HADRON Resurgent

by Stephen Arseneault

  Mace shook his head. “Yep. Earth Force. I guess it’s not bad.”

  Johnny chuckled. “Beats the Rift, doesn’t it?”

  Mace smiled. “I believe that was your idea, was it not?”

  Johnny shrugged. “Might have been. I don’t remember. Earth Force sounds good, though. So who gets the first ship off the line?”

  Mace replied, “I guess it would be Earth Force. We could take it, but what would we do with it? The Rogers already has just about everything it will.”

  Johnny frowned. “They’ll have tall ceilings. That’s something we don’t have.”

  Mace laughed. “That’s true, but after all we’ve been through, I’d rather keep the Rogers. She’s been a good ship.”

  Johnny replied, “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one with all the knots on your head from bumping into every doorway.”

  Johnny stood from the railing he leaned on. “Have you given any thought as to how to protect these vital buildings?”

  Mace asked, “What do you mean?”

  Johnny pointed up. “We have the microwave stations in orbit. And we have the ground-based systems down here. Should we add a couple extra guns to this valley? I mean, this is becoming crucial real estate. A bit of extra coverage might be in order.”

  Mace nodded. “That’s probably not a bad idea. You wanna take on that task?”

  Johnny shrugged. “Sure. All I do is fart around with those hand weapons all day. Taking on a bigger project might be a good break for me. Do I have a budget?”

  Mace laughed. “Budget? Yeah, whatever you can scrape together, beg, borrow, or steal. Use your resources and see what you can come up with.”

  Johnny scowled. “My resources… that pretty much means I have to go begging to Jasper.”

  Mace shook his head. “Not necessarily. You might scrounge around and see what Earth defenses you can come up with. Lots of tanks, howitzers and missiles left over from before.”

  Johnny scratched the side of his head. “Hmm. That could make it fun.”

  Mace added, “Enlist Jordan’s help. He still has a lot of his old connections.”

  The two men made their way back to Ronceverte to check out a new addition to the skybus terminal. They were now connected with twelve cities.

  A comm came in from Jasper. “How about you two clowns stepping outside.”

  “What’s up?”

  Jasper leaned in. “Just step outside, please.”

  Johnny followed Mace down a ramp. “What’s he got going on?”

  Mace shook his head. “Haven’t a clue.”

  As the two approached the doorway out into the skybus terminal lot, a shadow blocked the sun.

  Mace glanced up. “Wow. That has to be the first Collins.”

  Johnny smiled. “The Organ Cave is in service. That is one fine-looking ship. Sleek, bold—”

  Mace cut in, “And bright blue.”

  Johnny pointed. “Those the microwave guns?”

  A ramp began to lower. Jasper Collins, in his pitch black battlesuit, was standing at the base as it came down.

  Johnny chuckled. “He does know how to make an entrance.”

  When the ramp came to a stop, Jasper stepped off onto the ground. “Gentlemen, meet the Organ Cave, the first fully operational Collins class warship of the Collins Kingdom.”

  Johnny replied, “She’s boss.”

  Jasper laughed. “Boss? Who says that? You go back to junior high or something?”

  “Beautiful ship. Elegant and yet menacing. You’ve outdone yourself.”

  Jasper replied, “Thanks. When I was a kid I used to draw spaceships as doodles. This looks nothing like what I came up with back then.”

  Mace said, “Could easily have graced the screen for any science fiction movie. What’s she got, two microwave and a dozen plasma cannons?”

  Jasper crossed his arms as he looked up. “Sixteen plasma. She has enough gatrellium for fifteen hundred jumps. And her gravity drives top out at 63 percent light-speed.”

  Jasper pointed to a set of antennae on the front of the sleek blue ship. “We added signal inhibitors to her as well. From up front she now only has 1 percent of her previous signature. My engineers are confident they can halve that within a few months.”

  Johnny asked, “What’s it gonna do for you? Besides the obvious, I mean.”

  Jasper replied, “Under initial testing, we’ve been able to sit at maximum sensor range without being detected. At least, not at first. My teams were able to work the sensor data enough to finally pull us out of the void, which is why we want that next half percent. We knock that down by half again and we could sit within comm range without being detected. Of course, that’s just against the old Galactic Union sensors. We won’t know what anyone else has until we can test it out.”

  Johnny put his hands on his hips. “Test it out? How you gonna test out something you don’t know if the other guy has?”

  Jasper smiled. “Our first test will be a jump to Canto and a venture out to WarStation 56 space. We’ll slowly move in until we get notice from them to back off. We plan on doing something similar with the Hoorka.”

  Mace asked, “Will the new designs you’ll be passing us include the inhibitors?”

  Jasper nodded. “I have every intention of protecting Earth where I can—though I may hold tech like that back from Earth Force for a bit … at least until I feel I can trust ‘em.”

  Mace replied, “Probably not a bad idea. Would you have any issue with adding that to the Rogers?”

  Jasper smiled. “You bring her out, I’ll hook you up.”

  Derwood rocketed out the terminal door, making a wide arc as he circled around, coming to a stop in front of the king.

  Jasper bent down. “Hello, Mr. Derwood.”

  The excited Dachshund stepped back, barked, and then leaped forward, taking up position on Jasper’s battlesuit leg, where he began to hump.

  Jasper laughed. “Not getting enough action here on Earth, boy?”

  Johnny shook his head. “Not sure what’s gotten into him lately. He’s been frisky with just about everyone since we’ve been back.”

  Jasper reached down, gently removing the excited Dachshund from his leg. “I know you’re just trying to show you gratitude to the king. It’s all right, I know you love me.”

  Johnny laughed. “Hope you don’t have that issue with the Targarians.”

  Jasper smiled. “Thankfully, they aren’t much for leg humping.”

  Jasper gestured toward the ramp. “Wanna go for a ride?”

  Johnny stepped forward. “I do. I wanna see what a ship with normal ceiling heights is like.”

  Mace laughed. “We were just talking about whether or not to keep the Rogers versus upgrading to one of these. He’s tired of bumping his head on the doorways.”

  Jasper turned as they walked up the ramp: “He’s gonna like what we have. Halls and doors are wider as well. Most ceilings are two and a half meters. Rooms where we spend a lot of time are three or four. The bridge is six because of the main viewscreen.”

  Johnny grinned as he stood in the first doorway he encountered. The clearance allowed him to stand up fully.

  Mace chuckled. “You like that, huh?”

  Johnny turned. “I like it a lot.”

  They stopped at a dining hall. “You still have the low tables.”

  Jasper replied, “Yep. I still have a short crew. Tables are easily replaced. You’ll find most of the furniture on here, except for my own, is made for the shorties.”

  A quick tour of the facilities ended on the bridge. A jet black throne chair sat in the center of the room. Consoles and screens covered all the walls except for directly behind the king’s chair.

  Johnny asked, “What’s the green wall back there for?”

  Jasper stepped up, taking position on his throne. A huge holo-screen illuminated directly in front of the chair, displaying Jasper’s image.

  “It’s a green screen. Check the holo-dis
play.”

  The image of Jasper sitting on his throne was surrounded by an image of tigers as they lounged about. “If I’m in a comm with some other species, they’re gonna get the full Jasper experience.”

  Johnny asked, “Can’t you just do that with the holo-generator on your suit?”

  Jasper replied, “Not with that kind of a background.”

  Jasper typed away on his arm pad. His image turned to that of a gorilla. The image on the display was now of a gorilla sitting on a throne with tigers lounging around it.

  Jasper shut off the holo-image. “I can present myself over the comm however I want. If we come across a timid species, a strong figure might be in order. Or with a species like the Hoorka, a feeble presence might be in order. Something to keep them off-guard.”

  Mace said, “You dig some of this up from all those books you’ve been reading?”

  Jasper nodded. “Exactly. In negotiations, or war, or even when making a trade deal, psychology can have a huge impact on the outcome. I may not have the best technology out there, or it might just be bad timing. Whatever my issue, I plan on making use of every edge I can. We only live once.”

  Johnny walked over to the weapons console. “You been able to make any improvements over here?”

  Jasper shook his head. “Unfortunately that’s an area of research we are very lacking in. I’m working to change that, but those types of developments usually take years, or even lifetimes.”

  Jasper looked down. “I see you’re not wearing your pistol anymore.”

  Johnny held out his glove, “Yep. I have the glove now. Thanks for your help. And I have a slot for a spare power-cell up under each arm. Each cell will give me about twenty-two hundred full-power rounds, and the trigger mechanism is now thought-based. If someone swipes my glove and tries to use it against me, it won’t respond. All adjustments are thought-controlled. All I have to do is to point and think about it.”

  Jasper said, “When can we put it in production?”

  “Almost done testing it. I’ll give you a comm when it’s ready.”

  Jasper smiled. “Excellent.”

  Jasper turned to the bridge. “Captain, take us out and around Mars. I want a full attack profile used on the plains of Arcadia. Gentlemen, watch and learn how a war machine can be run in an efficient and ordered manner.”

  Johnny laughed. “You’ve been saving that one up for us, haven’t you?”

  Jasper grinned. “Well, yeah. It sounded good, didn’t it?”

  Mace looked down at the floor. “Is that real marble?”

  Jasper nodded. “You like it? I had this entire level covered with it. It’s called something like Targarian blood rose. Those little flecks of red look just like Targarian blood, which is almost identical in color to ours.”

  “I noticed all the walls are white,” said Johnny. “With different color stripes?”

  “Let’s think about it. You might be in space, stuck on this ship for a very long time. Why have something that’s dull gray or blue or whatever. Keep it bright. Each level has a different color-coded accent stripe on the walls. Makes it easier to know where things are. This ship has seven decks, so the color-coding matches the visual colors in order of the spectrum. Bridge deck is the top deck and is red. Decks two through seven are orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.”

  “Seems organized and with purpose,” said Mace.

  Jasper half frowned. “Only problem is, my Targarians are mostly color blind in the blue spectrum. They equate everything there to shades of brown, but the decks are all numbered, so nobody gets lost.”

  Johnny said, “I noticed the furniture in the conference room was all woodgrain.”

  Jasper nodded. “Divinia has some nice woods. I thought it might remind them of home a little, so I went with it.”

  Johnny replied, “Well, sir, you have a fine ship.”

  The captain said, “Coming up on target run in three… two… one. Firing sequence engaged.”

  Light rumbles could be felt as the two microwave and sixteen plasma cannons all fired at once. The main bridge display showed a grassy field with giraffes galloping along before explosions devastated everything for half a kilometer wide by nearly a kilometer long.

  Johnny laughed. “Giraffes on Mars… right.”

  Jasper grinned. “I thought you might find that amusing. Here, let me run the actual footage.”

  Clouds of red dust flew into the air down a kilometer-long swath of Martian plain.

  Jasper frowned. “Not quite as pretty, but you can see the result. Had anything been in that target area, it would easily have been destroyed.”

  Johnny said, “Well, if we ever get invaded by a species of galloping giraffes, we know who to call.”

  The Organ Cave returned to Earth, settling in the same position they had left from. The ramp lowered and Mace and Johnny stepped onto the ground.

  Mace was the first to speak. “Nice job. She looks great. Love what you’ve done on the inside and out. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”

  Johnny nodded. “I’m impressed. When do I get one for myself?”

  Jasper smiled. “When you get your own kingdom.”

  The ramp lifted with Jasper standing on the end. The Organ Cave quickly disappeared into the few white, puffy clouds that inhabited the January sky. Mace returned to the Rogers as Johnny made his way back to his lab.

  Chapter 26

  *

  The main crew was called in for a trip out to Canto. A supply of Earth spices were dropped off in exchange for two dozen domain reflectors. Frado Knuttin made a special trip out to visit with his partner. His wheeled chair had been replaced with a pair of experimental mechanical legs. An awkward belied the difficulty his engineers were having with a control system.

  Frado said, “We fix one issue only to discover another. It’s a work in progress. They do allow me to move around freely, though.”

  Mace replied, “Humans were just at the point of experimenting with powered prosthetics. Ours were very limited in their abilities. You seem to be walking about quite well.”

  Frado frowned. “More of a waddle than a walk, but I get where I’m going.”

  Mace said, “Trade has been going well. No complaints from our end.”

  Frado nodded. “Same here. We’ve been raking in a substantial profit from the spice trade. Earth spices have become all the rage in the United Front.”

  “Any room for an increase?”

  Frado hesitated to answer. “Remember I told you of our defensive buildout? Well, we’ve now moved into an offensive phase. I feared this might happen when the initial buildup was begun. Our leaders now feel safe from the threat of attack and are now wanting to flex some muscle. The first maneuvers are expected in the coming months. I told you of our pirate problems in the outer colonies. Those will be the first to feel the heat.”

  Mace said, “What’s that mean for Canto?”

  Frado winced. “They have been pressuring me to accept patrol ships. I told them our issues with the Galactic Union were resolved, but they are insisting I accept their offer and their terms.”

  Mace frowned. “Their terms?”

  Frado nodded. “That means we pay a protection tax. We would be liable to pay for the crew salaries of up to a dozen warships as well as any maintenance costs, food and the like.”

  “How many crewmen on those ships?”

  Frado sighed. “One hundred twenty. However, each ship comes with a contingent of a thousand Marines. While we are only at most talking thirteen to fourteen thousand salaries to pay and mouths to feed, that comes at a time when the colony is still quite young. We only have a hundred fifty thousand residents at the moment. That is an expensive bill for that small a colony.”

  “Any process of appeals we can go through?”

  Frado shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I’ve exhausted all that are available. We can expect a decision on this in the next month.”

  “Why would they insist on somethi
ng like this?”

  Frado pursed his lips. “Our military is about to go to war, Mr. Hardy. This is how they help cover their costs. There are colonies that are not targeted for the tax, but those are ultra poor. I suppose our current level of success is partially to blame.”

  “What do you think this will mean to our bottom line?”

  Frado took a moment to answer. “For the company, I suppose it will be a wash. What we lose here, we’ll more than make up for with our military sales. For this colony itself? At its worst it could be a heavy burden, possibly taking up all profits and stifling all growth.”

  Mace scratched the side of his face. “What percentage of the business is this colony worth?”

  Frado tilted his head from one side to the other in thought. “In the vicinity of 8 percent of assets.”

  Mace said, “What if I was the majority owner of the colony? Maybe we could work out a deal for part of my share of the corporation.”

  Frado replied, “Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that. I would have to be willing to part with my share of the colony. That would be the only way the military council would lose their claim for protection. However, they would take it as a slap in the face and would pressure the trade ministers to end all trade between the colony and the United Front. Essentially they would be shutting down our business and all our profits, which is what makes this colony viable.”

  Mace frowned. “Well, this wasn’t the news I was hoping to hear today. If the UF is taking up a war footing, they are likely to be even less interested in establishing relations with Earth.”

  Frado nodded. “That would be a good assumption. We really are an introverted species. Perhaps one day that will change, but I don’t see that happening in the immediate future.”

  “What will this mean for our dividend payments?”

  Frado smiled. “The good news is those should continue. With our military production, we should easily make up for any losses here on Canto. The bad news is your bank accounts will now be restricted. Very little of that wealth can be transferred off-colony. So you will be ultra-rich while here and a pauper while elsewhere.”