The Black

Houston station hung like a pendant, silhouetted by the fire of fusion boiling from the sun, as it hurtled silently about its orbit around Terra. The Moon shimmered, like a lone pearl in the black, on the far side of the station as it followed a path eons old and still rock steady. “Pandora” MOA had been converted to the Arrival point for exta-solar traffic headed for Terra. As with tradition, Houston station had a central working core. Recent advances had given that central hub artificial gravity, but she still held the vestiges of her microgravity heritage. The night shift was a skeleton crew. Sol had very little civilian traffic in and out of the system and the majority of it ended up at one of Mars’s moons or Centerpoint due to their Exploratory nature. Most inter-solar travel was done during daytime local to consolidate as Humanity slowly learned their new Faster-than-Life Culture and Logistical technicalities. The warning beep almost went unnoticed save for the shift manager who snatched his headset from the desk and keyed the frequency just as a familiar spiral flash of blue and white erupted inside of Pandora’s airspace as Excelsior accompanied by an Armada of Light Escort Carriers and one hybrid new model USN destroyer. Their hulls bled their hull charges in now familiar contrails of whitish blue spiraling wisps of plasma like the foam off the prows of the romanticized warships of old.

Mac took in a long slow shaky breath as the shining blue orb of a world he dared not hope to see again flashed into view and quickly began to grow in the dome window that represented the crowning feature of Excelsior’s forward observation gazebo. A familiar pair of precious arms ensconced him as Lyri wrapped her arms around his chest, pressing her lithe body against his back and wrapping her tail around his waist. She knew what he felt, it rang through their shared existence in waves of joy, apprehension, longing, and relief. He smiled as he felt her head rest on his shoulder and felt her soft breath on his neck, “I’m ok, luv. This is just… I never….” His voice failed him as he placed a slightly shaky hand on the layered Lexan dome that protected them from the void.

Lyri’s lips brushed his ear, “Shh, I know… She’s beautiful. Earth is beautiful… Show her to me.” She whispered before letting out a squeak as he spun to scoop her about the waist and their lips met.

Mac pulled away after doing a thorough job of melting his wife with the heat of passion, “We stop at the Bridge first. I must transition the Fleet to the Luna Shipyards.” He smirked as he watched Lyri recover her composure.

10 minutes later, they stepped onto the bridge, contact was made with Luna Shipyard and the handoff was made. Apparently, new ships were awaiting the current crews of his fleet to take back to Unity space, after training and familiarization cruises were completed. Soon Mac and Lyrian slipped into Concord after donning their Void suits. The preflight checks were completed quickly, and the now familiar flash of memory and emotion flared through their minds as Concord Started up and the Alpha Synce initialized. Mac keyed in their Squak code into his hybrid Delmar/Terran Transponder and the Hanger doors of Tranquility soon released Concord as she howled into the void, dashing for the cradle world of humanity with her customary aggressive baying violence of grace.

Neither one spoke. Inside Concord, their’s was a communion of thought and feeling. Over the flights after this new deeper link between them had been discovered possible, something very interesting happened. James Mackenzie and Lyrian Grarzia ceased to exist, only one mind remained. Every Married couple has heard the term, “Two become one”. Inside concord, platitude became reality. Lyrian had summed it up succinctly after their mission to destroy the Vorath outpost, “Concord has a soul now. We are her soul.” Procedures were flown through at the speed of thought linked with occasional physical action by one half of the other. Mac’s Feelings and experience echo’d through Lyrians mind. Her capacity for predictive intuition processed data together less like screens and signals, but more like sight and smell and hearing. Mac often found himself closing his eyes in flight and seeing totally through Concord and Lyrian when he didn’t need them for a critical phase of flight or combat. He was not doing so now as he was soaking in every flare of heat and plasma, every coil of high-speed wingtip vortex boiling off of Concord as she pierced the oxygen-rich blanket surrounding the Human Homeworld at many times the speed of light. Sounds of air and turbulence slowly returned as their altitude plummeted and Concord rotated out of her deceleration burn and into her atmospheric configuration. The Pacific Ocean rushed past as Concord’s almost suicidal dive at Mach3 was arrested with Mac’s expert touch. Concord levelled off a mere 50 feet off the wave and bellowed for the west coast of the United States, ATC and airspaces were an afterthought, and soon Concord had decelerated to a much more sedate 1200 Knots as Priority clearances were given all the way to a Arnold’s where Concord would be staying for the Grarzia’s stay on Terra. A team of scientists was there to carefully inspect while Mac and Lyrian spent some well-earned R&R.

*that’s a lot of people* Lyrian’s thoughts whispered through their shared consciousness as they entered the pattern to land on runway 21. The fences were packed 5 and 6 deep of civilians all clamoring desperately for a look inside the airfield.

*Oh boy, I was afraid of this. ‘Hale the conquering hero’* Mac emoted back before keying his com, “Arnold tower Cobra 224, request a low pass. I feel bad not giving at least something to everyone out there.”

*Cobra 224, cleared for a low pass. Just keep out of Mach and it should be fine* came the response

Mac reached for the air brake just as they deployed, for Concord truly did not like to slow down despite being in atmo; and Lyrian left them there until they achieved a stately 300 knots. Mac swung her nose ‘round to the threshold of runway 21 and eased down for the deck. Concord crossed the threshold at a paltry 25 feet from the pavement before Mac snapped Concord into a knife edged “presentation pass” with her cockpit and upper hull presented to the fence before snapping back level and pulling vertical using full military power to howl back into the sky. The next pass was a more sedate landing as Concords tires touched terra for the first time since Departing for her fate under the LEAP program’s first FTL test.

Concord rolled to an appropriate taxi speed and angled off onto the taxiways leading to her assigned hanger, and was greeted by a patchwork of airmen, maintenance personnel, and the familiar white coats of the Science team assigned to learn what Concord had to teach them about the prolonged operation and combat in Unity space, along with her upgrades done by the Delmar Brothers Gremm. One man stood out among the rest, The Base commander strode up to Concord moments after her landing and waited patiently as the shutdown procedures were completed. His eyebrow raised slightly as Concord’s Canopy opened earlier than expected and a helmetted sealed figure slid down the ladder before landing on the hangar’s smooth foundation.

Mac’s helmet retracted into its suit on command before extending a hand to the Base commander. No salutes were exchanged as they were part of different branches, but a firm polite handshake broke the ice, “Commodore James Mackenzie Grarzia” He smiled at the grizzled older man.

“Commander Pete Sullivan. I assume you are the reason for all the consternation?” he asked politely, yet also undoubtedly annoyed.

“Unfortunately, Commander, I guess I’m kind of famous for surviving the typical Human test pilot stupidity.” Mac chuckled, releasing the older man’s hand.

“Mackenzie, Well fuck me, Your James “BigMac” Mackenzie.” Recognition swept over his face as he put it all together, “I guess I’m going to need to deal with this the whole time you are here?” he groaned.

“Hopefully not, let it leak that we aren’t staying. In fact, if everything went according to plan, our ride should be stowed in the corner of this… ah, there she is” Mac smiled as he spotted a set of massive balloons like tires underneath a high-winged taildragger in the corner.

“Ah you mean that big, tired bastard. Yea, she got her a few weeks ago, fresh out of annual” The commander nodded. “I guess you will be departing in ‘er? She’s not my cup, but she does strike a pose. I can respect that.”

“Aye Commander we will, but I have an idea. Do you have any other traffic coming in today?” Mac asked diplomatically.

“Not for another 3 hours or so. What do you have in... whoa.” He was interrupted as Lyrian, who had been throwing their luggage into the central cargo lift of Concord, had finished up and casually walked up to both before popping her helmet’s seal and retracting it into her suit. “You must be Ms. Grarzia.” The commander said before extending a hand to the first ever Extra-Terrestrial to publicly make planetfall on Terra. “I didn’t realize that Delmar could survive in Human Gravity.”

“It took a long time to get here” she smiled, Mac noticed, with a very triumphant and HUMAN toothy grin. “Your world is extraordinary; I can’t wait to be shown more of it.” Lyrian said in perfect English before pausing and looking over to Mac who had wandered out to the edge of the hanger doors and then slowly walked out into the sunlight. Turning toward the grass he slowly knelt and ran his right hand through the blades of green with his eyes closed as he took in his homeward without the need for flight profiles or procedures. He stayed there a full minute, before picking a wildflower from a patch of color on the ground and walked back into the hanger before slipping It over the ear of Lyrian and turning to the commander.

“I’m sorry commander. It’s been a long time since I even thought I could hope to come back... It’s a bit overwhelming right now.” Mac said solemnly.

“I think I understand. Concord is in good hands; we will send you updates on what we find.” The commander said before shaking both of their hands and turning to head through the inner door of the hanger.

Lyrian pulled the flower from her ear and took a deep inhale of its scent, “wow, so different. It’s sweet, I like it. So, where are we going next.”

“First, we change. Then we take the Maule” Mac stated tilting his head toward the white, maroon, and blue aircraft sitting on positively enormous tires. Lyrian stood there looking at it in confused intrigue for a moment before catching her day pack that held her regular clothes. A few moments later, the two of them were hefting their luggage into the side doors of a M7-420 Maule. Mac walked around the aircraft doing a thorough walk around before climbing into the left side seat of the turboprop-powered taildragger.

Lyrian was sitting in the copilot seat staring blankly at the circular dials and nobs and levers, “Ok… where’s the reactor controls... This all looks ancient..”

“Ancient tech, yes. But all of this is a relatively new manufacture. The Maule has no reactor, she burns jet fuel to spin that propeller... Mac said before flicking through a few switches. A high-pitched whine began low in volume but increased as the propeller began to spin slowly. The Allison turbine began to spin up as the propeller began to growl before Mac unfathered it and the sound settled low frequency rumbling roar of the prop spinning accompanied by the high-pitched whine of turbine exhaust.

Mac called up the tower and told them they were ready and began taxiing. He exited the hanger before Lyrian’s eyes widened as he turned left and taxied onto the grass and began trundling toward the fence at a brisk walking pace.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Jezz held on tightly to Warrens arm as the two of them stepped off the shuttle onto the foundation of the surface domes that represented half of Tranquility station/ Luna Shipyards. He had been given leave to act as liaison between the Elerians and Humanity and was thus attached to their defacto leader Jezzaria in an official capacity. A gaggle of the older survivors followed them while the younger of them, mere children, stayed behind.

Jezz grunted slightly as the gravity shifted. Luna was close to Eleria’s gravity, but still heavier. “Ooof, so this is Luna gravity.”

“You going to be, ok?” Warren asked, letting her lean on him as she felt the extra weight for the first time.

“No… no, I need to get used to this, but I don’t think I could fly easily in this gravity” She admitted.

“Not much space to fly I’m afraid. These places weren’t built for angels.” Warren absently responded, carefully watching for their surface side contact.

“Angels? I don’t follow.” Jezz asked and Warrens brain realized what he said. She noticed him become a particular shade of pink before stammering for a second.

“Sorry, it’s a mythical being from a few of our religious legends. Some still believe in them.” Warren recovered before seeing who he was looking for. Waving to a man in a USN Uniform. A few pleasantries later Warren had a map to guide the refugees to their quarters. A fresh wing had been emergency fabricated for the Elerian’s to aid in their comfort while next steps were decided. The maps were handed out to the group and the small but spartanly comfortable were looked over before the older of the survivors began going to retrieve the others. Warren and Jezz were left alone in the “Elerian quarter” as she stepped into her quarters for the second time, looking around for more than just functionality.

“So this is our life now...” She said leaning her hip up against the small countertop in the open-concept kitchen/ dining room/living room space. she sighed before stepping into the middle of the room, Elerian clothing had long since accommodated their wings, and Jezzaria’s short feathers extended from the base of her head down her back and widened out to her wing “roots” before ending in a long taper down to her lower back. Jezz was wearing a low-backed sun dress at the moment to free her wings and turned around to face him before flaring out her wings to their full span, “At least I can properly stretch out a little.” She said, “So when are we taking the next step?”

“You will be meeting with the foreign affairs delegate in a few days. Excelsior is getting a once over since we are here, before departing for our next expedition.” Warren stated contemplating the sequence of events as he spoke. He looked up and noticed Jezz’s look, “What’s wrong?”

“You are leaving? With Excelsior…” her voice wavered around the edges, she folded her wings around herself, “I thought you were our Liaison.”

Warren heard the fear, “I will be, for the time being, but I’m no diplomat. I am supposed to introduce you and get the ball rolling, but..” He was cut off by Jezz taking quick steps toward him with eyes welling before flaring out her wings and wrapping him up in a desperate full body hug, with her wings wrapped around the both of them.

“Don’t say it… I can’t hear it… I don’t want… I need you to stay.” Her shorter stature had her head buried into his chest as he returned her hug and cupped the back of her head.

“I know, but I have orders. I can’t abandon them...” Warren said gently, “I don’t want to go either, but I don’t have a choice.” He whispered into the top of her head.

She looked up at him with tears in her eye’s, “How long… How long do I have, with you” She murmured up at him.

Warren hurt at her phrasing, but tried to stay strong, “one week, maybe two… We need to get more supplies to the exploration team on your planet. It’s become a recovery mission…”

She nodded before putting her head back down on his chest, “I know, I know it has to be done. But I lean on you Warren, I don’t know if I can do this without you...”

“You will still have me” Warren whispered. “You can contact me any time through subspace…”

“It’s not the same” Jezz whispered, “It’s not the same as this” she squeezed him “I need this too.” She whimpered into his chest.

Warran put his chin gently on the top of her head, rubbing her down like back feathers up and down in a slow motion that had soothed her in the past, “need what?” he asked, his heart was pounding in his chest.. He didn’t want to go. He knew he was going to have to board Excelsior and part with Jezz for months or even years. He cared for her, but never tried to pursue it because of her situation. She needed a friend, a sounding board. She had never acted towards him as anything other than a frie…

Warren’s thoughts were forcefully interrupted by Jezzaria shifting from her embrace and lifting up on her toe’s, pressing her lips to his…