Beyond Light

Beyond Light.

Before John left the directive office, President O’Donnell told him to pass by the dressers located at the bottom of the installations. There he would be given a new uniform, as well as his new commander insignia. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw them; the uniform was a unique design made for the secret project.

Contrary to the white color that predominated in everyone’s attire in the INN, —from recruits to admirals—, the color of John's new uniform was matte black, covered by pearl white margins on the sleeves, collar, and the plackets on the jacket, which was an asymmetrical design that started on the right side of the neck and ended in the left side of the pants pockets. 

On the right side of his chest, the five stars emblem patch of the INSU was placed next to the PFSR’s emblem: the side-facing bear head covered by thunders. On the left side, the four gold bars being transversed by a star were; the insignia of his new rank as a commander. His black boots were firm and smooth to use, being the perfect combination of combat and formal footwear.

There was another detail on the left arm; the emblem of a single white line making the upper part of a cat’s head. Below it, two frowning eyes and a dot making a nose were printed. 

Project: BLACKCAT. John understood it. For that mission, they needed to be stealthy and agile, just like a black cat stalking through the night. He wondered who decided to use an animal like a cat for the codenaming of the operation. They managed to make a sleek design that somehow didn’t look out of place or cutely bold. 

He looked at himself in the mirror; they nailed the perfect size for his fit body. Did they hire some fashion designers to design it? He had not seen a service attire as stylish in his whole career.

He left the dresser. The hangar where the Beyond Light was stationed was only at some corridors on the same floor level. He pulled out his holopad to get a better glimpse of the project’s expedient. Surely he could—

"Woah!" he almost tripped over. Someone bumped into him as he turned around a corner. “Hey, watch off, you godd—” the unmistakable voice interrupted itself.

John regained balance and turned off the screen of his holopad; in front of him was a particular person he didn’t expect to find there in the least. His heart skipped a joyful beat.

“...Mike?!” he frowned in confusion with a surprised smile. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

Mike Sean smiled back. He wore the same black and sleek uniform design as John, except that it had printed his flight ensign insignia; a blue bar of golden margins. He had also not shaved his brown beard, which never grew more than 1 centimeter. The hazel of his eyes looked with joy at him and both gripped hands and hugged each other tightly.

“Hehe. Here's where I wanted to find you, Johnny! What do you mean, by the way?” Mike mocked. They let each other go. “It just so happens that they needed the best of the best in pilotage, so one day they presented to me the offer to work on this mission. They also told me you were going to be the lead, so, how could I deny?”

“Mikey, always gotta be so protective, huh?” both chuckled.

“C’mon, you know that you can’t count on anyone else but me for this super dangerous mission. Besides, every time you get in trouble it's me who ends up saving you. So you're really lucky we’re gonna work together.”

“I’m pretty sure It’s always the other way around,” John playfully swirled his eyes. 

He had begun to miss Mike; they had not seen each other since they said goodbye in New Belfast, six months ago shortly after the Eternity of Return took off. Knowing that he was going to be with him raised John's spirit a bit.

"Hehe, you know that’s not true,” responded  Mike. “By the way, have you seen your ship already?” 

“Only through a holographic model. How is it?” they began to walk. Both had for the destination the hangar.

“Man, you aren’t gonna believe it. It’s such a beauty! I had not seen a masterpiece like her ever since I got rejected to pilot the Eternity of Return. I’m now kinda glad I was.”

John smiled but didn’t respond. He remembered when Blair excitedly told him about his approval for becoming the vice-captain of the dreadnought. He felt good for him, although he didn’t know how to feel at that moment considering what happened. 

Serving aboard the Eternity of Return had become Blair’s dream. What was better, the current reality where he fulfilled his dream and was now stranded —possibly dead?— or him being home alive and well, but with his illusions broken? Those were questions John could not stop asking himself.

“By the way, sorry about Blair,” Mike lowered his voice. “It must be hard for you, but I promise you that we will do our best to find him on the other side and bring him back alive,” he smiled John a comforting grin and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks,” John returned his smile. “I wish it was as simple as that, though. We are going to have the best ship and the best people, but we don’t know what we’ll be facing. We might not even return alive.”

“C’mon,” Mike wrapped his arm around John’s shoulder and neck. “Have some faith! We go there, find the Eternity of Return, and kick the ass of whoever those ships are, be it the feddies or some alien bastards. We return home victorious, get decorated, and drink beer and play video games together. It will be like the old times! Think about it.” 

John left out a chuckle of relief; he knew that maybe Mike was being too oddly optimistic about the situation, but maybe optimism and someone telling you that it was going to be alright was what he needed. He had spent the last week sleeping late and drinking cheap Venusian Rum, trying to process things in an overthinking parade every night.

“So now, cheer up!” Mike let him go, playfully punching his shoulder. “Your new crew is on the hangar next to our gorgeous ship waiting to know you. And man, there are some really hot girls around there! They are going to be on the same ship as us! Tell me if this could get any better already! maybe you make yourself a girlfriend this time.”

John chuckled, shaking his head. He had even begun to miss Mike’s teasings about women. They reached the end of their last corridor, where a metallic gate blocked the way to the only hangar in the buried facilities. The door automatically spread in half when they approached, releasing a curtain of white fume. When it dissipated and they crossed to the other side, what John saw made him drop his jaw. 

The INN Beyond Light. Finished and ready to go. Seeing it through President O’Donnell’s holoprojector was one thing, but witnessing its colossal size in person made John petrify, feeling small and defenseless.

He never expected her to be that big. Painted in matte black, the ship extended up to some 160 meters in height, 900 in width, and at least 800 meters in length. She could have been easily classified as a light cruiser or a medium-sized frigate if she didn’t have already an unofficial classification. 

She was so towering that she extended up to bypass at least 20 of the working platforms cramming the walls of that hangar, which was as tall as one kilometer. John looked up and he understood: the metallic silo he saw before entering the installations covering a 1000km² square area was right above them.

“C’mon,” Mike’s voice pulled John out of his astonishment. “get aboard this thing. It’s tiresome to walk to the other side.” 

He honked the horn of a small four-wheeled maintenance vehicle: the Quokka. It was like a roofless golf car, except that it was used to carry small cargo or move personnel through ample working areas.

John got aboard, and Mike drove next to the main platform where the Beyond Light was stationed. Had she performed any flights already? was she just assembled? that was the most likely option. With Project: BLACKCAT under confidentiality grade: OMEGA, neither the ISI nor the URB would have liked to assemble the ship on a more open shipyard.

“She's such a beauty to look at, isn’t she?” Mike drove, bypassing workers in overalls and yellow helmets. “I dare to say she’s even more gorgeous than those chicks who’re gonna be with us!”

“Hehe, clean the saliva off your mouth,” mocked John, but truth was that he was also hypnotized by the stealth ship. 

Most other vessel designs in both the INSU and PFSR had more rough and unclean appearances. One could easily spot where the rivets were located among their hulls. They also had more square and faceted surfaces, as well as exposed beams and extra armor planks, prioritizing more function over form.

That was not the case with the Beyond Light. It was as if her whole hull was made of a single carcass, polished and smoothed like a luxurious civilian cruiser. Her weapon bays didn’t have any ugly softening or supporting systems showing up; they were likely all integrated inside the ship. 

It made sense. For regular ships, placing some of those system parts separated from the hull would help to reduce stress on the structural integrity, help the cooling systems, and facilitate repairs, but that would not be optimal for a stealth ship like her. The radiation inhibitors, the radar refractors, or the heat dissipators needed to fully cover the hull, or they could emit traces and allow being discovered.

“There is everyone!” announced Mike. They had driven for about 3 minutes when they reached the other side. 

The rear part of the Beyond Light became visible; at the bottom of her wide wings, two propulsors were located on each side, separated by the long, pointy tail of the ship. Around the edge of the main platform in a wide area, a conglomerated crowd of at least 100 people stood, wearing uniforms of similar design to John’s and Mike’s, except that they had various white parts instead of being fully matte black. 

He also spotted a figure wearing white and golden; Admiral Frost was there.