Penumbrials Ch. 01: Penumbra

Ourania wiped part of the board and drew a circle with a stick figure in it. 'Then you know that until the synchronisation is done you're in a sort of neutral state and have less interaction with the rest of the world.'

Dormin nodded. 'With the luck that if something goes wrong your matter reverses back to its original state.'

Ourania drew a circle around the first circle. 'I started wondering if it was possible to create another field encompassing the normal one and use that to conceal it. The few mentions I found about fields interacting made it look like it wasn't possible, but I couldn't let go of the idea and started calculating and experimenting on my own.' She grinned wide. 'And then I found the solution.' She drew lines in the ring made by the circles. 'Dark matter.'

Terry pricked up her ears. 'You're creating a dark matter field?'

Ourania grinned. 'Yes, one just large enough to cover the dimensional transit field.' She drew an arrow going into the ring on one side and one going out at the opposite side. 'Waves going into the field on one side travel through the dark matter field and come out at the other side as if nothing happened.'

Terry frowned in thought for a moment. 'But to accomplish that you need to adjust the fields constantly to keep them synchronised to each other and the dimension you're in.'

Ourania tapped with her pen at several algorithms she had written on the board. 'Indeed. I've only managed to run a small model for a few seconds with the processing power at work. For something the size of this I'd need massive computing power.' She smiled at Terry. 'And I think that's where Ismene can help me.'

Dormin and Adalet let Terry and Ourania discuss the matter of using Ismene and see if she has the capacity to handle Ourania's experiment to them and explored the airship. Ourania had unlocked all parts of the airship so they had free reign. The two headed for the cockpit first.

Adalet examined the controls at the two pilot seats while Dormin looked at the engineer seat. There were loose panels and wiring everywhere. 'Say, do you know how to pilot one of these things? Maybe had some instructions in the military?'

Dormin sat down in the captain's seat after removing a small electronic board and studied the view around him. 'Actually, I did have a few lessons and had to fly a few small ones during missions. They all have the same basic principle.'

Adalet sat down in one of the pilot seats and looked out of the windows in front of her and below at her feet. 'I used to imagine flying to every world in my own one when I was little.' She grabbed the joystick that controlled the airship. 'I was allowed inside one cockpit during a flight with another boy. The pilot explained in simple terms how it worked and said most of the time it was boring, but the great thing was visiting other dimensions. I've been so busy with my work that I haven't yet taken a real good vacation outside of this world.'

Dormin chuckled. 'I've been sent to several dimensions, but not one was a vacation. Only active duty and coming right back after finishing it.'

Adalet got up from the seat. 'Well, now that they're really after us it doesn't matter where we are.'

Dormin gave her a little grin. 'I guess it doesn't.'

Adalet and Terry went through the rest of the ship and learned that there were two floors in the front and rear sections with two main corridors on each floor going from front to back. The top floor was mostly private rooms while the lower floor had the cockpit, lounge and a couple of larger rooms used for dining or meetings in the front section, and kitchen and storage in the rear section. Above the floors were the large cells for the light gasses that lifted up the airships. Now they were empty and Adalet and Dormin could enter each one through a small central corridor.

When they returned to the lounge they found Terry and Ourania busy with Ismene. Terry was typing while Ourania scribbled on a notepad and watched the screens.

Adalet watched the screen full of code. 'I guess you're going to test running this thing with Ismene?'

Ourania looked up at her. 'We believe Ismene can handle the work easily. Terry's writing the code for my algorithms and the interface to the engine management. What do you think of the ship?'

Adalet sat down in a seat close to her. 'Looks simple but effective. The only thing I noticed was the amount of screens in the cockpit.'

Ourania nodded at the drawing on the board. 'When the outer shield is active it blocks everything from outside. The only way to see things is through passive and active sensors. Another reason I needed a powerful computer to run the ship, it needs to convert all that input to images on the screens inside.'

Dormin hummed as he looked out the window at the hall. 'Sounds like being inside a submarine.'

Ourania turned to him. 'Exactly. We're blind with our own eyes so we need to rely on sensors. The only advantage is to actually see something while there's light outside. Only in total darkness would it be the same because we can't shine a spotlight while cloaked. And it would reveal our presence anyway if we could.'

Dormin chuckled. 'Portable eclipse.' The silence behind him was obvious and he turned to the confused women. 'This airship is the full shadow and the dark matter shield is the penumbra between us and the world lit by the sun. Outsiders can't see us in the dark.'

Ourania chuckled. 'Right. You could look at it that way.' Adalet chuckled. 'We'll have to stay in the dark anyway so they won't find us.'

'Done!' said Terry and grinned as she leaned back in her chair. 'We can test the interface.'

Ourania stood up. 'The main interface is in the management system behind the cockpit. We can hook up Ismene there.'

Adalet and Dormin went outside to observe the airship while Ourania and Terry attached a cable from the airship's electronics to Ismene. Terry checked for communication and Ismene reported active connections to all systems. 'We can try it.'

Ourania gave a thumbs up to Adalet and Dormin and activated the airship's ring engines. All four engine panels turned green. 'Power is good, engines are running.' She pushed the button for the engine position control and the four ring engines moved outwards beyond the hull until the were halfway exposed. 'Engines in position, and activating the dark matter shield.' She pushed another button and Adalet and Dormin's eyes grew big when they saw the airship disappear.

'Wow!' said Dormin. 'That's a very neat trick!'

Adalet stared at the seemingly empty hall. 'This is unreal.'

Dormin peered and hummed. 'If you look very closely though, you can see a slight blur appear and disappear in some places.'

Adalet stared hard for a short while. 'Indeed. But you have to know something's there, otherwise you wouldn't notice it.'

Ourania examined the screens with the outside view in the mostly dark cockpit. 'Just as I thought, it's dark within the shield. How's Ismene doing?'

Terry pulled up the activity monitor. 'Oh, she's doing very fine. She could drink tea and eat cookies if she was a person. I'm impressed and surprised at the power she has because I didn't even expect it to be this easy for her to process.'

Ourania came over and examined the various terminal windows with output. 'Damn. I could have done so much more if I had her when I started on my theory and experiments.'

Terry grinned. 'Well, looks like you can start thinking about what to do next.'

Ourania shut down the engines and Adalet and Dormin hurried inside to tell her what they witnessed.

She was thrilled at the news and pulled out a bottle of Sinth, a slightly sweet, yellow, and strong liquor, from underneath a stack of books. 'My father always drank this as a toast when something good happened.' she said as she poured it into four cups from a roll that laid behind the water cooker in the corner. 'Although I think this would be worth four bottles instead of four cups.' She held up a cup. 'To Ismene, who made this possible.'

Dormin held up his. 'To you, who actually invented it.'

Terry held up hers. 'To science, which gives birth to miracles.'

Adalet lifted up her cup and pondered for a moment. 'The heck with it. To any reason for having a drink.'

Everyone chuckled and drank.

Terry coughed. 'Damn! Good stuff.' she rasped.

Ourania nodded. 'You sound like my dad did every time.'

Adalet wiped away a few tears and watched Dormin.

He gave an approving nod. 'Nice.'

Adalet leaned back into the soft couch of the booth they sat in. Despite the age the blue-grey fabric looked barely worn. 'So, what now?'

Dormin, who sat next to her stared into his drink. 'Current status, we're pretty sure we're being targeted and they know enough about us, or at least me, to have found Karl's place. That means I'm cut off from any place I know. And any places you know are suspect.'

Terry glanced at Ismene. 'The data encryption hasn't been cracked yet so we have no idea who's behind it.'

Dormin took a sip and looked at Ourania. 'And due to unfortunate circumstances you're now caught up in this mess.'

She nodded. 'I'm not sure what to think of it. If I wasn't there things probably would have been the same for me for the rest of my life. Work, maybe find someone who's related to work after many years, marriage, divorce, grow older while still doing this work.' She chuckled. 'Maybe it's not so bad to get dragged out of a boring ordinary life.'

Terry chuckled. 'I wouldn't call mine boring up until I got my hands on Ismene, but it sure got more interesting.' She smiled deviously at Dormin. 'And exciting.'

He grinned a little at her and glanced at Adalet. 'Yeah, despite the downside of people wanting to kill me, I don't want to miss the new direction my life has taken. So, it's time to adapt. First order of business is a new place to live.'

Ourania gestured around her. 'And this is the place no one knows about that I mentioned earlier. If you want to stay hidden, nothing hides better than this thing.'

'Are you sure?' asked Adalet. 'You'd be stuck with the three of us.'

Ourania smiled. 'You're the most fun people I've met in my life so far, and you've helped me achieve my goal by letting Ismene prove my idea works. This airship needs her. So if I can return the favour I'm more than happy to do so. Besides, this thing has more than enough rooms for all of us.'

Adalet glanced at Terry and Dormin and blushed. 'Ah, about that.'

Ourania looked at her. 'Something wrong with the rooms?'

Adalet cleared her throat. 'Well..'

Dormin smiled softly at her and put his hand on her thigh. 'What she means is that she, Terry, and I would only need one room.' He looked at Ourania. 'And we don't want to make you feel uncomfortable with our relationship.'

Ourania stared at the three for a moment. 'Really? You three are..?'

Terry chuckled in her cup. 'Yeah. I'm afraid I started teasing for fun and kind of dragged them into it.'

Dormin chuckled. 'No, you saw the feelings I tried to ignore and I'm glad you did what I was rather afraid to admit.'

Adalet emptied her cup. 'That's right! If you hadn't taken that first step I might have regretted not taking action myself for the rest of my life.' She looked at Dormin and smiled softly. 'I'm happy the three of us are together.'

Ourania watched the three exchange loving gazes and smiles, and sighed. 'Sounds like you're caught up in a lucky situation. I always thought I'd never have much luck in love because I'm mostly lost in my interest in technology.'

Dormin emptied his cup and put it on the table. 'I don't see why not. I have no real idea about your species but I do think you look good. And you're interestingly smart. As a member of the male species of any kind, I think the man who captures your heart is lucky.'

Terry watched Ourania stare at Dormin with big eyes and then look into her cup. 'I don't think it would be a problem if you want to borrow Dormin until you find that love of your life.'

Dormin choked and coughed while Ourania and Adalet looked at Terry in shock.

She grinned. 'Whoops. Am I doing it again?'

Dormin made a quick meal with some supplies Ourania had available and she led the rest to the large suite at the front above the cockpit afterwards. It had comfortable seating in the middle at full height windows for a panoramic view. At the left was a large bed and at the right another seating arrangement with a bar and a large screen. Everything was in the same grey and blue shades comfortable to the eyes.

She opened a cupboard next to the bed. 'There's everything you need to make up the bed here. I've used the bedding from another room to sleep on a couch in the lounge while I worked here and they're good, even if they're old.'

Dormin took out pillows and blankets. 'Thanks. We'll be fine with this.'

Terry tried the mattress with her hand. 'Besides, as long as Adalet and Dormin suffer from their bruised ribs there's not much more than sleeping that we can do.'

'Terry!' said Adalet as she saw Ourania's embarrassed look. 'Don't say such things.'

Terry shrugged. 'I only wanted to reassure her we'd behave in bed.'

Dormin chuckled and turned to Ourania. 'I think we'll limit how much Terry gets to drink in the future. Sorry about that.'

She looked away. 'It's okay. I saw worse at office parties.' She went over to the suite door. 'I hope you can sleep well tonight.'

He smiled back at her. 'I think we will, thanks.'

She gave him a nod and a quick smile, then went back to the couch she always slept on. Her imagination quietly wondered how and what the three of them did when they were getting intimate. She shook her head. 'Don't start on that!' she told herself and tried to think of what she'd need to finish the airship management systems and controls.

***

Dormin woke up after a few hours again, smiled softly at Adalet and Terry sleeping next to him despite his headache, kissed them softly on the forehead and slipped out of bed. He put on his pants and checked the bathroom at the other side of the suit. The faucet was dry so he stepped out and headed to the back where the kitchen was.

The lights were on and illuminated the corridor from the doorway, and he wondered if he had forgotten to turn them off when he last used the kitchen. He stepped inside and surprised Ourania around the corner, who dropped her sandwich. 'Ah! Sorry! I wanted to freshen up and there was no water in the bathroom of the suite.'

She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. 'Oh, right! I forgot I had most systems disabled.' She looked down at the floor and squatted just as he did to pick up the slices of bread and cheese. She grinned at him. 'I always get hungry when I work late.'

He smiled and nodded. 'I know the feeling.' He collected the food. 'I'll make you a new one to make up for the scare.'

Ourania watched him make a cheese sandwich with the use of some herbs and lightly toasted bread. She couldn't stop her imagination from examining and probing his firm body. The bruises at his back looked painful while the burn on his side made her curious, but she thought it was impolite to ask about it. It actually made him more interesting to her and a voice in her head nudged her. "You heard the offer from Terry. It was not like any of them denied it. How much chance do you think you'll have meeting someone like him when you're constantly behind a desk or in the bowels of an airship? You could at least try him one time."

Dormin turned to her. He smiled gently at her, then tilted his head. She blinked and pushed her imagination back. 'Sorry, what?'

He chuckled. 'I asked if one was enough.'

Her heart skipped a beat. 'One!?'

He nodded and put down the plate with the sandwich in front of her. 'Will you have enough with one sandwich? I can make more.'

She relaxed and smiled embarrassed at the plate. 'No, one will be enough, thanks. I didn't plan on staying up much later.'

He smiled at her and turned to wash his hands and face while she watched him and chewed slowly on the best sandwich she had ever eaten in her life.

'So, you're one who stays up late as well?' Dormin asked in the dimly lit lounge after Ourania offered one more shot of Sinth to fill up some time.

She sank back in the couch of the booth they used. 'I always did my best work at night when there are no other people around. Sometimes I'd just crank up the music and continue as if in a trance.' She chuckled. 'It's not unusual to suddenly realise it was the morning coffee break when a colleague came to check up on me.'

Dormin grinned. 'I guess we're all the same then. The three of us are also nocturnal.'

Ourania's gaze went to the window but she didn't look as much outside at the shades of darkness in the hall, as at the dim reflection of Dormin in the glass. 'So how did you three end up together?'

Dormin took a sip of the liquor that warmed his chest as it went down. 'As was said in a few words before, I caught Terry breaking into a firm I worked at as a night security guard. She escaped and I called in the police, and it was Adalet who showed up to take a first look. When I found Terry's backpack with a portable in it later I drove to the station in the morning where someone was asking Adalet about the break-in. We thought something was off and she visited me later at home to check out the portable. When we did we got a visit from an armed unit shortly after. We escaped to an old place of a friend of mine, tracked down Terry and learned through her the portable you now know as Ismene had been a special project at a firm that wanted to keep things so secret they'd kill for it. In short, we framed the head of security there who tried to kill one of the software engineers and returned as if we knew nothing while that guy got arrested for murder and the firm investigated.'

Ourania nodded and glanced at him. 'Was that when you three, got, close?'

He took another sip and smiled softly. 'Ah, yeah, at the end. It just sort of happened when Terry noticed I wasn't, unaffected, when they wore only a night shirt.'

She saw his blush and her inner voice told her it made a note about wearing night shirts. 'She's very forward, it seems.'

He chuckled. 'Yeah, seems so. She blames me for it though since she never cared about getting together with someone before.'

She chuckled. 'I can imagine.' The moment she said it she held her breath. 'I mean, some people just meet the right one unexpectedly.'

Dormin smiled and nodded. 'Yeah, seems it has been this way for us.'

He finished his drink. 'I'll see if I can get a bit more rest before they wake up.' he said and stood up. 'Thanks for the drink.'

Ourania smiled at him. 'Thank you for the great sandwich. I'll try to get some sleep as well now.'

He returned her smile. 'Sleep tight then.' he said and walked out of the lounge.

Ourania watched him leave and laid back on the couch, grabbing a pillow for her head. She closed her eyes for a moment before grabbing another pillow to clutch against her chest to help her sleep.

***

The next day Ourania explained the workings of the airship to Terry while Adalet and Dormin drove to a nearby town to buy supplies. When they returned they found Ourania nearly in tears in the empty hall.

'Are you okay!?' asked Adalet, putting the grocery bags down.

Ourania nodded and smiled. 'I'm just so happy to see it work.' she said and looked at the empty hall and chuckled. 'Or maybe I should say not see, which proves it works.'

The airship appeared again in a brief blur and Dormin grinned. 'Yeah, it kind of makes it confusing.'

The three went inside to the cockpit and Ourania hugged Terry. 'That was a fantastic sight.'

Terry grinned at her. 'Next time it's my turn to see it.' she said and gestured at the outputs on Ismene's screens. 'I think it's safe to do further tests.'