Light Speed Read online

  “Alfred switch to channel [Lucy Fucks Hard].”

  “Link channel.”

  On the left-hand side of his visor a translucent chat channel popped up.

  Jack is now linked.

  Jack: Is anyone online?

  There was no response.

  “Well, damn!” Jack thought.

  He’d really hoped they would be back on. He knew they’d be on today, but they’d not given an exact time. With no better options, Jack left the pod room and walked down the corrador to the lift. Which he took to Level 3. The room was even more packed than the last time Jack had been on.

  He could feel the heat of the people around him. Instead of the typical feeling of cool morning in Texas, it felt like an afternoon in March - not hot, but by no means cool.

  He pushed his way throug the sea of people, stopping at each podeum he passed looking for a job he could pull off. Most of them were looking for members who were geared in at least Reds. Jack had one Blue, which was ranked right bellow Red.

  Chris is now online.

  Chis is now linked.

  Chris: Who’s on?

  Jack: Just me I think.

  Chris: Oh, hey man. How’s it going?

  Jack: Not good. I’m in the departure zone, but none of these jobs are a low enough level for me.

  Chris: I’m only on for a little bit to make some trades. The other guys should be on soon though. You might want to log off and come back in an hour?

  Jack: Is that what time Lucy and the others usually get on?

  Chris: Yeah, and then we run for two to three in game days.

  Jack: Okay, I’ll be back in an hour then. Thank you!

  Chris: No worries. Where are you staying?

  Jack: I’ve got a sleeping pod.

  Chris: Yeah I remember those. Well, I’ll see you later then.

  Jack: Okay, laters.

  Jack moved as fast as he could, thorugh the sea of people and back to the lift. Where he made a beeline for the pod to log off.

  Chapter 5

  October 6th, 2038

  April pulled his helment off. “Why are you out so soon?”

  “The group I hooked up with last time is getting on in hour or so. I figured I could eat some more and drink a little coffee while I waited.”

  “You should be in the game earn more yuan like we discussed.”

  Jack pressed a button and the chair returend to a sitting positon. “I can’t none of the jobs are a low enough level for me. I started in the Kuiper Belt Station. All the players there are far more advanced than I am.”

  “I didn’t know they’d opened up that section to new players. How many yuan do you have?”

  “I don’t remeber exactly, but about 4,500.”

  “I can give you 12,000 more. It will take an hour or two to be sent to your account. What’s you account number on the station?”

  “Umm, I don’t know.”

  “Okay, well hop back in real fast and get that for me.”

  April watched as Jack lowered the chair back to a resting postion and logged back into the game.

  Less than two minutes later she leaned over him and took the helmet off.

  “Have you been standing there the whole time?”

  “Yes,” she said. “You weren’t gone that long.”

  He pressed the button again to lean up. “How long?”

  “Maybe two minutes.”

  “Whoa!”

  “It’s kind of cool right?”

  “Yeah, I knew the gmae played at 24 times our normal rate, but it hadn’t been so apparent before now.”

  “What’s your account code?”

  Jack closed his eyes and visualized what he’d seen. “KA.1832.818.252.1212P”

  She walked around the glass wall which devided her observation center from his VR room.

  A few moments later she said, “All done. The funds should be in your account in a couple hours. I was able to bump it up to 13,500. You’ll need to buy good gear. Also, check the prices on ships the next time you’re in there. Who knows, my superiors might splurge and buy you one.”

  Jack’s eyes widened. The prospect of having a ship of his own was amazing. Steve had always talked about how fun it was to fly one. After being in the game and seeing just how realisitc it was, Jack knew that flying would be the best part.

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m going upstairs. You can eat and drink.”

  She closed the door to her observation room and locked it with a punch pad next it.

  April showed Jack a dial pad on the wall. “This is an intercom that will broadcast throughout the house. Call me when you’re ready, otherwise I’ll be back in about 90 miuntes.”

  With that she left Jack alone in the basement.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Jack finshed off the last of the pot of coffee, and ate an egg sandwhich. It had been an hour and he was chomping at the bit to get back into the game and meet up with Lucy.

  He pressed the button on the intercom, and a red light glowed. “Umm, April. I’m ready to start.”

  He let go of the button not knowing if she heard him or not. Then her voice came through the intercome. “I’ll be right there.”

  A few minutes later she reutrned and helped Jack into the chair.

  He gave her the thumbs up and said, “Activate Project Phoenix.”

  Chapter 6

  Project Phoenix Day 2038-10-06-17

  “Welcome back, sir.”

  “Alfred switch to channel [Lucy Fucks Hard], and link channel.”

  Chris: I told you I saw him earlier.

  Lucy: You coming along noob or what?

  Jack: Sorry, Yeah I’ll be right there. Departure Room?

  Lucy: No, Docking Bay. Hurry your ass up.

  Contract from Lucy - Space Exploration and Salvage

  Pay - 10% of profits

  [Confirm] [Decline]

  Jack blinked on [Confirm], pushed the button inside his pod to open the hatch. Luckily, this time he’d been able to snag F6, which put him right on ground level. No awkward crawling onto a ladder.

  He practically sprinted down the corador to the lift. There were three other guys on the lift with him, two got off on teh frist stop at level 6 which was more living space. The other guy left on level 8, repairs and vendors.

  When the doors opened on Level D, Lucy was standing in front of him with a smile on her face, that he could see through her visor.

  Lucy: You’re in for a treat. We managed to snag a ship for three game days!

  Mike: I’ve already called gunner seat.

  She gestured for him to follow and he walked behind her. The hanger was massive. He couldn’t see the tops of most of the ship parked in there.

  Lucy: And I’ve already told you that the guns are run by the onboard AI. They’re meant for astroids not pirates. If we see another ship, we fucking run!

  Chris: Yeah. I don’t have the yuan to cover major damages to this ship. The lease only covers acidental damage. Like astroids.

  Jack: What kind of ship is it?

  They’d gone straight down the center from the lift and now they took a right.

  Chris: Mid size cargo ship. Houses six. But since Lucy’s the captin she gets a cabin to herself.

  Jack: Wow. What’s something like that rent for?

  Chris: Normally ¥12,000, but they gave me a deal of ¥10,800 per day.

  Jack was speechless. That was more yuan than he’d spent all game. They stopped in front of the ship. It was beautiful to Jack. The dark smokey gray exterior, which didn’t so much reflect the overhead lights as obsorb it. The nose of the ship sat at the highest point, and the access ramp was at the rear of the ship.

  Chris: We all pitched in what we earned from the Ore run and used it to rent the the ship. We’re hoping to see double that back, or more!

  Jack: I can pitch in some. I’ve got like 4K in the bank.

  Lucy: Keep it. You need it more than we do. You still don’t have gear that’s worth a shit.


  As they walked passed the side engines, the neon blue glow distracted Jack and he tripped. Lucy helped him up without saying anything to the others.

  Lucy: Mike hit the switch. We’re here.

  The hatch lowered and they walked up the ramp together. Jack saw for the frist time what it was like to be in a spaceship!

  Jack: Wow!

  Talon: Just over 17,000 cubic meters of storage and a carrying capasity of about 74 metric tons.

  Talon was standing at the top of the ramp as they walked up. Jack looked at him not knowing what to say to the stats.

  Talon: It’s enough space, that if we fill it, we could buy a small ship.

  Lucy: It’s what we’ve been working towards.

  She gave him a pat on the back, and Mike pushed the switch. The ramp began to close, and the arilock doors slid shut.

  Lucy: Talon’s our tech expert, and pilot. None of us have much experience in ships. We’ve all focused on other areas. Talon is the only one who’s flown something large enough to qualify as ship and not an escape pod.

  Talon: Yeah but the massive mining barges have escape pods larger than this ship. I spent days of game time learning to fly those. This should be piece of cake.

  Lucy: They also run crews of 100s of people.

  Jack: 100s of people? Are some of those NPCs?

  Chris: No, it’s usually groups of people who know each other in real life, and have decided to run real companies inside the game. They can earn millions of yuan a week.

  Talon and Mike lead the way to the stiars in the middle of the cargo bay. They climbed so high that Jack worried about falling over the rail. He wondered what dieing in the game would feel like.

  At the top of the stairs they were on a walkway which lead to doors on the right and left, and also to another walkway which lead to a door leading towards the nose of the ship. They all walked towards the nose.

  Jack: What’s on the other side of the side doors?

  Talon: Escape pods. Satrboard one is out, so we’ll have to cram into the port side esxape pod if shit hits the fan.

  Chris: Shit will not hit the fan! I can’t afford to cover the loss of this ship. Lucy, you promised you’d be cautious.

  Lucy: Don’t worry. We’re not going to do anything risky.

  Mike opened the hatch and waited for them all to pass through, before closing it behind them and resealing it. They walked into what was esentially a messhall.

  Talon: Bellow us is the engine room. You probably saw our thrusters outside. They kind of sitck out.

  Through the otherside of the messhall, lead to another walkway. At the end of which was a small set of stiars. Jack could see the pilot’s seat, through the hatch at the top of strairs. Talon took lead and headed for the hatch which lead into the nose of the ship.

  Talon: Those ladders the starboard side lead into the cabins. You’ll bunk with me. We’re the middle cabin.

  Talon pointed to their ladder as he made his way to the controls. Jack followed him into the comand center of the ship, while the others climbed into their cabins.

  Talon: You can take a seat over there. Don’t distract me. This ship isn’t going to be the smoothest of rides. Lucy, are you ready for take off?

  Lucy: Ready.

  Talon: Aye, aye captain.

  Lucy: Call me captain one more time, and I’ll kick you in the balls.

  Talon: Aye, aye boss.

  Lucy: Better.

  Jack gace Talon a look, to which Talon shruged and threw up his hands. Jack sat down in the chair Talon had pointed to, and fastened the five point harnes.

  Talon leaned forward and clicked on the intercom. “Attention crew. Prepare for take off in, 10, 9, 8… 3, 2, 1.”

  The ship josteled and Jack watched through the display as the ship lifted off the docking bay floor. Talon manuvered the ship to the exit shaft, with the persision of a pro avoiding the other docked ships.

  Jack marveled at Talon’s flying skills, because he couldn’t even paralel park, and yet Talon could fly a ship the size of a football field.

  Talon landed the ship on the magnetic launching platform, and the massive hangerbay doors closed behind the ship.

  Talon: Everyone brase yourself!

  A booming anouncment echoed throughout the exit shaft. “Launch in 30… 3, 2, 1.”

  The acceleration of the launch pad, pushed Jack back into his seat. His helmet wasn’t aligned properly and a dull pain began to build up at the base of his skull. Jack couldn’t move his head, but his eyes moved fine, and he could see the hangerbay doors opening at the far end of the exit shaft as they rappidly approached .

  In 5 seconds they accelerated to over 350,000 KPH, and were launched into the vacuum of space.

  Talon: Engine one go.

  The ship kicked like a mule.

  Talon: Engine two go. We have full burn.

  Lucy: Talon I know you love this fly boy shit, but this isn’t the CNSA. You don’t have to be all formal about it.

  Talon: Aye, aye… ball buster.

  The pressure lifted and Jack was able to lean forward from his chair again.

  Talon: I’ve set in a course. We’ll be outside the NRZ within 3 hours of game time. Anyone want to log off during the wait?

  Jack did the math in his head. He could log out for seven minutes, or experience the equivelent of 3 hours in game.

  Jack: Where are we going?

  Lucy: That’s need to know.

  Jcak looked to Talon, but he only shurged. Apparently Jack wasn’t trustable, at least not when it came to their location.

  Jack: Okay. What’s the NRZ then? Why such a long trip?

  Talon: The NRZ is short for No Rift Zone. It’s illegal to activate your FTL drive within 5 light seconds of a space station. If a new rift forms to close to the stable rifts on the station it could destroy them.

  Mike: Yeah, anyone who activates their FLT in the NRZ is fair game. The station put a bounty on their head, which double daily until the person and ship are destoried. Fuck, I want to get my hands on one of those bounties!

  Lucy: I’m going to log and be back.

  Mike: Same.

  Chris: I’m still trading, but the lag has already kicked in.

  Talon: Somone has to fly this ship and keep you fuckers alive.

  Jack: Can I explore the ship?

  Mike has left the channel.

  Lucy: Sure, just don’t break anything or I’ll kill you!

  Jack: Promise.

  Lucy has left the channel.

  Jack unfastened the five point harness and stood up to strech. His [Silver: Gravity Boots] worked like a charm, but his head felt like it was floating away from his body. However, by time he’d reached the mess hall he’d gotten use to it, and could barely notice a differance.

  Chapter 7

  Project Phoenix Day 2038-10-06-17

  Lucy is now online.

  Lucy is now linked.

  Lucy: You fuckers still in one piece?

  Talon: You’re just in time. We just crossed the NRZ line.

  Lucy: Perfect. Activate FTL.

  Jack threw himself into the closest chair. The chair was welded to the floor, and Jack prayed it would save him. He felt his body compress and then expand, but other than the sensation nothing happened. He’d taken out pots and pans to cook for everyone, and they hand’t so much as slid a centemeter. The sensation of being compressed was clearly in Jack’s head.

  Talon: I’ve set the computer to calculate our position so we can go back when we’re ready.

  Lucy: What do you see?

  Talon: We’re in a system with six planets. Two of them we could land on.

  Lucy: Aim for the closest and take us down!

  The engines kicked in, Jack fell over, and the pots slid across the stove top, but didn’t fall off. The acceleration normalized and Jack was able to stand back up.

  Jack: Next time give a warning.

  Chris: Yeah, I nearly fell over the guard rails for the engines.

&
nbsp; Lucy: You two are being pussies. It’s not that bad.

  Talon: Next time I’ll give a warning. We’ll be able to activate the FLT drive in aproxamently 30 minutes.

  Lucy: Where the fuck is Mike?

  Chris: I don’t know. He logged off and hasn’t gotten back on. Probably off watching porn agian.

  Lucy: Eww!

  Jack launghed to himself, and wondered how old Mike was in real life. One thing he’d noticed on the station, was everyone’s avatar was in their mid twenties. The likelyhood that all the players were actually in their twenties was low. Jack wondered how much control players had over their avatar’s appearance.

  “Alfred, what can I change about my appearance?”

  “Eye color, and hair style, sir. Everything else is predesigned based upon your publically archived images.”

  “Aflred, change my hair color to red.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jack walked to the sink, where there was a metal splashguard behind it, that was so well polished Jack could see his reflection. He unfasened to two latches on either side of his helmet, and turned it coutner clockwise about 90 degrees. There was a clicking sound and his helmet detached from his [Gold: Space Suit].

  His reflection shocked him. If his mother could see him, she’d have his father beat him. His hair was the color of a fire truck, and lay combed back like he usually wore it. Even his eyebrows, which were usually black as coal, were bright red. Which made the lighter fleks stand out in his walut colored eyes.

  “Alfred, make the red darker.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jack watched, as right before his eyes his hair darkened into crimson. Starting at the roots and spreading to the tips of his hair, as if newly growing.

  “What are you doing?” Chris asked.

  Jack turned on a dime; his heart racing. “What?”

  “I asked what are you doing?” Chris repeated. “Your suit is designed to filter the air around you, and use the oxygen available. If you take your helmet off, you’re just risking death if the cabin decompressed.”