Web of Truth (Cadicle Vol. 4: An Epic Space Opera Series)

Chapter 1

Each movement was a natural extension of himself as Wil put the prototype IT-1 jet through its paces. The neural interface bonding him telepathically to the ship made each command effortless and instantaneous as he navigated the ship through the obstacle course in open space. But, combat maneuvers were only the beginning. The interface with the new independent rift drive was the real test.

"Everything checks out. I'm going to jump," Wil informed the observers over the comm embedded in his flight suit.

"Nothing too fancy," cautioned Deena Laecy, the Chief Engineer on the project.

Wil grinned. "You know I have to do everything with style."

He swung the jet around to face the obstacle course he had just traversed. It was the primary training ground for new recruits to the Jotun division of the TSS inside the rift, simulating battle conditions with the Bakzen. Set against an eerie backdrop of the echoed starscape in the rift, the obstacle course was the only solid form from Wil's current vantage. Remote controlled decoy jets stood in for enemy crafts, and electronic mines could mimic the effects of an assault without causing permanent damage. If the new independent rift drive functioned as planned, Wil would be able to bypass all of the obstacles and hit his mark.

With one last check of the system readings on the heads up display, Wil cleared his mind in preparation for the jump. He eyed his destination at the center of the course and pictured approaching it from the right, just within his cone of fire before darting out of range.

As the action solidified in his consciousness, a subtle vibration spread throughout the jet. Space distorted as an iridescent subspace bubble formed around the craft.

A pulse of blue light flashed across Wil's vision, an indication through the neural link in his nav console that a jump point was locked in. With a low rumble, the jet initiated the jump.

The blue-green hue consumed the ship in one gulping wave. Time seemed to stand still as the jet slipped between subspace and reality.

The jet emerged from subspace with fluid forward momentum, taking Wil directly toward his target. He quickly reoriented and fired at the sensor. It lit up red; a clean hit.

And now for the second part of the test. Wil envisioned the point of his departure jump. Except, rather than a simple forward trajectory from his current location, he pictured an exact return to the original jump point—a one-hundred-eighty degree reorientation from his present position.

The blue indicator light pulsed in his vision to confirm, then the jet initiated the return jump.

A blue-green subspace cloud consumed the jet again. Wil barely had time to blink before the surreal view of echoed stars once again filled the windows. He looked ahead at the obstacle course. He was right where he started.

Cheers erupted in Wil's ear as the crew observing the test flight celebrated back at the nearby TSS Headquarters—H2—within the dimensional rift. Wil had visited with them on several occasions since he'd graduated to Agent three years prior, but this was by far the most exciting trip. All of their work on applying his model for the independent jump drive was finally paying off.

He grinned. "All right! Now we're in business."

"Do you want to try a dimensional jump?" Laecy asked.

"That's the next step." Wil scanned over the system status readouts. Everything was within optimal performance ranges. "I'll try it."

Wil once again cleared his mind to picture his destination point, but this time he felt his way through the dimensional fabric, reading the energy signatures for normal space outside of the rift. Years of practice had attuned his senses to differentiate between the planes. himself to read the electromagnetic composition of the surrounding space was second nature.