Down Time

I was there when the Commonwealth died.

I suppose we were lucky here on Aphrodite, the biggest agricultural world in 10 parsecs. It wasn't for years, decades, till the old style radio messages came in from the other worlds.

I was there the day the last ship came in. And I was there when the first ship tried to depart, and failed the translation to isomorphic space.

And I was there, months later, when the Lexington flew by. The Lexington was a proud ship of the line. She came into the system at .75c, spit from Isomorph space like a juiceberry seed. She was crippled, and none of our vessels had the delta-vee to make an intercept, much less a rescue.

And I was there, when the doomed crew passed on the message that was transmitted through the fabric of Isomorph before it went away.

"Secondary Ontology Terminated for Upgrades. Down for 1 galactic rotation"

It's been 50 years now. I've heard the Jyslon Shiphive managed to hold on, and they've launched some slow torchships. For the rest of us, the long wait is just beginning.

[Toast's Homepage] [Toast's Furry Art] [Short Short Story Index] [The Mayor of FurryMUCK]

Space for this page provided by PPSI Educational Software