SODIUM:4 Gravity by Stephen Arseneault Read Free Book Online

maneuver.
    Shepard took several minutes checking and rechecking the information on her holo-screen before proceeding to the control panel by the rear door. No one before had turned off the active skin while traveling faster than light and simulations above light speed had generally yielded gibberish for results as the standard laws of physics seemed to no longer apply.
    As Shepard looked hesitantly at the holo-button I wondered if we would not be instantly vaporized. She then looked back at me through the glass bubble of her helmet and gave me a wink. The button was pressed and the active skin turned from pitch black into the familiar silvery white of a parked ship.
    Other than the expected visual alarms going off on our holo-screens and the now vivid silvery white interior of our Ghost, there was no indication that anything had changed. We each quickly attached our tethers. Shepard then pushed the button and the rear door slowly opened.
    I handed Shepard the ring tool and sent her on her way. We were traveling at 2412 times the speed of light with only a thin layer of protection from our BGSs. I watched intently on the console holo-screen as Shepard loosed the first ring. Suddenly, the holo-screen started flashing a bright red warning. We had entered into some type of a plasma cloud.
    Seconds later everything began to be covered with a faint green glow. The green glow continued to grow in brightness as Shepard worked. At the same time I became brutally aware of the lack of our simulated gravitational forces inside the ship.
    The green glow turned into an aura that moved back and forth between green and orange as you moved in one direction or the other. We had no shielding except for that which our BGS supplied. The outermost layer was a low powered Sodium active skin. I held up my arm and watched as the green glow of the plasma danced across it in tight swirls.
    The plasma also had an effect on the stimulus operation of the BGS. The small micro-pulses that kept our muscles toned and bones thick were now seemingly in overdrive. I felt as though I was flexing every muscle in my body at once.
    The weightless feeling along with the stimulation from the BGS and the green and orange aura gave the sense of having a hallucination. The plasma seemed to flow slowly over my suit and then wisp away into nothingness.
    As I waved my arms back and forth in wonder I suddenly became aware of the fact that the active skin of the BGS was going into overdrive. My arms were fading in and out of sight right before my eyes. The plasma was supercharging the active skin.
    I had sudden thoughts about what it would be like to have an active suit that matched the capabilities of the active skin of the ship. It would be like a personal cloaking device. My mind began to wonder with all the abilities that an invisible BGS suit would provide.
    I could charge headlong into one of the alien ships and wreak havoc on their crew. Blasting away with a coil gun while throwing punches from an unseen location. I could bash alien skulls and run amok without threat of discovery or harm. I could own their ship and they would fear me.
    I was then brought back to the reality of the moment when I reached my hand out towards the toolbox only to have it pass through it like it was not there. I began to wonder if I would slip off the tether and through the walls of the ship and out into space. I began to fear for Shepard and what might become of her being already outside of the ship.
    The green glow then suddenly left just as quickly as it had come. The red alerts on the holo-screen returned to the door open and active skin off warnings. I marveled at the black void of space behind us slowly moving out to the red and then orange stars as it had a dream-like appearance. I was soon brought back to reality by a scream from Shepard.
    I called out several times but got no response. I quickly scanned her health status and all parameters were in order. Shepard then came back with a