Relics of Dawn: A Story Carved in Time by A.W. Davidson

Author:A.W. Davidson [Davidson, A.W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781736054901
Publisher: For our Future
Published: 2020-12-10T22:00:00+00:00

At her station, Kaia accessed her post-impact ecological simulation to update it based on the precise measurements of the actual crystals and the precise impact locations from Enki. She saw the final number remain at 66,190,237 cycles and turned to Enki. “66 million cycles is hard to imagine, isn’t it?”

“No, I find it quite easy to imagine thanks to the simulations,” Enki said.

Behind them, Kaia noticed Councilor Hegira stand up, steadying herself on each console as she made her way to the helm.

“Here, let me help you,” Kaia said and jogged over.

“Thank you,” Councilor Hegira said. “I never can get used to the gravity in this place.”

Captain Apep turned to greet them. “How can I help you, Councilor?”

“Have you programmed the course into the constructors?” Hegira asked.

Captain Apep cocked his head. “Yes and no.”

“Don’t be coy with me, Captain.”

He softened his stance. “I mean to say we have charted the course for each impact,” he looked at Kaia, “but they do not have autopilot.”

“No autopilot?” Councilor Hegira asked.

He shook his head. “Afraid not. The tugships did but not the constructors. They will do the job we need them for, but they are manual control. First Officer Ra, Mirik, Nef, and I will each be piloting a constructor. We’ve piloted far bigger cargo than this before.”

“So, you’re going to pull them yourself?” she asked with concern.

He nodded. “Yes. We will get them up to speed then cut the cord and return to the ship.” He looked over to Enki. “We’ve already run the simulation. The asteroids should have enough momentum to continue without the extra acceleration of a constructor.”

“He is correct,” Enki said, looking up from his work for a moment.

Kaia tried to push the thought of Captain Apep and the others hurtling toward Nu with a giant asteroid crystal as cargo. “Which crystal are you going to tow, Captain?”

“The largest one,” he said. “All those years as a captain will come in handy.”

Kaia looked down and fidgeted with her glove.

“Don’t worry. It is perfectly safe,” he said.

Sure, repeat after me, it’s perfectly safe, she thought. She flashed a brave smile.

Captain Apep stepped back from the helm. “Councilor, Kaia, sorry to leave you here, but I need to get to work.”

Councilor Hegira bowed. “Of course.”

Kaia gave him a once over, starting at his shoes, up his legs, his torso, to his broad shoulders, and his precision tailored form-fitting blue suit. She felt like she was seeing him in yet another light. Not just a captain but a leader, out there with his team, at the forefront. And a mighty handsome leader at that.

He held out his hand. She took it and walked with him to the ladder.

Facing her, he held up his other hand. “So, are we on, in 66 million cycles?” he whispered.

Kaia took it and looked up into his eyes with a coy smile. “Yes,” she said, the word jumping out of her mouth. “I’ll come with you.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said.

And then his arms wrapped around her, and her heart flip-flopped.

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