Edheldil3D

[DEVIATION] Chapter 6: The Seeker     Fire. It was everywhere. It devoured walls and ceilings, crawled across the floor, and filled the air with black smoke. Warning lights flickered in the darkness, but their colour was almost lost in the fierce glare of the flames. At the far end of the corridor stood a woman. Her silhouette was outlined against the fire. One hand gripped the doorframe as though she no longer had the strength to remain on her feet. She looked at him. Her lips moved. At first, he could not understand her words. The thunder of explosions, the shriek of tearing metal, and the alarms swallowed her voice. Then he heard her. Clear and distinct, as though she were standing right beside him. “Save our child.” He wanted to go to her. Wanted to cross the burning corridor, take her hand, and pull her with him. Tell her that all three of them would escape. That he would not leave her behind. But his legs would not obey him. He tried to move, but his body remained rooted to the

[DEVIATION] Chapter 5: The Search Begins     Some time later, Cathy stood in Ed's office. The damaged joint lay on the desk between several small analysis instruments. Cables ran from them to a portable display filled with dense rows of measurements and material readings. Bob held the object in both hands and slowly turned it in the light. Doro stood beside him, watching the data. Cathy had her arms folded across her chest. She knew enough about technology to tell when something worked—and when it was better to ask someone who actually knew what they were doing. For this, she had two of them. “So,” she said. “Can we somehow track this stuff?” Bob did not look up. He examined a broken section of the metal, turned the joint a little farther, and carefully ran his thumb over the dark surface. Then he nodded. Cathy waited. Bob continued examining the part. She had known him long enough to realise he probably considered that a complete answer. “And your nod means?” “Can do.” Cathy raised an

[DEVIATION] Chapter 4: Conflicts Within     The GoldenStar was travelling through hyperspace on its way to Kudika. Beyond the windows, bright streaks swept through the darkness. Inside the ship, there was hardly any sense of movement. The engines worked with their steady, deep hum, and the crew went about their usual duties. Life aboard was routine. Only Joy was quieter than usual. She sat at a small worktable in Bruno's galley, peeling a round, light-brown tuber. The vegetable resembled a potato, though it was considerably larger and had pale violet flesh beneath its rough skin. Bruno worked at the large kitchen counter with his back to her. A pot steamed in front of him, and several prepared ingredients lay nearby. Normally, Joy enjoyed helping him with jobs like this. Bruno did not talk much, which gave her plenty of opportunity to do it for him. Most of the time, she would chatter almost constantly about whatever Scrubby had done lately, which strange objects Ed had put on display

[DEVIATION] Chapter 3: Setting Course for Kudika     The next morning, breakfast had just ended when the GoldenStar slowly began to come back to life. In the cargo hold, Ed and Bruno stowed the last of the supplies. Ed checked every crate before it was put in place, while Bruno made sure that delicate foodstuffs were not stored next to anything that, in his opinion, “smelled like machinery”. Ron and Bob worked their way through the ship's electronic systems. Displays were checked, sensors calibrated, and several minor faults corrected that probably no one but the two of them would even have noticed. In the engine room, Max and the engineer prepared the drives for departure. On the bridge, Cathy stood beside the captain's chair, working through the departure checklist. Doro was at navigation, comparing the planned routes to Kudika. Cathy glanced over the final items on the display. Fuel. Life support. Navigation. Cargo. Everything looked good. Really, it was an entirely ordinary

[DEVIATION] Chapter 2: The Decision No one in the engine room of the GoldenStar knew yet about the upcoming trip to Kudika. Max was half inside the open housing of the cooling unit. Only his legs and part of his back protruded from beneath the removed panel. From inside the machine came the occasional metallic knock, a disgruntled grunt, and a few words best drowned out by the deep hum of the machinery. Beside him stood the young engineer with an open tool bag. “Fourteen-millimetre spanner, kid. Nut on the pre-filter's loose again.” Before Max had even finished the sentence, the correct open-ended spanner was placed in his outstretched hand. Max paused for a moment. Then he pulled his hand, along with the tool, back inside the unit. The young man waited calmly beside him. A few years earlier, Max had asked Cathy for an extra pair of hands in the engine room. A third hand, as he had called it. The young engineer had then applied for a position aboard the GoldenStar. At first, the fact

[DEVIATION] Chapter 1: A Find with a Story     The bridge of the GoldenStar was larger than one might expect for a ship of its class. The rear section sat on a raised platform and doubled as a lounge for passengers. Comfortable, fixed leather benches lined the walls, with low tables between them, firmly anchored to the floor even during sharper manoeuvres. A few broad steps led down from there into the actual command area. At the front, several steps lower, stood the captain's chair, the flight controls, and the most important consoles. A woman stood to the left of the chair, looking out at the stars. Captain Cathy. She stood straight, almost as though she were at attention. Yet her shoulders were relaxed, and there was none of the severity in her face one might expect from a captain. There were few places where Cathy felt more at home than here. The quiet hum of the systems, the muted glow of the displays, and the black sea of stars beyond the windows were as familiar to her as the

[DEVIATION] Prologue     The forest of Altanos lay bathed in the light of early morning. Between the massive trunks of ancient trees, the mist of the night still lingered. Birds called from the canopy, somewhere a small creature rustled through the undergrowth, and golden sunlight broke through the leaves in long shafts. Then the forest ended. Not gradually. Not in any natural transition. It simply stopped, as though an invisible hand had drawn a line across the land. Beyond it stretched a wide green meadow, smooth and open, and upon it rested a ship whose upper hull gleamed golden in the sunlight. The Aurelia. A vessel of the Order. A vessel of dignity, diplomacy, and peace. On this day, nothing was peaceful anymore. Sirens wailed across the landing grounds. Distant explosions rolled through the air. People in bright, elegant uniforms ran across the broad platforms, shouting orders, calling out names, searching for the wounded or rushing to their stations. Behind the Aurelia rose the