Infinite Dark: Awakening
Chapter 4

Sarab returned to her chambers where her mate was taking a nap. Sarab stood over her for a moment, looking down tenderly at Rossiana, her true love.

She knew she had to wake her, Rossiana would never forgive her if she found she had gone on such a mission and not said good bye first.

Sarab lowered her hand to pet Rossiana’s face before pulling back and with a smile and began ruffling her hair instead.

It was brownish orange and sprang out from its binding, exploding out of place and looking very disheveled.

Rossiana awoke with a grunt and eyed Sarab with contempt.

“I hate when you do that…” She said, stretching and trying to contain her wild hair.

“A simple nuzzle would work better.”

“But then I wouldn’t get to see you in such a state Rossy.” Sarab said with a giggle.

She loved how she could be herself around Rossiana, she had to be serious and in charge around her subordinates but here she could be playful and loose.

Rossiana stretched again and arose from bed. She was dressed in a golden gown which flashed as she walked. Her skin was a darker yellow and her indents a touch deeper into her skin and more defined than Sarab’s. Besides this she was of average Stanannokian woman height; 6’6 and trim of figure.

Rossiana was one of the engineers who built the probes they used to monitor alien civilizations without them knowing. She had designed two different kinds herself; both capable of Dark Matter Warping and camouflage unique to the different alien environments.

Sarab sat down on the bed, admiring Rossy as she changed into her blue engineer uniform.

“I’m going on a mission,” She finally revealed.

Rossiana nodded;

“To the rogue black hole everyone is abuzz about?”

Sarab nodded.

“And I suppose you volunteered also?”

Sarab nodded again; looking away this time as she did.

Rossiana sighed;

“I knew you would do something like that… Always trying to prove yourself.”

“This could be a fantastic opportunity for us,” Sarab said, rising from the bed and standing near Rossy. “You are close to being head of the entire engineering division and can then design as many crafts as you like. You could even be the first to find more civilizations to study and be part of the first contact team to greet them.”

“And you?” Rossiana asked, while containing her amorous breasts behind the top buttons of her uniform; “What does Commander Sarab get out of this?”

“Besides the chance to save several planets from a rouge black hole?” She asked; “Well I think this could launch me into politics finally… maybe back home on our planet? I long to go back there so badly.”

“I know you do,” Rossiana said taking her hand and sitting on the bed. “I wish it too…”

They stayed this way for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence.

“I do have some exciting news,” Rossiana said finally.

“Tell me,” Sarab asked.

“I’ll tell you more about it after you’ve returned but it seems we’ve discovered a new civilization in the deep south of the galaxy,” She said excitedly; “I have been asked to design a probe that can observe them but they already seem highly advanced. Maybe not Dark Matter Warp capable yet but they seem to be able to achieve 10x the speed of light capacity.”

“That is impressive.” Sarab marveled; their own people were capable of 20x the speed of light but since the discovery of Dark Matter Warping had not used that technology as often as a result.

“How were they discovered?” Sarab asked.

“They were observing that little blue planet towards the middle, southern part of the galaxy;” Rossy said with a giggle. “The one that is broadcasting to everyone their location with all the signals.”

“Ah yes…” Sarab said with a sigh; “Them.”

They had known that several other races were examining that particular planet; Earth, the majority of the inhabitants seemed to call it.

“Yes;” Rossiana said; “They can’t seem to keep to themselves can they?”

That planet was out of Sarab’s quadrant of the galaxy but she had almost been assigned to that area before her current location.

She had done research on the planet; shocking populated in the Billions! It attracted much attention because few planets ever reached that number; let alone a population of over a hundred million.

They had been polluting the airwaves throughout the galaxy for some time now and were slowly beginning to reach interstellar space with their own crafts; although all indications showed they were some time away from discovering faster than light travel and MUCH farther away from Dark Matter Warping.

They attracted about a half dozen other races to their planet throughout their age. Many thousands of Earthlings had been captured at one time or another; Rossiana and her peers had their hands full tracking the pirates who did so with their probes. Most had been returned safely but over the ages some Earthlings had made their way into the Coalition Community.

It was a better way to understand them and learn about them. They learned quickly but were also like the Odiums and would often attack what they didn’t understand. The council had approved protecting the people and the planet for the time being but would not welcome them fully into the Community until they became more advanced and evolved.

“What of this race then?” Sarab asked.

“They seem to have advanced shields and camouflage technology themselves. I’ve been asked to design a probe which can stay hidden in their atmosphere, mainly carbon based. I plan on testing the prototype within the week.”

“Good,” Sarab said, hugging her mates shoulder; “I’m proud of you.”

Sarab checked her wrist computer and sighed.

“I should go speak to Linguon; she’ll know by now I picked her but I want her to choose to go on her own.”

Sarab rose from the bed but Rossy pulled her arm back gently.

“Sarab…” She began before biting her lip.

“Yes?” Sarab asked concerned.

“The system you are going to; Balanntis, there is only a finite area of Dark Matter to warp around there. If you stray too far away from it and can’t reach it before the black hole gets you…”

She let that train of thought hang in front of them.

Sarab knew what she meant; Dark Matter Warp was very convenient for traveling; but could be tricky at times.

Discovering Dark Matter was one thing; most alien civilizations out there know of it and several more could detect it. But only the Coalition so far had managed to uncover all that Dark Matter had to offer.

Dark Matter is nearly everywhere in space and what they had discovered long ago was that it’s all connected throughout the galaxy. If you have the proper shields and a Dark Matter Engine; an engine that connects your ship with the Dark Matter itself; then it is possible to enter one point of where the Dark Matter is and come out from the other side; even if that point is any distance of light years away.

In this way, a ship with a Dark Matter engine could enter a Dark Matter Cloud at one end of the galaxy and come out on the opposite end of the galaxy in a matter of seconds. Typically, Dark Matter gravitates towards large bodies; suns and gas giants, while occupying much of interstellar space.

It was difficult for their people to invent the technology needed to use Dark Matter to their advantage, but once it was discovered the entire galaxy was opened to the Coalition.

There were dangers associated with this travel of course. Without the proper shields or a DM engine, the ship, and anyone inside it, would be torn apart and blasted to all points of the galaxy, forever apart of the Dark Matter Cloud.

In order for this to work there also must be Dark Matter nearby to travel through; most often there is but when it is further away it helps to have a powerful normal drive within a ship capable of faster than light travel. Otherwise, the traveler is a prisoner to the vastness of space and a DM engine is worthless in normal space.

Sarab understood her concern and gave her a kiss upon her forehead to relieve her worries.

“I promise to be safe; this will be a simple matter. We shall drop the Orb near the Black Hole, wait to see if it stays stationary around the Orb and once it is we will be on our way home. It’s not like a Black Hole does what it does for any reason; once it’s contained we will be home by the morning.”

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