Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10

by Randolph Lalonde

  Minh-Chu brought up the image of the larger ship and a chill ran down his spine. The ship wasn’t one point seven kilometres long, it was one point seven kilometres tall, with a jagged, circular head and thinner hull segments extending down like stalactites. He recognized it from the captured Order of Eden database. “We’re leaving,” Minh-Chu said.

  “That’s what I think it is?” Carnie asked quietly.

  Minh-Chu was pleased to see that his co-pilot had looked the database they’d captured from the Order of Eden over, but wished he didn’t say anything out loud.

  “What? What is it?” Hot Chow asked.

  “Yes, that’s an Edxian Raid Ship,” Minh-Chu confirmed.

  “Those new fighters are headed this way, and a piece of the ship is too, it’s broken off,” Hot Chow said before sighing. “It was nice knowing you guys.”

  Streaks of light from enemy energy weapons fire combining with iron particulates narrowly missed them. “That barrage came from the shard ship that’s coming in our direction. They’re cutting through the iron cloud,” Carnie reported.

  “Get a short jump wormhole ready, I want it to come out right here,” Minh-Chu marked the edge of a large iron cloud. “They can obviously see us, so let’s take the shortest route out of here, make for the ice field ahead.”

  The thrusters roared as he increased power and took evasive action. “We’re not cooked yet. All gunners, return fire at full intensity, no missiles, the cloud between us and them is too thick.”

  “Sir, the smallest of the large ships, one of the ones under attack is making a high speed run towards the Raid Ship,” Hot Chow said. “It looks like it’s going to ram it.”

  “Wormhole ready,” Carnie replied.

  “Generate it,” Minh-Chu said.

  Space split in front of them, revealing a vista of the far inner edge of the red iron cloud surrounding them, and Minh-Chu began guiding the Pursuer III towards it. The whole ship rattled as more strikes than he could count bashed against their shields then their hull. The concussion of the molten iron sent them off course, and he missed the wormhole entirely. “Shut that down, divert energy to shields,” he ordered.

  “Aft-dorsal shielding is down,” Carnie said. “The emitter is still there, but it’s blocked.”

  “They’re using the iron dust with their energy weapons, it’s like some of the damage I saw in the scans, I didn’t put it together before,” Hot Chow said. “It would be kinda cool if they were shooting at someone else. Oh my God! It happened! That thing’s, the whole thing’s just bits and pieces!”

  “What thing?” Carnie asked. “Be specific.”

  “The small capitol ship just rammed the Raid Ship so hard from the bottom that pieces of its hull were coming through the top then it just exploded, I can’t see how anyone or anything survived that. There’s a shockwave spreading through the cloud, going to hit us in nine seconds!”

  “The Fighters and that other ship that broke off?” Minh-Chu asked as he looked at his own tactical screen. He knew what the sensor officer would say before he had a chance to reply.

  “Oh, coming, still coming. We’ve taken six of their fighters out.”

  “Launch torpedoes at that shard ship,” Minh-Chu said. “They’re smart enough not to go off early, right?” he asked through the intercom.

  “I’ve got two programmed to ignore particulates,” Finn replied. “Ready to launch.”

  “Start firing,” Minh-Chu said to Carnie. “Brace for the shock wave. How far off is it?”

  “We’re accelerating away, holding at seven seconds,” Hot Chow said. “If we keep ahead of it long enough, the kinetic energy will dissipate, but there’s an electrostatic charge building, that’s going to roll across the whole cloud.”

  Carnie programmed two torpedoes to target the remaining shard-like Edxi ship and fired. “I’d love a few more of those,” he said.

  “It’ll be about ten seconds before the next pair of torpedoes are ready to go.”

  “We’re moving faster than the wave now,” Hot Chow said. “Our hull should be able to protect us from the electrostatic charge unless we develop any holes. I think we’re gonna be okay.”

  “Everyone seal your suits,” Minh-Chu ordered. He could see the streaks of energy and molten metal narrowly missing them. The energy readings on the enemy’s main weapons were as high as the Triton’s suppressive beam weaponry, more dangerous than weapons on most large ships. Two bursts swept across their lower shielding, reducing their power levels to critical. Their shields began taking damage from the electrostatic charge in the iron cloud.

  “Our shields are going down, draining all reserves, deactivating life support.” Carnie said.

  There was a large asteroid, made of mostly iron drawn together by gravity, and that was what could save them, give them enough time to generate more power and break away, maybe. There was an ice field beyond, a long, long way beyond the iron cloud, and that would give them the cover they needed to lose the ship for good.

  “It looks like the main ship is turning away,” Hot Chow said.

  It was true, and the two fighters that the Pursuer III’s gunners hadn’t slagged were retreating as well. Minh-Chu didn’t relent in guiding the ship towards cover. The enemy ship pursuing them stopped firing, and turned so her port side fully faced them. The instant several ports along that section of its hull flashed in sequence from front to back, he knew they were in worse trouble. Minh-Chu spun the ship’s nose around, where the shields were still fully charged. The large shard shaped Edxi ship’s main emitter flashed. The Pursuer III shuddered, her hull creaked and then the sounds of sudden decompression filled his ears as the lights went out.

  Chapter 11

  Walls

  The digital world of Freeground was largely closed off from Liara. Remmy didn’t seem surprised when she described the network she was trying to interface with as walking along the outside of a long wall with a presentation painted on the outside. What surprised him was how much she learned about Freeground’s people from that wall and its many proclamations.

  The people of Freeground were not shy about sharing their beliefs, wants and needs. That was the first realization she made aloud to him. He thought for a moment and nodded. “Before the First Light came back with pieces of outside networks, new entertainment, and information about the rest of the galaxy, people debated about politics all the time,” he told her. “They would teach us about our political system, but I learned more from watching the adults talk about what was best for us. There are people who depend on what they think has worked for a long time, and people who want things to be better, and back then it seemed like everyone wanted little improvements that they would discuss and argue over for hours, or days. By the time I was old enough to participate, the leadership was already leaning towards depending on what had worked before. It seemed like they wanted to take back improvements that were made after the First Light returned. The government wanted everyone to return to a simpler time, to embrace older ideas.”

  The information she could get to confirmed that in spades. Downloading only the information available to her as a visitor made for some of the most boring tourist data she’d ever seen. The security wall encircled every system, and the messages she sent to government officials – the only people who had addresses that she could see in front of the data wall – were the only kind of contact she was allowed to have.

  Learning about Remmy’s experiences growing up helped Liara formulate a better approach. As days passed while they waited in the shuttle for someone to allow them to pass into the station at all, she couldn’t help but fear that the Revenge or the Triton would rendezvous with Freeground Alpha then recall her. Her first diplomatic mission would be a complete and utter failure just because she decided to be heavy handed with the first errand boy they sent.

  A week passed, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she had been forgotten. Remmy didn’t seem surprised. Gus was, and wondered more than once what the Freeg
rounders were hiding. He checked in with Port Control daily to make sure that they hadn’t been forgotten. Every time he asked if his crew could visit the port facilities he was told they were closed. “Rude,” he said on the ninth morning as he left the cockpit shaking his head. “You’d think they’d at least show us to a gift shop, make a few platinum on our stay here.”

  “You have money on you? Like, cash?” Remmy asked.

  “Every traveller worth his air carries some on him,” Gus replied.

  “Up for a game of Gator?”

  “Not allowed in Triton Fleet,” Gus replied. “No gambling.”

  “We could step outside the shuttle and have a game,” Remmy said. “You choose the first sector.”

  “Okay, what’s Gator?” Liara asked.

  “It’s a game where you test your navigational skills against each other by showing off your knowledge of solar systems and other features in a sector,” Dotty said. “I suck at it, but I’m so bored, I’ll be Captain.”

  “What does the Captain do?”

  “Calls out which solar systems and which details the players, or pilots have to guess.”

  “You mean, recall from memory,” Remmy said. “If you’re good at Gator, you never have to bluff.”

  Gus scoffed and said. “Wonder how much you know about the Extata Sector, ever been that close to the core?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Remmy looked to Liara, who realized she knew a few things about that sector, being from the core worlds. “How about it? Suspend one little regulation so we can play a game?”

  “No betting,” Liara said. “If we can do this with play money of some kind, then I’ll suspend the no gambling rule.”

  “Come on, someone’s got to win something in this, otherwise what’s the point?” Remmy retorted.

  “Skip one watch, your choice,” Liara said. She had the reward ready before he complained.

  “It’s not much, but I’ll take it.”

  “Sounds like you already think you’ve won,” Gus said. “Let’s step outside and start this game.”

  All but one of the shuttle guards sat in the limbo space in the debarkation room outside the shuttle airlock for most of the day. Watching Remmy bluff information and trick everyone into making poor choices was entertaining. She did a fair amount of bluffing herself, not being a great navigator, but no one could match Remmy’s flair for distraction or deception. In the first two hours she realized that he wasn’t very good at recalling details about different solar systems, but he often made everyone else second guess themselves, even borrowing correct answers from Gus, whose confidence didn’t stand up well to Remmy’s antics.

  Remmy was winning by several points when the inner doors for Freeground Alpha parted, and a smiling woman in a long purple dress addressed them. Liara immediately suppressed her frustration, it was day nine of their visit, so it wasn’t easy for her to happily face the representative. “Welcome to Freeground Alpha,” the woman said. “I’m so happy that I have the opportunity to greet you all, it’s taken some time to get you the clearance you need to properly come aboard. I’m Minister Maggie Obun.”

  Four guards in navy blue followed several steps behind her, one eyed Remmy nervously. “It’s good to meet you, I’m Lieutenant Commander Liara Erron,” she half turned to introduce everyone who was with her, but was stopped by a titter from the Minister.

  “There’s no need for introductions, everyone knows who you are,” the Minister said. “You can bring any of your people along for this tour if you like, and we can begin now, if you’ll follow me.”

  “Remmy and Dot are with me, everyone else can stay with the shuttle,” Liara said to her companions.

  “You’re sure?” Remmy asked.

  “As long as he’s cleared with security?” Liara asked the Minister.

  “It took several days, but yes, he’s free to come along. His exile status has been suspended,” she replied dismissively.

  “Good. It’s too bad it took so long, we’ve wasted a lot of time here. What would you like to show us today?”

  The light, pleasant manner the Minister had entered with dissipated, and she stopped to regard Liara, looking a little startled.

  Liara couldn’t help but let her frustration show. It was her own fault for letting it build up for over a week. “I’m here to negotiate for Triton Fleet and possibly Haven Shore. That’s a military organization with ties to one of the most important forces in the galaxy, the British Alliance, and a quickly growing independent nation that could provide a safe harbour for all your people. I wonder how seriously your leadership takes the olive branch I carry.”

  “Surely you don’t have the power to negotiate agreements on behalf of the fleet and your civilian government?”

  “My recommendation will set the tone for whatever further help Freeground does or does not receive going forward. If I’m shut out for any longer, then the only recommendation I can make is to cut ties and leave. People who seek alliances communicate with their prospective allies. I’m seeing the opposite here, so what do you think I’ll have to say to my commanders?”

  “I understand, Lieutenant, you’re frustrated because you have been ignored.”

  “That’s Lieutenant Commander,” Dotty told the Minister.

  “I’m sorry, Lieutenant Commander,” the Minister replied. “We’ve been able to increase our jump frequency up to once every eleven hours, so things have been difficult to manage. We’re also facing an impending food shortage.”

  “I can help with that a little, my only condition is that I follow the material we’ve brought all the way through processing and distribution. I want to see what you do with our aid, it’s an important part of building trust.”

  “That is complicated, our computers do all the sorting for us. The most critical personnel are on full rations, everyone else is on reduced rations. We expect everyone will be on reduced rations or worse by the time this is over.”

  Liara mentally looked up what was immediately available from the Freeground Database and found Minister Maggie Obun’s public profile. “I’m wondering if you, the Minister of Tourism, is on full rations?”

  The Minister flushed and turned towards the embarkation room exit. “If you’d like to take that tour now, we can get started.”

  “Just making friends everywhere you go,” Remmy whispered as they followed several steps behind the Minister and her entourage.

  Liara fixed him with a warning expression. She knew the role Freeground wanted her to play. They were obviously hoping for a gentle handed, meek diplomat who wanted to attend light hearted gatherings where she could meet the socialites of Freeground Nation. Liara almost wished she played along with the first representative they sent, she would have at least have seen more that way, even if it was only what the government wanted her to see, but it would have been more than she had to show for her time than she had.

  “Here we go,” the Minister said, regaining a little of her levity as they entered a long transit car that looked recently refurbished. The soft seats, unscratched paint and shining metal floor were in distinct contrast to everything else she’d seen. Freeground Alpha amazed her by how much wear and tear it showed while every device operated well as far as she could see.

  “Did Freeground see much tourism before you had to leave your sector?” Liara asked. It wasn’t something she wanted to know, but it was the most obvious way to start dialog with the Minister.

  “That’s one of the myths about Freeground. While much of the public doesn’t like outsiders disrupting their daily lives, they’re not opposed to visitors. We’ve traded with ships originating from all corners of the galaxy just in the last three years alone. I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting several traders from outside our galaxy. All the meetings were a challenge linguistically, especially since two of the species who were eager to meet us were water bound, but we managed to communicate our good will to all of them. I’ve even been swimming with Cholids. The inside of their ship wa
s like an ancient underwater forest in miniature. They grew their food in all the non-business areas. I was constantly getting lost, something they found amusing, thank goodness.”

  “What were they here to trade?”

  “They had a load of heavy metals, some of which we’ve seen few samples of, and if memory serves they wanted water and several types of vitamin rich protein solutions. I was able to find someone aboard who knew how to make them before the Cholid captain’s deadline. We couldn’t show them much of our station though.”

  The transit car accelerated around the outside of the station before turning inwards. Old yellow and green lights along the transit tube walls flashed by faster and faster. “What did they think?”

  “Of what they could see? They said it was boring, to be honest, but what do you expect from a race who comes from a living underwater habitat? I’m sure you’ve seen some interesting things since travelling to Haven Shore. What is that like? I hear it’s on a tropical island.”

  “It is. The island is part of an attempt at a complete terraforming project. They left behind a forest complete with birds, primates, large and small feline species, and more than I can go into. Here’s a report, there’s video footage from hundreds of pickers.”

  “Pickers?”

  “Oh, one of the main occupations of Haven Shore residents. They go into the jungle for several days at a time in protective suits that limit the amount they contaminate the environment and keep them safe from most injuries. While they’re there they pick ripe fruit, vegetables, and take samples. Most of the samples we find that can produce medicines and useful compounds are replicated artificially so they can keep developing in the wild. A lot of our food comes from pickers.”

  “It sounds like a hard life,” the Minister said, checking her slender silver wrist unit as the report on Haven Shore was received.

  “Not at all. It’s manual labour, sure, but I’ve been out there for two days. I really enjoyed being with the group, deep in the jungle. Most of them do four days, get three days off to enjoy Haven Shore, and then repeat. They stay in family groups if they like, and most of their neighbours when they get back to the city are part of their picking group.”