Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae

           

            “Well, lately I haven’t had a lot of time to study astronomy, Branni. Are you excited about coming on board?”

            “Yes, I could use a break from here.”

            “What’s wrong?” Riaan could only show her concern over the com channel.

            “Nothing’s wrong, it just seems that I’ve seen more of Naomi than anyone else. Jon’s at work or he takes Annaa someplace, so I just hang in my room a lot.”

            “Having any trouble with your school work?”

            “Nothing I can’t handle. “

            “I’m sure you can always ask Jon for help with anything.”

            “He’s always helping Naomi with her quantum stuff. Pretty soon Ariannaa will understand quantum theory.”

            “Oh, well…” she paused for a moment to let a twinge of, unwarranted, jealousy pass. “We arrive tomorrow; I can’t wait to see you, all of you. It’s been a long three moons,” she told him.

           

            Archer was excited to be on the bridge again, even if someone else owned the big chair. With Discovery he could enjoy the ride, sleep with his mate, and still be the highest ranking officer aboard, as well as the most experienced. The hardest part was that Discovery really wasn’t his ship the way Enterprise had been his ship for 10 years.

            After the joy of rediscovery calmed down, Riaan and Jonathan became infected with the crew’s excitement about Eta Carinae. People hustled with their duties, walked a little faster in the corridors, and spent a little more time looking out the windows. Observatories had reported not just a sudden increase in nitrogen coming from the star but also many bursts of neutrinos as well. Combined, astronomers on Earth were convinced these were the signs that the hyper nova was about to die in an immense, vast, mind-boggling explosion.

            “So we just keep going as far as we can until it happens,” Captain Mitchell explained over dinner in his private mess. “At a thousand light years we’ll have to turn around, but that would be more than a year. Or if they decide it was a false alarm. Otherwise, we are about to be a part of history.”

            “I don’t think there’s an astronomer left on Earth. Everyone wants to see this,” Riaan said. “Everyone who’s come in says something, even the stewards and the quartermaster and civilians peeling potatoes.”

            “These are real potatoes?” Archer asked. “You’re carrying real food these days?”

            “We have a special assembly on board; I can’t serve you and my doctor re-sequenced protein substitutes.”

            “It’s okay for us, though,” Hoshi chimed in hinting sarcasm. “At least they’re not ration packs.”

            “That was a long time ago,” Archer reminded her, thinking of not only their time in The Expanse, but also during the Romulan War at some times.

            “We are doing well these days, Admiral,” Captain Mitchell added. “Skirmishes are fewer and farther between, we don’t see a lot of Klingons these days, been a lot of First Contacts.”

            “New members of the Federation.”

            “Not just that, but the new engines at Warp 7 are taking us clear out of the Orion Spur and into the Perseus Arm.”

            “What’s anyone say about the damage radius?” Archer asked. Hoshi and Riaan glanced at each other, realizing that the conversation was taking a technical turn.

            “A thousand light years,” Mitchell said, nodding. “We’re on the trajectory and will be stopping at any M class planet within ten light years of us for a survey. You should come on the away teams.”

            “As long as you shuttle I’m there.”

            “I’ll even let you take the driver’s seat if you want, Admiral,” Mitchell joked at Archer.

            “Be careful what you ask for,” he joked back. 

            After all the time apart, the party of four seemed to easily connect again as if the Orion and Akal adventures had been yesterday instead of nearly two years. There was a harmony among them that balanced each other, offering friendship that most of them didn’t cultivate on their own.  The Captain and the Admiral lingered behind after the doctor and commander left the table. Mitchell sprung a bottle of Tennessee whisky and poured them each a short glass.

            “So, tell me, Jonathan, there’s something I need to know,” he said with a serious tone. They both put on their officer faces. “Why is there a guard at the turbo in HQ?”