by Dean Henegar
“Hello inside the cell. This is Lieutenant Camden of the USS Franklin. We’re here to rescue you. Just remain calm and we should have you out shortly,” the lieutenant advised.
“Understood, thank you for rescuing us. Were you able to save the others?” one of the naval personnel asked.
“Unfortunately, you’re the only survivors we’ve come across. The ship took damage when the gnomes abandoned it, and some people were lost in the other cell,” the lieutenant told them.
The prisoners remained calm while Slater’s drones cut their way into the cell, processing the door as salvage and leaving behind a small stack of bricks by the time they were done. As soon as there was enough space to exit, one of the uniformed prisoners emerged and approached Camden.
“Captain Julio Guzman of the corvette Allende at your service. Thank you for your timely rescue, sir,” the captain said as he saluted Lieutenant Camden. “How is the USS Franklin in this sector of space? I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but your vessels are fighting hard against the kobolds and the orcs on the other side of human space, the last I heard,” the captain asked.
“Let’s get you aboard the Franklin, Captain Guzman. We have a lot to discuss, and you’re not going to believe how or why we are here. I’m sure you can all use a chance to clean up, as well as a hot meal. We have medical facilities, and one of my soldiers is a medic if any of you are sick or injured,” Camden offered, leading the rescued prisoners toward the Franklin, one of Slater’s drones trotting along behind them as the others prepared to start salvaging this half of the mothership. Twenty-six humans exited the cramped cell, with two of their number needing to be carried out.
“Welcome aboard, Captain Guzman. I’m Captain Slater of the Franklin. Once you’ve had a meal and any injuries tended to, I’d like a chance to meet with you,” Slater said over one of the comm speakers set into the boarding hatch.
“Thank you, Captain Slater. I look forward to meeting with you in person once my crew has been taken care of.”
Camden then led the injured toward the med bay while the others were taken to the mess hall for a meal and given access to some of the crew quarters on the top deck in order to clean up and rest. Slater ordered a pair of drones to begin printing up simple work coveralls for those who were wearing only rags. He would need to design some ship’s uniforms at some point in the future. For now, he had to think of a way to explain what he was to the newest human passengers. Slater could only hope they would react as well as others had.
— 11 —
Slater was nervous as he watched the new humans get themselves in order. It was strange to feel such a human emotion yet comforting at the same time. He continued to hold onto the belief that he was a human, and moments like this confirmed he was correct in his belief. There was still darkness in him, urges at the back of his mind trying to convince him the passengers aboard were nothing more than raw materials for his derelict, but thankfully, those dark thoughts were now easy to push aside and held no sway over his actions . . . he fervently hoped.
The two badly injured humans were being treated by Harris in the med bay. Illissa had offered to use her magic to help, but since the injuries were not life-threatening, Slater felt it best to let them get accustomed to their new surroundings before throwing the whole “Captain Slater is a derelict who controls MOBS and we have a magic elf” thing at them. He did have his drones print up additional units, bringing his total up to thirty. There was too much for them to do, and if it meant cutting back on a squad of kobolds, he was fine with that for the time being.
“Sir, would it be possible to have a couple of drones set aside to print up what these folks might need? They have only the clothes on their backs, and some of them barely have that,” Lieutenant Camden asked.
It was a valid request, and as much as Slater wanted to dig into breaking down the mothership and making improvements to the Franklin, he couldn’t neglect his new passengers. “Good idea, Lieutenant. I should have thought of that myself. Feel free to chime in if I seem to be forgetting things like that. Not having normal human functions makes me a bit out of touch at times. I’ll re-task three drones for you. There’s quite a large inventory of things they can make from all the stuff we’ve captured and broken down. I don’t think clothes, toiletries, small electronics, and the like will be too much of a drain on our resources.”
“Thank you, sir. What do you want me to do once they’re squared away? I’m worried how they’ll react to you, and it might be better if I and Doctor Cheng break the news of your . . . situation,” the lieutenant added.
“Good idea. You and the doctor can inform Captain Guzman and his officers once they’re ready,” Slater replied, glad to let someone else take the lead on explaining the sticky subject of where they were and the nature of the vessel they were traveling in.
The research he began before they boarded the mothership had completed and Slater took inventory of the results. His shield updates had improved the efficiency of the shield generator, making it more effective and at the same time more efficient. He now had the equivalent of quality, commercial-grade shields. Any further refinement would make the shields military-grade, which would improve their recharge time and allow him greater control in reinforcing areas of coverage.
The sensor array upgrade was a big improvement; his processing power had extrapolated a very efficient and powerful schematic. For once, his results were better than he expected. With much greater range and enhanced detail in their scans, Slater should have more time to react when a threat surfaced. His missile upgrades were what he expected and consisted of a basic evasion package and the same ablative coating his hull contained. With a small bump in range and maneuverability, his missiles should now have a higher hit rate and have a better chance of surviving point defenses.
His drive system improvements would finally give him an adequate level of propulsion for a ship of his size and would scale well into whichever larger vessel he intended to build. Slater was already thinking about what he wanted to change the Franklin into and had some new ideas based on the threats they had already encountered and what they could expect during their travels back to human space.
Slater might want to change out his research once he uncovered everything the mothership had to offer, but for now, he needed to keep his processing power working. After going back and forth a bit, he made his decisions and gave a final review before starting the work.
Research Allocation:
Orcs: 20%
Laser Weapons: 20%
Jump Drive: 20%
Automated Internal Defenses: 20%
Signal Booster: 20%
The orcs were only a single research pass away from possibly being the better option for MOBS, so he felt that it was time to get that knocked out. There might be an argument for blending the two MOBS types at some point, but that would be in the future, when he was able to upgrade both types into more specialized versions. He also felt it was time to research the gnomish laser design to vary his main weaponry and point-defense options. His ideas for the new build of the Franklin were starting to solidify, and the lasers just might play a key part of that.
His jump drive system currently worked, but it was crude and inefficient. Since he had completed the installation of the drive, it had only charged to fifteen percent, which was way too slow. If he jumped into another system and found too many threats, he would need to be able to retreat quickly; the current drive would leave him stranded in a system for far too long. The signal booster was another new idea that had been running in the back of his mind. If he could find a way to beam his core energy over greater distances, he could control his MOBS from farther away and perhaps even open up the possibility of drone craft to supplement his ship’s defenses.
Automated internal defenses would really bolster his ability to repel boarders. Pop-up turrets, concealed mines, and other nasty surprises would make his vessel more secure and lessen his reliability on MOBS. The comical
ly simple traps he currently used were no longer effective enough to warrant wasting his precious resources to build. He would need some drone upgrades as well, but that could wait until he finished with the current wave of research.
By the time he was done assigning the new research allocation, Slater noticed that Lieutenant Camden had gathered three of the new humans and was taking them to an empty compartment to explain what was happening to them. Captain Guzman, another crew member, and a human woman in civilian clothes were present. Slater let the lieutenant and Doctor Cheng begin their explanations of what was going on, dividing his attention between that conversation and the breakdown of the mothership.
Resources were pouring in, both salvage and biomass. The computer core of the mothership proved both a windfall of information and a disappointment. Only a limited star map was present, and most of the detailed jump point locations were in gnomish space. There were a few systems mapped on either end of gnomish territory, as well as the systems bordering human space. It would be good enough to get them back in the direction of home. The only challenge now would be surviving any encounters along the way.
The maps were sparse on other details, but they did show the complete jump point chain that led to this clan’s home system—which included the jump point the mothership had been heading toward. A dozen other clan names were listed in that system, so he probably didn’t want to head there and try to tackle that many enemies. Jump points leaving the gnomish clan’s home system were only marked as “gnomish territories,” and a single path leading deeper into unknown space was marked “danger” and “former gnoll lands.” Perhaps the gnolls and gnomes were enemies. He would have to ask Illissa about that later, when he had more time.
The mothership’s drives, shields, and other systems weren’t very good designs, but they would help him cut time from future research on those topics. One strange find turned out to be a damaged life pod his drones had found abandoned with the other junk in the ship’s hold. Other than the crazy ejecting compartments in the center of the mothership, the gnomes didn’t have smaller escape pods on their vessels. This escape pod had the cover cut off, but above the opening was a name.
CAPTAIN VARN—
The first four letters were there, and the last three were cut off where damage to the pod had scraped them away. Varn might not be the name of the type of creature but perhaps the individual that used the pod. The Varn had been the captain of a vessel at some point. Slater didn’t want to think of what horrors the poor creature had gone through at the hands of the gnomes for it to be reduced to the state of madness he found it in. Perhaps these powerful creatures could be potential allies. Sadly, there wasn’t any residual DNA inside the pod, as the Varn had likely been wearing a sealed suit when it was inside.
The escape pod did make Slater think about adding them for his crew. He would incorporate a similar design into his new vessel, giving his humans a chance to escape if the worst happened. It might not be advisable to eject out and become captured by any of the races arrayed against them, but it was a decision the humans should make on their own and not one he should impose on them.
“Captain Slater, Captain Guzman wishes to speak with you,” the lieutenant interrupted. Looking back on them, he could see confusion in the other captain’s face. The other ship’s officer—who he learned was named Commander Diaz—wore a sour and disgusted look. The female civilian turned out to be the foreman for a mining colony, and she appeared skeptical and unconvinced at the story Lieutenant Camden and Doctor Cheng had told them.
“Certainly, Captain Guzman, what can I answer for you?” Slater replied.
“May I see your . . . What is it called? Core? I think I need to lay eyes on you if I can hope to believe this amazing story these two have just told for me,” the captain asked while gesturing toward Slater’s crew members.
“Certainly, Captain, please follow my crew to my core room,” Slater advised.
The whole entourage entered the core room, the new arrivals trying to push their way back out when they saw the squad of armed kobolds standing against the far wall. The lieutenant calmed them down, and Slater had the kobolds drop their weapons and hold their hands up, trying to show they were no threat.
“This is . . . well . . . I’m not sure what it is. Captain Slater, are you really inside that ball of energy?” Guzman asked.
“Yes, not by choice, but here I am. This must be strange for you all to understand. It’s still unbelievable to me as well. I’m stuck in here, but my new existence may just give us all a better chance to fight back against the other races that are slowly wearing down humanity. We could use your help in getting back to human space. I don’t know exactly what we are going to face, but the more of us we have working together, the better chance we’ll all have of surviving,” Slater told them.
“Captain Slater, I’m willing to help if the remnants of a corvette crew can be of some assistance to you,” Guzman offered.
“There really is no choice but to work together,” the mining foreman replied. “My team is willing to help. I am Gabriella, by the way. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced yet.” She had a hard-edged look to her—the look of someone who was used to physical labor and dealing with an unruly crew.
“Good to meet you, Gabriella. I understand you and your people were miners?” Slater asked.
“Yes, there are only nine of us left, and two of those aren’t actual miners. One is from admin, and the other worked in one of the restaurants,” Gabriella replied.
“I think you just might be able to help us a great deal. We have a long way to go and will need lots of material to get us there. There may be a chance to mine some of what we need, and your expertise will be invaluable,” Slater replied.
“What of my crew? It doesn’t appear you need one, as you run everything yourself,” Captain Guzman asked.
“You will also play a key role. One of my main constraints has been the power needed to run everything. I was considering creating a standard reactor power plant to run most of the ship’s normal functions and use my core power to create defenders for our vessel as well as a few more ideas I’m working on. The more people I have to assist me in running the ship, the more resources I can allocate to our defense,” Slater answered.
He would need to generate a schematic for a ship’s reactor, but with the designs already absorbed from the vessels he had defeated, that should be accomplished quickly. He planned to get the crew to handle normal day-to-day activities and use the new reactor’s power to run things that didn’t necessarily need him. Shields, engines, and weapons could be powered by the new supply; with those items, his core energy didn’t offer much of an advantage over conventional power sources. His power was better used in creating more MOBS, powering the jump drive, maintaining life support, and preparing the ship for boarders. His core power could also jump in if the main reactor failed, giving the Franklin a redundancy for its critical systems that other ships didn’t possess.
“Let us know how we can help. In the meantime, thank you again for your daring rescue, Captain Slater and Lieutenant Camden,” Guzman said.
“I’ve allocated some of my construction drones to help print up any items your people may need. Doctor Cheng can show you how to use them,” Slater replied as the trio of new arrivals left. His only concern was Commander Diaz; the man hadn’t said a word, and Slater didn’t like the look of greed in the commander’s face when he looked at the core. This one somehow knew the market value of a derelict core, and he would warrant watching. Slater sent a message to Lieutenant Camden to keep an eye on him and at the same time decided that keeping the squad of kobolds in his core room wasn’t such a bad idea.
Slater pulled the research resources from signal boosters, orcs, lasers, and automated defenses to finish up a design for a ship’s reactor and create control consoles so the human crew could interact with the ship. The research progressed at a good pace and would be done quickly. He was already working out pl
ans for his new vessel’s design, and having more power and extra hands to run it was going to make all the difference.
— 12 —
The drones continued the work of stripping down the gnomish vessel. Empty compartments began to fill as refined blocks of salvage and biomass piled up. Slater would have to expand his ship soon or he would run out of places to store everything. Thankfully, the current research completed first, allowing him to switch his drones over to building the reactor, upgrading the jump drive, and creating a real ship’s bridge on the upper deck. The bridge compartment was set at the aft of the first level and was the last room before the hatch that led down to the lower deck.
While the jump drive now charged at double the rate it had previously, it was still going to be a bit of a slog to get it ready after each jump. More refinement would be necessary, so he slapped another twenty percent of his research power into upgrading it further, only to quickly pull the research power out when he saw how slowly it was progressing. Like many of his other research items, he had hit a wall on jump drives. When he captured some other ships and was able to tear apart their drives, he might have another bump in performance. He already had an idea of how he was going to take on other vessels with less risk, one he would discuss with the other humans soon.
The reactor his drones were building and installing was powerful. His experience with his ship, as well as with the input from several of the schematics he had acquired, gave him a very efficient and compact design. It was more than enough to power the drives, weapons, and shields even after he increased the ship’s overall size and defensive firepower. As far as research went, Slater continued where he had left off before he funneled resources into the reactor.
