The Begining (The Navigator Book 1) by Ben Winston Page A

put the time at...” He thought for a moment. "Plus forty-one minutes.”
    “Very close, Asshole! How did you know?” Becka asked as she stuck her head out of her door.
    “Remember how I described what I was hearing?” Joe said.
    “That harmony thing?” Becka asked.
    Joe nodded. “That's how I knew. The dissonance wasn't that bad, so I know you couldn't have been that far off. I know I had nothing to base it on but my gut, but that's the way it felt to me.”
    “Joe, you're gonna have to be careful at the Citadel. Jarad rules that place like his own castle and he's not going to take too well to there being a new king,” Shana said.
    “No shit!” Becka said. “Especially if you can already navigate that well and you haven't even been taught how yet!”
    Joe shrugged. “I was meaning to ask you, why didn't we jump closer to the Citadel? Not that I don't enjoy the company...”
    “Simple, for the same reason the Citadel doesn't move around anymore; the massive gravity well between the two stars,” Becka said.
    “Can I try? I mean can I see if I can get a lock on your computer without actually jumping us?” Joe asked.
    “Sure if you want. The ship won't jump unless Shana accepts the plot and tells the ship to jump,” Becka said. Getting out of the way.
    Joe slid into the seat in front of the navigation console, and began pulling positional data from the computer like Becka had done. Then he began working the equations just like Becka had done.
    Once he got going, he found it was extremely easy for him to work the navigation plot through the computer. When he began working, he started to hear the songs again, and kept working the equations until it was in harmony. The computer ruled the new course 'optimal'.
    Becka had been looking over his shoulder and saw how quickly he worked through the plot, and the ruling the computer gave it.
    “Holy Shit! How in hell did you get past the gravity equations that fast?” She asked, amazed.
    “I didn't. The trick to heavy gravity is in the temporal equation and exit vector. If you calculate the gravity at the specific point and vector of our exit, at the time of our exit, the rest of it just falls into place and there is harmony,” he explained.
    “So what's the verdict, Becka? Is it a good nav?” Shana asked.
    “The computer says it's perfect,” Becka said. “Calculated flight time is in the nano seconds. Other than the fact that's supposed to be impossible, it should work."
    “Wadda ya think? Should we try it?” Shana asked.
    Becka bit her lower lip. “No, we shouldn't. If we did, Jarad would know exactly how good Joe is. Also, Jarad was the one that told everyone that direct navs to the Citadel were impossible to calculate because of the gravity calculations.
    “You would lose your ticket for jumping a nav from an untrained navigator. Not to mention that, in the case this nav is wrong, which I doubt, we'd end up in one of the stars. Finally, if we jumped right now, we wouldn't get one more day with you!”
    “I can definitely agree with that!” Joe said. “Besides, I was just trying out a hunch anyway. I really don't want to see you get in trouble, Shana."
    “Nah, I might get a reprimand, but that's about it,” Shana explained. “However, Becka does have a point about Jarad and the others discovering what you just did. I mean, enough eyebrows are going to be raised simply because Becka got the nav under an hour.”
    “I don't get that, I mean if she had gotten the nav time plotted for less than travel time, I could see people wondering. But this?” Joe shook his head. “I don't mean to take away from the achievement for you Becka, but this should be the rule, not the exception.”
    Becka nodded her understanding. “Well, that's what they're trying to do at the Citadel with all the training we undergo. However, a less-than-travel-time plot is impossible. It would force a paradox event.”
    “No, it wouldn't. Time has its own rules. I bet if we input