Christie brought Residere Beta into view on the screen. It was a beautiful green-blue planet with small continents, much more reminiscent of Earth than Umber.
“Beta is 0.89 percent the size of Earth. Life can exist on Beta naturally due to the unusually high heat levels generated by the gas giant. In fact, there is so much heat being generated that the ambient temperature in space up to and slightly beyond Beta is 50K.”
“Practically beach weather,” said Ray.
“That, combined with what solar radiation actually arrives on Beta when it isn’t eclipsed by Residere. Next up is Residere Delta, another atmosphere processed world. Apparently this is one the most successfully processed moons and is almost as hospitable as Beta.”
Christie zoomed the display to the first planet in the system.
“This is Velleitas, some 0.84 AU from the sun. It is 1.05 percent the size of Earth, but has no atmosphere. There are extensive mining operations in progress there. Last but not least is the Residere sun itself. It’s a G-type main sequence star, similar to our own, with a surface temperature of about six thousand K. It has a luminosity of 1.4, which is another reason why Residere Beta is so pleasant so far out. And that’s it.”
“What are the white dots we’ve been seeing?” asked John.
“Those are artificial satellites and space stations. As you probably noticed there are more around Residere than anywhere else.”
“I’ll say. And here’s the real thing, folks.”
John pointed ahead. Residere was growing in size. Before too long the three moons could be seen. There was also one space station immediately evident, which resembled a giant stapler stuck rearward into an ice cream sandwich.
“Set a course for Beta, Christie,” said John.
“Do we need to ask for permission to enter orbit or land?” asked Christie.
“Ships can come and go as they please, so far as they don’t break any laws,” said Seth. “Most space stations or planetside way stations charge money to land. Some planetside stations are surrounded by plenty of free parking areas, however, if you don’t mind a little walking to get there.”
“Where are we going to get the Talvanium?” asked Ray.
“The most popular marketplace station on Beta is called Gleeful Complexium. If there are any tiered landing bays available, they’ll be free for our use. Don’t let the name fool you, however. Wander too far away from the main concourse and you’ll be anything but gleeful. Empire Security, run by the Rahkar, isn’t very interested in providing law and order outside of the normal storefronts. And no offense, but you lot don’t look too intimidating compared to some of the other races.”
John looked concerned. “Are we going to be able to carry any weapons off the ship down there?”
“Once we connect with their automated information service, we’ll be able to review the rules. The last list of rules that was available to my database did not restrict defensive weapons. That meant sidearms were okay but long arms were not.”
Beta was the main feature in their view. John throttled down.
“Hold on, I have to concentrate on getting into orbit.”
“Are our sidearms going to be effective against folks down there?” asked Richter.
“All of the species you might encounter are flesh and blood, just like you. Some of them are tougher than others, to be sure, but against unarmored opponents your firearms should be sufficient. That is, as long as the data you gave me for use in the sims was accurate.”
“It was precise. And if they are armored?”
“Who knows?”
A hint of a smile crossed Richter’s face. “Great, thanks.”
“There sure is a lot of junk up here,” said John.
“I recommend we deactivate our invisibility field,” said Seth. “Empire Security will need to track our descent if we get permission to use one of the tiers.”
“Okay, bring it down.”
Two large squares of bright flashing lights appeared directly in front of the ship.
“What the hell?” yelled John, shielding his eyes.
“Don’t worry, they’re just advertisements. Hold on, I’ll modulate the energy dissipation field to reduce the ambient light.”
The light from the squares was reduced significantly. The crew could now recognize words and pictures. They were holographic projections, floating a few hundred feet off the bow.
“What’s up with those?” asked Ari.
“Automated advertisements. They were activated when the emitter satellites pinged infrared radar off of our hull. That’s why they didn’t activate until I dropped the invisibility field.”
“What are they for?”
“The one on the left is for Kau’Rii-made fish flavored soup stock. The one on the right is for a Residerian agricultural concern encouraging us to buy locally-grown foods during our visit.”
“Well they’re fucking annoying,” said John, “Can you get rid of them?”
“Not without destroying the satellites. Solar law says they must move out of our way within twenty seconds.”
Moments later, the signs parted and faded from view.
“Damn pop-up ads,” growled Richter.
“I’d get used to them,” said Seth, “They’re quite normal in orbit for inhabited planets.”
John rolled his eyes. “Fine. Connect us to the Complexium and find out if there are any tiers available.”
“Okay. Stand by please.”
Dana arrived on the bridge. She sat at her station and began to monitor the communication network.
“Did I miss anything?” she said.
“You’ll figure it out,” said Ray.
“I just thought of something,” said Ari. “If Seth’s translating all these alien languages for us on board, who’s going to do it for us once we get down there?”
“I considered that,” replied John. “Seth will arrange an open channel between the ship and our personal radios. As long as we’re standing close enough to someone to have a conversation, the microphones will pick it up and transmit it back to the ship. Seth will translate for us and send the audio back into our earpieces. It will take a little getting used to, but it should be adequate for our needs.”
“But we only have five radios.”
“And we can’t use the same trick to translate our own words back to the alien,” said Christie.
John shrugged. “I don’t know what we’re going to do about that. The word Talvanium was the same in both languages, I noticed. So proper nouns hold true. I guess we’ll just have to muddle through.”
“I’ve contacted the Complexium,” said Seth. “There is a tier available for us that I reserved.”
“Good. Seth, is there one language that is spoken universally for trade in this solar system?”
“No. Most people wear a small translator device in one ear. They should be easy to find. Buy some of those and we can do away with our initial arrangement.”
“I keep meaning to bring this up,” began Ray, “how exactly are we supposed to buy Talvanium, translators or anything else? Somehow I don’t think they take American Express.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
Ray looked around the bridge and was met with blank stares from the others.
“Take an inventory list with us,” said John. “Maybe there’s something aboard we can trade.”
“Let’s sell Byron!” said Ari enthusiastically.
“If only.”
“I’ve got the coordinates for landing,” said Christie.
“All right, I’m bringing her in. Hold on, folks, I’ve never done an atmosphere re-entry before.”
John rolled the ship into the plane of the moon, and banked downward at a shallow angle. More holographic ads floated by. Slight vibrations began to shake the ship, and bright streaks of orange flame licked around the bow as the air friction built up. The long since absent sound of air flowing past the ship was once again heard, in stark contrast to the many weeks of
silence to which the crew had become accustomed. Soon the stars were lost in a great deep blue sky, and ground features became more distinct.
“Hold her steady,” said Seth. “Expect variances in the upper jet streams.”
“No problem,” said John.
The continent they’d been above was replaced by ocean, which reflected the sky into sharp turquoise blue.
“I’m showing signals from other ships,” said Christie. “I’m putting them up on your display. It looks like they’re maintaining at least a half a mile distance between each other on approach to the Complex. I suggest you do the same.”
“Roger that.”
Another land mass came into view. John brought the craft down to a thousand feet. A seaside village passed below, briefly showing a combination of old construction and new technologies.
“There it is,” said John, pointing ahead.
A small city lay ahead, a single massive structure dominating the horizon. As they approached it the true scale became apparent.
“Is that the Complexium?” asked Ray.
“Yes,” replied Seth.
John throttled down in preparation to land. It was circular in construction and stood more than a hundred stories tall. The walls were bright metal and reflected the sunlight brilliantly. The diameter easily surpassed five hundred meters. On each level, landing tiers stood outside the walls. Most of them were occupied by ships. As they drew closer figures could be seen milling about a few of the ships. Some were obviously meant for sub-atmospheric flight only, but a few of the larger ones were quite clearly interstellar craft. John noted that the Faith was absolutely unique in appearance, at least in comparison to what he could see.
Their reserved parking space was on the second level. John became anxious as he attempted to bring the craft in. The Complexium loomed above them as John approached the landing platform. There was ample room for the Faith on the platform, but John took his time. He made many adjustments and brought the ship in at a snail’s pace.
“Aren’t you being a bit over-cautious?” asked Ari.
“This isn’t as easy as it looks,” began John, “and I don’t think it would look too well as a first impression to collide with the building.”
When the ship was ten feet above the platform and John was satisfied with his position, he stabilized the ship and powered down the engines.
“Anti-grav dynamics are solid,” said Seth. “You may deploy the ramp when ready.”
The crew looked out onto the platform. A narrow causeway crossed into an open archway into the structure. No-one had come to greet them.
“I guess we’re all set,” said John. “Ray, Ari, Richter, you’re with me. Grab your gear and meet me in the cargo bay. Christie, Dana, you stay with the ship. Report any problems immediately. Close the ramp after we’ve departed. And keep Byron out of trouble.”
“Understood,” said Christie. “Good luck.”
Five minutes later, John, Ray, Ari and Richter had gathered in the cargo bay. The air on Beta smelled fresh and sweet, despite the twinge of fossil fuel and cooked food that also met their senses. John had considered requesting the use of uniforms for the mission, but decided against it. It may have been unrealistic to expect them to blend in to the population of the Complexium, but uniforms reduced that likelihood even further. The team was dressed in their normal Earth clothing. Richter was the only one not wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket. His black BDU pants and cargo vest may have stood out on Earth somewhat; here it was anybody’s guess. Ari noticed he had donned his Kevlar body armor, as well as his black ball cap that had become so ubiquitous for him in the sims. It made her smile. He was also wearing sunglasses, which John thought looked too aggressive but kept the sentiment to himself.
“Seth tells me the laws here haven’t changed significantly in ten years, so our sidearms are coming with us. I guess I don’t need to tell you to keep them concealed,” said John. “Primary commo channel is three, backup is five. Everybody do a radio check.”
The radio check took a few moments. John double-checked his Beretta and holstered it.
“Good to go,” said Richter, doing the same with his sidearm.
“I never got around to asking you,” began Ray, “what kind of pistol do you carry?”
Richter looked at Ray with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously? This is a Colt 1911A1, forty-five caliber, made in Hartford, Connecticut. It was my father‘s pistol. I used to carry a Glock 21 but doing a magazine dump with a light-weight forty-five was unpleasant, in my opinion. This pistol weighs more, so there’s less felt recoil.
“Well, I wasn’t sure. How many rounds can you carry?”
“Eight rounds in the mag, one in the chamber. I have five magazines so that’s 41 rounds total. What’s ironic about the whole thing is that Major Devonai and I were headed to the range for some target practice when he decided to intercept the DIA’s mission. When we realized what was about to happen in back of the motel, I just grabbed my favorite rifle. Our truck was filled with lots more stuff that would have come in pretty handy out here. Not the least of which would have been more ammo for my rifle and more mags for my sidearm. We just didn’t have enough time to gear up.”
Ray smiled. “We have plenty of forty-five. Unfortunately nobody else brought any five-five-six so I guess you’ll just have to be conservative with your rifle.”
“Ammo conservation shouldn’t even be an issue today,” said John. “If we get into the shit we’ll be bugging out to the Faith. We don’t want to make our first impression here as a bunch of cowboys. Okay? Remember the old saying: be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet. We don’t know how rapidly our welcome could go sour. Watch your back but try and look casual. Seth says we’ll probably be ignored; I’m not so sure about that. If we need to split up it will be Ray and I, and Ari and Chance. If that happens I want commo checks every ten minutes. If we lose contact with each other, or if anything goes wrong, or you don’t feel comfortable about anything, get back to the ship and wait for further instructions.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Good. Let’s go.”
9.
Entering into Gleeful Complexium resulted in a barrage of sights, sounds, and smells, chaotic and overwhelming. The four members of the Faith’s ground team stood in awe of it all at the archway leading back to the landing platform. There was too much to comprehend all at once, and the humans found their brains struggling to catch up.
The Complexium was arranged like a parking garage in that the main concourse was one continuous ramp, twisting gradually around the outside edge up one hundred stories. The center of the structure was an open atrium all the way up to the sky, and with the concourse and shops occupying a hundred meters on either side, the atrium measured three hundred meters across. The open space was filled with holographic advertisements, floating security cameras, and food vendors on anti-gravity platforms. Some of the platforms were shaped like pulling boats.
The adjacent three levels of the Complexium were obviously food vendors as well. There was a thick, heady smell in the air, and after weeks of mostly military rations it was a wonderful sensation. The concourse was clean and bright. There was very little trash on the floor, and it didn’t appear to have been there for long.
The most shocking element of the concourse to the humans was the variety of alien species milling about. John easily recognized the Kau’Rii, Rakhar, Z'Sorth and Residerians from Seth’s description. It was bizarre to see them in person, however, and despite all logic against it the team members found themselves afraid of the strange creatures. The locals, for their part, were all quite interested in either procuring food or consuming it, and so far not so much as a passing glance had been thrown their way.
John snapped out of his own haze of wonder and keyed his microphone.
“Dana, this is John for a radio check, over.”
“Lima charlie, how are things going, over.”
“You’
ve got to see it to believe it, Dana. We’re beginning our walk-around. Out.”
“Holy shit, this place is huge,” said Ari.
“Where do we start?” said Ray.
“Seth said that since the Talvanium is mined by Z'Sorth on Alpha,” began John, “we should look for Z'Sorth shops. Anybody see an info directory or anything?”
A three-foot tall Kau’Rii with amber fur noticed the team. It was carrying a platter of something and walked rapidly over to them. It smiled, apparently, and offered the platter to them. There were meat chunks on toothpicks on the plate. The Kau’Rii said something. John recognized the same language he likened to cats arguing over tea. A split second later, Seth provided a translation in the same voice. It sounded odd, but it was comprehensible.
“Would you like to try a free sample?”
“Sure,” said Ari, reaching for one.
“Hold it,” said John, “you don’t know if it’s safe.”
“Come on, it smells wonderful. We’re going to have to start eating locally at some point, you know.”
“Yeah, but our bodies may not have a good reaction to any alien bacteria.”
“Hey, we thoroughly cook our food at the Cuisine Claw,” the Kau’Rii said haughtily.
“You can understand us?” asked John.
“Well, duh. Everybody has to have a translator unit around here. Only the college educated types can speak more than two languages.”
Ari took one of the samples and ate it, tossing the toothpick onto the floor.
“Well?” asked Ray.
“It tastes almost, but not quite, entirely unlike chicken,” Ari replied. “But it’s exquisite.”
“Too bad we don’t have any cash,” said Richter.
The Kau’Rii’s ears folded back slightly. “Aw, tom. I thought I had a sale.”
“Sorry, kid,” John said. “We’re here to trade goods for credits and supplies. If we make some money maybe we’ll come back for dinner.”
The Tarantula Nebula Page 9
