70. Plantception

“With this lot, we should be able to rebuild the shields and patch up the energy supply,” Jaden said in the dock as the group looked over the scrap they’d collected from the derelict, “Though, but a lot of fuel has been lost, we’ll eventually have to find another supply before we’re done at the Station.”
Fureva-Yung, Admiral and Captain of the Illustria, wrinkled her brow, which had the effect of closing two sets of her six eyes, “How long do you think it will take to do all the work needed?”
“If all goes well, a couple of days. Of course, things never go as you expect, so maybe a week or less with a little help.” Jaden looked pointedly at Marius and Nox. Marius saluted the remark, gesturing he was ready to help, where he could. Nox allowed her view to drift away from Jaden’s steely gaze. She could help in her small way, but it was mucky, tiring and smelly work. Lifting, holding, screwing, bolting, threading and welding. All things she thought of as ‘body’ work and reminded her of her body’s many failings.
 
“As for the fuel, I believe there was a depository for that somewhere in this system,” Fureva-Yung said, dredging through her sometimes unreliable memories, “Computer, where are fuel stockpiles kept in this system?”
“The fuel refinery in orbit around the gas giant is the major supplier of fuel for this system, “ The computer replied.
“Excellent. How long would it take to reach the refinery at our current speed?”
“With the Impusle engines at two-thirds power, the trip out to the refinery would take two weeks, three days and seventeen hours.”
The furrows on Fureva-Yung’s forehead grew deeper, threatening to blind her completely.
“Two weeks isn’t too long a time,” Nox flitted up, out of Jaden’s reach and sat on a stack of crates, “We could even go home for a little bit, if you like and let the ship fly out there.”
“That’s too long to wait. Computer, where are the nearest source of parts of the impulse engines?”
 
A holographic map appeared in front of the group. The wedge-shaped slice of the solar system was displayed, showing the Space Station, the asteroid belt and the three planets beyond it. It also showed the Illustria’s current position and…
“The derelict,” Jaden said, jabbing her finger through the hologram, “See, I told you we should have cut away that plant and taken the engine core while we were there.”
“If you take the engine core, you’re effectively killing it anyway, “ Marius interjected. They’d all seen how the main body of the plant was wrapped around the engine core, “That’s what’s keeping it alive.”
“And it’s cute and…tentacly,” Fureva-Yung replied. Beneath her soft layer of fur, she blushed, “Maybe we can talk to it, reason with it somehow…” She pulled at her chain and found the wooden link that Sharavellen had made in their garden. The brows cleared, and all six eyes focused on Nox.
“Nox, turn this bird around.”
“We’re going back?” Nox rolled her eyes.
“Nox…”
“ Yes, Admiral, “ She slid off the stack of boxes and flittered out of the dock, “Back to the boring derelict.”
 
It didn’t take long, Illustria hadn’t gone far, and soon they were all shuttling across, being dragged across the gap by Nox in a drone. They travelled up the hallway, already starting to fill with green-grey tendrils again, and entered the overgrown engine room.
 
She was standing before the vines wrapped around the engine core almost as thick as she was. Here she placed the wooden chain link and hummed at the plant in a subsonic rumble. The other three couldn’t hear the sound, but they could see it shiver the vines and roots in the room, they could feel it through the soles of their space suits. The wooden chain link glowed, and tiny roots intertwined in and around the shape. Slowly, a ball of green energy started growing above the link. On instinct, Fureva-Yung pushed the chain link into the wall of the plant. The mote grew larger, filling the space before her with green light. She moved to get a better angle and caught her foot on a trailing vine. The other three watched at Fureva-Yung’s helmet touched the green ball of light, and disappeared into it.
 
Fureva-Yung looked around. She was in a small green chamber of irregular proportions. The walls were transparent like amber, allowing for a distorted view of the engine room she’d just come from. A knot of roots at the centre of the room extended out in all directions each one terminating in other views. One particularly thick root rose up to a view of an open sky, with a bright circular shape. She was in some sort of Nexus, a hub inside a multidimensional plant. She was convinced her instincts had been right, but how to open communications?
 
 
She tried to take her helmet off, but a warming on her wrist computer told her that there was no atmosphere in the room. She pushed off a nearby root towards the knot and placed her gloved hand against it. It was warm. She started climbing the room to see where the root went.
 
In engineering, Marius and Nox looked at each other. They could hear Fureva-Yung through the telepathic network, but they couldn’t see her or the room she described.
“So, whose going after her?” Nox asked.
“I think someone with a bit of clout should stay outside in case the plant tries to break the link.”
“Good, so Jaden then?” Nox said, edging closer to the portal.
Marius rolled his eyes and pushed the drone into the green mote.
 
Suddenly, Nox was in the green room. Not far away, she could see Fureva-Yung trying to drag herself along a root into the ceiling. Turning the drone, she followed Fureva-Yung initially until the space around seemed to thicken and the drone’s thrusters couldn’t push through. Fureva-Yung saw the struggling drone and turned back, grabbing one of the drone’s pincers and continuing her path up the root.
 
The view above started to clear. The surface of the root became thick and rough like the bark of a tree and the circular shape resolved itself into that of a moon. However, at the same time, the space around her was resisting her attempts to move through it. It was a barrier, between dimensions. Nox tried scanning the new tree-like root, the scans came back distorted, with images superimposed on top of one another.
I can’t make a lot of sense of this, She said through the network. Outside, where Marius and Jaden stood listening in, they could hear an echo in the network, a distortion which mimics what Nox was seeing in her scans.
“If it gets too hard, just get Nox to bamf you both back,” Marius suggested.
There was an apologetic echoed reply from Nox, I’m touching the drone, not Fureva-Yung. I don’t know if I can bamf her back.

Eventually, the heavy thickness of the space was even too much for Fureva-Yung to push through. If she detached the drone…maybe she’d make it another few metres. She looked at her suit’s read-out and saw it still registered no atmosphere. She decided wherever the root went could wait and tried turning around. The space was still as thick, and now she was pushing the drone instead of pulling it along.
 
Slowly, they moved back down the vine and returned to the room. She was glad to be out of the thick pushing barrier, but she was still no closer to communicating with the plant. Making sure the airlock between her suit and gloved hand were locked, Fureva-Yung took off her glove and pressed her naked hand to the knot of roots. This time, besides the warmth, she could feel the pulse of life running under the plant's skin.
 
“Can you try talking to the plant?” She turned to Nox, sitting cross-legged in the drone.
I can try…I don’t think I’ve tried talking to a plant before, She shrugged and turned her attention to the knot of roots before them.
 
Hi. We don’t want to hurt you. We need this [insert image of warm engine core]. Do you need it?
At a distance, across the multiverse, Nox felt more than heard a reply, I can share the warmth.
Nox relayed the reply to the others, who offered a number of good alternatives to the small and eventually dwindling warmth of the core.
 
That’s very kind. Could we take it and give you a [image and sensation of a red hot asteroid nestled in the ship’s hull] or maybe [image of the ship and plant moving closer to the red sun]?
The was a sense of affirmative to both suggestions. The rock seemed a more direct analogy to what the plant already knew, but the sun would warm the whole ship. Still, Nox wasn’t sure the plant had understood the idea of ‘trade’.
 
Fureva-Yung seemed pleased, however, “I think we have a plan, “ She said as she took hold of the drone and pushed it through the green, amber wall back into the engine room. With an imagined ‘pop’ (as in space, no one can hear you pop), the drone with Fureva-Yung appeared before Jaden and Marius.
 
While Fuerva-Yung and Nox had been in negotiations with the plant, she’d been doing some back-of-the-space-suit calculations and determined the best orbit for the derelict and plant would be just inside the orbit of the Space station.
 
“So all we need to do is rip out the engine, find a rock and stick it in the derelict, heat it up, repair the Illustria with the parts from the core and tow the derelict to its new home orbit,” Marius summarised.
“When you say it, it sounds like an afternoon’s work!” Jaden lamented, “First we have to see if the plant will let go of the core.”
 
They turned to the centre of the room to see the largest of the roots and vines untangle themselves from around the engine manifold.
“A walk in the park.”
 
As Nox informed the plant with words and images what was currently happening and what to expect, Fureva-Yung and Marius maneuvered the engine core out under Jaden’s scrupulous oversight.
“In eight hours we’ll have the Impulse engines to full capacity. Give me a week, and the sublights will be online, too.” She said, coming up behind Fureva-Yung and sticking a big fluffy tail of insulation on her behind.
 
Eight hours of work and another ten hours of towing later, the derelict was almost in orbit. The group had taken the opportunity of autopilot to sleep and left Fureva-Yung in charge of the ship. Alone and bored, Fureva-Yung was sure she could move things along a little and took manual control.
 
She turned the Illustria into the required orbit without issue and it wasn’t until she looked to rear-facing cameras to check the orientation of the derelict that she knew anything was amiss. The derelict had been towed by two cables on the fore and aft, at least what constituted the front and back of what was left of the ship. Fureva-Yung’s high-speed maneuvering had caused a whiplash effect through the cables, stressing the already weakened structure.
 
Instead of seeing one derelict slowly move into position in her cameras the ship had torn into two, only tentatively held together by the vines stretched between.
“Ah, little help crew?” She called, and from their well-deserved slumbers Marius and Jaden came to the rescue. Marius moved the Illustria to pull and push on the cables, bringing the two pieces back together. From the weapons console, Jaden modified the laser banks to create small welds at the break. It was detailed and exhausting work, but after several hours (a few more than it would have taken if the flight path been followed) the plant was in orbit as calculated.
 
The next day, at Fureva-Yung’s request, Nox established one final link with the plant.
“It likes its new home,” She said, translating the sensations she received back from her enquiries, “It says it now feels warm all over.”
 
Jaden spent the next few days fixing the shields and containment for the station's energy supply. A clever mutation allowed Nox to help with increased telekinetics. Fureva-Yung researched the gas giant and its refinery. It was a space station just inside the giant’s atmosphere where it collected refined and condensed useful gasses. Extra fuel tanks were installed into the Illustria’s hold, and soon they were heading out for a three-day trip to the outer solar-system.
 
The ship on autopilot, the crew found other ways of amusing themselves. After a day slogging through the engine of the damaged fighter, Jaden returned to her bunk to find the stuffed tu’karg Fureva-Yung had given her sitting on her bunk. She picked it up and gave it an experimental squeeze. It felt like her tu’karg. It even smelt faintly of Fureva-Yung. Still, she hadn’t brought it with her and had no idea how it had appeared. When she later went looking for Nox to ask her about the soft toy’s arrival, the young girl was nowhere to be found.