Compete (48 page)

“I think it’s okay if you need to leave early,” Gennio tells me at last, about fifteen minutes before 10:00 AM. That’s when the Quantum Stream Safety Lecture is supposed to take place over at the Pilot Training classroom.

“Please, I beg you,
go
already. Go to your QS Safety Lecture early, Earth girl,” Anu moans. “Watching you makes me want to do bad things to myself—but mostly others—such as fat-brain here. If you don’t leave now, I will torment Gennio until he soils his uniform pants, and it will be all your fault.”

Finally I give in and rush to my Pilot Training class for the special lecture.

The classroom deck with the flight simulators is packed with students already. I manage to grab one of the few remaining empty double console desks, and moments later Hugo shows up and takes the other seat, giving me the usual hard glare.

Instructor Mithrat Okoi stands before us like an old general, waiting to begin. Today the flight simulator screens remain blank and dark. Instead there is a large smart board in the back, which lights up at 10:00 AM on the dot.
“Quantum Stream Safety”
is the bold headline on top.

“Attention, Cadets!” the Instructor begins with the usual bark command.

We rise up quickly in unison, salute, and return to our seats.

Mithrat Okoi nods at us grimly. “This is your last class before the QS Race. Today we will not practice—today we will discuss what awaits you tomorrow. First and foremost we will review Quantum Stream Flight Safety. You think you know the dangers? We are going to go over them one more time, because you really
don’t.
Knowing with your mind is not the same as being there, faced with death. Because one wrong move, and you
are
dead.”

Instructor Okoi begins to pace in his usual manner among our rows of desks.

“First—we are in the final week of the pre-Jump month. The velocities outside are now phenomenal, and instability is
rising
every
second
. Which means that in one week, the only ones who will even be able to Pilot outside in the QS space will be the Officer Pilots in charge of your Quadrants. No rote Fleet Pilot will be allowed outside, not even a good one. Only the
astra daimon
. Do you understand what that means?”

We stare at him, and there is perfect silence. Most of the Cadets in the room barely dare to breathe.

Because yes, we have all seen it, first hand—those last few times we were outside on practice runs, we could see it—what’s out there. . . .

There is no more “normal interstellar space” outside.

The universe is nearing a
blur
.

If you look at it, the
color of space
itself is
different
now, no longer pure black with occasional spots or patches of remote color radiance to indicate stars, galaxies or nebulae. Now, everything is
one
color. It’s a strange surreal
off-black
, a lighter “space,” almost a deep shade of grey, as though the entirety of the cosmos has been stirred up and put through the blender, resulting in a homogeneous mix of darkness and faint light, with the final product being dark roiling grey, like a field of static.

When Hugo and I flew last, we saw that terrible terrifying grey, no individual stars, no true light or dark, with nothing but Fleet ships lined up in formation, and the universe itself so uniform that it felt claustrophobic, as though it was encroaching upon us from all sides, a great nothing, squeezing us. . . .

Instructor Okoi continues. “Knowing how tough things are out there right now, it is vital that you understand and follow the safety rules properly. These are the rules, and we are going to discuss them one by one.” He presses his handheld and a list appears on the smart board:

Quantum Stream Safety

1. Do not under any circumstances breach the Boundary demarcation of the Quantum Stream zone.

2. Maintain your flight course. Adhere to straight lines.

3. Avoid making sudden sharp movements or turns.

4. In case of obstacles, slow down first, then engage in evasive maneuvers.

5. Brake earlier than normal.

6. Surrender right of way to any other ship in your immediate vicinity if they are too close to the QS Boundary, allowing them to stay inside the Stream.

7. If you have the misfortune to breach and fall outside the QS Boundary, follow the QS Breach Emergency Protocol, or QSBEP-1.

“Now, the first and most important item on this list,” Instructor Okoi tells us, “is this one.
Do not under any circumstances breach the boundary demarcation of the Quantum Stream zone.
What does it mean?”

He pauses to call up a chart of the three-column Fleet formation on the smart board. “The boundary is defined by the one kilometer corridor of space surrounding the Fleet on all sides. The boundary extends out beyond the exterior formation columns of ships on the right and left of the Stream, which are columns #1 and #3. It also extends out forward, before the flagship ICS-1, and behind the anchor ship ICS-4 in the rear. Stay within the zone! If you pass or fall out of this safe area of Stream space, you will end up
outside
, somewhere in the unknown vastness of interstellar space. That is a death sentence.”

Erin Tsai raises her hand. “Instructor Okoi, what about the special instances when vessels coming from the
outside
have to merge with the Fleet within the Quantum Stream? How is that possible?”

Mithrat Okoi looks at her. “Are you referring to rendezvous maneuvers, such as the Mars station personnel pickup? Those are done under very controlled circumstances. First of all, approach and entry maneuvers are only allowed very
early on
in the journey, when the common Fleet velocities are not at their height. We are long past that relatively safe point. Second, only the most skilled
astra daimon
can do a
planned re-entry
into the QS field space from the outside, using QS frequency ‘future projections.’ This is advanced Piloting that
some
of you will be allowed to study in your second year—and most of you will not study at all. In short—Breaching the QS Boundary right now will get you killed.”

“But what about the Emergency Protocol?”

“We will come to it in a moment. But—let me say this now, before you start to grow lax, thinking of it as a fallback. The QS Breach Emergency Protocol is
not
going to save you, unless you are very, very lucky, or very, very good. Most people who breach the QS zone do not come back. So do not plan on using it. Instead, plan to avoid the circumstances altogether.”

Erin nods quietly.

“Item two,” the Instructor says, once again calling up the list on the smart board. “
Maintain your flight course. Adhere to straight lines.
This might seem self-explanatory, but you need to remember that sometimes there will be circumstances forcing you to change course. If you are faced with such, do it wisely, and plot your new course with care, using the most straightforward route. Simple is always best. Hence, straight lines.”

He points to the next item. “Number three.
Avoid making sudden sharp movements or turns.
This is the most common cause of breaching the boundary. Do not do it! Lose control, and you lose everything!

“Item four.
In case of obstacles, slow down first, then engage in evasive maneuvers.
I don’t care if it costs you time in the Race. Would your rather lose time and get a lower score or lose your life? Slow down!”

“Okay, now I’m ready to crap my pants . . .” a Cadet nearby whispers.

Someone else giggles.

Mithrat Okoi turns in the direction of the noise and locates both the speaker and the person who laughed. He walks up to them in rapid strides. “You, and you,” he says, leaning over them. His handheld device scans the two Cadets’ ID tokens. “Demerits to both. Your outburst just cost you five places in you Pilot Standings.”

Oh, crap
. . . .

The class goes completely silent after that.

“Item five,” the Instructor continues as though nothing happened. “
Brake earlier than normal.
This ensures precision, and is your best bet when the Quantum Stream is at the height of instability. All ship approaches should be done with greater care than normal at this time. Entering the shuttle bay upon return is one of your most risky maneuvers during the Race. This is where most accidents happen.

“Item six.
Surrender right of way to any other ship in your immediate vicinity if they are too close to the QS Boundary, allowing them to stay inside the Stream.
This means that if you see another shuttle next to you, and your movement might throw them off and cast them into the boundary, do not do it! Desist, and let them pass, especially if it looks like they are already in trouble. It is the honorable thing to do. If anything, consider this—you will never become
astra daimon
unless you act with honor toward others. If you have the slightest aspiration in that direction, then stay honor-bound.”

Instructor Okoi pauses momentarily, glancing around the room.

We stare back at him, full of tension.

“Now,” he says, “we come to the last critical item, number seven.
If you have the misfortune to breach and fall outside the QS Boundary, follow the QS Breach Emergency Protocol, or QSBEP-1.
”

Mithrat Okoi turns to the smart board and calls up another list. This one has “QSBEP-1” on the top header. “This is the Emergency Protocol. If you find yourself thrown out of the Stream, do not waste a single second. Make every attempt to follow the protocol, item by item, before you panic or give up and resign yourself to death. Note that this will be posted inside your shuttle next to your console during the Race, so that you can refer to it at a glance. Please, I repeat—if you have to follow this protocol, do it immediately, as soon as you realize you are out of the QS zone. Do not panic, do not hesitate, act!”

We stare at the new terrifying list on the board:

QSBEP-1 Emergency Instructions

1. Listen to the space around you in all directions for any QS signal trace.

2. Sing the exact frequency to match quantum resonance until shuttle acknowledges the match and is keyed. Synch the shuttle to the QS field.

3. Plot the signal coordinates onto the Navigation Grid.

4. Set new course and pursue the QS field immediately.

5. Re-enter the Quantum Stream zone as soon as you are within reach.

“Memorize this list,” Mithrat Okoi says. “Let’s break it down. Item one.
Listen to the space around you in all directions for any QS signal trace.
When a ship first breaches the QS and is thrown out into normal interstellar space, it immediately loses its
acoustic resonance charge
—the force that keeps it within the Quantum Stream—and becomes inert. The first few seconds are therefore critical. You and your ship are ‘dead in the water,’ but still within range of the Stream, and quantum traces packed with acoustics can be picked up on shuttle resonance scanners. Use them to grab those final shadow ‘echo-remnants’ of the Quantum Stream before they dissipate completely!

“How does it work? Sound cannot travel in ordinary space without matter, but a quantum field contains or traps acoustics temporarily, together with everything else. If you can locate the QS field, you might be able to access the sound frequency ‘trapped’ inside. Therefore, immediately turn on your resonance scanners and set them to
global scan mode
.”

Instructor Okoi pauses. “Item two.
Sing the exact frequency to match quantum resonance until shuttle acknowledges the match and is keyed. Synch the shuttle to the QS field.
Assuming you got lucky and found a QS field trace out there, and your resonance scanner has picked up and recognized the sound frequency, now you yourself must replicate it. Basically you are now responsible for keying your inert shuttle back to the original frequency of the QS field. Without being keyed, you are still
out of phase
with the Quantum Stream and everything inside it, and cannot re-enter the QS field from the outside—even if by some miracle you are flying right alongside it. Think of yourself and the shuttle as being stuck in one dimension, while the whole Fleet is inside the QS field bubble in another dimension. You have to be synched up in order to interact.”

The class is paying super-intense attention right now, and yeah, this stuff is hard. Normally I love schoolwork, but right now even
my
head hurts. . . .

“Item three.
Plot the signal origin coordinates onto the Navigation Grid.
How do you do it? Basically, once your shuttle is keyed, your Navigation Grid will auto-populate itself with the origin coordinates as your destination. You will see the destination circle pop up once again. However, to finalize course, you must Select and then confirm manually.

“Item four.
Set new course and pursue the QS field immediately
. This means, once you manually acknowledge the Destination, you have to fly your shuttle there, so do it! Engage the Red Propulsion Grid, swipe the forward Thrust, and fly as fast as you can!