The Ship by Doug Brode

Author:Doug Brode [Brode, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sort4
Publisher: Alien Sky Publishing
Published: 2021-06-10T22:00:00+00:00

30

CASEY WATCHED DONOVAN stalk across the crystalline room, mumbling incoherently. Turning, his eyes wide and maddened, he scanned Earl and Bill until his gaze fell on Casey. “Don’t look at me like that!” he shouted, then dropped his voice to a singsong whisper. “I know what you did.”

“If this is about the hypersphere, I was wrong,” Casey admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“Hear that, boys? She’s sorry. Oh, well, that’s fine then.” Donovan paused as the room shook and spasmed. When the aftershocks died, he continued. “You didn’t listen to me. None of you did. That’s why this whole place is rocking and rolling.” When no one answered, he leaned into Casey’s face. “This thing’s taking off, sweetheart.”

“We don’t know that,” Casey said weakly, her voice betraying her concern.

Donovan waved his arms. “Strap in folks, we’re going bye-bye.”

“That’s enough!” Earl barked.

Donovan’s expression contorted to an eerie grin. “Mars, here we come!”

Suddenly, a red ball of light appeared between them, floating in the middle of the room. Everyone flinched. It was transparent, with rocky ridges running along its surface. Earl was the first to recognize the form. “Mars.”

“See? See? Told ya!”

Casey spun on Donovan, slamming him against crystals. “Just shut up!”

She was prepared for Donovan to counterstrike. Instead, he shrugged, raising open hands. His voice smoothened while his expression kept an eerie sneer. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

She released him with a final shove. “Don’t call me that.”

Earl stalked around the translucent ball, then thrust his hand inside. The image shimmered. “A hologram.”

“He said Mars, and Mars appeared,” Casey said as she watched the turning planet. Perhaps axes and steel walls aren’t the only things that can be conjured up. Tilting her chin, she spoke with a commanding voice. “Earth.”

The red planet was replaced by a blue-and-brown orb. However, it looked strange. Most of the planet was covered in blue water while only a single patch was brown and green, indicating land.

Behind her, Earl sucked in his breath. “That ain’t Earth.”

Donovan giggled madly in the corner. Ignoring him, Casey remained silent, unsure of what she was looking at. It was Bill, of all people, who finally recognized it. “Yes, it is.”

“Sure don’t look like any globe I’ve ever seen,” Donovan whispered.

“Bill’s right,” Earl said. “It’s our planet, only the continents aren’t separated.”

“Earth as it was millions of years ago,” Bill replied.

Donovan laughed. “All this technology, and no one thought to update the map.”

“Depends on where you’re looking from,” Bill replied.

Earl nodded. “Outer space.”

“If someone watched from far enough away, it could look like this.”

Listening to them go back and forth, Casey shook her head. “You’ve lost me.”

“He’s talking about light years,” Donovan offered, as if it were obvious.

Feeling like the dumbest person in the room, Casey fell silent. It was the same way she’d felt whenever Arthur went on and on about whatever he was studying.

It’s like I always told ya, a girl can’t be pretty and smart, Honey Bun, her father’s voice whispered. Suppressing a shiver, Casey grew unsure if the slithering voice was a memory or an effect of the ship.

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