Pennybrooke stories

[Karst]

CHAPTER SIX – EDWIN

The corridors of the LL-Pennybrooke were barely recognizable at the moment. Panels missing everywhere, exposing the ship's circuitry. All her exquisite wooden and golden parts covered in protective plastic sheeting. The engine room a mess of disconnected tubing, boxes of replacement components and tooling, and scaffolding along the walls.
But mostly, it was the emptiness that Edwin noticed, walking around his ship aimlessly.
Of course, she felt rather empty without passengers, but at the moment even the crew was gone, and as BMM's workers were on break, he was the only living soul on board.
At least I hope I am, he thought, looking around.
There was something unsettling about a mostly darkened, very large but entirely empty ship. Even his own.
But all that didn't matter, all that mattered was that work was being done and eventually, she would fly again.

***

Edwin was pacing back and forth on the LL's bridge, barely concealing his excitement. Once the final checkups were completed, the LL would take flight for the first time in...how long had it been? It seemed like an eternity to him.
Where would he even go first? He had been traveling in the meantime, of course, mostly racing around in the Moonmoth and occasionally taking a trip with the Drifting Lantern, but none of the places he liked to visit was as enjoyable as it was on his liner.
The most obvious choice would be to go everywhere. Just a long trip, all around Sirius, from one corner to the next.
With as many passengers as possible, he was tired of the liner feeling so-

THUMP

Edwin rubbed his face, looking up.

"Awf'lly sorry sir, didn't see you there, I just-"
The BMM engineer he had rammed right into extended a hand to help him up, and Edwin grasped it, chuckling.
“No, I'm sorry, my head's in another place right now.”
"Well sir, I've got the good news. All systems are good to go. This ol' girl's ready to leave port."
Edwin just beamed at the man, lost for words.
"Er....right. The last of us will be off your ship in a few minute, and Southampton control will give you the okay."
After gathering his wits for a moment, he called after the engineer.
I- I'd love to invite the entire engineering crew that worked on my darling to her first voyage, we'll be headed, er....somewhere!
"I'm...not sure our scheduling will allow that, but I'll ask. Thank you, sir, it's been a pleasure working on your ship."
Edwin skipped over to the main control panel. This was it. Perhaps he would even get to pick up that charming Gaian he had met on the Moonmoth.

***

It had been a long time since Edwin visited Delta, but it had lost none of its charm.
His only regret was that Freeport 11 just didn't seem as busy as it used to be. Of course, a fancy liner coming in was always a big event here, but the general area seemed unusually quiet.
The normal traffic of Zoner, Order, Core and the occasional Corsair ships was absent, and the LL-Pennybrooke hung outside the Freeport quite alone. His passengers had disembarked, and Edwin once again felt rather alone on his ship.
The place was always good for quiet contemplation, but he had had enough of that in the recent past.

There was a small flock of immature nomads nearby, the kind too young to communicate, and the most numerous out here. They didn't pose a serious danger, but they sure could be annoying.

Suddenly, there was a rather larger blip on scanners. It didn't Edwin long to spot the ship. An Aquilon is not easily missed. Much later, its little escort ship, designated Sentinel-1 came into view as well.
The callsign registration identified the ship as "The Kissaki", and immediately there were strange signals and static coming from it.
Edwin opened a comm channel - no video feed, but a ghostly voice was speaking.

"Ahhh yes, Delta... "

"I- well, wasn't that a bit creepy? Amy! Put on classical music!"

Classical music always helped making an interesting encounter more dramatic.

"Is there an... issue, Pilot?"
"It's a lovely place, isn't it? A bit lonely, perhaps....but not with the right company! It's a real island in the deep, you know. A respite from the chaotic mess around. Everywhere else there's Corsairs, Order, the house governments....it's a real spot of tranquility."

"I see...
Sometimes... it can be ironic, sometimes... Just maybe sometimes... "

Another strange signal came from the vessel, and the escort ship responded.

[[CMD-GU433- 01]] [[CMD- Accepted]]

"Erm...wow, you people are strange. Have you ever been to Omicron Lost?"

"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me for a second."

[[STATIC]]

"Hm, well....I suppose it would be a bit depressing now, anyway. I'd like a full ship when I go there.
"Hm?"

Edwin sighed dramatically.

"It seems the desire of passengers to leave Freeport 11 has dropped. But I can't blame them! I mean, this place is lovely. Just a bit too....quiet for my tastes, I suppose."

"You were... asking about Omicron Lost?"

"Huh? Oh yes. It's a nice place, if you're in a sort of....contemplative mood. If you just need to ponder your existence.

"A place lack of humanity, the purest of... peace. "

"Well you see, I quite love humanity! I like being with people, I mean....that's why I became a liner captain. Wouldn't be a very good liner captain if I despised humanity now, would I?"

"Obviously. The message within was not pure negativity.. "

*ahem* "Well...hmm...should I make a quick trip? I just wish Kathy were here....she could appreciate this more than I ever could, honestly....Even though I'm very good at appreciating things!"

Once again, Edwin found himself wondering what his sister was up to. It was places like these that reminded him most of her.

"A quick trip to Lost? It seems that we have... forgot to refuel our tanks. A moment if you will. "

The huge carrier moored with the Freeport, and a few minutes later they were ready to leave.

"I'm setting a course for Lost. Let's do a quick flyaround of Moros at least, alright?"

The Pennybrooke's scanners indicated slight movement on board the Kissaki, but there didn't seem to be any life signals. It transmitted another command to the Sentinel.

[[CMD-Sentinel, TGT. "Pennybrooke" – Escort]]

"Erm....I think my crew might be slightly tired of my escapades at some point, but- I guess that time hasn't come yet!"

"The ship needs to... "feast on the darkness" so to speak... "

"Uh...what?"

"Do not worry. Energy converse.
Escapades..?"

"You know, when I randomly break off to- but seriously, what was that about feasting on darkness? That's like, not a normal thing to say."

"Solar energy. "

"Solar energy is the opposite of feasting on- huh?"

"Sometimes the.. ship just needs to.. "feast". Not literal feast."

Edwin had no idea what his strange companions meant, but this seemed as good an explanation as any.

"Well....alright then! Feasts are always good!"

"Solar chemical reactions on the hull. "

"But we need to be very serious going in here."

"Now why would that be?"

"It's a very serious place. You know, there used to be a base, way, way out here....I visited it once."

"There were many of a base. "

"There's something strange about this place. When you head to the other side of the star, it all goes dark. It's natural darkness, but combined with the darkness of being on the edge of human civilization.
This is it. There is nothing beyond. The eastern border of the Edge nebula..."

"And some may wonder what lays beyond."

"Who doesn't? Isn't pushing the boundaries of what we know the most....erm.....primeval of human drives?"

"Of course. "

***

Things did not get any less disconcerting as their peculiar convoy made its way back to Delta, and further through the Omicrons and Omegas.
Every now and then, Edwin's companion ships would release strange energy signals, unusual light, or unintelligeble comms. Obviously their crew were not human, but an AI of some sorts.
A rather strange sort, it seemed.
They talked about his past, his adventures with Katherine, and various other things like human nature and sandwiches.
As usual, Edwin hardly noticed that he was the one talking almost incessantly.
The Kissaki's "crew", or whatever he could call it, identified itself as "the Omnicient", well the escort's pilot, weirdly, called himself "Marcus Newell". Or something of the sorts, the transmissions from that ship seemed to be scrambled in some way.

Wanting as always to take an exciting, scenic route, Edwin decided to take the party to the dark, heavily irradiated wasteland of Omega-58.

"I wish I had Kathy's Coalition visa. Now 52, that would be a memorable trip."

"Ah the Coalition. Don't usually see them around... "

A quiet signal from the Kissaki was heard....life support offline.

"Anyway...let's- er...Was that...? Did you hear that, on your ship?"

"Oh? It was probably nothing. "

At some point, the Sentinel drifted closely past the bridge of the LL, and Edwin thought he saw a glimpse of something in the corner, something that looked like a body...

"From fearless pioneers of the Omicrons, to- Huh....uhm. Are you sure everything's alright on there?"

Although the main comms didn't seem to be active, he heard an ominous response.

"Yes. "

"Hrm...well. You people are really, really weird. And I don't really want to know what's going on on your ships."

There were still unknown signals coming from the ships, nothing that matched any known signature.

"Why are we really weird? Care to clarify?"

"Well I keep getting strange energy pulses, and, er....other weird signals. But no life or anything..."

"You're right, maybe. "

"But who am I to judge, you followed me all the way here so clearly you're good companions! Let's go! We're taking the scenic route."

"We thank the hosts for the ships they provided... "

"Er, right. You do that."

"Well, you were the one curious of our... weirdness. "

"Well your strange statements explain nothing!"

"How?"

"How? How they explain nothing? Erm, well. They do not."

"It explains the.. "weird signals" ?"

"I still don't really understand. But it doesn't really matter. You've travelled all the way from the far Omicrons with me. I don't really care why you're weird. You can be weird all you want."

"The question is, is apathy really the smart decision?"

"No, it isn't apathy. It's just....you've been great companions, and it doesn't really matter to me why you're weird."

"And yet you're not.. unsettled by what we are? Or... what you've noticed?"

"I don't even understand what you are, but if you deal with thousands of different people every day on a regular basis, as liner captains tend to do, you develop your own sort of, erm...approach to interactions."

"Do you even wish to understand what "I" am?"

"Oh, of course I do. I'm always curious about the backgrounds of people I meet.
But first, we must clear this zone. This might be a rough ride."

Eventually, they broke free of the darkness and into the beaming sunlight of Omega-47. Edwin however was beginning to feel more and more uneasy, even the sandwich he had gotten did little to alleviate the sensation. His head hurt from all the concentrated weirdness this trip had piled upon him, and he decided to retire to the bar for the time being, leaving Amy in charge.

"The time just seems to.. go on.. We need to 'feast' ... we need to 'rest' ...Energy conversation is needed. "

"Yes- of course. All organisms need that. Although I'm a bit confused here, sorry."

[[NANO-CONVERSION ONLINE]] [[Power low]]

"Amy Whitney here, chief navigator. Uhm....Mr Pennybrooke took his sandwich and kind of left the bridge."

"Perhaps... it is time to.. seperate ways, shortly. "

She sighed mildly.

"He does this a lot. Sometimes I feel I fly this ship more than he does...."

"Perhaps boredom is the victor here. "

"He needs to have some sort of meaningful conversation at the bar, no doubt. Like he always does. Only we aren't flying passengers. Nobody's there, it's just him and the bar staff."

"Fascinating. Perhaps he needed time to... relocate himself?"

All systems on the Kissaki now seemed to be offline, weapons, life support, everything.

"I don't mean to pry, but your signal just dropped completely. You alright over there?"

"You need not concern. "

"Well. Edwin can deal with whatever strange things he's gotten himself into this time when he gets back. I, er, I'm just the navigator."

"I see. "

The voice was peculiar, neither clearly female or male, just strangely neutral.

"How are you even- how are you even sending those messages with no power?"

She looked back and forth between the comm panel and the bridge's windows nervously.

"The question is, am I even sending a message? ... Or perhaps if I.. "

The ship's comm's were turned on once again, with video feed. The bridge seemed empty, with some rubble and debris strewn about but nothing else, and very dark.

"Jar'ihb? Niru'-y yarinzi"

More strange noises followed. Amy was not at all comfortable anymore.

"I really don't know what Mr. Pennybrooke got himself into now, but I want no part in it!"

Now there was a clicking, strangely insectoid noise, and unpleasant creaking noises from the ship's hull. Suddenly, there was movement in the corner of the screen, but before Amy could look closer the feed cut out to static.

"One must.. translate..Pure... vocality does not... work"

Now genuinely fearful, Amy backed away from the comms panel.

"Look, I don't care what- jesus. What the hell is going on over there?"

"No. I am not of xeno origin... Nothing is going on... If you were in danger, you would have been an hour ago... "

"You are one stupid son of a bitch, Edwin-" Amy muttered under her breath.

"I heard that.
I can assure you. Safety is guareenteed from us. I and we, have no reason to harm. "

She tried to compose herself.

"Alright. What sort of crazy ghost ship am I dealing with here?"

"There are no ghosts. The fear, does it unsettle you greatly?"

For some reason, this comment replaced some of her fear with anger.

"No! Because Edwin loves getting us into situations like this, apparently! This isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to us!"

"I can assure you it can get... weirder... by desire. Which is unneeded. This Edwin, he claims that you and your passengers love the.. fear?"

"Sorry, I- *she sighs* Well, he loves excitement. And honestly, so do most people. If you book a tour of the southern Omegas, you know.....people that want to take trips like that want excitement. Or they'd just go to Manhattan."

"Ah... "

"Edwin has a way with people, gotta leave him that. He does it well."

"So it seemed... He has an... interesting approach.. "

At that moment, Edwin burst back onto the bridge, walking as if he'd had a few more shots.

"What the hell is going- ""Yes, no, it's fine-" "Just do something here, I don't want to- ""Nono, relax....go down to-"

Seeming to change the subject suddenly, the strange voice spoke again.

"We-... I, must... depart.. shortly"

"Huh? Did I miss anything? Oh!"

Suddenly, scan data on the ship popped up. It appeared to be an old, experimental research vessel.
Edwin frowned, peering over the data. Something about it seemed oddly familiar, or was that just because he was thinking of the RV-Pennybrooke.

The faintest echo of a voice could be heard.

"the feast is must.. the rest is now... my omniscient one... Energy is must.. We seek to darkness, warmth from starlight, darkness providing shelter"

"Alright then, Omni! I have to say, it was great travelling with you."

"Omni, mhrhm... Nicknames do not suit "us" "

"Still never really understood what's going on on that weird ship of yours, but...I like you."

"Self-assigned can be... dangerous. "

There was another energy spike from the ship.

"We must really depart. It is an imperative. "

"Nobody really likes nicknames! But they still stick. On that note, never call me "Ed" or "Eddy"!"

With that, the ships parted ways, Edwin still wondering what it was he had experienced.

END OF CHAPTER SIX

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