Final Exam by Rob Astor (free novel 24 .TXT) 📕

/> The void between stars was like the void in his life. His family was gone. He didn’t know if they were dead or alive. Simply vanished without a trace. All thanks to the New Zimlliaans. The same people who created the math he was working on now.
The next problem Xack tackled was a theoretical problem. However, the math implied otherwise. He was instructed to plot a course through time by way of skipping past at least five alternate realities. Xack stared at the words, grasping their possible probabilities.
If this was the same math the New Zs used to travel through space, Xack could theoretically plot a course back in time to rejoin his family. The implication was staggering. Even The Theory Of Relativity explained once an object reached the speed of light, it was possible to appear anywhere in the universe. Xack’s heart pounded in his brain. Excitement swelled within his chest.
Every part of Xack’s being told him it had to be true. Going home was a very real possibility. Rob had been captured by the New Zimlliaans. They sent him to a future time where he underwent a physiological transformation. Rob was sent back to nearly the same point in time as his departure. This equation was the same basic concept. Xack could plot a course home. If only he had the equipment to open his own personal wormhole!
Xack suddenly appreciated the irony of studying the New Zimlliaan mathematics of Fifth Dimensional Spatial Trigonometry.
* * *
Dressed in his body hugging red and gray team uniform, Xack sat on the edge of the bed, pulling hyperpulsion powered skates on over his white socks. Matt and Kip were engaged in a friendly rivalry over a holographic video game. Linka read from a book of poetry. She occasionally glanced at the pair, smirking. Rob was working on exam problems at his desktop computer. An inverted triangular holographic display, spreading two meters by two meters, hovered in the air in front of him.
Xack stood. He touched a control on the belt, causing him to lift off the floor by six inches. “I gotta get to practice.” Xack started for the door, Kip waving a hand without looking at him.
“Hey!” Rob’s voice caused Xack to jump. He was painfully nervous. Equations filled Xack’s head, their possibilities creating a tantalizing tangle he needed to unravel. Xack paused, not looking back. He didn’t want Rob to see what was going on inside
Rob came over to Xack. He was at eye level thanks to the hoverskates. “You okay, Xack? You’ve been quiet all day. I feel a little put off.” Rob’s lips turned up slightly in the corners.
Xack nodded. But his expression was less than convincing. “You’re not shutting me out again, are you?” Rob ventured. Rob tired to imply humor to mask his anxiety.
“No,” Xack said. “It’s the Spatial Trig. exam. My brain is running in a million directions.” That was true. Equations and diagrams slipped through his mind’s eye on a never-ending scroll.
Rob studied Xack’s face. Xack didn’t feel Rob’s telepathy working into his mind. “What about it being your mom’s birthday?”
Xack took a breath, looking down for a moment. “I need to deal with it myself. Thanks for not probing into head, Rob.”
Rob smiled. He didn’t understand. Rob wanted to support Xack. Right now, letting Xack deal with his troubles himself was all the support Xack needed. “I need to go to the ship later. You want to tag along?”
Sudden excitement rushed through Xack. He had to fight to hold back the visible effect of the jolt pulsing through him. Here was Xack’s chance to see if he could find the technology to send himself home! Xack’s face grew bright with anticipation. “Yeah,” he stammered. Xack had to force the emotional level down. Rob could feel Xack’s emotions when they were too strong. And if Rob peered into Xack’s thoughts and motives, Xack hopes and plans would quickly unravel. “I’ll be back in about three hours.” Xack added the information quickly, hoping to divert Rob’s telepathic instincts.
Rob gave Xack a brotherly hug. Xack returned the embrace. Xack pulled back, almost too quickly, and skated down the corridor. He was as excited as he had been in class that morning. Xack had to seize this opportunity.
* * *
Seated next to Rob in the hovercar, Xack concentrated on the holographic image projecting from his laptop. Xack had his math book open to the left. He flipped between pages to check a problem he scribbled in a notebook held in his right hand. Frustrated, he sighed. Xack crossed out part of his work and wrote down another series of symbols and numbers.
Keeping an eye on air traffic over the freeway, Rob glanced in Xack’s direction. “Need help with something?”
“I can only get one set of coordinates to agree in this probabilities equation. I should be smart enough to figure out a few more.” Xack sounded disgusted with himself.
“Why don’t you take a break for awhile, Xack? You’ve been staying up late studying. You probably just need some rest to clear your mind.”
Xack placed the notebook inside of his textbook. He closed it. Xack shut down the computer. Rob rubbed his left shoulder, but Xack didn’t respond. Xack watched the passing landscape as they neared the city’s perimeter.
“We could’ve waited to leave till you changed.” Rob smiled at him.
Xack chuckled. He still wore his hoverskate team uniform and hyperpulsion boots. “I was in a hurry to get out for awhile.”
Much like when they first arrived in Albany, New York by way of Cleveland, Ohio, Rob’s vehicle passed through a New Zimlliaan Boom Tube, a miniature warp hole. In a split second, they exited Albany and neared Lake Placid. All the cities the New Zs picked as spaceports were connected by warp holes. This made trading easy. And they kept the general human population from knowing exactly what had happened between those lucky chosen cities where life continued with some sense of normalcy. Between them, life was anything but normal.
Exploring some of the New Zimlliaan’s interconnecting trade lanes, Xack and his friends accidentally wound up in Tokyo not long ago. They also made regular runs into Florida. Much of their travel time involved helping create more resistance fronts against the aliens before all human civilization was completely replaced.
Xack grew nervous with excitement. They were close. He wanted to know how long Rob planned to stay this evening. Xack needed to find out if there was a smaller version of the tachyon drives powering the mammoth alien vessels. “What did you need to pick up that couldn’t wait until this weekend, Rob?”
“Some software.”
Xack spoke slowly, feeling Rob out without the benefit of telepathy. “Would you mind if I did some research in the ship’s main database?”
“Of course not. We can always stay the night if it gets too late.” Rob smiled at Xack. Xack grinned because of Rob’s pun. Xack felt like he was very close to accomplishing something he never dared dream possible.
* * *
Quiet inside the hulk of the New Zimlliaan mothership was total, final. Part of the reason was the sheer size of the triangular craft. At rest, there was no humming from internal mechanisms. No vibrations from the repulsion and propulsion systems. The other part of the reason was because the ship was submerged below Lake Placid, hidden from the New Zs.
An alien turncoat named Puck had captured this mothership. Puck didn’t want to see Earth turned into a vast agricultural colony. He was the single biggest asset the resistance front had. Without Puck’s help, Albany might never have been liberated, let alone some of the other cities currently free from New Zimlliaan occupation. This ship offered the resistance group a secure base of operations. It was their safe retreat and kept them out of danger.
Transparent alloy viewports shimmered with dark, shadowy colors. Light filtered down through the water in long shafts, ethereal curtains dancing slowing in the airless liquid. Xack felt like he was in a reversed aquarium whenever he was here. The fish held them captive and watched their activities, fascinated by human behavior.
Alone at the moment, Xack studied a list of equipment on board this spacecraft from the computer’s holographic display. He searched with various keywords, growing frustrated when results came back with something other than what Xack sought.
Trying a new tactic, he cleared the screen. Xack ran through keywords related to Fifth Dimensional Spatial Trigonometry. He then searched equipment logs. Xack’s heart skipped a beat when he found there were smaller Tachyon Manipulators. From what he read, these were used to create the warp holes connecting spaceport cities.
Excited, he frantically called up a map. To his surprise, there was a storage area near the small landing bay Puck had flooded for he and Rob to use as a pool. Xack wanted to cheer. He wanted to jump up and down. But, if Rob felt Xack’s excitement, Xack was certain Rob would try to talk him out of this idea of going back home.
Xack couldn’t tell Rob his plans and Xack felt badly for it. What if he asked Rob to come with him? His thoughts raced with ways to try and explain this to Rob. Xack couldn’t simply leave his best friend and not tell Rob goodbye. If only he could feel Rob out, convince him to go back in time to just over a year before. Xack knew things could be different. The dangers didn’t matter. Xack only knew he needed to go home. He longed to see his family. There was no other rationale for him.
Leaving their spacious room, Xack walked down the corridor toward the large bay serving as a huge swimming pool. The water was calm and clear, filtered by one of the ship’s many environmental systems. Heart hammering in his chest, Xack kept watching over his shoulder. He felt like a criminal, sneaking around and keeping this huge secret.
Finding the storage bay, Xack pushed the entry button on the side of the bulkhead. The metal door slid open. With the schematic firmly etched in memory, Xack knew what he was looking for. He searched racks and crates, coming to the end of a row. Sitting there on the floor in the corner was the device he sought.
Its metal surface was polished. Control pads rested in the top, around a circular perimeter. A crystal-like device poked from the center along the side. Holding his breath, Xack reached out, placing his fingertips on the Tachyon Manipulator. Here was his ticket home.
* * *
Blowing out a huge sigh of relief, Xack pushed the cart back into the storage area and sealed the door. He’d managed to transport the heavy device to Rob’s hovercar and safely pack it away into one of the many storage compartments in the side. Now, if only Xack could get the math perfect.
Standing at the side of the pool, Xack stared into the water. Footsteps sounded, rushing up