Compelling Science Fiction Issue 9 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Compelling Science Fiction Ltd.
Published: 2017-10-01T03:21:29+00:00

Wait Calculation

by Derrick Boden

"Find a seat." Captain Liu's manicured mustache drooped at the edges. "We're short on time."

Daria settled in amid a churn of nervous glances. The boardroom, like the rest of the ship, was falling apart. Scratches marred the table's over-buffed surface. Chairs groaned beneath the weight of the officers. The overhead lights flickered, casting a pallid yellow glare across the bowed ceiling and repurposed interior walls. A spiderweb crack spread across the wall-mounted Flight Path, now six generations old. The air tasted as stale and mildewy as ever.

Out the room's only window, a thousand stars hung in the void, languid as the Freedom Spear's crew. They were still sixty years from Earth. Since when was anyone short on time?

"A State ship is on approach from Tau Prime," Liu said. "We've just received a prerecorded video broadcast from their ranking officer."

Daria frowned. Reinforcements. Took them long enough. Two hundred thirty-nine years into their journey, and all Tau had sent them were the semiannual drive enhancement blueprints for the onboard innovation team. She'd begun to wonder if the State expected them to fight this war on their own.

The screen behind Liu fuzzed to life. A handsome man with sleek sideburns snapped into focus. His uniform bore the stars and stripes of the State, though the style—all sharp angles and contrasting colors—looked distinctly different. Ultramodern.

He smiled politely. "My name is Captain Miyahara, of the Freedom Blade. Your sister ship."

A spray of interference interrupted the broadcast. Daria cringed. Damned central comms were on the fritz again. Her comms. She felt a roomful of sidelong glances. Maybe it was time to finally take Midori up on her offer to overhaul the system.

Captain Miyahara pursed his lips. "We're en route to Earth to bolster the war effort. Dramatic improvements in fuel composition have granted us a swifter transit time, and we will ultimately overtake the Freedom Spear. We've brought enough raw fuel in payload for your retrieval and consumption—we will deploy it en route, at a velocity matching your own."

Daria raised an eyebrow. Their innovation team had redesigned the engines dozens of times since launch to shave their time of approach. But fuel was always the limiting factor. Better fuel was big news. Of course, if the Blade had only just departed Tau, it would be decades—if not centuries—before the Blade caught up. So why was Liu sweating?

Captain Miyahara glanced away, as if embarrassed. "We've been in transit for some time. Unfortunately, our orders were to withhold contact until today so as not to disrupt morale onboard your ship." He inhaled sharply and faced the camera, eyes as blue as lunar crystals. "We will reach your current location in thirty hours."

Murmurs rippled through the boardroom.

"I've included additional details in the attached report. I await your confirmation."

The video fizzled.

"What's this fuel going to do to our timeline?" Daria asked.

"Our arrival time will be cut to fifteen years." Liu's baritone quavered.

The attendees volleyed anxious glances across the table. Daria's gaze drifted to the cracked screen at the back.

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