Quantum Fold – Chapter One
This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!
Chapter One
Sweat poured down Quinn’s body like a Cygnus Secundus afternoon thunderstorm and every muscle in her body trembled. She wouldn’t break—she’d never break. But holding this stance—standing on her right leg, bent forward with her left leg raised behind her, and her arms out to the side was agonizing. As it should be—there was a reason the Sisters of Cygnus called these punishment poses.
“Release,” Sister Lashtar snapped.
Quinn gratefully lowered her left leg to the floor, pulling her arms into her sides, and stood upright.
“Recover. Ten minutes.”
Slowly, Quinn lowered herself to the floor, folding her legs below her body and lowering her forehead to the mat. Ah. Eventually, she got up the energy to turn flat on her back. She breathed, slowly and evenly, concentrating entirely on her breathing. The fading remains of resin-laden incense was sharp in her sinuses, but soothing all the same, as was the silence.
“Penitents are released to drink and eat. In silence.” Sister Lashtar’s voice was as cold as a Cygnus Gliese winter night. “Quinn, my office after the meal.”
Quinn heard the rustle of clothing but stayed where she was, unwilling to move. She knew the others were gathering bev-tainers and y’ga mats, more than ready to leave the Sister’s meditation room, but if she moved, she’d have to think, and she didn’t want to do that yet.
Something hit the bottom of her foot. When Quinn ignored it, the tapping continued, getting harder and switching feet randomly. Quinn sighed and opened her eyes.
“Finally,” Nat hissed, scowling. She held out a hand. “Come on. We need water and calories.” She glanced at the door, obviously hoping Sister Lashtar didn’t hear her.
Quinn took Nat’s hand and stood. Her head swam so she focused on a single spot on the wall and clung to Nat. Finally, she let go, and gratefully accepted the bev-tainer Brin handed her. Drinking slowly, she followed the group of girls out of the meditation room, down the hall and into the dining hall. They lined up at the kitchen window, muttering, “Thank you, Sister,” as they took trays with stew, bread, and water. As usual, the smell of baking bread permeated the huge dining hall and the clatter of hand-thrown clay pottery seemed loud in the silence.
Sister Navarr stood and intoned, “May the Mother bless the food we are here to share. May the Mother bless our efforts to praise her. May the Mother bless us.”
“May the Mother bless us,” echoed back from every corner of the room, Quinn joining in. She was blessed to be here, but sometimes boredom drove gratefulness and common sense right out of her head. Then she’d find something she wasn’t supposed to see, and anger wiped out thought like a lightning strike shattered a tree.
Sitting at the small punishment table at the front of the dining hall full of her fellow orphans, Quinn concentrated on eating her simple stew slowly. Why bother looking up? She’d only see the rest of the girls pointing and laughing at them, a practice the Sisters ignored, hoping peer pressure discouraged further bad behavior.
Too bad for the Sisters that it didn’t work. Quinn smirked. She could care less what the “good girls” thought. She ate, trying not to think about what she’d found. But it was hard to concentrate on a negative. Still, she did so, until she finished eating. She stared down at her bowl, watching the Sister’s leadership out of the corner of her eye. Finally, the leaders stood, bringing everyone to their feet, and they waited while Sister Navarr announced the work assignments. The leaders left, followed by everyone else, the youngest first, the punishment table last.
Quinn reluctantly followed the rest, Nat shooting a half sympathetic, half accusatory look at her as they split, Nat and Brin going to the kitchen to clean. Quinn trudged up the stairs to Sister Lashtar’s office and knocked quietly.
“Come in.”
She sighed and entered the dragon’s lair, standing in front of Sister Lashtar’s desk, looking straight ahead.
“Well, here you are. Again.” Lashtar’s voice was dismissively disappointed. “Despite defining your limits, you insist on exceeding them, prying into things you have no right to know. Why?”
Why? Isn’t it obvious? Or is this a trick?
“I asked a question, Penitent Quinn.”
Well, she had little to lose. Why not give her the real answer? “Yes, Sister. After Ferra’s betrayal for credits, how can you ask any of us to trust you?”
A sharp inhale followed by silence. Quinn risked a glance. Sister Lashtar’s eyes were closed, mouth clamped shut. Uh oh.
Sister Lashtar exhaled ever so slowly and took in another deep breath. “Penitent Quinn, we have outlined the processes and procedures we have put in place to ensure no one person has control of the Sisters. Full Sisters are given full access to everything. You are not a Sister. I sincerely doubt you will ever be a Sister of Cygnus.”
Quinn gasped. Not be a Sister? What else would she be? She’d lived with the Sisters her entire life.
“Look at me.”
She lowered her head reluctantly, examining Lashtar’s expression. Quinn found nothing.
Lashtar said, “I didn’t say that to hurt you, Quinn. But the women who become full Sisters aren’t prone to constantly breaking the rules, questioning every word. Nat and Brin tried to talk you out of this, didn’t they?” It wasn’t really a question.
“Yes,” Quinn admitted.
“I thought so. Nat is a natural leader, as are you. But she’s a leader by the book. You are not. The Sisters who thrive here need rules and consistent leadership according to those rules. If you stay, you and Nat will clash constantly. You will stress everyone in leadership. You will be more stressed than anyone, because you’ll never really fit in here, Quinn.” Lashtar said the last in a gentle voice. “And besides that, your talents aren’t well suited to the Sisters. We’re an agriculturally-based subsistence lifestyle. We teach net skills, y’ga and other security skills so those who choose to move on can support themselves. Net skills aren’t useful here.”
Quinn clenched her fists at her sides and clamped her lips together. She wasn’t sure if she would laugh, scream or cry, so she didn’t say anything at all.
“Again, Quinn, I’m not saying this to hurt you. I’m telling you this because you already know it’s true, you just aren’t willing to admit it.” Lashtar tapped sharply on the desk, once. “Or maybe you aren’t ready to admit it. Either way the restrictions of the Sisters chafe you, like a too-tight set of boots. Even though you’re younger than Nat and Brin, you’ve outgrown this place.” She swept an arm, clearly indicating the entire compound, not just Lashtar’s office.
Quinn swallowed hard and bit her lip. Where would she go?
“At fourteen, you’re younger than I’d like to send folding across the universe, but the net academy Katryn attended has a partial scholarship available.” Lashtar snorted. “And this is where your rule-breaking will come in handy. The scholarship’s upper age limit is thirteen standard years. You’re not a big girl, and I don’t think you’ll ever be big, not with your obvious heritage. You can easily lose a couple of years.” Lashtar’s mouth twisted.
That was probably true. Quinn had more in common with Katryn Phazeer than her net talents. She was tiny, with hair so black it was almost blue, big, slightly tilted brown eyes, and a pointed chin. She looked like Katryn’s little sister or an anime action figure. Quinn bit her lip, trying to hold back her growing excitement.
“It seemed like a suspicious stipulation, but the academy assures us they are trying to reach disadvantaged girls before they are trapped into a life of servitude and poverty. Katryn attended the same academy. She did very well and had no problems.” Lashtar shrugged. “Well, until she went out on her own and decided to go up against Galactica Corporation. So, part of your punishment detail is this: you will investigate the academy, make sure it is what it says it is, and you will create documents supporting your new age.” Lashtar snorted again. “Not that you will have any trouble with that since none of you have real documentation by core standards.”
Quinn took her first real breath since arriving in Lashtar’s office. Off world? To a net academy? It was a dream come true. A slightly scary dream, but so exciting! She’d get away from all these ridiculous restrictions, the religious trappings, the steamy, sodden jungle of Cygnus Secundus. And she’d be on the net all day, every day. No more weeding, shepherding, building fences, clearing jungle, none of that. Learn more and more about the net, and how to infiltrate it and secure it, and—
“Quinn!” Lashtar snapped.
She jumped.
“Don’t skimp on this research. Don’t assume you’re better than a school full of net experts. Your life is at stake and you should know by now there are worse things than death.” Lashtar pointed a finger at Quinn. “Just because it was safe for Katryn doesn’t mean it’s safe now. That was a long time ago. And there’s no way for us to come to the rescue if everything goes wrong.” She narrowed her eyes. “We’ll be sending you with a list of codes and phrases. You will check in. If you don’t, we’ll be asking Lightwave and others we know to check on you, but there’s no guarantee anyone will have the time or the ability. You will be alone and unafraid out there. Do the work.” Lashtar’s expression was an odd combination of worry, pride, and sorrow.
“Yes, Sister, I will.” Quinn would do the research all right—she’d heard too many horror stories of slavery from the Sisters not to—but she wasn’t going to squander this opportunity either. Even if this school wasn’t the right one, there had to be another one out there. Net talents like hers were rare and she knew it. Plenty of beings wanted someone with her talent and would pay to see it grow.
Sister Lashtar was right—Quinn didn’t belong here.
“And Quinn?”
“Yes, Sister Lashtar?” She kept herself from bouncing around the room with joy, but it was hard.
“The research is part of your punishment.” She smiled, a slow, rather evil smile. “You are still obligated to all the others, including kitchen duty.” The smile grew. “You’re late. Go!”
Quinn spun and sprinted out of Lashtar’s office. Even though the nasty job of cleaning the kitchen’s grease traps waited for her, she was too excited to walk. Off world! To a net academy! All day, learning net skills.
She couldn’t wait.
#
Brin squeezed her tight. Too tight. “Can’t breathe.” Brin’s arms loosened but didn’t let go.
“We’ll miss you.” She set Quinn away from her at arms-length, hands on her shoulders, and shook her a little. “You’d better write.”
Quinn smiled. “Of course I’ll write. I’m going to a net academy. I’ll have way better connections to communications than we do here. Getting it here, to Cygnus Secundus, that will be the problem.”
Nat pulled her away from Brin and into a slightly gentler hug. “I’ll miss you, Quinn.” She let go. “I won’t miss the trouble you cause, but I’ll miss you.” Her smile trembled.
“I’ll miss you too.” She looked around the group of girls and women. “I’ll miss all of you. Stay safe.”
Sister Ani walked her to the shuttle’s short stairs. “Safe folds. You’re always welcome to come back.”
Quinn laughed. “Thanks, Sister. I’ll be fine. How could I be anything but fine? You trained me.” She forced a chuckle. Now that her foot was on the first step, climbing up seemed to take far more effort than it should. She blinked back sudden tears and bowed. “Thank you for your teaching and patience.” With effort, she smiled. “I’ll succeed and make you proud.”
Ani nodded deeply in return. “I am proud, Quinn. Whether you succeed or not, I’m proud of you. Don’t you be too proud to come back if you need to. This is your home and you truly are more than welcome to return. May the Mother bless you and keep you from harm.”
Quinn sniffled, but couldn’t say anything or she’d burst into tears. Ani gripped her shoulder, nodded with clamped lips, then turned Quinn’s body to the stairs and urged her up. She climbed, turned back and waved at the hatch, unable to see through her tears, and forced herself inside.
“Come, Gentle Quinn, all will be fine.” The co-pilot, a Grusian named Keyser, led her to a seat and strapped her in. “It’s always hard leaving home.” Keyser turned away, strapping into her own chair. “Ready for launch.”
The pilot, another Grusian named Hout, looked over his shoulder, “Small surge, then normal gravity. Sit back and enjoy the ride, Gentle Quinn. It will be approximately seven hours and ten minutes before we arrive at Fold Transport Frederick.” He flicked something in the holo in front of him. “Initiating thrust, now.”
Quinn’s body pressed into the seat and she gasped, but the pressure let off before she even finished the breath.
“Do you want to watch?” Co-pilot Keyser asked. Her dark blue skin, bald head, and big eyes marked her as alien, but Grusians were essentially human, DNA-wise. Or humans were Grusian—nobody knew why human-type bipedals were so common across the universe. “We’ll be at the folder in approximately seven hours and six minutes. You can move around the cabin, use the galley and the sani-mod—but be ready to strap in if necessary.” Keyser chuckled. “I doubt it will be necessary, there’s not much traffic here.”
She nodded. “Yes, I’d love to watch our flight.” Quinn wiped the tears away with her hands. She didn’t want to miss any of this.
Keyser pushed a screen over to her and Quinn accepted it into her e-torc’s public holo. A navigation display, showing their shuttle’s orbit in relation to the planet and a view of Secundus, receding rapidly. Before long, Secundus was just a marble of blue and green. Quinn sighed and swept the visual of the planet away, concentrating on the shuttle’s flight path to the fold transport.
All the Sisters said she was welcome to come back, but Sister Lashtar was right—Secundus and the Sisters of Cygnus held nothing for her. She’d look forward and move forward, be bold. With great risks came great rewards and Quinn was determined to earn her share of rewards.
