The shuttle ride was everything Amber had hoped for. Under instruction from her two chaperones she buckled into the passenger seat just behind the main cockpit while Darien and Idas took up positions in the pilot and co-pilot chairs. She recognised the shuttle from its control layout, a state-of-the-art Becker A110 orbit-to-ground model. This one had some variations she didn't recognise on the control panel, presumably to do with the strange glowing blue rod that stood in the rear compartment. As a dedicated student of both commercial and military spacecraft she immediately found her interest piqued.
The Blink operatives' ship took off in the manner of a traditional rocket, shaped like an arrowhead pointing into the sky. A trio of cone thrusters protruded from its rear, glowing a lurid blue from its superheated fuel cells, which told Amber all she needed to know about the kind of fuel it used. Its heavy proton drive was not standard issue. She'd also noted weapon mounts on the nose cone when she'd first boarded. She didn't get a good enough look to see what kind, but it still checked off another part of the two teenagers' story.
Amber gripped the arms of her seat as the engines rumbled into life. In the pilot's chair Darien was in constant communication with the space-dock operators to make sure their departure was timed correctly. For a craft of this type, if they misjudged their takeoff and found something in their path on the way up, the results would be explosive.
"Okay, hang on to your hats," Darien declared. "We are cleared for lift-off."
The whole craft shuddered from nose to tail as the engines began to roar. The cabin shook and she could see Darien counting down silently to himself. Then, in a flashing motion he rammed the ignition lever forward.
Without the shuttle's motion buffer the three of them would have been pasted against the nearest bulkhead by the tremendous velocity of their take off. Amber's eyes widened in excitement as the sky began rushing towards them. On all sides she could see the glowing engines of other ships like fireflies in the night, some ascending with them, others coming in to land. They tore through the veil of clouds and she found herself facing a sea of stars. Unable to control herself she let out a whoop of excitement.
Idas looked over his shoulder and grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. She felt her cheeks redden but managed to smile back. Then her attention returned to the vastness of space that they were fast approaching.
"We're in the atmosphere," Darien said. "Cut breakaway burn on my mark."
He counted down from five whereupon Idas twisted a switch on the panel above him to cut off the engine fuel flow. Suddenly everything was quiet. The shuttle stopped shaking and the only sound Amber could hear was the gentle bleeping of the control consoles. She gazed out of the front window as the shuttle began to turn. Before long the planet hove into view on the port side and her heart leapt at the astonishing sight.
Illuvari was just as beautiful from space as it was from the ground. The green of its landmasses was streaked with lines of silver where the long cities were, as though some cosmic overlord had taken gentle strokes of a paintbrush to the blue-green sphere. In orbit the hulls of ships glinted from the light of the system's sun. Swirls of white cloud hung over the globe like daubs of cream.
"Three hundred and four," Darien said, swivelling in his seat with a smug smile plastered across his face.
Amber looked at him blankly. "Three hundred and four what?"
"He counts every successful lift off," Idas explained wearily. "Don't ask me why. I wish he didn't."
"You've done this three hundred times?!"
"Three hundred and four," Darien repeated, unbuckling himself and standing up. "We're locked on trajectory for Blink HQ. Should take us two days to get there."
"Smooth sailing from here," Idas put in. "Providing he's not accidentally put us on a collision course for a star."
"That was one time!"
Idas rolled his eyes and stumped over to sit at the communications station. "Alright, smart-mouth. I'll get in touch with HQ. Why don't you give her the grand tour?"
"I know the layout of this model," Amber said as she stood up. "But you've got some...different tech on board."
"You mean the Nav-Rod." Darien motioned her to follow. "C'mon, I'll explain." They walked through the passenger compartment in the middle of the ship that held four private cabins, each with their own beds and washroom facilities. After that was the rear compartment, normally reserved as a cargo hold. This one, however, was being used for something much more interesting.
Looking around the walls, Amber could see snaking power cables that fed into the base of the rod, coming directly from the shuttle engines. They had the look of an additional retrofit to accommodate this bizarre piece of technology. Turning her attention to the rod itself, she felt a surge of deja vu.
She remembered where she'd seen it too. When she touched the shimmering aftermath of Darien's vanishing, she'd seen it, as well as the shuttle interior and the two boys. She wondered if, for that moment she'd been able to look and see where Darien had travelled with his Blink. She still knew so little about it, however, so she kept her musings to herself until she could get some more information. As she stared she could feel an odd sense of connection to this inanimate thing, a warm feeling at the base of her neck.
"So what is it?" she asked simply. "From the looks of all this extra wiring you're feeding it a hell of a lot of power."
"Needs must," Darien replied. "This is a Blink Navigation Rod. It's a subspace transmission device that sends out waves along the frequencies we use to travel."
"What for?"
"Helps to keep us on track. Blink travel is risky business, especially for those of us who struggle to be precise." He pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. "Idas, for example, he needs the navigation rods. Left to his own devices he could transport hundreds of feet from where he was trying to go. Worse, he could materialise inside a solid object. Without these...I guess you could call them buoys, a lot of us would struggle to get around."
She gulped. The thought of vanishing and reappearing inside a block of stone was fairly disquieting. "What about you?"
Darien shrugged. "I'm told I'm one of the most accurate operatives. I could get by without the rod if I had to, but I still like having it – gives me a bit of added insurance."
"What if I-,"
"You've got nothing to worry about," he cut her off. "Once you're trained you'll be able to Blink anywhere without the use of the rods."
"How can you know that?"
"I've been in Blink for a while. I know the signs. Trust me."
"You say that a lot." She ran the fingers of one hand slowly through her hair, still staring at the rod. "So how does Blink travel actually work?"
"It's a combination of willpower and math," Darien answered. "Step one is simply thinking about where you want to be, about believing you can actually transport yourself there. It's about clear and precise thinking. You have to be able to visualise exactly where it is you want to go."
"And step two?"
"Step two is the math. You have to be able to quantify where you are trying to Blink. That's what the Nav-Rods help with. They're basically computers, constantly updating themselves to match their distance and position in the galaxy with any Blink operatives who are trying to travel to them. Without them it's up to you. You have to...know the distance, the position, the dimensions of yourself and the space you are transporting too. That's when it gets hard."
He lolled his head from side to side as he tried to explain. "Let's say, for example, I wanted to Blink from one end of this shuttle to the other. I'd need to know the exact distance between where I am and where I'm going. I'd need to know the volume of space I am Blinking into – length, breadth and depth. Last, I need to know how much space I take up, and fit that into the place I am travelling to. In theory I could Blink straight into the pilot's chair."
Amber's eyes widened. "Wow."
"We don't do that though," he continued. "If you're off by even a couple of centimetres with a Blink like that you'd end up half inside the chair. It's not really worth the risk if you ask me. My advice: Blink to the nearest open space and walk the rest of the way. You'll live longer."
"Quite the sales pitch," Amber laughed weakly.
"It's not that bad. As long as you're sensible nothing will go wrong, and you'll get plenty of practice."
She nodded but couldn't help feeling a shudder of apprehension at the consequences he described. Still, she chose to go with them – it was a little late to backtrack. Instead, Amber walked back through the shuttle, past Idas and into the cockpit. Letting her eyes wander over the control she allowed herself a fleeting smile. Being at the helm of a space ship was what she'd always dreamed of, and here she was.
"What is it?" Darien asked from behind her.
Amber cocked her head to one side and looked at the navigation console. "Do you mind if I take a look at the course?"
"What for?"
"You say it'll take two days to get where we're going?"
"And we're already late," Idas interjected without looking up. "Which I'm sure we're going to get an earful from Smith for."
"Smith?"
"Head of Blink Operations," he elaborated. "You'll meet him soon enough."
"Then can I take a look at your course?" she repeated. "You were right – I am very special when if comes to navigation. Maybe I can find some corners to cut."
Darien considered this for a moment then shrugged. "Knock yourself out."
She flashed a feline smile and sat down in the co-pilot seat. There was a moment of hesitation; she recognised all the controls in theory but this would be her first time touching an actual space ship. Pushing her apprehension to one side, she pressed a blue button on right side of the console which brought a course projection flashing into life on the screen. From the look of the course they looped away from their final destination initially. It looked like a rather scenic route of travel.
Amber could see the reason though. A straight shot brought them dangerously close to the Illuvari system's sun. Getting caught by its gravitational pull could easily be a fatal mistake. Her brow furrowed in thought.
"It's not going to get any quicker," Darien chuckled, seating himself next to her at the pilot station.
"Never say never." She was already doing the calculations to decrease the size of Darien's overly conservative loop. A shuttle of this size outfitted with the incredibly powerful thrusters could pass much closer than his route took account of. In fact, with the correct calculations she could use the star's massive gravity to actually increase their speed. She started punching in the corrections.
"What are you doing?"
"You're overestimating the gravitational pull against our power-to-weight ratio," she replied, still keying in new trajectories. "We can get close enough to that star to singe our eyebrows in a shuttle like this."
"Amber-,"
"We make a close pass, and use an engine burn to compensate for the pull," she continued over his objection. "Do you know what that'll do?"
"Get us all killed?" Idas volunteered.
She shot him an angry glance before looking back to Darien. "Look at my course and tell me I'm wrong."
He looked doubtful, but he got up and leaned in over her shoulder anyway examining the screen. His lips pressed together tightly as he looked through the course corrections and her force calculations. He opened his mouth. Close it again. Frowned.
"How can you-,"
"You have superheated heavy proton fuel cells."
"So?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't know your fuels, do you?"
"I usually Blink travel."
"Darien, those power cells could drag a little pond-skimmer like this out of a black hole if they needed to."
"How does that help us here?"
"We can swing close to the sun, wait for the gravity pull to haul us in, then we wait for the angle and fire a full burn." She pointed at the line in her course projection where it almost merged with the sphere. "So work it out."
His face was blank for a moment then his eyes lit up with realisation. "Well I'll be damned."
"What?" Idas demanded.
"Never thought of that..." He looked at his companion. "A fuel burn combined with the sun's gravity pull. It'll act like a slingshot."
"Exactly." Amber gave a triumphant grin. "We'll shave hundreds of thousands of kilometres off your course and increase our speed in the process. That should get us there in time to keep this 'Smith' happy, don't you think?"
Darien continued to stare at the screen, still trying to get to grips with her course. She could see in his eyes that he was a touch put out by the fact that she'd proven him wrong. He shook his head in amazement.
"Colour me impressed," he conceded. "How did you work that out so quickly? You looked at that screen for all of ten seconds."
Amber swivelled her seat to face him and folded her arms. "Darien," she said. "This is why you brought me here."