Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 25

The Sovereign ship was cold. The oxygen had been emptied from its tanks. The power had reverted all its energy into the machine that was now causing all these problems. SA had confirmed this because now that the ships power was out the machine was converting nearby organic power for its use. Its programmed intelligence could feed itself organic matter to stay alive even when limited by human innovation. The thought that the Sovereigns had this type of technology sent shivers up everyone's spines. They all knew this was part of the problem.

The crew had died due to oxygen starvation. They were down to limited supplies and could not get by another couple days anyways if the oxygen had indeed held out. They did not take any escape pods with them and as such the crew had perished. According to logs no SOS messages had reached Napolyon and only because they never heard from them did the Sovereigns know what became of them.

Sovereigns had sent out a rescue ship but upon seeing the wreckage and determining there was no way to stop the machine, they had left and declared it a dead ship. There also was no record of any return missions should anyone be able to turn off the machine, but by reading the rescue Captain's log it didn't seem like Napolyon was happy their experiment and the scientist who had created it had failed. The emperor was keen to let the ship kill off the rest of the universe that hated him in exchange for such a failed trial.

The machine itself was large. It rested in the Sovereign bridge area and stood impressively at thirty feet high by twenty feet across. A small platform was attached to its base with a metal wire frame wrapped around it. This was supposed to be the landing pad it seemed. On the opposite side a cannon of sorts was attached which was still emitting this bright ruby and orange light pointed outside the ship into the heart of Rian's Dome. From the bridge windows they could all see how the ray was distorting a large portal around its target area.

Outside, small bits of matter kept burning up around the portal and from the other side Jupiter was inches closer to being decimated. The sun behind it was still burning brightly but some of the planets that Cassie could recall being certain colours looked to be a slightly different hue then their pictures. Was this because of what this machine was doing or was it because that's how it looked from space? She couldn't decide.

Either way the scene was frightening. Before taking any time to examine the machine all seven people just stood there for a few silent minutes taking in all the views they were witnessing. As they stood beneath the machine Cassie wondered if there was anything they could do. It all looked so desperate now they were witnessing the effects in person.

Still the minutes had passed, and the two scientists and robot got to work on trying to understand this vicious creation.

In the meantime, Matt and Dean had gone off to explore the ship for any other clues to the mechanics of the machine or information from the crew. They could find notes or messages that contained details of the intentions of the Sovereign Regime which would also tell them how much of threat Napolyon and its inhabitants were becoming.

Numb to all the information and the images in front of her, Cassie had retreated to the top railing of the bridge which hung over the machine and was where the officers could watch the entire. She held onto the railings and continued to stare out at the view of her home universe. All of it was so much more real now that they were in person. She could make out Earth in the far distance. Was it okay? Were the people still alive? Were her friends? Her family? Did they even think she was?

Ash joined her two hours into the search. He hadn't said a thing to her and instead just stood behind her and held her gently in his arms. She tried to take comfort, but confusion was taking control of her. How could she happy with him knowing the universe was potentially dying like this? Was it selfish to picture them escaping from all this?