ARC OF THE IMMORTALS/ Book 1 — Part 2

Pursuit: 25 / Jumping

Recap: Jac is informed of enhanced genetic modifications and genes that can be tracked at a distance (2 lightyears). The Mu engages in multiple short range light jumps.

“Strap-in, huh.” Touzdae to Jac.

“What?” Jac felt shock. “Didn’t the loop shake them?”

“Apparently not. Chase crafts have saturated the entire area. It looks like they’re everywhere — in groups at various spots.”

“The Mu is preparing to jump using long-range jump engines,” Jac said. And continued, “They haven’t been able to fix the IEJ drives, yet.”

“Long-range scanners have picked up four wedge crafts honing in on this direction, according to feeds from the bridge,” Touzdae said. “What feeds are you getting your information from?”

“They don’t have time to put the ship together,” Jac reported. “Engineers Line, I think that’s what they call it.”

“Won’t they jump after us?” Touzdae.

“Yes, most likely, but Captain Tommalar is planning two more consecutive jumps after this one,” Jac paused. Assuming the IEJ drives will be replaced or repaired. It will look like a damaged Light Drive, especially since the third jump will return us back here.”

“They’ve set the clock. Are you strapped in? I’m putting it on speakers.” Touzdae said.

Jac fumbled with the straps before it went on automatic and they clicked in. “Ready.”

The speakers crackled: “Three minutes remaining…”

The blue world appeared. Bodies of people Jac knew, alive and passed on, were dark blue with stars and the cosmos within them. The in-between was a light of electric blue a buzz of energies. It connected the darkest of blue bodies together. It was a river in the cosmos, a river leading back to Source.

Jac let go. Blink. He was at the center near the gravity well, known to everyone in a series of three solar systems as The Well of Souls. It was the beginning and an end to the cycle of corporeal life. He was very familiar with The Well of Souls.

“Jac, are you breathing the prep breaths?” Touzdae checked his vitals via monitors. It was as if he was being breathed. Touzdae got the message to trust.

There was a 30-second countdown on a screen and an audio countdown beginning at ten.

At zero the compression began. Time and space compressed. It was a tangible pressure that went on for nearly a minute followed by an expansion.

Jump.

Being a dark blue person with nebulae crashing into one another on my forehead- how do I know — I see them reflected in the heads of other dark blue people drifting down into the well as I float… so peaceful — I was Jac Kristos and now I am all and everywhere…

“Jump completed,” Reypat concluded.

“We’ll be here for 1 hour 45 minutes at the shortest. The longest — undetermined,” Captain Tommalar reported over the speakers.

The engineers and technicians set to work on the Needlecraft’s modifications. Within two hours all the parts of the craft were assembled. And connections made throughout the fuselage. The only step left was a start and charging period for the artificial quantum singularity (AQS or QS for short). But it had to wait until after the jump.

Three seers had detected a scout ship 10 minutes outside sensor range… The repair of the IEJ (Immediate Emergency Jump) drives had not been completed. Charging began for a longer-range jump. All work on the Needlecraft ceased until after the jump.

“What’s that hum, Jac?” Touzdae asked.

“Apparently some of the genes that I inherited from my duplicate can be tracked. I have no idea if they are doing that or not. In case they are I am employing a technique that the geneticist healers suggested as a shield. It creates the hum.”

They began the breathwork. The countdown had started.

The scout ship detected the Mu. Other fighters came out of hyperspace as Mu jumped away.

They had jumped. It was short 1/2 parsec* from their original starting point. An unknown anomaly had altered the final destination.

The workers emerged en masse. A cable with a two-and-a-half-foot diameter was deployed from an engineering hub within the vast, cavernous tube. The end of the cable outfitted with a nozzle. Custom-made, it fit into a dorsal port for the express purpose of igniting the engine and forming the quantum singularity (QS).

After three tries the spark was lit. The engine started. An initial singularity formed. The charging cable was left in. As Jac described it. The engine would need a high-frequency electromagnetic charge to reach 55 percent capacity.

“Once 55 percent is reached, the cable must be shut down and removed. The engine’s QS climbs to 93 percent on its own. Ninety-three is the resting percentile of the engine. When a jump is engaged it will instantly jump to 99 percent and then 100,” Jac said with confidence.

Tommalar gifted them with vegetarian food stocks.

The cable was shut down at the appointed reading and disconnected. It rose to 93 percent. Touzdae was at the helm. Both Jac and Touzdae set the coordinates in time. Touzdae spun up the polar compensators to full. At 99 percent it dropped to 91 percent and was steady.

“What happened?” Jac asked.

“Don’t know. I’m checking readings now.” Touzdae was rushed.

“Prepare for IEJ in 6 seconds,” Reypat said over coms. “Fifteen Pursuit Craft in-bound.”

*a parsec is 3.26 light years. For more see Wikipedia — Parsec

the previous chapter:

Thank you for joining me in the adventures that span lifetimes and worlds. (If you do NOT wish to be tagged, let me know, and I’ll tag you not):

Barbara Murray | K. Pearson Bradley | René Beauchemin | Dougfrombk | Rebecca Romanelli | Joseph Lieungh | Dr. Preeti Singh | Pene Hodge | Ravyne Hawke | Dr Mehmet Yildiz | Kris Bedenian | Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 | Blaine Coleman | Lee David Tyrrell | DL Nemeril | David Price | Rip Parker | Annelise Lords | Libby Shively McAvoy |