Chapter 6

"Captain Tufts," the KTT AI announced, "you have four hours to cradle your ship in the heart of the transport nest. Once you are in place and we have verified your positioning, we will give you a thirty-minute countdown to shift. Your destination documents have now been transferred to your shipboard AI and you are cleared to begin the process. This transport will be exactly 27,341 light years and will place you near the Hilaris system. It is the most livable of all the solar systems within our range. Hilaris 3 and Hilaris 4 are both in the habitable zone of a type G star, very similar to your home Sol. Both planets are M class and are acceptable for your use. No doubt you will take time to examine both but you will find that H-3 is a little close to Hilaris-Prime while H-4 is much more suitable. H-3 is quite arid and the temperatures will approach the maximum of your comfort range. It would take very little industrialization and pollution of the atmosphere to tip the planet over to being uninhabitable.

"We believe that H-4 will be much more to your liking. The land and ocean mass balance is very similar to earth, about 75 percent water to 25 percent land. Even so the configuration of the continents and ocean systems will be very unfamiliar. Temperature ranges in the polar area are a bit more severe than earth due to its extra tilt on the rotation axis. The orbit around Hilaris is more circular and stable than Earth's orbit around Sol. The Hilaris configuration tends to moderate long-range weather cycles. H-4 has a single moon which is about 20 percent larger than your Luna and the distance is just under 200,000 miles. That is only 84 percent of the current Earth to Luna distance. The major effect you will notice is that ocean tides are much stronger than on earth and the orbital period of the moon is shorter so tide changes are more frequent. The high, fast tides will form some challenges but also offer great opportunity too.

"We have established a remote transfer station a little over a light hour from Hilaris which is where you will enter that system. You may also use it as a communication port. Right now there is no communication capability but we will ask you to take a beacon with you to place on the transfer station. That will give you instant communications with us here at Kayteetee'. We will gladly relay your messages to either the Darjee or the Confederacy as you wish.

"We are tracking your freight ship, the Behemoth Bounty, and will keep you informed. If possible it would be good if some of your staff might come here to meet that crew and help them prepare for the transport. We wish you an effortless migration and fervently hope that your ship lives up to her name.

Rob stepped into the conversation, "Excuse me, but just what does that mean that you hope the Kedah lives up to her name?"

"Kedah is an ancient Darjee word that means 'Abode of Peace'. Back on Earth it is the name of the oldest province in Malaysia, an experiment we tried long ago which didn't work out as we had hoped. We pray you are able to live up to the name of your ship.

"Please advise your people that you will be in transit for almost an hour. The program automatically monitors the strain on the Kedah's hull and life support systems and will transport the Kedah at the maximum speed possible. It is strongly suggested that all of you strap into a resting station and that youngsters and gravid women be sedated, as the sensation can be quite disconcerting. It isn't dangerous to us Darjee but you are the first humans to ever make such a trip and we aren't certain of the effect that this will have on your physiology or psyches. The transport systems are all fully automated and there is nothing you can do to modify the ship or its path through hyper-space. Have a good trip."

Under Tonto's direction the crew began sorting themselves into compartments and 'rest stations' as the Darjee had called the beds. Ellie and Jason stripped and climbed into one bed together. All the others of their immediate family were in the same or an adjoining compartment where they could stay in visual communication as well as being linked by Tonto. Throughout the Kedah other groups were making similar arrangements.

Rob and Katie joined in a single temporary bed located in the bridge area. They knew there was nothing for them to do on the bridge as the ship would either make it or it wouldn't. They were powerless and trusted completely in Tonto and the Darjee technology, still it just felt right for the Captain and her First Mate to be on the bridge. Some customs may not make much sense but they brought comfort to all involved.

At some sub-atomic level the ship seemed to tremble then winked out of existence at KTT. The combined power of the binary stars was propelling them so much faster than light speed that human language had yet to develop a name for the process other than "transport."

Disaster struck the entire human family aboard the Kedah the instant transport began. Some might think it a wonderful gift but an hour of the most intense orgasm imaginable would more than fry the central nervous system of every man, woman and child aboard; it would have been an agonizing death.

Tonto was overwhelmed by the intense flow of emotion and came very close to winking out of existence but a small thread of comprehension from Ellie was enough to hold his being together. Perhaps it was the feathers or even the Darjee persona she had embraced, or perhaps some portion of Darjee DNA had found its way into her body - Ellie was the least effected and her composure was the key. Within a few seconds of the onset of the entire ships compliment going into orgasm Tonto punched the alarms of the life support system.

The Darjee automated system at KTT noted and instantly responded by reducing power to Kedah and the highly concentrated feeling of orgasm began to subside. As it did, Tonto regained his full facilities. Utilizing the life support system's series of alarms to communicate the need to KTT, the dance to maintain maximum transport speed and the sanity of the occupants played out in milliseconds. Balance was achieved. At Darjee speeds the 27,000 plus light year trip would have taken just under an hour. Allowing for human tolerances it would now take just over three hours with everyone in a highly pre-orgasmic state of cuddle and arousal.

Most of the people didn't want the trip to end but if arousal isn't transient it's an extended pain in the ass. However, another human custom came into play aboard the Kedah; no one was in bed alone when they arrived at the Hilaris transport terminal.

Although the Kedah was perched on the edge of their new solar system and had the huge adventure of colonizing their choice of worlds it still took about 20 minutes for the people to come down from the transport induced high. It took another hour for all to take showers, get dressed and return to a slightly embarrassed state of normalcy. Then the new excitement before them begin to raise spirits once again.