Axy Stormforge and her Journey to the Edge of Reality

Chapter 6: Cataclysmation

Chapter 6: Cataclysmation

Within the next few days, the navigation system was updated, each magnetic antimatter torus (MANTO) was filled, the fuel cells were charged with liquid hydrogen, the last Fusion Cascade Cartridges were installed, and endless automated and vocalized communications verified their safety certifications with Stoic Navigation Command, or "StanaCom", who oversees all intrastellar navigation. The tethers disconnected and pulled away; swarms of automated tug ships carefully maneuvered it out of the 3-dimensional network of docks within Anaxon; Within a number of hours, the Cinder was free of Anaxon, and under her own single-proton propulsion away from the inhabited parts of the system.

This leg was important; the Fusion Cascade Cartridges, or FCCs, fused hydrogen into helium for propulsion, easing them out to the edge of the system, at which point they would change course and engage multi-stage fusion, where the helium would be fused with more hydrogen to form heavier elements on its way out of the bell housing. The neutron radiation from the concentric fusion would erode the walls of the fusion rocket motor, necessitating its discharge and replacement after a designated burn time; hence why they came as cartridges. This engagement of the multi-stage fusion was called "cataclysmation", or more commonly, "clysmation". It was unimaginably bright, producing more light and power than even the inside of a star. On par, in fact, moreso with the force of a stellar nova! Hence why they had to be so far from inhabited space. It could spell a new definition of the very concept of "cataclysm" if a habitat were to wander near the output of the engines.

During these weeks of slow transport, after wrestling with the insufferably extroverted Turry, Axy began her courses, focusing on the basics of intra-solar navigation. She studied physics: How to calculate ballistic trajectories around gravitational bodies, the math of how many kiloclycs of energy output engines need to propel so many kilotons of cargo between stars...

She studied chemistry, learning how nuclear fusion taps into the primal physics of the universe to power their craft to unimaginable speeds; the difference in reaction speeds to different bell housing materials, and how it relates to how many cartridges must be purchased...

She studied economy, like the gravity tax imposed on shipping companies for robbing planets of their orbital momentum via gravity assists; and the incomprehensible number of entire economies that could be run on the energy of a single FCC; the overall grand vision of delivering building materials to inhabited space to keep a population alive and growing.

Eventually, she worked her way up to getting observation time on the bridge, watching her shipmates put into practice the math, the communications, and the decision making processes she was learning about.

The four crews aboard the Cinder rotated in shifts. Each crew would man a 12-hour shift, with A-Crew and B-Crew - in the fore crew module - being on one rotation, and C-Crew and D-Crew - in the aft module - being on another rotation, staggered 6 hours from the A/B rotation; the result is that each crew would man the helm for 6 hours, then retire to standby for 6 hours while the stagger crew took the helm. This ensured a 6-hour overlap between crews to combat any loss of communication between shifts, ensure instant re-crewing in case of an accident, and allowing a double-crew strength at an instant request if a situation needed it. Millennia of insurance payouts within the industry had formed strong laws requiring safety overlaps like these; by now, the systems were virtually foolproof.

They neared the waypoint. For the last few hours, A-Crew had maneuvered the ship into her new orientation, now pointing directly at the nearby star Nuric.

"C-Crew, report for command."

All crewmembers operated the ship from their own living pods, with the highest-level VR integration interfacing all of them together onto a single virtual bridge. Despite the fore and aft crew modules being nearly 100 miles apart, there was scarcely more than a half millisecond delay in communication between them. Axy and her crewmates entered their pilot consoles on the virtual bridge, each one being greeted with a calm blue aperture that opened in front of them for them to pass through, revealing a starfield in all directions as they approached their virtual consoles, each one with a glowing red field in front of it; the process was a lot less visually embellished than VR worlds typically transitioned with, but it kept things simple and easy to maintain orientation. Each member was visible to all the others in space beside each other in a gentle inverted crescent orientation, with the captains console slightly elevated and the crewmembers divided on either side, so they could be visually present to each other, keeping everyone oriented and communication clear. Beyond their consoles was a projection of the ship itself from a 3rd person perspective, accurately showing their position in space.