by T J Bryan
Apparently the SOG, his father, and their ancestors going back hundreds of years, had fought against the evil Garn to ensure the prosperity of their worshipful people. Who the Garn were, was never really explained, except that they opposed the SOG and his ancestors. To Farn it was clear the Garn were not a religion, or ethnicity, or a race, but simply those who did not worship the SOG and his system of rule. And then Farn thought a bit more. No perhaps the Garn did not oppose the SOG, but simply had doubts or failed to cheer and shout at the right time.
Farn leaned back in her captain's chair. Just another tin-pot dictator from a family of murderous psychopaths who ruled through fear and god like worship. The scene was all to familiar thought-out the history of humankind and very well documented in the EG.
Farn directed the crew into a half watch and went to her quarters and to a quiet and restful sleep. She awoke eight hours later and after a quiet breakfast at the mess walked to the bridge. Second Pilot Jackie Schwarz sat in the pilots chair watching yet another vid while keeping an eye on the systems scan. Second defence station operator Ignacio Waltis, who always needed a cushion to sit high enough in his seat to man the defence station sat concentrating on the scans and vids coming in from Polis.
"Captain on deck," said Schwarz as Farn sat.
"And what have we learned Mr. Schwarz and Mr. Waltis in the last nine hours about this absurd system?"
Ignacio Waltis on defence spoke first, "We have a ship incoming and it is about 30 hours out. But I do have a good scan on that thing."
Farn thought it odd that Waltis would call a ship a 'thing.'
"The ship is very long and thin. About 600 meters long and only 40 meters wide. It's running on a dirty Fusion engine at the rear. That might be why it is so long. The distance might be needed to protect the crew up front from the ills of uncontrolled radiation behind. It's not very fast, but the odd thing is its' mass."
"Oh?" said Farn.
"Yes," replied Ignacio. "It's very lightweight. The skin of that thing must be really thin. I mean soup can thin. But it does have a launch tube on it. In fact two tubes. I can't make out the type and it's a bit odd, but the aperture is small. There is no anti-matter signature on that thing. But I will say one thing. A single gust from a plasma storm would simply rip that thing to shreds. If, anything, it a comic opera kind of warship."
"Like the Unity dreadnoughts?" asked Farn.
"No, far worse. Those Polis ship things are like paper kites in a hurricane. The man who flies such a contraption must be either really brave or completely foolish. Perhaps both."
"Pilot Schwarz I want you to pay careful attention to that ship. If you were the pilot what options might you have for flying that thing. Don't respond just yet. Watch it and any other ships in the region. I have a feeling our welcome might not be as 'welcoming' as we might desire."
"Aye Captain," replied Jackie Schwarz as she settled into her seat with renewed concentration.
"Any vids you recorded in the last shift you found interesting?" asked Farn.
"Not really," replied Ignacio. "The vids all seem repetitive. That sports event seems to have been shown over and over again as has that speech by the SOG. However the half time show was disturbing."
"Oh," said Farn.
"Seems they brought out what must have been 400 of the Garn for execution. They just seemed to be ordinary people. The announcer accused them of a number of crimes. For example one group was accused of poisoning an entire province's crop and causing famine. Another group was responsible for a dam collapse that flooded a river valley that killed hundreds. And a third was blamed for bad weather over the capital that caused a major military parade to be postponed."
"Sounds to me like the typical problems of government rather than sabotage," replied Farn.
"After they read the charges they killed the accused. Hung some, beheaded others, it was pretty bad, but the stadium audience cheered and screamed in delight. Whole families were murdered. It was sickening so I continued recording but stopped watching."
After a long pause Ignacio continued. "The only thing that has changed on the vids is that drama. I have been listening to the audio and it's all about living well in the brilliant sunshine of the SOG and his radiant goodness. There is of course some romance, implied infidelity, and family tension, but at the end of the program there is some quotation from the SOG that seems to resolve all problems with harmony and peace. The one exception is they almost always find a Garn plot that is uncovered at the last moment and results in violent bloodshed. Seems the Garn caused all the trouble in the family drama. I have watched three of those episodes and they are all pretty much the same. Boy meets girl. Girl falls in love. Garn plots to disrupt the love through poison, or assassination, or fake evidence. Girl runs away. Garn is revealed as evil. Boy kills Garn. And all is resolved and praises to SOG end the program. It's all garbage."
"I'll bet it wins first place in the annual vids award show," said Farn. Both Jackie and Ignacio laughed.
Jackie replied, "And I am sure the SOG presents the awards."
"How about the planet itself Mr. Waltis. What have we learned?"
"Well, Polis is an active planet. There are a lot of functioning energy sources and some of its' factories seem to be operating. However about 50% of the structures we scan as manufacturing facilities appear to be inactive and cold. Food production on the planet seems to be an afterthought, although given the soil and geology this place should be self sufficient. Something is wrong with agriculture. I did a couple of high intensity scans of the countryside and villages. Looks like famine rules there, but in the two central cities I don't really see any signs of hunger. Not a lot of activity there, but people do move about, and go to and fro, and seem to be somewhat active. Famine does not allow people to move about so those two cities are probably fed. Not necessarily well fed, but fed none the less."
"And the type of manufacturing? What do they make now?"
"That's a bit harder to determine, but I have had a close look at the external yards of some of those factories. It seems that they produce energy engines of different types. Fission for sure, but some Fusion as well and in several different sizes including some very large, and if I might say so very dangerous to the user, and some very small. The small ones no larger than one by two by two meters. Now they are not making those for internal consumption. There are just too many being built. Someone off world must be purchasing them."
"Is there an orbital station Mr Waltis?"
"That's another odd thing. Yes there is an orbital station, but not like anything we are familiar with. It's more an orbiting platform rather than a trade center and residence. There are three what we would call heavy lifters on the platform at this time. The station is just a big round and flat disk with a central hub that might support a thousand or so. It's clearly not a habitat."
"And how many ships are in system?"
"I count sixteen. All the same as the one headed toward us. Now on the orbital platform I can see heavy lifters, but they are not of a local design. The EG says they were designed by Unity. If made by Unity I am not certain, but they are definitely of Unity design. I dread to think of flying one of those turds. Oh, sorry captain. One of those death traps."
Farn sat back in her captains chair and thought about this unusual system called Polis. Perhaps not so unusual given the vanity, stupidity, and greed of humans she thought.
Several shifts later and after another 29 hours the Polis Ship approached the Mist. Farn's crew was fully assembled and ready for any action. Farn was open to a simple boarding and inspection of Mist prior to entering the Polis system, but she was also determined that the Polis Frontier Security and Revenue ship was not to intimidate or threaten the OCN Mist.
The crew had designated the Polis ship as P1 and as it approached Farn made sure that Megan Jónsson, who was number one on weapons, kept a full broadside ready for P1 should it try anything unusual.
P1 edged closer to Mist and Farn noti
ced that P1 always kept its' forward two missile tubes aimed at Mist amidship. This was in Farn's mind a clue that any missiles P1 might have were kinetic and not guided. A great sign of weakness in a warship she thought. Farn began to think that the Polis fleet had never really faced a strong opponent in recent times and they felt fully secure in their rather comic navy ships. She also realized that she could be completely wrong. Technology had a way of biting the unwary in the ass.
"Captain," called out Rozel Eldjárn, "P1 is hailing us. On speaker now."
"... and you will surrender now to the overwhelming force of the Polis Frontier Security and Revenue Navy or die as you stand. Resistance to the Select of the Gods will bring you only descent into the thirteen hells. Surrender now and perhaps as Garns you might be reformed. You have only ten minutes before you are taken and given to the Select of the Gods as trophy slaves to his great leadership."
Farn sighed. She had dreaded this, but knew full well that it might well happen.
"Mr. Jónsson, power up a plasma cannon and prepare to cut off the engine nacelle of P1. Try to limit damage to the remainder of the ship. I would like to capture it's crew intact, however..."
Farn paused a moment to think. "However if they die they only have brought this upon themselves and their SOG. On my mark please."
Farn knew given what she had seen on the vids that argument was of no use. The minions of Polis were entirely brain washed and had become automata of a mad king. Her job was to unite mankind, not to tolerate the madness that had evolved in The Dark.
"Incoming," called out Rozel. "One very slow missile with poor tracking."
"Mark," Farn said in a subdued voice. Moments later the engine section of P1 was simply sliced off from the remainder of the ship and she began a slow spiral venting atmosphere through what remained of her thin skin. Mist's plasma cannon finished off the slow incoming missile at a considerable distance.
"Let's rescue any we can," said Farn, but moments later it became apparent that the crew of P1 had neither ship suits with rebreathers or rescue pods. They were all dead.
Once again Farn asked herself what had she become. Was she a murderer? A killer? These doubts kept rising again and again following the events at Himmer. But she decided to suppress them. She had no time for self doubt now. Perhaps later, but not now. She knew that they would eat at her soul, but at this moment she had her duty. And that duty was to humankind and the OCN.
Chapter Sixty Four
Happy Landing - Ragnarök - Year 3246. October 22 ET: 06:55
Lydia Kárason, who was Ragnarök number three in defence had taken a keen interest in the doc-in-a-box, and as Silvi entered the doc-box chamber of the Ragnarök she looked up at Silvi. The two most injured from the 'Spear of Landing' were still in the chambers hours after the encounter. Lydia turned again to the status display before turning again to Silvi.
"Your not going to believe this Silvi, but these two should have been dead years ago. Parasites, endemic infectious diseases, lack of immunizations, every weird disease know to medicine, they all have them. The doc-box is simply awhirl with fixes to their condition. Something tells me that the world of Happy Landing is one very sick place and lacking even basic hygiene and simple medicine. No wonder the contamination detection system went haywire. Every childhood disease known to man and a lot more are all over these people. Just cleaning them up is a challenge.
Silvi nodded. She had spoken at length with Ervin who was apparently the Captain of Spear of Landing and had learned a number of disturbing facts. Infant mortality was high and children rarely lived beyond the age of five. Death in childbirth among women was also high at around one in three. Death by what they called 'The Plagues of Enos' were also common and according to the young captain the average life span of those who survived childhood was well under 30 years of age. The entire system of Happy Landing seemed to lack any type of modern medicine or even basic hygiene. People dumped their sewerage into the same waters they drank from. Disease was caused by bad air or evil thoughts, and not by bad water or infectious diseases their 'Healers' told them.
"You know Silvi," said Lydia, "I found traces of a derivative of Yersinia Pestis here. It's in the bloodstream of both these kids. They survived the disease, but I don't know how. Just luck I guess."
Silvi thought a moment. " Yersinia Pestis, I kind of remember that. What is it?"
Lydia looked for a long time at the doc-box flashing display before responding. "Bubonic plague. Not exactly the one that killed half of humans on old earth, but a mutation. Very similar however. The vectors are the same. Fleas, rodents, or critters of some sorts. Uncontrolled they spread the disease. I suspect that Happy Landing may well be the most unhygienic place in the universe. I can't even find traces of soap on these poor kids."
The idea that medical skills could be an export item never occurred to Silvi until now. The entire array of medicine seemed to be missing from Happy Landing and that in Silvi's mind included not only things like pharmaceuticals, and skilled doctors, but also simple things like hygiene, civil engineering, pest reduction, and the myriad of other health and wellness skills most systems took for granted. Hygiene had always seemed to Silvi common sense, but somehow common sense on Happy Landing had devolved into something unrecognizable.
Moments after Captain Arast had successfully docked on the Happy Landing Orbital Station, the crew of Spear of Landing exited Ragnarök including their two crew members who had been badly injured. Lydia Kárason had insisted that they stay in the doc-box but Ervin insisted they return with him to the station and seek the aid of native 'healers.' Lydia was about to throw a major fit, when Silvi cautioned that this was their decision and Ragnarök must abide by local customs. Lydia gave in, but Silvi knew she was very angry.
At the dock hatch Silvi was struck by the putrid smell of the air from the station as it entered the docking tube. As soon as the crew of Spear had entered the station, Silvi slammed the hatch cover closed and retreated to the bridge. Marshall Dennis was number two on maintenance and Silvi ordered him to run a full contamination diagnostic against every inch of the ship. Twenty minutes later Lydia had the entire crew line up for immunizations. Lydia was taking no chances, nor was Silvi. Although the diseases they had been exposed to from Spear of Landing's crew were common, they were in great part eradicated by early immunizations and medical care in the Commonwealth. Happy Landing appeared to be a place without either.
After too many shots and nasal infusions Silvi sat in her jump seat behind the captain's chair and wondered about their next step. They were docked to the station. Captain Marx was headed in system with Sigrún so they were not alone nor at the mercy of others. She had informed Captain Marx of the contamination issue and ordered him to stay in high orbit and to avoid direct contract with the populace of Happy Landing. She did not wait long until she was hailed by the station.
"Commodore Silvi, this is Ervin. I need help. Sister Elowin, injured of Spear, she will die. Healer will not help. Contaminated they say. Contaminated by Ragnarök. Please help. I beg."
Lydia turned and looked at Silvi with an 'I told you so' look.
Silvi responded to Ervin. "Bring your sister to the hatch. We will have our 'healer' look after her.
Silvi left Captain Arast in charge and she had Lydia and Marshall Dennis go with her down to the dock. As a precaution Silvi had all three of them armed with plasma pistolas, but the precaution proved unnecessary. Ervin stood at the dock, his sister Elowin lying at his feet unmoving. Lydia and Marshall slid Elowin onto a slider gurney and brought her aboard and to the doc-box. Silvi motioned Ervin to follow, but he shook his head no and walked back into the station. Silvi could see he was crying. Even in a land of frequent death grief was all the same and universal thought Silvi.
Silvi entered the doc-in-a-box station as Lydia slid the motionless body of Elowin into the crystal cylinder and closed the lid. The scanner began its' work and moments later the display came to life. Lydia stood reading the disp
lay and shaking her head at what she saw. "Those plasma burns and broken bones are bad enough, but years of malnutrition and constant disease, not to mention parasites, make this a very difficult case." Lydia punched numerous buttons on the console, then took a deep breath and punched the larger button that was labelled 'Execute.' "I never liked the name they put on the actuator. You would have thought something like 'cure' or 'make better' would be more appropriate, but those Greaysons were an odd lot."
"How long till we know something?" asked Silvi.
"About an hour or so. But if she lives in the next hour she will have to stay in the box for at least forty hours. And then probably four or five days in that recovery bunk. These kids are a mess. That other one who was badly injured, the one they took back on the station, well, I doubt he will last the night. Even with our Commonwealth medicine and hospital back home it would be touch and go. The doc-in-a-box makes trauma treatment so much easier because it can do a hundred things at once and in the least invasive way imaginable. But here in Happy Landing they just die."
Silvi returned to the bridge and tried to call up Ervin but no one answered her hail. Silvi did not like the idea of remaining docked to the station so she pulled Ragnarök away from the orbital platform by 10 kilometres. Captain Arast put the crew on half watch and Silvi turned in. Her sleep was fitful and after a few hours she gave up and walked to the doc-box. Lydia was sitting in the jump seat next to the machine. The interior of the clear cylinder was misted and Silvi could see nothing. Lydia appeared to have fallen asleep, but as Silvi entered Lydia looked up. "Some progress. That kid might live."
