The Void by Brett J. Talley Page B

event, you see now, Ms. Kensington, why it is worth the dreams. Cautionary tale or reality, it's dangerous out here, and we take every precaution, for your safety as well as ours.”
     
    *  *  *
     
    “You really think it was a good idea, letting them talk about all that?”
    Gravely poured two glasses of brandy and handed one to Dr. Ridley, who stood perusing a faded yellow newspaper clipping hanging from her wall. He recognized the man in the photo as an ancestor, the first to join the Navy. Gravely sat down behind her desk, leaning back in her chair till she was almost horizontal to the floor.
    “People talk, Dr. Ridley,” she said, taking a long drink from the glazed, crystal snifter engraved with the name U.S.S. Alabama . “Better to have them get it out in the open now. Especially Ms. Kensington. Or should I say Dr. Kensington. What do you think about that whole charade she played today?”
    “You mean the talk about warp technology?”
    “Given her background, we weren't telling her anything she didn't already know.”
    “Who can say,” Ridley offered, his glass already near empty. “Perhaps she was just making conversation. Maybe she was humoring the boys, Aidan and Cyrus, letting them show off some of their own knowledge. I stopped trying to figure out why people do things like that a long time ago. Maybe she's afraid of the dreams and wanted to hear some reassurance.”
    “In any event, her fears are legitimate, don't you think?”
    “The fact is,” Dr. Ridley said, gesturing with his glass, “no one has ever proven that the dreams cause insanity. It is my theory that it is the anticipation as much as the dreams themselves. That people work themselves into a frenzy. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
    Ridley looked at Gravely and saw her grin. Then she said, “Dr. Ridley, you've been on this trip before. You've experienced the dreams. Do you really believe that?”
    Ridley smiled and finished his drink. Then he stood and walked to the door. He turned and hesitated for a moment as he glanced at the scale model of the Alabama Gravely kept behind her desk. Then he looked at her and said, “Touché.”
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    Rebecca found him on the bridge, even though she didn't know she was looking. Just wandering aimlessly through the ship, passing the days until they reached the warp point—days that seemed to crawl by in the vessel's cramped and twisting quarters. Aidan was seated at his station, feet propped up on the panel in front of him, watching Jupiter as they passed by. He heard the doors open behind him and wasn't surprised when he heard Rebecca gasp at what she saw.
    “It's beautiful.”
    “Yep,” said Aidan, “it truly is.”
    “I've never seen it before,” she said. “At least, not like this. I've only been as far out as Mars.”
    “I've seen it a hundred times. But I never get tired of looking.”
    “You mind if I sit?”
    “Of course not, make yourself at home,” Aidan said, sweeping his arm over the chair beside him.
    “So what exactly do you do here?” she said with a smirk, only half-kidding.
    “Well,” he replied, looking at her for the first time, “I’m your navigator.”
    “Is that what you're doing now? Navigating?”
    Aidan cocked his head to the side as he grinned at her. “As a matter of fact, yes. But you're observant. The computers can do most of the work these days. All of it, really.”
    “So why do we need you?”
    “Regulations call for it, for one.”
    “Ah, Navigators Union particularly strong?”
    “As a matter of fact, the Interstellar Guild is very powerful. But that's not it. At least, not all of it. The computers do break down on occasion and trust me; you don't want to get lost. Not out there.” Aidan pointed to some point in the distance, some point beyond.
    “I hope that doesn't happen often.”
    “No, not often. Usually only after the warp. Screws with the system sometimes. Maybe even most times. Nine times out of ten you come