Beyond The Impossible

Edge of the Takama system, 45,000 light-years from Earth

Noriko Null taps her foot nervously. She’s in her cabin, sitting on the bed and holding an anachronistically large phone. She feels like she’s been hearing the ringing tone for ages, until she can finally hear the voice of Oluwa Kalu.

<Hello?> he says with the distinct cadence of someone who was sleeping five minutes ago.

<Hey, it’s me. Sorry for the old-fashioned call, I can’t send a hologram right now.>

<Noriko? What time is it?>

<11 PM if you’re still in New York, 4 AM if you’re back in Lagos. I can’t tell from here, I just asked O.D.I.N. to connect you to the Space Phone. I would’ve called earlier, but the risk of being detected was too high.>

<Detected by who? Where are you now? Your father said something about you going into space.>

<Yeah. Kalu, I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly, this is something I have to do on my own. Listen, there’s a strong possibility I may not come out of this alive, and… >

<Are you serious? You’re in danger? What’s going on?>

<I can’t tell you that. Every time I let a civilian get too close to my life, bad things happen. But… God does this sound pathetic… I really needed to hear your voice.>

<You’re not making any sense. Are you sure you’re sober?>

<More than I’ve ever been. We’ll talk about it if I make it back to Earth, I promise.>

<You’ll make it, no matter what you’re dealing with. You’re Noriko Null.>

<I know. And I feel like that again. Null out> she says, pressing the button to disconnect the call. She stands up, looking at herself in the nearest mirror. She’s still hallucinating, seeing her face horribly mutilated. She closes her eyes, recalling the voice of Kalu and the image of her half-sister Nalani trying to hug her. Mnemonic anchors, little things to remind her what reality feels like.

When she opens her eyes again, the light from her silver iris overcomes the hallucination.

<You’re not crazy. It’s just a medical condition. You can fix it> she tells her reflection.

Then the ship’s alarm becomes louder than her thoughts.

<Showtime> Noriko tells the mirror, leaving her room.

 

Bridge of the Ragnarok

Despite the size of the warship, the crew is normally limited to the Vanguard, with about a dozen duplicates of Kari Zel manning each station.

Today is a little different: when Noriko gets on the bridge, there aren’t just Kari, Quantum and Vesta there. Two people… Alexer Syzar, President of the Mortal Republic, and Liosthenes, officer of the Athenian Federation and member of the Mortal Liberation Front… are also there, under the careful watch of Quantum.

<Let me guess: we’ve triggered some kind of automated defense system> Noriko says, taking her place on the captain’s chair. The Kari on the sensor workstation speculates:

<Viper must’ve updated them. The ship’s cloaking should’ve made us practically invisible.>

<Indeed. L.O.K.I, what are we dealing with?> Noriko asks, activating the ship’s artificial intelligence. The answer comes from the hologram of two intertwined snakes:

<Unmanned drones armed with plasma blasters, likely meant to target reconnaissance ships and small comets. The effect on our shields is negligible.>

<It has to be a trap: Viper knows everything about this ship, including the fact that these things can’t even scratching the hull. What’s our distance from the planet?>

<1.512 billion kilometers.>

<That’s 84 light-minutes. Quantum, transform into light and wait for us on Takama.>

<Huh? Why? Can’t we get closer first?> he asks.

<No, that would be too predictable. Viper knows all of my usual tactics, I’ll have to improvise as much as possible if I want to surprise her. Besides, no sensor array can keep track of every single photon that reaches the planet, so I doubt she can see you coming.>

<-I have taken the liberty to recover the planet’s geopolitical map from my database. Viper is likely located in the capital> L.O.K.I says, showing a hologram of the planet.

<Alright, alright, I’m going. At least I won’t have to listen to the creepy A.I. voice> Quantum concedes, disappearing into a flash of light. And then re-appearing half a second later.

<Okay, there’s a problem with your plan. Those drones or whatever shooting at us? They’re also emitting anti-neutrinos all around us. I can’t get out of the ship> he explains.

<Why? Anti-neutrinos are completely harmless> Liosthenes recalls.

<They’re also the only thing that interferes with his powers. I’m afraid Viper knows all of our weaknesses> Noriko reasons, just in time for Vesta to collapse on the floor pressing her hands on her temples and groaning in pain.

<It’s a God Eraser> she’s able to say: to the goddess, it’s like having her brain filled with acid.

<No way that’s coming from a drone. To have an effect over this distance it needs an incredible amount of power> Noriko deduces, getting closer to Vesta to check her vitals: knowing her friend is suffering because of a weapon she created makes the situation worse.

<I think I know where it’s coming from. There’s a ship de-cloaking in front of us> one of the Kari duplicates explains. And sure enough, a warship appears on the viewscreen… completely identical to the Ragnarok, but with the word Apocalypse painted white on its hull, prefaced by a smaller N02.

<That’s pretty bad, but at least it’s still one versus one> Quantum tries to lighten the mood.

Just when other two twin warships, the N03-Armageddon and the N04-Doomsday, are also de-cloaking and coming closer to the Ragnarok.

<I’ll shut up now> he adds.

<Mistress Null, it appears that the enemy ships are charging their weapons> L.O.K.I informs her.

<Shields at maximum! Brace for impact!> Noriko shouts, just in time for the ship to be hit from three different sides at once by direct energy weapons. And unlike the previous plasma blasts, despite the shield it’s enough to rock the ship like a boat on a tidal wave.

<We can’t fire back until we drop the shield!> one Kari reminds them.

<I have analyzed the enemy ships. They share enough of the design of the Ragnarok to continue firing for the next 87 hours. At the current rate, the shields will fail in 45 minutes> L.O.K.I says.

<Viper’s thought of everything> Syzar comments, crossing his arms.

<Everybody, shut up. I’m working on it> Noriko reassures them, sitting on the captain’s chair without saying anything for a single word while her silver eyes become brighter than usual.

<Got it. Kari, Syzar, take Vesta to the Negative Drive engine room. Quantum, you’re with me.>

<What are we going to do exactly?> the Myridian girl asks.

<Something completely reckless> Noriko answers cryptically.

Her room isn’t far from the bridge; she rushes to it, followed closely by Quantum who is surprised to see her reach under the bed to find something.

<I know how this is gonna look, but please hear me out> she says, pulling something out of the hiding place: a small bottle, not much bigger than a beer can, which Quantum recognizes instantly from the drawing of grapes on the label.

<Are you crazy!?> he shouts at her, moving so fast that Noriko notices he took away the bottle only after he adds:

<This is Dionysus wine! Don’t you remember what happened the last time you drank this!?>

<It’s not for me. Here’s what we’re gonna do…>

 

Negative Drive engine room

Unlike most starships, the Ragnarok has three entirely independent engines. There’s the Plasma Engine, which powers almost all the ship’s systems from artificial gravity to life support, is used to navigate within a solar system. There’s the Star Drive, which Noriko reverse-engineered from several alien capital ships, can move the Ragnarok two million times faster than light.

Then there’s the Negative Drive. Drawing power from a parallel dimension which is filled with energy, it makes the Ragnarok the fastest ship in the Galaxy with an astonishing top speed of 400 million times faster than light.

Alexer Syzar looks at the Negative Drive with a mixture of awe and fear, dropping the agonizing Vesta on the floor.

<Hey! Watch it!> Kari chastises him.

<She could drop from orbit and not feel it, she’ll be fine. So this is the Negative Drive?>

<Don’t touch anything. It’s too big for you to steal it, and we don’t want it to explode.>

<Sorry Kari but you’re wrong on both fronts> Noriko chimes in, arriving at the engine room with Quantum. While he looks after Vesta, Noriko moves towards a particular hatch embedded with the engine itself. After unlocking a particularly complex safety mechanism, she opens the hatch to show the innermost component… and it’s about the size of a car engine.

<That is the real Negative Drive, everything else you see is just a containment unit. Size isn’t the problem: it weighs 362 kilograms, too much for a human. Kari, would you mind?>

<Sure. 10K Rise!> she says, her purple hair suddenly glowing and her body emitting a faint glow. Now that she’s channeling the strength of her 10.000 duplicates in a single body, she can lift the 800 pound engine without breaking a sweat and gently deposits it on the floor.

<Thanks. Now I just have to make a small adjustment> Noriko says, starting to fiddle with it.

<If you invented this before Viper was created, won’t she have countermeasures?> Syzar asks.

<She would, if this was just my idea. But if Voron hadn’t suggested me a way to improve its design, I probably wouldn’t have thought of this.>

<I know he’s a genius, but come on! Improving the Negative Drive!?> Kari comments.

<I discarded his idea because over time it would create a black hole. But it just occurred to me that, with a few easy adjustments, I could do the same the instant the engine is turned on.>

<Does that mean what I think it means?> Syzar asks, taking a couple steps back.

<Yep. I just turned the Negative Drive into a Black Hole Generator> Noriko says proudly.

<I’m sorry, I don’t think I follow. Is this turning into a suicide mission?> Kari asks.

<I’m not activating it on right now! First we’re gonna make Vesta drunk.>

<I don’t think that makes it any better…>

<We learned at the Strongest Under The Heavens tournament that extreme intoxication can negate the effects of the God Eraser. Hopefully, the Dionysus wine will do the trick.>

<Where exactly did you get that wine?> Syzar asks.

<You synthesized it by yourself, didn’t you?> Quantum jumps in, offering Noriko the chance to avoid discussing her awkward experience with that particular drink.

<That’s right. Go ahead> she instructs him, taking a few steps back just in case.

Quantum opens the bottle, takes Vesta’s head in his arms and starts giving her the wine; it’s not long before she regains enough strength to drink by herself.

<I think that’s enough. Hey, I said it’s enough> he protests, trying to get back the bottle: he finds that it’s impossible to wrestle it from her arms until it’s completely empty.

<Aah, that’s better! You’re a good friend, you know? I don’t say it often enough!> she says, then covers her mouth when her burp lets out a ball of fire.

<Excuse me! I should’ve saved some for you guys. Why is it so cold around here?> she asks, which is ironic since the temperature just increased ten degrees in as many seconds.

<Vesta, focus. I need you to fly out there and throw this engine at the enemy ships> Noriko tells her, taking off her leather jacket: the room just reached 100°F.

<Sure thing! Have I told you how much I love your hair? It’s so soft!>

<Vesta, we don’t have much time. Do you understand what you need to do?>

<I have to… uhm… throw the ship into a black hole?>

<Throw the black hole generator AT the OTHER ships.>

<Right, right! My mistake. Is there any more wine?> Vesta asks, lifting the Negative Drive like it was nothing while Noriko wipes the sweat off her own forehead.

<She’d be cute if she wasn’t killing us by heat exposure> Kari jokes, similarly affected by Vesta’s lack of control over her powers.

<Vesta. Bad guys. NOW> Noriko spells it out for her, pointing at the exit.

<You’re the boss, boss!> Vesta replies with an uncoordinated military salute, then floats out of the engine room flying in an erratic pattern.

<Let’s never speak of this again> Noriko tells the others.