Gemellus (Dominix Kemp Book 1) by Mel Dufresne

Author:Mel Dufresne [Dufresne, Mel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The skirmish of the previous night had put everyone on edge. We still had two full days of travel ahead of us. Pent-up energy was starting to boil over. Exchanges of words were more frequent and less diplomatic. I was in a rather nasty mood after spending the morning being told not to tax my ribs. Of a contrary mind, I had decided to stand up since lunch. My mood was starting to rub off on everyone else’s.

We were all in the bridge because of a fight over something insignificant. Teo was looking in the logbook for the first ever time we went to The Spider, a few years earlier. Ketsia and Loïc were arguing over a few days difference.

He was swinging in my hammock with a nonchalant air. I gave him a reproving look. This kind of attitude drove Ket crazy. She loved a good fight. Better still, if her opponent could lose his patience before her.

But Loïc’s nonchalance and lack of response was like a stick in the hands of a child. A child hitting a wasp’s nest. She was so angry that she was a hair’s breadth away from getting on Teo’s lap to do the search in his place. He was elbowing her with impressive skill to keep control of the keyboard.

Until a warning appeared at the bottom of the screen. The search stopped immediately.

“I’m sure it was June, Teo. June.”

“Wait.” He entered some seemingly random commands. On the main screen came up... In fact, the screen went completely black. Ketsia made an impatient movement. The only sound was the creaking of the hammock.

“What’s the big deal?”

“Ignorants.” He entered new specifications. I understood then that he was in telescope mode. The field of view gradually widened to reveal a gigantic black circle surrounded by red filaments. It looked like huge tentacles of light and heat captured by the black hole’s gravity. Ket took a few steps back to get it all in.

“What’s the name of that creature from your ancient mythology? The one with snakes for hair.”

“The Gorgon Medusa,” replied Teo.

I smiled at the comparison. It’s true that one might have thought the filaments of light endowed with life and furious at being captive to the attraction of the black hole.

“Quasi-stellar radiosource,” Teo said.

“A quasar?” asked Loïc.

“Not just any. It’s hyperluminous 3C 273. From Earth, you can see it in the constellation of Virgo with any worthy telescope. From here, right now, we’re in the right angle to see it in all its glory.”

I nodded, having already observed it during my years at flight school. “It is the matter that falls into the black hole that creates the accretion disc, or the gorgonian if you prefer.”

Ketsia stayed still, as if transfigured by the vision. I had forgotten the childlike ease with which she could marvel at such things. It took me a moment to notice Loïc and Teo had left us alone. She must have known before me, because she started to speak in a sad voice.

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