Free Web NovelChapter 3: Have You Ever Wondered?
Nearly overnight, every single research team that had already been looking into Spatial Tears was consolidated under a single government department.
The Anti-Spatial-Tear Initiative was granted a nearly unlimited budget and the power to recruit anyone or requisition any materials necessary to find a way to counter the threat.
Jessica Zhang was immediately recruited thanks to her expertise in spatial mechanics, while Trevor joined the ongoing work a few years later as a liaison officer thanks to his familiarity with both the science involved and military procedures.
The Terran Alliance’s government swiftly fell under immense pressure, as did all of the researchers, scientists, and engineers working on this critical project.
They knew that if they couldn’t come up with some way to defend against the Spatial Storms, or at least predict where they would form, all of them, and everyone they cared about, would remain under constant threat.
Over the following years, millions of Spatial Storms occurred, with some of them being so enormous and so long-lasting they actually affected communication and warp travel between star-systems; however, the Terran Alliance had so far gotten lucky as only a few ships and remote outposts were swept away during this period.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t something you could rely on forever.
On August 8th, 2778, at precisely 10:32 Earth Standard Time, the Tau Ceti System was engulfed in a devastating Category 6 Spatial Storm.
Acadia, an earth-like planet in the Tau Ceti System that was one of the first worlds outside the Sol System settled by the Terran Alliance, was struck by a massive Spatial Tear within seconds of the storm appearing.
The planet was sundered into a trillion pieces, killing over 10 billion people in an instant while condemning the remaining 5 billion inhabitants to a slow, painful death as the atmosphere around them was literally blown away.
Everyone still alive tried to flee, but with space being so badly distorted, most interstellar ships couldn’t form stable warp-fields, trapping even those who had been fortunate enough to already be aboard such vessels.
2 days later, with the Spatial Tears having disrupted the delicate balance between its fusion and gravity, the local sun exploded outwards.
It was more like the last gasp of a dying star that had run out of nuclear fuel than a cataclysmic supernova, but the result was still devastating as every planet, ship, and station that had so-far managed to survive in the inner solar system was swiftly disintegrated.
When the storm finally ended, and rescue fleets were able to enter the system, less than 5 million people were found alive.
In the span of just 10 days, nearly 16 billion people had been lost, including every single member of Trevor Ashford’s family save for him and his youngest sister, Lillian, who just happened to be visiting Earth at the time, checking out the university she wanted to attend.
Later dubbed the ’Great Disaster’, the Spatial Storm which struck Tau Ceti was the single largest loss of life in Terran Alliance history by many orders of magnitude, and the grief, fear, and panic it set off was of epic proportions.
People had already been on edge after what happened to Serenade, but most were still holding out hope that such a tragedy wouldn’t repeat itself.
Now, however, that hope had been dashed.
Living on a planet was no longer considered safe by many, so those with the necessary means shifted to staying aboard ships, preferably ones with Warp Drives so that in the event of a Spatial Storm, they would at least have a chance of escaping.
Naturally, there wasn’t nearly enough ships for the trillions of citizens of the alliance to all become nomadic, so political, economic, and even plain-old physical fights began breaking out everywhere as the wealthy and powerful scrambled to secure these limited spots.
Most people, however, understood that they would never be able to grasp such a luxury, and while the vast majority simply despaired in the face of this horrible reality, a not insignificant number channeled their helplessness into rage.
Crime-rates skyrocketed, with everything from riots to full-on armed rebellions occurring all across alliance space.
On several worlds, martial law had to be instituted to calm the situation, with the military being deployed to restore order, but even that only barely worked because everyone knew that there was no solution to the root problem.
At least, not yet.
.....
Perhaps the Heavens saw the suffering of the alliance and decided to grant humanity a reprieve, as over the next 10 years, no other major planetary systems were hit directly by a Spatial Storm. This allowed the government to somewhat regain control of the situation, calm the populous, and focus its resources on actually tackling the crisis.
Project Twilight was initiated during this time, with Jessica Zhang and the other top minds in the Terran Alliance focusing their efforts on replicating small-scale Spatial Tears, finding a way to stabilizing these rifts, then, ultimately, neutralizing them.
As for Lieutenant Trevor Ashford being assigned to the same base as her, Jessica may have subtly hinted to the Joint Military Command that she would prefer him receiving the post.
It was a breach of military protocol, no doubt, but in the grand-scope of things, it was a rather minor request from one of the alliance’s most important scientists, so the top commanders saw no issue with granting it seeing how Lt. Ashford was technically qualified for the job anyways.
Project Twilight had gotten off to a slow start, but today, February 2nd, 2788, it had its first major breakthrough, a milestone worthy of celebrating; however, as if intent on maintain balance, the universe provided bad news to spoil the moment.
A Category 4 Spatial Storm had appeared right on the outskirts of the Typhon System, which was 68 light-years from Earth and boasted a population of nearly 8 billion.
Fortunately, it seemed that the storm would only graze the system and cause some minor damage. Perhaps a few unlucky people who couldn’t evacuate in time would die, but the greater Typhon System itself seemed safe.
Every Interstellar Defence Force fleet within range had been ordered to the system to assist, so for the moment, the situation seemed to be contained.
Everyone on the research station breathed a sigh of relief when they learned the full details of the situation, but all the joy they had felt earlier was also drained away.
Once again, the alliance had gotten lucky, but this was a poignant reminder that despite the achievements made today, the grim reaper’s scythe was still resting on all of their necks.
Jessica Zhang was feeling particularly distraught at the moment, and even cursed out loud, "Damn it, how could I have gotten so complacent? What am I even doing here! A whole year of failed experiments, and we celebrate after just 1 measly success? Fuck!"
Feeling the frustration practically radiating off of Jessica, Trevor reached out to try to comfort her, but stopped half-way as he didn’t know what to say.
Noticing the slightly outstretched hand from the dork next to her, Jessica sighed and shook her head, "Sorry, Trev, I just... I just feel so helpless, so powerless to do anything."
Pursing his lips, Trevor decided he should be a bit braver right now and instead of taking back his hand like he normally would have, he reached out, gently held Jessica by the arm, and pulled her into a hug.
The young woman was stunned, never having expected Trevor to choose this moment to take the initiative, but she made no attempt to pull away. Rather, she nestled in closer, resting her head on the shoulder he was lending her.
Gently stroking the silky head of black hair, Trevor muttered, "Don’t pressure yourself too much. You’re not alone here. The survival of humanity isn’t solely your responsibility."
"Besides," Trevor snickered, "If you think you’re useless, what does that make me? All I do is stand around watching all day. A scarecrow could do my job."
Knocking her head gently against her friend’s chest, Jessica chuckled, "You do more than that. You’re the best chef on the base by far. You’re the only reason the food here is edible, that’s a big help."
"Hah," Trevor snorted, feeling a bit thankful for the hobby he had picked up all those years ago, "If you say so, Director Zhang."
The two of them shared a laugh over that, the tension in their shoulders gradually relaxing.
"I just wish I could be of more help. You know, make a real contribution to the project," Trevor mused.
"I know," Jessica nodded, "But like you just told me, it’s not all on you."
Again, the observation deck fell silent, but this time, it was a comfortable kind of silence, perhaps even a bit intimate.
The two definitely-not-lovers remained leaning against one another for a couple minutes longer, both of them seemingly working up the courage to say what they were really thinking.
In the end, Jessica was the one who spoke first, "Have you... have you ever wondered what would happen if a tear formed here, right now, and took you away?"
"Of course I have," Trevor nodded, "Haven’t you?"
"En," Jessica nodded back, "If that happened, I’d die with a lot of regrets."
"I know how you feel," Trevor agreed, a great many things flashing across his mind at that moment.
There was so much he still wanted to accomplish, so many places he wanted to go, and so many people he wanted to spend more time together with, chief among them being Lilly, his one and only blood-relative left in this universe.
When their family perished in the Great Disaster, Lillian had been absolutely despondent. She had just turned 17 at the time and wasn’t even a full-grown adult, but she was forced to endure such an unimaginable loss, as well as the guilt of surviving when so many had not.
Trevor had been seriously worried about his baby sister after that incident, even taking time off from the military to stay with her, but to his great surprise, just 1 month after the disaster, Lillian picked herself up and threw herself into both studying and training with a near obsessive passion, pursuing both knowledge and strength in the hopes that they would allow her to contribute in some way.
Her efforts clearly weren’t in vain, as she was about to graduate with distinguished honours from the same university Trevor had once attended, but with far better marks and in far less time than he could ever dream of.
Lillian had also followed in his footsteps and joined the military, already having earned a promotion to the rank of Ensign in the ISDF, the same branch Trevor served in.
As a big brother, Trevor was very proud of his little sister and was confidant that even without him around she would be able to survive, but that didn’t mean the thought of suddenly leaving her alone in this world didn’t terrify him.
Then, of course, there was the woman he was embracing right now.
Imagining what it would feel like if she were to suddenly be gone, or if he were to perish never having taken the chance to tell her everything he had kept hidden in his heart...
"Jessica," Trevor called out in an unusually firm tone.
Lifting her head, the Director of Project Twilight met eyes with the young man before her. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The two stared at each other, a mutual understanding passing between them even though no further words were spoken.
Then, in the next moment, he leaned down, as she lifted herself up, their eyes closing as their lips gently met.
