Realms of Sci-Fi

Chapter 02: The Heart of Ajs An'hlj

Tom Kenner stood before the board of directors for the Vester Deep Space Research Center. He'd been working for them for seven years, charting stars and nebulas, but where he really wanted to go, he doubted they'd let him.

"For what reason have you come before us today?" Asked the centermost of the council members. What he lacked in the way of hair on his head was compensated for by the exceedingly bushy mustache of soot black perched on his upper lip.

"I need the council's authorization to borrow a science vessel," Tom explained.

"The mission you intend to undertake?" prompted the blonde councilwoman on Tom's left.

Tom hesitated before answering, expecting to have the proverbial door slammed in his face.

"I want to completely explore the Ajs An'hlj nebula," he told them.

All three of the council members shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the nebula's name.

"You know full well the Ajs An'hlj nebula is off limits to all spacecraft!" the central councilman reminded forcefully, his mustache twitching rapidly as he spoke. "We've already lost three ships and sixty-seven highly trained officers."

"I'm aware of its history," Tom replied quickly before the conversation got further out of hand. "I've made a study of what was recovered from the doomed ships' sensor logs. Extreme gravity flux destroyed them, but I'm fairly confident I can avoid it."

"We are not prepared to risk any more ships or lives just to research a cloud of space gas," the councilman on the right said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started.

"The nebula is out of bounds," added the councilwoman.

"As long as we are in charge of the Council, not a single one of our ships will enter the Ajs An'hlj," finished the central council member. "Is that understood?"

"Perfectly," Tom answered.

   ***   

Tom entered the hangar bay after typing in his access code. The spaceship residing in the center of the bay didn't belong to the Vester Deep Space Research Center. It was his personal craft, the Starglider, and although it didn't have as many features or redundant systems as a dedicated science vessel, he thought it might still do the job.

Shaped like a four sided pyramid on top and its upside down reflection underneath, the ship was held upright by support legs emerging one from each of the four lower sides. A three foot wide trench running around the middle of the craft was currently dark, but it would light up green when the drive system activated.

Climbing the ladder attached to one of the support legs, Tom entered a lower access hatch. Despite the large size of the spaceship, the interior passages were cramped because the majority of the space was occupied by the ship's systems and mechanics.

The flight station was in the center of the vessel, wedged underneath the sensor assembly and between the main power generator and navigational array. With all the control panels and computer terminals needed to operate the ship, there was barely room for the two chairs in the middle. One of the two chairs was currently occupied by his pilot and partner, Linda.

Dressed in the emerald green uniform of the science division, identical to his own, her chestnut colored hair was braided partway down her back. Currently, she was interfaced with the computer, her left hand index finger hinged back at the first joint to allow the connection jack hidden inside her finger to extend and plug into the console. A descendant of the original SHARA droid, it was only in moments like this that her nonhuman nature was evident.