Homebound chpt 5, completed (06/11/04)

[Mercenary]

Previous Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4


completed under the ++++++


Chapter 5:

Broden paced the corridors of the Silicon Mine in a subdued mood. It had been nearly two tazuras since Tor had been heard from, and with each return of the TaGohlen there had been no news. The station hummed with renewed production of silicon substrates for the energy cells that the Mohrabas were consuming at an alarming rate.

To his mind, however much they may have been indebted to the host race, they were calling in the debt, and then some. The shuttle lift doors opened and he stepped in, "Command deck."

Moments later and with barely a hesitation, he walked past Tor's office into the control room. He was comfortable here, at the nerve centre of the station, a place of constant activity. Liann sat at the master control desk monitoring overall activity as the other staff either gave verbal instructions or tapped the command units before them.

The few crew that were here was an indication they were operating with skeleton staff numbers, but the level of activity did not warrant the need for more.

Liann glanced up, and gave the customary smile before returning her attention to the console. He took a seat at the vacant terminal adjacent to her, and keyed in his identification. A successful bioscan of his palm activated the screen. He brought up the status reports from each of the stations and spent some time looking through them.

Thirty five mizuras after he had arrived, Liann gave a sudden laugh that caused him to spin around. Her eyes were bright as she pressed the comms button, "Welcome back Defiance, good of you to grace us with your presence. How was the trip?"

The main screen came alive with an image of Tor, "Good to be back, and met some old friends. There's a few less of them now of course but that goes without saying."

Broden forced himself not to smile, "Question is did you find the way home?"

Tor gave a wry grin, "Not yet."

Broden sat back, "Then what are you doing back here? Get back out there and find the way."

Tor gave a quiet laugh, "We'll I did get a pointer from an old friend, and I missed your cheerful company."

Giving this a moments consideration, Broden still held back the smile, "Well, I guess we'd better give you docking permission so you can tell us about it."

"It'll be my pleasure to come on board."

Liann said, "Corricel, upload the flight logs to the stations computer and I'll prepare them for the debriefing."

Tor gave a single nod, as Corricel responded, "Data uploading now."

"Verified, and see you when you get on board."


For Tor it was almost strange not to have someone sat next to him, even for this short journey, yet he felt happy at the sight of the stations after the jump. This was not home but made for a perfectly respectable second best.

He pondered just how close they might have been when the ghost ship passed them, and hoped it was only a couple of jumps away. Then he remembered his concern at the Defiance and its, seemingly, reduced performance against the Khaak.

"Corri, I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Our original encounter with the Khaak and you would quite happily head butt your way through a Destroyer, but with the latest encounter, we're lucky not to get vapourised if we get caught in the beams. Why is that?"

"The shield and weapons strength is coupled to the main power of the engines, prior to the recent modifications the bulk of the energy was untapped. Only twelve percent of output went to the primary drive. Changes to the drive for interplanetary capability with inertial dampeners now accounts for seventy five percent of output. This is reserved power that cannot be redirected during idle moments."

Tor whistled, "That's a massive difference."

"You will be pleased to know that weapons fire will only drain five percent of shield strength."

"I'm surprised we weren't atomised."

"As the engine enhancements restricted power, other enhancements improved shield strength and optimisation."

"That's what I like to hear. Now is there anyway we can get more power to the defences without compromising on the drive and subspace field generator?"

"A bigger engine would help. The original X-shuttle had a more powerful M/AM drive unit installed, this was capable of supplying energy to the jumpdrive unit without the need for energy cells."

Tor had heard some of the history behind M/AM drives, in particular the devastation wrought when early drives failed, which resulted in the minimisation of drive sizes so that the explosive yield would be of limited effect. "Can you get a bigger engine?"

There was a long silence, "Only if we exceed drive limitation statutes."

"So the answer is yes?"

"The Mohrabas use larger drives in their warships. One of these drives could be installed in the Defiance, but will reduce the cargo hold space by sixty seven percent."

Tor pondered this, "Could it be used to power the jumpdrive?"

"With modifications, yes it could."

"Well I think they owe us a favour, after all we've been through." Tor looked at the technical datapad, "Make the call."

"To who?"

"ThiRioth, sounds like the right man."

"Mohrabas."

"Whatever." Tor placed his hand on the flight stick and guided the Defiance towards the Silicon Mine.

He touched on the comm button, something he never usually did, "This is Tor Grall on the Defiance, requesting docking permission."

Liann’s voice replied, "Thought you'd bring her in yourself then. Clearance granted, approach the docking gate when you see green lights."

Tor slowed the ship and lined it up for final approach, as the docking lights flashed to green and the bay doors opened. The ship drifted in and as the automatic docking controllers took over, Tor released the flightstick, his eyes taking in every detail of the passageway and habitats of the station itself. The docking clamps took hold with the gentle bump, signifying they were at complete rest.

Corricel announced, "I have spoken with Chief Councillor ThiRioth, he will discuss your request, personally."

Tor sat for a while in thought, "I hope you were polite." He released the restraint harness and the airlocks opened.

"Of course I was."

Tor gave a wry smile, "Yeah." He walked out of the ship and took a deep breath. Broden sat at a table just outside the bar, two drinks were neatly placed on the table and a wisp of smoke, lazily rose from the cigar in his hand.


ThiRioth studied the data relayed to him from the Defiance, and considered it with the request for a new drive unit. The price was insignificant to that which they had already given them. But the council would have to agree to the request, and they were not due to reconvene for a few solar days.

He had given an immediate response but not the final decision, and now that he saw the logs he questioned his thought of simply discussing the request, and felt the need to meet with Tor. Bringing Tor back before the council and greet him as a fellow warrior would make any decision a formality.

The finger touched gently on the console and a voice asked, "Excellency?"

"Request the presence of Tor Grall, and send my vessel to collect him."

"Excellency."


Tris sat on Tor's lap as the holo-projectors filled the docking bay with scenes of the Defiance being beset by and destroying Khaak ships. The bar was overflowing, and even the command crew had shut down the station to come and watch. The sound was provided by Corricel as she replayed moments of conversation and added sound effects to each and every explosion.

Liann leant in towards Broden, her head on his shoulder, his arm around hers. The crew laughed when Corricel cut in the scene of Tor and ThaManya discussing children between combat events. Even Tor saw his facial reaction change and laughed as he realised that his thoughts reflected his expression.

The ale flowed and when the show ended to rapturous applause, Corricel solemnly announced, "His Excellency ThiRioth wishes your presence on the homeworld. His personal carrier will be here to collect you."

Tor ignored the request and asked Tris, "So how do you fancy being my new co-pilot?"

Her face turned towards his in an instance, "Serious?"

"Never more so."

"Yes." For one of the few times in her life there was no pondering such a request.

"Then we'll find home together."

"But what do they want with you?"

"To give my ship a bigger engine, what else could they want?" Tor responded casually as he looked into her eyes.

**********

Tazuras passed into wozuras and the Defiance spent time in the maintenance dock of ThiRioth's Carrier being refitted with the new drive unit. Tor had moved on from Mohrabas homeworld to in depth discussions with the scientists on board the Roamer.

So far they had failed to supply a solution to using the new drives power on the jumpdrive.

Tor looked disheartened, "But there must be a way, the original X-shuttle managed it." It was an argument he had tried to use before and he was not going to let the point go.

Ricc Blathe had recently joined the meeting as the resident authority on the drives technology, "It's not that simple, the drive was designed specifically to use energy cells. It's a fundamental feature of the design, specifically to stop the races doing what your trying to do. You mess around with that and you'll irreparably damage the drive."

"The Defiance is nearing the end of its engine replacement, it's cargo space will be significantly reduced. The ship won't be able to make the jump to Hetki's Ocean until the gate is complete and re-aligned."

Captain Sheero Bhard leant forward, "Mr. Grall, this is something you should have consulted us about, before agreeing to the changes. But perhaps you can negotiate a lift on the TaGohlen, it makes regular visits."

"You call once a wozura regular?"

Sheero frowned, he had never seen Tor this agitated and could understand his anxiety. In a few wozuras their first jazura without contact with the core systems will have expired, and officially they would all be registered as deceased. Their homes and belongings divided amongst relations, sold on or destroyed. He held up a pacifying hand, "The Roamer will make the jump to Hetki's Ocean. It would do us all some good to have a change of scenery. You can go on from there."

Tor looked long and hard at the Captain, "That." He hesitated, "Is an acceptable compromise."

Sheero looked towards the navigation and communications officer, Chareth Nuaro, "How many cells will we need to complete the two jumps?"

Chareth had considered the option some time ago and hesitated as he tried to remember the number he had come with, "A ball park estimate is seven hundred per jump. Fourteen hundred in total."

Sheero looked surprised that it would take so many, "What's our current allocation?"

"We have one hundred and fifty in the hold. But the Mohrabas have virtually taken all the reserve stock for the TaGohlen."

Tor looked at the communications officer, he knew the Mohrabas had built up a large reserve cache of cells in Hetki's Ocean, but he had not really realised the impact it might have. "Let me find out when we will have enough to supply the Roamer."

Mizuras later and he sat on the shuttle transport back to the silicon mine, he still could not believe the jumpdrive could not be modified. On board the silicon mine he sought out Broden and found him in the Command Centre.

Broden read his expression, "Didn't go so well then?"

"Like you said, the jumpdrive will only take cells."

"The Goners and Kyle Brennan managed to upset virtually everyone when they announced that little feature."

"Why did they do it?"

"Tactical reasons, mainly to make the fleet commanders think twice about initiating hostilities. Unusually high volumes of energy cells being traded with the military gets noticed, and as cells only have a shelf life of four Wozuras there's little opportunity to stockpile over a period of time." Broden turned his attention back to the report he was reading.

"Talking of energy cells, how quickly can we get fifteen hundred to the Roamer?"

Broden glanced over to him, as Liann interrupted them, "Guys, people are trying to work here, and as interesting as your conversation is, you both have offices. Go use one of them."

Tor instinctively apologised and muttered to Broden, "Let's talk in my office."

They both left and within a few strides had entered the room. Tor flung himself down on one of the leather seats and looked at the Station Commander, "So tell me about the energy cells."

Broden sat opposite him, "Reserves are down, and our Paranid friends are in a time of holy communion with the three dimensionality."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they're not going to ramp up production for us unholy ones just because we ask them to." Broden cast a casual eye over to the bar.

Tor thought about it for a moment, "Perhaps I should go talk with them?"

"It might help, but they're being particularly abusive at the moment. Maybe they're just as homesick as quite a few other people around here. I don't know, and I'm not going to ask."

Tor wondered if the comment about homesickness was directed at him, "So how long before we get hold of the cells?"

"About a wozura and a half."

A thought struck Broden, "How much have they been informed of what's been going on recently?"

Tor shrugged, "As much as anyone else. You don't suppose they feel left out?"

"I'm just speculating. They’re in this as much as anyone else, but as a Teladi would say, 'they're not getting any slice of the profitsss'."

"Not there's much profit to be had, all I want to do is find us a way home."

Broden shook his head, "That's as maybe, but look at what the Defiance has become. It's got more alien tech on it and is way in advance of anything we have at home, it'll find us a way home and when we get there it'll be more of a curse than a help. Every government will want a big slice of the ship. Chances are it'll be impounded, and dismantled under rigorous scrutiny before being copied."

"What do you suggest I do with it?"

"Once we get home shoot it into the sun."

Tor looked shocked, "You're serious aren't you?"

Broden felt it was time to have a few drinks, the subject of the Defiance had been bothering him for some time but he had not found the opportunity before now to really mention anything. He turned and looked at Tor, "Yeah, and I'm saying this as a friend. Don't keep anything that can be found on the technical specs of the ship."

Surprise flashed to anger, "What about Corricel, do you think I should fire her into the sun as well?"

Broden poured out two glasses, and carefully replaced the stopper on the bottle. He did not answer.

"You do, don't you?"

"I can't answer that." He placed the glass before Tor and sat down again. "Unplug her and keep her safely locked away, you might get away with it. But you know Corricel is as much a part of the Defiance as you are a person in this universe. The alternative is we get back and you send them out into deep space together. They'll survive until the fuel cells run dry and then they'll just be another object hurtling through space to crash into a star or other astral body at some point in the future."

Tor felt anger rising through him, with the desire to strike out at Broden for even mentioning such things. But a cold rationale triggered in the back of his mind, in his heart he knew Broden was right, he grabbed the glass and it shattered in his hand. He hardly felt the pain as shards sliced into his fingers.

Broden took a casual sip as he watched drops of blood fall to the floor, "Well I for one am glad you didn't hit me. I mention this now so have a chance to think about things and make a plan. It's one thing to make a copy of a ship, it's quite another to fill it with technology no one else has. As I made mention, it'll be our salvation and your curse."

"I won't be thanking you for telling me this." Tor opened his clenched fist and went to the bar and found a cloth to wipe away the blood before picking out the shards.

Broden sipped his drink, "And you're the easy one to talk to. I'm dreading to see what Corricels reaction is going to be."

"Well, why don't you have a friendly chat with her to find out."

"Do you tell a terminally ill child, there's no hope, they're going to die?"

Tor flashed a menacing glance at Broden, "Corricel is not terminally ill."

Broden finished his drink, and stood up to leave, "I know." He paused, "You better let the doctor look at that hand." He turned.

++++++++++

Tor called out, "There are other choices."

Broden glanced back at him, "There always are, for example, you could decide not to return home."

Tor pulled out a medi-kit and found a spray of rapid-skin and sprayed it over the still weeping cuts, "When you get home, what will you be going back to?"

"Currently you owe me a jazuras back pay, so I should be reasonably well off for a while." He smiled, then shrugged, "But I guess I'll just go back to being a veteran pilot again. I don't know."

Tor just nodded and Broden took this as an indication the conversation had ended. In a somber mood he left Tor with his thoughts and with the looming prospect that they would soon be going home he now questioned it.

Strolling into the command centre he ambled up to Liann’s desk, she looked up, "What's troubling you?"

Broden stirred from thought, "What is 'home'?"

She smiled, "Home is where the heart is. Why?"

"Can we chat?"

"What now?"

"I need to talk."

"What's got you so serious all of a sudden?" She leant forward, concern etched on her face.

"I just talked to Tor, and mentioned the Defiance becoming his curse."

"Did you paint the bleak picture, or the upbeat one?"

"I guess I wasn't too careful with my words."

"Ahh," She rose from her desk, "You'd better tell me about it." She turned to the coordinator near to her, "Joraj, I'm stepping out for a while, so you're in charge until I get back."

Joraj acknowledged with a casual wave.

They wandered past Tor's office and Liann asked quietly, "So how did he take it?"

"He was upset. Shattered a glass in his hand when he picked it up. He's actually quite scary when he looks annoyed these days, you can almost see the Mohrabas in him."

They made their way to his office, Liann said, "You were right to mention it, he needs to consider the future beyond getting home."

Broden gave a slight nod, "And what about our future? Here I'm Station Commander Falstarn, back home I'm just a veteran pilot scratching out a living. What about you?"

Liann took a moment to think, "I was just a technician. But I'm sure Tor will find us suitable positions on the factory back home."

With a half hearted smile, Broden shook his head, "Chances are that Tor's station, won't be his when we get back. I doubt any of us will have anything but the clothes we stand up in. Which means Tor wouldn't even have the credits to pay us for the last Jazura."

"He'll have the Defiance."

Broden shook his head, "The armed services will seize it at the first opportunity. He'll be lucky to see any financial recompense as the ship's based on a stolen design anyway."

"I get the feeling you want to stay?"

Broden looked into her eyes, "As you said, home is where the heart is. You have mine, where you are, is where I want to be. However in the cold light of day, when we leave here we'll have nothing. But if we stay, then we have all this."

Liann asked quietly, "What about friends, family?"

"They were always a jump or two away from where ever I found myself. When we know the route back to the core sectors, we'll be a jumpdrive and a few energy cells away, so no real difference. And once the link is established, the argon government is going to send diplomatic missions, the full works, so catching a lift will be a formality." Broden's eyes almost gleamed as the idea of staying blossomed with future potentials.

Liann smiled at his growing enthusiasm, "But will the Mohrabas allow us to stay? Tor's pretty much promised we'd all leave when we found the way back."

"There's only one person who can make that decision and that's ThiRioth. But there's no point me asking, if you don't want to stay."

Liann smiled, "Let me think about it."

Broden took the smile to be a positive sign, he could wait for while but not too long as he would need to broach the subject with Tor.


Tor knew he needed to check on the station status updates, but his heart was not in it. His options felt limited, he had dedicated his time to finding home and as they got closer, his hopes were significantly raised. In one brief conversation his dreams of the future had been reduced to ashes.

He had committed them to leave without considering the future cost to himself, and he cursed his blindness.

Tris stepped into the office and judged his mood with a single glance, "Why the long face?"

"I've been stupid."

She gave a slight laugh and mocked, "Nothing new there then." Tor shot her a glance that indicated to her, there was nothing to laugh at. "What have you done?"

"I can't leave the Defiance in the core sectors. If I go back, I'll either have to give up the ship or destroy it."

"Destroy it, but surely it would be better to allow the government a chance to study it. Use the technology to advance our own. The Khaak will attack the core sectors, with a fleet of Defiance's to defend us they wouldn't stand a chance of repeating the massacre we witnessed. That's got to be a good thing."

"And what do I say to Corricel?"

"I can't see that she could possibly disagree."

Tor shook his head, "She's a series five thousand chip. Once that is known, she'll either be used for lab experiments or ground into dust like the others. She'll take a dim view of being handed over and she is very much a part of the Defiance."

Tris sat next to him, "This is personal as well, isn't it?"

Tor looked at her, "Too damn right it is, she's my ship. It gives me that edge to survive when no one else can."

Tris frowned, "That's a very selfish thing to say. Everyone deserves the best opportunity they can to survive."

"Not if they're trying to kill me they don't." Tor mulled over his thoughts for a moment, "Things have a tendency to fall into the wrong hands. First one to replicate the Defiance will have a terrible power to use against anyone that they don't happen to like. Do you think the Split or Paranid will stand by, knowing the Argon have such a vessel to work with, and once replicated a thousand times will sweep aside all their fleets upon a whim."

"Now you're your being over dramatic."

"I don't think so. The ship is simply too powerful for any one race. It's too much of a technological leap to get ignored."

"So you're going to destroy it then, is that what you're saying?"

"I can't silence everyone that survived the Khaak when they get home. Everyone knows about the Defiance, so I can't hide it. I'm running out of options, other than to abandon the sectors and go somewhere no-one can find the ship, I can only do what Broden suggested and fire it into the sun."

Tris looked at him, "I can't say I agree with you in this. It's better that the Argon government has the ship than just throwing it away."

"Even if it might start a war?"

"You've got nothing to say it will."

Tor felt Tris's growing annoyance, "Really? Have you noticed how the Paranid are choking back on energy cell production. Don't you think that's strange, just before we plan on needing a stockpile so we can make the jump for home."

"Are you serious?"

"Broden mentioned it to me."

"Well, that could be for any number of reasons. Maybe they are having production problems."

"I'll be having a chat with them, but if I'm right they're going to be asking for technology rather than assistance with production."

"And if you're right, what then?"

A thought crept into Tor's mind, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. There is a possibility that when everyone is safely back home. I could return here and negotiate an indefinite stay."

Tris asked quietly, "What about me?"

Tor looked surprised at the sudden change in direction of the conversation, "Sorry?"

She looked straight into his eyes and he felt the void open up before him, "What about us?"

"You would be more than welcome to join me."

She gave a sad smile, "No Tor, my place is in the core sectors, not here."

Tor saw the divide too late, he had been completely absorbed by the future of Corricel and the Defiance and had given no second thought about Tris. He had the desire to talk but words failed him.

She put her hand on his, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up, "Only you know where your heart lies."

Tor felt as though the wind had been knocked clean out of him, as she walked out of the office.

[Epiphany]

Good work, write more!

[skullhead]

Excellent writing Mercenary

[Quetz]

Nice Keep it coming merc

Quetz

[Gandalf The White]

wow! that was quick, so where's the rest of it then lol.

[General Morphit]

A few spots:
they were calling in the debt, and some." - and then some?
"The few crew here an indication they were operating at skeleton staff numbers" - either 'were' or anther comma.
"Only the council would have to agree to the request" - doesnt sound quite right at first glance, kills the flow. Either stick a comma after 'only' or change it to another conjunctive 'but' for example.

A nice start, little more laid back I take it. Tor might have a few days untill the next flight, providing the khaak dont come looking for him. I'm sure he'll fit in some quality time with Tris somewhere.

Looking forward to pt. 2

[THESPEEKER]

Nice one merc

One typo

That's what I like to hear. Now is there anyway we can get more power to the defences without compomising on the drive and subspace field generator?"

Looking forward to next bit

[Jenantar]

The feeling of not wonna stop reading is still there. Way the go merc. Hope Tor gets more and more accepted by their friendly "neighbours".

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent read, Merc. Little action but very nicely filled in background! Putting Tris in the Defiance is asking for trouble. I can see a hint of spicing things up A bigger drive should make a good base for exciting battles

Looking forward to the next installment!

"past Tor's office in to the control room" - into?

"The ale lfowed"

[SteveMill]

more niceness.

[Mercenary]

Nearly got rid of the niceness..

Cheers all for the feedback, hopefully managed to catch all the corrections.

Part 2 under the *****

[Gandalf The White]

nice one merc.

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent new part! Very emotional and exceptionally well brought across! This is indeed a vision that was there all the time but well supressed. The only thing I can see happening is Tor to return into the deep unknow because at this point I cannot imagine him giving up Corricel.

Looking forward to the next part!


"he had never see Tor this agitated"

"Their homes and belonging divided" - belongings?

"There in this as much as anyone else" - They are?

[Epiphany]

More! MORE

Very nice piece merc

[Quetz]

Great plot twist coming in with the fate of the defiance, never saw that coming. Go Merc

Quetz

[Al]

Very nice Merc. Couple of typos but I'll need to run through again to pick them up.

Al

[Mercenary]

Cheers all,

think I got all the typos corrected from second posting.

Chapter completed under the ++++++

[KiwiNZ]

Crikey man! You are utterly mean! Wasn't it enough to paint the sky black, you had to take it even further!

This is a very interesting point that you bring up there. Having to make such a decision is gonna be like suicide. I can't really see him abandon Corri, not even for Tris. There has to be s tronger band between him and the AI. Tor's future in the core sectors may not be quite as bad as Broden laid it out, I think his share that went to Nyeshta would still be kind of available. But due to Corri I don't think he is likely to go home at all. It'll be more like sending everybody off and destroying the gate.

Looking forward to the next chapter!!

[Gandalf The White]

lol very nice. I think I now know why Tor goes missing

[Mercenary]

Crikey man! You are utterly mean! Wasn't it enough to paint the sky black, you had to take it even further!

This is a very interesting point that you bring up there. Having to make such a decision is gonna be like suicide. I can't really see him abandon Corri, not even for Tris. There has to be s tronger band between him and the AI. Tor's future in the core sectors may not be quite as bad as Broden laid it out, I think his share that went to Nyeshta would still be kind of available. But due to Corri I don't think he is likely to go home at all. It'll be more like sending everybody off and destroying the gate.

Looking forward to the next chapter!!

Someone mentioned something about "niceness". I always think of it as the calm before the storm.

Various different threads over several stories get pulled together in this one. The new intro and start of the first chapter of the first book become evident as to why things are the way the are in this story.

I think this will be the last of the Traders series.