Within the next few days, the navigation system was updated, each magnetic antimatter torus (MANTO) was filled, the fuel cells were charged with liquid hydrogen, the last Fusion Cascade Cartridges were installed, and endless automated and vocalized communications verified their safety certifications with Stoic Navigation Command, or "StanaCom", who oversees all intrastellar navigation. The tethers disconnected and pulled away; swarms of automated tug ships carefully maneuvered it out of the 3-dimensional network of docks within Anaxon; Within a number of hours, the Cinder was free of Anaxon, and under her own single-proton propulsion away from the inhabited parts of the system.
This leg was important; the Fusion Cascade Cartridges, or FCCs, fused hydrogen into helium for propulsion, easing them out to the edge of the system, at which point they would change course and engage multi-stage fusion, where the helium would be fused with more hydrogen to form heavier elements on its way out of the bell housing. The neutron radiation from the concentric fusion would erode the walls of the fusion rocket motor, necessitating its discharge and replacement after a designated burn time; hence why they came as cartridges. This engagement of the multi-stage fusion was called "cataclysmation", or more commonly, "clysmation". It was unimaginably bright, producing more light and power than even the inside of a star. On par, in fact, moreso with the force of a stellar nova! Hence why they had to be so far from inhabited space. It could spell a new definition of the very concept of "cataclysm" if a habitat were to wander near the output of the engines.
During these weeks of slow transport, after wrestling with the insufferably extroverted Turry, Axy began her courses, focusing on the basics of intra-solar navigation. She studied physics: How to calculate ballistic trajectories around gravitational bodies, the math of how many kiloclycs of energy output engines need to propel so many kilotons of cargo between stars...
She studied chemistry, learning how nuclear fusion taps into the primal physics of the universe to power their craft to unimaginable speeds; the difference in reaction speeds to different bell housing materials, and how it relates to how many cartridges must be purchased...
She studied economy, like the gravity tax imposed on shipping companies for robbing planets of their orbital momentum via gravity assists; and the incomprehensible number of entire economies that could be run on the energy of a single FCC; the overall grand vision of delivering building materials to inhabited space to keep a population alive and growing.
Eventually, she worked her way up to getting observation time on the bridge, watching her shipmates put into practice the math, the communications, and the decision making processes she was learning about.
The four crews aboard the Cinder rotated in shifts. Each crew would man a 12-hour shift, with A-Crew and B-Crew - in the fore crew module - being on one rotation, and C-Crew and D-Crew - in the aft module - being on another rotation, staggered 6 hours from the A/B rotation; the result is that each crew would man the helm for 6 hours, then retire to standby for 6 hours while the stagger crew took the helm. This ensured a 6-hour overlap between crews to combat any loss of communication between shifts, ensure instant re-crewing in case of an accident, and allowing a double-crew strength at an instant request if a situation needed it. Millennia of insurance payouts within the industry had formed strong laws requiring safety overlaps like these; by now, the systems were virtually foolproof.
They neared the waypoint. For the last few hours, A-Crew had maneuvered the ship into her new orientation, now pointing directly at the nearby star Nuric.
"C-Crew, report for command."
All crewmembers operated the ship from their own living pods, with the highest-level VR integration interfacing all of them together onto a single virtual bridge. Despite the fore and aft crew modules being nearly 100 miles apart, there was scarcely more than a half millisecond delay in communication between them. Axy and her crewmates entered their pilot consoles on the virtual bridge, each one being greeted with a calm blue aperture that opened in front of them for them to pass through, revealing a starfield in all directions as they approached their virtual consoles, each one with a glowing red field in front of it; the process was a lot less visually embellished than VR worlds typically transitioned with, but it kept things simple and easy to maintain orientation. Each member was visible to all the others in space beside each other in a gentle inverted crescent orientation, with the captains console slightly elevated and the crewmembers divided on either side, so they could be visually present to each other, keeping everyone oriented and communication clear. Beyond their consoles was a projection of the ship itself from a 3rd person perspective, accurately showing their position in space.
Captain Astellia, who served on A-Crew, designated what was by now the routine handover:
"Good morning C-Crew. We are pleased to report a successful rotation to: cort-31134 by murn-21902 by stade-00089"
(X,Y, and Z directional coordinates were given through an ancient lettering system used as an alternative alphanumeric system, similar to "alpha, beta, gamma, etc".)
"You all know your assigned positions. Big day today, as you get to be the lucky crew to initiate cataclysmation for this departure run.
Jym, that means you've got a G-morph this shift, be prepared for close habitat monitoring; Kai-Val, you're on Nav-Eye, we're expecting some drift as usual; Mob, you're on respite this shift; Bedrun, you'll be taking lead on intra-space coms - confirmation from StanaCom should be in the cue for the clysmation authorization; Yangly, you've got respite this shift; Dread on materials - once we clysmate, we are expecting 45 minutes of burn until we start ejections; Rake-ay, I'd like you to monitor the printer bays, just until we get leveled out, then you can be on respite for the remainder of the shift; Able, you're monitoring helm, expecting minor adjustments post clysmation, follow Kai-Val's lead; Esteem, you're on general operations - monitor cooling; Oxtace, you're on float - I'd like you to work up the general report for B-Crew during the next changeover; Axy, you're observing - as you know, cataclysmation is one of the only events you'll have to really pay attention to, so be ready and attentive; Seraph, I am handing over acting Captain duties to you effective immediately."
"Understood, Captain." replied Seraph. He then addressed C-Crew:
"C-Crew, initiate changeover."
Their virtual consoles' red lockout fields slid back, and access to ship controls were granted. Axy, still being in training, did not have permissions granted, so her console remained locked behind the red glow.
"A-Crew, initiate lockout." A-Crew's consoles locked away.
"A-Crew, you are retired to observation."
With that, A-Crew vanished from the bridge, leaving only the 11 members of C-Crew in command of the Cinder.
"Kai-Val, please confirm navigation vector."
"Navigation vector is: cort-31134 by murn-21902 by stade-00089; Lateral drift of 51.044 degrees; we're on course for the Nuric drop-in waypoint with a two-month 5,500 kiloclyc burn."
"Bedrun, please confirm StanaCom departure permissions"
"Yessir, permissions Confirmed to depart Stoic Navigation Command space with a 5,500 kiloclyc burn at a cort-31134 by murn-21902 by stade-00089 vector; All aft positions are Confirmed clear of photon exhaust; Customs documentation Confirmed; Confirm, Confirm, Confirm!"
"Jym, please confirm G-morph schedule."
"Fore MANTO armed; Aft MANTO armed; G-morph schedule synced up and ready to roll, boss"
"All stations ready"
In unison, all manned stations replied, "Aye, Captain"
"Able, initiate cataclysmation"
This was by far the most exciting moment of the mission. Even though there would be an equally big burn at the Nuric end of the trip to slow down, the departure burn was always the most anticipated... as well as the most likely for something to go wrong.
"Captain, permission to delegate?" said Able.
Seraph thought this was unusual, and hesitated, but being effectively a clone of Able, he figured he knew what was up.
"Permission granted."
"Axy, wanna hit the button?"
She smiled. Her console lockout scrolled back, revealing a single lever ready to pull back. She looked at Jym and Able. Jym smirked and winked. Able did the Novoid equivalent, glancing a side-look at her. She smiled, realizing they had teamed up to code her access to this one command.
She reached to the lever; it had a bright red horizontal grip, and a complex-looking mechanical base. While, visually, everything she saw was either the walls of her room creating a virtual space or holograms projected directly onto her eyes, a real lever had sprouted out of her physical console (attached to her living pod chair) to meet her hand, robotically assembling into vaguely the same shape as the ornate lever she could see with her eyes, to provide genuine physical feedback for the operation.
Her tender, novice hand wrapped around the cool metal grip. She felt a gentle rush of dopamine as the implications set in for how much power, how much fury, how much sheer economy even was now within her control.
She pulled it back with one swift move to its downward most position, with a satisfying mechanical "cachunk" into place.
Immediately, the fury of a thousand burning suns erupted at the stern of the ship, as constant nuclear fusion expelled incalculable amounts of energy. A blinding shaft of light exploded into space, dwarfing the now comparatively tiny vessel by thousands of miles. A deafening thunder surged upwards through the ship, from stern to aft, and noise-canceling room walls and implants struggled to keep up with sound dampening.
G-forces pinned her to her seat, but immediately the spinning crew module rings slowed to a stop, and each pod rotated in place to orient each crewmember's head toward Zenith Devices in the center of the ship fore of each crew module. Zenith devices synchronize graviton phases into highly localized standing waves to generate gravity to counteract the multiple Gs of acceleration that would normally wreak havoc on human and novoid bodies. While the fusion thrusters ignited one-by-one, acceleration was increased in harsh steps, but the Zenith Device ramped up smoothly, attempting to generate gravity above their heads to roughly match the ever-changing acceleration. This lead to the acceleration process feeling chaotic and unhinged. Having grown up in the safety of a cylinder habitat, untainted by earthquakes or hurricanes or war, Axy felt like she was feeling the full dangers of humanity wrestling physics to bend to its will. As though clinging to a wild animal, constantly bucking, refusing to be tamed.
Yet, tamed they would eventually be, once all thrusters ignited, and the computers could work out a perfect balance of artificial gravity to net them a comfortable 1-G in their living spaces, thus allowing humans to survive what would have been a several year trek in merely a matter of months, with inhuman acceleration propelling them up to drifting speed.
Noise-canceling algorithms sorted out most of the noise and dampened most of the vibration, as well, to add to the overall comfort. The nausea stayed behind for Axy, but it didn't ruin the experience of the moment.
Despite being little more than ceremony, Axy considered how her hand - her very own hand, which, just a number of months ago, was pouring reclaimed water out of a plastic 3D printed plastic can - was now responsible for sending a 100-mile long cargo ship thrusting at unimaginable speeds through space, on its way to bring metals and ore back to the foundries of Stoic, destined to become entire habitats for housing millions more people. She wondered how many hands like her own had brought back the material she herself owed her very life to. It was only with these living spaces like Illumount Gardens that people can populate and exist.
She considered how many young women like herself may, in the not-so-distant future, look up through their own Permislat windows at the stars like she had... people who would be conscious, alive, and able to hope and wonder, thanks to the freight she would be delivering on this run. This ship, a bulk of steel and carbon propelled by a shaft of light and fury, threaded a string through space and time that, in the most real sense, connected consciousness to consciousness through that ageless primal fabric of Survival. A thread she now had a hand in sewing.
Even though the thoughts quickly slipped back into the rest of the day's training agenda, drudgeries of career moves, and growing relationships... still, for this moment, she got to experience raw, primal awe. She felt... Connected. To nature, survival, to herself. She felt as though she was closer to nature than ever before, conquering the dangers of space and distance to furiously wrest resources from within the ground to build a shelter out of like endless generations before her.
"G-morph satisfactory!" exclaimed Jym, over the remaining noise of the thrusters.
"I count a .0012 degree drift on murn, and a .101 degree drift on stade" noted Kai-Val.
"Able, execute course correction" said Seraph.
"Aye, Captain"
"New course correction's got us at extra 2 seconds off this burn, everything accounted for" said Dread, monitoring the automated fuel systems.
"Esteem, how is cooling?" asked Seraph.
"Preburners running a little hot, but degradation still within tolerance, should get a nice clean burn"
Throughout the next six hours, Axy watched and observed as the ship settled into its new trajectory and velocity through space, expelling the burned-out and melted bell-shaped thruster cartridges, each one being instantly vaporized by the expelling plasma of the other active thrusters, with new thrusters moving back and igniting in their place. If you could see the Cinder's path through space, sped up so that the days ticked by in seconds, you'd see naught but a mote of sturdy ash held aloft by a torch of pure light sparkling with the dust that fell into it's white flame.
You would, in fact, see not merely one ship's scintillating flame, but thousands, as streams of cargoliners burned furiously through the endless night to deliver raw materials from the Nuric system to the Stoic system, furthering that endless human instinct to survive and grow.
But before them, orbiting the star Nuric, existed a world of darkness, dread, and industrial doom that would challenge everything Axy thought she knew. Humans will survive... but at what cost?
