Chapter 369: FTL Drive (Bonus - 4/4)

Liam returned to the Voyager, a proud smile still on his face, the maintenance drones following dutifully. The bay doors closed behind him, atmosphere flooding back into the space. He made his way to the flight deck, still pleased with how the upgrade had gone.

Settling into the captain’s chair, he pulled up their position. "Lucy, current coordinates."

"We’re 24.5 billion kilometers from Earth, approximately 164 astronomical units. Heliopause boundary crossed successfully."

Liam nodded, then called up the navigation display showing their trajectory and the fact that they had reached their destination. He thought of how much time it would take them to reach the Voidling coordinate, and his smile faded as the numbers processed.

The coordinate was far beyond the heliopause—that much he’d known. But looking at the actual distance, accounting for the Oort Cloud’s vast expanse, the reality hit him like a physical blow.

Even at the Voyager’s maximum conventional speed, reaching the inner edge of the Oort Cloud would take years. Crossing it completely to reach true interstellar space beyond the Sun’s gravitational influence? Thousands of years.

The ship’s navigation system had calculated arrival at the heliopause as reaching the "edge of the solar system," which explained its forty-two-day estimate. But that was based on NASA’s definition, not the physical reality of the Sun’s gravitational domain and according to the information of the coordinates the system gave him.

Liam slumped in the captain’s chair, mind racing through options. He could jump directly to the Voidling’s coordinates using the Dimensional Space. He had the spatial coordinates burned into his memory, and theoretically, that should be enough to establish a connection and

jump

to the location.

But theoretically was a dangerous word when dealing with space-time manipulation. Without a visual reference or having physically been to the destination, the jump could go wrong in countless ways. He might materialize inside a star, or in the middle of empty space with no way to locate Earth again, or displaced temporally as well as spatially.

The thought of being permanently lost in the cosmos, unable to return home, sent a chill through him that the exosuit’s temperature regulation couldn’t prevent.

"Master," Lucy’s voice interrupted his spiraling thoughts, "if you’re contemplating how to cross the Oort Cloud, I may have a solution."

Liam straightened. "I’m listening."

"I’ve been developing a faster-than-light drive system," Lucy said. "It’s based on Alcubierre metric principles—contracting space ahead of the ship while expanding it behind, creating a warp bubble that moves through space-time without technically exceeding light speed within the bubble."

"How long have you been working on this?"

"A few days after I started the project on the moon. I anticipated we might need it, given the vast distances involved." Lucy said, her expression apologetic. "I should have mentioned it sooner, but the system isn’t perfect. There are limitations."

Liam smiled and waved at her. "Don’t feel bad. You did nothing wrong. Tell me, what kind of limitations?"

"The drive can reduce travel time through the Oort Cloud from thousands of years to approximately one to two weeks, depending on our destination within the cloud. However, the energy requirements are enormous. After each use, the drive needs approximately one month for the zero point energy orb that power it, to recharge before it can be activated again."

Liam did the math in his head. One to two weeks of travel versus thousands of years. A month of recharge time was nothing by comparison.

"That’s fine by me. Install and activate it. Let’s not waste any more time."

Lucy nodded. "The FTL drive has already been integrated into the Voyager’s systems—I took the liberty of installing it during construction as a contingency. Bringing it online now."

New displays flickered to life around the captain’s chair, showing energy readings, space-time metric calculations, and a bewildering array of data that represented humanity’s—or at least Lucy’s—first successful implementation of faster-than-light travel.

"Inputting destination coordinates," Lucy announced. "Preparing warp field generation. Engaging FTL drive in ten seconds."

Liam gripped the armrests, suddenly uncertain what faster-than-light travel would feel like. The countdown appeared on the display.

Five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Instantly, the space around them folded.

It was strange but there was no other way to describe it. The stars visible through the viewport didn’t stretch or blur as science fiction had promised. They simply... shifted. Space itself compressed ahead of them and expanded behind, carrying the Voyager forward in a bubble of normal space-time while the universe rearranged itself around them.

The sensation was subtle but profoundly wrong. Liam’s inner ear insisted they weren’t moving, but his eyes reported the star field changing in ways that defied physics. His electromagnetic sense detected distortions in space-time itself, perceiving dimensions his brain had no framework to process.

"FTL drive active," Lucy confirmed. "Estimated time to Oort Cloud inner boundary: 9-10 days at current warp velocity. All systems nominal."

Liam released the armrests, realizing he’d been gripping them hard enough to leave impressions in the material. "That was..."

"Disorienting," Lucy supplied. "I apologize. The human brain isn’t designed to process faster-than-light travel. The sensation should diminish as you acclimate."

"How fast are we going?"

"Approximately 350 times the speed of light, relative to normal space-time. Within our warp bubble, we’re technically stationary. It’s space itself that’s moving."

Liam laughed, the sound slightly unhinged. "We’re moving faster than light. We’re actually doing it."

"Yes, Master. Though I should note this is still experimental. The drive is stable, but I’m monitoring hundreds of variables to ensure we don’t destabilize the warp field."

"What happens if we do?"

"Best case scenario, we drop back into normal space wherever we are. Worst case scenario..." Lucy paused. "Let’s focus on best case scenarios."

True, let’s focus on best case scenarios.

Liam muttered, as he settled deeper into the captain’s chair, watching the stars shift in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

One to two weeks to cross a region that should have taken millennia. After that, he will take control of the spacecraft’s flight system and manually fly to the coordinate of the Voidling.

Almost there. Wait for me.