Discovering Slipstream: Chapter 2
Harper woke with a flexi pad sprawled over his face. It was beeping for some reason. Harper was lying almost horizontally on his bed, but flexi pads surrounded him and one was covering his face. Its beep dragged him out of sleep, and he brushed it aside with his hand. He sat up on his bed and composed himself. Then he had an idea.
“Hey, Rommie?”
A Hologram of the ships AI appeared in front of him with her arms folded.
“Yes?”
“I have an idea. You know that flexi-book I got at Windei Drift?”
“The one with all the legends about the discovery of the Slipstream?”
“Yeah. I was thinking. I want to try and build one of those old Slipstream chambers like the ones Rochinda used. Kind of homage.”
Rommie rolled her eyes.
“Nah… all I need is some err cable, some titanium, some E-Matter, some energy. And to make the Anti-Grav/Friction chamber I will need…”
“I already have four AGF Chambers on board!”
“I want to make one like they had in the real old days. And I want to make it the way they did. So some welders, some…”
“Harper, however much I encourage your inventiveness, you have tried something like this before. Remember the X-1? Tossed in your ‘pile of neglect’? Along with half a dozen other projects.”
“Rommie, you know I’m gonna finish that some day. Now, can you get me the materials or not?”
“Yes, of course. I'll get some bots to send them up to Machine Shop two. Anything else?”
“Another crate of Sparkies up from the hold?”
**** **** **** **** **** ****
Trance lay around the machine shop idly throwing up one of Harper's less sophisticated tools and catching it again.
”Harper… this is boring! You said I could see some fireworks!”
Harper was carefully locking down the final panel on his imitation AGF chamber. It was a long cylindrical shape object with a transparent surface. Cables hooked up from the bottom.
“One minute my Purple Princess. Your fireworks will come when super genius Harper finishes building this stupid piece of junk!!”
Harper hit the top of his new contraption with his fist.
”Power leaves conduit, power passes through control rods, power… “
Harper taps on a side of the chamber around midway across it.
Disappears around here.”
Another Hologram of Rommie appeared next to him.
“The problem is easily traceable. My scans detect a weak connection…”
“Stop it! Don’t tell me! I don’t want to use ANY modern methods to build this thing!!”
“Harper, the problem is quite simply…”
“Andromeda, Privacy Mode!!!”
The Hologram of Rommie abruptly disappeared.
“That was pretty rude,” Trance noted.
“I’m gonna find you little problem…I’m gonna find you little problem… Gotcha!”
Harper opened up a panel and soldered down a new joint. He then closed the panel and the Chamber lit up.
“Ladies… Gentlemen…Super Genius’s. I give you… the original Slipstream discovery chamber! Do I rock, or do I rock?”
He looked around to see Trance looking sternly at him.
“Alright…alright. Andromeda, de-activate Privacy mode.”
Rommie strode in through the door impatiently looking a little annoyed. She was about to complain about her previous treatment, when Harper waved his hand for her to keep quiet. The three of them stared into the chamber as Harper began the formation procedure. The E-Matter pulsar generators locked in place and Harper watched as the pulsar hovered in the chamber.
”Alright then. Now, the fun begins. Trance, will you care to pilot in the nano-drone?”
“Me?”
“Sure. Why do you think I asked you to be a witness to what will surely be the greatest scientific experiment in the Milky Way? Possibly. Anyway, just fly the damn thing in.”
“But..why?”
”Because, apart from your little adventure with bitch Rommie…”
Rommie looked at him sternly.
“… Your last try with the Slipstream did some eh, wacky things. Now I just want you to fly in the drone, and just pilot it. It’s a lot safer than the Andromeda.”
“Are you sure? Where do you want me to fly?”
“Anywhere. Just pilot. Go for it”
“Mmm… all right”
Trance donned the remote control and began to pilot the probe in.
To Be Continued...
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