Collided

Chapter 29

Boman was already up when Alyssa opened her eyes for the first time the next morning. He was dressed and looked ready to leave when he noticed her stir.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

Alyssa's first instinct as she remembered her discovery was to ignore him, but she remembered Ada's warnings and nodded.

"Good. Good," Boman said. "I'm about to announce the ships, but as my wife, I suppose it's fair you know ahead of the others. We have finished refueling, and we are going to be making the second warp jump today."

"Warp jump?" Alyssa asked, befuddled.

"Yes. We will move across space at a speed several times faster than light speed. It is the quickest way to get around the universe."

Alyssa nodded absentmindedly, comprehending nothing. Then something returned to mind.

"Wait...second?"

"Yes. Right after we left your planet, while your people were unconscious, we made the first jump to get closer to the edge of your galaxy."

Lacking words, Alyssa blinked twice.

"Is it safe?" she asked at last.

"Yes...and no."

"What?"

She sat up and he grabbed her hand.

"Calm down. For the procedure, we will all be rendered unconscious and restrained to pods for our own protection."

"Pods?"

"Yes. Pods. Before you argue, it is the only way. The alternative would be to have your body thrown about like a rag doll so hard you'd end up a smear on the wall." Alyssa's face turned up in horror and disgust. "Exactly."

"How long will this last?" she asked.

"About an hour and a half. The jump itself will last ten minutes tops, but unfortunately, we have not been able to create an anesthesia strong enough to completely knock us out and also wake us up in less than an hour."

"Why do we need the anesthesia?"

"Warp jumps are severely...uncomfortable. Trust me, you don't want to be awake for those ten minutes."

"And the other ships? Couldn't there be an accident of some sort?"

"There could be, but we prevent that by first syncing all ships and jumping at the exact second."

Alyssa was not convinced, and it showed on her face.

"Relax, wife. We have done this many, many times before. This is routine," Boman said. "Now, will you get dressed and join me for breakfast. I'll be making the announcement. It is time we show unity in front of others, don't you think?"

Alyssa nodded.

"Sure, but you go ahead. I'll be right after you."

Boman left the room, and having no reason to dally, Alyssa went about getting cleaned and dressed. She opened the door, intending to go to the dining but she found Blaze standing in the hallway about to knock.

"We need to talk," he said.

She ushered him in, then looked around to ensure he wasn't followed before shutting the door.

"Everyone's at the hall except for the crew members and Ada. Don't worry."

She closed the door after him and turned to him.

"What's this about?"

"We're going to be making another jump, not long after breakfast. The schedule was moved up, and I didn't know about it until this morning."