The Chronicles of Henry Harper

By Jacen Aster

Old Henry Harper doesn’t think he’s anyone important. He’s just an engineer, right? So why is this girl pestering him to write down his life story? Sure, he was there when humanity first broke the light speed barrier. Yes, he was present when they first met their galactic neighbors, and when the very first A.I. was born. Okay, so he’d seen rifts in space, planets that jump from system to system, and even stranger things.

But, even so, he wasn’t some action hero, he was just a lowly engineer. No one ever wanted to hear about engineers. Except, apparently, for the ship’s new diplomatic assistant. Still, there was no harm in humoring her. He had a few stories that always seemed to go over well. Now, where did he put that portable?

See the galaxy through the eyes of veteran starship engineer Henry Harper, as he weaves the story of his decades long career and the many incredible adventures he’s had along the way. Watch how he averted tragedy, solved crises, and learned the very best swear words in a dozen languages. Pay no mind to the explosion, I'm sure it was meant to do that.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacen Aster
• Release date: Dec 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370329847

Jacen Aster

Jacen Aster is probably sane, and you really shouldn't listen to rumors that tell you otherwise. You know, just in case. There's an awful lot of people that claim being a writer requires a certain type of insanity, possibly multiple types of insanity. I assure you, however, that rumors of his sanity (or lack there of) have been greatly exaggerated. Regardless of his state of sanity, Jacen Aster enjoys long walks in the park, piña coladas and being caught in the- Wait, no, that's not right at all. No, Jacen Aster has never had a piña colada, and only knows what they are because he got curious when he first watched Shrek. No, he's much more a whiskey man. Having lived in the St. Louis area of Missouri for most of his youth, he also doesn't particularly enjoy getting caught in the ran. Rain in that foul swamp of a region means thunderstorms, and while lightning is cool to watch, thunderstorms every night for months on end is something that gets old quickly. Onto things he does like! Aside from writing and devouring sci-fi and fantasy works, he thoroughly enjoys travel. He has visited the majority of the United States, and against all rational expectations, his two trips out of country so far were not to Canada or Mexico, but to Egypt and the United Kingdom. The reason for this is really quite simple, he likes history far more than he likes people and those places are steeped in periods of history he particularly enjoys. He has a nasty case of wanderlust, which he really rather hopes is permanent, and hopes someday to actually have enough money to travel to all the places he wants to go. Because of his love of travel, he currently keeps no pets, and while he resides once again in the St. Louis area currently, he is unlikely to stay there longer than necessary. He has a strong aversion to humidity, and St. Louis is one of the worst offenders, second only to the coast of Texas in summer. He hopes to wander over to the east coast for a while, though preferably not during hurricane season as he has a powerful fear of a shark decapitating him as it flies through his bedroom window. Irrational? Perhaps. But all the best fears are. If you want to know more about this fascinating and not-crazy individual, check out his blog: The Discordant Dreams of Electric Sheep.

Book preview

The Chronicles of Henry Harper

Jacen Aster

*******

Copyright 2016 Jacen Aster

Cover By: Cover Bistro

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Exploration

Chapter 2: Of Aliens and Men

Chapter 3: The A.I. Affair

Chapter 4: Privateer’s Paradise

Chapter 5: The Colony of Shien

Chapter 6: The Gate to Everywhere

Chapter 7: On Station 7

Chapter 8: The Transient Planet

Chapter 9: Children’s Tears

Chapter 10: Starlit Politics

Chapter 11: The Forgotten Planet

Chapter 12: The Last Chronicle of Henry Harper

Afterward

Thank You!

To my family who put up with me.

To Matt (you know who you are) who believed in me even when I myself couldn't.

And most of all to God, who saw me through all the lows and highs without fail, whether I deserved it or not.

Chapter 1 - The Exploration

My name is Henry Harper, and I am nobody important. I'd love to say I don't know why I'm writing this, but anyone who knows me can tell you I'm a sucker for puppy dog eyes and a pretty face. Doubly so when brought together. In this case, the eyes and face belong to Kayla, the ship’s new diplomatic assistant. I suspect only she and God know why a successful young beauty on the diplomatic fast-track has been slumming with the usual gallery of rogues and reprobates in the engineers’ quarters since her first day aboard ship. Whatever her reasons, it was only a few days into our voyage that she began pestering me to write down the stories of my adventures, as she insists on calling them. I confess, I can't see why anyone would be interested in the tales of an old engineer, no matter where said engineer has been and what he had seen there. Still, in the end, I buckled to the lethal puppy dog eyes and pretty face combination and agreed to document a few tales of my voyages.

I suppose I should start at the beginning. I've always had a craving for adventure, and right out of technical training I managed to talk my way into the lowest rung of the engineering corps for the Experimental Space Vessel Exploration. Yes, that Exploration, the original proof-of-concept ship for faster-than-light travel, the very beginning of the great diaspora of humanity to the stars. I was just a snot-nosed nineteen-year-old kid at the time, only worth taking on because I was a prodigy with the new drive technologies. At any rate, I suppose I should get to the telling. It all started when I first arrived at the Exploration's shipyard. So, there I was, staring out the station viewport for my first sight of her half-finished hull....

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Henry dropped his duffel by the station viewport and took a good look at the prototype he'd be working on for the next year, possibly longer. That is a big ship, he muttered, and it was definitely an understatement. At over four hundred meters long, fifty meters tall, and the same wide, the ship dwarfed nearly everything in the solar system that could move under its own power. The only exceptions he knew of were the monolithic city-ships mining the Kuiper Belt.

He drew a deep breath as he took in the view and grinned. His former classmates were all insanely jealous that he'd managed a space berth right out of training. He hadn't had the heart to tell them it wasn't just any space berth, but aboard Jack Amaril's great experiment, the ship which was supposed to prove Einstein a fool.

That thought caused Henry's grin to trade for a smirk. Only Amaril could get away with telling the whole scientific community that Einstein was smoking something funny and that his famous theory of special relativity was total crap that no right-thinking individual would seriously consider.

Which was so much smoke and mirrors, of course. Mere showmanship for the common masses. In reality, Amaril's new infinity engine subverted and abused that very same theory...but it didn't break it. The trouble with accelerating to or past the speed of light is fundamentally about relativistic mass. At high fractions of light speed, relative mass increases, requiring an increase in power for each additional gain until the point is reached where infinite energy is needed to progress. Unless, of course, you're Jack Amaril, and you remembered that the whole point of the matter is that mass is energy and energy is mass. Find a way to steal the increase in mass and convert it to energy and you break the process. Amaril's infinity engines did just that. Subsequently converting the stolen mass into energy, then dumping it back into propulsion, was really just a bonus, all things considered. Thus, the mass of the ship is limited to its rest mass, denying the need for any increase of power, and the power is increased anyway, just for grins. Freed of the issue with increasing mass, surpassing the speed of light becomes inevitable rather than impossible.

At least, that was the theory anyway. Henry didn't know if the man was right or not and honestly figured it didn't matter. Either the experiment worked, and he would be among the first to explore the newest frontier, or it didn't, and he would still get to play with the bleeding edge of new tech for as long as the experiment lasted.

Smirk fading back to a small smile, he snatched up his duffel and headed for the main docking bridge to the ship. There was surprisingly little security, actually no security at all, until he reached the midway point. There he found a simple barrier with a bored-looking guard.

The guard perked up at Henry’s approach and growled out a query. You ain’t ‘nother of those ‘porter types, are you? If’n you is, you can just take y'self back the way ya came!

Not me! I’m just a new engineer reporting for duty. Pulling out his papers and ID from his duffel’s side pocket, Henry shoved them at the guard. Have you really been having trouble with reporters?

Reporting for duty? Whaddya think this is, the army? Warily taking Henry's papers and looking them over carefully, the guard added, Yeah, we’e been havin' 'porters snoopin' 'round 'ere from day one. Anything Mr. Amaril touches 'tracts 'em like flies ta honey. Apparently satisfied with his inspection of Henry's papers, the guard handed them back and opened the barrier gate. His accent was notably absent and his eyes much sharper when he spoke again. Straight on, then take a right to engineering. Once you hit the engineering section, ask for Ernie.

Giving a slightly bemused thanks, Henry passed through the barrier and crossed the last distance to the ship. Once inside, it became obvious that the ship was nowhere near as complete as it appeared from the station. Construction debris and half-finished installations ran the length and breadth of the ship. The gaps in the unfinished bulkheads provided more than enough of a view to determine such a thing, even at merest glance. Henry couldn't help but think that the whole place looked like a death trap for the unwary.

Following the vague directions of the guard, and the familiar sounds of engineers at work, he soon located what could only be the ship’s drive section. Even half completed and strewn with bare wires and tools, the consoles and controls here were unmistakable, thrumming with power more felt than heard as the engineers ran diagnostics, calling out arcane numbers and commands to each other in a subtle dance decipherable only to their fellows.

A few questions to various crew led Henry to Ernie. Walking up to his presumed target, he started the conversation with the obvious question. Hey, you Ernie?

His target, a heavyset man with graying hair and a rough goatee, turned from watching the latest tests and raised an eyebrow in his direction. That’s me. The real question is, who the hell are you?

Name’s Henry Harper, new hire and all that. The bridge guard told me I should report to you.

Recognition sparked in Ernie’s eyes. Ah, you’re the whiz kid they said tested out damn near perfect on the new drive tech. I don’t have a ton of time to spare myself, so we’ll grab Pete. He’s been here long enough to show you around.

Pete turned out to be an older engineer, looking tough as old boot leather, as the saying goes. Still getting around just fine at sixty-eight, and as Ernie said it, bringing five decades of experience to the table. Pete was a personable soul and happily showed Henry around to all the needful things, and a few extras besides. The biggest surprise for Henry was that the crew was actually living aboard ship already. Apparently, the crew quarters had been among the first sections completed. It seems Amaril wanted his people off the station, safely tucked away where reporters and industrial snoops couldn’t get their claws into them. No one was barred from the station exactly, but everyone was encouraged to keep their time off ship to a minimum. Pete left him at his, surprisingly spacious, cabin to settle in, telling him to use his first day to set up his quarters, meet some people, and get familiar with the ship’s layout.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The next several weeks passed without major incident as Henry settled in at his new job. He was definitely the lowest of low in amongst the engineers and was largely assigned to desperately boring jobs. Even so, the tedium of wiring nonessential systems and other grunt work was made bearable by a great team. The other engineers were almost always willing to take time to show him the higher-end equipment and frequently let him assist with some of the more complex installs during his downtime. In what little free time he didn’t use up in such a way, he’d taken to wandering the ship, often spending a few hours in the science section, talking shop with the crew there.

A little over a month after Henry first set foot aboard the Exploration, he stumbled across Ernie during his wandering. His boss was hunched over a drafting table with a set of blueprints displayed on an unrolled flex-screen, arguing with a man in a business suit. Curious, Henry stopped nearby to listen in.

The line is still running too hot. It's just a few degrees, but it's enough to melt everything in the time frame we're talking about. The businessman sounded more than a bit irritated.

I know! I know, but I'm out of ideas here. We've done everything. Look at this, Ernie tapped a point on the blueprints and a whole host of notes detailing the tapped section appeared. There's simply no room to put in any kind of cooling, and we can't lower the output any more than we already have. I just don't see how we can bring the temperature any lower without pulling the auxiliary engine and shifting everything around.

That will take months! We don't have that kind of time to waste on a minor line for a minor system. You know that, damn it.

Henry was only half listening as he stared at the blueprints. These were far more complete than what he’d been allowed to see thus far, and the secure looking cylinder at Ernie’s feet that the flex-screen had doubtless come from probably indicated Henry shouldn’t be here. Even so, Henry couldn’t help but stare instead of retreating. The whole engineering section of the ship was laid out in such detail that he finally began to understand why they wanted only the most experienced sort of people for this build. Hell, he had no idea what half of what he was seeing even meant. The line they were talking about was clearly outlined, but what the various annotations surrounding it described escaped him. He’d love to sound intelligent by offering up some solution but...wait, what if it didn’t matter? This whole ship was just a prototype, right? So why not simply cheat a bit….

Hey, why can't you just run the line through there, by the coolant conduit? If you wrap it around the conduit and strip the insulation, wouldn't the temperature bleed from the coolant drop the line temperature? The words were out Henry’s mouth before he could stop them. He cringed a little, hoping they wouldn’t take exception to his presence.

Ernie and the businessman both stopped talking, looking up at Henry a little slack-jawed. The suited man quickly started looking over the blueprints where Henry had pointed, but Ernie's expression turned to stone.

Henry, you can't just expect every ship to—

His building head of steam was cut short by the other man. "No, Ernie, he can't expect every ship to use a patchwork fix like that, but he can expect this ship to do it."

But—

Ernie, you told me not a half hour ago that this whole problem could have been fixed by putting the components over in that free space we had by Generator A. We can't do that now, we built up the structure around there to the point we can't get the larger parts in that deep. We'll just earmark that space for any future ships and use the coolant line trick for the tests. The man looked up at Ernie, as if waiting for him to protest.

But—

"I know, I know. It's sloppy, but this is a prototype, Ernie. Purely proof of concept. It only has to work once. As long as it breaks the light speed barrier once, just once, and comes back more or less intact, and with everyone alive, of course, we can iron out practicality in either a rebuild or a new ship entirely. I want you to run the line along the coolant conduit. No arguments." The businessman's voice was firm and it was clear he expected Ernie to obey.

Ernie shook his head and sighed. All right, you’re the boss. I'll have it done by tomorrow.

Good. Elana?

At this, a rather stunning woman in a sleek suit pulled away from where she had been leaning, somehow unnoticed, against the nearby bulkhead. She slid into place next to the businessman, somehow seeming to belong there as much as his own shadow did. Sir?

The man straightened from where he had been hunched over, poring over the blueprints. Turning to face Henry fully, he asked, What's your name, kid?

My name is Henry Harper...er, sir? Henry mentally kicked himself for his hesitation over form of address. Everyone outranked him, possibly even the janitor.

The man smiled. Jack will do, kid. I'm only ‘sir’ on the business side of things. Elana, Harper here just saved me several months of delay. If this little scheme of his works, make sure he gets a bonus. Ten thousand should suffice, I think.

Elana didn't seem surprised at the figure. She just said, Yes, sir, and pulled out a sleek-looking portable to make note of it.

Henry must have looked rather bemused and not a little shocked once Jack left, because Ernie quickly lost his irritated expression and started chuckling. You don't even know who that was, do you? This seemed to amuse him greatly, if his ear-to-ear grin was any indication.

Haven't a clue, Henry admitted.

If anything, Ernie’s grin widened. It was a disturbing look for the typically serious man. That was Jack Amaril, the big boss himself.

Ernie's grin broke into booming laughter at the shock on Henry’s paling face.

So you impressed the big boss and got yourself a bonus that must be, what, half your salary? Got any big plans for it?

Now that was an interesting question, Henry thought, as he recovered a little. What was he going to do with ten thousand credits? Well, there was that gorgeous redhead over in science. He remembered hearing her wax poetic about the Earthside Café. Plates there were five hundred credits each, easy. If he could get a reservation there….

"Oh, you do have an interesting plan for it if that grin means anything. So who’s the lucky lady you’re going to spend it on, eh?"

What makes you think I’m gonna spend it on a girl?

Ernie just laughed again. If I wasn’t sure from that stupid grin on your face, the blush you’re sporting now would seal the deal. So, who is it? Sally? No, I’m guessing it’s that young tech over in science I’ve seen you hovering around. What was her name?

Mira. The name slipped out before Henry could stop it.

Ah ha! I thought so! So how are you going to wow her?

Well, she was talking about the Earthside Café a few days ago….

Ernie let out a low whistle. Holy shit, kid. You take her there and you might just get breakfast included in the deal, if you catch my drift.

Turning six shades of red, Henry sputtered an unintelligible protest.

Ernie, still grinning, looked entirely satisfied at having struck him dumb. Just messing with ya, kid. I’ve gotta get a little revenge for you convincing Jack to use such an inelegant fix on my ship, don’t I? Go on. Go find your future girlfriend, yeah?

Gathering what little remained of his dignity, Henry just nodded and made his escape.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Several weeks after a spectacular first date with Mira, which was in fact followed by breakfast, as well as a number of equally excellent follow up dates, Henry was waist deep in the auxiliary engines, running lines for the ship's internal comm systems, when Ernie came looking for him.

Henry, I've got something for you! Ernie called.

Jumping in surprise, Henry's head struck a piece of pipe and he cursed. He crawled out of the engine housing, rubbing the growing knot on his head, and winced when he spotted Ernie. Realizing he’d just cursed in front of his boss, he winced a bit more. Sorry, boss, you surprised me.

Ernie simply smirked. Relax, kid. I've heard a lot worse from far older. Come with me for a minute. Jack has a little something for you to work on.

Wondering what on earth Jack Amaril could want the lowest guy on the totem pole to work on, Henry followed Ernie as he led him back to one of the build stations.

Ernie took a seat at an empty drafting table and gestured Henry into the chair across from him. Once Henry was seated, Ernie started talking. That coolant line trick of yours worked beautifully. As a matter of fact, it impressed Jack so much that he's sent another little problem your way.

Ernie unrolled the large flex-screen he was holding, revealing a familiar set of blueprints. He traced his finger along a conduit between one of the inertial compensation units and a life support pumping system. See this conduit? It was supposed to be large enough that we could run a bunch of power, cooling, and data lines through to support a number of secondary and tertiary systems that are farther away from the generators. Problem is, we decided to upgrade to the new faster-than-light comms from Vincent Technologies to get more data out during our test run. The new unit requires a great deal more power, which means a thicker cable. A cable that just won't fit into the conduit. Jack wants you to take a look at the prints and see if you can find another little fix for him. One that won't involve months of rewiring.

Henry tried not to sweat. This was a far more complex problem, and he couldn't imagine why the hell they had come to him with it. The coolant trick had been a simple lucky spot. This was a whole different animal. Err...why me, boss? Isn't this a bit above my pay grade?

Ernie gave him a slightly sardonic smile as he answered. "A bit? Kid, this is at my pay grade. A junior grease monkey shouldn’t even be allowed to see these blueprints, let alone suggest changes. Lucky for you, Jack decided he liked your out-of-the-box thinking, and lucky too that your last suggestion worked so damn well. Now, get working on this. I'll assign Greg to finish up those comm lines." With that, Ernie rolled up the blueprints, handed over the blueprint case, and walked off.

It was only a few minutes later that Henry found a secluded drafting table in the science section, away from the noise and distractions of engineering, to look over what he'd been given. Opening up the blueprint container and unrolling the flex-screen, he was surprised to find that Jack and Ernie had included not only the schematics for the conduit, but those for all the parts surrounding it, including the top secret specs for the new inertial compensators. Humbled by what they had entrusted him with, he set to work.

Several hours passed, and after looking everything over for what had to be the thirty-fourth time, Henry sighed. Leaning back in his chair, he covered his eyes with his arm. He was, if anything, further from finding a solution than ever. There was just nowhere even vaguely close to the conduit that could handle an extra power cable that thick. Of course, if there had been, they would have just done it, rather than asking him to find a workaround.

Pushing himself away from the table, he rolled up and stored the blueprints, resolving to put it from his mind for a while. Maybe even go see Mira....

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Hey, Mira! Henry had snuck up behind her and Mira, who had been examining something on the console in front of her, jumped several centimeters in surprise.

Aggrieved, she spun and jabbed a finger into his ribs, or tried to at least. He was surprisingly quick. Henry! Why do you insist on startling me like that? One of these days you’ll give me a heart attack or something!

Because you’re cute when you’re angry, obviously, Henry responded, adding a cheeky grin and a wink for dramatic effect.

She looked indignant for a moment before giving an exasperated sigh. Henry, that line only worked the first time, and that was the third time this week. You’d better have something amazing planned for tonight if you expect me to stay my revenge. She crossed her arms and tapped a foot in the manner all ticked off women seem to have mastered. The quirk at the corners of her mouth, where she was valiantly fighting a smile, did not help convey the gravity of her threat.

Henry tapped his chin in mock concentration. "Amazing, hmmm. Well, I was saving it for a special occasion, but I suppose making you happy is always a special occasion…."

Mira’s remaining irritation visibly melted away, subverted by curiosity. As sweet and sappy as that is, and of course how very true it is…what exactly are you talking about?

Henry just smirked. Nope, not telling. You’re even cuter when you’re curious. You’ll just have to wait and find out. When are you getting off?

Mira scrunched her nose and gave him frighteningly good puppy dog eyes, making it even more deadly by grabbing his left arm and pressing it to her chest. Pretty please? Just a hint?

Henry caved immediately.

Fine! Fine! Just stop with the eyes! I’ve got a friend working at that new holo café on station. He arranged a special program for me. He even flagged a VIP pass so we can cut in line. That’s all you’re getting. He paused to fortify himself against her vicious, vicious, eyes and added, You’ll have to wait to see specifics. When are you off?

Dropping the puppy dog eyes but hanging on to his arm, Mira freed one hand to grab his chin. A mischievous grin worked its way onto her face as she leaned in, almost going up on her toes to get closer to his height, and let him in on a secret. I was off twenty minutes ago. I was just checking over a few things while I waited for you to show. Now get your cute butt in gear. I’ll meet you at the docking bridge. Giving him a quick peck, she let go and exited with a deliberate sway that only added to Henry's suddenly dazed state.

Shaking off the drug-like effects her presence always had on him, Henry headed after her at a casual pace, knowing that even as excited as she was, he’d be ready long before her.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It was nearly an hour later when Mira and Henry reached the Vistas Café. Shortly after their arrival they were smoothly guided past the long lines and into one of its larger holo chambers. Henry paused at the threshold. He already knew what there was to see, and he was more interested in watching Mira’s reaction. It had been tailored for her after all.

She didn't disappoint. She froze two steps into the chamber and gaped. Rather than the scenic vistas and natural beauty that were the typical fare of holo restaurants, Henry’s friend had recreated a scene from Mira’s favorite piece of historical sci-fi. Appearing to stretch below them for kilometers in every direction was a sprawling city planet, with untold miles of skyscrapers so tall that the ground was but a distant, ill-remembered, dream.

A delighted laugh, light with amazed yet happy disbelief, escaped from Mira as she fully processed what she was seeing. Recovering from her surprise, she spun around, looking at everything with the whimsical delight of a child, taking in the appearance of the small balcony café they appeared to be in. Perched precariously at the very top of a skyscraper, the café presented a breathtaking view of the city's splendor. Air traffic darted and wove to and fro, and the lilting notes of an alien music drifted from somewhere below. Such sounds of a living city mixed with the low babble of hundreds of voices in dozens of tongues to completely convince the viewer that this was oh so very real. Mira took a deep breath, taking in the smells and subtly altered air, fit for a city instead of a space station. She closed her eyes to properly absorb all the added little touches of a high-grade sim that were far more felt than seen. Her eyes popped open after a few moments, almost glowing as Henry's surprise blew away the exhaustion of a long shift.

Catching sight of Henry watching her with a bemused, but pleased, smile, Mira launched herself at him with no warning at all, nearly sending them both to the floor. He only just barely managed to take her unexpected weight, keeping them both upright. After attacking his higher thought processes with a sizzling kiss, one that thoroughly wiped those poor, defenseless, thought processes from existence, she exclaimed, You remembered!

Still struggling to reboot conscious thought, Henry managed an answer in a slightly husky voice. Of course, I remembered. I might not understand your fascination with those old celluloid movies, but if it makes you happy, then I don’t need to.

Mira just smirked and pulled him to an open table. And in that, my love, you’ve discovered the most important thing. As they sat, an alien waitress appeared as if from nowhere, though in this case, that was probably literal. Mira hummed appreciatively as she eyed the menu she was handed and began chatting with the construct about her options. Henry couldn't help the pleased smile that drew his lips into a soft curve. Yes, this had been a good idea, even if his friend never forgave him for how much work it had been.

After all, Mira was smiling.

Several delight-filled hours later, they stood in front of Mira’s quarters. Palming the hatch open, she stepped inside and crooked a finger for him to follow. Bright emerald eyes, tinted with not a little desire, captured Henry's as she drifted over to a well-stocked, if compact, wine cooler. Her eyes left his to dart over the selection, but she had clearly already known what she wanted. There was no hesitation as she slipped a dusty bottle from the very bottom rack.

This is a curious little vintage from the turn of the century. Let’s pop it open and have a bit of a nightcap, eh, Henry? Popping the bottle’s self-contained opener, which amazingly still worked despite having to be a very early design for such, given the apparent age, she placed it on the small dining table bolted to the bulkhead and added a pair of glasses. The rest of the night passed in a haze of fine wine and even finer company.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It was nine the next morning when the absence of a warm body woke Henry. The sound of the shower clued him in on where Mira had vanished to, and knowing what that meant, he blearily stumbled out of bed to the coffee maker. Sitting down at the table with his mug of life, his mind started focusing on the problem of the day before.

How the hell was he going to solve a problem that two geniuses like Ernie and Jack hadn’t been able to sort? This wasn’t like the last time. It was a much more complex issue, one with no simple solutions to be had. None that he could see, at any rate. Visions of blueprints brought a pounding to his head and he dropped the subject, choosing instead to stare at the remnants of their nightcap from the previous evening.

Picking up the curious little bottle of wine, he examined it, trying to see just why it was that Mira had called it that. One look in the full light of coffee induced sobriety showed him the answer. The winery of its origin had created a unique bottle by running twisting spires of glass inside it, climbing from the bottom of the bottle nearly to the lip. Then, just like that, the answer hit him.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It took a little wandering around the ship to find Ernie. Finally, after it seemed he’d searched half the ship, he located his boss near the portside maneuvering jets. Or what would eventually be the portside maneuvering jets, at any rate. It was little more than a hole in the side of the ship at this point.

Hey, Ernie! I've got something for you. Henry called to him as he navigated the debris-filled room to Ernie’s side.

Ernie turned away from his conversation with Greg Tallow and raised a questioning eyebrow. What is it, Henry? Seeing the blueprint container clutched at Henry's side, he added, Found a fix for that conduit problem?

Henry grinned. I have, actually. Want to take a look?

Slight disbelief etched Ernie's face as he disengaged himself from his conversation with Greg to join Henry. So, you really think you found a solution huh? Well, let’s go see what Jack thinks.

Henry hadn't counted on that. He had thought it would just be Ernie, not the big boss himself. Er...do we really need to go see Mr. Amaril for this? Can't you just take a look at it?

Looking like he’d sucked on a lemon, Ernie responded, Oh no. I'm not going to be responsible for some hacked fix being applied to a ship I'm working on. Jack knows perfectly well I hate that kind of thing. No, he'll decide himself whether to use your fix or not.

Nervous rather than jubilant now, Henry followed Ernie to the higher levels of the ship. They soon entered restricted command areas where Henry had never stepped foot before. Eventually, they ended up on the incomplete bridge, where Jack was directing a crew of engineers running wiring for consoles and instrumentation panels.

Ernie walked right up to Jack and said without preamble, The kid says he has a solution for you, Jack. Got time to take a look?

Jack looked up from the console he was helping wire and rubbed sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Ah, Henry! You got it figured out then? I bet Ernie here you could do it. I told him, 'Ern, we don't have time for this. I bet that kid who solved our heat problem can find us something.’ Didn't want to believe me, he didn't. Bet him five grand you could do it. Hope you haven't let me down!

Even more nervous now, Henry gave a little nod.

Jack grinned and made a come hither gesture toward the bulkhead. In answer, Elana seemed to appear from nowhere, as if merely summoned into existence by Jack's gesture. Following the others as Jack led them to a nearby, mostly completed, conference room, Henry found himself wondering if she was secretly a ninja. No one that beautiful should be able to go unnoticed so easily….

Once they had settled in the conference room, Jack addressed him again. So, Henry, what's the brilliant solution this time?

Well, I don't know if it's brilliant, sir, but—

Jack interrupted him. Tut! None of this ‘sir’ nonsense, Henry. I told you it's just Jack.

Er, sure...Jack.... Anyway, I looked over the blueprints and just couldn't see anywhere that we could squeeze such a thick cable, at least not without going way out of the way to do it. Then I got a bit of a brainwave. If we remove the sub-light real-time transmission power cable, it will give us the room we need.

Seeing Jack's face falling in disappointment, Henry threw up his hand. I know what you’re thinking. ‘But, Henry, we have to have the sub-light speed transmissions. The new systems aren't wide spread yet so we can't communicate without the old gear!’ I'm well aware of that being the case, but I found somewhere else to run the sub-light systems through.

Henry was on a roll now and his audience’s confused expressions only made his growing smirk wider. He unfurled a blueprint onto the table with a dramatic snap of his wrist. He'd had to practice that move for a good twenty minutes. Mira had laughed, but he swore it was worth it. Now, the whole problem is the choke point between the inertial compensators and the life support pump. Everywhere else has plenty of clearance. It was only when I took a glance at the design of your new compensators that I realized what we could do. When those compensators are running full bore, they leak all sorts of energy emissions like a sieve. Because of this, you had to build space between each piece and install cabling to absorb and bleed the radiating energy back out somewhere nice and safe. Now, the interesting thing is that some of those grounding cables are almost the exact same materials used in the sub-light comms for power transmission. Close enough, in fact, to be within tolerance.

Jack, visibly growing excited, cut him off. "You can run the power line for the sub-light comm through the compensators to avoid needing extra cabling at all, at least until you're past the choke point. It's brilliant!"

Exactly! The only time you'd lose the sub-light comms is when the energy grounding is needed at maximum. Basically, only at or near light speed, where those comms are utterly useless anyway, Henry finished, feeling nothing but smug satisfaction now that he knew Jack