and like it so far..As my first post on this new site I thought I'd put on the latest installment..
Merc
Hmmm.. logged on as Mercenary but when I entered it under Username it came up with "Sorry but this username has already been taken" anyone any ideas?
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Chapter 14. - UFO
Tor watched the news channels, the events in Danna's Chance were generating some excitement. That and the news flash that the presidents pet Garcho had defecated on a gardener. Tor smiled at the irony that the incursion into uncontrolled space and potential impending war with the Split, as hyped up by the press, was pushed into second place by the Garcho incident.
The galactic map being shown on the latest bulletin attracted Tors' attention. It showed the relative location of Danna's Chance with respect to the Argon sectors, with the inevitable mention of Brennans' Triumph. Some reporter had managed to get an interview with a clan representative. The news looked bad for the Titan ship, with the pirates supposedly deploying squash mines and laser towers at all the gates to the sector in case this was an act to oust the clan from power.
He fidgeted anxious to see what if anything was happening with the remains of his ship. A medic brought him food and drink, which would take care of a few more minutes. An hour had passed since talking to Fenegalas when a boron pilot in full environment suit glided into the room.
"Mr Grall?" The voice seemed to bubble through the translator.
"Yes!"
"One Piranha delivered as ordered! Please sign!" The boron handed him an authorization pad.
"That was quick?" Tor took the pad and scanned through it having checked the price, nearly six hundred thousand credits. Fenegalas had gone to town with the upgrades, including ecliptic projector, vision enhancement goggles, trading extension, plus others. He palm authorized the transaction.
There was appreciative squawk and gurgle sound from the pilot. "Ships engine fully tuned! Get here very fast. Till we next do business Mr Grall."
"Thank you!" Tor felt he should have gone to examine the new acquisition having parted with so many credits. However of all the races the Boron were the least likely to rip him off and he took some comfort in that.
He waited a minute before calling up Bilyzonus.
"Hi Tor."
"How are you getting on down there?"
She smiled, "Better than firsst hoped. We have managed to ssalvage your freight sscanner. And we found the perssonality chip. The board had additional protection, which lookss to have ssaved the chip. But the resst of the interface card iss broken."
Tor closed his eyes briefly and sighed with relief, "Excellent news! The new ship's just been delivered. Boron Piranha registration, TGT zero one BP at docking bay seven. Can you get Lotch to install the recovered parts?"
Bilyzonus nodded then looked away to issue the instructions before closing the com.
Tor lay around for a few minutes longer trying desperately to adhere to the medics instructions but frustration at not being at the docks to oversee progress got the better of him. He concluded that another half an hour would make no difference. Swinging his legs out from under the sheet he grimaced with the pain in his right shoulder. The bruising restricted his movement as he tried to dress making it both awkward and painful.
Resting for a moment he walked to the door.
"Mr Grall, I see you're up. How do you feel?" The medic watched him as he stepped out of the room.
"Stiff and sore but otherwise fine."
"Excellent, I have some anti-inflammatory shots and pain killers for you. If you'll just wait there a moment I'll administer them. Then you're free to leave!"
"Thanks!" Tor waited a moment. The hypo-spray to the shoulder gave a huge sense of relief, but it did not ease the movement of his arm.
As Tor headed through the visitor area of the station he noted how clean and high tech everything was. Rogue airborne particulates and dust were the station commanders and chief-manufacturing engineers' worst problem and could wreck a batch of tubes. The bars and food halls were well ventilated with all the smoke and steam drawn quickly away into the filters.
He took the shuttle lift down to the docking bay level and wandered along the dock. The airlock door to the Piranha was open, Bilyzonus was watching the android technician fitting the transporter module.
"How she looking?" Tor asked quietly.
She quickly looked round and smiled, "Nearly there. Ssweety is back on line, but I think sshe'ss a little bit upsset with you!"
Tor nodded and took a moment to look around the ship. He was surprised to see the secure box had been extracted from the Discoverer but the rest of the internal scanners had been destroyed.
The cabin had been refitted for Argon living conditions, and was far more spacious then the Discoverer.
"All your perssonal stuff is already here!" She commented.
Tor nodded, "How long till we're finished?"
"Another hour." Bilyzonus replied, "I've arranged for a transsport to remove the remainss of your sship."
He turned his head to look at her and asked quietly, "When's it due?"
"Thirty mizuras!"
Tor nodded slowly, "Think I'll go take one last look. Say goodbye."
She smiled briefly as Tor turned and slowly stepped out of the ship and back onto the dockside.
Aboard the Roamer, Commander Parrel studied the monitors along side the technicians. There was little else for him to do then wait.
He checked the time, less than an hour before the first pods detonated. The number of times he had reviewed the calculations on the pod yield simply added to his impatience for the whole episode to be over.
News that the pirates had fortified the Brennans' Triumph gate was only a sign that things could get very much worse. Although the Roamer could jump drive out of the sector to safety, the Gallators Fate could not and he knew what Carans reaction would be if they suddenly departed.
He looked over to his second officer, "Rachat how many fighters do we have on board?"
Rachat looked up, the anxiety in the commanders' voice obvious. "We have six Elites, four modified Busters, two modified Eels, eight Piranhas, a modified Prometheus, two unmodified Prometheus and two Pegasus reconnaissance ships."
"Have all fighter crews standing by!" This gave him some comfort, the eleven M3 class fighters, and twelve M4 ships would give them a fighting chance to make it to the Aladna Hill gate. News had filtered through that a second Argon Titan ship supported by a Boron Moray from the Lucky Planets sector were already on route to match the Split Python presence in Thurucks Beard.
Admiral Ottal was simply monitoring events, only a handful of fighters were now patrolling the area ensuring nothing approached the AIC ships and equipment. The others were recalled and ordered to rest, he wanted all the pilots to be sharp and alert when on patrol. The waiting was for him all part of the process, and his air of casual calmness had a positive effect on the bridge crew, which in turn reflected in their orders down through the ship.
He slowly sipped on his fifth, though he could not be sure, hot Garrow Root Cha. He scanned the messages on his control panel. The Paranid were offering to break the pirate blockade of Brennans' Triumph to allow an alternative route from the sector should the need arise. The offer as far as he could tell was seriously being considered back in the home sectors but no formal acceptance had been issued.
Watching the rolling news he smiled and reflected that ten kilos of Garcho dung landing on you would certainly be enough to take your mind off other events in the universe.
The counter for phase one of the operation rolled by.
Caran had rested having filed several reports. He had also outlined a plan in his own mind should the operation be successful in capturing the probe. It would be certain that the wolf pack would report information back to their command base and the Split battle cruisers could try to take the prize. The Raptor on its own would be too much for the Gallators Fate to take on. The two Pythons would also prevent assistance from Aladna Hill.
The ace up his sleeve came in the form of the AIC, with some of the advanced technology on board, they could vindicate themselves by assisting in any ensuing skirmish. He chose the word carefully. Neither force represented an imposing invasion fleet mobilizing for war. All combat would be in the uncontrolled sectors and not for control, a mere show of strength to affirm which race was dominant. The outer sectors with the Xenon and the Khaak kept the races to an uneasy but united truce against common enemies. It was a case of who would walk away with the bloodiest nose. Caran had to make sure it was not the Argon.
He stretched as he got up. It was almost time for things to start and he needed to be on the bridge.
Tereana sat in front of the three main viewers in the tech section, the other technicians were either at their own monitoring stations or working elsewhere on the ship. She was not happy with the quality of the long-range scans, the first two pods were over a million k's out the second pair now nine hundred thousand k's.
The incoming object was closing fast, with two thousand k's before the cross over point the first pods detonated. Long range gravitational readings jumped and in less than a second touched on the upper boundary level and continued to climb. The probe passed between the two, still clearly defined, gravity wells. As the gravitational wave raced away from them the speed measurements of the probe was already dropping rapidly.
She looked at the two counters, one now counting up for the duration of the first detonation the second counting down until the second. All events were being recorded including the communications channels for disturbance effects.
Parrel was also closely watching the counter, almost holding his breath, waiting for the material degradation to start. The twenty seconds had long passed, but he knew that was simply an estimate. The distortion of time in extreme gravitational fields, particularly manufactured ones, made this less of an exact science then he would have liked. The two pods had also been closer then he had hoped at the time of detonation and their combined effects in the localized space effected the results. However material degradation would occur, it was just a case of when?
"Sir we are experiencing minor gravitational pull on the rings. Stabilizing thrusters are in operation." One of the crew called out.
Parrel did not look across, "Acknowledged! Keep me informed."
Tereana watched as the two primary gravity wells came together. The gravitational field reading jumped, then the secondary timer hit zero, again both pods detonated. The speed of the incoming probe was now dropping at a massively increased rate as a secondary gravitational wave spread out.
"Increased gravity pull on all sector objects." The crewman called out again.
"The stations?" Parrel questioned.
The answer came back, "Maintaining position with orbital control thrusters."
Tereana was saying nothing. She had seen the gravitational field range move out by a considerable distance but this is not what caught her attention.
"Com messages coming in fast. Wolf Pack leader hailing Gallators Fate demanding to know what's happening!" The communications officer reported.
She was studying the incoming stream of data. The primary wells had not started to collapse, but again this was not she was focused on.
Between the three gravity nodes, something else was happening and appeared to be holding the gravity wells apart. From the readings in front of her, it had all the appearances of a hole in space, but not a hole. Two minutes passed after it appeared when the primary nodes began to degrade. The phenomenon shrank and disappeared.
As the second set of nodes degraded there were cheers through the room, and on the bridge. Tereana quickly began to pull together the data. She immediately began to play back the recordings applying filters to remove known background noise, making sure she had her earpiece in to monitor the findings privately.
Listening to the coms frequencies, she used the long range scan information to build together a simulated map of the area. Rather than minutes, the new velocity of the probe meant it would take a number of hours before it reached the dampening rings.
Already there were technicians plotting the new course so the rings could be repositioned.
The initial nervousness Admiral Ottal felt now passed into relief at the news the gravity wells had degraded. However this relief was short lived when he was informed he would have to remain in sector for another two and a half stazuras. They had used only minor thruster control to maintain position, but this was enough to set tensions high on the ship.
"Sir I'm detecting a lot of communication activity between the Split craft and their base!"
"Any idea what they're saying?" Ottal turned to look at the communications officer.
"They'll be reporting the gravitational disturbance!" Caran responded.
The Admiral looked at Caran then glanced over to the communications officer. "Any activity in Thurucks' Beard?"
"Nothing to report, Sir!"
"Give them time Admiral, they'll want to review the information they're getting first!"
"Caran you're not filling me with confidence here!" Ottal looked back at the main viewer, "People stay alert and inform me if anything develops. I'll be in my quarters!" He stood up then taking his leave wandered casually off the bridge.
It was only a matter of time before more questions would be coming in. The gravitational effect would have been picked up by any of the races that had probes located in the sector, which meant all of them. Caran accessed a science console and began to review the acquired data. Particularly the incoming probes new speed. His first reaction was relief to see it still intact and although moving at high speed was now less than one hundredth of its original.
He accessed the deep space monitoring pod to try and get an image of the incoming object. The pod had moved towards the gravity wells and was still drifting. Caran issued it instructions to stabilize its position.
With careful instructions the pod tracked the object and on long range scanner zoomed in on the probe.
Caran drummed his fingers on the surface of the control panel. The image was a snap shot, frozen then magnified and enhanced. "Computer show me known Xenon probe designs!"
The monitor displayed all the images.
"Computer show me all known probes!" For once Caran looked perplexed. "Computer can we get a thermal and spectral analysis of the incoming object?"
"Negative, outside scanning range."
Caran cleared the screen and turned to the senior officer, "If anyone wants me I'll be on the Roamer!"
Parrel was waiting in the captains' private briefing room. Caran entered.
"I know what you're going to say. But although the timing was incorrect the end result was."
"And fortunately for you no one got hurt, but the local planet will endure a number of high tides over the next few days!" Caran responded. "Actually I'm here for another reason!"
"Oh! How can we be of service?"
"The incoming Xenon probe. It isn't Xenon as you will no doubt learn when it gets close enough to scan!"
Parrel paused, "Khaak?"
Caran answered, "Again not that we know about!"
"Ancient?"
"This isn't a guessing game!" Caran responded harshly, "Neither I nor anyone else will be able to give you an answer. It's alien, like nothing we've seen or encountered before!"
"Okay. So we'll stop the alien ship and find out!"
"That's the problem!" Caran spoke carefully as he gathered his thoughts. "Once we stop the thing we have to get out of here. Quickly! Any alien artifact of unknown origin contains potential leaps in technology, which will be seen by other races as a prize worth fighting for."
"You mean the Split?"
Caran nodded, "And the only way out of here is through Hatikvahs' Faith."
"Do you want me to take the object and jump out of here?" Parrel asked carefully.
"No! Perhaps I've read too many books, seen too many motion pictures, so call me a pessimist in this respect." Caran paused for a moment. "This is an alien object, we don't know what it is, or where it's come from. It could be a technological breakthrough to deep space travel. Tell us the location of an infinite number of other worlds. Or it could be a bomb. It may contain biological waste lethal to our species. It may contain parasitic alien life that invade and feed off our bodies. Who knows? But one thing is for certain we'll not have time to examine it carefully enough to find out before we have to leave."
"Then we'll have to tow it!" Parrel responded.
"We have to disguise it. I know you people have hollow shells of older larger fighters that you use to disguise new small ships when shifting them from one test site to the next. I want you to use one of those. Ensure it has the corresponding energy signature. Get it android controlled and strap on some temporary thrusters. You have the technology to hide the object." Caran paused. "And if all else fails there's an extensive asteroid field running through Napileo's Memorial leading to the Jakjolok belt several hundred k's out. Send the ship into the belt and have it hide inside an asteroid!"
Tor was on the move again. He had spent several hours talking to Bilyzonus catching up on news and discussing how they planned to expand their respective trading empires. Both still in a very infantile state of existence. She explained how few new trading groups survived long, most being closed out before they gained any size. Alarm bells in the established trading world began to ring as soon as new factory applications were submitted which often led to shady deals being struck and the potential new owner going missing or finding their ships targeted by the pirate clans.
Bilyzonus had moved from the Vulture to a Hawk, and as often as not she flew as defense pilot for her own trading ships. She had been building her cash reserves and had increased her fleet to three vultures each guarded by two bats as an active deterrent. She knew she was on the edge of the sweet spot, where profits were easy and no one much minded the minor competition. Another freighter and things would start to get interesting in Teladi space. However she saw a great deal of potential for Teladi goods in the Split sectors where she was beginning to make some tentative trading deals.
He encouraged her to be careful, she laughed and reminded him she was Teladi and, unlike him, not seen as an enemy by the Split.
Shortly after parting company Tor sent a message chip to back to Tris.
Tor executed a neat turn in the Piranha, it was not as fast as the Discoverer, however he remained impressed at the maneuverability and responsiveness of the craft. Sweety had been quiet, only giving brief updates when requested. He placed the ship outside the transport lanes and stopped the craft.
"Okay Sweety, we need to talk!"
"Any particular topic?" Sweety responded.
"How about, do personality AI chips have feelings?" Tor responded.
There was no answer.
"Sweety?"
"In your terms no!"
"And in your own terms?"
"Tor, my internal sensor system indicated all the sub-systems going off line. Resistance levels rise and burn out circuits. The surge of energy that flowed though the power couplings destroying system boards. My own interface card fuses break down and then nothing as the last residual power in my circuits imprinted onto my memory the previous events. I think that is what it must be like to die! But I did not and here I am waiting for you to make your next mistake! "
Tor was a little taken aback and stunned at the response, "I am really, really sorry Sweety!"
Even though he was talking to the computer AI there was still an air of uncomfortable silence.
Eventually Sweety responded, "Apology accepted! But do not do it again!"
Tor engaged the engine and moved away again, "I promise!" He was trying to think of other ways to allow Sweety to control the ship but not be integrated into the systems. It was inevitable he would see combat again, but this time he was in a better ship to meet the challenge.
For now he would busy himself in expanding his network of Satellites.
Fenegalas was trading and dropping them through Teladi space, whilst his android controlled freighters were now busy increasing his wealth.
Within a few brief hours he eventually entered the sector Emperors Mines, his first visit into the Paranid Sectors. Although the two races were allies new traders were regarded with suspicion. Having decided to see what a Paranid station looked like from the inside he was surprised to find he was refused access to dock.
"What do you mean refused permission?" Tor was incredulous at the news.
"The message was quite clear, our presence is neither welcome or desired!" Sweety responded.
Tor turned his ship away from the station and headed for the next uncharted sector, "So what do I need to do to get recognized?"
"From my records of the Paranid culture and records of early encounters. You will need to prove that you are not an enemy of the Priests!" Sweety replied.
"And how do I do that? No don't tell me. Shoot a few pirates!" Tor frowned, it was beginning to sound like a familiar story.
It was in Empires Edge that the call came in.
"Trading ship SOA two six EE requesting urgent assistance!" The deep Paranid growl edged with panic.
"Target the ship Sweety! This time no mistakes."
Sweety reported, "Paranid Ganymede twenty k's. Shields eighty percent. Attacking craft two Bayamon!"
"Where are the sector forces?" Tor enquired.
"If my analysis of current events is correct, all sector forces have been summoned to sector Priests Pity!"
The pilot of the Ganymede, knowing he could not outrun the attacking pirates was making some attempt to outmaneuver them. This did buy him a little, but valuable, time. Several impacts tore a hole in one of the container units, its destroyed contents spilling out into space.
The first Bayamon shuddered and exploded under multiple impacts. The piranha shooting through the halo of expanding debris. Tor amazed at how much more powerful the Gamma Plasma Accelerator Cannons were to his old Gamma Impulse Ray Emitters. The ejected pilot was already heading off towards the nearest station.
The second Bayamon turned to attack. The diamond shape of the Alpha PAC's plasma cutting through space.
"Shields eighty five percent!" Sweety reported.
Tor banked the ship around realizing he did not need to be so vigorous with the thruster control due to closely matching top speed of both ships. Each one trying to get in behind the other. The Bayamon pilot disadvantaged with having to get multiple shots on target and having the weaker shields.
Tor snatched off a shot, as the Bayamon dove across the nose of the ship. He saw it jar from the impacts its shields were driven down to half strength. The pirate briefly fought with the controls before bringing it under control and turning it around to get a decent shot.
"Shields seventy seven percent!" Sweety commented.
The two ships made a head to head pass and Tor succeeded in getting another single hit before veering away. The indicator bar displaying the Bayamons shields at a third.
Bringing the Piranha about to make another pass Tor felt the twinge and ache in his right shoulder. The medication was wearing off and fast. Several beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, in his mind the instruction, 'one good shot and it will be over' had him grind his teeth whilst mentally blocking out the pain. "Sweety switch controls for left handed operation!" He rested his right arm across his lap.
"Acknowledged!" The ship briefly went into automatic evasive maneuvers as the stick moved across.
Sweety announced, "I'm picking up several new ships entering the sector. Designation hostile!"
Tor came about to see the Bayamon in front of him, trying to get some distance, the Gamma PACs' pulsed and streaked away. The rippling explosions starting from the centre of the Bayamon migrated to the tips of the wings. The pilot failed to bail out.
"What's next?" Tor commanded. Through the pain in his shoulder, and the memory of the shattered hull of the Discoverer, the red mist of battle had descended. It was now personal!
Admiral Ottal was now back on the bridge, the few hours of sleep had sharpened his mind.
"Status update?" He requested.
"Probe now within long distance scanner range. Will enter the first of the dampening rings in ten minutes!"
"Have all pilots report in. I want defense craft in position to protect the vessel when it stops!"
"Yes Sir!"
"Give me an image of the probe on viewer!" Ottal ordered.
"Sir!"
The image appeared, and magnified.
"That's not a probe!" Ottal muttered out loud.
"No that's not a probe!" Caran had arrived back on the bridge.
"Explain?"
Caran looked at the Admiral then at the viewer. "I can't! All I can tell you it's not on record. It's an alien vessel and has traveled a long way to be with us."
"Sir remote scan of the ship indicates there are no life forms aboard! There is low-level power to some shielding device, exact type unknown. Construction appears to be ceramic materials, complex alloys and a large quantity of carbon isotope." The science officer reported.
"Which type of isotope?" Caran requested.
"Scan indicates, C sixty, spherical!"
but it does mean I miss any weekend chat 
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