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“Bring her in! “
“Please follow me.” The soldier led Val towards a heavy wooden door. She had to undergo a number of security checks before she was admitted to this part of the station. There were soldiers everywhere. With her past in mind it took much self-persuasion to proceed. Hopefully nobody recognised her in this part of the universe.
The doors swung open and Val entered an elegantly equipped office. Behind a large desk sat a well-presented woman, smiling at her.
“Come closer. I was told you would make a good courier and you do indeed. We heard reports from your fight in Ore Belt from our carrier. It appears you have made it against all odds.”
“But from what I see,” she continued, “ you got out of it quite well!”
“Quite well?” Val asked agitated. She had barely survived it and this woman told her she had struck a good deal!
“Calm down. From what I see you captured three fighters and one corvette. In my books that is pretty good. I don’t know how you did it but am all ears if you care to share.”
Val swallowed. She looked around and stumbled over to an armchair. The woman would probably not believe her if she said that she did not have a clue either. But then again, admitting that might be like saying no to the captured ships. So Val just shook her head.
“Sorry, but that is something I can’t share. I am grateful for the fighters that you sent for support. I am not sure I’d have made it on my own. But I have strained your hospitality enough. May I ask to deposit the payment into my account? I’d like to rest and then depart.”
“Naturally.” The woman pushed some buttons and looked up again. “Your credits have been transferred. Before you leave, you have been extremely reliable and successful with this mission, would you like to take on another one?”
Uncertain what to say, Val stared at the wall for a few sezuras. She actually just wanted to get out of here. But if they paid well she could get in their good books and accumulate quite some credits by just transporting stuff for the Argon government for a while.
The woman appeared to read her thoughts. “We are prepared to pay 50.000cr if you can deliver a package to the Mass Driver Forge in Argon Prime.”
“Does that mean on this mission I am certain to get killed?”
“No, the good price is offered because we think you are worth it. We don’t like making mistakes and betting on the wrong person just to save a few credits.”
“Ok, what is it?”
“That is classified, sorry. The less you know the better it is for you. I will have the package delivered to your ship. It was a pleasure.” With these words she proffered her hand indicating the audience was over.
Val was guided back to her ship. Soon after she arrived Arox announced the reception of the cargo.
“How did you do it?”
“How did I do what?”
“How did you capture the ships? The Argon consider them mine and have no idea how I managed. Well, quite frankly, neither do I. So that leaves only you.”
There was a long pause and Val was just about to repeat her question.
“The Goners have indeed managed to develop a technology to prevent ships from jumping. I got the information from the files and managed to re-configure our scanners to emit a frequency that destroyed the wormholes as soon as they started to open.”
“You did what? Who of us did reiterate the meaning of confidentiality? Anyway, that still does not answer the question why these guys bailed.”
“Charging the singularity engine requires so much energy that the ship’s shields drop for a fraction of a sezura. I used those to transport them out of their ships. Gotta love them transporters.”
For a moment Val stood still, then she broke out in laughter and had to sit down, her face shrewd in pain. Her stomach was seriously sore. The image of those pirates, the shocked look on their faces when they suddenly had a lot of space under their feet was too amusing.
It took her several mizuras to recover. Then she straightened up in her seat and opened the station menu. All ships were in very good conditions, all weapons and shields still fitted. Arox’ trick had given her possession of ships that were instantly ready for action. She slowly looked through the list of equipment.
“What are these Mass Drivers? One of the Scorpions is equipped with them.”
“Mass Drivers are solid projectile weapons. The damage per bullet is low but they have a very high fire rate and extremely high velocity. These projectiles penetrate shields and cause instant damage on hull and equipment. A very powerful weapon if used right. The downside is that they require ammunition. This gun is also compatible with this ship.”
“You think it is useful? Ok, transport it over and also some ammunition.”
She continued her scan through the ships properties.
“What do you reckon, we can’t keep the ships. That would be like a bell around the neck.”
“If you are trying to say that they are too recognisable then you are correct.”
“Ok, but I want to keep the equipment. Can you transfer all to the Dragon, sell the Scorpions, buy a Mercury and put all the gear in that one. Then you can also sell the Dragon. A shame really, I’d loved to have one of those.”
“Done, done, done, done and done. You are now proud owner of a Mercury with plenty of gear that it cannot fit.”
For a moment Val looked perplexed then shook her head. “You know, sometimes I wonder if your creator knew what he got into when he implemented humour in your subroutines. Send the Mercury over to the EQ Dock.”
Several million credits richer they departed towards Argon Prime. The current cargo appeared to be either not as important or nobody knew about it. The trip was free of surprises and twelve stazuras later Val guided the Jaguar into the docking tunnel of the Mass Driver Forge.
Too scared to sleep while on transit, Val was hardly able to get out of her pilot’s seat to deliver the package. Her sleep deprivation must have been too obvious as the station manager offered her a room in the visitor’s area.
She was not sure how she had got into the bed but a look at the time piece revealed that she had slept for the better part of a tazura. A glance at the terminal showed a waiting message. Sender was the station manager. Val opened it and found another mission request. This time her destination was Kingdom End, the sector of the Boron home world. It would take her far away from where she wanted to go but the opportunity to see this famous sector was too good to be missed. A very good pay on delivery did help, too.
“Did you rest well? You will be pleased to know that I managed to improve the performance of the Mass Drivers. Our last mission gained us access to the latest developments, which I gladly applied to our guns. The fire rate has been increased by 15% and the force of the projectiles by 47%. This should increase the damage potential significantly.”
“Glad to see you kept yourself occupied. I assume correctly that I better not ask how we gained access to this information, right? So they are better now? Well, I haven’t got any idea what that compares to but I’ll take your word that we can break things with them.” Val smiled, she had needed the rest and now sparkled with energy. “Has our cargo arrived yet? We are going for a trip to Kingdom End.”
“If our ‘cargo’ is what I think then it is approaching the ship now.”
“Ay what? Did the transporters go on strike or what?” She opened the air lock and almost bumped into a strange looking figure.
“Hello, you funny looking Argon, my name is Bola Ti and I understand you are going to take me to Kingdom End in this ship.” Val did not quite know if she was to feel offended by the words of this something that floated along in its environmental suit. She had never seen or even communicated with a Boron so she resorted to looking dumb, stepped back and guided her passenger to the cockpit.
“You may offer our guest a seat once you decide to switch on your brains and look slightly more intelligent.”
These words of Arox’ got Val out of her paralysis. She hesitantly motioned Bola Ti to the passenger seat.
“Uhm yes, err I mean well, I was expecting cargo, not a passenger. Never mind, not your fault. I am Val and my friends call me Val. The cheeky sod disguised as a computer is Arox. Please ignore her comments, the meaning of her artificial life is to drive me up the wall.”
“Very interesting. Our AI chips do not have a tendency to interact with their commanders. I was not aware the ones of the Argon do.”
“Well, sometimes I wish this AI would also not interact but we are still in the process of establishing who of us is the commander. For the time being, rest assured, we work very well together.”
Val became more and more amused. She did not know if Arox would take the challenge or just politely sit in the background but she was prepared for a fight of words.
“And no,” she continued, “common Argon AI chips do not have these abilities. One can say I am blessed with a very advanced chip.”
“Very nice of you to call me a bliss. While I was always aware of this fact, I never thought you’d actually realise it.”
The perplexed face of the Boron was too amusing. Val could only remotely imagine how strange her banter with the computer must appear. Still laughing she sat down and requested departure clearance.
It soon turned out that Bola Ti was not just any Boron, he belonged to the Lar, which are known as the thinkers among Boron. His interest in Arox’ advanced communication abilities grew with each moment they conversed. Apparently the Boron did research in this area but abandoned it due to side effects, such as overruling their commands. In various test scenarios this had led to the destruction of several fighter ships and one research outpost. Apparently all documentation had been destroyed.
When they exited the gate in Heron’s Nebula a Boron Mako accompanied by two Boron Octopus closed in from behind.
“We have got company, did the Queen send their honour guard for your protection?”
Bola looked briefly at the ship ID’s and let out a scream. “Let’s get away fast! They are here to kidnap me! Please, fast!”
Val did not need any more encouragement as the Mako had already opened fire and their shields were depleting at an alarming rate. The white beam of light that had locked on to the Jaguar drained the shields before Val managed to get out of range. With shields around zero they were now being attacked by the fast Boron scout ships.
“Hull 97%. If you intend to do something you should do it before they inflict more damage.”
It was almost as if Arox begged Val to rid them of the offenders. The Jaguar twisted and swayed with no recognisable pattern under the tight grip of Val’s hand. And as chaotic the manoeuvres may have appeared, the shields of the small Split M5 started to recover. At 60% shield strength Val threw the ship into a wide barrel roll and slightly dropped speed to force one of the Octopi to overshoot.
“Now let’s see how good these Mass Drivers are.”
With a grim look on her face she opened fire. Initially there was no effect, no glowing shields, nothing. Then suddenly the small ship exploded.
“Yeehaa. Now that is what I call gun!”
The pilot of the second scout ship was stunned a fraction too long and in a head-on pass Val struck him down when the projectiles devastated the cockpit.
“Two down, one to go. We need to do something about targeting. It is a shame to wreck these ships.” Then she turned to Bola Ti. “What can you tell me about this white beam weapon?”
“This is the latest in Boron weapons development. It destroys electronics of a ship, shields, weapons, computer parts, simply everything except for the hull. That ship there has the prototypes of the weapon. Pirates raided our research outpost recently and I am the only survivor. Not because I escaped but because I was not on the station at the time. Boron would be very grateful to get the ship and its equipment back in our possession.”
“Arox, can you adjust targeting somehow? Is it possible to select life forms as a target?”
“The shields prevent a proper lock but I can increase the probability of a hit.”
“That’ll have to do. Now let’s go and get that guy. Let me know when you have made the adjustments.”
With these words she shot towards the approaching Mako. When the pirate opened fire pink plasma bolts now accompanied the white beam. Avoiding the plasma was easy, however, Val got to see just why this new Boron weapon was so dangerous. The ray lanced out and connected to the Jaguar’s shields until she passed the M4. A tight turn that almost knocked the air out of both persons onboard brought them behind the medium fighter. Just in time Arox announced the completion of her reconfigurations.
When the Mako pilot turned to the left in an attempt to get out of the line of fire Val reduced the speed and cut into the flight path. The Mass Drivers locked on the target and a few shots yielded the desired result. The pilot died without getting off another shot.
“Well, that was easy. Arox, can you please find out if that ship has a jumpdrive, and please space the remains of those dead pilots from the two ships. Send the Octopus to the Wharf in Argon Prime.”
“I need to establish a laser link connection to the Octopus. The damage in the cockpit is too great. You will further have to transport over and connect a chip to the main computer. The Boron Mako has a jumpdrive and 25 energy cells in its cargo hold. That is sufficient for a jump to Kingdom End.”
“No, we can’t send it there on its own. We cannot risk that somebody else might take it over. It has to stay with us.”
“Now that’d make for a slow trip. Alright, order it to follow us, we go ahead and then have it jump to the gate.”
It took half a stazura to get the Boron scout ship ready to accept autopilot commands and another 14 stazuras later they eventually arrived at the Trading Station of Kingdom End. The huge spiral station that rotated majestically generating an artificial gravity impressed Val. She left it to Arox to find the entry and dock the ship. According to news reports the accident rate when docking at Boron stations was significantly higher than that of the other race’s stations.
They watched as the Mako docked before following suit. Soon after they softly touched down in what appeared to be aquatic environment.
“Do we have to swim out of here?” Val did not exactly fancy that sort of exercise and her facial expression left no doubt about it.
“No, we can transport directly in the reception area dedicated to aliens. Although I did think you’d enjoy a few lanes in our docking bay.”
Obviously Bola Ti had learnt from Arox during those past hours and too enjoyed pulling her chain.
Shortly after they materialised in what was a big forum with organic looking wall features and a slight stench of ammonia in the air. The blue and green colours had a very soothing effect and as a consequence everybody around appeared relatively relaxed.
Bola Ti led her through a long hall towards the station manager’s second office, which he used to receive representatives of other races. The meeting was short and at the end of it Val did not only receive her pay but was also offered a Barracuda in exchange for the captured Mako. It did appear as though the Boron government was very grateful for the return of their test ship.
Val considered this proposition briefly; the Barracuda was a formidable fighter, fast and agile. But would it not mean that she could no longer avoid fights? On the other hand, she could fit a jump drive and would save quite some time. So the decision was made and she accepted. It was going to take the Boron mechanics two stazuras to re-fit the ship with a suitable cockpit and Val decided to get some sleep in the meantime. Due to the ammonia in the air she preferred to return to her Jaguar and sleep there.
“Guess what! We have got a new ship. The Boron offered me a Barracuda in exchange for the prototype. So in future we will cruise slower but be able to jump and pack some punch. Any objections?”
“I was starting to get used to this ship here but will certainly not object to a ship that is not likely to take damage at the sight of enemies. The Boron Barracuda is a very good compromise, no particular strengths but also no real weaknesses. What do you intend to do with the Jaguar?”
“Not sure, to be honest. It has been a great ship so far and I am kind of undecided if I should keep it or better sell it to wipe out our trail. I will decide later. For now, can you please get three Dolphins; max speed and shields, 2000 units cargo and triplex scanner, combat software mk1 and a fast laser each. Then send them to a Teladi EQ dock to get the trading software. I need some sleep, see you in a couple of stazuras.”
Three stazuras later Val had taken possession of a Barracuda that wasn’t quite new but still in very good conditions. A few extra credits maximised its speed and cargo bay. Val was slightly more conservative in regards to upgrading the manoeuvrability, 40% had to do for a start.
Arox uploaded her program to the chip installed in the M3. This was like a promotion as the Boron technology was significantly more sophisticated and advanced than the Split one. It also felt somewhat familiar. Soon all ship extensions had been transferred and Val readied herself for departure.
“Arox, can you try and see what we can improve on this ship please. I’d suggest we head for CBSE to pick up one of the jumpdrives. Then we have a look at Nopileos’ Memorial again. I’d like to know what is so special about that asteroid.”
Great story, Kiwi, keep it coming!
