Note: This may be the last chapter published before the new year, it all depends of if the company insists I need to travel on business next week...
Merc.
- edited -
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Chapter 17 - Planning to return
Feran gazed out the pirate station window looking at the stars of Brennan's Triumph. He had recently taken another dose of the Setardize, the mental screen implanted by the doctor to give him unnatural Split feelings was gone. The drug was also beginning to take on a more lasting effect however his mind was clear. The thick fog of perpetual rage, which had enveloped many of his dark years, now lifted.
He reflected on the recent arrival of the remains of the small force that he sent to delay the Argon fighters from helping the Gallators Fate. The force had lost four Orinocos. It was time to drive a stronger sense of discipline into his pilots. The credits were now rolling in but most of these were being spent on a continual stream of replacement ships and equipment. His men were pirates and use to vying for personal glory not military men, though a good number had seen some military service before being kicked out for one reason or another.
He looked down at his personal pad. It showed a report from the battle. He snorted in disgust at the apparent stupidity of losing the Raptor Uulodk, its commander Makl t'Jnkk managing to escape with his crew. 'Running like the fool he is!' Feran thought.
Feran wondered if the Split Families would one day recognize that giving command to the great warriors with proven abilities rather than family members would prevent such mistakes. Until such time the enemies of the Split would take heart and become bolder at their failures. He paused in his thoughts knowing many of the great generals were located near to the frontier sectors and the ones left in the home systems were no more than play actors. Elevated to stations beyond their capabilities.
The flow of spaceweed was continuous and the quality excellent. Concerning reports of the Claw clan probing the sector for the source of the weed kept him focused on maintaining a strong presence and continuous flow of freighters to Tredamonass' Station. Tapping up the details of the most recent visit, he noted the mercenaries still controlled it rather than a clan and were in the process of fortifying their position. His mind now questioned why Clegan had not fully reported the vulnerability of the station. It was something else he would look into, but whilst the flow of goods was regular he put it to one side.
"My lord!" A voice broke his thoughts.
He did not turn around, "Yes Ganark?"
"We have managed to trace the name of the Argon pilot!" Ganark reported.
"Excellent." Feran responded.
"The name is Tor Grall, my lord."
"Hmmm. And where is this Grall person now?" Feran asked, somehow knowing that Ganark would not have an answer.
"He has managed to elude us so far. The ship he was flying was damaged beyond repair in a fight with DarkAce Clan ships. We believe he ordered a Piranha from the Boron shipyard but their security is too tight for us to break and find its registration." Ganark answered.
"Look for other leads! He must do regular business with people. Find them and we will find him!" Feran declared.
Tredamonass' Pirate Station was nearly ready and the group of mercenaries aboard had named themselves The Shadow Troop. As for Tredamonas, she had returned as planned back to Blue Profit.
New ships were being assembled in the lower storage cells by reprogrammed construction robots. The flow of materials had been reasonably steady. Four laser towers were deployed near the docking entrance of the station with eight more on route. A dozen new pilots had arrived and several shipments of slaves. These were to serve the stations needs rather than sold on. In the upper storage level nearly twenty units of Androti weed and sixty units of various other spaceweeds were waiting to be shipped.
Clegan had taken the opportunity of Creeds arrival and the ensuing battle to fake his own death, and now he had possession of the station. Looking over the control room, the new heart of the station, a team of six coordinated the arrivals and departures of the freighters and fighters. Providing Ferans Clan members did not discover him he would be safe.
Even so some of the recent arrivals had the markings of the Claw clan. They were hustling for information and attempting to purchase weed direct. Clegan sold them the five-percent reserved for Tredamonas, but his negotiator would not concede to a long-term supply plan. This agitated the pirates, but they soon settled down. A group had remained on board after the shipment had left, which displeased him as the station, although well secured internally, had few real security staff.
Korecmancketras was away trying to recruit more pilots and security personnel. He had a gift for finding talent, but in the sparsely populated local sector it was proving tough. Add in the recent skirmish and many people were keeping their heads down waiting to see if war was going to break out between the races.
"Sir, Nyeshta reports the completion of two new Bayamons."
"Excellent! I want to see they've been burnt in. Get two test pilots to take them out and put them through their paces." Clegan pause to look at his pad, "How much material do we have left."
"Enough allocated for a new Orinoco, Sir. The next shipment is currently inbound two sectors away."
He had looked over the plans for Nyeshtas' Chaos mark one ship, smaller than the Orinoco, but if the engine configuration and weapons array were to specification, it would be significantly more powerful. Clegan had his doubts about the validity of much of the detail, however she had persuaded him that he should at least allow one to be built.
That ship was now taking shape in the lower hold but concealed from view. She wanted to be sure that even when it launched, only clan ships would be around to see it.
This was a dangerous time, now two clans wanted the weed. If either of them suspected the true strength of the station one or both would certainly try to take over. As far as Clegan was concerned if the ship worked it would offer a significant advantage over anything the opposition had, and any advantage he could get was a bonus.
"Sir we are being called. Bloodheart lifter arriving to collect weed." An operator called out.
"Upper docking bay three is expecting him." Clegan paused for a moment, then added. "Inform the Bloodheart clan ships that the Claw clan are in the area!" He tapped the console in front of him. If there was to be a clan confrontation then he could try to ensure his mercenaries were not in the middle of it.
It had also been brought to his attention that Creeds' War Master Guild of Mercenaries were prowling the sector scoping out the new potential rivals. There was a fine line between piracy and mercenary activities and Clegan was, as he knew, on the Piracy side of the line. If he stayed away from selling slaves and kept his operation low key then the mercenary guilds would take no action.
In this respect Nyeshta would need to be keep an even lower profile, as she was believed to be on Creeds personal 'to be dealt' with list. Caran was unconcerned by the details of why. He did however have a growing concern that she could prove to be a significant liability longer term, but for now her skills were of greater importance.
Tor was nearly half way across the Rolk's Legacy sector when he received the incoming transmission.
"Message for Professor Autland!" Sweety announced.
"Professor Autland here! How can I help?"
"Professor, I am Admiral Ottal on board the shipyard in Light of Heart. We request your urgent presence on board the station! Please instruct your pilot to make the necessary course adjustment."
"Understood Admiral we will be with you shortly." Jeron replied.
"Thank you Professor!" The com went quiet.
"To the shipyard please Tor!"
"Which way?" Tor replied.
"Straight on through Montalaar." The Professor replied.
Tor acknowledged, "Okay."
It was nearly half an hour later that they arrived. Tor had dropped a Satellite in each sector. The docking clamps engaged and Tor assisted in opening the locker holding the Professors luggage. It glided out and waited.
"Open the airlock doors Sweety."
There was the distinctive hiss from the slight pressure differential between the station and the ship. The Professor stepped out to the reception committee and Tor heard the familiar tones of Caran Belign as he too stepped out of the ship.
"Welcome Professor, and Mr Belign so nice to see you again!" Caran commented.
"Hi Caran." Tor responded with slight apprehension.
"Don't worry Mr Belign, fortunately we do not require your services. So you may leave when you wish." Caran read through Tors' expression.
The Professor turned around, "Thank you for bringing me here young man, and I wish you every success in your venture."
"Thank you Professor, it has been a very enlightening trip." Tor responded and wandered off to the nearest bar. The data pad in his pocket. Behind him the Piranha doors closed and the Professor and welcoming group moved towards the shuttle lifts.
Tor sat down and ordered a meatsteak with a flask of the local ale. He watched the news on the table holo-screen before putting Sweetys' data pad on the table.
"Sweety, what's my current credit status?"
"You have five hundred, seventy two thousand, four hundred and twelve credits." She replied.
"And freighters?"
"All freighters have reported in, Vulture, Lifter and first Dolphin have maximum cargo capacity, new Dolphin ships in Paranid sectors are now trading at two thirds maximum! When they have completed their next deliveries I will have them report into trading stations to increase further."
"Sweety, what's my current credit growth rate?" Tor asked.
"Between one hundred thousand and one hundred sixty thousand credits per hour." Sweety responded.
Tor knew the rate would drop as soon as he hired more pilots like Fenegalas, or fighter pilots to act as escorts due to their need for sleep and wages. The need for sleep, it was a thought that washed over him. A quick decision was made to spend a while on station and then retire for some needed rest. His shoulder still ached now and again reminding him of the recent injury.
Caran chaired the meeting, the Admiral took his usual position at the head of the briefing table, Commander Parrel sat to his left and Caran to the right. Around the table were the five scientists and the Professor.
"I'd like to welcome Professor Autland to the team! Professor in front of you is the data we have so far on the alien ship please take your time to study the details. If you have any questions then feel free to ask them. The rest of us here have already had an opportunity to study the data thoroughly and unless necessary I'm not proposing to go over it again!"
Jeron nodded and began to look over the details. The meeting from this point passed him by, as he became engrossed in the information before him.
Caran continued, "Within the next few days you will all board the AIC Roamer and be transported to Menelous Frontier. From here you will take two modified mule transports containing a small research facility construction kit and fly to Nopileo's Memorial. Your escort ships will be War Master Mercenary vessels and the route you will take is via the Teladi sectors and through Thurucks Beard. This may sound like we're going further to get nearer, and yes we are. The Split will be on heightened alert after the previous incursion and monitoring ship activity from all sectors to see if there is any repeat attempt to cross uncontrolled sectors. Hopefully by going through Split space they will be monitoring their own sectors less actively than those of the other races, and using native Split transports will also help mask the mission."
"Will the mercenary ships remain whilst we do our research?" An Argon scientist from the Gallators Fate named Walstom Natpol asked.
"No, there will be one laser tower deployed as a defense and deterrent to potential hostile activities. I do not want to attract unwanted attention. The presence of your ships will be noted. Once the facility is built the same number of ships that arrived will need to leave. Otherwise someone will start to ask questions and find out where you went to." Caran responded. "Escape pods will be part of the facility should you experience problems on the station."
"Won't we be picked up on the long range probes?" Leord Pertan, also from the Gallators Fate, questioned.
"No, your station will be close into the Jakjolok Belt, the Asteroid field will mask your presence." Admiral Ottal commented.
The scientists appeared to be a little apprehensive but acknowledged they were potentially going to be relatively safe.
"Fascinating!" The professor commented and looked up, "An exceptional find, I've never seen anything like it!"
The group turned and looked at him. He looked around briefly, smiled, then went back to examining the data.
"Okay anyone any idea on how to open the ship?" Caran asked.
Leord answered, "Carefully! The extreme cold atmosphere inside the ship will make most materials extremely brittle. As we don't yet understand the inner door mechanism, the chances are that any load required to move the frozen interlocks will cause the mechanism to shatter. We are less concerned about the outer airlock door as this should have been designed to cope with extremes of temperature."
"So what do you suggest?" Ottal asked.
"Just to be certain we attached an enclosure around the outer airlock and bring the temperature up to one hundred and fifty degrees." Leord responded. "Hopefully this should permeate through the door seal and help warm the mechanism."
"And once inside the airlock?" Ottal looked back to the scientist.
"We're anticipating some insulation in the inner doors, but not the same ceramic heat shielding that's used on the outside. We need the heat to penetrate the inner hull and raise the temperature to around one hundred and fifty degrees above absolute zero in order for the greater portion of the atmosphere to boil back into gas. But not so high to cause thawing of any biological matter." Leord concluded, Walstom nodded.
Walstom added, "This will also help stabilize the mechanism of the inner door making it more resilient to manual operation."
"What about the cryogenics?" Caran asked.
"We won't know what effect long term cryogenic suspension will have had until we get some proper bio-readings. We don't use this type of SA, so our best hope is that the onboard computer has the necessary data and can itself be revived and decrypted." Tolona Smaral, head Biologist from the AIC Roamer answered. She was in her late forties and of average build.
"And if it can't?" Caran looked around the table.
"Then our chances of successful reanimation will be extremely low. We have no idea on the bioelectrical makeup of the species, standard heart rate, atmospherical enrichment of the blood or neurological signal paths. Just some of the key things we need to understand in order to induce respiratory, heart and brain activity." Tolona looked across at Caran.
"Anything else we should be aware of?" Caran glanced back at the scientist.
"We need to understand how and when the body was frozen. If the process was in response to the ship not reaching it's intended destination, then there is always the possibility that ice formed in the brain during freezing which would have destroyed the delicate tissue cells." Tolona added.
Caran looked around, "And if we raise the temperature?"
"It's the freezing that's critical. We should be able to bring the body back up to minus fifty degrees without doing any damage. However there is a time dependency as the body begins to warm, certainly with our species, anything over this temperature certain body fluids will begin to thaw." This time Coulo Kartal, a biochemist from the AIC Roamer answered.
Tolona looked across the table addressing all the commanders, "We've not yet managed to do a cryogenic thaw successfully. One of the steps is a blood enrichment fluid that re-energizes the blood cells giving them the adrenaline, nutrients and oxygen enrichment required to kick-start the body. It also allows the blood to thaw at low temperatures. So we can pump it through before the body temperature rises to a point where it starts to degrade. The biggest single problem we have is to ensure all the blood has thawed. A single blockage in the body and in particular the brain can cause permanent, lethal damage to the subject."
"It sounds like we need to know if the ship has the technology to revive the pilot automatically." Caran concluded.
"That's assuming there's only one creature on board!" Parrel commented.
Caran looked at Parrel and acknowledged the comment.
The Professor looked up and glanced around the table.
"Yes Professor?" Ottal asked.
"Yes, this ship is unique in our space. From the results of the time estimate it rules out the possibility of any of the known races, with perhaps the exception of the Khaak, as we don't know how long they have been travelling in space. Have you given it a name yet?" The Professor asked.
The team looked around the table.
"I guess not! We should give it a name, it will make talking about it so much easier." Jeron added.
"Suggestions anyone?" Ottal asked.
"Danna's UFO?" Leord commented.
"Too descriptive." Caran replied and added, "The Traveler?"
There were a few pensive, thoughtful looks around the table.
"Voyager?" Tereana suggested..
"No we already use that name!" Ottal commented.
"FACS?" Tolona suggested.
"Why Facs?" Parrel asked.
"Abbreviation of Frozen Alien Cryogenically Stored!" Tolona observed.
"Facs! As good a name as any, short and to those of us in the know meaningful." The Professor commented. "Anyone disagree?"
There were no voices of dissent.
"I have a question regarding supplies." Jeron asked, "How long do we think this investigation will last? My gut feel is that it will be at least a few Argon weeks perhaps months. Is this the consensus of the team?"
"We have planned on a fourteen Argon day investigation!" Caran commented.
"Not enough! We may still be trying to open the inner door in fourteen days." Leord looked around the table. "This is not a job we can afford to rush, if we do then we run the risk of breaking something important."
The Admiral looked concerned, "We can't have you out there too long!"
"If you can prove there is no biological hazard or any other type of danger to us, then we will plan to get the ship out of the sector. Then we can work on it in the safety of a station." Caran commented. "However if we can't establish the risk to ourselves, in the fourteen Argon days, then I will arrange for a trusted independent trader to deliver supplies."
After the meeting Caran went back to his assigned quarters and finished packing the few personal items he had brought with him. It was time to return home again, he paused for thought.
"Computer, locate Tor Grall, ship registration TGT zero one BP!" He asked.
"Pilot Tor Grall still on station, currently asleep in the Travelers Rest Centre!" The computer responded.
"Excellent, notify me when he leaves the rest centre!" Caran commanded. With his few items packed away he headed out towards the shipyard construction docks where the two Mules were being refitted to hold the small research station construction kits.
Commander Parrel was overseeing the final stages of the refit. Once completed they would dock with the Roamer and he wanted to be sure the power plant was properly secured in the first Mule.
"Are we on schedule?" Caran asked.
"We should be ready in a few hours. The Mules aren't the best ships for this type of refit but the engineers have made the necessary adjustments and there's no visual difference to the externals of the ship." Parrel answered.
"Excellent!" Caran watched as the structural maintenance robots re-clad sections of the hull with the original panels.
The research station construction unit had been divided up into six sections, four of which were complete and awaiting loading into the Mules. The remaining two kits were elsewhere in the station still being packaged.
Parrel glanced at his personal pad. "Just been confirmed that the team are on the Roamer. We have stores and provisions for the fourteen Argon days trip on route from the trading station. Should be with us in a few minutes."
"Good work Commander, let me know when you're ready to leave!"
"Yes Sir!" Parrel answered.
Caran wandered away, there was little to do here but wait. He found his way to one of the security lounges restricted to station personnel and sat down. Taking out his pad he began to read reports from around the sectors.
Time passed quickly. Parrel called in to notify the departure of the AIC Roamer. Caran acknowledged and wished the team every success. Then he went back to studying the reports.
"Tor Grall has now left the rest centre!" His pad announced.
In one fluid motion Caran was off his seat and striding towards the visitor section of the station. "Keep me informed of his position!"
"He has entered the Gluttons Feast food hall on level C." The pad responded.
Caran relaxed slightly, with Tor stopping for a bite to eat there was no need to rush. He passed through the security door and out into the general visitors' docks. People drifted consciously out of his way. The lights reflecting dully off the metal plate in his face combined with his imposing height gave him assured passage through the crowd.
Tor was studying his data pad, the credits had rolled in then rolled out again to bring the two new Dolphins up to maximum cargo capacity. With that complete the credits were accumulating quickly, even so the slower ships occasionally missed the best opportunities as local traders beat them to the dock.
He paused with his drink half way to his lips when he spotted Caran walk into the bar, he slowly took a sip and put the glass down. Somehow Caran homed in on him within an instant of walking in the room.
"Mr Grall, there you are!"
"Mr Belign! Is this a social meeting or business?"
Caran sat down, "I see you have a technical pad, a very good investment!"
"It helps me keep in contact and monitor my assets!" Tor took another sip of his drink.
"Yes I understand business is good at the moment! I expect you'll soon be thinking of owning a factory?" Caran commented.
"Perhaps!" Tor glanced up knowing it was loaded question.
"Remember to put me down when they ask for references!" Caran smiled.
"Thank you I shall remember that! Is there anything else you want?" Tor cut to the chase.
"Mr Grall, that I should be after something in return when you have been so helpful before!" Caran glanced around. Tor waited.
"But there is one thing, if you can see your way to being in Argon Prime in twelve Argon days from now, I think that's just less than ten Tazura. It would be very beneficial!" Caran concluded.
. Lots more to come yet by the look of it, keep it coming it reads realy well, cheers.
