The Chronicle:
Curt W Benefield'sRomulus and Remus
Date: Thursday, 8 January 2011
Place: New Tokyo, Venus
The Venus Bank Arcology, HeadquartersThe view from the bay windows of the Venus Bank Headquarters main conference room was spectacular. The armor-plast windows gave a 360° degree view from atop the kilometers wide city-state arcology. This structure did not use standard dome technology. Rather, the massive colony was totally enclosed and mounted upon massive pillars of titanium which doubled as heat-sinks. The dissipation of heat was necessary for the continuing terra-forming of Venus as the surface had yet to cool beyond a semi-molten state. Thus the walls of the building were composed of a thick aerogel for optimum insulation of the facility. The heat-sinks were currently running at night function. The heat being pumped outward and upward creating shimmering sheets of thermal distortion that spread out upon the surface of Venus beyond. The resulting light show was spectacular but the beings behind the glass of the conference room were oblivious. Their attention was riveted upon a nervous officer reporting to them from within the center pit formed by their semi-circular table. The man was bathed in a bright spotlight which further washed out his already palid complexion. The light beaming down on the pit was a deliberate effect so that anyone reporting to this august body would never know the faces of the Chairpersons seated at the table around them.
"Are we certain?," the voice of the Chairperson was calm and cuttingly cold. This shadowy person was situated at what could only be referred to as the head of the circle.
"Hai, Kaicho. The covert missives so relayed through our encrypted communications array have been confirmed. Devon Malachai has gone rogue and launched a personal attack against the Jovian Confederation. Specifically, the Valiant-Class Strike Carrier, JSS Valiant. At this time we are aware that his attempt has failed and he has escaped to the outer realms. With him went his ship, the SS Guinevere and its crew. Even now, ZONet has begun to broadcast news of this fiasco," the messenger, covert intelligence officer Tai-I Shimura Akira, finished his report and waited in the heavy silence.
"That will be all, Tai-I. Thank you. Please report back if there is anything new to report," someone spoke from the edge of the light.
The officer felt the blood return to his face as he was dismissed. He bowed deep and backed out of the pit of light. He continued his backward pace until it appeared he would hit the back wall window. Instead, the viewing window revealed itself to be a hologram hiding an elevator. The camouflaged doors opened and closed around the man. The hologram of the outside view reasserted itself. The officer left the tension of the room behind with a great sigh of relief.
"Kaicho, plausible deniability is assured. We have on record the firing of Malachai over the debacle of Project Lancelot. We are not accountable for the actions of Devon Malachai or this madman's gambit against the Jovians. We can clearly show that his actions were motivated by revenge for actions against him by the then Captain Columbus and the JAF Third Destroyer group in 2208. Some of the crew of the JSS Valiant also participated in Malachai's loss of face. Another nail for us to push in the case of motivated retribution. This should in no way affect our plans for Project Malik Nous," a chairperson to the right of the circle was first to speak.
"That keeps us and our plans from the populace but it does not help us financially. The Central Earth Government Administration will not accept that we did not have a hand in the misinformation given them by Malachai. He used our communications channels to convince the Defense force of Earth that the JSS Valiant was spearheading an attack on CEGA installations. Their answer to that information caused them to lose the entirety of CEGA Wing 27. That flight of 4 Wyvern-class exo-armors and 4 Wraith-class fighters is a considerable loss of face for the CEGA forces. The revelation of their being duped will only make the humiliation worse. I must disagree with the estimate of our future plans. Project Malik Nous must be canceled," this came from a chairperson situated to the left of the circle.
Before anyone could retort, the Kaicho cut the air with the authority of his voice, "Enough. How is the situation with the Belt Talks?"
"Since the rise in aggression amongst the Powers That Be, the Belt has become a sort of demilitarized zone. The Jovian Confederation, CEGA of Earth, and both Mars governments: the Martian Federation and the Martian Free Republic, have approached the United Stellar Nation's Delegation of Belter Nomads. They all have brought to the attention of the Nomads that if war should break out, the Asteroid Belt at the center of Sol Space would inevitably see the greatest amount of conflict both above and below the ecliptic. The Nomads are despairingly sure that no matter what happens, they will lose their neutrality. At this point it seems to be not a choice of what to do, rather with whom to align. They are deciding which of the political courtiers is the lesser of the evils."
"And they are leaning toward?," the Kaicho leans back into the deeper dark his high-backed chair afforded.
"Sources say the Martian Free Republic or the Jovian Confederation."
"Financially we cannot allow either to happen. The supplies brought in from mining the Inner Belt are essential to everyone here in Near space. The Mercurians are too organized business wise to rely on totally. We get half of our material imports cheaper from within the Belt. Something which is jeopardized if they achieve rapport with the Governments of Outer space," one of the chairpersons provided.
"The projections of cost over-runs we lost the Nomad Belters to Outer space governments?"
"Current P&L projections, if influenced by a total loss of the Belter trade, shows a loss of millions in the first year. We could possibly recover if plans continue unmolested with the take-over of the Mercurian Merchant Guild. Such a take-over could be made easier if there was system war but that is not a calculatable risk. War can be too fickle to predict. No matter what the scenario we throw forward, Project Malik Nous, is still an extreme risk."
The Kaicho sat in silence for a long moment before heaving a heavy sigh," Project Malik Nous is to go ahead as planned but I would make the following adjustments. The pirates funded by the project are to operate under Amber authority. That means, ' Punitive and harassment actions only'. They are to cause a great noise with little damage to the personnel and tech base of the Belters. When our false information fronts drop the hint to the long range patrol forces of CEGA we need to assure that we, the Bank, cannot be held accountable. To keep CEGA from looking too closely for the true source of their information, activate several STRIKE squadrons for support. They are to intercede on the behalf of CEGA to lower the risk of equipment or ship loss. This is a perilous course we chart, chairpersons. We are playing many factions against the whole. We must optimize our successes no matter the outcome. I am expecting the JAF to act as the usual wildcard in this matter and we must prepare for their eventual involvement. We will not rule them out any longer. Expect the unexpected is the by word from now on. Contact Sister Marisa and give her the prepared propaganda," as the Kaicho finished, everyone in the room rose. They knew that had been given irrefutable orders and they had been dismissed. As everyone passed in shadow toward the hidden elevator, the Kaicho gave a last set of commands.
"Make sure the Pirates of Outer Space are aware of the bounty on the head of Devon Malachai. Whosoever shall return him to Venus, alive, shall be rewarded well... extremely well. I will consider it a personal favor to me. His ship the SS Guinevere, however, is a write off. I would like to make a message to all our future partners. Failure is not to be taken lightly. I don't expect anyone in Near Space will miss her or her crew. An additional bounty for record of the ship's destruction with all hands. Not a single life pod should be allowed to escape."
* * * * * Date: Sunday, 29 February 2211
Place: Challenger Military Academy, Jovian ConfederationEryn Morai, JAF cadet, entered the last of her answers for the test. Her golden amber eyes jerked to the chrono on the wall of the classroom. She realized with a start that she had finished the Astro-Navigation final exam with fifteen minutes to spare. Fifteen minutes, she no longer had to make sure the answers were correct. She had closed out the test too quickly and was stuck with the long wait. The instructor still had to call time and close-out the desk-comps of everyone for final tally of grades. Eryn would forever remember those long torturous hours masquerading as minutes. Finally, mercifully, the instructor called time and every computer went blank. No more answers could be entered into the test as final grades were being tallied. The Instructor closed out her own computer after checking every test down-loaded to her main unit and made sure the final grades were flashed to each students' screen.
Eryn 's screen flashed and numbers appeared. She stared. The letters and numbers were cold and white and final... and she loved every pixel of them. She had passed her astro-navigation final with an eighty-five. She looked up at the sounds of her fellow cadets. There were grunts of approval and sighs and tears. She stared back at the screen to make sure it was not a cruel joke.
"Yes, yes, yesss," she hissed the words between clenched teeth. She felt the past year fade with her breath as she realized the major portion of the learning curriculum of the Officer's Candidate School was over. She had only one hurdle left to pass. The final Exam of Applied Knowledge; the test which would put them in real life situations to test their minds, their bodies, and their souls. But that nightmare was weeks away and for now she was happy. The class was dismissed and the cadets filed orderly out into the hallway. Some considerably slower than others. Eryn immediately scanned the crowds of students exiting the other exam rooms for her bunkmates. She saw them not far away and made her way to them. She felt the spring in her step, the glide in her stride. She looked at them and knew she could not play the standard joke of failing the test. Her facial muscles were already starting to ache from the smile plastered on her face. She never was that good of an actress, much to the delight of her father.
They in turn noticed her and maneuvered through the crowd of milling students to meet her. They too had the same look of triumphant happiness on their faces and in their eyes. The entire five-man squad came together in front of a doorway leading into a room marked as Habitat Ring four Observation Lounge seventeen. The windows of the lounge beyond them, held a spectacular sight. The view of the grand majesty that was the gas clouds of Jupiter.
The members of the squad were attired in dress whites like their crewmates around them. Their collars however held a different emblem of rank than the others. Thus they were officers in training, cadet lieutenants of the Jovian Armed Forces. The rank insignia was two blue squares to either end of a rectangle of blue whose center was striped with a single vertical line of gold.
The first of her wardroom friends to meet her was also the largest. Conner Raeburn was muscular, slick, with the nut brown skin of a Belter. The leathery skin color of a person who had been raised with natural exposure to the ravages of the spaceways. His home had been amongst the asteroids and mining colonies of the Inner Belt. His good looks and good humor flashed from an open honest face. A face that belonged on a recruitment poster.
"Aye, will ya look at Golden-rod, here. D'ya think she actually failed astro-scrub," Conner referred to the nav class which had always been the bane of a cadet. The class was known to account for over fifty percent of the cadet failures at the academy.
"Fail, pshaw. I lost too many hours of sleep tutoring her to have her fail. That is, not without me kicking her out an airlock," the next speaker was Shawna Masters. She was tiny, petite and almost discharged from the Academy for brawling with several Grunts at a Newhome bar. She was a proud immigrant from the Free Martian Republic who pled at the Captain's Mast that the Infantrymen had disparaged the name of the JAF pilots. Unit pride aside, she was saved from dishonorable discharge when the Gun-bunnies dropped the charges. A formal court-martial meant they would have to admit she had knocked three of them unconscious in the first few minutes of the fight. The charges had been quietly and discreetly dropped.
The third squad member was shy little Aramis Daubier. He wore his grin discreetly. He managed to nod his recognition of Eryn's accomplishments but as always he did not speak. The little engineer was always more comfortable with computers and drive turbines than people. The smile and nod were the best he could manage. He was afraid he would stutter and stammer if he spoke.
The last of her wardroom mates was Paul Cartwright. His family had left their home in the O'Neil Cylinder Colonies of CEGA occupied LaGrange point Earthspace, to settle in Olympus Station Jupiter. They traded their aristocratic status for a safer environment for their son and he never forgave them. He carried himself with the cock-sure attitude that he owned the universe and was quick to assert himself at every opportunity.
"I'm proud of you, Eryn. Such courage in the face of adversity. If I had failed as miserably as you must have, I would be unable to show my face. Well, I hope I hold up as well as you have."
"I made an eighty-five," Eryn glowered.
"Figures, bare minimum for an officer cadet. I made a ninety-three. I would expect as much from a slacker," for his efforts he was rewarded with a sharp elbow to the ribs from Shawna.
"I'll have you standing regs for that one tonight," Eryn smiled.
"Watch it, tube rat," Conner growled before turning toward Eryn, " We have two weeks leave coming before we get posted to our new units. What's the word Eryn. Party Time at Newhome sounds good to me. Then leave, then we can find out our final posting. Personally, I'm hoping for Gamma Division."
"All cadets hope for Gamma," Eryn grinned.
"You've gotten ahead of yourself again, rock grubber. We still have the Applied Knowledge final. Remember, it's the last thing that can wash us out. It's not called the SoulForge for nothing," Shawna knocked playfully on Conner's head with her fist. This was her usual attempt at humor, looking for the hollow echo she knew should come from hitting Conner in the head.
Eryn was about to answer, when the undulating sound of a Bosun's Whistle erupted from her wrist-comp. It was a prelude to a message from the Academy Commandant. The same sound came from everyone's wrist-comp. The next sound as all the cadets fell silent was that of the Academy's Executive officer, Second-in-command, Major Daniel Terrier.
"To all cadets, from the office of the Commandant. At this time your wrist-comps will instruct your squad leaders as to where to report for the remainder of the day. My congratulations to those of you who have passed the first form. To those who have unfortunately failed in the curriculum, be reminded that this does not mean the end. Your education here leaves you with many prestigious jobs opportunities in the civilian market or you can try the Academy back in one year. If everyone will follow the instructions of squad leaders we can begin to set up orders for leaves and dismissals. That is all." The voice faded.
"The powers that be, heard you Conner," Eryn looked at the instructions printed on the screen of her wrist-comp," It says report to Boat Bay Alpha seven in fifteen minutes."
"Crickey," Conner hissed under his breath.
"The SoulForge, now. That's not even enough time to get any of our gear," Shawna glanced around for something to punchlooked for something to punch. Several Cadets moved out of reach when they saw what was in her eyes.
Eryn sighed, "It's not suppose to be enough time. The AK test is meant to immulate real life crisis. It will take us twenty minutes if we go to the wardroom for our things and return to the airlock, but... "
Eryn stopped and everyone followed her gaze.
They all looked at little Aramis.
He noted their gaze and paled at the implications but he stood his ground. He knew what was coming.
"I.. I'll.. have to... break a few regulations," Aramis stammered.
"I know," Eryn whispered, then in a louder voice," Aramis I give you direct order to retrieve the bags of all wardroom personnel for squad epsilon three and report to boat bay alpha seven before the alloted time. I authorize any action you must take to follow these orders."
Aramis smiled," Aye aye ma'am." He kicked off his grav boots and jumped into the air. In the reduced gravity of this particular Habitat Ring of the Academy station he rose quickly to the ceiling and kicked off above the heads of the crowd. He grabbed hold of hand bars mounted in the space stations ceiling and speed quickly away to the dismay of several students.
"Okay people, we've gotta shuttle to catch and a crewmate to cover for. Somebody grab his boots and move out," Eryn turned on her heels in the direction of their appointed destination.
Shawna was quick to take the lead as she parted the crowd with hands and elbows. She had a mission and she was not too kind to those who lingered in her path.
Fifteen minutes later, the squad entered their designated airlock. The heavy hydraulic doors opened and Aramis was standing inside waiting on them. Beside him were their duffel bags. Aramis himself was already wearing his skinsuit and a shy grin. Everyone moved to their bags and began to pull out their skinsuits in preparation for the inpending space flight.
Eryn just shook her head, "Good job, Aramis. You never cease to amaze me."
Aramis blushed harder but moved to take the bags on-board the shuttle. He deftly navigated the umbilical linking the shuttle with the airlock. He burned with pride so he showed off a little with a few acrobatic tumbles in the lower gravity of the tube. He disappeared into the waiting shuttle as his friends double checked each other's suits. The members of the squad, satisfied with their preparations, moved across the umbilical to the shuttle craft. The shuttle eventually closed both airlock hatches by remote, once its charges were aboard. The shuttle requested permission for break-away and upon receiving such began to rock itself gently to and fro until its magnetic grapples, mating the airlocks, broke free. The shuttle activated its thrusters and soon was a speck of light in an abyss of stars.
* * * * * Date: Wednesday, 10 March 2211
Place: Ten days out from the Inner Belt, Aboard JSS-Scout Ship PrivateerThe shuttle pulled away from the airlock of the Privateer utilizing spurts of hydrozine from its maneuvering jets. The delta-shaped shuttle turned and the plasma turbines kicked in. The shuttle quickly moved away from the Scout ship, approaching its full acceleration of 3 gees. Eryn and her crew watched it go from the viewport of the Scout ship's airlock.
"This is our SoulForge?!," Paul Cartwright was despondent.
"What's your problem?," Shawna did nothing if not accent the distasteful tone she used.
"This ship is over twenty years old. What could possibly be accomplished by sending us here," Paul whirled on Shawna.
"Belay that tripe, Mr. Cartwright!," Eryn interrupted causing Shawna to jump to attention, her face neutral. Paul on the other hand turned with venom on his lips.
"Do you think you can question the intentions of our superiors with impunity, Mr. Cartwright. I'm still your senior and training exercise or no, a million kilometers or no, you will not be insubordinate," Eryn lowered her voice but it still held the steel of authority.
"We have been given no orders since reporting to the shuttle that has abandoned us to this derelict. Those orders have been fulfilled without others forthcoming. How am I insubordinate? As to your seniority, I could call you out and upon beating you senseless I could replace you as senior," Paul smiled.
"As we are still cadets, such is your right under informal wardroom tradition. Should you feel the desire I will meet you in the main lounge forthwith. However, mister, I don't need a damn sea lawyer to interpret regs for me. You tread a thin line with talk like that," her voice only lowered but her gaze spoke volumes. Those amber eyes flashed and glinted with evil intent. Her mouth pulled into a thin smile.
Conflicting emotions tore at Paul and finally he stepped back with his arms up palms toward her in act of submission. For now he was cowed, but his body language said much about the future.
"Now is not a good time," Paul turned finally and stared at the bulkhead.
Eryn nodded, her clamped helmet not moving with the motion. She turned.
"Aramis, what's the air like past that inner lock?"
"The-en-entire ship-is-va-vacuum," Aramis spoke haltingly. He got his information from a data station located next to the airlock hatch which opened to the inner corridor of the ship. He may have stuttered but his hands and fingers were fast and sure at the controls.
"Aramis pop the hatch and head aft to the engineering room. Get the vents and thermals working. Paul give him a hand until all sections have power and we can unsuit. Shawna, Conner, your with me. We'll head to the bridge," The way was open for them all to go about their business even before she finished talking. They split up, everyone relying on their mag-boots to keep them from floating off the deck with every step. Eryn arrived at the bridge hatch and stopped. She keyed her military identification number into the doorlock terminal. The hatch opened for them and they stepped on to a bridge devoid of all power. All except one screen which flashed with crimson words: REPORT.
Eryn stepped in front of the screen and stared at the dead controls. She activated her suit radio to scan ship frequencies until one such was locked in. She did not have to touch anything on her suit to accomplish this. Rather, she just stared at the necessary console located in front of her chin, inside the helmet. A delay of two seconds and the low-watt laser forever bouncing of the cornea of her eyes activated the system. The same method was used for all hands-free operations the suit could be called to accomplish.
Finally she spoke," Senior Cadet Eryn Morai, MIN number five four nine dash two three seven dash twenty and twelve, reporting."
The computer answered with a voice which sounded distinctly human, "Standby for orders Cadet Morai. Initiating AK file 'Tiberious'."
Conner gasped, "The trial of Romulus and Remus."
Eryn and Shawna were similarly agape. The Tiberious trial was rumored as the most difficult of all the AK scenarios. A true SoulForge scenario. That particular final exam had been known to send its participants home... packed in a body bag. As far as anyone knew, no cadets had ever survived.
The screen of the bridge computer flashed and a recorded message began to playback. Eryn immediately remembered to relay the message through to the suit comms of her squad. Everyone either saw the screen or a holo projected on the inside of their helmets. The speaker was the Academy Commandant.
"Welcome aboard the Jovian Scout Ship 'Privateer'. You are currently headed in system at full inertia as the plasma drives have suffered a failure and have gone off-line. You must correct all problems and return to base in no more than sixty days. At such time, a ship will arrive to bring you home. As you are now under independant command, I expect you to carry on as true officers. For the duration of the exercise you all will be temporarily promoted to reflect the severity of the situation and the import of your actions. Captain Morai, you are now in charge of this vessel. Your first officer is now Lieutenant Cartwright."
Eryn winced but continued to listen.
"Third in the chain is Lieutenant Masters, master-at-arms. Next in seniority are Daubier and Raeburn. You all are, as of now, subject to full military justice if you do not carry out your duties. See you soon. Commandant, out," and the screen blanked except for a cursor that denoted the computer was still active.
Eryn composed herself, finally, "Computer?"
"Damian, Captain."
"Thank you, Damian. Log the previous recorded message into the log under my authority as acting Captain,"
"So logged."
"Under authority of the Jovian Armed Forces and legal representative of the plenipotentiary powers of the Jovian Confederation; I, Eryn Morai, take command of this vessel."
"Welcome aboard, Captain Morai."
"Thank you, Damian. Could you display course and trajectory," she turned her head slightly," Lieutenant Masters if you will go below and physically check the cargo hold. I want a complete manifest of stores within the hour if possible. Sorry, Lieutenant Conner you need to head aft and relieve the--," the word stung her tongue," --First officer."
"Aye aye, ma'am," they replied in unison and headed about their duties.
"Lieutenant Cartwright to the bridge," she knew her suit would relay the order as it was already on the general frequency. She almost wished she had kept the mission brief from the others, then she would not have to put up with Cartwright so close. She knew as she thought it that such inconveniences were unavoidable. She would be committing treason with that action.
"Sorry, Captain. Without power, all outboard systems are unreachable. The only system currently active is myself as I am on independant power."
"Mr. Aramis, you are in charge of engineering. Get us power as soon as possible," she changed frequencies with a glance to a private channel with Conner Raeburn," Mr. Raeburn, do what you can to keep Aramis focused for now. We happen to be heading in system at an unknown speed and trajectory."
The computer, Damian, interrupted as she had not downed her link with him, "Before emergency shutdown of systems speed was a full 0.8 gees on direct course with inner asteroid belt. Course was nominal before the accident."
"Belay the last, Mr. Raeburn. We're headed hell-bent for leather into the belt. We need to make turnabout and begin decel so we don't plow into the asteroids. We're blind as a miner and I need some power now."
"Aye aye, ma'am," and Conner clicked off.
Cartwright arrived on the bridge with a grin, "About time someone paid attention to my potential."
All Eryn could hope was that Paul had tuned his suit to her freq only rather than gloating in the open. Right, she thought sarcastically, he would never lord it over the others.
"Mr. Cartwright, go to the Navigation station and begin queries of Damian as to contents of the log including cargo manifests and stores as of the time of the accident that shut down systems. Damian, you have my authority to answer any crewmembers queries from any point of the ship from now on. Acknowledge and log," she moved to the far left to the Captain's console.
"Aye aye, ma'am," came the computer's response to her command.
"Engineering," she changed her freq," Do you have an idea of what shutdown the systems."
"Looks like someone mussed the plasma mix. Spiked the system. Poor baby. Raeburn, check the circuit breakers manually while I take the injectors off-line from here for manual dump. Sorry, baby. We can't have you trying to run when we restore power," Aramis Daubier was pre-occupied until," uh-I me-mean ma'am."
"Your doing fine, Mr. Daubier. Carry on," she knew by his clearness of speech that Aramis was in his element and distracted from his usual stuttering shyness. She smiled.
"I wouldn't accept such breach of courtesy if I were Captain," Cartwright muttered.
"That's why your not, now get about your orders," Eryn snapped.
"Aye aye..., ma'am," he deliberately dragged out the answer.
"Belay that attitude, Mr. Raeburn. Under my authority you can be confined to quarters... or worse."
The power came on with a burst of brilliant light. Some prankster had left the bridge lighting on too high before the shutdown. The glare caught Eryn and Paul's anti-glare face shields and forced them to total blackness.
"What the--," Eryn groped blindly at her console before deactivating the anti-glare blackness that had descended over her. She blinked back tears caused by the brightness but she finally found the control and moved the lighting down to a more comfortable setting.
"I'll have somebody's arse for that," Raeburn belatedly turned down his own anti-glare," Wait a minute. Are we moving?"
"Of course we're moving the ship is under way," she turned toward him and saw what he meant. The bridge console chairs were built on gambol frames. This allowed them to orient in any direction especially for that of acceleration or imposed gravity from the Centrifuge. She watched as Cartwright's chair began to slide to a new orientation relative to the floor and wall. She then began to feel a slight tug of gravity, but they were in zero-gee space unless.... Her fingers danced over her console to no avail.
"Aramis, the Centrifuge activated with the power. I don't have control here at the bridge!"
The Centrifuge was a mechanism that connected the bridge and living quarters to a collapsible one man tube. This section was modular and could be thrown away from the ship on a tether so that it could rotate around the axis of the ship's spine-work to mimic standard gravity. A similar module on the other side was meant to counterbalance the whole system on another tether and tube. All furniture in the living section of the Centrifuge was meant to move in orientation with the change of gravity. The gravity was created by the spinning of the sections by way of the Coriolis Effect. When fully deployed, down for a crewmember was actually out and away from the ship.
"Mr. Daubier is headfirst in the engines, manually dumping the plasma chambers. I'm on it, ma'am," Raeburn answered over the freq.
"Strap in Mr. Cartwright. If this thing snaps to a stop I don't need you breaking your neck. "Eryn finished the rest as a thought. Not unless I can personally break it. She strapped herself into her console frame and sounded off the general freq," Ms. Masters, hang on. The ship might lurch when the tether reaches full extension."
All five console frames of the bridge reached their new orientation and Eryn felt her stomach shift. She felt as if she were falling now. The effect of them being pushed away from the ship on the tether.
Damian cut in, "Alert, tether safeties off-line. Mechanisms past stress tolerances. Tether ends in five seconds, mark. Brace for impact at one point three-point five gees. One point seven gees. One point eight gees."
"Hang the frack on," Eryn yelled.
The air scrubbers had not been running long enough for atmosphere to have fully filled the interior compartments, but there was enough for some of the sound to carry through to everyone's ears. Under the circumstances what sound did reach them meant trouble.
Outside, the living module reached the end of its tether with a slow motion snap. The module rebounded from the impact and began to float back toward the main axis of the ship. The huge water tank, meant to counter-balance the module on the centrifuge axis, responded similarly. Its rebound carried it back toward the axis only toward the opposite rotation.
Eryn felt her teeth grind together under the lashback and felt inertia shifting the relative point of gravity again. She forced down her gorge and gripped her console," Mr. Cartwright, get the tether motors on-line or we're going to tear this ship apart. Damian?"
"Aye aye, ma'am," Cartwright bent to his controls.
"Yes ma'am," the ship answered. It almost sounded like the ship had been relieved to be finally consulted.
"Crew report damage in all sections," her hands flew over the controls of her station," Damian, we've gotta runaway Centrifuge. Any recommendations?"
"Captain?!," Cartwright was aghast.
"Emergency jettison of living module and counter-balance water tank."
"Unacceptable, next," Eryn scanned hard through any directories she could find on her console.
"Activate tether coils and reel in Centrifuge components. A warning though. Doing so will only increase Coriolis effect and exceed tether tress limits by a proposed two hundred twenty-three percent."
"Do not activate tether motors, Mr. Cartwright. Damian, how long until Centrifuge components are irrevocably wrapped around the ship's axis?"
"Second lashback in two minutes thirty-seconds. Tether tangle five minutes fifty-seconds after that."
"There's gotta be-wait. Damian, there's an independant electrical draw to the mag-grapples attached on the outer surface of the Living Module.... Why?"
"Necessary for the mounting of shuttle craft."
"How is shuttle mounted relative to rotation of Centrifuge," Eryn crossed her fingers despite the bulkiness of her suit and hoped that whoever had rigged this scenario had not thought to change standard procedure of docked vehicles.
"Nose relative to direction of rotation," the computer sounded almost excited. It seemed to know what she planned.
"What about the other side? The water tank?," the question came over the suit freq from Shawna Masters.
"Do you have anything down in the cargo hold that can help us, Ms. Masters? Damian, slave remote control of shuttle to my station and plot course for ecliptic burn for shuttle to place it in orbit around spine of ship. Speed to match the Centrifuge rotation and distance to match tether limit short two feet," Eryn knew the computer could plot it all and other circumstance she might have even trusted its calculations. Now, under the circumstances, she ran her own calculations and hoped that hers and the computer's matched.
"I have an idea. With your permission?," Shawna's voice came back.
"You have command of the cargo bay," Eryn bent to her calculations with total abandon. She did not notice that Paul was running the same calculation from his own console.
Shawna jumped from her strap down point against the wall of the cargo section to a point high on the ceiling of the bay. She landed beside a strange pod meant to hold a single pilot. Mounted to the pod were two sets of servo arms and a full barrage of thruster verniers. This was a Maintenance Pod or M-Pod. It was meant for cargo handling and EVA maintenance of a ship in space or dry-dock. It looked rather like a squat insect. The canopy was the eyes and folded to its sides were deployable solar panels which passed for the wings. The arms came in a light load variety with hydraulic wrenches and arc welders, while the second were heavy load capacity for the handling of cargo.
She popped the canopy and slid inside the seat. She strapped herself down and lowered the hatch. Systems came on-line around her at her prescience. She did not wait for the pre-flight. She shoved her arms into the waldo grips and fit her feet into the foot thruster pedals. She activated the mag-grapples and the pod floated free. A rotating emergency light began to flash on top of the pod. Her feet moved and tilted and the M-pod thrusted away toward the front of the cargo bay. She slammed to a halt with reverse thrust in front of the cargo bay doors. She keyed the emergency releases and watched as the doors opened. She readjusted her straps and squeezed through the opening as it barely opened wide enough. She shot into open space and rotated up and around to the Centrifuge water tank. With minute movements, Shawna manuevered the M-Pod until she could orient thrusters for full effect and moved in. Her fingers danced inside the waldos and the heavy servo arms outside the pod mimicked her movements. The heavy duty servos grasped the main frame of the water tank and held on.
"Lieutenant Masters in position EVA with M-Pod at water tank. Awaiting vector and speed on your mark, Bridge," Shawna heard the trained confidence in her voice. Still her hands were clammy and perspiration dripped from her forehead to float about within her helmet. Her heart was slamming at her ribs and she forced herself to breath deeper and easier. All I need is to exhaust my air or overheat the suit, she thought.
"She's where?!," Cartwright stared up from finishing his calculations.
"That little scrapper," Eryn grinned despite herself, though she still concentrated on her console and the thrust calculations.
Cartwright bent back to his console with the added calculations for the M-Pod and its influence on the other side of the Centrifuge. He finished and looked up. Eryn was still struggling with the first set of numbers. Paul stared into his radio suit freq and opened a private channel to Eryn's suit. He hated to admit it but he respected her. She had everything he wished he had. The abilities to command and get respect with whisper or scream. The whisper got her more than the other. He knew he was the better mathematician and wished he could gloat but he knew better. Not because it would be a calculated slight to her as a Captain but rather because of how she would react to his finishing the calculations and already checking against those of the ship's computer, Damian. Yeah, he knew how she would react and he hated her more for it. Respected her more for it. Hated to admit even that to himself. She reacted to a simulator in the same way. Calm, cool, collected. He might have outdone her in the math but as a commander of people and their lives, he knew he could never match her. He stomped hard on his pride and called across to her on the closed channel.
"Captain..., I have calculations to within three decimal points. Damian confirms calculations to within seven. Match confirmed," he could taste the blood from where he bit his tongue to keep from saying more.
Eryn looked up, "Send your results to my console," she wiped her screen of her calculations with a hand and a sigh. She brought up the slaved circuits to the Shuttle craft," Damian, how long to second lashback rebound?"
"One minute," the computer actually sounded nervous.
"Send your calculations along to the M-Pod and ready on those tethers, XO," she absently used the title which acknowledged Cartwright as her Second in command. She bent to her console with earnest attention.
Calm, confident, and courteous. God how he hated her, Paul Cartwright thought trying to bore holes through his console with his eyes.
"On my mark, Shawna. Damian, sound red alert and disable forward mag-grapples on the Shuttle. Show shuttle course plot on my screen and stand by. Mr. Raeburn, drag Mr. Daubier out of the engines and get him in a crash couch. We begin manuever in five.. four... three...."
The entire ship went to emergency lighting with red lights flashing off the walls and ceilings. Eryn ignored everything around her. Instead, she watched as her plot matched the projected path she wanted the Shuttle to take.
"Two...," fingers danced on the controls and the shuttle, still attached to the hull of the out of control Living module, thrust up the nose of the craft with short spurts of hydrozine. Verniers on the opposite side of the Shuttle fired liquid to stop the shuttle at its new angle. She brought the Shuttle's plasma drives on line with out the pre-flight and began to power up to full thrust.
"One... Mark...," Eryn brought the warmed Shuttle jets to full life.
Vector plates mounted around the shuttle's thrusters closed down and funneled the plasma fires from the engines to their tightest focus. Full combat thrust was achieved and the tiny ship fought to break away from the mag-grapples. It shuddered and rocked in its cradle but the Living Module moved ponderously with it. The shuddering translated through the hull and Paul Cartwright had to hold on for dear life as his chair threatened to pitch him to the deck despite his acceleration straps.
Shawna heard the command and beared down. Her eyes stayed thirty places at once. From course plot to engine redlines to stress readings from the arm servos. Despite the fact she was actually activating machinery that responded to her movements, she still pulled and strained at the waldos. Unconsciously she was pulling to make sure the servos had all the help they could get. The thrusters of the M-Pod responded with her feet to a full thrust. It was not that there was a true gravity well with which she competed for moving the water tank. In space, it was not the weight of an object but rather the mass of the tank and the inertial force needed to move it.
She watched as the tank began to slowly move and she adjusted her course minutely to match that downloaded to her. Her arms ached from the strain but she did not stop.
"Hull breach imminent. Smoke in the lower corridors."
"Why?," Paul looked to his console.
The Shuttle moved inexorably forward, the Living module with it. The Living module was pulled away from the Centrifuge motors and the spine of the ship. The tethers and tunnel connections began to straighten themselves out. The water tank counter-balance also was being manuevered into a more stable orbit about the axis of the ship.
"Hull breach in lower Living Module. Shuttle blowback damage cutting through the bulkheads of Lifepods one and three."
"Captain, I'm cutting loose the damaged lifepods," Paul had to do something. He felt useless. Besides, he confirmed the reason for the hull breach. To achieve the proper thrust to axis orbit, the shuttle had to be aimed at the area storing the life pods or the whole manuever would have failed. A calculated loss and he hated her for realizing it before he.
"Wait one," Eryn's hands hovered over the controls, eyes intent as the numbers counted down to her projected purpose.
"We have a fire near the crew quarters, and a sixty-three percent breathable atmosphere in the ship. I'm cutting them loose before the oxygen levels rise enough to spread the fire," Paul made the preparations through his console.
"Damian, disable Mr. Cartwright's console," she never raised her voice.
"Aye aye, ma'am."
"Captain!," Paul was beside himself as his console went blank.
"Ms. Masters, maintain your thrust for exactly twenty seconds after I powerdown thrusters on the shuttle. Cutting thrust on the shuttle in ten... ."
"Fire in crew quarters three and four."
"Seven...," Eryn's hands hovered.
Paul Cartwright pulled himself from his station and lurched across to the Captain's chair. His hand darted outward hitting the section of the console devoted to the lifeboats.
"Lifeboats activated. Locks disengaged. Begin separation using centrifugal force ejection."
"Damian, belay last console command. Disengage alphanumeric input from console and act on Captain's voice authorization only," Eryn turned a withering stare toward her Second-in-command.
"Lifeboat two not responding. Switching to backup command routine."
"Three seconds to powerdown," Eryn recited from her plot.
"Backups failed. Lifeboat two away. Warning. Warning. Collision Alert," a new alarm klaxon added itself to the din of noise already in progress.
"One second... ."
The entire Living Module shuddered with a new motion as something snatched at it mercilessly. The impact was from the lifeboat being released. The lifeboat was situated at the base of the Living module, directly below the thrusters of the laboring Shuttle craft. When the 'boat released it was thrust away from the ship with the force of inertia built up by the centrifuge unit. It came loose and hit the shuttle just under the plasma turbine exhausts. The shuttle shuddered with the impact and a vector plate at the end of the left turbine twisted free.
"Shuttle comp reports damage to primary thrusters and plasma conduit units."
"Shutdown shuttle engines," Eryn watched her numbers.
"Cannot comply. Short to remote circuits and thruster controls. Warning, Living Module exceeding plotted speed parameters. Will overtake water tank counter-balance in five minutes twenty-six seconds. Shuttle thrusters redlining. Over-heat imminent."
"Begin fuel dump and open atmospheric thrust intakes. Run atmospheric thrusters for one second. Release mag-grapples holding shuttle and aim the shuttles remaining vectors on path three by twenty-nine by ninety degrees true. Activate shuttle emergency transponder. Shawna, get ready. I dumped the plasma fuel from the shuttle. Your thrusters are going to ignite that fuel. Be ready with possible emergency measures," Eryn watched the shuttle disconnect from the ship and head at right angles to the path of the scout ship. The thrusters guttered and failed in a spray of icy frost from the thrusters. The fuel tanks located in the wings of the shuttle began to dump their payload in a fine stream of hardening crystals that showered back across the axis of the Centrifuge.
"Aye aye, ma'am. Closing cooling dampers and going to internal heat sinks," Shawna's voice came back from the link of her suit.
"Shuttle deactivated and falling away on plotted trajectory. Living module in synchronous orbit with Centrifuge. Water tank nearing perfect orbit. Fires in crew quarters under control."
"And why are the fires under control, Damian?," Eryn turned in her seat and skewered Paul Cartwright with her distaste.
"Shuttle thrusters breached life pods and hull plating. Fires in cabin were sustained by thruster blowback. Internal atmosphere contained insufficient oxygen to feed flames. With cessation of shuttle thruster activity, vacuum of space dispensed with flames. Two quarters are now open to space."
"How many crew cabins are left and what two cabins are now open to space?," Eryn turned back to her console to lay her face in her hands. She tried to rub her stress away with massaging fingers.
"Seven crew berths left. Captain's cabin and conference room open to space until repairs can be made both inside and through EVA."
"Damian, plot scout ship trajectory and turn about time to apply thrust so we don't hit the Belt. Give me three possible conditions to eliminate danger to ship due the course into the asteroids of the belt. Inform me when you are done. I have something to take care of right now," Eryn lifted her head.
"Aye aye, ma'am."
Eryn turned back to find Paul's face stricken with the implications of his actions.
"I trust you understand why I did not immediately respond to the fires?," her voice was low and measured.
"Yes, ma'am," he was appalled at what he managed to do. His actions could be considered mutiny. The penalty of such while under way was punishable by death. If the Captain so wished. Treason was one of the first of the crash-landings listed in the regulations for the court martial of any serviceman in the Jovian Armed Forces.
"You understand that if that plasma fuel ignites and endangers Ms. Masters' life I will hold you for court-martial on return to Olympus and JAF command?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Damian, record the following into the log. No need to acknowledge the order. Lieutenant Paul Cartwright, you are to report to the cargo bay and see if we have another M-pod ready for release. If we do not, you will requisition a thruster suit from the airlock chamber and go EVA to retrieve the shuttle. Take with you a zero-gee tool kit and a single tank of plasma fuel from stores. You will return the shuttle to its moorings and barring any needs for refresher air you will repair any and all damage to the shuttle. After that report to me for extra duty. You have been effectively released from duty as XO and will act accordingly. You are on report until further notice," Eryn turned back to her console as if Paul Cartwright had ceased to exist.
To his credit, Paul pulled himself up into a perfect salute and left the bridge.
Eryn sighed deeply. She thought, if I can't turn his arrogance around then this trip is going to be more than a fracking pain in the ass. It's going to be downright ugly. She hoped she could avoid the full penalty of the charges standing against her Second. She truly hoped because anything else would be a testament of her failure as well as his.
"Stand down from alert and show me our course, Damian," her plot board came alive with information but Damian did not answer. The ship's computer seemed to sense that the Captain needed her space.
"Engineering, we need the main engines on-line in twenty minutes for deceleration burn. Mr. Raeburn, you are to come to the bridge to take over the conn. I'm heading below to review damage to the crew's quarters," Eryn stood and left the bridge. She knew what she was doing was against regs. No officer of the watch could leave the bridge without first being personally being relieved. She did not care. She left through the main hatch and headed down a ladder to the living berth's. She walked into the first one and opened the door to the Head or wash and bodily waste disposal room. She secured the door behind her as she checked her suit's exterior atmosphere indicator. The numbers were within tolerable limits so she took off her helmet and promptly threw up in the toilet. She felt her muscles begin to shake and she did not fight the sensations catching up with her. Several times in the past, she wondered what it was like to command. She thought she could take it. That it would be easy. She gripped the edges of the vari-gee toilet and knew just how it easy it was going to be. And this was only the first day. She threw up until there was nothing left, then she threw up again.
* * * * * Date: Friday, 12 March 2211
Place: Near Space, within the Inner Nomad Mining Belt,
District Of Clannad Aboard the SS-Inquisition"Captain Aymeric, conn reads a day old signal from the outbound sector," the man was looking over the shoulder of the tech manning the communications station. He was the Second in command of the ship while the Captain was away. He spoke into a com-device located on his wrist. The conn-station was located in a pit along with navigation and weapons control. Above the pit was a large wrap window looking out the prow of this modified Mule-class Bulk Freighter. The weapons station was very out of place and very cobbled together, but such happens on these craft so far removed from the regular shipping lanes. Of course, this particular ship had a better reason than most for being armed. Its purpose was not to protect and defend. It was one of the predators. It was the pirate vessel SS Inquisition and its crew was known as one of the more bloodthirsty of its ilk.
The Captain's voice returned through the wrist-com as he was not currently on board the ship. His accent was distinct Old Earth British or cockney.
"Is there a transponder carrier code to identify the target and its destination?"
"Yes sir. The IFF declares it to be the JSS-Privateer, a Jovian ship just out from Olympus. Our ship registry database says it was sold to the Jovian Academy in 2009," the com-tech answered for himself through his own com-link.
"What do you thinks the chance they're just recruits out on a training mission, Dominic?," the Captain referred to his Second Officer.
"I'd bet a weeks pay," the Second in command answered with a grin.
"A fool's bet. Well, gentleman, our luck seems to be holding. First we get enough funding from those Venusian backers to refit the Inquisition with better armor and weapons. Enough to make this raid on the theta-mining colony a success. Next, the fates hand us a prime opportunity to take a ship from the Jovian fleet," the Captain laughed.
"It's just a scout ship, sir. Why bother? We can get any number of those out at the Rim. At least those ships might have a decent sensor suite and can disappear easier," the Second answered looking at their out of date nav-station.
"Ah, but in this ship we have the opportunity to take a Jovian database and possible an exo-suit or two. A scout ship like that should have a few M-Pods and maybe a Falconer exo-suit or two. It's not every day we can bugger the JAF by hijacking one of their ships. Stand by a moment," the Captain was interrupted by new sounds coming near him. In the background of the open link was the sound of many voices weeping and screaming.
"Get the woman and children into the airlock before they give me a headache," the Captain spoke to someone unseen. Soon the voices were cut off.
"Resistance is quelled, sir," the voice was of one of the pirates reporting to his Captain," The last of the clan miners have surrendered."
"Good. Burn the legs off a couple with your laser and get the codes to their computers. When your done, shove them out an airlock. No sense wasting the ammo on killing them, when you can let the blood freeze dry inside an airlock. Vacuum does a better job anyway. As I was saying, Dominic. We can get a lot from the scout with little effort," the Captain was again talking to the freighter.
"Sorry, didn't think about that. Then, I'll prepare a plan of attack by the time you get back over here," Dominic could taste the blood on the water.
"After we take the Scout, we'll bug out for the Rim and Tartoona. Then we can try to get a lead on that other ship the SS Guinevere. That's a bounty no pirate can turn down," the Captain's voice beamed with his thoughts of the money they were making.
"Aye aye, sir," the Second enthused.
"Tell fire control we've gotta new set of targets for the point defense lasers. Tell them to practice on these until we can go after the incoming scout ship. Captain out," a whooshing sounded near the Captain's pick-up before he cut off the link.
The Second did not watch the LIDAR plot in front of him. Rather he watched out the front window of the vessel. He saw the mining asteroid as it floated in amongst the other debris from mined out asteroids. The mining station showed gaping holes in various sections. The wounds from the fire fight that took place to take out the station's defensive weaponry. Air still leaked from some of those wounds like blood. The ice crystals streaking back along the hull of the station.
"Fire control, plot incoming targets and fire at will. Make it good boys. Tomorrow, we go after bigger fish," Dominic watched as an airlock opened on the station's main habitat ring. The objects thrown from the lock twisted under the force of the explosive decompression of deep space vacuum. The first of the objects neared the bulk freighter as the weapons opened fire. The little girl's body no longer twisted for she was frozen near through by the vacuum of space.
Dominic smiled as the ship's lasers destroyed the body and lined up on the next. The other bodies of the mining station's woman and children floated into range.
"The spoils of victory, gentlemen. A ringside seat," Dominic grinned cold and maliciously. His eyes were fathomless as they were lit by the explosions of light outside. He watched until anything targetable was reduced to atoms. Even that small teddy bear that came close to hitting the hull of the ship.
[Curt W. Benefield]
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