Krikos: The Vertical Horizon Read online

  So, I came back to my resting chamber to calm my boiling head down.

  After half an hour of rest, I went to the central chamber to look at the status of the power-diversion plan. To my surprise, there was no one present in the Central zone to do so... although it was already made very clear that at least one Thermo-Physicist must remain in that room at all times. So, I went thrashing into the Reactor Surveillance Chamber and again didn’t find anybody there. “There it is … You’ve set the examples for the nitwits.”

  After a few long minutes of searching for my comrades, I found them outside the station in the Landing sector. They had all (except Flex) gathered together in front of the ship.

  “What’s going on here? “, I asked.

  “Oh, thank god you are here Sir ... We have this situation with the ship’s reactor.” Exclaimed one of the research assistants.

  “Is it malfunctioning? “, I added.

  “No, Dr Daniels, it is much worse ... the last safety valve has broken.” the nuclear physicist said.

  “How much time before complete desiccation of the core?” I asked.

  “Two months at most”, she added.

  “TWO MONTHS … WHERE IS DANNY JATTER? (the nuclear engineer and research assistant) Everyone... back to the station... come on... get onto it” I exclaimed.

  “And yes …. Where is Dr Flex?” I continued.

  “He was last seen with you, sir, half an hour ago or so.”

  We reached the chambers. I went on to complete my power alternating algorithm. I sent the nuclear physicists to check the statistical report regarding the central incomplete reactor.

  “Rachel … what about the communications … can we reach RS16 ...?”

  “I am on to it sir.” she replied.

  “And Danny ... suit up ... and go and divert power to the secondary source.”

  “Yes sir.” he replied.

  “Sir … that can’t be done unless the group captain declares an official emergency.” Rachel said.

  “That reminds me … WHERE IN BLOODY PURGATORY IS THAT USELESS BASTARD.”

  Suddenly there came a voice, “You have no right to call me useless … No one is Useless ... though some are bastards. Even then, the vivid discourse of the strange, mythical, mythological, fantastical and real pieces of history testify clearly that bastards are definitely not useless. Them… and dwarves. Dwarves more so… I wonder why these are still considered curse-words?”

  “Oh, here speaketh the prince people … NOT USELESS HUH? You know what problems we’re we faci...”

  He interrupted in between, “I know ... I was sitting behind the computer while you people were discussing it all.”

  “You were here all the time? “

  “Oh no… not here... In the ship,” he added.

  “Ok, leave it be … SO SIR ... what do you suggest?”

  “Well… make this planet inhabitable... and leave the planet. That’s what the fliers said in the first place, didn’t they?”

  “How do you suggest we do that with no power?”

  “Did you cut off the primary power?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you prepare the new algorithms?”

  “I am doing that right now.”

  “Give me the statistics … I want to know the time we have.”

  “As far as I know, not more than two months … which is a month or more lesser than our safety deadline,” I said.

  The assistant handed him the statistical report.

  “57 Earth days huh? After 57 days, the core of the ship’s reactor fails if not used. It says we have a whole of 61 days of power left on the reactor to support the ship only. Here is what we shall do and as fast as we can. Disconnect the primary reactor of the ship from any output and chain-cord it. We’d use the outer Solar Power Pumps to generate Emergency supply. Cut off power from everywhere but the Central Chamber, the Reactor Chambers, Gravitational Stabilizers and the station air conditioning … That’s about 65% lesser power.” Flex said.

  “But we need to communicate with the base at RS16,” I added.

  “These radar towers take 38% of our power... it’s not possible. We need to work efficiently.”

  “I suggest we leave the planet sir and return some other day to resolve the problems. The Eutopium will resolve it, sir. It’s theirs.” Danny said.

  “‘It’s theirs’ you say? Theirs… That gives us more than a logical reason to make it ours, doesn’t it? Besides, wastage of this much of my time, mind and energy? That is not something anything can compensate for. Time doesn’t repeat the same, does it?”, Flex replied.

  “Do not go philosopher on us yet my friend! And guess what? Time doesn’t repeat at all… and we already have little remaining. We have an impending doom at our doorstep. Let’s fix it first.” I prompted.

  “Okay then! After the transfer of power, I need the full-time work on the reactor’s completion. We are at... ok … We need to stabilise the core... thrust it up with heat and build up the fusion chamber. That’s much work. I need everything which has already been initiated and partially completed to a reasonable fraction of its entirety to be worked on and completed immediately. Nothing extra is to be done. This is it. MATES … SCATTER,” he concluded.

  So, in fifty-five tedious, sleepless and laborious days, we worked horribly like animals and completed the reactor and the full stabilisation chambers. The day came when we were to test EVERYTHING. The 19th of Wendanzo, 391 E.E., DAY 453 of arrival on the system Jupiter.

  “Okay, the final testing phase is on … wait for a second, where is Flex?” I said.

  “Marthy ... switch to a Primary source of the reactor … the stabilisation chambers must be connected properly ... be meticulous … AND WHERE IS FLEX? “

  “Sir ... he Is outside writing in his notebook.”

  “What? …He chooses THIS DAY... Over to you Marthy and Rachel... I am just coming.”

  I reached outside and saw Flex scribbling in the plutonian pages again.

  “Okay ... now will you tell what Is so important about you and that old book?”

  “Almost Done…” I snatched the book out of his hand, and it shattered into numerous unbound pages. I collected them all in a disorderly fashion and took the book in my custody.

  “Finished.”, he said.

  “Sir … The reactor’s Zulu.” Danny said, arriving at the scene.

  “Start it up then… Let’s go and witness mate, shall we?”, Flex said.

  “Here goes everything…” I said and directed the technicians to jump start the power. We saw the whole thing start and light EVERYTHING up on the station. It was nothing we had ever seen before. The gigantic machines, moving perfectly in order- The thermo-nuclear fusion reactor was jolting with activity. The readings started coming, and we all moved towards each other to congratulate. But Flex’s eye was rather caught up by a small lamp out of all the other big things we had powered up.

  “What happened, brother?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “You remember the day when you were mad at me and became madder when you switched on the room conditioner, and the lamp started fluctuating? It freaked you out.” Flex said.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “By everything… you mean it, right? Everything?”

  “Yes.”

  “And it’s the same lamp?”

  “Ye……. Oh, Galacta no. Marthy, bring up the reactor beta test screen.”

  “Yes, sir. But may I ask what happened?”

  “Just do it.”

  The data appeared.

  “As I feared … The reactor is not getting stable. The neutron eater’s melting.” I said. Suddenly the lamp burst into pieces, and the room conditioning also started giving out excessive heat.

  “Danny ... what’s the status of the cooler?” I asked.

  “It’s working Sir.”

  “Then what is causing the problem?”

  “Do yo
u know that if a milligramme less of Frelli’s Hexurion is fused in the Neutron Eater, it malfunction, or rather ... stops working?”, Flex added.

  “Marthy?”

  “I don’t know sir.”

  “Primo Hues… where is he? He was supposed to fuse Hexurion.”

  “I might have miscalculated sir,” Primo replied.

  “You mis … misCALCULATED? We have this Planet at stake… leave it be our lives. Danny, how much time until emergency evac?” I said, shivering with electrified nerves.

  “Sir, the ship’s reactor goes down in 5 hours and the central reactor overloads in 17 hours and explodes in 29.”

  “We have 5 hours to do anything we can… what is ‘anything’ then, give me something.”, I said, whilst searching on the though-pad for a probable solution.

  “Well, we can always add a secondary eater to the core,” Flex suggested.

  “Not after the first fusion… We can’t.” Danny said.

  “I was talking to the educated here,” Flex said.

  “No time for ego Flex... come on ... what do you suggest?” I muttered and stammered nervously.

  “First thing is to start the Ship’s reactor… till then I shall devise the secondary eater ... a piece of cake it is for me. Then one can plant it on the core.”, Flex replied.

  “Okay people, your captain said something ... move it. Fast. And Flex, May I have a word with you?” I said.

  I side-lined with Flex – “I know it’s not possible through the computer. One has to mechanically himself plant it... and that’s too risky.”

  “No, it's not risky. Risky is when there is more of hope than a threat. When the threat supersedes, it becomes a danger. Either can only exist when there is some probability of survival. There is none here.” Flex said.

  “I know. The foreseeable outcome is immutable. So, who will do it then?”

  “Send one with a suit, boost his morale and abandon him as soon as he enters the chamber. Who cares who lives or dies? ‘Duty before self’ is what they propound back at the Hexagon, don’t they? “

  “I care; and you, being the captain, should too. This is a level one Flex. We don’t have any solutions left. So, if you have an alternative, tell me. Or else… I am going.”

  “There, there, champ ... but before that, I’ve got to make the eater first. Spare me space.”

  I left him at the command chamber and made my way to the ship. In about four and a half hours we were able to boost up the ship’s reactor. Meanwhile, Flex had been working on the eater. The conditioners and Gravitational Stabilizers had started malfunctioning. I escorted everyone to the central command.

  “Everyone listen … pack up and load everything you need for the return, and meet me back here in half an hour. I have an announcement.” I said.

  So, we did. After thirty minutes, we gathered up in the central command, and I told them about our status.

  “We are all packed up and ready to leave, eh? So, I have to tell you... The plantation of the eater must be done manually. And yes, that will for sure kill the guy who does it.”

  They all stood blunt.

  “So, what now, sir?”

  “Flex is ready with the eater, and I, Rif’g Daniels, am more than suitable for the job.”

  “But sir...”

  “No conjunctions. Move to the ship now. I bid my final goodbye to you all my comrades. It was an honour working with you people. Now depart.” I gave my quick farewell speech and gave a loud clap to disperse the sentimental team.

  “Captain ... are you okay with this?” said Rachel.

  “Oh, somebody has to do it. Best be a well-trained one.” Flex remarked sarcastically.

  They all departed. But Flex asked to walk me down to the nuclear chamber to ‘ensure’ that I did it and did it right. On the way, he again started the infamous Flex-philosophy – “Humans have a tendency to save themselves first. The survival instinct of everyone. No matter how close you are to a drowning creature, if you do not know how to swim, you wouldn’t risk your life for him. Well, if you do know how to swim, then that’s a different case altogether. Moral of the story, know how to swim before taking your friends or family down to a lake-picnic. You know, they all claim to evolve. Always. Inside, they are the same wild barbaric creatures camouflaged with a holographic civility.”

  “Don’t you dare start now...” I said as I wore the radiation suit.

  “It is time brother. I don’t want to melodramatise this or gain any martyrdom out of it, so no big farewell adieus. Just tell me anything I am missing. I don’t want to die for nothing you see. It must have a purp…” I turned around while wearing the suit and saw that Flex had already worn his own.

  “Nobody wants to die for nothing my friend. We try to choose the gravity and significance of our death on the basis of our knowledge, education, skills, capability, opportunity and circumstances. What you are missing is the sheer understanding of the significance of your life which far exceeds that of your death today.” Flex said.

  “What in heaven's name are you doing?”

  “I know it won’t protect me from forty-eight hundred Kelvins for long ... but I need at least a few seconds in there,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Oh, you were right … and I was wrong ... Oh, you were so damn right.”

  “What are you saying, mate?” I stood there- blank.

  “Evolution is a hoax friend ... and I am its greatest example. I claim to be evolved, although, I am the same as you.”

  “What are you doing Flex? Give me the eater. I have to go in there.” I restlessly asked.

  “Oh no, you don’t. What you have to do is just give me my notebook back, just for a second.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Just do it.”

  “Ok ok ... here it is ...now let me go in.”

  “No, wait… a second. Ummmm(scribbling away on a random page) I am done now.” He said. He put the notebook in my hand, which I had stretched forward for the eater.

  “Genius prefers to take the petty of their creations to their graves, leaving the better behind. That filter is the primary causation for their apparition as superhumans, oblivious to the errs and shortcomings of mankind. I shall take the eater inside.”

  “What do you mean by this Flex?”

  “I am ready to go.”

  “What insolence … how will I show my face back there?”

  “Time for you to leave, mate.”

  “What? I don’t know…” I perspired in panic.

  “Hey! Dr Daniels. Listen. LISTEN (he shook my shoulder)… I am Ready… ARE YOU?”

  His words made me turn around and run to our ship. I never looked back to even observe the final moments of my dearest friend. We reached back to Earth with a small engine-malfunction and a crash landing- leading to all the media conspiracies. The following mission to Jupiter gave a full certification of the proper working of the complete machinery. There was no sign of Flex. At forty-eight hundred Kelvins, of course, there wouldn’t be. We couldn’t install Stabilisers and Oxygen Compressors because of the time problem. So, the basic mission to make the planet habitable failed. Nobody saw how a man gave up his life for the honour of his mates; the honour we didn’t get after all. Nobody saw the working reactor; they saw that we had failed and were being replaced. And for Flex… I could never get his arrogance or his obsessions. One fine day, I turned to a page in the book and I found this written – My life had a greater purpose than average, so my death shall be of an equating calibre. After all the years of facing the steep eccentricities of life, relying on the resting fate to guide me and control me… I change it, by making a choice. A choice to deny fate. A choice to die rather than live to see another death. This was my life and the change. Indeed… The End is the Change.

  Into the Dimension:

  Episode 10-

  the Revelations.

  I

  t very well seems so ... It may have
happened faster than most of us expected, perhaps in the interval of our capture; but as for now, he is a traitor of the Epilion, Your Highness.” Captain Krawn spoke up infuriated in regret of losing his friends.

  “It seems you have made positive contact and diplomatic meetings with these natives… but it appears that they were the recessive occupants of the planet as mentioned in Kridious’ report. Have anything else you might want to report?” Dragomir Lunarte spoke in his gentle but royal tone.

  “Your Highness, the mission control has been updated through the Krydon Central Archive and has been reported back to the Genetrix. You may be able to access the compilation by now.” Krawn said in a monotonous, irritated and a formal dialect.

  “But before ending this conference, let me recall another important incident. Sir Krawn Xanethius. Your mission as a Captain has ended in sheer failure. The Epilion Foundation has turned to ruins. Just like our last captain. May or may not be your mistake, but for now, you Sir are discharged from your duties as a Captain. The Commander of the Krydon will take charge, and you shall return to the Krikos along with him, leaving by the next dawn. There must be one Annaeaxian diplomatic representative with you, and he must be one well-acquainted with their planetary status to the core.” Dragomir commanded.

  “As you command Your Highness. The one we captured back at the Magnetic Flux seems much like the person you seek. This deal you have implied was sedentary as well as time-consuming. Give us 48 hours starting this very second. I’d reach their sector leader and approach them to send Prabarus-Uz Witt along with us to the Krikos. And until then I may also help Commander Kridious with the escape plan. They have a large blockade which is now recuperating and reconciling after the massive attack by the Krydon. They’ll be completely ready this time,” Krawn said.

  “Okay. Now we may depart and discuss other highlighted matters of the Krikos. Report back to us in exactly 46 hours with the leads you have,” Dragomir spoke as the Visi-Screen changed its panel to a different view and stopped transmitting back to the base.

  ♦♦♦

  “He was a good man… yes, he was. Muster Pirus Veteran Piole, the best navigator the universe had ever witnessed. It seemed as if he designed it himself. Our technology ran so much behind his mind that he could reach places through his mind before we could even think their possibility. Muster was a friend of mine. A fellow,” Kridious said standing against the dug-up grave of Muster accompanied by everyone.