Beyond - Legends The Window of Time (Imperial POV / OCs / 3 yrs post-JAT / one-post vignette)

Title: The Window of Time
Author: lazykbys
Timeframe: three years after JAT
Characters: OCs
Genre: vignette
Keywords:
Summary: An Imperial recon ship investigates Carida's sun.
Notes: Inspired by various discussions in the Literature forum.

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[b]The Window of Time[/b]


They came out of hyperspace just outside the Nozholk system - in other words, as close to Carida as you could get without hearing the dying echoes of the Imperial Academy as it was destroyed by Kyp Durron.

"Did we make it on time? Are we too late?"

Lieutenant Methis gave Dr. Phanna a weary look from the pilot's chair. He wondered, not for the first time and probably not the last, either, how one of the Empire's most brilliant physicists could have such little grasp of the basics of hyperspace travel.

"No, Doctor," he said. "Our arrival was timed perfectly. We have almost three days to prepare for the supernova."

He did not add, "[i]And even if we [/i]were[i] late, all we'd need to gain more time is a small jump away from Carida to overtake the sun's image. Why can't you get that into your head?[/i]"

"Just three?" she asked. And without waiting for an answer, she continued, "That doesn't leave much room for error. Our window of time is too narrow. We have to get the sensor array online - calibrate them - run diagnostics -"

Methis suppressed the urge to repeat his last thought out loud. He would be alone with Phanna in this modified recon shuttle for a week at the very least. It wouldn't help things to antagonize her from the start.

He wished - oh, how he wished! - they had brought along an ensign or two to provide a buffer, but the advanced sensor equipment took priority.

"There's plenty of time," he assured her. "I've been drilling for months. I can handle everything in my sleep."

The look she gave him said that she wasn't impressed and that she wouldn't relax until everything had been done to her personal satisfaction.

[i]Woman gets a doctorate, thinks everyone else is an idiot. Sheesh.[/i]

Still, it was hard not to sympathize with her. Ever since the artificially induced supernova of Carida's sun three years ago, Imperial scientists had been working frantically to figure out ways to neutralize the weapon - or, failing that, to reproduce its effects.

Sure, the Rebels said they destroyed the Sun Crusher and abandoned all research on the fusion resonance torpedoes. But they had also acquitted Durron for his genocide of the Carida system and wiped the mind of the alien who had invented the weapon. There was only one conclusion you could realistically draw from those facts: the Rebels meant to monopolize the technology behind the Sun Crusher to hold as a hidden dagger against Imperial worlds.

Thus Dr. Phanna and her colleagues had been gathered together from research facilities all over the Empire. But despite their best efforts, they had yet to determine how the self-sustaining fusion catalyst worked. Although they had been enthusiastic at first, some of the scientists were now showing signs of giving up.

Also, three years of not having the Sun Crusher used for conquest had made the Imperial ruling body wonder if the Rebels had been telling the truth after all. If nothing else, psychological profiles of their leaders suggested they didn't have the ruthlessness to do what was necessary.

And so funding for Project Prometheus had been reduced - first by ten percent, then by twenty-five, then in half. There was even talk of cancelling it altogether.

This data-gathering mission was a last-ditch effort. Here in the Nozholk system, light from Carida's supernova was just about to arrive. Using advanced sensor systems, they would be able to observe the phenomenon as it actually happened, so to speak.

"Almost like returning to the past," Phanna had marveled once she understood Methis's suggestion. And that, typically, was all the recognition he received.

Not that Methis was doing this for praise. He had - [i]had[/i] had, to be gra

 

Wow -- Interesting concept! To read the event historically as it travels across the light years.

This is very interesting. I hope there is more to come.