Cascade

3 - Communications

3 - Communications

The cabin was abnormally silent. A few scornful glances burned into the man at the airlock, but no one could bring themselves to say anything. They all knew it had to be done. Shock came over the remaining passengers. Most seemed dazed, others broken, while the rest simply didn’t look capable of speech at all.

“85 hours to go.” Came a voice from a far corner.

“What?” asked another.

“That’s how long we have left until we reach Saluthien.” Came the reply. A spectacled man in the corner huddled with his family. “It’s that one, there.” He said, pointing out another porthole to a blue-green dot in the far distance. Those close enough crowded the window to get a look at their destination. The dot drifted by as the ship slowly turned along its trajectory. Those that could see watched in silence until it eventually passed from view.

“I suggest everyone sleep for as long as they can.” Said a Nexus officer. “It will keep things calm, conserve oxygen, and pass the time quickly.” No one seemed to have any objections.

Claire carefully stepped over those before her and made her way to the porthole. As people shuffled to arbitrarily chosen spots and settled in, the window cleared and Claire was able to get a straight view. As the ship continued to thrust onward, a slow spin was still present in their trajectory, and the view from the window shifted towards the sun. Another bright dot appeared out the window, followed by another. Claire knew them to be other planets.

“Which one’s are those?” She asked the astronomer at the window. The spectacled man looked out, and he clouded over with confusion.

“Well, that one is Imperium.” He said, pointing to the brighter of the two dots. “But I have no idea what the second one is. It’s not big enough to be one of the other planets within standard orbit, and if I didn’t know better, I would say it’s moving.”

Claire pressed closer against the glass and saw that the man was right. Though it seemed slow at this distance, Claire gauged that the two massive objects were headed on a collision course with frightening speed.”

“That one has got to be Mercuth.” Said a woman beside the astronomer.

“No.” Said the man. “It’s too small to be Mercuth.”

“It’s small because it’s farther away.” The woman replied.

“No. It can’t be.” The man said. “Because Mercuth is becoming visible just now. See, up there by the edge? It’s the one with a tinge of yellow.”

With apprehension, those by the window continued to silently peer at the two distant dots closing in on each other.

“Are they going to hit?” The woman asked.

“No.” Said the man. “They are probably tens of thousands of kilometers away from each other. Could be that the second dot is simply another ship that’s ahead of us.”

“No.” Claire said. “Another ship wouldn’t head to Imperium. All refugees would have immediately chosen to head to Saluthien. Imperium is too far of a trip. It’s orbiting away from us in that direction. It doesn’t make any sense.

“Besides, Saluthien is the medical world, and it’s the closest planet that’s coming towards us. That second dot is not a ship, and whatever they are, they’re going to collide.”

“No. No.” The astronomer said, beginning to doubt his own assertions. “It can’t be. What could possibly be that large? There are no asteroids known to be on a collision course with The Ring. Something that size? We would have seen it. It can’t be.” He continued to mutter. Those around the window seemed to draw closer just as the two distant objects drew nearer.