When the Officers arrived on the bridge, all the people snapped to attention and fired off a quick salute before returning to their duties. Colin really was touched by their display of genuine respect. Shulari was the Officer of the Watch, but she stepped over to give him a quick hug and thanking him before returning to her duties.
Colin asked the Captain, “Where are we going, Sir?”
Captain Carlon smiled and waved for them to follow him as he turned towards the bridge exit. He said, “You, and Lieutenant Fraser here, are going to Cambridge. Eri will be commencing your rejuvenation treatments on the way there. This trip should take about three weeks. Most of the preliminary work will be done on the way. You’ll then stay on Cambridge, incognito, for about four months while most of the remainder of the treatments are completed. I don’t know what will happen after that, I don’t need to know. Be aware, at least some of what I’ve said is nothing more than conjecture, based on the little I know of the Admiralty’s plans for your future.”
Colin noted they were heading down towards Medical, so he assumed the treatments were to begin immediately. Ever since he’d boarded the ship, he’d been noticing Destiny was much cleaner and more ship shape than when he’d left her on Cotoni Station. Under his command, the crew was trying to return her to the clean, ship-shape condition she deserved to be in, but there just wasn’t enough time or even material with the available manpower to finish the job. When they arrived in Medical, Eri greeted them both warmly then took Colin to a private cubicle to begin. The Captain and Anne left to discuss what happened after we rescued her from the Pirate ship.
Eri sat down in front of Colin to explain what rejuvenation was, the effects it would have on him, how long the entire process would take, and the various stages of the process. When she’d finished her explanations, she asked him to confirm he was willing to undergo the rejuvenation treatments. Colin agreed, stating it was something he had to do so he could achieve his goal of helping the Federation to rid itself of the current Pirate menace. Eri then had him climb onto a bed and set up an intravenous drip. As the drugs entered his body, his eyelids grew heavy, gradually closing till he fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 2
The trip to Cambridge passed very quickly for Colin, at least partly because he spent a large proportion of it asleep because of the rejuvenation drugs being pumped into his body. These drugs did their work on his body at a cellular level cleaning out damaged and deformed cells, as well as stimulating regeneration of the locations where stem cells are made, so there were plenty to replace the damaged cells around his body. All this activity caused severe fatigue, and Eri had to monitor his blood chemistry carefully to make sure everything remained within optimal limits. Finally, three days before they were to exit Jump in the Cambridge system Eri halted the treatments to give Colin’s body a chance to normalize itself for a short while. He was to start treatments again about a week or two after he landed on Cambridge, but till then, he’d be able to return to some semblance of normalcy.
When FNS Destiny made orbit around Cambridge, there were no alerts, the planet was a thriving world populated primarily by humans though there were small numbers of Tangesha and Codai living there, mainly because they needed to for business, or employment reasons. Still, generally, these three species had a history of getting on well together.
The system had a new shipyard, for the moment, only a small one, and not capable of building the bigger ships such as Super-Freighters or for that matter, any of the major Warships, but for now it was busy, building ships for System Defense. In the past, Cambridge had been relying on protection being provided by the Federation Navy. Given the number and loyalty of the humans who served in its military, the Federation always saw the wisdom of keeping a small task force of three Cruisers along with a Regiment of Troopers based in the System to provide this security. Soon, though, once the new System Patrol vessels were completed, fully crewed and classified as operational, the other three Warships would be able to patrol much more aggressively outside the system. The new Patrol Ships were of two types, both designs created by humans, one designated Taipan class and a second, the Cobra class. The first batch of three Taipans and two Cobras were to be launched while Colin was in Cambridge System. They’d taken a basic Tangesha design, increased the size enough to add additional, bigger power plant, incorporated a new propulsion system, then studded the hull with Shield-Nodes, Sensors, and weapons. In size, the Taipan is about two-thirds the size of FNS Destiny but significantly more potent as a fighting platform. The Cobra is slightly larger than the Taipan but still not as big as Destiny. The only shortfall of the Taipan is they lack Jump Engines so unless they’re transported elsewhere by a Jump-Capable ship, they’re confined to operating inside a single star system. Of course, Colin didn’t know any of this till later, the Cambridge government were keeping their new ship’s capabilities secret till they’d at least been able to run the first ship in the class through her paces.
FNS Destiny stayed in orbit for nearly a day till a dock became available at Cambridge Station. She’d not been docked very long when the local Customs and Immigration people came knocking on the hatch. Only Anne and Colin were staying in Cambridge but as they were both human, Federation citizens and Naval Officers, the formalities were kept to a minimum. When customs and immigration were finished, Colin and Anne moved from FNS Destiny to short term quarters on the station after saying their goodbyes to the crew. On his way through the station, Colin noted the same variations in colour and smells he’d previously noticed on Cotoni Station, all designed to stimulate the senses of the people living there. When the two Officers reached the short-term quarters, they settled in with a light meal to wait till the next Shuttle was ready to depart. While they waited, Anne contacted her parents, letting them know she was on her way and would be bringing a friend.
They both dozed a little, fighting the boredom till the call came for them to go down to the Shuttle. Colin and Anne immediately hoisted their duffels over their shoulders and made their way to the correct Shuttle Dock. When they arrived, they found an officious weasel of a man who was apparently the Immigration Official. He, like so many of the type, had a little power and liked to exercise it on whoever he could. Colin and Anne found themselves waiting in a line while he carefully checked everyone's identification, deliberately taking his time and being obnoxious about it. Of course, the Shuttles always launched on time, so Colin began to become slightly worried as the line inched forward and the time to departure approached. Finally, they stood in front of this petty Official, Colin appearing to be nonchalantly looking around, taking in the surroundings.
The official impatiently snapped at him, “Papers please.”
Colin absently handed his Navy ID over, still looking around the compartment like someone who was completely lost, perhaps someone who’d just arrived in a big city for the first time. Of course, by then, Colin was becoming royally pissed off with this fool. The official was speaking to Anne rudely, making snide remarks about the Navy and about Navy Officers in general. It seemed he had the attitude his job would be a good one if he didn’t have to deal with people. While Colin looked around the compartment, he noticed two security guards off to one side, but he also found what he was looking for. Finally, he sensed the man demanding his attention. Colin was already irritated with his tormentor as he turned his attention in that direction. The Official was wasting time, Colin knew it, the Official even knew Colin knew it but deliberately continued, making unreasonable demands for additional information, trying to delay them and cause them to miss their ride.
Ignoring the Official, Colin turned to Anne, and in a casual, almost disinterested tone of voice asked, “Do you think the Government here would be particularly upset if I shoved this idiot out of the airlock over there?”
Luckily, Anne caught on quickly and replied, “I think they may, just a little. You might end up with a reprimand in your file. Do you think he’s worth it? Oh, and those guards over ther
e could have something to say about it as well.”
Maintaining the casual tone, Colin said, “Well, they may have to come to terms with it. If we miss this Shuttle because of this idiot’s petty bullshit, I’ll want to see how long he lasts in a vacuum. I’m getting tired. And I’ve had enough. We still have to go through all the formalities when we reach Headquarters on the surface.”
Of course, as soon as he realized the conversation was about him, the Official yelled for security, but they’d been watching what he was doing and heard what was said, so they knew or thought they knew, Colin was just trying to make him hurry up. After all, from security’s point of view, up till then, this Naval Officer hadn’t made any fuss or caused any trouble at all. In fact, they were surprised and impressed with his calm manner, even when he commented about shoving this fool out the airlock. It almost seemed as if he didn’t really care one way or another, but they could still feel an undercurrent suggesting a potential for great violence, so, they decided it was time for them to intervene. They knew these two Officers now had less than five minutes to board the Shuttle, any more delay would cause someone to have a terrible day and they didn’t want to become embroiled in something like that, it could only end up bad for everyone, including them.
The two security guards reached the booth and asked, “What seems to be the problem here? May we see your ID please?”
Anne could see Colin was becoming irritated, she’d seen and felt this aura on him before. When she’d experienced it in the past, someone else almost always ended up having a genuinely bad day. She quickly took Colin’s ID from his hand, giving him a warning look as she did so, then she gave the IDs to the guards. One looked at Colin and Anne’s IDs, recognizing the man immediately.
He turned his attention to the Official, and in a hard, commanding voice, he said only three words, “Authorize entry now.”
The Official was spluttering something about how they couldn’t talk to him like that while the guard handed Colin and Anne’s IDs back to them, apologizing for the delay.
The guard turned to the Official and said, “I won’t repeat myself again, authorize entry now, or I’ll shove you out the lock myself, and save this Officer the trouble.”
Colin accepted his ID back from the guard as the Official finally wilted and unlocked the hatch so they could reach the Shuttle. Colin thanked the guards with a smile as he shook their hands, gave the Official one last withering look, then hoisted his duffel and with Anne in tow, boarded the Shuttle, just in time. They’d barely boarded and settled when the Shuttle undocked and began an uneventful descent to the planet. Colin looked across to where Anne was sitting. He saw she was quietly chuckling to herself and couldn’t contain his curiosity, so he asked her what she found so amusing. She asked if he saw the look on the Immigration Official’s face when Colin commented about shoving him out the airlock. Colin allowed himself to smile while Anne went back to quietly chuckling to herself.
When the Shuttle landed, and came to a halt, Colin and Anne rose to disembark with the other passengers. On his way to the ground transport, Colin noticed the air was very still, and he could detect the smell of oil in the air, along with something else, something like fresh herbs. The sun here was slightly cooler than Sol, so the light had a slight yellow/orange tinge to it. Even so, it was quite hot here at the Shuttle Base although not unbearably so. They were met by a Navy Lieutenant and ushered towards a ground car to be taken to the Federation Navy Headquarters in Cambridge. As soon as they’d all settled into their seats, the ground transport moved off for the short trip to their destination.
When Colin and Anne reached the Headquarters Complex, they were met by Commodore Sonya Nicholson. Sonya commanded the Navy presence in Cambridge System. Colin thought he saw a flicker of recognition, perhaps even pleasure on Anne’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. His curiosity piqued, he decided, he’d need to find out how Anne knew the Commodore sometime. Commodore Nicholson is about 175 centimetres tall, has dark brunette hair with the slightest hint of grey at the temples, brown eyes, and a slim build. She is an attractive woman, looking like she is in her late thirties, perhaps early forties, with a pale complexion and a beautiful soprano voice. The Commodore wore a standard Navy uniform, the one used by Naval Officers when on a planet, long, loose trousers with a tunic in a midnight blue, unadorned except for gold buttons down the front and on the sleeves of the tunic and the appropriate rank pins on the collar.
Commodore Nicholson introduced herself with a straight face, before leading them into a room for a short briefing. The presentation covered Colin’s planned activities while he was in Cambridge and how security was being preserved during their stay. Colin couldn’t help but feel the boredom creeping in already. So far, it seemed they didn’t have very much for him to do when he wasn’t in a clinic. Colin asked if he could continue learning to fly and anything else they thought he would need as assumed knowledge when he went to the Academy. After a few seconds’ consideration, the Commodore agreed to help him with acquiring the knowledge, and the practical experiences Colin needed. Commodore Nicholson informed Colin that among other things, he now had a new identity till the current operation was completed. The DNI on Cambridge spent years building up these apparently legitimate false IDs for Operations like this one, so if anyone did a background check, no inconsistencies would be found. Henceforth he was John Santos, at least in public, for the duration of his assignment.
Colin looked around the room they were in, noting the Officers he could see here were all human, and all highly professional. Until arriving in this star system, outside of a slave, the Pirates used as cannon fodder, Anne, and Jack Lanning, Colin hadn’t seen any humans within the Federation. There’d only been the one human among the groups who’d attacked him personally so far, and that was way back on Zafar.
The formalities over, Commodore Nicholson looked at Colin with a straight face and asked, “Are you in the habit of threatening Immigration Officials with a one-way trip through an airlock, Commander?”
Colin realized somebody must’ve complained, so he contritely replied, “No ma’am.”
Nicholson asked, “Would you have done it? Would you have shoved him out the airlock?”
Colin paused before replying, “Probably not ma’am, I would’ve most likely made a complaint about him, and hoped the official channels dealt with it in an appropriate manner.”
He was feeling quite uncomfortable. He’d allowed the man on Cambridge Station to get under his skin. He thought he was in trouble for threatening a civilian, but couldn’t do anything about it now, the damage was already done, he’d just have to accept whatever the consequences wee.
With a serious face, the Commodore replied, “Good, I’m pleased to hear it, although, I must confess, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did, not really. It might have been a little hard to explain to his employer, though.”
As Colin looked at her, he could see something in her eyes, something he couldn’t identify fighting to escape. Her face was screwed up with a look he interpreted as distaste. He felt like he was about to be reamed for his indiscretion.
Suddenly, she simply couldn’t hold it in any longer, she laughed, then continued, pleasure dancing in her eyes, “You’ll be pleased to know, that odious little man has been suspended from duty pending an investigation of his performance in the role. You weren’t the only person who nearly missed that Shuttle flight. There were six complaints lodged by members of the public, one from the Shuttle crew, and both the security guards also filed complaints against him. This isn’t the first time he’s done this. On one occasion, he cost a businessman an enormous amount of money because of the delay, but the businessman was compensated, and the official was let off with a warning that time. He won’t be given another chance to do this. For what it’s worth, if you’d missed the Shuttle, we would’ve directed a Navy Troop Shuttle to pick you up. Your ‘friend’ on the station would’ve accompanied you to the planet in chains, to face tria
l for deliberately compromising Cambridge’s security.”
As Sonya told him this, Colin felt a wave of relief wash over him. She looked at both their faces and burst out laughing again, before inviting them to dine with her. Commodore Nicholson was a family friend of the Fraser clan and wanted to catch up with Anne as well as evaluate Colin. He realized she had a wicked sense of humour. Apparently, Sonya had been teasing Colin all along. His reaction when she mentioned the events on the station tickled her funny bone, she simply couldn’t help but pull his chain. Like nearly everyone else in the Federation, Sonya had heard all about FNS Destiny’s fight with the Pirates near Zafar and was acutely aware of Colin’s part in those events. Sonya had a deep-seated hatred of the Pirates and slavers who infested the universe. As a child, she’d been on a ship with her parents when it was attacked and captured by slavers. They brutally murdered her father, bashing him to death, right before her eyes when he tried to protect his wife and child. After they had finished with him, his battered, broken body lying on the deck, the thugs proceeded to beat both Sonya and her mother just to hear the screams. She and her mother were badly bruised and battered before the Pirates finally stopped and threw them into a crowded compartment with the other captives.
Luckily, a few days later, the Slaver Ship itself, was boarded and captured, this time by a unit of the Federation Navy that found the wreckage of the ship Sonya had been traveling on, soon after the Pirates left. The Navy Destroyer, FNS Galin, commanded by Captain Henry Fraser gave immediate chase. A few days later, FNS Galin caught up with the Pirate, and her Troopers boarded and captured it. When the freed captives were brought onboard his ship, Henry’s heart went out to the mother and child, bruised and battered as they were, so he took them under his wing. He effectively adopted them, making sure the child received the best education available, and they had enough money to live on, at least till Sonya’s mother could get back on her feet. The young Sonya almost worshiped the man who’d been responsible for her rescue. She eventually realized the Navy needed more Officers like him and decided she wanted to be one of them, so she studied hard and qualified to enter the Academy. Over the years, Sonya and her mother became surrogate members of the Fraser clan, not just friends of the family, so Sonya was almost as happy about Anne’s safe return as her parents. She hoped this man, Colin Gordon, lived up to the promise he’d shown so far. Sonya thought, if he did, Colin Gordon would be a man even Commodore Nicholson could follow into battle. Sonya suspected, she very likely would be.
Star Man 2: Star Rise Page 3
