Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 43: Not Undeserving

Chapter Forty-Three

Not Undeserving

Location: Unknown

'A warp drive?' Juyu asked again.

'Yes,' Tony nodded.

'Why would they hunt us down for something like that?' she asked then with a frown. 'I thought all long-distance ships could go that fast. I thought we were already able to go that fast.'

Juyu may not have been a genius scientist, but she always asked the relevant basic questions. Tony liked that about her, she had both feet on the ground and always focused on the important things.

'We are going fast,' Tony said. 'Only not warp drive level fast. What we have is, well... I guess hyperdrive is the best name.'

'Suitable name,' Drongo confirmed from his spot at the back of the room. They used to gather up in the cargo area for such discussions, but since they locked that up the bridge and the kitchen took over this function. They put in some boxes in the control room so that everyone could sit down. It looked a little chaotic and crammed, but it would have to do. Bee was perching on a different box next to the giant silently listening as always.

'And why is a warp drive so much more special?' Juyu asked again.

'Faster, more stable,' Tony said. 'The way the hyperdrive works is different. Ok, so I didn't have time to study both in detail, because I always have like a million and one thing to do all the time, but the way the hyperdrive works is that it... pushes us over onto a shortcut. On Earth we call is "hyperspace".'

'He means the cosmic pathways,' Loki interrupted.

'Yes, that,' Tony pointed at him.

'I don't know much about that either,' Juyu said.

'To keep it short, the hyperdrive system we have simply pushes us over into hyperspace so that we can cross distances faster, which is well... pretty damn awesome, especially compared to the technology I was used to back home, but the warp drive is a whole new level of speed. What takes weeks or months for this ship, would only take a few days for a ship with a warp drive.'

'Oh I see,' Juyu nodded in understanding.

'Not to mention that it's a lot more controlled. Most likely nobody would be able to just yank us out of it, like the patrol ship did in Filipima, remember that? I don't know how they did it, but they just pulled us out of hyperspace into a full stop, but they can't do that with the warp drive. Correct me if I'm wrong, Drongo.'

Tony was absolutely sure about his theories, but since the giant seemed to be familiar with the technology it did not hurt to double-check.

'No, you're correct. Warp drive ships cannot be forced to a stop the way normal hyperdrive ships can be.'

'Because hyperdrive ships use the pathways while a warp drive creates one for itself, isn't it?' Loki asked.

'Accurate enough,' Drongo said.

Tony thought about that for a moment. 'Now that I think about it, it really is similar to the-'

'Walking on the branches of the Yggdrasil compared to using the Bifrost,' Loki finished. 'Yes, indeed it is, but only the basic concepts. These cosmic pathways are very different from the secret paths of the Nine Realms. I do not know them as well either, they're a lot vaster and stretch much further, there is a lot more of them as well. It was a lot harder to keep us on track when I teleported.'

'Yeah, speaking of teleporting,' Juyu spoke again. 'Do we know where we are yet? Isn't that why you called us here?'

'Right! Yes, I did. Sorry, we got off-track,' Tony answered and turned back to his displays to bring up some of the star maps he picked out earlier. It actually took an all-nighter and some creative use of all their maps combined to pinpoint their location.