Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Adventures in Pern: The Journey Begins

The sun rose high into the skies when I was ushered onto the Dragon Star, a high-tech rocket ship headed for the Rukbat system almost 170 light-years from Earth.  That's 1.6 quadrillion kilometers!  Seems crazy, right?  Not with the Dragon Star.

"Alright, buckle up, everyone."  The captain's gruff voice was met with a roll of laughter.  Everyone knew that going between, what they called "worm-holing" in the old days, was smooth and bump-free.

It used to be dangerous, when the process was controlled by the mind-power of one dragonrider alone.  But now, the Pernese scientists have mastered the technique, stationing a squadron of dragons and their riders to receive the shuttles.  Our captain would send a message to Pern, and the squadron would create an opening between from where they stood.  Then, the shuttle would go between, and the captain would steer the ship easily into the gateway, into Pern.  Simple, and blindingly fast.  Apparently, the journey between rarely took more than ten seconds.

"Going between in 3...2...1."  The windows turned jet black, soft dawn of morning gone.  I began to count the seconds:

1...

2...

3...

4...

5...

6...

7...

All of a sudden, the windows shone with a glorious light.  We had arrived at Pern.



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