The small craft neared its destination cautiously. Maneuvering thrusters fired in minute increments to adjust direction as the shuttle skirted the edge of the spacedock. The pilot’s afferent interface responded better than his own body, and he steered the ship as easily as walking. The blackness of space filled the edges of his view, shrinking rapidly as the ship before them grew , pushing the blackness to the very rim and then taking up the entire viewport. Gaian, the world ship.

​

 

Captain Christopher Erikson watched the approaching ship expectantly. “Is that the last shuttle to arrive?” The words were spoken to a man to his left. Both men stood on a platform above a large room filled with pilots and officers.

 

Apollus looked as if he were in deep thought. Christopher recognized the look of a navigator using his afferent interface to speak with the ship and the other pilots. “Yes sir. All other shuttles have docked.”

 

The captain smiled to his companion. Apollus was the most talented navigator that he had ever seen. His afferent control went beyond the simple skill, it was as if he had been born for it. Most pilots could handle a ship or two at a time. The truly gifted ran scout squadrons by themselves, but Christopher had once seen Apollus take control of an entire fleet when a solar flare disrupted the interfaces for the other pilots. The man was a legend and a hero. More than once Christopher felt that Apollus should be captain, but safety and command regulations restricted navigators from holding rank except in the most dire of circumstances.

 

The console in front of the men beeped in a steadily increasing pattern indicating the final approach of the shuttle. As the ship docked Christopher could just hear the sound of clamps engaging several decks below. The console let out a long final beep and the board indicating the docking bay lit up. All berths were full.

 

“You need to get down to control. Make sure that other pilot gets plugged in and then get yourself situated. We are going to need everything you’ve got for this trip.” Christopher gave the other man a friendly pat on the back, and turned to his own console. After a few minutes the navigation panel lit up. All pilots were accounted for and interfaced with the system.

 

He went through his checklist carefully. This engine had never gone on such a long trip before. It had of course been thoroughly tested inside the boundary of the solar system, but they would only get one shot at a galactic jump. When all checks were complete he flipped on the intercom.

 

“This is the captain speaking. All systems are good and the Lorentzian engine is ready for jump. You have two minutes to stow everything and batten down your sections.” An electric hum filled the air, perceptible only at the edge of his senses. He wasn’t a navigator, but he had been around them long enough to notice the strength of their field at work when there were so many linked together. A ship this size would have needed maybe five pilots, and it would have had a handful in reserve as well. The Gaian had fifty navigators besides Apollus himself. Supporting the navigators was the most advanced AI system ever developed. They were throwing everything they had at this jump.

 

Christopher watched each system activate as the time until jump counted down on the screen. The navigator’s hum was soon accompanied by the ship’s own, a sound bringing to mind a barely suppressed buildup waiting to be released. As the hum increased he could feel it through the ship itself. The air, the floor, even his own bones vibrated.

 

5. The edges of Christopher’s vision started to warp. 4. The light in the room became more acute, more focused. 3. He felt his body, tension heightening. 2. The tension began to unravel. 1. The hum went silent. The vibrations quit. All sound disappeared and his breath stopped frozen for a moment in time. His body felt as if it were stretching, distorting. And he heard the universe cry in pain.

 

All the lights on the ship went out. Time began to inch forward once more, and his vision returned to normal. Confused, Christopher looked down at the panel in front of him. According to the readings, they hadn’t moved.

 

“What happened?” Why hadn’t the engine worked?

 

“I’m not sure sir.” Apollus’ voice came from the bud in Christopher’s ear. “Everything was reading. . .” He stopped and Christopher could hear worry in that pause. “Is that Earth?”

 

Blue and green rested in space before them, but it looked wrong. A red gash traced the blackness beyond the world, as if it were a scar upon space itself.

 

“How?” Christopher was cut short by a deafening roar. It was so loud that he almost missed something. The roar was in his mind, yet it was so forceful that it shook the Gaian itself.

 

Then the screams began.