Slipstream Messenger (Neutrino Book 1)

by Daltea Francis

“Umm, not know. Too… baby.”

  “Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing to research? Whether or not Oolia 6 can make people telepathic over time?” Darwyth mused.

  “The consummate scientist, huh Darwyth?” Lylia said.

  “Ah, well,” Darwyth chuckled, “We are what we are I suppose.”

  They entered the violet field of wheat and approached the Kalyaliss. Darwyth and Lylia made their way up the fin and into the cabin, but Mathius looked at it steadily for a few moments, and Neutrino wasn’t sure he would actually climb up into the ship or not.

  “Is this your first time in a ship since you crashed here?” Neutrino asked. Mathius nodded but did not take his eyes off the hull.

  “Do you remember it?”

  “Hmm, bit, part. Fire, big boom, very loud. I very afraid. Mama not move, dead.” Mathius continued to stare at the ship. He had said it all very matter-of-factly, but there was a sadness in his eyes. He must have been terrified, well beyond Neutrino’s own ridiculous fear, but Mathius was still willing to go.

  “You probably already know this from reading our minds and stuff, but, we’re all scared. It’ll be all right,” Neutrino heard himself saying it, but he still couldn’t believe it had come out of his mouth. He just felt the need to take care of Mathius, to help him if he could, like an instant big brother. “Darwyth has built a very good ship, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  Mathius stopped looking at the ship and stared at Neutrino instead. Was he reading his mind, searching to find the truth? Or was he trying to talk to him telepathically, but not succeeding?

  “Yes,” Mathius finally said, “I try believe it too.” So, he had seen the truth behind Neutrino’s words, but it seemed to comfort him anyway, because he moved towards the fin of the ship and began to climb up. Once inside, Mathius found an empty seat and strapped himself in. His posture said he was calm and comfortable, but there was nervousness in his eyes and the way that he twisted his forefingers together that told Neutrino he was still terrified.

  “Hey, Fizz,” Neutrino whispered to the Nilfrit on his shoulder. Fizz chirped quietly and stared at him. Neutrino lifted his chin in Mathius’ direction and Fizz looked that way. Then that clever little Nilfrit jumped right off Neutrino’s shoulder and into Mathius’ lap who startled, then laughed like a teen boy should.

  “I was hoping you could watch Fizz for me while I’m flying?” Neutrino asked. “He doesn’t seem to like space much either.”

  “She,” Mathius said and petted the not fur.

  “She?”

  “Fizz a female,” Mathius continued. “She bond you very much. You like…mmm…mother.” Lylia and Darwyth burst out laughing while Neutrino just stared at him with his mouth hanging open.

  “Fizz thinks I’m her mother?” Neutrino asked incredulously. “Wait, you can talk to her?”

  “Not talk. But understand. Fizz simple. Feel much…mmm…instinct. She like you. Mother…is not exactly. But also yes. She choose you help make her grow. Like mother.”

  “I often wondered about how the Nilfrits reproduced,” Darwyth said. He stood with his left arm loosely folded around his chest, his right hand scratching the scruff on his chin, and a twinkle in his eye that said the scientist was working. “Every so often, a new little one would just appear. I remember thinking it was odd because I had one Nilfrit in particular that was always helping me out in the hangar. One day he had a little Nilfrit on him, no clue where it came from.”

  “I see memory,” Mathius had closed his eyes, “She wake alone, she crawl out cave to other Nilfrits, looking for the right one, not see anywhere. Nilfrits go to big trouble in woods, you come. She see you, she instinct you. Very happy, you not push away.” Mathius opened his eyes and smiled up at Neutrino. Neutrino’s vocal cords seemed to have stopped functioning. All he could do was stand there with his tongue going dry because his mouth was still hanging open.

  This is insane! I can’t be anyone’s parent!

  “If you reject Fizz, she die,” Mathius frowned. Neutrino closed his mouth and looked at the little blue fuzzball. She was sweet, and so far at least, she hadn’t been any trouble. Neutrino had kind of enjoyed the company.

  “How long do I have to take care of her?” he asked.

  Mathius shrugged, “Until she grow.”

  “And how long is that?”

  “Well,” Darwyth said as he took a deep breath and moved his hands to his hips. He stared at the ceiling of the cabin in contemplation. “When I first saw my friend with his baby Nilfrit, it was when I was working on the fifth hull design and I think the last time I can really remember them being together was about the time I had figured out the propulsion system, so that was…” Darwyth paused and appeared to be making calculations in his head. “About five years.”

  Neutrino’s eyebrows shot up. Five years? Fizz looked up at him and chirped, as if she knew he was uneasy and wanted to reassure him. Neutrino knelt by Mathius’ chair and ran his fingers through Fizz’s not fur.

  “Don’t worry, Fizz,” Neutrino sighed. “I’ll look after you, but right now I want you to stay with Mathius while I’m flying, okay?” Fizz chirped again happily and burrowed into the front of a smiling Mathius’ robes.

  Neutrino stood and resumed his position in the forward part of the cabin. His mind was still reeling, the foremost thought being the ridiculous notion of how he would explain a Nilfrit grandchild to his mother. He eased into the Pilot’s seat then he slid his hands back into the controls and began the process of reattaching himself. Lylia walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder.

  “Congratulations Myno, I think you’ll be a wonderful mother,” she smiled, but there was sincerity in her eyes. She was making light of the situation, but not laughing at him anymore.

  “Thanks.” She nodded then returned to her station, stopping briefly by Mathius to pet Fizz.

  “So, how do we find this Sun-entity?” he called back to Lylia after he had finished pre-flight preparations and was ready to take-off.

  “We’re going to its last known location and then we’ll follow its projected path until we find it,” she said in between calculations. “Hopefully it hasn’t changed its course.”

  “That could take forever,” Neutrino groaned.

  “Hopefully not,” she replied, “It wasn’t traveling at a very high speed. And we can always take short trips through the Slipstream if we’re not picking up anything on sensors. Sooner or later we should be able to locate them. I finished inputting our flight plan, are you ready for take-off?”

  Sure, why not? was what Neutrino thought, but he much more boldly said, “Let’s do it.”

  Neutrino initiated the start up sequence and gently guided the ship off the planet’s surface. He was improving much more quickly than he had expected. Darwyth was right, the ship, although it was not a simple thing, was much easier for even a lousy Slipstream Messenger like Neutrino to control than he would have thought possible. Neutrino followed the directions on his screen and brought the ship into the Stream with little complication. For the first time since he had joined the Academy he didn’t feel like such a complete loser.

  He didn’t even panic when the ship began to spin wildly out of control.

  Not at first anyway.

  27. Telepathic Insights

  “Darwyth, what’s happening?” Neutrino yelled as he tried to regain control of the ship. Warning sirens were going off and the ship was spinning so rapidly he could hardly see for the dizziness. He did everything he usually did to get control of a spin, but the ship wasn’t responding.

  “We’ve had a burn out! I can’t fix it until we stop! We need to land somewhere,” Darwyth yelled. His voice was strained as he tried to stay upright.

  “Land? How about crash? Would that be okay? Because right now it’s kind of a toss up!” Neutrino yanked on the controls as hard as he could with one final burst of strength and a few choice curse words. It was enough. The spin finally began to slow and they came to a full stop
. They all sat quietly for a minute to catch their breaths. Mathius took the opportunity to vomit on the floor. It was not a pleasant aroma that filled the cabin.

  “Well, now we have another reason to land,” said Neutrino, resisting the urge to vomit as well.

  “Lylia, is there anywhere nearby?” gasped Darwyth, catching his breath.

  “We’re in luck,” Lylia said after searching her monitor for a minute, “There’s a planet not far from here that should do. I’m inputting the coordinates now.”

  “You’ll have to take it easy, Neutrino,” Darwyth added, looking at his own computer readout, “We’ve lost half the system, she won’t be very responsive.”

  “I noticed.” Neutrino hadn’t meant to be so snippy with him; the ship was just a prototype after all. But he was still trembling from the adrenaline flooding his system and it was making him ornery.

  Neutrino somehow managed to keep the ship relatively stable as he entered the planet’s atmosphere. It was a bumpy ride, but before long they had landed on the barren ground. There was nothing but craters and dirt to be seen.

  “Nice landing, Neutrino,” said Darwyth after Neutrino had shut down the engines.

  “It’s easier when there aren’t any trees or mountains to watch out for. You call this place ‘habitable’, Lylia?”

  “I didn’t say it was habitable, I said it would do. If you’re heading outside you’ll need air shields. No oxygen and it’s very, very cold.”

  “Well, I better get moving then, because outside is exactly where I need to be,” Darwyth pulled gloves and an air shield generator out of the storage box and put them on.

  “I’ll help you,” Lylia called. She was still finishing some kind of calculations in her computer.

  “Thanks,” said Darwyth. He grabbed some tools, opened the hatch and began to make his way through the force field and out into the wasteland below. “I’ll see you outside.” Lylia finished whatever she was doing, activated her air shield, and headed to the hatch as well.

  Neutrino had untangled himself from the ship’s controls and was wearily rubbing his eyes. “What should we do?” he asked.

  “Clean up, what else?” she gave a little smirk and disappeared outside.

  “Figures,” he looked at Mathius who was being comforted by Fizz but seemed otherwise all right. “I suppose I should have volunteered to help Darwyth first, huh?” Mathius smiled.

  “I’m sorry about this,” Neutrino indicated the mess. He pulled an anti-nausea film out of his med kit. “I didn’t think of giving this to you before we left. I haven’t really needed it since we’ve been flying the streamship, but you should take one now. It will help your stomach.”

  “Thanks you,” Mathius said, taking the offered medicine. Neutrino showed him how to put it under his tongue, and then moved to the job at hand.

  Cleaning up the vomit proved to be more difficult than one would imagine. Darwyth hadn’t brought any provisions for such a task, and Neutrino didn’t want to use any of the medical bandages for wipes, they might need them later. Finally, he settled on using one of the three spare suits to clean the mess up. Thankfully, Mathius had not had much to eat before the flight, so the amount of vomit was considerably less than it could have been. Neutrino decided to tell Mathius about his disgusting second Slipstream flight to make him feel better; it seemed to help him relax a bit

  “Can you see my memories? I mean, not just hear the words in my head, but actually see the images too?”

  “I see more images. Is why I not speak good. I see, I feel what you think.”

  “How do you handle all that information? I mean, can you shut it off if you want to?”

  “A little, yes. I can quiet, but I not close all. I practice, I do better, Oolians say.” They worked quietly then while Neutrino contemplated what life as a telepath would be like. He wasn’t sure he would like it, and he wasn’t sure he would want to be around one all the time, having them listen to your deepest thoughts, never having a moment alone…

  I shouldn’t have thought that, he probably heard me!

  Neutrino looked up from the mess he was cleaning at Mathius, who just smiled. He obviously thought Neutrino’s concern was amusing. Neutrino returned to cleaning, thoroughly embarrassed, which made him recall all the embarrassing moments of his life. He didn’t want to with Mathius sitting right there, but the more he tried to suppress it the more he couldn’t control it. His whole awkward life’s history paraded through his head on display for any eager telepath to see, right down to the last time he saw his mother and her lackluster response to his announcement that he would graduate.

  “She not… hmm… disappoint you,” interrupted Mathius.

  “What?” Neutrino woke from his obsessive thoughts.

  “Your mother, she love. You not disappoint.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Is look in eye. I see what you think. I see she not disappoint. She sad, yes. She love you. All mother love.” He just stared at Mathius.

  How could he know that, when I don’t?

  Neutrino couldn’t think of anything to say to him. Instead he finished cleaning up the mess, buried the soiled suit in an airtight compartment in the back, and then sat in the Pilot’s seat, staring out over the barren land, waiting for the others to return. Fizz came over and joined him, this time cuddling up right under his chin.

  “Well?” Neutrino asked when Lylia and Darwyth finally came back in.

  “We managed to repair some of the burnt out controls,” Lylia sighed, “Darwyth’s going to see if it works now.” They both looked worn out. Neutrino could only imagine how straining it must have been to work around the outside of the ship in these conditions. Maybe he was better off cleaning up the vomit.

  “Stardust!” Darwyth cursed. He was standing in front of his monitor, which was blinking an angry red at him. Darwyth pulled a panel up out of the floor and began pulling at cords, and then he pulled another panel off the wall and did the same. Neutrino had no idea what was going on, but it didn’t look good. Darwyth pulled off a few more panels, each time getting more frustrated until he just stood there, staring into an opening.

  “Well, that does it,” Darwyth looked at the others, “I have no idea what’s wrong.” Neutrino shot a look at Lylia, but he could see that she had no idea what to do about it either.

  “No,” Mathius said quite unexpectedly.

  “What do you mean ‘no’?” Darwyth asked.

  “You can fix,” Mathius answered.

  “Really? How? I’ve done everything I can think of…”

  “No, you think… is busy. You know fix, but… can’t find.”

  “What are you saying, Mathius?” Lylia asked.

  Mathius closed his eyes, “I see friend… hmm, lost. I see hurt, long time past.” Darwyth didn’t say anything; he just turned and stared into an opened panel.

  “He is busy in mind,” Mathius continued. Then he opened his eyes and said directly to Darwyth, “Why you don’t just tell him?”

  Everyone stared at Darwyth, but he didn’t look back at them. He continued looking at the guts of the ship without really seeing any of it.

  “Do you know what he’s talking about?” Neutrino asked what they all wanted to know. Darwyth didn’t speak for a moment, and when he did it was quietly.

  “I know what he’s talking about, Neutrino. He’s talking about Mynophales Erythilon. The first Mynophales Erythilon, your father.”

  28. Reinventing History

  “What about my father?” Neutrino finally found his voice after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

  “I knew your father Neutrino. And I knew your mother,” Darwyth turned to Neutrino, “I even knew you once, although you don’t remember me.” Neutrino wasn’t really sure how to respond to that statement. He had so many questions; he couldn’t decide which one to ask first, so he started with the simplest.

  “How?”

  “He was my friend. We kind of grew up together. He was a year
younger, but our mothers were friends, so, you know how mothers are; when they got together so did we,” Darwyth stared at the floor as though he were looking into the past. He had just a hint of a smile dancing around his lips.

  “When we got older I went to the University. The next year he applied to the Academy and became a Messenger,” Darwyth continued, “We still got together regularly. He was the first one to encourage me to pursue my plans to make a streamship. I was kind of an odd duck, always in my head, so I didn’t have a lot of friends but Myno. That was, until Kalya, your mother, finally agreed to go out with him. Suddenly they were inseparable and I started seeing less and less of him. Eventually I resorted to inviting them both out to a concert. I figured I’d prefer being forced to spend time with his new girlfriend rather than never see him again.

  “Turned out it wasn’t hard at all to spend time with Kalya. She was exciting and funny. She wasn’t exactly beautiful but there was something else about her that instantly drew you to her, a kind of charisma I suppose. She was also the best Messenger of her class; even better than her father, better than Myno. She was tough and confident and completely fearless. So I immediately fell in love with her of course and therefore understood why Myno didn’t really want me to meet her.”

  What? “I’m sorry,” Neutrino interrupted, “You must be talking about someone else, because my mother was never a Messenger.”

  “Of course she was,” Darwyth said matter of factly, “She was downright amazing in the Slipstream.”

  “But, my mother never became a Slipstream Messenger. She hurt her knee in a hover accident and couldn’t apply.”

  “A hover accident? She hurt her knee doing a stupid exit stunt barely a year out of training. She was always so gutsy, but she bit off more than she could chew on that one, and not even the stream suit could protect her leg. She’s lucky they didn’t have to amputate. Her accident is the reason there are rules against doing tricks as you land,” Darwyth chuckled. Neutrino’s head was swimming. How could it be true? Darwyth leaned in closer and added, “What you need to realize about your mother is that she has a hard time dealing with difficult realities. When there’s something she doesn’t like she simply ignores it or changes it. When something in her past disagrees with her, she rewrites history to suit her. Falling from the best Messenger in an age to a miserable joke was not something she could handle. It’s the same reason she and I haven’t spoken since shortly after your father disappeared. I think I reminded her too much of him,” Darwyth paused.