. The floor itself could be made transparent too, if needed, but Hogart found it to be a little disconcerting.
The Center was really designed for their alien crew. Humans preferred looking forward, and old ships used to only have a forward screen. Many aliens had complained that they couldn't see anything that was happening around the ship, so the Center had been built. Unfortunately, it was a bit uncomfortable for humans who only had eyes at the front, and Hogart knew he'd probably end up with neck ache if he had to keep looking around. He would rely on the crew to do that for him.
“AI?” he called.
There was a slight hum and an image representing the AI formed in front of him. An attractive Japanese girl of about twenty, the AI's avatar had pink and blonde hair, a tight black dress, and quite large breasts that didn't look natural.
Hogart opened then closed his mouth again and raised his eyebrows, wondering if Jorjarar had had something to do with it.
He was happy that the image designer had really chosen a Japanese model, rather than picking someone from China and calling them Japanese, like so many cheap avatar companies tried to get away with these days. Still, if he kept something like that on the bridge, it might send out the wrong message, especially when most of his superior officers were female.
Something more professional was needed.
"Hello, AI," he said. "Can you, um, adjust the shape of your image a bit? I think the weight distribution in the upper torso might be a little, um, above specifications."
The AI put a finger to her cheek, then pouted. "Captain, are you saying my breasts are too big?"
Hogart sighed. She even had an anime voice. "Just make the adjustment. Reduce by fifty percent. I'd like a more serious version too, please."
The AI's breasts immediately grew smaller, her hair grew a bit shorter, and she began looking more natural. Then she changed her pink hair to black, removed some make up, and aged herself to be more like thirty.
Hogart nodded approvingly. "Much better. If anyone wants a different version, feel free to change for them. Now, are you ready to pilot this vessel?"
The AI froze for a moment, checking data, then reanimated. "Yes, captain. Frequency One co-ordinates are set, and we can leave at any time." Her voice had become more natural, too.
Hogart turned to his crew of aliens. They were standing at their stations which were positioned in a circle of eight, facing outward towards the Center's surround screen walls. They all had some part of their bodies connected to their white screens - checking systems, monitoring crew, but not really doing much yet. The moment they arrived in Frequency One, they'd be busy.
"AI, activate flashdrive."
In the surround screens, Saturn was slowly turning on the right, with the space station's massive wheel and half-complete spokes structure turning on the left. The Stellar Flash was orbiting just above the rings, with Saturn's icy moon Enceladus directly behind them.
Hogart looked in wonder at Saturn, and further out to the bright star in the distance that was the sun. He so loved this system. Even though the plan was for a day trip and return to X-1a to report, there was always the faint chance that he might not see his beloved Solar System again.
A hum began climbing as the Center’s central column of white metal began glowing, and then along with an increasing vibration, arcs of electricity shot up and down it. The light grew brighter and then split in the middle of the pole, spreading outward along the ceiling, screens, and floor and bathing everything in a bright white glow.
Outside the ship, flashes spread across its surface like multiple lightning strikes, then the glow intensified, enveloping the entire structure. Moments later, the Stellar Flash disappeared, flickers of energy sparking across the vacuum where it used to b
e.
On the spherical screen inside, a binary star system flickered into view, a brown and purple planet solidified next to it. The planet turned slowly on the right side of the screen, streaks of white and pink in its atmosphere, small lakes of water peeking out from under the faint cloud cover.
Hogart was pleased to see that they had arrived at their destination. The binary star system occupied the exact same space/time as the Solar System, but existed within the vibrational universe designated Frequency One.
Hogart had been given the explanation a few times, but it was different finally being here, on another channel of reality. He knew his Solar System was a turn of the dial away, but it was just the same as being an infinite number of kilometers away. Without this ship, he could never return to his own world.
As the ship stabilized, the crew flew into action, translators chattering, sending enquiries for information via their white panels.
"Thank you, AI," said Hogart. The hologram of the AI bowed and disappeared.
Hogart was beside himself. He'd finally made it to Frequency One, and it wasn't all that bad. In fact, his thoughts seemed clearer, and everything around him seemed more defined and easier to control.
He had heard that one of the side effects of experiencing another frequency was being able to manifest something out of thin air. He held out his hand and concentrated.
"Yes, sir?" asked Geo, thinking Hogart's hand was pointing towards him.
"Oh, sorry, Geo. I just thought I'd test a theory for myself, and try to make something appear with my mind."
"I understand."
Hogart stared at his hand for a few seconds, but nothing happened.
He put it down again. “Oh well. No apple.” He sighed. It must have been a myth. "Well, team, let's get down there."
Stellar Flash Page 2
