Dimension

Chapter 11

Welcome!

To the next part of the story! Chapter 11!

I submitted a story to the Planet Or Plastic National Geographic challenge! I'd really appreciate it if you checked it out, and it'd be even better if you submitted your own. Plastic pollution is a big problem, and even if you're just doing it to raise awareness, it's for a great cause!

Also, I don't think I've ever just straight up thanked everyone who's read my stuff yet. I didn't really expect to break 50 reads on anything, ever. And now we're approaching 300. I know it's not very impressive on the greater scale, but it blows my mind that so many people would even consider reading the random story of a junior in high school who started writing because he had free time over summer break.

Thanks, everybody!

And here goes nothing!

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Compression Industries was a relatively small, specialized company- nothing close to the size of the megacorporations which dominated almost every aspect of life in the Caroki Star Union. Their main facilities were located underneath the surface of the ash-choked landscape of Carok Prime, outside of the beautifully maintained business district which headquartered the majority of corporations and built in among the destitute residential and commercial zones. Thrice, the headquarters of Compression Industries was raided by Union state police, thrice they were forced into bankruptcy, and thrice they managed to claw out with some outside and often questionable assistance. 

Which made the corporation's sudden leap into the spotlight even more unprecedented. 

Superimposed space was not discovered on purpose. In stumbling across it, Compression Industries lost an entire research outpost and the world it was orbiting. Needless to say, the Caroki Star Union quickly considered the loss of an entire planet to be an unfortunate yet largely unimportant roadblock towards the full realization of what superimposed space could achieve. 

Baron Carson operated as the manager of Compression Industries, his true name being unpronounceable in galactic basic. His office was surprisingly tidy, although it was utterly blackened, which proved detrimental towards his human coworkers. A miniaturized replica of a Nygev-Ash Wormhole Matrix rested on his desk, constructed to an incredible degree of detail and lined in gold trim. 

Carson was not seated in his office- rather, he was magnetically locked to the exterior observation deck of a small station in orbit of Symbos III, which, aside from having an unobstructed view of Symbos III's parent star and the magnificent gas giant which orbited it, overviewed an orbital research facility, recently constructed and equipped with a full Union security flotilla. And as much as Carson desired to see his new station with the respect it deserved, it was truly dwarfed by the enormous puddlejumper to which it was docked. The research facility, which cost billions of chips and an obscene quantity of unnecessary paperwork to satisfy the Union's relentless thirst for bureaucracy, was totally overshadowed by a massive warship which wasn't even of Caroki design. 

A small frigate was hovering near to Carson, spinning lazily as it awaited further instructions.

A man's voice was piped through Carson's headset. "Prep is complete, initiate pre-launch checklist." 

"Checklist is go." a second voice said. 

"Roger. Prepare for launch."

The frigate jolted forwards in a burst of speed. A wormhole flickered to life just ahead, sparkling with some form of energy which was incomprehensible to the naked eye. It was unstable- that much was made remarkably clear as the wormhole collapsed prematurely, slicing the frigate into halves of which only the aft section remained.