| Author | Message | ||
     Cdr. Sieven Drexler |
Kelaka approached the entrance to No Man's Land far too slowly for Sieven's tastes. To him, the entrance was a solid white wall, and twice as he and the Flag staff neared its transversal he asked the others if they were absolutely positive they wouldn't collide with it. He received a few incredulous stares from those who were still brave enough to keep their eyes open. Within two thousand kilometers of the entrance, Sieven got the distinct feeling he was not meant to see what was on the other side, much like the prophet John of Biblical fame must have felt when he witnessed the second coming of Christ. Within a thousand kilometers, he began hearing the voices again; alien whispers, stretched and hollowed out as if being called across a large plain under a full crosswind. Though Sieven did not understand the voices literally, there was a depth to the utterings that seemed universally understood. "How strange," he commented. "Have we slowed?" "No, commander," replied Tebrun quietly. Tebrun flashed Drexler a look, probably glad to have an excuse to look at something else other than straight ahead. "How much longer?" "About ten minutes." Sieven glanced at the wall and swallowed, chuckling. "... wait, why am I chuckling?" he thought. "Focus, child. Focus." Sieven chuckled again without any vocal cues from the others in the cabin, and this time he didn't bother realizing he had done so. Luckily for him, the others were already well aware of the odd reactions Sieven had to the environment. Not too much more odd than the others, really. About ten minutes later, Sieven drummed his fingers patiently. "Odd, it doesn't look like we've gone that far. Did we slow down?" a "It's only been a minute since you last asked, Sieven," remarked Savant in her distant, fascinated voice. "We're still nine minutes away." "Oh," said Sieven quietly. He glanced down at the console. Mere seconds later, the Admiral spoke up. "Okay, people, here we go." Sieven, startled, looked up suddenly. The White Wall completely filled the cockpit and his vision. Suddenly he was very scared. "I thought you said nine minutes!" Sieven exclaimed, eyes fixed on ahead in shock that he was mentally unprepared. Tebrun glanced over at him. "Commander, perhaps you should go back to Coro." Sieven hesitated, suddenly tempted by the request. Then he shook his head. "No... no, I've got to do this." He looked ahead fiercly, clenching his fists. "Even if it kills me." Tebrun nodded slowly, doing just the opposite--not looking ahead, focusing on the controls. The wall approached quickly. Sieven acted as if he was bracing for impact, and clenched every muscle in his body. The wall came. Sieven screamed... except nothing came out. Everything was white. He could not see the admiral or the controls. Everything was completely White, and he was suspended over It. Sieven cautiously, slowly closed his gaping maw. He couldn't move his limbs. He was frozen. Suddenly, a Voice of eight voices spoke to him, but like before, he could not understand. Only three of the voices were audible, the others were simply vibrations that he felt on some deeper level. In fact, it was only the deepest ones he could understand, but only at a basic level. It had no translation in any language. Sieven laughed, and suddenly the White was gone, and his friends were once again around him. "I'm going to have to land her ten kilometers outside of the probability cluster," said Tebrun, as if he were holding back bile. "Is that all?" Ironside commented, and Kelaka sped--and slowed--and sped again, depending on where you were watching it from--towards the ... Nothing. BTC |