Here is a new story for you all to enjoy. It's based on a game start I have just started. It will probably quickly diverge ftom that. I must thank all the mod and script creators and the Argonopedia without which this story would not be have been possible.
Please submit crititisms and praise especially on how I formatted the story. As this is my first attempt at fan fiction. Chapter two is in the works and should follow in about a week. If enough people want it that is.
Thanks. Enjoy.
A New Start.
Chapter One.
768-05-02 00:22hrs.
Veil of Delusion. In Space.
Captain James Cambridge or Jim to his friends, cursed under his breath as the stars and nebula swirled hazily around him. He swallowed hard as waves of nausea threatened to overwhelm him. Being sick in a space suit was not a good idea. As it had a very nasty habit of getting into every nook and cranny causing suit equipment malfunctions. Besides you could never clean it out properly and the stink would linger for ages. Though spacesuits smelt bad enough under normal circumstances. His head pounded, as the last vestiges of a drug induced coma where purged from his system.
Drifting slowly through the red mists in the aptly named Veil of Delusion sector in an EVA suit was not high on his list of things to do before he died. Jim thought to himself that he had always predicted that he would die in space. But not quite like this.
Jim was of Terran origin, aged nearly 30 Terran years. Jim was born to relatively wealthy parents in the city of London, England on the date 738-08-19. He was above average height with a very good physique; a good head of short black hair completed his looks. Jim was craggier looking than good looking but he still attracted the ladies like moths to a flame.
After excellent educational results, Jim had been fast tracked at the Terran Space Academy. A rapid rise through the ranks had lead him to his first captaincy, captaining a Vidar M6. Jim had been part of the AGI Taskforce, but he had been forced to leave the ATF and Terran space after an unfortunate incident with Admiral Kirk's daughter. Ending up virtually destitute in Heretic's End, a border Terran sector after his rapid downfall.
Jim had then drifted aimlessly amongst the space lanes signing on as crew to various trading vessels never really staying very long onboard each ship. Jim had also to his eternal shame developed quite a liking to Spaceweed and Space Fuel. He had never turned up for crew duty under the influence however. While ashore Jim had also got himself a moderate reputation as a bar room brawler. Although the only remaining signs of this were a slight kink in his nose where it had been badly set.
With the early demise of both his parents back home on Earth, mainly caused by the shame of his exile. Jim had inherited a reasonable amount of credits. So forcing himself back to the reality of life, Jim signed on to a cargo vessel for one more voyage as crew, on a voyage heading towards Legend's Home. Which was one of the main Argon Federation Core sectors. He had then invested most of his moderate inheritance into a Argon Mercury Hauler. Much later he had lost the hauler and acquired The Kathryn Rose in mysterious circumstances.
His spacesuit visor was steaming up rapidly now and the low oxygen level warning light was flashing on the suit console display. He could end it quickly if he wished. All he had to do was crack open his visor and let the savage vacuum of space finish the job of dying. It would be quick but messy, his eyeballs would freeze and all of his bodily fluids would boil off into in to space. Just like a large version of one of his freeze-dried meals. Then his desiccated corpse would almost certainly drift through space for eternity, as unfortunately he was way off the normal space trade routes.
If only he had thought more carefully about his last trade deal. His mind went drifting back to the previous tazura.
768-05-01 16:30hrs.
Herron's Nebula. Aboard The Free Argon Trading Station.
Jim sat idly swivelling in his chair at his desk console. His office was rather bare and utilitarian. Situated near the central core of the station it was in the low gravity section of the station. Being in the cheaper section of the station he was fortunate enough to have a wall view screen. A standard computer desk was fitted at one end of the room with a tilting swivel chair behind it. The paintwork was Universal Argon Blue. The only concession towards any luxury was a rather smart stainless steel Argon drinks dispenser and a couple of white imitation leather comfy chairs for the benefit of potential customers.
On the view screen he could see his pride and joy docked down at the docking clamps. An Argon Express TP Class passenger transport, called the Kathryn Rose, registration number YTPGK-21. Named after a his childhood sweetheart, she was a well fitted out spaceship. With a top speed of 150 m/s and 750 large containers cargo space, with the equipped jump drive he could get to the more lucrative deals quicker than most. Although his main specialisation these days were as a passenger transport service, he could also turn his hand to shipping large freight containers as well, just like the old Terran ocean tramp steamers of a thousand jazuras ago. He could have based his operations in Argon Prime, but office space there was at a premium and more than twice as expensive as Herron's Nebula.
Business was extremely good at the moment. With nearly 5,000,000 credits stored in his secret lockbox on the Kathryn Rose, Jim's dreams of expansion were nearing fruition. The only decision that needed to be made was, build a station settle down and shake off his space boots. Or buy and equip a cargo ship which could then be sub contracted to a commercial agent while still running the Kathryn Rose on local jobs. He looked at his console screen. A brand new Argon Mercury Super Freighter bought from the Federal Argon shipyard in Omicron Lyrae would cost nearly 1,400,000 credits, and then it would need to be fitted out. Which would probably nearly double the price. Keeping the balance of the credits for trading purposes. With a maxed out cargo capacity of 11800 extra large containers, he was hoping to recoup his expenses quite quickly even allowing for salary and bonuses for the hired crew. After that the sky or space even was the limit.
Staring at the time display on the wall, Jim noticed that it was rapidly approaching 17:00hrs. Time for a quick drink in the Wayfarers bar then back to his small but well-appointed cabin on the Kathryn Rose to rustle up a freeze-dried meal in the small but well stocked galley. He could have rented some living accommodation on the station, but why waste credits when he was not onboard that often. Being a confirmed bachelor this gave him one less thing to worry about. After eating his meal Jim was looking forward to an interesting documentary on the Obscure Terran History channel about how a politician called Tony Blier had brought about the downfall of the European Super State before the resurgence of the British Empire nearly a thousand jazuras ago. After that he would hit the sack hoping to have an early start in the morning, as he did not anticipate any more potential customers calling until tomorrow.
He was disturbed from his reverie by the buzz of an incoming COM message. Pushing the answer button the desk view panel illuminated, displaying the smiling face of the hall receptionist/secretary. Jim did not bother to employ his own secretary, preferring to share the cost with the other tenants on this level. Her name was Shirley; she was an extremely pretty Argon lady. Average height and weight she was a rather chesty brunette with curly shoulder length hair and dark brown eyes. For several jazuras she had carried a not so secret crush on Jim but so far he had managed to keep her at arms length. Plenty of Argon males had tried to win her heart but with no success. But who knows, if the business started to boom as he was hoping maybe it would be time to settle down with a good woman. He could do a lot worse than Shirley. After all he could not realistically stay in space for the rest of his life.
"Hi Jim sorry to bother you. I have a customer requiring an emergency transport out of the system," said Shirley. "Ok I will be down to reception in just a mizura," said Jim. Walking out the door Jim took the short walk down to the reception area. Standing by Shirley's reception desk was an extremely attractive Terran lady. Slightly under average height she was extremely well proportioned with a gorgeous complexion. My eyes had difficulty moving away from her ample bosom. Wearing a neat two-piece beige suit, which showed off her figure to perfection. The woman appeared to be a natural blonde, she had lovely blue eyes, she licked her red lips as her eyelashes fluttered as Shirley spoke. "Jim this is Miss Candis Walker. She is in need of an urgent flight out of system," said Shirley. "You had better come into my office so we can finalise arrangements," said Jim. "Thanks for all your help Shirley by the way." Indicating down the corridor. Jim said "This way Miss Walker." Walking back down the corridor behind Candis he looked at her from the rear. A rather nice pert bottom swayed lazily as she walked into Jim's office.
"Take a seat Miss Walker, or may I call you Candis," said Jim. "You may," said Candis, "but I am in rather a hurry." "Well let me fix you a quick a cup of Kafe," said Jim. "Do you take sweeteners?" "Don't you think I am sweet enough already?" Simpered Candis as she sat cross legged in one of my comfy chairs. If only Jim had read the signs then. It would have avoided a whole lot of pain and hurt further down the line.
"Right then," said Jim, as he pushed the Kafe button on the drinks dispenser, "what's your hurry." Candis replied quickly "I need to get to the Pirates Base in the Veil of Delusion as fast as possible. I have a major deal going down and I need to be there ASAP." "Whoa that's a rough sector, how many credits are you offering for this trip," said Jim. "250,000 credits paid on arrival, no questions asked if you can get me their by 23:00 tonight," said Candis.
250,000 credits that would bring Jim's dream so much closer. 23:00 hrs arrival time would be very achievable as well. He should have read the signs, but a pretty blonde complete with heaving bosoms drove any such thoughts out of his mind. "Ok I had better get launch clearance then we can be on our way," said Jim. "Already arranged," said Candis. "I took the liberty of getting your receptionist to arrange it." He really should have checked, but as time was of an essence he let it go." Ok let's get down to the docking area" Jim said, "What luggage do you have?" "Only my purse and that hand luggage," said Candis indicating a small valise in the corner of the room, which he must admit, Jim had not noticed before. Well Jim had all that he needed on the Kathryn Rose so with no further adieu he picked up Candis's valise as they left for the docking bays.
Passing the reception area, Shirley was on the COM unit to another tenant. So Jim waved and mouthed "just a quick trip, See you tomorrow." If only Jim had known that he would not be seeing her again for many a mazura. He would have walked away from this deal no matter how big the payout.
Rather than waiting for the elevator, which was descending from, further up the station. Jim decided to walk the short distance down the stairs to the docking area. Just as they both walked out of the stairwell onto the dock the elevator door opened. Two burly looking Argon security guards exited the lift.
"There she is," said the first security guard. "Hold it right there," shouted the second guard. "Run!!" Said Candis. At which point both security guards pulled their PPG's.
Jim should have stood still like a good Argon citizen, but his instincts and the thought of 250,000 credits drove all such thoughts out of his mind. He grabbed Candis by the arm and began to run towards the Kathryn Rose.
A PPG blast shattered the near silence, as the shot just missed Jim's head by millimetres, hitting a nearby bulkhead with a splash of white-hot plasma exposing the raw aluminium underneath, the smell of burning paint filling the air. A second shot ploughed into the dock floor near Candis's feet gouging up a spray of white hot splinters, luckily just missing Candis's lovely legs. Jim still running reached the Kathryn Rose; hastily he hit the security hand scanner by the airlock. Falling rather than running they both entered the airlock. Quickly pushing the airlock seal button as the two security officers rapidly approached the Kathryn Rose. Jim rapidly strode up the walkway to the bridge. Jim hastily stowed Candis's valise in a storage container. "Candis you had better strap in," said Jim. "Things could get a little hairy very quickly."
Luckily the ship's shields were fully charged and active and should hold off any more PPG blasts. At least until they could clear the dock. Looking on the external display screen Jim could see that one of the security guards was urgently talking into a hand COM unit. The second guard appeared to be trying without much success to move on a gathering crowd of onlookers, it was probably the most excitement the station had seen for a mazura. Pushing the release-docking clamp. Jim took manual control of the Kathryn Rose, as he left the docking bay. Bitching Betty the ships computers voice activated. "Warning unauthorised departure. You have lost recognition." Great Jim thought so must for a preauthorised flight. The recognition system could be quite harsh at times. If your reputation dropped too low many stations would not let you dock or trade with them. Also more sophisticated technology was not available to purchase. If you could get your ratings up however, then the more lucrative deals became available.
768-05-01 17:20hrs.
Herron's Nebula. Aboard The Kathryn Rose.
Jim glared at Candis. "I thought you said that you had got Shirley to arrange pre-flight authorisation," said Jim. "Well I was in a hurry, and as you can see some people who I really do not want to meet up with at the moment are looking for me. So! I took a bit of a liberty. Lets get out of here as soon as possible," shouted Candis.
Luckily Jim had more than enough e-cells in the cargo hold for the jump to the Veil of Delusion. So switching the ship's display to navigation mode, he selected their destination on the navigation display. Looking at the description of the system he could see there was nothing much there. A Pirate Base, which was their destination, a Mercenary Training Centre, which he was not authorised to board and a few asteroids. Right on the border between Boron and Split space, the Veil of Delusion was under Pirate control Jim had dealt with all three race's in the past. The Split were quite tall, human like in appearance, arrogant and hated everyone that was not Split. The Boron were an aquatic race looking vaguely like a squid. When they engaged you in conversation it could bore the hind legs off a donkey. As for the Pirates well they where a mixture of races. Sometimes they were ok. Other times they just wanted to blast you out of space and collect your cargo.
Switching the external view screen to the rear. Jim noticed that a Argon Security Military Centaur was exiting the station. Could be a coincidence but Jim suspected whoever was on board the M6 had mischief in mind aimed at Candis and his self. The response time was a bit on the quick side though Jim thought. He had hoped to have a clear run to the Veil. They must have had a rapid response force on standby. "Just my fracking luck," cursed Jim
The Argon Station itself just hung there in space. A large rotating bluish cylinder. It had been Jim's home away from home for several jazuras. Fortunately no one as far as Jim was aware had the technology to track you through jump space without your permission. Although the S.E.W.N. (Space Early Warning Network) would pick him up in civilised space eventually. Border, Pirate, Xenon and Yaki sectors were very rarely covered by S.E.W.N as the attrition rate on the installed satellites in these sectors was considered by the network companies to be too expensive. Private contractors sometimes placed replacement advanced satellites, but they rarely lasted more than a tazura or two. By the time Jim returned to civilised space hopefully he would have carried out the current deal and the problem would no longer be his. Getting his recognition back, well that was another problem, which he could nothing about at the moment. After all he was an innocent trader just carrying out a taxi mission. Or so he thought.
Looking at the advanced satellite information. Jim could see all of the stations that operated in Herron's Nebula sector. A Cahoona Bakery, a High Yield Complex, three Ore Mines two Rimes Factories, a Silicon Mine and finally two Space Fuel Distilleries. No help could be found there Jim thought.
The COM channel crackled. "This is the Argon Security Service to the Argon Express YTPGK-21. You are ordered to hold your position and prepare to be boarded, or be fired upon." Thinking in for a credit in for a thousand credits Jim pushed the boost control accelerating the Kathryn Rose up to her maximum speed of 150m/s. Luckily he had the speed advantage over the Centaur which had a top speed of 123m/s. The biggest threat was the Centaur's armament. Which could potentially reach out to nearly 4.0km. "You must have really upset someone Candis," said Jim. "They are really out to get you." "Don't ask, "Said Candis. "What you don't know may save your life one day." Looking at the scanner Jim could see that the range between the Kathryn Rose and the Centaur was steadily increasing. Allowing for the ten sezura jump drive countdown he needed to increase the distance to at least 6km.
A brilliant white electrical discharge lit up space around the Kathryn Rose, as the Centaur's gunners found their range with their ion pulse generators. The shields lit up with an amazing auroral display as they absorbed the punishment. The ship shook repeatedly with the hammer like blows. A crash from the Galley indicated that something had not been stored carefully enough. As the Kathryn Rose gradually moved out of the Centaurs range, vivid blue plasma bolts crashed into the Kathryn Rose's shields, as the Centaur fired it's concussion impulse generators, in a last desperate bid to stop their escape. The shields where rapidly depleting and Jim wondered why they had not fired any missiles to finish them off? Then he suddenly thought they must want us alive if at all possible. Jim did not return fire, as the one phase repeater gun fitted to the Kathryn Rose's turret would hardly scratch the Centaurs shields. Besides Argon Security where only doing their job.
Less than forty sezura had gone by since launch, but Jim had now moved far enough away from the Argon Security Centaur and the Free Argon Trading Station so he activated the jump drive countdown. Space swirled prettily as the jump drive activated. With a stomach-churning lurch the Kathryn Rose entered jump space. A few seconds later the Kathryn Rose entered normal space with another lurch. Jim thought to himself I really should get that jump drive serviced soon.
A New Start. Chapter One re-edited
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