Dark Eye

"Dark Eye"

         Alaura woke up as light pooled into her room through the large viewing window. Blinking back the lingerings of sleep, she sat up in her bed, stretching her muscles. The artificial gravity of the station worked well enough, but made it quite difficult to truly relax. She doubted she had gotten a great night's sleep since joining the research station two years ago.

         Looking to her left, she could see the digits of her holographic clock floating over her bed-stand. Nine fifty-eight. Sighing deeply, she struggled to get herself out of her small bed. Blinding light assaulted her eyes as the room's sensors picked up her movements. She hoped dearly that someone would fix the damn dimmer. Alaura hit a panel on the wall as she walked to her privies, and her bed revolved into the wall, a large metal chest taking its place.

         Alaura stared into her mirror, and her reflection stared back. Her long black hair hung wispily around her shoulders, as though still half asleep itself. Her gray eyes, by comparison, always seemed full of energy, which was odd considering how lethargic she felt. Quickly sprucing up her hair and tying it in a single ponytail, she walked back into her room to get dressed.

         Releasing a clasp on the chest, she opened it, revealing the possessions within. A good eight pairs of clothes lay folded neatly to the right side, designed for comfort. A few other possessions littered the left side, including shoes, memorabilia, and a playing ball for whenever she felt like working out in the station's reduced-gravity gym. A lonely hand-gun also lay in the chest, stuck in a custom-made holster. Although only in her late twenties, Alaura was already heading her own projects, and had been granted the right to carry a weapon on the station. After all, the Coalition was rent with conflict, the different factions always trying to gain dominance over one another. Therefore she thought it wise to be prepared if a side decided to try to take over the station. Not that any state would be that reckless, considering the station's security system made it one of the safest facilities in existence.

         Pulling on a casual gray shirt, Alaura walked over to her viewing window, gazing out at the majesty outside. The station's natural rotation had brought the black hole it orbited into full view. Although everything beyond the event horizon was virtually invisible, not to mention still a mystery, the black hole's accretion disk proved to be quite an amazing sight. Lone particles rubbing against each other in space produced the bright disk, the hole proving to be quite a powerful generator. Of course, that was one of the main reasons the station orbited the black hole, formally known as Askazi. Black holes were a glitch in the natural physics of the world, where all laws broke down. It was the perfect place to better understand the multi-verse, thus the Askazi Research Station had been established.

         Tugging on a pair of boots, Alaura left her room and into the corridor of the residential sector. The hallway lacked viewing windows, and curved slightly away from her door, following the huge circular shape of the station. Incandescent light filtered from the ceiling, white walls making it seem brighter than it really was.

         Alaura started down the right, nodding at fellow researchers as they walked past her. Most of them had probably been up for hours, working different shifts. Alaura envied them. Most were heading back to the comforts of their beds.

         Alaura walked through a large doorway on her left, entering the cafeteria. The room was large enough to house a good two hundred diners, but she estimated only about a dozen were present. Of course, within a few minutes the rest of her shift would arrive for breakfast. She loved being a light sleeper. Walking to the main counter, she grabbed a tray of hot cereal and a cup of some unknown juice, and sat down near a few of her associates.

         Nimora, Jared, and Tim all gave her quick nods of acknowledgment as she joined them. Nimora and Tim sat close together, having been in a relationship since they joined some two years ago. Jared on the other hand, had arrived a mere two weeks ago, yet had already made a strong impression on the station's population. Alaura found him rather charming as well.

         Alaura sipped on her punch as her friends talked about some exciting new theory, not really paying attention. She was waiting for another associate to show, who had wanted to meet this morning concerning something of importance. Alaura knew Stanton wasn't one to exaggerate.

         "So what do you think Alaura?" Jared's voice sliced through her thoughts.

         Alaura swallowed a bit of cereal. She hadn't any idea what they were talking about. "Excuse me?"

         "The station went code orange this morning. Apparently its become a critical target for the Gallin Alliance. 'Expecting an attack any minute now." Jared still managed to give her one of his winning smiles, even after discussing the station's possible doom.

         "You know, I think this station's been on some kind of alert ever since I started. Why would I worry now?" Alaura commented, going back to her cereal.

         "I think she's got you there, Jared," Nimora said, grinning against Tim's arm. Tim merely smiled.

         Jared opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted as another man came up to the table.

         "Alaura, my dear!"

         Alaura looked up to see Stanton walking to the table, his face brimming with excitement. He was an older man, with graying hair, and wore glasses, even though laser surgery would've easily perfected his vision.

         "Professor!" Alaura got up from the table and gave the man a quick hug. He had been the first person to really warm up to her when she started at the station. Now she saw him somewhat as a sort of fatherly figure. "So what's the important news?"

         "A breakthrough. But that, alas, is better discussed in private," Stanton said quietly, looking at the trio sitting at the table with slight suspicion. Alaura knew how the professor felt. Nearly everyone at the station was hesitant of talking about their research, in case somewhat got it into their head to try to steal it as their own. People had been known to die over their discoveries.

         "Very well," Alaura said. Stanton had gotten serious fairly quickly despite his excitement. She was intrigued. Leaving her breakfast and friends behind, she followed the professor into the corridor.

         "Best if we head to my lab," Stanton said, ushering Alaura down the hallway. She merely nodded and followed, even more curious. Stanton was one of only a handful of researchers to have their own, personal labs, and was known to let very few in. Even Alaura had only been admitted in once.

         The duo continued down the hallway, and took an elevator down to the research wing. A viewing window showcased Askazi as the lift descended, its accretion disk glowing brightly in the vast contrast of space. Alaura was always awed that the station managed to orbit the black hole considering how strong its gravitational pull was. Two substations positioned at opposite ends of the black hole, however, fed off the hole's radiation plumes, giving the station enough power to maintain its trajectory and avoid being pulled in. In a sense, the station was parasitic.

         "Here we are," Stanton announced as the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened, revealing a short hallway capped with a single door. Walking up to it, Stanton placed his hand on a panel next to it, and waited as the sensor scanned his bone density. Fingerprints, after all, could be easily reproduced. Alaura was impressed however. Stanton had seriously amped up his security.

         The door opened with a minute hiss, revealing the lab within.

         Alaura held her breath as she walked in. She had forgotten how large the place was considering it was a private lab. Tables stood against the walls, a multitude of monitors and other instruments obscuring their surfaces. A huge, cylindrical machine also took up a good portion of the room's center; the professor's own power station, which fed directly from the substations. The back wall sported a huge viewing window, giving a panoramic view of the black hole. A stand also sat near the back, holding something within a glass case. Stanton ambled toward the stand, Alaura following closely behind.

         "As you know," Stanton began with his best lecturing voice,"I've been working with subatomic particles, mainly hoping to discover the mysteries of the electron. Now, we both know that no one has ever been able to determine an electron's true position, as the damn things always jump around in space. We both also know that electrons can seemingly occupy two spaces at once."

         Alaura nodded, impatient at the professor's slow pace to the catch. She knew she knew what she knew...

         "However," Stanton declared, raising a finger for emphasis," that clearly violates the laws of conservation of mass."

         "Well, no one ever said physics were perfect," Alaura retorted, thinking aloud.

         "Oh, but they are," Stanton said, lowering his finger at Alaura. "You see, electrons aren't occupying two spaces at once. They are occupying two different times."

         Alaura remained silent, letting the Professor's words sink in. "You mean..."

         "Yes! Electrons are constantly jumping around time, never quite tethered to a single moment. Amazingly, however, is the electron's connection to all of its future and past selves. Tweak an atom in the present, and it sends a pulse through time."

         A wave of excitement rolled through Alaura's mind at those words, the professor's true meaning hitting her like a bullet. "Your trying to tell me you mean its possible to send a signal..."

         "Through time, yes. Well, to the past at least. The future has innumerable variations, and is therefore impossible to signal. Its not only theoretical, however...," Stanton paused, emphasizing his words. "Its been done."

         "Its been what?!"

         Stanton laughed slightly, and gestured toward the stand. Inside lay a plain metal armband, gleaming silver in the lab's light. A single smooth crystal rose from its surface. Alaura was immediately crestfallen. It looked nothing more than a mere piece of jewelry.

         "At ten twenty-three yesterday, I transferred my conscience back five minutes." Stanton said, staring at the armband dreamily. "My thoughts, memories, emotions-everything. I essentially traveled through time."

         Alaura felt dumbstruck. Amazing things had been discovered at the station; anti-gravity, dimensional jumping, even the ability to relatively slow down time. But never anything as crazy as this! "But how...,"

         "How is something I cannot share...yet. However, I was hoping you would become my partner in this. There are yet kinks to work out, more mysteries to solve." Stanton said meaningfully, looking Alaura straight in the eyes. "Do you accept?"

         Shock flooded her senses, rendering her speechless. Never before had she been bestowed such an honor, to help co-found an entirely new field, never-less one as incredible as this. "Of course!"

         "Great! Well, I need to leave for a meeting in a few minutes. We'll make the rest of the arrangements later. But..."

         Stanton walked over to the stand and opened the glass case, pulling the armband from its rest. "I'd like you to wear this. Jut for diagnostic purposes, of course. It needs time to read your neural patterns before it'll work on you."

         Alaura held out her arm in wonder. Stanton slipped the armband over her wrist, closing it with a thick click. A dull blue light pulsed from the crystal.

         "It's not activated, so you won't be experiencing any fourth-dimensional travel just yet, though you might undergo a few spasms as it communicates with your nervous system. Nothing too intense."

         The metal was cool to the touch. Alaura could feel her arm tingle as the armband scanned her body, her fingers twitching slightly.

         "It doesn't look like much," Alaura admitted, studying the device intently.

         "Perhaps, but it will undoubtedly change the world." Stanton checked his watch quickly. "But I have to get going. Maybe I can squeeze some non-military funding out of this meeting." His voice hinted he had low hopes.

         Alaura followed the professor to the door. Once outside, Stanton suddenly rounded on her, his face serious.

         "Alaura, I must warn you to not reveal this to anyone. The factions always have ears listening around, and I'd hate to see what happened if this got out. Lie about the armband if you will, but this must remain a secret!"

         "Of course," Alaura said. Stanton's grave tone, however, did more than surprise her.

         It scared her.




         Alaura's fingers twitched again as she worked on her blueprints, leaving a digital smudge on the engine's fuel line. Sighing heavily, she tapped on her keyboard to undo the error, her irritation slowly building up. It had been five hours since she had seen the professor, and her excitement over the discovery still hadn't lessened, damaging her focus. The armband's ticks, however, were clearly meant for the patient.

         "What's up girl? You've been stressin' out all day," Nimora remarked, walking away from the prototype engine she'd been tuning. "Sounds like you need a break."

         "Naw, I'm alright. Just didn't get enough sleep." Alaura said, hoping her lie took. Nimora's keen eye intervened, however.

         "As if. You were plenty awake this morning, seemed prett-daaamn, how come I didn't notice this piece before?!" Nimora reached out to touch the armband. Alaura pulled away instinctively, covering it quickly with her coat.

         "You really need to chill out, you know? Take some time off, maybe go-," Nimora stopped, her eyes suddenly full of understanding. "Who is he?"

         "What?"Alaura was dumbfounded.

         "Don't play dumb with me, I know you too well for that. Who got you that bracelet?" Nimora was staring intently at Alaura now, as though her face somehow held the answer.

         Alaura searched frantically in her mind for some excuse. "It came in the mail."

         Nimora looked at her dully, clearly seeing through the lie. "Whatever girl." She began walking back to her engine, leaving Alaura to her blueprints.

         An alarm split through the air, causing Alaura to jump in her seat. Nimora tripped in surprise, bellowing out a curse as she fell.

         Nimora looked up angrily. "What the hell do they think they're doing, running these damn drills like-"

         An explosion erupted elsewhere in the station, the shock-wave ripping the floor from underneath them. Alaura covered her head as she heard engines and computers jump around the room. A second explosion slammed her into the wall, knocking the breath out of her. Dazed, she slowly got up, looking around the ruined lab.

         Sparks shot out where large-scale monitors had been ripped out of the wall. A few engines stood scattered around the room, most busted into smaller pieces. A hand could be seen poking out from behind one of the larger ones.

         "NIMORA!" Alaura cried, running behind the engine.

         Nimora's sightless eyes greeted her, blood staining the floor around her head like a cruel halo. Alaura fell down on her knees in shock, unable to comprehend her friend's passing. It had happened too quickly...

         A bright-blue light flashed in her vision. Looking down, Alaura saw the crystal on the armband flare furiously, as though attempting to rouse her. Looking down at her friend one last time, Alaura swallowed her sorrow and ran out of the room. Something had happened to the armband.

         Entering the corridor, she saw others standing in shock; some injured, some running for some  unknown destination. Alaura ran for the elevators, dimly aware of the alarms going off in the distance, her only thoughts on the professor's last words.
         "...I'd hate to see what happened if this got out..."

         Alaura hit the buttons on the panel frantically, as though her urgency would somehow manifest itself  in the lift. The doors opened a few eternal seconds later, and Alaura slipped inside, falling to the floor in exhaustion as the lift began its descent.

         Glancing out the viewing window, Alaura froze in horror as she saw chunks of debris floating away from the station...and toward the black hole.

         The station had fallen free of its orbit.

         Even though the station's inertia dampeners filtered out conflicting gravity, Alaura  could even now sense a slight tug toward Askazi. It was pulling them in.

         The elevator doors opened, sparing Alaura from her terrifying discovery. She exited quickly, running for the professor's lab. The door was wide open, but Alaura could see dark splotches on the floor. Blood.

         Afraid of what lay within, Alaura entered the room slowly. The lab seemed to have suffered slightly less than her own, though various instruments seemed to have been thrown around. The main console, however, remained intact. Leaning against it on the floor lay Stanton, blood staining his shirt. Alaura ran to him, panic taking over. A single gunshot wound studded his chest. His breathing was forced, but still present.

         "Professor...what happened?" Alaura asked, her voice choked with emotion.

         Stanton simply looked at her, his life seeming to drain away before her very eyes. "You must stop it. The spy-," Stanton coughed hard, blood flecking his lips. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "The spy must've found out. Be brave, my darling. It looks like its up to you..."

         Stanton's eyes met hers for one last time, his gaze full of hope. His body went suddenly limp, his eyes staring through her, through everything. Stanton was dead.

         Alaura bowed her head, grief streaming down her cheeks. Two friends had died, and soon everyone else on the doomed station. But she wasn't about to give up on them yet.

         Standing up, Alaura glanced at the console, its keyboard smeared with Stanton's blood. Twenty seconds remained on a countdown. To what exactly, Alaura wasn't sure. She only hoped it was a second-chance.

         Walking toward the over-sized viewing window, she watched in fascination as falling debris began to stretch slightly toward Askazi; the first signs of spaghettification. Still in the distance lay the event horizon, a dark eye watching over the universe, the point of no return. She had yet to cross it.

         A single beep sounded from the console, and a blue flash took over her world.




         Alaura blinked, trying to overcome an intense sense of disorientation. She was still in Stanton's lab, but it was intact and whole. Outside the window was Askazi. Just Askazi.

         "It's not activated, so you won't be experiencing any fourth-dimensional travel just yet, though you might-" Stanton was interrupted as Alaura threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

         "Uhmm...ya...I'm excited about this too, but I think we can keep it professional." Stanton said, sounding somewhat surprised.

         Alaura gave a small laugh, lost listening to the professor's beating heart. Her mission beckoned her, however.

         "Professor, we need to hurry. A bomb is going to go off in just a few hours. We need to find it. Now!" Alaura stated, urgency dancing within her.

         "Alaura, what in the blazes are you-" Stanton cut off, looking at the armband in amazement. Its light was pulsing, as though a beating heart. "You came back?! Well damn this is unexpected. And what is this about...a bomb?!"

         "-and its going to take this place out of orbit if we don't stop it. I think you said something about a spy before you died. You said-"

         "I WHAT?!"

         "-he found out about the armband-OH WILL YOU STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Alaura snapped. She could tell by the professor's face she had said too much. "Oh, just come on."

         Alaura started for the elevator, gesturing for the bewildered professor to follow. They rode the lift in silence, Alaura trying to compose a plan, while Stanton continued to digest the situation. Alaura thought it felt a bit odd being the more informed of the two for once. Too odd.

         They entered the research wing, Alaura leading the way down the corridor. If she failed, these very halls would soon be flooded in chaos. The thought disturbed her.

         "So where are we headed?" Stanton asked, breaking the silence. Alaura realized she hadn't discussed her plan with the man.

         "Well, we're heading to my room to grab a gun, and maybe narrow down where the bomb might be. By the sound of the explosions, it must've gone off somewhere near the observatory." Alaura replied, not really sure in her estimation.

         "You said the station lost its orbit after the explosion, right?" Stanton asked.

         "Ya."

         "Okay, that means the station must've lost its connection with one of the sub-stations. There's only three points in the ship that would've led to such failure, and one's on the other side of the station. That only leaves the central grid and...my lab," Stanton admitted, glancing behind his shoulder.

         "Bomb wasn't in your lab," Alaura retorted, stopping in front of her door.

         "How do you know?" Stanton asked, curious.

         "That's where you died."

         "Right..."

         Alaura walked into her quarters and quickly rummaged through her chest. She grabbed her pistol, attaching the holster to her belt. She had never once really believed she would use it. Now she had to save the station with it. So much for peace.

         The two left the room and began to head for the station's central power grid, located at its core. It was responsible for maintaining the energy feeds between the station and its substations thousands of miles away. An explosion there, and the station lost the energy required to stay in orbit.

         The two kept going down the corridor until it forked out, both ends leading inevitably to opposite sides of the central power grid.

         "I'll take left," Alaura said, beginning to feel sick. "I'm sorry I didn't have an extra piece."

         "I'm good," Stanton said, pulling a pistol out of his jacket. Alaura never would have guessed the man was loaded. His demeanor usually screamed pacifist.

         Stanton noticed her surprise, and simply smiled at her. A few passerbys quickened their steps as they saw the pair with their guns drawn.

         "See you on the other side."

         Alaura smiled in response, and started down the corridor, her heart beating wildly. Anyone could be the spy. Realizing that, she slid her gun into her pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

         She nodded in greeting to a fellow researcher as she passed him, trying hard to act natural. All she got was a suspicious look. She really was horrible at hiding her emotions.

         Walking down the corridor a bit more, she found the door she was looking for. Giving a nearby scanner her thumb-print, she snuck inside, closing the door carefully behind her.

         The room housing the power-grid was enormous, spanning several floors. The grid was a tower of a device in the center of the room, stairs and scaffolds reaching up to different levels of it. A single console sat upon the floor nearby, its monitors showing the grid's status, the only optimum source of light in the dim room.

         Alaura walked near one of the scaffolds carefully, scanning for any sign of movement. The room was too dark to make out much, however, sending her heart racing.

         The sound of something dropping on metal reached her ears. Holding her breath, she quietly moved toward one of the farther scaffolds, and looked up. She could somewhat make out a figure.

         Walking stealthily up onto the scaffold, she pulled her gun out, pointing it outward.

         "Don't move a damn muscle," Alaura ordered, sounding much braver than she felt. The figure stopped and turned to face her. By the dim light, she could barely make out a face.

         "Jared? What the hell are you doing?!" Alaura demanded in disbelief.

         Jared stood their, a similar look of shock on his face. A bag lay next to the power grid, a few small cylindrical objects scattered next to it. Jared hesitated. "I...uh-"

         "Alaura, he's got a gun!" Stanton roared, coming into view from the other side of the room.

         Alaura instinctively rolled off the scaffold as she saw Jared react. A bullet whistled past her head as she fell, landing hard on her shoulder. More gunfire erupted between the other two as she struggled to get up, a grunt of pain audible from above her. Alaura looked up just in time to see Jared fall off the scaffold and land on his back, his gun sliding away on impact.

         Alaura walked toward the spy and kicked his gun away as he grasped for it. Jared looked up slowly into Alaura's face, giving her one of his all-too fake smiles.

         "Jared...why?" Alaura asked in heart-wrenching confusion.

         Jared's smile melted away. "Why? 'Cuz its what I was sent to do. Grab some research if I could, naturally, but blow the place if something came along too...conflicting with my employer's interests," Jared spat, glancing at Stanton in contempt. "But you, Alaura. You wouldn't kill me."

         Alaura kept her gun pointed at the man's head. He had willingly condemned the lives of hundreds to death, not to mention shoot Stanton in cold blood...sort of. She could still feel the horror of his and Nimora's deaths, still feel unshed tears. Yet they were alive. Damn her head hurt.

         "I know you won't shoot me. You can't shoot a friend." Jared cooed. Stanton shifted his feet nervously.

         She wanted to shoot him, she really did. He was right though. She couldn't do it. Not after all she'd seen that night. The thought of killing just made her sick. Perhaps if things had-

         Jared acted quickly, jumping at Alaura from the ground, taking advantage of her momentary weakness. Alaura yelped, but a twitch from the armband forced her to pull the trigger. Jared slumped to the ground in a heap, dead.

         "I guess it really wasn't up to me," Alaura said, putting her gun down.

         Stanton walked up to her and pulled her close. "Its over now," he said soothingly.

         Alaura grabbed hold of the armband, unclasping it from her wrist. The armband fell to the floor, the blue light no longer pulsing.

         "Your right," she said, looking down at the still form beside her. "It's over."