The Dawn of Day - 14. Chapter 14 - The Dawn of Day

The men and the Aryaka finally regained consciousness. None of them was seriously hurt. They ignored their blood-smeared faces and hands and Shesha said his overstretched arm didn’t need treatment.

The Aryaka sat down at the console and checked the messages on the screens. Nahusha pressed his hand against his ear and attempted to open a line to his Aryaka supporters. He finally gave up on his communication attempts. He turned to the men, took the tablet from Eric and typed an explanation. Eric informed Brandon and Dave.

“A gravitational pulse hit the ship and threw it off course. The Aryaka think the Izanami ship shot a pulse at the repair ship to shove it out of their flight corridor. They don’t rule out a directed attack entirely, but they think it unlikely,” he said. “We must proceed with caution, of course. The Aryaka approve of the destination you picked from the menu, Brandon. Varuna is an important stop-over and a trading place for ships and ship equipment. It’s a good place to get a ship without attracting attention, but it’s not a safe place now, considering the incident that happened in space.”

“The gravitational pulse from the ship sent the repair ship off course. The space-time fabric was undulating as a result of the pulse and the moving fabric dragged the repair ship along. We’ve already experienced it before. A gravitational wave sent the USS Explorer from the solar system to the star system 55 Cancri. The ship crossed the distance of roughly forty light years in just a few of minutes. A powerful gravitational wave sent the ship through space and into the future. Sophisticated ships traveling the galaxy have shields that neutralize the side effects of an unexpected hit by a gravitational pulse. The repair ship, like other small vessels, has no such shields, however. The ship was dragged through space and most likely through time as well.”

“Why? The ship’s computer was able to set course for Kuru,” Brandon said. “The computer was able to determine the ship’s location in space.”

“Nahusha can’t establish a communication line to his Kunjara supporters. We must have deviated from our former timeline. I can’t think of a different explanation,” Dave said.

“The communication break-down could as well be the result of a computer malfunction,” Eric said. “The Aryaka are currently looking into it.”

Brandon shook his head. “Dave’s right,” he said. “They have an advanced communication system. Distance has no major effects on communication. Transmissions cross space without delay. Communication fails, however. This must be the result of a time jump. The ship jumped into the past or into the future. Nahusha’s contact doesn’t reply because he gave up waiting for an answer a long time ago. Or he’s not even yet born. We could as well be way in the past now.”

“I guess the computer was able to determine our location in space by referencing star constellations. The constellations must still be the same or look very similar. We can’t be this far off in time,” Dave said.

Brandon gave a dry laugh. “Referencing star constellations! They move slowly from our point of perspective, but the time set-off can still be thousands of years either into the past or into the future.”

“We’re not talking millions of years,” Dave said.

“We’ve already experienced an undirected space-time jump with our own ship,” Brandon said. “We could be anywhere in time now since we’ve left Earth.”

“What are they going to do?” Dave asked with a nod at the Aryaka.

“The computer is calculating the time set-off, but the result could be inaccurate. We will definitely know more when we have reached Kuru. It’s a minor planet with a long history as a mining place. Mining started thousands of years ago,” Eric said.

“We could as well find an early star system with the planet Kuru just forming. We could also find the gas cloud of an old star that exploded a long time ago. I don’t like either prospect at all,” Dave said. He crossed his arms and stared into the room, brooding.

Brandon leaned back and closed his eyes, Eric looked into the room and the Aryaka turned back to the console. It was another two days to go.

The computer finally confirmed a time jump into the past but was unable to determine the exact time set-off. The time off-set was narrowed down to be at maximum 12,000 years. The result didn’t do much to relieve the humans.

“12,000 years. That’s about the time the ice age ended on Earth,” Brandon said resignedly.

“12,000 years at maximum,” Eric said. “It’s good news actually.”

“It’s horrible news,” Dave said angrily. “I don’t want to come back at the end of the ice age. In this case, I don’t want to go back to Earth at all. I’ll go to Kunjara or back to the deserted planet in the system 55 Cancri and I’ll live with the monks. I may even prefer to board an automated ship and travel through space with no particular destination to go. I’ve not yet decided.”

Brandon and Eric exchanged a look.

The Aryaka were confident, however. The planet Kuru had already been an active place with regular flights between Izanami and Kuru 12,000 years ago. The Kuru residents would help a possibly time-stranded crew.

The repair ship dropped back into real space at the edge of the Kuru system. The ship’s sensors, though less advanced than those of more sophisticated ships, scanned the Kuru system and the computer compared the findings to the maps that were saved to the ship’s database. The scans matched the maps. The star system was unchanged. The ship had not jumped hundreds of thousands of years either into the past or into the future. The humans and the Aryaka were somewhat relieved.

Kuru was the second planet of the star system. The medium-sized rocky planet orbited its star, a red dwarf, in the habitable zone. The climate was harsh from an Aryaka’s perspective. The average temperature was 16° degrees and the oxygen level was low. The planet had six huge continents, all rich in cobalt, a material needed much in the past by the species located near the galactic center and still demanded to the present day by many young species. Kuru had been mined excessively for tens of thousands of years. Resources were getting short now, but a big mine was still active on the biggest continent.

The computer was receiving signals from the planet and from beacons floating in space. The signals defined a flight corridor to Kuru. Shesha re-programmed the ship’s course. He tried to contact Kuru spaceport but couldn’t establish a line. They were receiving transmissions from Kuru but were unable to get messages out. The computer analyzed the transmissions coming from the planet and sent the results to a screen. Nahusha studied them, said something to Vasuki and Shesha, and then turned to the humans.

“Good news?” Eric asked hopefully.

Nahusha typed into the translation tablet. Eric read the text. A wave of relief rushed through him. He turned to Dave and Brandon.

“They studied the time stamps of the signals coming from the planet. Our ship jumped into the past, but only one day, four hours, seven minutes, and forty-one seconds to be exact, measured from our last position in time and space,” Eric said. “Landing the ship on Kuru won’t pose a problem at all. We’re regular space travelers and not travelers from a distant past or future.”

“Why can’t they establish a line to the spaceport?” Dave asked.

“A computer malfunction most likely,” Eric said. “The ship receives transmissions from Kuru but the computer can’t open a line and contact the spaceport. Shesha is looking into something. He’s confident the communication system will work again soon.”

Dave took a breath. “Thank goodness. The best news I’ve ever heard,” he said. He nodded at Shesha and held a thumb up. “Ask them if they are able to determine the time set-off we’ve experienced after the jump with our own ship from the solar system to the star system 55 Cancri.”

Eric typed Dave’s question into the tablet. Nahusha replied.

“They can’t, unfortunately, because they don’t have signals from Earth.” Eric said. “Nahusha says we must fly to Earth and listen into the transmissions that are leaving the planet. We could be far off from our former timeline, of course. We just don’t know. Nahusha offers a flight to Earth with the sophisticated new ship they hope to get on Kuru.”

“Look,” Dave said, pointing at a screen. “We’re approaching Kuru.” The planet filled the monitoring screen.

Kuru was not an inviting place. The planet looked like a poisonous ball in space. The planet was entirely covered with thick gray-greenish clouds that formed vortexes and swirls above the poles and along the equator. Three moons orbited the planet. The biggest one was a rust-brown marble, the other two were yellow and gray. They looked even less inviting than the planet Kuru.

“A bleak, dismal place in space,” Brandon said.

Eric and Dave nodded.

Shesha finally managed to re-boot and re-calibrate the communication system. He contacted Kuru spaceport and they received an immediate reply. Kuru spaceport sent a landing vector. The repair ship approached the planet, entered the atmosphere and descended through the thick clouds. The ship touched down on the planet.

The spaceport was surprisingly big. It had been built in ancient times when lots of mining ships had landed on the planet and departed from it. The Aryaka demanded breathing equipment that provided additional oxygen, just in case they found breathing was hard in the spaceport halls. A ground vehicle approached the ship and a spaceport employee brought the equipment onto the ship after the ramp of the repair ship had lowered. The Aryaka and the men got off the ship and the car took them to the spaceport building. They entered the hall. The air inside was good. They wouldn’t need additional oxygen. The Aryaka and the men proceeded to a counter.

Nahusha told the individual behind the counter that an unexpected gravitational pulse had hit the repair ship and sent it off course. The wave had sent the ship through space and time, but the time set-off was luckily small. He asked if a sophisticated ship was available for rent on Kuru, preferably an advanced ship with proper shields. The employee told him that Kuru was a mining place and usually didn’t rent ships. Provided the circumstances, he would check, however, if a ship was available for them. He asked Nahusha’s name, entered it into the system and then looked up with surprise.

“That’s odd,” he said. “A Kunjara individual deposited a big amount of credits for you yesterday. The amount covers the costs of renting a supply ship. Like I said, we don’t usually rent ships, but this deal was arranged yesterday. Didn’t you say your ship was swept away by a gravitational wave and you came to Kuru by accident?”

“That’s true,” Nahusha said. “But Kunjara spaceport knew we were drifting through space. Our ship vanished from their monitoring screens. What’s the individual’s name?”

“Raktanga,” the employee said.

The Aryaka exchanged a look. Raktanga, the Kunjara trader, had deposited the amount.

“We know him well,” Nahusha said. “Aryaka family, you know. They must have reckoned with us showing up here and asking for a ship.”

“Well, a very considerate man,” the employee said. “The ship can be prepared for you anytime. When do you plan to leave?”

“As soon as we can,” Nahusha replied. “When will the ship be ready for take-off?”

“In the evening. Do you wish to contact the man? I could establish a communication line for you,” the employee said.

“We’ll contact him from the ship,” Nahusha replied. “Can we have a meal somewhere?”

“Sure,” the employee said. “There’s a lunchroom over there. I’ll let them know that you’ll get a meal for free.”

“Thank you,” Nahusha said. “There’s something else. Our implants need recalibration. Can it be done?”

The employee pointed at the far end of the hall. “Ask the man in the shop over there,” he said. “He should be able to re-calibrate your implants.”

Nahusha thanked the man. They went to the lunchroom and received a warm meal and drinks. Shesha typed a summary of his talk with the employee into the tablet and Eric talked it over with the other men.

They remained in the lunchroom until their ship was ready for take-off, then went to the shop to have their neural implants recalibrated. A man asked the Aryaka to sit down in chairs. He handed them helmets and studied a screen.

“Your implants have shut down completely. I’d suggest a complete reset,” he said. “I’ll install the latest software. It will be done in almost no time. That’s more efficient than looking for errors and fixing them.”

It was done in less than half an hour. The Aryaka and the men left the shop. A car took them to their rented ship and an employee collected the breathing equipment. The Aryaka and the humans boarded the ship.

“Finally connected with the world again,” Shesha said when the hatch closed behind them.

“I actually feel whole again,” Vasuki said, sounding relieved.

“We’ll contact the Elder when we’re back in space,” Nahusha said. “Take-off is scheduled in an hour.”

The group went onto the bridge.

The ship was cleared for take-off. It climbed to orbit and set course for Earth. Nahusha contacted the Elder. Eric recounted what Varyuka had said.

“Raktanga deposited credit amounts in all spaceports that were listed in the flight menu. The Aryaka trusted the ship had not drifted too far through time and space,” he said. “There was a commotion in the spaceport after the shot at the repair ship. The incident was classified as a hostile attack and was reported to Izanami. There will be an official investigation. The Elder thinks the Aryaka can safely return to Kunjara. Nobody will arrest them. No one has an interest to become the target of an investigation. Nahusha told the Elder they’ll take us back to Earth. Varyuka thanks us on behalf of the Aryaka for our support. The Elder wishes us well.”

“I would have liked to confront the man who attacked the little one,” Dave said. “Sadly, I didn’t have the chance.”

“I didn’t say a proper goodbye to the teacher,” Brandon said.

“I could have never imagined that I’d return without my ship,” Eric said. “Things never turn out the way you expect.”