First came the sense of dread, a twist in the depth of Ra-hel’s stomach which spread up through her gut to her throat. Quickly followed a white hot pain that caused every muscle in her body to cramp simultaneously. Involuntarily she shouted out, but her voice was drowned out by the violent screaming of her sister. Next was the sensation of loss, as if small pieces of her were being sharply cut away. Finally, when there was nothing more to lose Ra-hel could only distinguish the heartbreaking feeling of absence, a tangible void of where everything had once been, but would never be again.

 

Minutes earlier Ra-hel’s body had been comfortably floating in complete darkness, her weight supported by the thick, nutrient rich substance of the Wayfinder’s tank. She was naked, except for electrode pads that connected her flesh to the ship’s systems outside of the tank, recording her physical status.  Her arms were moving slowly back and forth through the fluid. Their movement wasn’t required to keep her buoyant; it was a natural reaction to the environment, learned as an embryo floating in the womb. Just beyond the usual reach of her fingertips was a touch sensitive pad which she could use to adjust the direction of the ship, if she found it to be off its course between the stars.

 

At this time Ra-hel’s mind was somewhere else entirely. It was galaxies away, and yet just as comfortable. Other Wayfinders had described the sensation like being tightly held in a warm and tender embrace, a place where no words or sounds were needed to convey the thoughts of another. Despite being millions of light years apart, Ra-hel could keenly feel the presence of her identical twin sister, as if she was lying beside her. She could sense the space where she displaced the air, and tell exactly in which direction it was. Sometime in the past the skill had been discovered at a low level in all sets of identical twins, and through the generations it had genetically manipulated to a high degree of sensitivity. It was this ability which made the Wayfinders able to steer the ships through the vastness of space without getting lost, and gave them their incalculable worth.

 

The ship did not immediately suffer from the incapacity of its Wayfinder, the engines continued to push the lumbering giant through its journey.  However the change in bio data from Ra-hel’s tank was noted by the watch commander within seconds. He closed his eyes and opened them again, silently praying that the readings would be different on a second viewing. Denied his wish, his initial thoughts were of his young daughter, waiting for him at their destination. With no Wayfinder to act as guide they would be lucky to navigate to the port within years, rather than the promised months, if they ever found their way back at all.

 Welcome to our online community novel!

This experiment in collective writing is being created by a writing group, who are Tamsyn, David, Linda, Malcolm, Jim and Alison. We met about three years ago when we took a creative writing course at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and have been meeting and writing ever since. 

Each journal post will continue the story from the last, and will have a userpic of the person who created it. So far the aims are 500-1000 words to be posted every week by one member of the group. The order of posting is Tamsyn, Linda, Malcolm, David then Jim.

Any comments/questions feel free to add them! Alternatively you can email us on jedmalt@yahoo.co.uk.