Advancements in Interplanetary Portaging: The Real Story
Great Moments in Discovery
Besariòn studied the controls again for the third time, shaking his head in disbelief.
This couldn’t be right. This simply could NOT be correct!
According to his instruments, they were right back where they’d started.
But how could that be???
The maneuver he’d implemented should have placed them square in the Remlaud System. Instead, they were not only still sitting at the edge of the Penault system, but in fact positioned in exactly the same coordinates from where he’d initiated that complex, and-he didn’t mind noting-rather daring feat. One might would have thought they must have just stalled, like an old backfiring automotive vehicle from the last century, and chugged to a standstill without going anywhere, except, the panels clearly recorded the light year distance they’d just traveled... it was twice what he’d been expecting, and yet, here they were, in what was apparently less than half the time that only one side of that trip should have taken.
What the heck just happened???
He rechecked his calculations, but could not figure out what he’d done wrong.
“Well. This star field seems awfully familiar,” Joia grumped, not bothering to conceal the irritation in her voice.
“I... I don’t know what happened,” Besariòn questioned himself out loud.
“Let me see that,” she demanded, yanking the tablet from her young co-pilot.
Joia looked over his figures and frowned. They were off, of course, and not just by a little, but by quite a lot, actually. Not only that, but parts of it didn’t even make any sense at all. She pursed her lips, clucked her tongue, and whistled. Besariòn looked on, somewhat anxiously. Joia saved the entry for later reference, and began inputting a new set of command functions. Once she had created the right flight plan, she passed the program over to Besariòn to execute her directive.
Fifteen minutes later, they were on the edge of the Remlaud system.
“I have no clue how you came up with those numbers you got there, Bes,” she began, after restabilizing the ship once they dropped out of warp.
“But I saved a record of the entry to show HQ,” Joia casually informed the rookie as she maneuvered the Belasko through Remlaud’s Hodei asteroid belt.
Besariòn choked on his seltzer.
“If they were wrong, why would you save them?” he asked, trying to sound just as casual, hoping not to show his apprehension.
He’d been out of work for a while before the post on the Belasko came up just last month. He could not afford to lose this job. Admittedly, it was a step down from navigating for the Mendia, but riding the coat tails of working for Dominion just wasn’t carrying the same clout these days-not since the revolution-and his wife was now expecting their second child. Things had been tight until he’d been willing to swallow his pride and take a serious look at distribution. Sure, it would take him away from home for long periods of time, but it covered the bills, and gave them enough left over to treat themselves every once in awhile, perhaps even enough to set some aside for the future, once they get caught up, that is. He swallowed hard, hoping he hadn’t just jeopardized that future.
“Because management is going to want to hear about this,” Joia seemed fairly nonchalant with her response.
Dammit, dammit, dammit!
Besariòn could feel himself beginning to sweat. Less than a month, and it looks like he’d already botched it. Maybe his wife’s father had been right about him, after all. Nothing good could ever come out of the Dominion.
“I don’t know how you did it, kiddo,” Besariòn’s preceptor continued in a manner that came off almost pleasant. “But even if it was an accident, you managed to pull off a curveball, one that might actually prove quite useful to the company.”
Useful? He hadn’t been expecting that.
“How do you figure,” he squeaked, his voice pitched probably a little higher than he meant for it to sound.
Joia chuckled.
“Hey, pal, you may be just a sprout,” she smirked, her eyes twinkling as she cast an amused sideways glance at her boyish companion.
“But you've got some serious chops on you, and I should know... I’ve seen veterans three times your age with fifteen times your service record come through here when the chips fall down... we all gotta go somewhere.”
Besariòn thought of how hard his mostly Regimental résumé had made it for him to find work in the private sector, even though he’d barely been in but two seasons, and had never seen so much as a skirmish. Feeling he was facing the very real prospect, in all likelihood, that he would soon be back out in that field, battling again for someone-anyone-to just give him a chance to earn his keep, his shoulders slumped, and he emitted a sharp sigh.
“Oh, don’t give me the whipped puppy look,” Joia chided, as she caught him cast his gaze downward.
She may not have wanted to be stuck with a trainee, but despite herself, she couldn’t help it... Joia liked the kid. And it might not be a bad thing, either... the boy certainly had some moves. Maybe the captain knew what he was doing sticking him with her, after all. This one was going to be an up-and-comer... so of course he should be trained by the best. Joia smirked. If anyone could whip a rising star into shape, the boss surely knew who was the most fit to the task.
“Look, it doesn’t matter who’s fighting who, anymore, Bes. War’s over, and we’re still in the sky. That’s all that really matters now. Don’t beat yourself up over anything else, man. We all have to live with the nightmares, but what’s done is done. The verse goes on, and so do we.”
Besariòn nodded, somewhat reluctantly, still looking at his feet. Joia could see she hadn’t gotten through to him.
“Cadet!” she barked at him, startling him to attention. “Don’t you realize what you’ve just done???”
She was certain by the look of panic on his face that he had no idea what she was talking about. She sniffed, stifling the urge to laugh out loud.
“Crikey, but you are thick,” she smiled, hoping she came across as gently as she felt. It wasn’t easy for her. She was hardly the type. There was a reason most of the new recruits prayed they didn’t get posted to her route for training. They didn’t call her the nutbuster for nothing.
“You just boomeranged us back to our original starting position!”
Besariòn nodded again, more slowly now, this time seeming more confused than anything else.
“Oh, fer Kerbasi’s sake, man,” she sighed, clearly exasperated.
“Do I have to spell it out for you? We’re in the business of delivery, pal. We don’t care what we take, to where, or for whom. We just guarantee it when promised, and you, my good fellow, just performed a full round trip in half the time with just a fraction of gem usage.”
Besariòn was still nodding, but this time Joia saw the light of recognition beginning to sink in.
“You’re not a martial man anymore, son,” the old gal nodded at him. “You’re a company man now. And you may have just found a way to save the company a heckuva lot off the bottom line in allotropes. Mark my words, buckeroo, I bet there’s a huge bonus in this for you... maybe even a promotion.”
“Oh, really,” Besariòn let the words out slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath.
He started thinking of how wonderful it would be to add on an addition to the house. Maybe even get a new home, move out to someplace less centralized, like his wife had always wanted.
“And don’t worry, sport, I’ll make sure we make up the time we lost on that crazy little stunt of yours,” she winked at him, as the Belasko finally cleared the field, and she shifted into maximum warp.
Now totally comfortable with Joia at the helm, Besariòn leaned back, smiling to himself, and spent the rest of the supply drop quietly dreaming of the possibilities.
LJ Idol | Friends & Rivals • Week 2 - Topic: BOOMERANG
This post has been brought to you through an association with the online writing community, LJ Idol,
by the collaborative partnership of karmasoup and mamas_minion.
If you have enjoyed this entry, please feel free to speak your piece, share the love, and pass it on...
...and thanks for stopping by.
Besariòn studied the controls again for the third time, shaking his head in disbelief.
This couldn’t be right. This simply could NOT be correct!
According to his instruments, they were right back where they’d started.
But how could that be???
The maneuver he’d implemented should have placed them square in the Remlaud System. Instead, they were not only still sitting at the edge of the Penault system, but in fact positioned in exactly the same coordinates from where he’d initiated that complex, and-he didn’t mind noting-rather daring feat. One might would have thought they must have just stalled, like an old backfiring automotive vehicle from the last century, and chugged to a standstill without going anywhere, except, the panels clearly recorded the light year distance they’d just traveled... it was twice what he’d been expecting, and yet, here they were, in what was apparently less than half the time that only one side of that trip should have taken.
What the heck just happened???
He rechecked his calculations, but could not figure out what he’d done wrong.
“Well. This star field seems awfully familiar,” Joia grumped, not bothering to conceal the irritation in her voice.
“I... I don’t know what happened,” Besariòn questioned himself out loud.
“Let me see that,” she demanded, yanking the tablet from her young co-pilot.
Joia looked over his figures and frowned. They were off, of course, and not just by a little, but by quite a lot, actually. Not only that, but parts of it didn’t even make any sense at all. She pursed her lips, clucked her tongue, and whistled. Besariòn looked on, somewhat anxiously. Joia saved the entry for later reference, and began inputting a new set of command functions. Once she had created the right flight plan, she passed the program over to Besariòn to execute her directive.
Fifteen minutes later, they were on the edge of the Remlaud system.
“I have no clue how you came up with those numbers you got there, Bes,” she began, after restabilizing the ship once they dropped out of warp.
“But I saved a record of the entry to show HQ,” Joia casually informed the rookie as she maneuvered the Belasko through Remlaud’s Hodei asteroid belt.
Besariòn choked on his seltzer.
“If they were wrong, why would you save them?” he asked, trying to sound just as casual, hoping not to show his apprehension.
He’d been out of work for a while before the post on the Belasko came up just last month. He could not afford to lose this job. Admittedly, it was a step down from navigating for the Mendia, but riding the coat tails of working for Dominion just wasn’t carrying the same clout these days-not since the revolution-and his wife was now expecting their second child. Things had been tight until he’d been willing to swallow his pride and take a serious look at distribution. Sure, it would take him away from home for long periods of time, but it covered the bills, and gave them enough left over to treat themselves every once in awhile, perhaps even enough to set some aside for the future, once they get caught up, that is. He swallowed hard, hoping he hadn’t just jeopardized that future.
“Because management is going to want to hear about this,” Joia seemed fairly nonchalant with her response.
Dammit, dammit, dammit!
Besariòn could feel himself beginning to sweat. Less than a month, and it looks like he’d already botched it. Maybe his wife’s father had been right about him, after all. Nothing good could ever come out of the Dominion.
“I don’t know how you did it, kiddo,” Besariòn’s preceptor continued in a manner that came off almost pleasant. “But even if it was an accident, you managed to pull off a curveball, one that might actually prove quite useful to the company.”
Useful? He hadn’t been expecting that.
“How do you figure,” he squeaked, his voice pitched probably a little higher than he meant for it to sound.
Joia chuckled.
“Hey, pal, you may be just a sprout,” she smirked, her eyes twinkling as she cast an amused sideways glance at her boyish companion.
“But you've got some serious chops on you, and I should know... I’ve seen veterans three times your age with fifteen times your service record come through here when the chips fall down... we all gotta go somewhere.”
Besariòn thought of how hard his mostly Regimental résumé had made it for him to find work in the private sector, even though he’d barely been in but two seasons, and had never seen so much as a skirmish. Feeling he was facing the very real prospect, in all likelihood, that he would soon be back out in that field, battling again for someone-anyone-to just give him a chance to earn his keep, his shoulders slumped, and he emitted a sharp sigh.
“Oh, don’t give me the whipped puppy look,” Joia chided, as she caught him cast his gaze downward.
She may not have wanted to be stuck with a trainee, but despite herself, she couldn’t help it... Joia liked the kid. And it might not be a bad thing, either... the boy certainly had some moves. Maybe the captain knew what he was doing sticking him with her, after all. This one was going to be an up-and-comer... so of course he should be trained by the best. Joia smirked. If anyone could whip a rising star into shape, the boss surely knew who was the most fit to the task.
“Look, it doesn’t matter who’s fighting who, anymore, Bes. War’s over, and we’re still in the sky. That’s all that really matters now. Don’t beat yourself up over anything else, man. We all have to live with the nightmares, but what’s done is done. The verse goes on, and so do we.”
Besariòn nodded, somewhat reluctantly, still looking at his feet. Joia could see she hadn’t gotten through to him.
“Cadet!” she barked at him, startling him to attention. “Don’t you realize what you’ve just done???”
She was certain by the look of panic on his face that he had no idea what she was talking about. She sniffed, stifling the urge to laugh out loud.
“Crikey, but you are thick,” she smiled, hoping she came across as gently as she felt. It wasn’t easy for her. She was hardly the type. There was a reason most of the new recruits prayed they didn’t get posted to her route for training. They didn’t call her the nutbuster for nothing.
“You just boomeranged us back to our original starting position!”
Besariòn nodded again, more slowly now, this time seeming more confused than anything else.
“Oh, fer Kerbasi’s sake, man,” she sighed, clearly exasperated.
“Do I have to spell it out for you? We’re in the business of delivery, pal. We don’t care what we take, to where, or for whom. We just guarantee it when promised, and you, my good fellow, just performed a full round trip in half the time with just a fraction of gem usage.”
Besariòn was still nodding, but this time Joia saw the light of recognition beginning to sink in.
“You’re not a martial man anymore, son,” the old gal nodded at him. “You’re a company man now. And you may have just found a way to save the company a heckuva lot off the bottom line in allotropes. Mark my words, buckeroo, I bet there’s a huge bonus in this for you... maybe even a promotion.”
“Oh, really,” Besariòn let the words out slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath.
He started thinking of how wonderful it would be to add on an addition to the house. Maybe even get a new home, move out to someplace less centralized, like his wife had always wanted.
“And don’t worry, sport, I’ll make sure we make up the time we lost on that crazy little stunt of yours,” she winked at him, as the Belasko finally cleared the field, and she shifted into maximum warp.
Now totally comfortable with Joia at the helm, Besariòn leaned back, smiling to himself, and spent the rest of the supply drop quietly dreaming of the possibilities.
LJ Idol | Friends & Rivals • Week 2 - Topic: BOOMERANG
This post has been brought to you through an association with the online writing community, LJ Idol,
by the collaborative partnership of karmasoup and mamas_minion.
If you have enjoyed this entry, please feel free to speak your piece, share the love, and pass it on...
...and thanks for stopping by.