The Spatial Shard
Chapter Seventeen: Opportunity Costs

“10,000 credits?!” Imogene cried out for the fifth time. Rannis sighed, too exhausted for any further attempts to explain to her that the cost was incredibly low, but he was pleased with how Sharon was progressing with Dreamchaser’s controls. However, she did not have Imogene’s touch with the machine, and he was clueless how he was going to tell Imogene that he had meant every word about the transport’s energy limitations. Dreamchaser should have blown an engine, but it had not blown, and according to his instrumentation, nothing had changed since last he had flown the craft.

“Take it easy, Genie,” Sharon said as she made another turn. “It could have been worse.”

“And how is that?” Imogene quickly asked.

“He could have said ‘no’,” Wayne pointed out. “I think a definite ‘no’ would be worse than a jacked-up price.” Imogene wanted to say something, but Wayne’s argument was sound.

“Genie!” Timothy yelled as Imogene walked over the brace and sat down in the port side car.

“What is it, Dad?” she asked as she sat down.

“Uh… nothing,” Timothy stammered. “I just think Wayne made a pretty good point.”

“Yeah, he did,” Imogene sighed as she looked out over the city. “10,000 credits and two days. Wow, what a deal!”

“How fast are we going?” Timothy asked. Sharon looked over at Rannis and he held up one finger.

“If I’m reading this right, it says sixteen which is one hundred sixty kph and that is in the neighborhood of-”

“One hundred miles per hour,” Timothy said as he looked at the width of the brace Imogene had used as a stepping stone. “And our altitude?”

Sharon looked at the instrumentation again. “Just over 1,500 feet.” Rannis smiled and gave Sharon a thumbs up sign. Sharon returned the smile and went back to piloting Dreamchaser. “You know, she really is a treat t-” Sharon was nearly thrown out of her chair when a laser cannon bolt struck the hull of the craft. The port engine sputtered and lost almost half of its power.

“We’ve got incoming!” Sharon yelled, grabbing the controls and putting Dreamchaser into a spiraling dive. “Somebody get eyes on the bogie!” Three more bursts rained down, but with the evasive maneuvers Sharon was making, they all missed, but only just. “Never mind,” Sharon huffed. “Hold your breath!” she commanded, pulling back on the controls.

“By the sacred word!” Rannis gasped as Dreamchaser went into a very tight loop. He could hear Sharon talking Dreamchaser through the maneuver. She rattled and roared, but she was going through the move, nonetheless. Two small bike-like aircraft passed under them.

“Got ’em!” Sharon yelled as she quickly took visual inventory of the aircraft and their passengers. “I’m going in!” Dreamchaser leveled out of her loop and banked as Sharon matched the very tight turn of the smaller aircraft. Both quickly went into steep dives for the city below which was not that far away.

“Get ready to fire!” Sharon commanded.

“Fire what?!” Rannis yelled. “Dreamchaser doesn’t have any weapons.”

“Then give ’em a little PEP!” Sharon snapped back. Rannis felt like a fool, but quickly dismissed the embarrassment as he moved. He leveled his hand at the closer of the two crafts and fired his cutting laser. He struck the starboard stabilizer and the craft started spinning. The pilot abandoned ship as the craft continued toward a building.

“Crap!” Sharon barked as she turned to follow the abandoned vehicle. “Hey Ran, what’s the weight limit on that thing?” Sharon asked.

“You’ll have to get me closer if you want me t-” Rannis swallowed hard as Dreamchaser increased in speed and Sharon made the dive more aggressive.

“Way to go, Sharon!” Imogene thought as she kept her eye on the other aircraft that was circling to attack from the rear. “But while she plays hero, this one’s coming in for the kill. And all I can do is sit here and watch.”

“That is not necessarily so,” Nollie said.

“What? What do you mean?”

“There could be a cost, Genie,” Nollie warned.

“We’re kind of weighing death here, Nollie!” Imogene screamed aloud. “I’ll worry about costs later!” Timothy overheard his daughter and started shaking his head. He wanted to scream for her to not do whatever she was thinking, but he was distracted by Gordon unfastening his seat belt.

“Get back to the rear of the main body,” Nollie directed.

“He’s coming in on your six, Sharon!” Gordon warned.

“Can’t worry about that now, Sport,” Sharon answered as Dreamchaser continued her dive. “Any chance no one is in that building, Ran?”

“Very low,” Rannis said, connecting his PEP to the Dreamchaser’s power cell. “That is a luxury inn!”

“We’re committed, Sport!” Sharon yelled as she started to tremble from the vibrations coming from the ship. “Wayne, left eighteen degrees and you’ll reach the back of my chair. I’m going to need help with this stick! Gordon, get down and stay down!”

“Do what I can,” Gordon said as he looked over at his sister. He could see something in her eyes. She was about to try something and there was a good chance she was going to need help. Gordon gathered his feet under him and prepared to spring.

Imogene took in one deep breath and focused only on Dreamchaser. The speed at which she traveled and the impending crash had to be forgotten. Soon, though her hair blew in front of her face, there was no wind. The engines had gone silent and Imogene could not hear Sharon talking Dreamchaser through another turn. There was just Imogene and Dreamchaser. The brace that was to serve as her bridge glowed in a pink-purple light and it seemed to widen to nearly one meter. Imogene could see foot placements glow in bright pink-purplish light; where her feet and hands had to be placed if she wanted this maneuver to work.

Imogene breathed out and sent her body forward. Just to the side of the brace, she could see a hover car on the street beneath them. The brace was no longer wide. She nailed her first foot hold and pushed herself to continue. Two vehicles passed way overhead but she noticed the sounds of their engines.

“Genie!” Nollie cried.

Her second step landed on the edge of the brace but it did not slip off. Imogene had put as much effort as she could into making her leap be enough, but a gust of wind caught her body and she started to drift back and to the side. The brace was no longer under her.

“Genie!” Gordon yelled as he bolted forward.

“Gordon!” Timothy screamed as he got out of his chair.

“Dad, grab my feet!” Gordon yelled as he jumped over the side, reaching for his sister’s right hand. Both of his hands wrapped around her wrist as Timothy caught his son’s left leg and he screamed, holding on to his kids’ combined weight.

“Focus, baby!” Eleanor urged her daughter. “Focus!”

“Mom,” Imogene said in a low, relaxed tone as her eyes flashed a soft pink light and she swung to the underside of Dreamchaser. Suddenly, the Dreamchaser was moving along at a pace a crawling child could rival and Imogene could see numerous paths extend from her body. Many of them were red and Imogene knew that color implied her fate if she chose that path. She focused on the on the one pink-purple path and smiled.

“Let go, Gordo!” Imogene thought.

“Genie!” Gordon screamed as his hands opened as his sister fell to the underside of the craft.

Imogene curled up in a tight ball. “Stasis, Nollie!” Imogene commanded and her body froze, surrounded by the pink-purple light.

The ball of energy fell into the wake of the engine thrust. The fire did not reach her so she was not burned, but she was moving very quickly toward the rear of the ship.

“Drop Stasis!” Imogene commanded as she exploded out of her fetal position. She let her left arm drop down and away from her side, catching enough air to cause her to spin. She extended her right hand and made a hook-like grip with her hand. “Stasis, Nol!” Just before her right hand met with the bottom ring of the craft, her body froze again. She swung up and over the top of the rear car. “Drop it!” she commanded and landed perfectly in the middle of the rear car.

“That’s what I call cutting it close,” Nollie critiqued. “He’s about to fire, Genie, catch the bolt!” Nollie directed. Imogene was facing forward so she crouched down and grabbed the car frame while reaching back with her other hand. As she reached back, she felt something strike it. It burned and Imogene screamed as she flew into the main body of the Dreamchaser. Everything went black!

“Genie!” Timothy yelled as he pulled Gordon back into the craft.

“Now or never, Rannis!” Sharon yelled as she reached back with one hand and guided Wayne forward to where he could help her fly. She said something in his ear and Wayne nodded.

“This was never written,” Rannis thought as he fired his beam. With the extra power, the mass of the hover bike was not problem. The momentum the craft had generated was!

“I can’t pull it up in time!” Rannis yelled.

“Won’t need to; just make it follow us,” Sharon said as she turned and pulled the controls. “Work with me, Wayne!”

“I gotcha!” Wayne yelled as he took hold of the controls. Sharon barked commands in the measurements of degrees of turning and centimeters of pulling back or pushing forward. Wayne followed every order and he never over-compensated. Dreamchaser spun and flew just to the side of the building. The bike followed close behind it. They had avoided the building, but they had lost altitude and now they were literally in the city.

“Let’s see how good this other guy is,” Sharon said as she cut thrust and turned the ship, again directing Wayne to assist her. Without as much forward thrust, she was able to make a tighter turn. The piloting tandem banked Dreamchaser to make the turn even tighter, and they curled around the hotel. The bike tried to match Sharon and Wayne, but it was going too fast and it crashed into the street below. Only one vehicle was struck in the accident. It was parked and empty.

“Okay, I’m thinking not that good,” Sharon said as she leveled the ship and started climbing. “But I’m not waiting around to see if this guy is strapped.”

Not wanting to waste good material, Rannis placed the bike on the starboard side car and used the straps on the seat to secure it.

“Are we still alive?” Imogene asked as she rubbed her head.

“Genie?” Timothy said, shocked that his daughter was still alive. “Genie!”

“Hey, not so loud,” Imogene said, touching her father’s face. “Major headache action going on here.”

“Don’t know what you did back there, guys, but nice job,” Sharon said as she resumed course. She looked over at Rannis who looked flabbergasted. “You too, Rannis!”

“It was my ego, Sharon.” Rannis sighed. “I insisted on not being outdone by outworlders who simply cannot keep up with Five Pointes!” Rannis looked at Sharon and a smile broke across his face. Sharon laughed and saluted the man.

Rannis’ laughter became a simple smile as he looked at the young woman at the controls, the young blind man who had helped her pilot, the pre-teen boy who literally dove off the ship to save his sister and the young Shard who had managed to absorb a laser bolt without killing herself. She was slightly burned at the hand and forearm, but it was nothing that burn salve could not repair, and the sleeve of her shirt was disintegrated. Rannis tried to move carefully, so as to not be seen as he activated yet another switch on the console as he checked on Imogene. With a hampered port engine, the trip home took longer than the trip to the inner city.

Rannis took the controls to land Dreamchaser and Sharon watched him meticulously. As soon as the craft touched down, she patted Rannis on the shoulder before she tapped the console control Rannis had activated.

“We’ll talk about this later, right?” she asked.

“So long as it is just you and I,” Rannis answered.

“That’s good enough for now,” Sharon answered as everyone disembarked from the aircraft.

After the hover bike was off-loaded, Rannis had no problem sharing Cal-Milk and pregels with everyone.

“Man, that was one sick ride,” Gordon said, stuffing his mouth.

“Genie,” Timothy said softly, sounding as if he did not know how to approach his daughter. She was looking up into the belly of Zweit Pointe, captivated by the gigantic construct that hung over her head. “Can we talk about what happened on the Dreamchaser?”

“What was that?” she said, standing up and straining her eyes.

“What?” Sharon asked. “Where?!”

“Nine o’clock,” Imogene answered, pointing up at what she saw. All save Timothy, and of course Wayne, looked up to see a small opening in the blackness. Like a door to a room.

“I guess not,” Timothy thought.

“Hangar bay doors,” Rannis answered and as the door closed, they could see some sort of aircraft flying out. It turned and started picking up speed. By the time it had chosen its course, it was moving out with a sonic boom, which sounded more like a soft popping noise, and then a streak of white smoke.

“You’d think a sonic boom would be louder,” Imogene said.

“Oh, they are,” Rannis confirmed. “Most ships have dampeners for that sort of thing.”

“Most ships,” Wayne repeated.

“No need to go about creating noise pollution,” Rannis continued. “And I will have you know that the dampeners are functional on my girl, I just tend not use them when I am warming her up.” It was with that comment that Sharon looked around the yard.

“Excuse me, Rannis? You call this a Salvage Yard, don’t you?”

“What would you call it?” Rannis asked, slightly confused.

“The most immaculate junk yard I’ve ever seen,” she answered. “Are you a retired serviceman?”

“Serviceman?”

“Have you ever been in the army?” Gordon asked.

“By the Word, no!” Rannis said standing up. “What could have moved you to ask me such a question?!”

“It’s just that there’s not a scrap of garbage in the aisles. I can actually see the ground. And the garb- er, I mean your salvage is stacked pretty high.”

“Well, this is the Keep Yard,” Rannis pointed out.

“Keep Yard?” Wayne asked.

“These are the things I want to keep. The rest is processed or repaired, if I can, and shipped out of here.”

“So you want to keep all of this stuff,” Timothy said, looking around and not finding a reason to keep anything. “A man who keeps parts of the lives of others,” he whispered.

“I know, I know,” Rannis said, putting his fists on his hips. “You see junk, but I see unfulfilled potential. Take these blastboards for example.”

“Blast?” Timothy said.

“Boards?” Imogene, Sharon and Gordon said. Rannis stopped and looked back at his guests.

“What? You know something of blastboards, do you?”

“No,” Imogene said, quickly getting up from her chair and placing both hands on her father’s shoulders. “We were hoping you’d explain them to us.”

“How delightful,” Rannis thought, suppressing a very bright smile.

“It would be my pleasure,” he said as he laid them out. He had eight of them and each looked like they had their own unique problem. “But first you need to go into the shed and fetch me the orange trunk.” Sharon was quick to oblige as Gordon and Imogene grabbed Wayne.

“Blastboards,” Timothy sighed.

“You won’t get her to talk to you while you are talking at her,” Rannis warned. “Believe me, I understand.”

“Really, Rannis,” Timothy said, a little disgusted. “How do you understand?”

“Because I used to be a father too.”

“Used to?” Timothy asked.

“I suppose I told something of a lie when Sharon asked if I was a serviceman,” Rannis said as he poured another glass of Cal-Milk. “I didn’t volunteer, but weapons seldom ask your name before they vaporize you. The man who killed my wife and two daughters definitely did not ask any of them their names. Even though he had a stim-blade on his person - it’s a type of weapon that cuts without the victim feeling the pain of the wound - he used forged metal on them. He cut them slowly and deeply. They bled to death.”

“Oh my God, Rannis, I’m so sorry!”

“And that was because of our choice of religion,” Rannis said.

“We have that on Earth,” Timothy said regretfully. “In some regions it is more severe than others. But really, what severity of conflict is acceptable?”

“The severity that lets both sides live, Timothy,” Rannis answered as he ate his pregel.

“Do you still worship?”

“I still monitor my faith,” Rannis said as he stood up. “… but I don’t believe in the writings as much as I used to. Now I only do it for them. For my family.

“Those who speak for my order say my faith is misplaced, and they give me the more tiresome and questionable things to do. They think they can humiliate me out of their ranks. But my family has already been taken, how can I sink any lower?

“Just talk to her, hmmm?” Rannis repeated. “She loves you dearly, Timothy, but your approach makes her feel like the word ‘freak’ is ringing in your head.” Rannis walked over to meet the children halfway. He opened the trunk and started handing out gloves, boots, elbow pads, knee pads and helmets.

“I thought we had a promise, Gordo,” Timothy said as he walked up.

“We do,” Gordon said, donning his helmet. “This is not a game and Imogene doesn’t even have a team yet.”

“He gets that from his mother,” Timothy explained to Rannis as he walked up behind his daughter and wrapped his arms around her. “The stupidity he gets solely from me. I’m not doing too good here lately, am I?”

“Did you see me nearly fall off Dreamchaser?” Imogene asked as she placed her hands on her father’s arms. “I think the only ones who are shining are Sharon and Gordon. They mess up and things will really get ugly!”

“Hey, how come I’m not shining?” Wayne asked.

“You wouldn’t know it even if you were!” Imogene shot back, pushing on Wayne’s shoulder. “See, I even messed up on listing who’s not messing up.”

“I love you too, baby!” Timothy said softly.

“If you two are done,” Rannis said, holding a set of pads and head gear for Timothy. “Consider it a parting gift.

“Now a blastboard is a thing of the past,” Rannis lectured.

“Wow, they think these things are old school!” Gordon said.

“Because they are! They are legal to use in Edge, but they will most assuredly need to be modernized. The reason why I like them is because they can take a beating. Since none of you are Edgers, that will be something upon which we will rely heavily.

“We will get started with the hand controls that manipulate hovering,” Rannis said as he walked over to Wayne and handed him a set of pads and helmet. “Your left glove will read the ground,” he said. “That will have to do for now, but I have something in mind for you. I just have to work out the specifics.”

“Thank you,” Wayne said, donning the protective gear. Sharon walked over to give him assistance. “You’re not feeling sorry for me, are you?”

“Heck no… You’re holding up the class!” she said and Wayne smiled.

The artificial sunlight was just beginning to shine when the lesson started. It had been a very long night and perhaps it had been too intoxicating, because they stayed on their boards until just after lunch when Rannis refused to give anymore instruction. He went to repair the hover bike and Sharon decided to help him out. Wayne, Gordon and Imogene stayed on their boards to practice what they had already learned. Timothy took his chair and watched his children quickly adapt to a world that was still too weird for him. He longed for the restoration site and was glad that it would not be long before he was back there.

“Provided they leave me alone,” Timothy thought. “They may want to use me as a bargaining chip against Genie. The only problem with that is they don’t know when she’ll be back on our side of the Nexus. They could be holding me for a long time… yeah, like that would be a stretch for them!” Timothy had to get up and do something. The hole he was digging for himself was just getting deeper, and he would be no good to anyone if he hit bottom. He started walking around, looking for a means of communication. There had to be a phone or computer of some sort that he could use.

“Ah, here is a computer,” he whispered. “No wires, but with the stuff I’ve seen, wireless is probably old school to these people.”

Do you often make choices? popped up on the screen and Timothy looked around to see if it was a prank of some sort.

“Who doesn’t?” he typed in as his response. “We all make choices everyday. You made a choice to speak with me!”

I did. What is your definition of living life?

“What is going on here?” Timothy thought as he sighed and typed another response. “I remember someone saying once that everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives. I think that translates to say whatever you think you should do in life, even if it threatens your life, do it! We cannot afford to let the threat of losing life keep us from living.”

And how do you decide what you should do in life?

“Sometimes it comes to you and sometimes it is what you were made to do,” Timothy typed.

I was made to deliver a message and then figure out living life.

“Well, we’ve covered living life, so you can go and be the courier.”

The courier?

“Go and deliver another message?”

What other message?

“Whatever message you think is important,” Timothy answered. “Now can you please connect me with the internet?”

All communications capabilities have been enabled. Thank you.

“You’re welcome. Anytime!” Timothy went about his surfing as all of the surveillance circuits around the property went active.

“Is this convenient enough?” Sharon asked.

“Only if you promise to help me while we talk,” Rannis answered.

“Sounds like we have a deal, but talk through what you’re doing.”

“Today’s not your first time piloting, is it?” Rannis asked, praying the answer would be ‘no’. “Right now I am examining the power core to make sure there are no booby traps that might cause it to explode.”

“It was my first time in something like Dreamchaser,” Sharon shared. “My father’s had me up in a Huey and a fighter jet with serious stick time in both.”

“You did very well,” Rannis said.

“Thanks,” Sharon said as she approached the scratchy side. “Hey Rannis, you think you can whip up two PEPs for me and Genie?”

“You’re expecting more trouble, hmmm?”

“Yes, especially when Genie and I get back to Earth.”

“I had no idea you were going,” Rannis stated plainly.

“Genie’s not going back alone,” Sharon declared. “And there’s a lot Wayne and Gordon can get started on while we’re away.”

“Quite the Field Marshall, aren’t you?” Rannis asked.

“I better be! I get the feeling Genie’s going to ask me to lead the team.”

“There are worse choices,” Rannis said.

“You haven’t even seen the other two,” Sharon argued.

“Yet still I doubt.”

“Cute. But I didn’t come here just to help you and talk about me,” Sharon reminded Rannis and his aqua-green eyes smiled up at her.

“This reading shows that the link between the coupler and the core is uncompromised. No booby traps here, hmmm?

“I believe your friend has the makings of a Courier,” Rannis revealed.

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“A Courier!” Rannis repeated himself, making sure no one else in the group could hear what was being said. “Don’t tell me you do not know the power of a Courier?!”

“Can’t say that I do,’ Sharon answered. “Postman kinda blew chunks at the box office but hey, trying to shove the whole creed thing down our throats... ‘Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet’… yada, yada, yada… it got old real fast.”

“I am not talking about an Earth movie!” Rannis snapped at her. “I am talking about a person who has the power of Transit. In the hands of a Courier, Dreamchaser’s engines didn’t blow. In the presence of a Courier, she nearly outran these vehicles. My girl’s not slow, but she’s not that fast either… especially on one and one-half engines.

“Now,” he continued. “… this only becomes important when you consider that some people on this side of the Nexus are looking for their home on Earth. The only trouble with that is, it no longer exists. I speak, of course, of Caelum, our true home. One we can’t return to without Atlantis!”

“Atlantis?!” Sharon repeated.

“Yes, Atlantis,” Rannis confirmed. “The first true peace of mankind! That continent was the very prototype from which this partialom was modeled; and with its success, the Penta-Regnum was initiated. Not long after this dimension was created, however, Atlantis was lost. It is no longer on Earth. Earth-side humans think it a myth, and Pointe-side humans can’t explain how, when or why it went away! But somewhere it still stands.”

“So the problem is in finding this place?” Sharon asked and Rannis quickly nodded. “But what has any of this got to do with Edge?”

“Anyone who can master Edge will be suited to be an Explorer,” Rannis said. “You have to understand, a Courier who is also a living Shard is the stuff of prophecy.

“The device I activated was a scrambler just to make sure we were not followed. I am tearing my girl down, adding an engine and changing up the side cars. I must make her look different from what might have been seen last night!

“Now we have got to keep our wits about us, hmmm?” Rannis whispered. “For Genie’s sake. Because if she is what I think she is, she could very well be the savior of both our worlds!”

Rannis had indeed been careful to keep his conversation away from the ears of his other guests. However, in his haste he forgot, or at the very least underestimated, one particular set of ears; a set of ears that had activated all forms of communication, including the Comm-Sys on the captured vehicle. Each word had been heard and carefully processed. The conclusion was suddenly very, very clear.

Fact: I was built to be a Courier. Fact: There exists a second courier who requires help to achieve her goal. Query: Is this is a life of value? Task: Establish parameters of value. Secondary Query: Is this is a choice worth living? Task: Establish parameters of worth. Conclusion: The words value and worth are by definition synonymous. Adjusting Query statements. I have initiated the act to ‘figure it out’.

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