13 Dec 2010

Jack Falcon and His Quantum Singularity, Chapter 7

Posted by joncooper

JACK FALCON SLOWLY regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was lying in the sickbay on board the Liberty. Irene was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, and Daniel was standing behind her. His father Leon was sitting on the other side of the bed.

“What happened?” Jack asked. “How did I get here?”

“It was actually your father’s doing,” Daniel explained. “He wrote a computer program that automatically tried to activate the ship’s kronolator every five minutes. We were just standing around, talking, and then all of the sudden pow – the ship started moving! A few minutes later we were right there at the intersect point. We were expecting to find the Behemoth waiting for us and were pretty surprised to find that only a few pieces of it had survived. I gotta tell you, boss, you’re awfully hard on spaceships. I don’t know how you even survived.”

Leon spoke up. “The only portion of the ship that was left intact was the engineering section, where the fusion reactor and your quantum singularity generator was located. Had you been in any other level of the ship you would not have survived.”

“I know,” Jack said. “We were lucky.”

“The tricky part was getting you off the ship,” Daniel continued. “The two of you were sealed inside that room. We could have just blasted through the security door but there was no airlock. Breaching the door would’ve sucked all the air right out of the room and killed you both. So we had to construct a makeshift airlock before we could rescue you.”

“I still don’t understand,” Jack said. “I never got a chance to finish tuning the singularity. How could it possibly have worked?”

“I finished it,” Irene explained. “When that final wave hit us we were both knocked out, but I regained consciousness a few minutes later. You remained blacked out so I finished the job. I’m glad the Liberty arrived when it did – by the time I was done we had pretty much run out of air and we had no way to call for help. If they hadn’t come to the rescue we wouldn’t have made it.”

“We were really fortunate,” Jack repeated. “This could have turned out very differently.”

“I think we were blessed,” Irene replied. “Someone was watching out for us.”

“So you’re still going to pursue this whole religion thing?” Jack asked.

“Are you kidding? Jack, we survived. I’ve been given a chance to find some answers and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“But how are you going to do that? I mean–”

“I’ll just start at the beginning,” Irene replied. “I’ve always heard that all religions are the same but I’ve never actually studied any of them. I think it’s time I started looking into their actual teachings. Maybe I’ll find something – or maybe I’ll be guided to the answer.”

“Or you might turn up nothing,” Jack replied.

“The only way to find out is to try,” Irene said.

* * * * *
 

It took Jack several more days to recover from his injuries. During that time the Liberty stayed at the intersect point and her crew attempted to salvage whatever they could of the Behemoth. Jack had his father contact Star City and let them know that their mission was a success. He also had long talks with his dad about replacing the Behemoth and about constructing a permanent home for his singularity generator. Leon promised to immediately get started on the new projects and said that he would try to deliver both of them by the end of the year. In the meantime, Falcon Technologies would loan the colony another starship that it could use until the Behemoth II was completed.

When Jack had finally recovered and felt like getting up again, Daniel flew the Liberty on to Myra. When the ship touched down at the spaceport a large group of colonists were there to greet them. Jack was surprised to see that the air traffic control tower had been rebuilt.

“Well, we had to do something while we were waiting on our two heroes to finish their mission,” Doug Garcia replied, smiling. “Seriously, though, we are so glad to have you back! I knew you’d be able to finish the job. The colony is in your debt.”

“Are you out of your mind?” the mayor snapped. “That wasn’t a success! Jack’s incompetence single-handedly destroyed our starship – an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars!”

“That ship was fully insured,” Leon replied. “Falcon Technologies has filed a claim with the insurance company and is already working on building a suitable replacement. Besides, if my son had not taken the Behemoth then all of you would be dead right now. You are lucky to have him here.”

“Oh, I didn’t see you there,” the subdued mayor replied. “Of course, you’re quite right. Your son is a valuable asset to the team. My apologies.”

After greeting their friends the colonists banded together to help unload the Liberty and carry the new supplies to Exolab I, the research laboratory that the Falcons had founded. With everyone’s help it didn’t take long to get everything moved in, unpacked, and set up.

“Well there you go, son,” Leon replied. “This laboratory now rivals the one you have back home. You should find everything you need to meet any challenge that might come your way.”

“I’m sure I will,” Jack said gratefully. “Thanks, Dad.”

“How long will you be staying with us?” Irene asked.

“I’m afraid I’ve got to get back to Earth,” Leon said apologetically. “I hate leaving so soon but I need to begin work on the Behemoth II. I’ve also got to build that space station that Star City needs to stabilize the area. But I should be back later this year.”

Jack turned to Daniel. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’ll be hanging around for a while,” Daniel replied. “After all, someone’s got to keep you two out of trouble! I turned my back on you for just a minute and the next thing I knew the whole colony was in danger.”

Jack grinned. “We’re glad to have you back. In fact, we’ve even got your old room waiting for you.”

“That’s right!” Irene said brightly. “The one right next to the waste treatment disposal plant.”

“Oh joy,” Daniel groaned. “I’d kind of hoped that had been destroyed in the earthquake.”

Leon spoke up. “The Beagle will be arriving in a few hours. You can keep it until I deliver your new starship. I’m afraid it’s not as large as the Behemoth but it should be able to handle anything short of evacuating the entire colony.”

“Thanks,” Jack replied.

* * * * *
 

That evening Jack and Irene were in their apartment. They were talking about the day’s events when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Jack got up and answered the door. In the hallway he saw a tall lady with black hair, who was wearing an expensive gray suit. “Eliza!” he said, surprised.

Irene got up off the couch and walked over to her husband. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“May I come in?” Eliza asked.

“Uh, sure,” Jack said. He stepped aside. Eliza walked into their apartment and closed the door behind her.

“My employer wanted me to thank you for a job well-done,” she said. “Your solution will require maintenance but was creative. I salute you. You have saved the colony – for the moment.”

“For the moment?” Jack asked

“Think about it. Epsilon Eridani had been stable for a long time, Jack, but right when the colony was on the verge of becoming self-sufficient this problem came up. If you hadn’t created your invention the whole planet would have been destroyed. Doesn’t that seem a little…convenient?

Jack frowned. “What are you saying?”

“You need to have your father send a military ship to protect your singularity device,” Eliza said. “You will also need to make sure your replacement space station is well-armed. The ASP Alliance is going to come after it.”

“Who’s coming after it?” Jack said, surprised.

“Shadows and darkness from your deepest nightmares,” Eliza replied. “You will find out soon enough. Your matter compressor is going to anger them, Jack. Don’t be surprised when they come after you.”

“Now wait a minute,” Irene replied. “How could you possibly know about his compressor?”

“It’s my job to know things,” Eliza said. “I’m only going to tell you this once: you need to prepare for war. Because war is coming, whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t make weapons,” Jack replied. “I don’t even arm my starships! That’s just not something we Falcons do. We’re a peaceful technology company.”

“Then you and all your friends are going to die,” Eliza said matter-of-factly. She then opened their apartment door, stepped into the hallway, and closed the door behind her.

Irene turned to her husband. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Jack said. “It sounds like I need to get in touch with my dad. Maybe he’ll know who this Eliza person is. She may be on to something or she may just be out of her mind. I’ve certainly never heard of any ‘ASP Alliance’.”

“She knew about the black holes long before we did,” Irene pointed out.

Jack sighed. “I know. But that was something I could verify myself – and I did, using the Behemoth. This is just an empty threat with nothing to back it up.”

“I just have a bad feeling about it,” Irene said.

Irene would soon find out that she was right. In a few months Jack would find himself caught up in his next adventure, Jack Falcon and His Matter Compressor.

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