Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores

by David Buck

  Gindane felt relief with the calmness now radiating from the admiral. She prefaced her report with a comment to Omerio, and momentarily looked into his eyes with traces of concern.

  ‘I trust you are well Omerio. No doubt the hold of your small ship is bursting yet again at the seams from services you have provided to alien races?’

  Omerio gave Gindane a soft smile as replied he was well, ignored the well meaning but barbed question, and again considered the warning given in the admiral’s last sentence. Gindane recited from memory her lengthy report. He avoided looking at her too much as she continued her report, as it was considered in their current context to be socially demeaning to her due to his own social position as a single male.

  The admiral, a married officer who was not so constrained, took in Gindane’s regal beauty as he noted Omerio’s detachment. He smiled inwardly to himself as he continued to listen. The admiral was all for any method to restrain Omerio from his worse impulses, and a marriage to Gindane would offer a decent solution as well as benefits in the long term. However there was the matter of Gindane’s recent fall from grace that made any attempts to marry her off futile without the royal courts consent. The admiral pondered that constraint, and he had the beginning of an idea, as he continued to pay close attention to the research commander’s concise report.

  ***

  Vic Mitchell tapped on the door of the four wheel drive in the early morning light, and he watched patiently as James Mudbury yawned and stretched, before carefully looking around and opening the window. Vic decided that the young man was still uneasy over the events of the night as he handed him a coffee, and gave him a warm smile.

  ‘James, are you okay mate? Once again that was a pretty brave thing you did to rescue Rachael and Amanda. My daughter is caring for the girls and I had a good chat with them after first speaking with my boys.’

  James gave a now embarrassed smile and did not meet Vic’s eye for several seconds. Vic remembered the innate shyness present in many young aboriginals as he continued to speak carefully.

  ‘Now we all agree that you will under arrest on serious charges if the police find you even if they were Bangers. More to the point, you would not survive the revenge of other Bangers long in prison. Plus the girls would be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.’

  James stretched again as he politely handed the cup back to Vic before he replied.

  ‘I see where you are going with this Vic, and I see no way out of it. We are going to the colony with you.’

  Vic paused in his reply as he took in the four wheel drive and the boat further, before he handed James his mobile phone.

  ‘We will get you going as soon as we can do so James. When you leave for the gateway please give my mobile to Rachael to call her mother. Now show me this new rig you own before the others arrive.’

  Within minutes the girls had made an appearance and James gave both Rachael and Amanda a reassuring hug. Paul appeared and quickly studied the boat and trailer with interest before he left to fetch a scraper, a roller, a tray and a tin of white paint. As James now slowly ate a pie that the girls had been given, Paul returned and scraped off the registration stickers for the yacht. He then also scraped off a small, but lewd hand painted mural on the transom, before quickly using a roller to paint over the now scratched areas.

  For good measure Vic returned with his other sons and a trolley jack. As quietly as possible the men swapped all four wheels and the spare from the four wheel drive with other wheels that his youngest son had on his own four wheel drive. Paul looked calmly around the marshalling area, before he slightly altered the license plates of the four wheel drive with two well placed spots of paint.

  A rough looking man stood two bays over beside his sleeper backed furniture truck with his wife and two daughters. As the stranger ushered his family back into the truck he gave James a big smile and thumbs up sign. Vic in turn quietly urged James and the two girls into the four wheel drive. He spoke urgently as his sons returned again with clear plastic water drums and boxes of food, which they placed in the back of the four wheel drive.

  ‘Other folks will work it out soon as the media reports are starting to get out. Now stay cool and do not draw attention to yourselves. Rachael, call your mother as you approach the gateway and we will see you later.’

  James shook hands with Vic and he calmly drove the four wheel drive and trailer toward the gate leading to the main runway. At three stops soldiers would approach the car and check that they had enough food and water. James watched as they turned aside a couple in an expensive convertible that had obviously just driven up on a lark.

  Another soldier now came along with a clipboard and took in the car and trailer for a moment, before he knelt down beside the car window with a knowing look. He shuffled his webbing and side arm, and then took in the large bruise on Rachael’s face as he spoke to James, who was struggling to contain rising panic.

  ‘Mate you did a great thing knocking over those bastards. Also you are doing a wise thing coming with us. Please give me your full real names and I will lose the details for a few days. Just keep it cool and you will be through soon.’

  The soldier took a piece of paper from the back of the clipboard and recorded their real names before he hid the paper at the back of his clipboard again, as James started to feel calmer. The soldier then walked along the driver’s window and waved off any further attempts by other soldiers to approach.

  Rachael reached for Vic’s phone and called her mother with her left hand, as she was using her right hand to hold onto James in a strong grip. James thought that at least one other SAS trooper had worked it all out, as he got a couple of subtle thumbs up gestures as he drove closer to the gateway. Rachael was in the middle of a tearful farewell to her mother and as James stopped for what he hoped was the last time, he gave her hand another reassuring squeeze.

  Amanda had her hand on Rachael’s shoulder and was softly crying as she looked around the car. Several empty trucks were coming through with their lights on and they were moving to the side of the runway, before the soldier spoke again and gave James a handshake through the window.

  ‘Turn your lights on as it is night time in the colony. Best of luck to you and the girls mate.’

  James had time to call out to Rachael ‘we are leaving’ before he was waved to go forward through the gateway. Rachael gave a heart-wrenching sob before she buried her head into his shoulders as James drove through the gateway.

  ***

  Chapter 7

  Garendestat looked over the video feed supplied by the human’s helmet cameras with quiet satisfaction. He had taken temporary command after the first long day of the repairs to the aero spike engine. His father was now recovering from his own emergency treatment via the pressure chamber. He quietly watched as the human engineers carefully unwound the last heavy bolt securing the middle shaft housing.

  The humans definitely seemed more confident after replacing the rear housings late yesterday. The bolt was a thick as human and weighted several times his own larger mass. Garendestat gave them another quiet reminder as they looped a thin lifting cable through the three holes in the head of the bolt.

  ‘Careful now as the bolt cannot be dropped as the fine pitch on the thread is easily damaged.’

  For their part the human cameras did not even turn as the humans now hoisted the bolt clear. In moments they had winched it along a cable strung across between two upper support cleats recessed into the chamber and Garendestat admired their deft touch. They definitely were capable of performing complex mechanical tasks that would leave a Jerecab in a disorganised dither and which a Tilmud lacked the physical dexterity to perform. Rick had been checking the heavy bolt and he now looked over the housing as he provided an update.

  ‘Garendestat, the good news is that this bolt is also intact, and the bad news is that one side of the middle housing is fractured and loose. Do you still want me to remove the intact side out of the way
first?’

  Garendestat had checked this scenario in a video feed with Lieutenant Damofestat earlier, and then with Engineer Halbindestat, who now sat quietly nearby as he was still unwell.

  ‘Rick, just ensure that if any fragments come lose that you are not under them or that they land and dent the engine chamber.’

  Garendestat knew that a lot of the preparation yesterday had involved placing soft thick matts down inside the two locations after they braced the main shaft. They had decided on the rear housing first as it would offer a degree of further safety if the slings and braces inside the engine moved during later work. Besides they decided that if the rear of the shaft was damaged then the ship was surely stranded. However the lengthy work on the rear housing had been successfully accomplished and the Traders still had real chance of escape to space. Fortunately the forward housing featured an access point and the integrity had been earlier verified by Rick merely shining his camera inside the opening in the housing.

  Garendestat came back to the present moment, as the humans had now checked heavy netting to hopefully use to catch pieces of the fractured housing if it came lose. He watched as Rick placed himself around the intact side of the housing and gave it an experimental pull towards him. The intact half housing slid slowly towards him for about half a metre on the bottom plate. After it stopped, Mark stuck his head around the corner and looked up at the shaft between the two half housings.

  After a moment’s hesitation Mark gave another report.

  ‘Garendestat, there is not pitting or scuffs to the shaft on this side. Also the cracked housing is definitely damaged internally though the damage is well way from the shaft.’

  In moments the humans pushed along the cracked shaft housing further, before a yell came from Steve further forward inside the engine compartment.

  ‘Mark it is moving, get out!’

  Garendestat watched the video feed anxiously and resisted the urge to place his head inside the access hatch, as Mark now breathlessly spoke again.

  ‘Thanks Steve, no problem now, as the top part moved a few centimetres but is still well held. We can drop a heavy mat into the netting so no fragments come through before I move it into the hatch.’

  After this was done, Rick and his engineers gave the top section a hefty shove and two tonnes of housing fragment slid uneventfully into the heavy netting. Steve and other humans carefully lowered the netting to the access hatch, and two junior Traders used carefully handled waldos to reach two metres into the portal to remove the fragment.

  Halbindestat slowly stood up and inspected the top face of the damaged housing.

  ‘Garendestat, the top face is also undamaged so the shaft will be fine. Please proceed with getting the rest of the housing out.’

  After several more sessions of pushing the fragments into netting and then painstakingly removing the heavy pieces manually, the last piece remaining was the heavy base. Keeping clear of the jagged edges, Rick and his engineers now carefully slid the last piece across on the matting to the access portal.

  Steve and his team then placed a cable in the lifting eye and lifted the base fragment before moving it over the access portal. After the broken base was positioned correctly they had lowered the razor sharp titanium ceramic alloy through the portal with the waldo units guiding the operation. A few calls had gone out from the humans as they accomplished this and Garendestat held his silence The Traders were usually a lot more reserved, and besides the job was not finished yet.

  The heavier intact half of the housing was removed by carefully turning it sideways and sliding it slowly on the matting towards the access hatch. Both the human and Trader engineers were adamant that both sub housings for the middle and rear supports would need to be removed as there was a possibility of internal damage or hairline cracks in the face of the housing.

  Garendestat stuck his head up into the hatch and looked up at the humans and the massive half housing as he spoke.

  ‘So Steve and Rick, can your equipment hold the heavier weight of a complete half housing for the middle section?’

  A frantic discussion took place now as they estimated the weight of the housing and also checked the support ratings for the recessed upper cleats. Rick walked back up the engine compartment with his engineers for a few minutes, and they now shone their helmets upwards as Rick now spoke.

  ‘We just checked and there is no overhead access problems just this side of the hatch, so if we double up the lifting winches, slide it across and then lower in tandem, we should be fine. The middle section housings are a bit heavier than the end housings but we will be okay. The waldos can steady the lift at the hatch again. We can also use the same method to bring in the replacement housings.’

  Garendestat shifted his arm sling and watched as the humans attached two chains to the base on either side of the housing, and then chained the upper sections of the housing to the lifting chains. The men avoided by convention chaining the broad curved shaft locating face of the housing, as they carefully raised the housing and slid it on the rigged overhead winches towards the hatch.

  Once they it positioned the housing, it was slowly lowered through the access portal. The housing was lowered to the floor with the inside face upright, Steve led the other humans outside the engine as Halbindestat walked over again. Rick looked at the Trader engineer as he placed a gloved hand along the evident damage inside the housing before he commented.

  ‘Halbindestat, the internal fractures are in a radial pattern and would have occurred due to sudden pressure changes inside the hot engine as water found a way past a shield somewhere.’

  Halbindestat looked at the human engineer with agreement as he replied.

  ‘We have never seen this type of damage before with our aero spike engines, but then we do not dive in oceans frequently either. I see we will have to improve the design of our engines over this problem and I want to increase their power as well. We are in your debt of course.’

  After a short break the humans returned to the inside of the engine. Halbindestat sat an engineering console and copied the schematics of the aero spike engine to the upgrades folder. The engineer proceeded to annotate the schematics as he spoke to himself.

  ‘1. Add extra forward shields and redundant shields forward over the engine. 2. Improved access for crew. 3. Increase number of shaft housings to five. 4. Implement venturi grooves leading inside the housings to lower the chances of pressure or heat build-up.’

  Garendestat considered Halbindestat’s efforts as he now turned to watch the humans continue their repair efforts. The chief was one of the best engineers at their home star base and much of the ship was of his design. Garendestat noted that other design changes elsewhere the Halbindestat was proposing included reducing the weight in the ship, reducing the number of hiding places in the hull, and a pest fumigation subsystem.

  Admittedly the pressure changes were something different, but Garendestat felt they were still forgetting something, before he remembered how he had ended up in the ocean. He then discussed his concerns with the Halbindestat, and in moments they had several of the junior Trader engineers moving across the ship to check over the main hold door.

  ***

  The Cephrit station master checked again the heavy acceleration straps around his heavy chitin thorax and looked at the latest intelligence reports with cold calculation. The Tilmud had just brought a large fleet to an adjacent star system well inside Cephrit space unannounced, and no doubt sought to destroy or capture star base 31 nearby. He noted that all his bridge crew were attentively performing their roles and made a quick chirr to the junior officers also strapped to their consoles.

  ‘So the bestial Tilmud think we are ripe for the taking do they? Perhaps it has been too long since we last wiped out one of their fleets. Communications get me an encrypted link to all ships.’

  The junior officers wisely kept at their consoles and only offered the short chirr of salute and acknowledgement, as they were already well aware
of their new commander’s mannerisms. The station master, with his former senior naval background, had been pressed back into service as a cruiser squadron commander. The initial prognosis looked bleak as the Tilmud had amassed swarms of ships in this part of space. Their fleet consisted of legions of their powerful frigates backed by the powerful lifters and freighters they used to carry both supplies and their troops. The Cephrit commanders would not be giving the Tilmud the opportunity to land troops at any of their star bases. The station master considered the disposition of the Tilmud frigates and their distance from their nearest star base as he gave his orders.

  ‘The wing and centre cruiser sections are to stay with me and we will draw the frigates forward. The forward cruiser section is to flank and make high speed attack runs on the supply ships. Do not stop and fight as the Tilmud frigates will circle back on either side and pin you, and there is a lot of them. Once we destroy the supply ships we will withdraw.’

  The cruiser captains now quickly voiced the few questions they had about the plan, which the station master concisely answered before the link was broken off. In moments the cruiser squadron had entered hyper space for the nearby system full of Tilmud ships.

  ***

  Omerio was observing the conventions of his race, by working at one of the consoles in the Barus flagship’s spacious common room when Gindane had set up to work at another console nearby. This was despite a genuine friendship between them over a great many years. He gave her a polite nod of greeting that she answered in kind and returned to his work. He looked over the notes and realised something important, but had the presence of mind not to show any outward signs of surprise.

  Omerio also again noted that their end of the common room was deserted apart from themselves. The crew were polite but distant given their titled role as special guests aboard the ship. Omerio now looked around in Gindane’s direction, and gave a start as her large brown eyes regarded him directly from several metres away. She now spoke softly only for their benefit.