{"id":365,"date":"2024-04-16T23:03:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T03:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=365"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:54:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:54:25","slug":"identity-theft-chapter-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/identity-theft-chapter-21\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 21\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> TCOR AU<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> T<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> At the best of times, the most dangerous part of space travel is atmospheric re-entry. These are not the best of times&#8230;<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6aabfe7dd17c15074112102' value='6aabfe7dd17c15074112102'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6aabfe7dd17c15074112102' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6aabfe7dd17c15074112102' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6aabfe7dd17c15074112102' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6aabfe7dd17c15074112102' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">21.<br \/>\n<u>Matador Falling<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHere,\u201d Jack told Kyra, handing her a protein bar she\u2019d stowed in her bag. \u201cBreakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She pulled out one for herself as well. In all honesty, she had almost no appetite. The stress of the new situation, the new crisis, had stolen it away. But they needed to eat. They needed their wits about them if they wanted to maneuver their way through this latest disaster.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The speaker on their comm panel indicated that the crew had stayed on the flight deck for the moment. They were arguing, with little enthusiasm, over how long they were likely to have to stay quarantined once they landed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Nibbling at the protein bar, Jack stood up and looked around the utility closet, taking in its contents and estimating how likely it was that the crew of the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> would decide any of it was important during the next twenty-four hours. After a moment, she sighed with a small amount of relief.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Most of the items on the shelves, beneath their protective webbing, were things for a port crew to use to clean up and recondition the cryo tubes between uses, and to tidy up the cryo deck once all of its occupants had debarked. There were some spare comm panels and other bits of hardware, some hazmat jumpsuits and helmets, and a handful of scanners\u2014Geiger counters, toxic gas detectors, others she couldn\u2019t identify at all\u2014but very little else.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack grabbed a bin of comm hardware and pulled it down for a closer look. After a moment, she began assembling some of the pieces.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat are you making?\u201d Kyra asked in a whisper.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cVideo screen,\u201d Jack answered, unwrapping a screen unit and settling it in its housing. \u201cSo we can see what\u2019s on the ship\u2019s cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Once she realized that Kyra was interested in what she was doing, she kept up a soft running commentary as she worked. She never mentioned that it was her father who had showed her how pieces like these fit together, hinting instead that this was another thing Paris P. Ogilvie had taught her while she was \u201crunning\u201d with the smuggler. But she explained what each part was for, what each connection would do, as she assembled them. Finally, she was ready to plug it into the comm panel.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There were dozens of cameras placed throughout the ship, more than Jack had expected. She went through their pre- and post-launch feeds first, strategically erasing any footage that she and Kyra had appeared on. Once that was done, she began examining the feeds from right before the emergency revival had been triggered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d Kyra asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know. Maybe nothing. I want to know more about what went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Nothing seemed to change, anywhere on board the ship, during the half hour leading up to the moment she burst out of her cryo-tube. She erased the footage of her and Kyra, up to the moment when they had vanished into the utility closet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Maybe, she thought, the Isomorph Drive would have something useful in its logs. She pulled them up, and sighed. Most of the records were identical.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>2517.02.12.21:15:30<\/b> ARRIVING AT FIRST JUMP POINT.<br \/>\n<b>2517.02.12.21:15:33<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE ENGAGING. ACCESSING U137. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL.<br \/>\n<b>2517.02.14.15:32:02<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE DISENGAGING. RETURNING TO U1. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL.<br \/>\n<b>2517.02.14.15:32:37<\/b> NO ANOMALIES DETECTED. MOVING TO SECOND JUMP POINT.<br \/>\n<b>2517.02.14.19:15:21<\/b> ARRIVING AT SECOND JUMP POINT.<br \/>\n<b>2517.02.14.19:15:24<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE ENGAGING. ACCESSING U23C. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL\u2026<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The log went on like that. Some of the Jumps lasted two or three days, while most lasted only a few hours. Jack scrolled down to the final Star Jump.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>2517.04.12.18:25:22<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE ENGAGING. ACCESSING U322A. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:04<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE DISENGAGING. RETURNING TO U1. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:39<\/b> ANOMALY DETECTED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:42<\/b> ISOMORPHIC OVERLAY IN PROGRESS. ATTEMPTING TO CORRECT.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:45<\/b> CORRECTION FAILED. REATTEMPTING.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:48<\/b> CORRECTION FAILED. REATTEMPTING.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:51<\/b> CORRECTION FAILED. ANALYZING STRING FREQUENCIES.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:54<\/b> STRING FREQUENCIES FLUCTUATING BETWEEN U322A and U1. LEVEL FIVE INCIDENT CONFIRMED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:57<\/b> QUINTESSA CORPORATION NOTIFIED. DATA PACKET DISPATCHED. ADVANCE REVIVAL PROTOCOL INITIATED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20.45:48<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:20:47:27<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:20:58:57<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMMENCING.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:03:58<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMPLETED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:08:15<\/b> INSTRUCTIONS FROM QUINTESSA CORPORATION RECEIVED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:32<\/b> ISOMORPH DRIVE DECOMISSIONED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:33<\/b> ISOMORPH COORDINATE DATABASE WIPED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:34<\/b> SYSTEM STANDING BY.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWell, shit,\u201d Jack muttered, after reading it over a third time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d Kyra asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cUm, okay\u2026 so the last Star Jump for this trip was kind of long, looks like. It started four days ago and ended today.\u201d Jack pointed to the first two lines in the final log segment. \u201cThe Isomorpher took us into \u2018U322A,\u2019 I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s the number they assigned to the universe with the wormhole where they wanted it\u2026 and then today it tried to bring us back to \u2018U1,\u2019 which is\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOur home universe. Got it.\u201d Kyra nodded, reading the log over her shoulder again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo about thirty-five seconds after we were supposed to be safely back home, the system detected that something was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe isomorphic overlay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah. I\u2019ll bet it was getting readings that matched both universes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo then it tried to fix it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, three times. And when it didn\u2019t work, it did some kind of quantum-level analysis that confirmed we\u2019re physically in both universes at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo then it declared this \u2018Level Five Incident\u2019 thing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, and sent an alert out to the corporation that makes the Isomorpher, with all of the data, looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow come it took another fifteen minutes to wake up the crew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2019Cause the system had instructions that it had to wake us up first. See those two redacted entries? That\u2019s when I closed my cryo-tube and then closed yours. It redacted the logs of our revival, just like it was told to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDamn, it really took us that long to get from the tubes to this closet?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe were pretty wobbly. But here\u2019s the crazy part. The Quintessa Corporation seems to have sent instructions back to the ship\u2019s mainframe, while all that was going on, ordering it to decommission the Isomorpher and wipe its database. That\u2019s stuff you\u2019d think accident investigators on the surface would want access to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s crazy\u2014hey! Look what just happened to those entries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack blinked. While the two of them had been talking, the entries had changed drastically.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>2517.04.16.20:43:54<\/b> STRING FREQUENCIES FLUCTUATING BETWEEN U322A and U1. LEVEL FIVE INCIDENT CONFIRMED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20:43:57<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16.20.45:48<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:20:47:27<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:20:58:57<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMMENCING.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:03:58<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMPLETED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:08:15<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:32<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:33<\/b> REDACTED<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:34<\/b> SYSTEM STANDING BY.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A second later, they had changed again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt><b>2517.04.16.20:43:54<\/b> STRING FREQUENCIES FLUCTUATING BETWEEN U322A and U1. LEVEL FIVE INCIDENT CONFIRMED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:20:58:57<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMMENCING.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:03:58<\/b> CREW REVIVAL COMPLETED.<br \/>\n<b>2517.04.16:21:11:34<\/b> SYSTEM STANDING BY.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHoly shit. Did this thing just cover up\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cEverything we did and everything the Quintessa Corporation did. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There was now no record that the Quintessa Corporation had ever been notified of the incident, no record that it had instructed the system to trash the Isomorpher. And, fortunately, no record of two stowaways being given a fifteen-minute head start before the crew woke up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra\u2019s eyes, meeting hers, were awed and a little horrified. \u201cEverybody\u2019ll just assume that the drive got wiped by the Incident, won\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack nodded, feeling a little ill\u2026 and a <i>lot<\/i> confused. What had been in the drive and the database that needed so much protection? Mr. Reilly had told her that the Quintessa Corporation was secretive, but\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe can<i>not<\/i> get caught,\u201d she muttered. Aside from the whole issue of being arrested for stowing away, and potentially identified as fugitives from a mental hospital, there was now the issue of what the Quintessa Corporation might do to inconvenient witnesses.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Exactly what they were witnesses of, she wasn\u2019t even sure. But it scared her almost as much as the prospect of straddling a universe that was on <i>fire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo what do we do?\u201d Kyra asked after a moment, looking around at the closet\u2019s shelves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know. Not yet. If we can just\u2026 stay unseen by the <i>Matador<\/i>\u2019s crew, and then by the relief crew, maybe we can get out after they\u2019ve evacuated the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That, she suddenly thought, could be an hours-long or days-long process, as the ground crews switched cryo-tubes over to portable feeds before moving them, and their occupants, out.  Could they manage to stay hidden all that time? A quick check of the schematics showed her a single set of restrooms at the other end of the cryo deck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe\u2019re gonna have to \u2018hold it\u2019 until the <i>Matador<\/i>\u2019s crew goes to sleep,\u201d she realized. \u201cOr at least, until I can figure out how to switch off active feeds between here and the bathroom while we\u2019re on the move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFun,\u201d Kyra muttered. \u201cAny chance we can blend in with the ground crew while they\u2019re working? I mean, we\u2019re dressed in pretty standard ground crew gear, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack glanced at Kyra\u2019s jumpsuit as she gestured at it. \u201cMaybe. But there could be official logos, or colors, that we don\u2019t have. And they\u2019ll probably be wearing protective\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She didn\u2019t even try to finish her sentence. Instead, she keyed in one of her highest-level ghost codes, inputting her search parameters once she was sure they would be concealed from the flight deck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>STANDARD PROTECTIVE WEAR FOR LEVEL FIVE INCIDENTS<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhy do they call it \u2018Level Five,\u2019 of all things?\u201d Kyra huffed. \u201cWhat are levels one through four?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDimensions, maybe. The whole point is to connect points in our spacetime with\u2026 isomorphic\u2026 points elsewhere in the fifth dimension\u2026 I think.\u201d Jack frowned. \u201cMaybe \u2018Isomorpher\u2019 isn\u2019t such a bad name after all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The system wasn\u2019t especially cooperative. She had to rephrase the search a dozen times before she found a series of pictures someone had clandestinely taken of an incident on Atreyus 4. The crew seen offloading cryo-tubes in the images wore standard hazmat suits.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A search for emergency protocols on Tangiers Prime generated a list of what ground crews were expected to wear during different emergencies. But she couldn\u2019t find references to Level Five Incidents\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere,\u201d Kyra said, pointing to a paragraph at the very bottom of the long screed she\u2019d been reading.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>Due to the unpredictable nature of Level Five Incidents, there is no standardized requirement for protective gear. In most cases, the effects of the Level Five Incident will only be directly experienced by the occupants of the distressed vessel. Some secondary damage, however, is possible, if the physical effects (ex: fire) cross the threshold via the body of a crew member or passenger, or via affected materials on the ship. The recommendation is for full hazmat gear.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cFire,\u201d Kyra muttered. \u201cSo we could find ourselves on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s happened at least once,\u201d Jack told her. \u201cSo maybe hazmat gear would be a good idea even if we weren\u2019t trying to disguise ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Damn. The crew might be coming to this supply closet after all.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack switched over to inventory and breathed a sigh of relief. Each member of the crew had their own hazmat gear stored in their flight deck lockers. The suits she\u2019d seen on the shelves were surplus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Potentially useful surplus\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Finding recent pictures of the hazmat suits worn on Tangiers Prime took just a few more minutes. Jack pulled one of the suits off of the shelves to compare.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDid we just catch a really big break?\u201d Kyra breathed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think we did.\u201d Some worlds loved to gaudy up standard gear and make it unique, but Tangiers Prime apparently had no such pretensions. The suit in her hand was an exact match. She looked over the details and then began scrounging through the shelves. Hazmat footwear covers, in a variety of sizes, were stored below the pile of suits. She began searching for the gear closest to their sizes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">For the next several hours, Jack and Kyra practiced putting on the suits, miming the ways that they would seal them shut with the included tape. Then, after Jack mentioned the amount of time it would take to offload the cryotubes, they called up instructions for the process of detaching an occupied cryotube from a ship\u2019s central hub and attaching it to a portable feed. They watched videos together, quizzed each other on the different buttons and switches they would need to press and in which order\u2014Jack, of course, had no problem remembering, but pretended to make mistakes so that Kyra could correct her and remember them all the better\u2014until finally they heard the crew talking about bunking down for a few hours before it would be time to land.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">With the crew asleep, Jack switched off the camera feeds in the cryo deck long enough for them to make use of the restroom. The utility closet, they had decided, was the best place for them to be when the ground crew boarded. They would wait for a lull in the activities, a moment when nobody was within line of sight of the closet door, and then emerge, fully garbed in their hazmat gear, to blend in with the ground crew and help evacuate tubes. Once they were off the ship, they\u2019d do a quick fade and make their escape.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Both of them were sure it couldn\u2019t be that easy. But they spent the whole time that the <i>Matador<\/i> crew slept working out every possible complication they could imagine and what they might do in response. Jack found and modified a pair of linked comms, open-channel but scrambled against surveillance, so that they could still talk to each other once they were fully suited up and mingling with the ground crew.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">When the <i>Matador<\/i> crew woke up and began preparing for the landing, they were ready. Or as ready as they could possibly be. Their cards, from Helion Prime, were back in their smalls. They had changed into fresh clothes, swapped wigs and carefully put them back on, and hidden the rest of their clothing and toiletries beneath various tools and pieces of hardware in their gear bags. If no one else carried such bags into the ship, they could leave the bags behind, hidden on the closet\u2019s top shelf, and buy replacements for their contents on the ground. As the crew took their seats in the flight deck, Kyra and Jack exchanged a grim look.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis is when things could start getting crazy,\u201d Jack whispered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWell, we don\u2019t know what the other universe\u2019s Tangiers Prime is like. Odds are it\u2019s never been terraformed. So the atmosphere on that side could be really different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cLike, not breathable?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s a real risk, yeah. But it could be thicker or thinner, too, and that could change <i>everything<\/i> about atmospheric entry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow do you <i>know<\/i> all this?\u201d Kyra asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack decided that she might as well come clean, at least a little. \u201cI have a photographic memory. If I hear it, see it, or read it, I\u2019ll remember it forever. As long as I\u2019m paying attention, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Many people had thought her an odd child because of that. Where most small children thrived on and sought out repetition, watching the same movie dozens of times and repeating the same silly jokes ad nauseam, Jack had always found herself wanting to move on. She could remember whatever it was just fine, and repetition just felt like a waste of time to her. As she grew older and began to understand the social effects of her behavior, she had learned to tolerate and even engage in a certain amount of repetition\u2026 and to hide just how far ahead she was reading from her classmates and even teachers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Right now, though, it was a strategic asset, and Kyra had a right to know it was at their disposal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOkay,\u201d Kyra said after a moment. \u201cSo landing could be rough and unpredictable. Dangerous and fatal, even.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPretty much, yeah. And then there\u2019s the question of the landing site. If they are trying to have us land in an area that was artificially smoothed out\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere could be bumpy terrain on the other side. Shit. No wonder they\u2019re making such a fuss about this. So we could burn up during entry, or crash during landing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOr find ourselves choking on a half-poisonous atmosphere when the doors open.\u201d Jack touched the helmet of her hazmat suit. \u201cOnce we try to take these off, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWell, hell. At least it\u2019ll be an adventure, right?\u201d Kyra grinned, but Jack could see the gallows humor in her eyes. The auburn wig, now carefully seated over her braided-back hair, was less jarring on her than the blonde bob\u2014which Jack was now wearing over her much shorter, straight hair\u2014had been.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cEverybody\u2019s gotta die sometime, yeah.\u201d Jack sighed. \u201cAt least it\u2019ll be in good company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra suddenly looked touched. She reached out and took Jack\u2019s hand, giving it a squeeze.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cTangiers Prime Ground Control,\u201d<\/i> the pilot said, her voice doubling slightly as it came through from both the flight deck microphone and the comm signal, <i>\u201cthis is the <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i> on approach for our entry window, requesting clearance to proceed.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c<\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>, this is Tangiers Prime Ground Control. Your descent vectors are looking good. You are cleared for landing. Do you have any anomalies to report at this time?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cNone detected yet, Ground Control. Scans indicate no atmospheric variances in density or temperature. Fingers crossed.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGodspeed, <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>. We\u2019re setting up emergency staging at your landing site.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cThank you. Entering the upper atmosphere now. Adjusting descent angle\u2026 resistance is textbook. So far, so good.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The ship shivered a little beneath Jack\u2019s crossed legs, through the floor of the utility closet. The hull groaned.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cLooking good from our end too. You\u2019re nearing comms blackout.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cRoger that. Talk to you on the other side.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cLooking forward to it, <\/i>Matador<i>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">For several minutes, only the hushed voices of the flight deck crew came through the utility closet\u2019s comm speaker. Everyone seemed calm, although Jack had listened to comm recordings from some legendary accidents and almost-accidents that sounded every bit as nonchalant. Flight crews tended to have nerves of steel. She wished she could have watched Fry crash-landing the <i>Hunter-Gratzner.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>She probably never even broke a sweat\u2026<\/i> Johns had obviously been full of shit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c\u2026do you read? <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>, this is Tangiers Prime Ground Control, do you read?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGround Control, this is the <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>, reading you loud and clear.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cWelcome back, <\/i>Matador.<i> We show you centered in your lane. Any anomalies to report?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cNone yet, Ground\u2014hold on. I\u2019m picking up some\u2026 Ground Control, please verify our landing coordinates.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c33.5731 degrees north, 7.5898 degrees west.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGround Control, we have an anomaly. We are intermittently picking up a large body of water on our scanners at the designated location.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c<\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>, please send us your readings.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cTransmitting.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">There was a pause.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThey\u2019d better come up with something fast,\u201d the Captain grumbled. \u201cWe\u2019ll be there in fifteen more minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c<\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>,\u201d<\/i> Ground Control finally said, <i>\u201cyou will attempt landing at the coordinates. You will need to spiral in and then hover over the landing site, just above the detected water level. We will tether you at that height and bring in support scaffolding. Ground support has been notified of the revised plan. Do you need further instruction?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cNo, but thank you. Adjusting approach trajectory now.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cOnce the ship is secured, we recommend you put on your protective gear.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGreat minds think alike. God only knows what could be in that water.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cYour readings indicate normal saltwater. About 28, 29 degrees\u2026 bathwater temperatures. Might be a tropical paradise on the other side.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cMight have sharks, too.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ground Control laughed. <i>\u201cWell, if you find any coconuts, you pull them over to this side.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cSounds like a plan. We\u2019ll have a luau.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The captain turned off her microphone for a moment, her voice only coming in from the flight deck feed. \u201cTropical paradise my ass\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">One of the other crew members started singing an ancient sea chanty. \u201cJust sit right back and you\u2019ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDon\u2019t be an idiot.\u201d The captain switched her microphone back on. <i>\u201cGround Control, my readings are showing a five meter depth to the water. Seafloor appears to have roughly fifteen centimeters of variance from the tarmac of this \u2019verse. Can you confirm?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cRoger, <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>. The good news is that means you won\u2019t sink. Adjusting landing plan accordingly. We will bolster the landing gear to match the seafloor height. Prepare to receive new trajectories. You will still want to come in at a hover and then do a slow descent.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack looked over at Kyra. \u201cOnce they land, it\u2019ll be time to put on our suits. They\u2019ll be doing the same thing\u2026 and they won\u2019t open up until they\u2019re secure. Then we watch and wait. We\u2019ll put on our helmets last, when we\u2019re ready to join the ground crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra gave Jack a worried look. \u201cDo you know how to swim?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah. You?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah. I\u2019m pretty good at it. Just wasn\u2019t sure if you came from a world where people swam. Most of the girls at the hospital didn\u2019t know how. Not much swimming on a world that\u2019s surface is only 10% water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack grinned. \u201cI\u2019m good. But\u2026 we should try <i>not<\/i> to swim in front of the locals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra snickered. \u201cYeah, that might look a little weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The floor began to tilt to one side, gradually and gently. Jack could feel them turning, a sensation that left her a little queasy since everything around her showed no signs of the motion.  The tilt steepened, and the turning sensation grew more pronounced. The ship shivered against some turbulence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe\u2019re spiraling in,\u201d she told Kyra. \u201cAnother moment and they\u2019ll switch to repulser engines so we can hover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra nodded, looking a little pale and nauseated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The switch was a little rough. The ship shuddered, hard, as the repulsers switched on, and wobbled for several gut-clenching seconds before settling into a strange new attitude that reminded Jack of a floating dock.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>CLANG!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She and Kyra both flinched.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat the fuck was that?\u201d Kyra gasped.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>CLANG!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t\u2014oh! They said they were going to anchor the ship while it hovered, didn\u2019t they? I\u2019ll bet that\u2019s what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The loud noise repeated six more times, from various directions, before stopping.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201c<\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>, this is Ground Control. Platforms are in position below your landing gear. Begin dialing down your repulsers and descend.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cCopy that.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack could feel it, the moment the ship touched the surface of the water in the other universe. Suddenly there was resistance. Something wanted to keep the ship floating, even as the gravity of U1\u2019s Tangiers Prime was trying to draw it down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Slowly, ever so slowly, the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> descended the final five meters. It was a remarkably gentle landing for one so harrowing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGround Control, this is the <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>. We have touched down. We will need additional anchoring. There\u2019s some tidal forces at work on the other side.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cRoger that, <\/i>Scarlet Matador<i>. We are moving in to bolster your anchor points. Boarding will commence in twenty minutes. Please be in full protective gear at that time.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Twenty minutes was just enough time to finish getting ready. Jack and Kyra tested their comms, making sure they\u2019d hear each other\u2019s voices if they whispered but not be deafened if either of them had to shout. Jack switched the video feed over to external cameras so that they could watch the approaching ground crews and make sure that their protective gear would blend in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s like trying to watch someone on the other side of an aquarium,\u201d Jack murmured to Kyra after a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNever tried that. But this is seriously trippy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The cameras kept registering the presence of water on the surface. The crews preparing to board the ship sometimes appeared to be doing so in open air, but frequently looked distorted by water, while the cameras struggled to refocus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cGround control, please be advised. The water level seems to be rising slowly. It\u2019s now at six meters. Please enter via the upper decks to prevent flooding on board the <\/i>Matador<i>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cCopy, <\/i>Matador<i>. We will use flyers to transport you and the passengers. Keep us advised of water levels. We don\u2019t want to drown anybody.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Hanging the Geiger counters and other detection instruments on their belts\u2014the approaching ground crew all had them\u2014and preparing to don their helmets, Jack and Kyra watched as the <i>Matador<\/i> crew approached the airlock that had been chosen as the initial entry point. Large, one deck above the cryo deck\u2014which, Jack realized with a shudder, was fully underwater in the other universe\u2014and opening on a spacious room, it made a good staging point for the rescue operation that was about to begin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Hopefully.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The captain stepped forward, wearing a hazmat suit emblazoned with the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i>\u2019s logo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Good, Jack thought. Her suit, and Kyra\u2019s, would suggest even <i>more<\/i> that they were from Tangiers Prime and not the ship. Just as long as they could stay above the water, anyway.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">On the other side of the airlock, the leader of the ground crew approached the door.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack realized she was holding her breath as the unsealing commenced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCaptain,\u201d the leader said, stepping into the airlock. His voice was the voice of the Ground Control officer who had talked the ship down. \u201cPermission to come aboard?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cGranted,\u201d the <i>Matador<\/i>\u2019s captain said with obvious relief. \u201cIt\u2019s good to meet you in pers\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 1em;margin-bottom: 0\">A wave broke against the ship, splashing through the open airlock and smacking the captain down to the floor.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 21\/? Fandom: TCOR AU Rating: T Warnings: Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language Category: Gen ","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d chapter 21 by Ardath Rekha","bgseo_description":"At the best of times, the most dangerous part of space travel is atmospheric re-entry. These are not the best of times...","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1203,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/1203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}