Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set

by Amy Proebstel

  “Why didn’t you use the one in Viceroy Blair’s room?”

  “I didn’t know there was one. Is there another one nearby?” She could see he was not happy about deviating from his assignment and hoped he would overcome his scruples since she really did have to go pretty urgently.

  “Right this way,” he said as he changed direction at an intersection.

  Juila avidly memorized everything they passed so she could learn the layout of the ship or find any other people. She still did not have a plan for getting back home, but she was going to have to figure it out right away or be a part of a mutiny when the crew discovered there was no more food. She would like to be well away from the ship before it came to a desperate situation. Plus, she reasoned with herself, the Viceroy would benefit from her leaving with most of the hungry mouths to feed.

  Deciding to talk to Ozias about the matter she asked, “Do you think Viceroy Blair would allow me to take as many of the passengers back to Earth with me? Since you’re so short on food, it would help alleviate the strain of trying to feed everyone. If I could look at my telepod, I might be able to find out what caused the navigational system to malfunction.”

  “I’m sorry, Juila. I have orders to take you only to the grow room. I’m already deviating enough by taking you to a bathroom. Please don’t ask me to do more.”

  “I don’t mean to bring any trouble to you; on the contrary, I’m trying to keep all of you from even more trouble when the food runs out tomorrow. You do know it’s that short of a supply, right?”

  It took a moment for Ozias to answer her and she knew she had told him something he had not known. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m not making any promises. Here’s the bathroom. I’ll be waiting outside to escort you to the grow room. Please don’t dally; I’d rather not have to answer any questions as to why you’re in this part of the ship instead of where you’re supposed to be.”

  “I’ll hurry,” Juila announced brightly. She had planted a seed of doubt and also offered a solution to the problem. If she knew Ozias’ type, he would be weighing the options and find her solution to be the best. All she had to do was be patient and hope he would decide to help her.

  The bathroom looked like any other she had ever used, so she was unable to glean any new information from the detour. She finished as fast as she could and went to wash her hands. She took several handfuls of water to trick her stomach into thinking it had been fed. She dried off her hands and face and then went back out to the hall for Ozias to lead her to the grow room.

  “Thank you,” she said as she fell into step with him as they continued on their way.

  “You’re welcome. I’m afraid you haven’t been given much consideration as a guest of the ship. Viceroy Blair is under a lot of pressure to get us back home. It seemed as though this voyage had been doomed from the start as we’ve had one problem after another.”

  They reached the aquaponics room, and Ozias opened the door for her.

  “Why don’t you come in and keep me company while I check everything over?” Juila asked as she stepped into the room. She tried not to sound too desperate to keep him talking.

  “I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” he replied and stepped into the humid room along with her. “It sure smells better in here today.”

  “Yes, it does. It smells fresh like it should.” She moved over to examine the fish tank and asked, “Tell me some of the things which have gone wrong with this trip. How long have you been flying?”

  “We left just over a year ago. Things were pretty bad on Heliok then, so I imagine it’s gotten worse since we’ve been gone. We were supposed to be back a long time ago with new recruits as well as a new power system. It looks as though we’re going to fail on all aspects at this rate.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we can work something out if I go back home. I might be able to help out with the main power system if you let me look at it. I’m pretty good with mechanicals, as you can see from this room.”

  Ozias looked around the room which had been set to rights in a matter of hours. Even the equipment was working again when they had been told it was hopelessly broken. She might be able to help them after all. If not, they were doomed to starve to death as they floated in space. Nobody would come to their rescue from their home planet. They had made plenty of enemies in their travels due to Viceroy Blair’s acquisitive nature. They really were running out of options pretty rapidly.

  “What else has gone wrong?” Juila asked as Ozias remained silent.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “WE’VE RUN OUT of supplies twice. The first time, everything spoiled. There was a plumbing leak which caused water to drip all over the stored supplies, and they grew moldy and unusable. The second time, there was an infestation of bugs which fouled everything, so even the fish refused to eat it. Then the power system on the aquaponics stopped working almost a week ago and then we knew we were in trouble.”

  “It looks like your starter seeds are all doing well. Look here,” she pointed to one of the grow trays floating in the water trough, “there’s already a curl of the first two leaves poking out of the top of the pearlite.”

  “Does it normally happen this fast?” he asked as he leaned forward with fascination at the start of the new plants which meant they would soon have food.

  “The trick is to soak the seed in a bath of water and booster before you plant them. If the seeds are viable, then they should begin to sprout the same day.” She went down all of the rows to check each pot individually. Of all of the plants, there were only four pots which were not showing some sign of life.

  Juila asked, “How far away are we from Heliok?”

  “If we were moving at regular speed, it’s probably still about two to three weeks away.”

  “What’s happened to your power supply?”

  “More bad luck, I suppose. Our original crystal worked fine up until we resupplied the first time. Once we got back into zero gravity, the crystal shattered into a million pieces and killed our only engineer in the process.”

  “Oh, that’s bad. Who did the clean-up?”

  “There was a group of the crew who did it together. It took them several days to locate all of the pieces.”

  “How did you get the second crystal?”

  “We got that from one of our newest passengers named Grobin. It wasn’t a conventional crystal, but it seemed to work better than the first one, so we didn’t mind.”

  “Viceroy Blair told me it cracked in half. Do you have any idea why it might have done that?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  An idea struck her, and she asked, “When the crew cleaned up the crystal shards, did they happen to go over the whole area with a microfiber cloth to gather any remaining dust from the explosion?”

  “I doubt it. Why?”

  “That’s probably why the new crystal cracked.”

  “What?”

  “The dust left behind most likely created a resonating frequency which increased in volume the more you demanded energy from the new crystal. The conflicting frequencies probably caused the crystal to crack.”

  “That makes sense because we were under full power when it happened.”

  Juila nodded when she heard him explain the circumstances. She could think of two solutions and yet only one in which she would voice out loud. “I could probably redirect the power from the grow tank to the main thrusters to get you moving again.”

  “Seriously? You know how to do that?”

  “I’d have to study the wiring diagram, but I’m sure I could patch it together. The thrusters don’t typically take a lot of power to keep them going after the initial startup. I might be able to use one half of the crystal to generate the extra boost to get it started.”

  Ozias stared at Juila in amazement. On his planet, nobody as young as she was would ever be taught the skills in which she professed knowledge. He wished he could spend more time with her and find out what else she might know.


  At that moment Ozias decided to help Juila. He would find a way to get her to her telepod to see if her navigation system could be repaired. He was also going to talk to Viceroy Blair about her idea of rewiring their ship’s controls to get them running again.

  Juila dropped another handful of food into the fish tank and announced, “I think I’m done here. Everything looks like it’s running just as it should, and you should have fresh greens by the end of the week.”

  Looking at his timepiece, Ozias realized the majority of the crew would be lining up for their morning ration. He could take Juila to her telepod right now and have her back to Viceroy’s room before anyone noticed. He opened the door and motioned for Juila to walk in a different direction than she had planned.”

  “Where’re we going?” she asked, slightly alarmed at the change in plans.

  “I’m going to let you see your telepod. We’ll only have a few minutes, so please be as fast as you can.”

  Juila’s eyes widened in surprise, and she merely nodded her assent. She lengthened her stride to keep up with Ozias as he practically ran to get them to the loading bay. Within minutes they reached the rear of the space ship, and he opened the small door to the massive space beyond.

  “I won’t be able to turn on the overhead lights, or it will draw attention. Your eyes should adjust by the time you get to your telepod. It’s straight ahead about thirty paces. Go, hurry!” He shoved her to move her forward.

  Juila stumbled slightly and felt awkward as she moved across the smooth floor without being able to see at all. She counted her steps and held out her hands in front of her so she would not run into anything. On her twenty-seventh pace, her fingers touched the hull of her telepod. She felt a rush of relief at finally being back with her father’s aircraft.

  She felt down the side of the craft until she reached the palm control on the side to open the door. She sighed with relief as an interior light came on to let her see. With more confidence, she ran to the back of the cabin and knelt at the panel enclosing the crystal drive. It hurt her fingers to pry the wingnuts loose, but she persevered until the panel was able to be removed. She set it aside and peered into the hole where she found exactly what she expected: one of the brackets holding the main crystal had come completely undone.

  Without positive contact on all of the brackets, it would never be able to function properly. She reached into the opening to realign the bracket only to have it break off in her hand. Pulling her hand out with the broken piece, she stared at it dumbly. This was not good, and she was running out of time.

  Wracking her brain for a solution, Juila recalled a small pen-torch kept in the emergency bag under the back seat. She dived under the seat and felt around for the foxl-bound bag. Her fingertips found the strap, and she pulled it out as she sat back down on her rear to dig through it. When she found it, she almost cheered in relief.

  She placed the bracket back into place and activated the pen torch. The metal heated up until she had to let go and blow on it to cool it down enough to finish. The last thing she needed was to warp the metal until it was useless in performing its function. The repair was definitely not pretty, but she knew it was a solid enough job to take care of the problem until they got home where her father could replace it entirely.

  Juila had to fine-tune the contact until it was properly seated against the crystal. She knew her time was up and she shoved the torch back into the bag. She brought the panel back over to cover the crystal drive. After tightening the wingnuts as tight as she could make them, she tossed the bag back under the seat and almost leaped out of the cabin. She palmed the door release and waited the few seconds for the panel to completely close before she turned to head back to where Ozias stood impatiently waiting for her at the outer door.

  “Did you find the problem?” he asked as he led them back through the corridors to Viceroy Blair’s private chambers.

  “Yes, it was a broken bracket on the main drive system,” Juila answered. She purposely did not mention that her craft had a crystal on board for fear he would think it could be an alternate power supply for their own space ship. He would be right, but then she would no longer have an escape route to get back home.

  “Were you able to fix it?” He could not see how she would be able to fix it if it were broken and yet he could not resist asking.

  “Yes, I welded it back together. It should hold until I get home and can get it repaired properly.”

  Ozias shook his head in wonder at her endless capabilities. She was definitely their best opportunity for making it home alive. “Here is our stop,” he announced as he came to a stop. Wishing he could stay in her company, he opened the door and entered the room with her. “A moment of your time, Viceroy?”

  “Yes, Ozias, what is it?” he asked as he looked up from his journal.

  “I have seen this woman’s work on the grow-room systems, and I think she might be of assistance in getting our main thrusters back online. If I may be so bold, I’d like to tell you my idea.” He cast his eyes down and waited for the Viceroy to grant him the opportunity to speak.

  “Go ahead,” he replied as he moved his fingers into a steeple on the desk and wondered what this man could have possibly come up with. He had never shown any initiative in the past, so this was a new side of him in which he was intrigued.

  “Since the crystal is functional in the grow-room, it would be possible to rewire the main thrusters to the same system. While the initial start-up takes extra power, the grow-room crystals have more than enough power to sustain the thrust needed to get us home in a reasonable amount of time.”

  “And just how would you suggest getting the initial power to start the main engines?” Viceroy Blair taunted him thinking this was the part of the plan which would fall short.

  “I think we could use the larger half of the split crystal to provide the power needed.”

  “You do, do you? Why wouldn’t we just move the grow-room crystal into the main power system and save ourselves a lot of time?”

  “It would, Viceroy, except for two major problems.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “YES, PLEASE TELL me what those problems would be.”

  “First, the room was not properly cleaned with microfiber which allowed the remaining dust particles to cause enough dissonant resonance to crack the replacement crystal. It would be foolish to take the remaining crystal into that environment.”

  “And the other reason?” Viceroy could hardly believe this boy knew so much about the systems. He wondered why he had not come forward earlier.

  “If we move the crystal now, the crops would be unable to mature, and we would starve to death before we reached home.”

  “Very good thinking. What made you come to this conclusion so suddenly?”

  “I believed the initial report of the grow-room system being permanently inoperable and did not make any investigations of my own. When I went into the room today, I realized the possibilities and have brought it to your attention to see if you would approve of the plan.”

  “All on your own, huh?” Viceroy shifted his gaze over to Juila who refused to look him in the face. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion yet allowed the deceit to continue. “What would you need to get the system back online?”

  “I would need the wiring diagram, Viceroy, and the assistance of Juila who has already proved she is a capable engineer.”

  “Very capable, I see,” he mused in a low tone only for himself. He really had nothing to lose and everything to gain if this were to work. Without saying another word to either of them, he turned in his chair and typed several commands on his computer. After a few minutes, he pressed another couple of keys, and the printer began spitting out several pieces of paper. He picked them up, tapped them square on his desk, and then held them out for Ozias to take. “Take Juila and get started immediately. We don’t have any time to waste.”

  “Yes, Viceroy! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to prove myself,” he salute
d his captain and turned smartly on his heel. He tucked the papers under his arm and strode across the office to the door. He waited for Juila to leave before him and he quietly closed the door leaving them alone in the hallway. “I’m sorry for taking all of the credit, Juila.”

  “I don’t care. You know the Viceroy better than I do, and even I know he wouldn’t give my suggestion any consideration. In fact, I tried talking to him earlier about it, and he sent me out of his room. You did the right thing, Ozias. Now let’s get this big tub moving, shall we?”

  Juila used the walk to take the opportunity to update her sister on what was happening. Jena, I was able to get back to the telepod and fix a broken bracket on the crystal drive. Right now, I’m working with one of the crew members to make a patch on their main thrusters to get them moving again.

  I’m hoping to be able to bring ten refugees home with me, so please make some arrangements for them. Many of them will be women and children. I’ll let you know when I’m able to get on the move again. I love you!

  Once they arrived in the grow-room, Juila took the papers and spread them out on the planting counter. She spent the next hour going over the diagrams and following the lines throughout the structure of the ship. More importantly, she was able to see the rooms and corridors of the ship and memorize them for future use.

  They got to work on pulling various panels and accessing the wiring system. Occasionally they left the room to pull panels from the hallways to reroute specific wires to come back to the grow-room. Ozias left her alone for a while when he had to retrieve the late engineer’s toolbox. As soon as they had all of the proper tools to reconnect the wires, they ended up in the grow-room, where they made quick work of the job.

  “This step’s complete, Ozias. Now we need to go get the broken crystal shard to get this thing going. Let’s go!” She followed along as Ozias led the way.

  She had been amazed at how easy it had been to shift the wires to where they would be most effective. Of course, there were plenty of conveniences which would no longer function until they were back on their home planet. The alternative was to die in space, so she shrugged off any pangs of guilt for butchering their normal systems for the greater good.