to go. Ms. Smart could have easily stated that it was part of our job to go. I appreciate the fact that you asked, sir.” Yermakov stepped over to the communications station and activated the interface. “You're on ship-wide speakers,” said the mate.
Ellis put his hands behind his back and made the announcement to the crew. He detailed what little was known about the Cluster appearing at Earth. “I am acting in official capacity as a captain in the Alpha Coma Fleet. Ms. Smart has volunteered her services and the services of the Nicholas Sanson . First Mate Simon Yermakov, Chief Engineer Mahuk, and Navigator Laura Peters have all volunteered their service as well. I am asking all of you to serve with us, to determine what has happened at the Earth. If anyone is staying behind at Alpha Coma, I need to know in twelve hours so that I may determine which positions need to be filled.” Ellis paused, thinking if anything else needed to be said. “I won't pretend that this will be an easy or safe voyage. You are not a military crew and, as such, you are not required to sacrifice yourselves for Earth. I ask you to come along because you all know this ship better than anyone I can find on Alpha Coma in short notice. Many of you have family and friends back on Earth. All of us are humans and, as such, the Cluster poses a threat to us all. Our job will be to find out what can be done to stop the Cluster at Earth and get back here to Alpha Coma so I can help formulate a strategy to stop the Cluster. I sincerely hope you will help us in this mission.” Ellis reached out and turned off the inter-ship speakers. The captain let out a long breath.
Yermakov put his hand on Ellis’ shoulder. “Let's hope that none of us does have to be sacrificed."
"Amen to that, Simon.” With that, Ellis turned and went to his office to review the status of the repairs for himself.
* * * *
Over the course of two days, Captain Samuel Coffin and his crew aboard the whaling bark Pequod made their way to the center of the galaxy. To them, it appeared that a wind billowed their sails, pushing them through the arms of the Milky Way galaxy. They sailed through a black fog, like a cloud of coal dust and came out in a day-lit world of billions of stars—the galactic bulge. The ship proceeded through stars closer together than any they had experienced before. Elisha Folger stood at the deck railing with Coffin and the navigator, Kumiko Meiji.
"I've heard the phrase, it looks like you can reach out and touch the stars,” said Folger to the other two. “However, this looks like I could reach out, touch one star and put my hand on another."
"You know,” said Meiji, “we should be pulled apart by the gravitational interaction of these stars. There's no way any vessel could make it through."
Coffin looked down his nose at the petite mathematician. “That's the part that bothers you? Not the fact that we're standing on the deck of a ship over a thousand years old with an atmosphere and no obvious force field, flying through vacuum? Not the fact that we've crossed vast distances of space without making an EQ jump?"
Meiji looked up at Coffin and sighed. “I don't know about you, but it's pretty clear to me that we are experiencing an illusion of some kind. I just don't know whether the illusion is technological, like holograms or hallucinogenic in nature. Either way, it's extremely realistic."
Folger put his hands behind his back. “Okay, so why worry about whether or not a ship could really be here? Why couldn't we just be experiencing a kind of theater of the mind? Especially if this is just a hallucination."
"Because it's too realistic,” said the mathematician. “I've spent years of my life going over charts of the galaxy: images taken by TransGalactic ships traveling throughout the galaxy. I've walked through chart tanks made up of photos. I've never seen the center of the galaxy, but I can say with some authority, this is what the center of
Ellis put his hands behind his back and made the announcement to the crew. He detailed what little was known about the Cluster appearing at Earth. “I am acting in official capacity as a captain in the Alpha Coma Fleet. Ms. Smart has volunteered her services and the services of the Nicholas Sanson . First Mate Simon Yermakov, Chief Engineer Mahuk, and Navigator Laura Peters have all volunteered their service as well. I am asking all of you to serve with us, to determine what has happened at the Earth. If anyone is staying behind at Alpha Coma, I need to know in twelve hours so that I may determine which positions need to be filled.” Ellis paused, thinking if anything else needed to be said. “I won't pretend that this will be an easy or safe voyage. You are not a military crew and, as such, you are not required to sacrifice yourselves for Earth. I ask you to come along because you all know this ship better than anyone I can find on Alpha Coma in short notice. Many of you have family and friends back on Earth. All of us are humans and, as such, the Cluster poses a threat to us all. Our job will be to find out what can be done to stop the Cluster at Earth and get back here to Alpha Coma so I can help formulate a strategy to stop the Cluster. I sincerely hope you will help us in this mission.” Ellis reached out and turned off the inter-ship speakers. The captain let out a long breath.
Yermakov put his hand on Ellis’ shoulder. “Let's hope that none of us does have to be sacrificed."
"Amen to that, Simon.” With that, Ellis turned and went to his office to review the status of the repairs for himself.
* * * *
Over the course of two days, Captain Samuel Coffin and his crew aboard the whaling bark Pequod made their way to the center of the galaxy. To them, it appeared that a wind billowed their sails, pushing them through the arms of the Milky Way galaxy. They sailed through a black fog, like a cloud of coal dust and came out in a day-lit world of billions of stars—the galactic bulge. The ship proceeded through stars closer together than any they had experienced before. Elisha Folger stood at the deck railing with Coffin and the navigator, Kumiko Meiji.
"I've heard the phrase, it looks like you can reach out and touch the stars,” said Folger to the other two. “However, this looks like I could reach out, touch one star and put my hand on another."
"You know,” said Meiji, “we should be pulled apart by the gravitational interaction of these stars. There's no way any vessel could make it through."
Coffin looked down his nose at the petite mathematician. “That's the part that bothers you? Not the fact that we're standing on the deck of a ship over a thousand years old with an atmosphere and no obvious force field, flying through vacuum? Not the fact that we've crossed vast distances of space without making an EQ jump?"
Meiji looked up at Coffin and sighed. “I don't know about you, but it's pretty clear to me that we are experiencing an illusion of some kind. I just don't know whether the illusion is technological, like holograms or hallucinogenic in nature. Either way, it's extremely realistic."
Folger put his hands behind his back. “Okay, so why worry about whether or not a ship could really be here? Why couldn't we just be experiencing a kind of theater of the mind? Especially if this is just a hallucination."
"Because it's too realistic,” said the mathematician. “I've spent years of my life going over charts of the galaxy: images taken by TransGalactic ships traveling throughout the galaxy. I've walked through chart tanks made up of photos. I've never seen the center of the galaxy, but I can say with some authority, this is what the center of
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