Chapter 125 Mass Evolution (20)

Although there weren't many buttons in the cockpit there were a great many things that I needed to connect myself to before I could even think of starting.

My arm, the one that I had created, needed to be connected to the chair. An untold amount of wires wrapped around the arm, various diagnostics happening before it let go and I could feel my vision expand, the ship entering my awareness.

With just a thought the engines were flipped on, the platform under me lifting up and up before the jet was pointed to the sky.

The bindings, holding the jet to the platform were released and with a roar of the engines I was off.

Instantly I could feel the pressure being forced onto my body. It was like I was being compressed by hundreds of thousands of pounds of force. Luckily though we had accounted for this, as soon the pressure was equalized in the cockpit and I could barely feel the force of the jet moving anymore.

The only way I could feel the jet now was through the numbers that my arm was feeding me. With both hands I took control of the steering stick, flaps on the wings allowing me to turn the wings to the left and right.

By the time that I was able to pilot it, the jet was already going over 1 percent the speed of light and I had circled around the little ball of dirt. This was enough for a test run though and I was ready to land.

Pulling a switch the all but two of the engines were turned off, the jet bleeding speed as I slowed down and down.

Eventually it had slowed enough that I was able to land it back in its place on the landing pad. The engines were rotated and put on their landing setting where it used just enough fuel to barely lift the jet allowing it to slowly descend.

Within a minute the jet was landed, the clamps of the landing pad holding it down, ready for another launch whenever we decided that to be.

I checked the fuel supply for just that run and was surprised. The reserves that were supposed to get us to the planet barely lasted this short 10 minute test run. I don't know if it was because I had them at full blast or if it wasn't as fuel efficient as I had hoped for it to be but we would need to make some modifications.

Of course I could have just refueled with the matter generator but that only had enough in reserve to refuel 6 or so time enough for maybe

…

I had exited the jet and was expecting the base to be the same but for some reason there were subtle differences. For starters the messes that I had made while building the jet were gone and when I entered the experiment room that I had been using for my sleep all of the paper and other utilities that I had used were gone.

A hissing sound was heard behind me and I found Delta waiting by the door, a stern expression on her face as she looked intently at me.

"5 months"

"What?" I questioned, I had no idea what Delta was talking about, I was only in the air for 10 minutes, my sensors had shown that.

"Time dilation, for you it was 10 minutes, for me it was 5 months" Delta states again as if reading my mind.

My eyes opened in shock, for a second I could not say anything. The shock of knowing that Delta had spent that much time here while I was only in the air for 10 minutes was… was… it was, I don't know how to describe the complex emotions that I felt.

A piece of paper was thrown at my head, blinding me for a second. The shock that I felt was lessened with the impact that the paper had given to me after being thrown.

I tore it off of my face being careful to not damage it.

On the paper was a set of equations.

"When you left, I racked my mind for answers and that is what I came up with, the faster you go the more time passes for the one that is still"

That… that meant that if I was to even walk, then Delta was experiencing more time than me, however small it was but with how fast I was going compared to Delta, it was no wonder that she had experienced 5 months of time.

Quickly scanning the equation, I input my speed and Delta's and find that it was exactly as she said, 5 months should have passed.

…

When Rhea, my apprentice, had disappeared, I had no idea what had happened to her. All I heard was the roar of the engines as she accelerated out of the docks and within moments even that was gone.

I had a giant idea that maybe she had died, but no, that would not make sense. If she had died the evolution would have either dialed or we would be booted out of here. However she had just disappeared.

I racked my brain for solutions but nothing was coming up.

It was only when I looked at the mirror that was held in Rhea's room that I questioned myself.

'If Rhea was being carried at such a high speed would there not be time before I would even see a reflection of her?' That very question set off a series of other questions like how would that work for instance.

Though that question was answered simply, if Rhea was going at the speed of light, then it would take a whole second for me to see where she was a second ago.

It would mean that to me a whole second could pass but I would only see the past second of Rhea's moves.

…

AN: I have no idea how to do that math so don't blame me if it is wrong, I couldn't find anything to help calculate how much time would have passed for 10 minutes at 1% the speed of light.

Nor do I really know how relativity works so take whatever I say with a grain of salt.