Chapter 55

The reactor, which had been idling in standby mode and reacting only the tiniest trace of particles, roared to life at its master’s command. It began fusing massive amounts of deuterium; lost mass converted into raw energy, and positively charged nuclei were reborn as pure electricity.

"Energy output stable. Engine status green. We are cleared for departure."

Koume’s body, now looking factory-fresh after her maintenance, delivered the report in her usual tone.

"Aye-aye. What’s the word from the station?" Teiro asked.

"Departure permission and transition maneuvers have both been uploaded," Marl replied.

"Right then. Plum II, heading out!"

Teiro gave the order with a casual grin, triggering the Plum II’s departure sequence.

[DEPARTURE FUNCTION: EXECUTE]

The hull received the command and immediately began processing hundreds of thousands of sub-routines. Highly automated programs optimized every piece of equipment on the ship, flashing the results across the crew's displays.

"Systems are all green, Mr. Teiro. Environmental conditions look clear as well."

"Roger that. I’d hate to deal with a nasty Solar Wind right now. Makes the math a total pain in the ass."

"Star Katsushika is in a stable period," Marl noted, "so we’re safe for at least another few centuries. More importantly, Teiro, Rin is hailing us."

"Aye-aye," Teiro replied, directing a sliver of his consciousness toward BISHOP. He could have just looked at the monitor, but he couldn't be bothered to actually sit up. Despite only spending three days at Katsushika Station, he had fully rediscovered the absolute bliss of life as a floor-slug.

"This is the Plum. Rin, what’s the situation on your end?"

Teiro reached out a toe to adjust the monitor's position while tapping the comms with a finger. Marl glared at his blatant lack of manners, forcing him to reluctantly haul his torso upright.

"This is the Barkhorn. Our departure was flawless. It looks like things are going smoothly for you as well."

Teiro waved at Rin’s image on the display, then patched the external feed to a second monitor held by a flexible mechanical arm. The space outside flooded the screen. He saw the flat hull of the Cruiser Barkhorn, Rin’s flagship, surrounded by a swarm of frigates. To Teiro, the top-heavy, vertically elongated ship looked exactly like a giant mechanical seahorse.

"Cruiser Barkhorn... I hate to admit it, but that’s a badass name. Though I still don't get how a ship shaped like that counts as a high-speed vessel."

"Ahaha, I hear that a lot," Rin laughed. "My father was the one who named it, so if you have any complaints, feel free to take them up with him."

"Yeah, I’ll pass. I’ve got a rule about meeting parents: I only do it when I’m proposing marriage. Anyway, can you send over the link to your ship?"

"Oh! Right. Yes. Sorry, I’m still getting the hang of this."

Rin’s face turned a delightful shade of crimson. Teiro gave her a reassuring "Don't sweat it" smile and turned his attention to the flight path he, Marl, and Koume had plotted. It was a chaotic mess of intersecting lines, but it was, without a doubt, a viable road to the Empire.

"Man, looking at this mess, I can see why no one would ever want to fly this route," Teiro muttered.

"That is an accurate assessment," Koume added, her face a mask of perfect indifference. "If the neural net hadn't been severed, there would be dozens of superior routes using the Stargates. In fact, even we wouldn't have looked twice at this detour if not for the White Dingo blockade."

"Fair point."

Teiro finally received the Link Function from the Barkhorn and hit the 'go' button.

"Oh, I probably should’ve warned them we’re jumping now... eh, whatever. They’ll figure it out when the link feedback hits."

[DRIVE LINK: 10 SHIPS CONNECTED]

[LINK: ATTITUDE CONTROL: EXECUTE]

The coordinates calculated by the Plum—essentially the combined brainpower of Teiro, Marl, and Koume—were transmitted to the fleet. Simultaneously, every ship began to pivot toward their destination. Three ships from Rising Sun and seven from Little Tokyo moved in unison. The six frigates from Little Tokyo finished their rotation first, sliding into a natural formation based on size: frigates first, then destroyers, and finally the cruiser.

[TARGET: SG-KT1221 STARGATE]

[OVERDRIVE: EXECUTE]

Space stretched like taffy. The hull groaned and vibrated.

"...Whoa! Okay, this is a first!" Teiro shouted, pressing his face against the monitor mid-Overdrive. Marl looked over, confused. "Marl, look outside!"

"Outside? What are you—wait, seriously? Is this even possible?"

Marl’s jaw dropped. Projected on the monitor was the Cruiser Barkhorn, positioned just slightly behind the Plum II. They were flying side-by-side in superluminal space, looking for all the world like they were drag-racing.

"It is a rare phenomenon indeed," Koume explained. "Theoretically, this occurs when the jump timing is perfectly synchronized. If I recall, the margin of error is less than one 250,000th of a second."

The two humans stared in awe.

"Wow... I’ve never actually studied Drive Theory, but I didn't know this could happen," Marl whispered. "Since we're at the same speed, does that mean the Barkhorn has the same drive unit as the Plum?"

"That is likely, Miss Marl. However, the level of wear and tear differs. See? The distance between our ships is gradually widening."

"Oh, you're right. It’s slipping back... I guess that makes sense. Our ship is basically brand new."

Though the Plum II had survived its share of scrapes, it was only a few months old. Ships were generally expected to last thirty years; by those standards, the Plum II was still in its infancy.

"By the way," Teiro said, turning to Koume, "I usually skip the technical stuff because it makes my brain itch, but warp drive is basically just stretching space, right?"

"Broadly speaking, yes," Koume replied. "A precise explanation would require a lecture on the behavior of Drive Particles, but I shall spare you the details. Mr. Teiro, do you possess any knowledge of Quantum Mechanics?"

Teiro just gave her a look that said Does it look like I do?

Koume let out a very human-like sigh. "Very well. Let us keep it simple. A 'quantum' is said to exist in all possible states and locations simultaneously until it is observed. It may sound like it contradicts your common sense, but it is a fundamental fact of the universe."

Teiro stared at her with a blank, innocent expression. Koume sighed again and turned to Marl.

"These quantum traits are restricted to the micro-world—the level of particles. They do not typically manifest in the macro-world we inhabit. This is famously illustrated by the parable of Schrödinger's Cat."

"Right, I know that one," Marl nodded. "The cat in the box with the poison switch triggered by a quantum event. Since the particle exists in all states until observed, the cat is supposedly both alive and dead at the same time—which is totally insane."

"Stop being mean to cats!" Teiro chimed in, purely because he felt left out.

"That is not the point," Marl snapped, ignoring him.

"Precisely, Miss Marl," Koume continued. "In the macro-world, quantum behavior is usually negligible. However, there is an exception."

"The Drive Particle," Marl guessed.

Koume nodded. "Exactly. Formally known as a Spatial Particle or a Probability Quantum. These particles are believed to dictate the probability of matter existing in a specific location. Overdrive utilizes this property."

Koume gestured, and a window appeared on the screen showing a live feed of Teiro.

"Normally, the probability of Mr. Teiro existing right here is effectively 100%. Even with Drive Particles, you cannot simply 'move' that probability. However..." She gestured again, and a translucent ghost-image of Teiro appeared on the far side of the screen. "If you artificially increase the probability of his existence in a new location while simultaneously decreasing it in his current one, the universe has a problem. To maintain consistency, the Drive Particles physically move the space itself to resolve the contradiction."

On the screen, the 'real' Teiro stretched out, slid across the gap, and snapped into place over the translucent image.

"That is a warp. Because of this, a warp cannot occur if a large mass already occupies the destination. The 'probability' of that space is already full. This is also why you cannot warp while on a planet or inside a station—unless you can somehow create a vacuum as perfect as deep space."

Koume finished with a small bow. Teiro looked like he’d only processed about ten percent of that, but Marl was beaming. She even gave a little round of applause.

"Thanks, Koume! That’s actually fascinating. I think I’ll look into Drive Theory later. By the way, what’s your take on the De Huall Unified Theory's interpretation of—"

Marl was clearly hooked, but Teiro checked out immediately. He had no interest in academic circular logic. He had a gap of several thousand years in his education—at a conservative estimate—and he figured no one could blame him for not wanting to catch up on quantum physics during his nap time.

[OVERDRIVE: TERMINATED]

Teiro had just started to drift off to the lullaby of Marl and Koume’s scientific debate when BISHOP’s report snapped him awake. He slapped his cheeks to clear the fog and pulled the external feed onto the main monitor.

"............Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me."

Teiro froze.

The monitor showed a Stargate—or what was left of one. The long, elegant structure had been shattered into three twisted segments, still spewing fire and venting gas into the void. A massive field of debris drifted around the wreckage, littered with the husks of what used to be spaceships.

"This is horrible... how could this happen?" Marl whispered, her hands over her mouth.

Teiro sat bolt upright, the laziness gone. He opened a channel to the Barkhorn. "Hey, Rin! What the hell happened here? This isn't just a breakdown!"

It took a moment for Rin to appear. She looked frantic, barking orders to subordinates off-screen before turning to the camera.

"Teiro-san... everything has changed."

Her voice, usually so steady and sweet, was thick with dread. Teiro swallowed hard and waited.

"Moments ago, White Dingo officially issued a declaration of war against the EAP Alliance. I'm so sorry... but it’s started. We’re at war."

Author’s Note: I thought I’d throw in a bit of a scientific explanation since this is an SF story, but I wonder if it worked? It ended up being a lot of text, and I’m debating if the story really needs that kind of technical fluff.

I’ll probably only do this "once in a long while," so if you found it confusing or tedious, feel free to just breeze through it with a blank look on your face, just like Teiro.