Rising Star

by Donald Nicklas

  “You seem very worried about that starliner.”

  “36 cannons per broadside and an unknown number front and back. You’re right I’m worried. We may win the battle, but not without a large amount of damage and huge casualties. Moreover, we can’t use the Q-Ship ourselves if we destroy it. And then there are the innocents aboard her.”

  “Well, then I better go and get our cruiser back.”

  On the Rising Star, Tavia and Bill were just finishing their circuit of the Promenade Deck. The deck went around the entire ship, which also meant that it passed along the engineering section. On the engineering bulkhead running along the inner wall of the Promenade Deck there was a door on each side of the ship. Bill looked fore and aft on the deck and saw no one. As he was playing lookout, Tavia tried the door and examined the lock. Of course, the door was locked, but the lock was electronic and they had overrides in their yacht. This was only a reconnaissance stroll now. Suddenly she felt Bill spin her around, take her into his arms, and give her a long kiss on the lips. Her first feeling was one of confusion and then she heard some voices and understood. She put her arms around his neck. She returned the kiss, as several passengers walked past them, seeing a young couple very much in love. When the passengers were past, Bill stopped kissing Tavia. Oddly, she felt a little pang in her chest when the kiss ended. She had enjoyed it much more than she thought she would.

  “Well, Mr. Marshal, that was unexpected.”

  “Seems like you enjoyed it as much as I did, Mrs. Marshal. So how about the door,” this last was said in a whisper.

  Tavia whispered back, “Locked, but I have what we need in the yacht.”

  They continued their walk, but this time hand in hand. They both agreed that the engineering hatch would be the best way to enter the bowels of the ship. That was planned for the night. They needed some rest now, before dinner. They could access their yacht anytime they wanted, so they made a quick stop and got an override tap node. They returned to the honeymoon suite and their luggage had arrived. A quick look at some of their security measures revealed that someone had opened their luggage and gone through it. Tavia had to admit, they did a fine job of repacking, but there were certain traps she had set. Bill marveled at the ease with which Tavia did covert operations. This was the first he had been on, but she did it frequently as part of her job as a scout for the fleet. Bill admired Tavia and he was greatly attracted to her. She was a decade younger than he was, but she had seen more combat action under more circumstances than he had. They took an afternoon nap, lying next to each other in the bed. Since all militaries were coed in the 32nd century, men and women were used to sharing tents and beds under any circumstances, not to mention the close quarters on a ship of war. So sharing a bed, in and of itself, was not unusual. The fact that it also fit the present cover just made it more practical.

  For the benefit of those listening in on the bugs in their suite, they got up an hour before dinner and engaged in some idle talk about what to wear for dinner. Tavia found she actually enjoyed playing ‘wife’ and spent some time picking out her ‘husband’s’ dinner clothes. She thought about that kiss on the promenade deck. It affected her much more than she thought it would. Tavia looked through the clothing the fleet had given her for the mission. They had spared no expense and she knew some of the dresses she had belonged to Alaya, since they were both about the same size. She picked dark slacks with a white shirt and a long vest for Bill. He would wear black dress shoes with dark socks. For herself she picked a dark blue dress with a ‘V’ neckline and a short skirt that showed off all of the feminine assets she didn’t know were there. She had showered first so she got dressed while Bill was showering. When he came out, he stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and could only stare. He had never seen Tavia in anything but a jumpsuit, and her current appearance was breathtaking. She had red hair in a military bob cut and she wore some makeup. Alaya had shown her how to apply it properly. From the reaction, she saw on William Marshal’s face, she must have done it correctly.

  “You look beautiful, Hon,” Bill said with all honesty, and for the benefit of the listeners. “Let me put on my clothes and we can head to dinner.”

  Tavia blushed when Bill complimented her. She hoped he hadn’t seen it. When they were ready, they left their suite and headed to the dining room, shortly after the first chimes sounded for dinner. They entered the dining room and they were again taken to their table on the mezzanine. This time Dalton was there ahead of them but Ann and Greg were not.

  “Ah, one of our honeymoon couples is here. I was beginning to think I would have to dine alone,” Dalton said as he stood up to greet Tavia and Bill. He kissed the hand of the one and shook the hand of the other. “I thought perhaps you had also gone on the moon excursion. It returned a bit later than expected. I am sure many are still getting ready for dinner. I gather you did not go on the tour?”

  Tavia put on her best smile, “No, Bill and I wanted to get to know the ship, so we walked around the Promenade Deck. Did you get a chance to profit at the card tables?”

  “I few credits. Apparently all of the big fish went to see a dead moon,” Dalton said as he let out a little chuckle. “So tell me, how did your tour of the ship go?”

  “Well, it is huge,” Bill was the first to speak. “Tavia and I almost got lost a few times. We were very impressed by the Promenade Deck.”

  “Did you get a chance to see the casino?”

  “Actually, no,” this time it was Tavia who answered. “We were planning to do that after dinner and before the midnight buffet.”

  “Wonderful. If you see me I hope you will come over and join the game.”

  “I think you know a couple of suckers when you see them. But I may try my hand at some games if they appeal to me,” Tavia said. “We actually have other things to do on our honeymoon.” Tavia attempted to say this last with a knowing expression to hint at normal honeymoon activities. She just hoped her face did not look too silly.

  “Ah, to be young again,” Dalton said, though he looked to still be in his early forties. Just then, Ann and Greg arrived and monopolized the rest of the dinner conversation with glowing stories about their moon excursion. That suited Tavia and Bill just fine, since they wanted to speak as little as possible.

  After dinner, Ann and Greg left and all knew they were heading to their suite. Dalton excused himself before the desert. Apparently, he wanted to get to the gaming tables as soon as possible. Tavia and Bill enjoyed their desert. Even though this was only the first day, they were enjoying their cruise more than they thought they would. Neither had ever been on a starliner, though they knew what they were. So far, this seemed to be just as advertized, there was nothing to indicate this was a Q-Ship. They were certainly keeping up appearances and using innocent passengers to best effect. Tavia and Bill spent the evening touring the rest of the ship open to passengers. There was a media room for reading and other electronic activities. Each of the suites also had their own media devices, but they assumed those were bugged. There was a large gym and swimming pool as well as a nightclub and theater. They knew the ship was advertised to carry 1500 passengers in complete luxury and it did not disappoint. Finally, they arrived at the casino. They walked into a very large room, much larger than the dining room and it was full of electronic devices hawking games of chance with bright fluorescence. Tavia’s head was spinning. To her and Bill, raised in a military tradition, this was consumption at its greatest excess. There were male and female servers wearing very sheer outfits, serving drinks. As the young couple walked through the casino, they soon began to realize that the players of games of chance did not even know they were there.

  Tavia whispered to Bill, “I think someone could come in here and shoot these people and they wouldn’t even notice.”

  “I think you may be right about that. They do seem to be intense. Look, there’s Dalton. Let’s go over and watch him work.”

  They made their way through the electronic gaming device
s and arrived on the floor of the card area. There they saw Dalton, sitting at a table and playing cards with a group of men and women. He had a large pile of chips in front of him and some of the other players seemed a bit agitated. Dalton put down his cards and the other players dropped theirs. Apparently, Dalton must have won, since he was collecting all of the chips there were on the table. Bill and Tavia were close now and Tavia waved to Dalton. The gambler looked at her and nodded. As he did, one of the most disgruntle of the players, whose face was red with rage, leapt to his feet and reached into his jacket to pull out a small revolver. It was obvious no one expected this as there was little reaction to the sudden movement. William Marshal and Tavia MacDougal were however not like other people. They were finely tuned, military personnel who, consciously or not, were always ready to react. As soon as he saw the revolver, Bill grabbed the assailant’s wrist and thrust his arm upwards causing his shot to go into the ceiling. He then brought the arm down hard and the assailant let go of the gun, which dropped to the floor at Tavia’s feet. She immediately picked it up and pointed it at the assailant.

  “Freeze,” she shouted and the assailant went limp as he saw the gun in his face. Bill deftly pinned his arms behind him and handed him over to security as they arrived. The entire encounter had taken less than thirty seconds.

  “Well,” Dalton said. He had never lost his composure, despite having a gun pointed at him. “Well done, though you don’t exactly behave like a couple of spoiled corporate brats.”

  Tavia had to think on her feet, “My father owns a tough mining colony. I may be young, but both of us have had to throw a few drunks out of the colony bar.”

  “That must be it then,” Dalton said. “Whatever the reason, I am truly grateful to both of you.”

  Just then, the casino manager came over. “I am sorry, Dalton. He got that gun past us. He is being ordered off the ship as we speak. He can take his yacht and his business elsewhere. Please, let me have some champagne brought over for you and your brave friends here.”

  “Will you two join me in some bubbly?” Dalton asked Bill and Tavia.

  “Why certainly. We were just going to head over to the midnight buffet, but we have time for that,” Tavia replied before Bill could say a word.

  Dalton reached over, pulled some chips from his stacks, and tossed them to the dealer for a tip. “Please have these cashed in and credited to my account.” The dealer acknowledged and started gathering the chips. A server came over and led the trio to a nice table by a large window allowing a spectacular view of the gas giant. A bottle of the finest champagne was brought out and the server popped the cork and poured it into the glasses. The server then put the bottle in a cooling unit next to the table and left the trio alone.

  “That was quite a demonstration of combat ability,” Dalton said as he raised a glass to his companions. They returned the salute. “I won’t presume to press you for who you really are, just know that this ship can be a dangerous place for those who aren’t careful. I don’t know who you are and don’t want to know, but take my advice, enjoy the champagne and stay out of trouble, or they will space you the way they are going to space the fellow who tried to shoot me. They will not just let him leave; he is as good as dead.” After the warning, Dalton drained his glass and left the table without saying another word.

  Tavia and Bill looked at each other and continued to drink their champagne, though a bit more thoughtfully. After they were finished, they got up and returned to their suite. They made some small talk and pretended they were going to turn in. They then switched over to serpent speak.

  “We need to keep an eye on Dalton, though part of me wants to trust him, since he didn’t have to warn us.” Tavia started.

  “I agree. I don’t know what his game is, but something tells me he is not just a gambler. Let’s notify the fleet and turn in.” Bill said.

  Tavia dictated full reports of their day’s activities in serpent speak and their plans for the following day and night, into her tap node. They were also certain their cover was still intact. When the dictation was finished, Tavia pressed the transmit button and a tight beam transmission was sent to the fleet. Within a few seconds, a green light appeared on the tap node to indicate the fleet acknowledged receipt. They set their alarm for the middle of the night and went to get some sleep.

  Chapter 7 – Secrets

  When the alarm sounded, Tavia and Bill got up quickly and dressed. They would not be long, however, there was something they had to check and they could only do it at three in the morning, ship’s time. They were dressed casually and moved through the ship, holding hands. This gesture was beginning to feel natural to both of them and it was time they went along with it to see where it led them. They walked along the Promenade Deck; back to the door that they hoped led to the engineering level. As they went, they noted the location of any visible cameras as well as the amount of people still out for a walk. To their relief, both were sparse. Apparently, the operators of the Q-Ship felt that bugging the cabins was enough to warn them of problems. If what Dalton said was right, they tended to handle all problems permanently and in house. That expedient must be rare, since the wholesale disappearance of passengers would be flagged somewhere. When they arrived at the door, Tavia leaned with her back against it and Bill stood in front of her and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. The kiss was so good, that Tavia almost forgot what the plan was. She had earlier taken the tap node out of her pocket and palmed it in her right hand. She now moved her hand behind her and placed the node on the electronic lock. A tap node was designed for many functions, but its primary ones were to collect data from either electronic or analog sources and analyze it. The data could then be played back visually or transmitted. They were powerful instruments that only advanced militaries carried. They were illegal for citizens in corporate space; therefore, it must remain well hidden. Tavia felt the tap node vibrate, meaning it had scanned the lock and gotten all the information it could from it. She then placed the node in a hidden pocket of her jumpsuit and ended the kiss with Bill. She gave him a big smile. To anyone watching them, they were just a honeymoon couple in love.

  When they got back to the suite, they ordered the tap node to project the information both diagrammatically and as text. No sound was allowed. What Tavia was looking for was a way to pick the lock. As it turned out, it was a simple lock not meant to keep a master spy out. It was just the kind of lock one would expect to find on a starliner, to keep passengers out of restricted areas. Again the Rising Star looked like what it was advertised to be; a civilian starliner. Tavia and Bill went back to bed and decided to sleep in the next day. This would help with their cover as honeymooners and help them rest up for what they planned the following night. Sometime during the night, the Rising Star fired her engines and broke orbit. She was heading to the next ringed gas giant in the system for the following day’s excursions. Unknown to her crew, a small invisible fleet followed her every move at a distance of ten thousand kilometers.

  When they finally awoke the next morning, it was well after the breakfast sittings. Bill and Tavia got ready and put on casual, civilian clothing. The starliner was still underway but it was approaching its next stop in the system. They would be entering orbit before lunch. Tavia pulled the tap node from the pocket it was hidden in, to transfer it to her new outfit. She checked it before putting it in her hidden pocket and saw there was a message. She waved Bill over and activated the play button. Since she had warned the fleet their suite was bugged, she told them to send all return messages in text only. The tap node projected a holographic image of the text above the hand in which it was held. The message was short and self-erased after it was read.

  T.M and W.M. go on next excursion and report number of passengers and crew on the outing. Delay further exploration until ordered. Enjoy the cruise.

  Tavia closed the message and it was automatically erased. She then said to Bill in serpent speak, “I think I know why they want the information about
the excursion, but why do you think they want us to delay penetrating the lower parts of the ship?”

  “Not sure why that is, but they must have their reasons and we have our orders.”

  Tavia nodded and went over to the in-room terminal and pulled up the excursion leaving after lunch. There were only four slots left and Tavia took two of them. As she finished the chimes and the announcer indicated the first call for lunch. “Well, hon. I guess we should get some lunch before the excursion,” Tavia said for the benefit of the listeners. They then left for the dining room.

  Lunch was top notch as before. If this was indeed a military vessel, they ate as well as the Romani. Only small talk at the table and Dalton told a few stories at Ann’s request. Ann and Greg were ecstatic to hear Tavia and Bill were going along on the excursion and told them they would love it. When lunch was over, Dalton left for work in the casino and the couples left for the excursion. Ann and Greg gladly led the way, since they had been on many excursions. As Tavia followed the other couple, more and more people joined them and they came to a gangway that sloped down to the forward hangar. As they got closer to the hangar, the side entrances to the gangway disappeared and Tavia assumed that they were now below the passenger deck. They finally reached the hangar and saw eight shuttles lined up. If they held as many people as military boarding shuttles, then each should hold 100 passengers and then some crew. However, when she signed up, it was limited to 500 passengers, therefore, 300 crewmembers must be going along. Tavia had no idea what they might do. They entered the shuttles and these were definitely not boarding shuttles. They were plush inside and no one stood. There were servers aboard and plenty of cocktails and appetizers.

  Once everyone had a glass in their hands, the shuttles lifted off and headed as a group towards one of the moons. The trip to the moon would be around one hour, they would stay two hours and head back for one hour. As soon as they cleared the hangar, the partying began. There was excess of food and alcohol. Tavia had contact with the highest levels of power on Nova Romae, and none of them ever acted like these people. She watched Ann and Greg, who had made a point to join them in their shuttle. They said they would take them under their wings. It was apparent that they viewed Tavia as a wealthy provincial who needed looking after. As the excursion progressed, the noise got louder. When they arrived in the area of the moon, the window covers came down and the entire top and sides of the shuttles formed a bubble that allowed a 360-degree view of the surroundings. They could see the other shuttles and the moon. However, what took the breath away, was the ringed, gas giant with the most colorful cloud bands Tavia had ever seen. For the first time, Tavia could see why people paid for this. She also knew she would never look at gas giants the same way again. She had spent the last five years of her life in space as a scout and realized she had never stopped to enjoy the beauty all around her. As she was watching how the rich fritter their lives away, she did some calculations. There were 500 passengers in eight shuttles, with 37 crew and two flight crew per shuttle. Therefore, 316 crewmembers were off the ship during excursions. However, they were mostly serving crew. The lower half of the starliner could easily house 4000 crewmembers, quartered as military personnel, so the amount on excursion was minimal and not a factor in an attack. Each Romani dreadnought in the fleet carried only one thousand troops.