“Cappy EvO, you made us all fall down. You drive tewibly!”
“What the frack is going on, EvO?” ViN snarls.
Sitting Ami on my hip, bouncing her playfully, I point toward the viewer. “Your guess is as good as mine, ViN. There is nothing in front of us, but something sure stopped us dead in space.”
Ami climbs up my chest, taking my face in her little hands, making me look at her. “Yeah, huh Cappy … there is toooo.”
“What do you see, my little fireball?”
“A big bubble.”
“You see a bubble?” All of us look at each other, then back at the viewer.
“Yep, it’s bouncing in and out! You can just goes through it, it not gonna pop. Or me can blow it out.” Suddenly, her little body starts getting hot, and I feel the scales on her skin start to harden and turn red. Before I can say a word, ViN takes her from me.
“Ami Lynn, we cannot go outside the ship and you know it. Now calm down or no snacks later.”
“Me can too can go blow out bubbles … dragons not scared of nothin … you no fun Daddy!”
“This baby dragon is going to be forced to take a nap if she isn’t good, and Cappy EvO is not going to save her this time.”
I turn away to keep from laughing when she tucks her head under his chin, a pout on her little lips as she really does think she is invincible. I am just getting ready to ask Rafe to run a secondary scan when SCOUT suddenly appears on deck.
“SCOUTY … new hugs, yay,” Ami Lynn yells out, so before he can say a word to us as to why he is here, he is tossing her playfully into the air. Her innocent giggles make all of us smile.
“SCOUT, to what do we owe the pleasure?”
“The Commander wanted me to take a closer look at the phenomenon that was able to bring a ship as large as Destiny to a dead stop. The scans appear to be in working order, but I do believe our little Ami is seeing more than Destiny’s sensors, as I too, see some sort of bubble or thin force field.”
“How can that be?”
“I may be, for the most part, the most informed and intelligent being in this area, but I still cannot describe the creation of the heavens, Captain EvO.”
Father’s image appears on screen, and once again we all laugh as Ami Lynn must have the first word. “Pappy DaR, you and Mammy come see me. I need new rocks!”
“Hello, my little dragon. I will be headed your way soon with a whole new crate of rocks for you to go through.”
“YAY! SCOUTY, me down … me go tell mommy.”
The moment her little feet hit the floor, she runs through the open doorway and down the hall, her screams of laughter echoing off the walls as we all watch her go.
“I would love to have half her energy. I have no idea how you keep up with her, ViN.”
“EvO, I am not sure I do, to be honest. I feel like I barely show up before she gets into the next thing. Her mind never seems to settle, and she is so curious about everything.”
“Master ViN, she is learning and growing as she should. Ami Lynn is in a safe environment surrounded by loved ones, let her imagination grow while she still has her youth to fan it or reality to drown it out.”
SCOUT’s words seem to settle over all of us until Father speaks up. “I have read the scans, but I can only see what you do. I am interested to know how you want to proceed, EvO.”
“Father, I think we should power up and see if we can push through this bubble that Ami Lynn says is in front of us. This may be the rumored Veil that we have heard so much about.”
“SCOUT, what is your suggestion?”
“I am going into this blindly Commander, as I have no proof of this Veil either. But if it can be punctured, Destiny’s thrusters are our best bet, as they are top of the line. I have a hunch that what we are seeking is simply being hidden from us by the cosmos itself. Many a ship has left our radar in this area, and I recently found an illegal download about human anatomy from an unauthorized shuttle for a split second before my connection was suddenly disconnected. I would like to personally see this through with your permission.”
“SCOUT, I am assuming you left Falcor and SAGE in charge in case your signal gets cut off once you are through this bubble, or veil, as you call it.”
“Confirmed. They are well aware of what might occur if we are able to break through this anomaly.”
