Defenders of the Rim_Badlands

by Randal Sloan

  She turned to look at the Princess. "You know he manipulated the both of us so he could get me outside his chain of command so he'd be free to court me without any problems."

  "Oh yeah, I sorta figured that out," Jarra said as she gave Sasha a gentle smile. "I had already made my mind up before I met you that you weren't going to work out, despite John's manipulation of the two of us. You've got to understand, my team had just come together and I didn't want to interfere with what we had."

  She laughed. "Then I met you and I knew without a doubt I had to have you on my team."

  Sasha shook her head. "I was just as determined to find a way to get away from you."

  She laughed too. "Then I met you and I knew I would do anything in the galaxy for you." She gave her friend a hug.

  Amy had been feeling a little left out. Sara had that blank look on her face that told everyone she was working with her implants. The other two had a depth to their relationship that she wished she had with the Princess, something she was still struggling to get her head wrapped around.

  Then Jarra turned to her. "Hey, guys, you're looking at the newest member of my team, if she's willing to accept. Otherwise, she's going to get a promotion and move to the Dauntless as their navigator."

  She smiled at her new friend. "It would be safer to choose the latter. Just ask this bunch. I always seem to find trouble."

  Amy knew she had tears in her eyes but she didn't care. "Oh yes, I'm yours all the way. I just didn't think you'd have a place for me."

  It was her turn to get a hug from Jarra. Then Jarra leaned back out far enough to look at her. "You became my friend when I needed one on a ship full of people I didn't know, when you thought I was just a lowly lieutenant with only a couple months experience. Of course I want you."

  She waved a hand toward Galen, who was talking animatedly to the other guys. "For starters, you'll be our backup navigator. That one has to sleep occasionally. I know you have other skills too, so we'll keep you busy."

  Jarra studied her a moment, her thoughts going deep. "I also read in your file that you have a way with languages. I have this very strong feeling that we're going to need that soon."

  She looked at the others. "I haven't told anyone this, but I've been having a lot of strong feelings lately, call them premonitions if you will, and so far they're all coming true."

  The others just stared at her for a moment, so she went on, "I lost my mother at a young age, but I think she had this too. I'm guessing it's passed on mother to daughter, so I guess my own daughter will have it too."

  She smiled at Amy. "So my latest premonition is that we'll be traveling to Borjon soon and this one is going to be a big help in learning to communicate with them. She's going to be awesome, in fact."

  They all looked at Amy, who was becoming a little uncomfortable with all the scrutiny. Just then the guys all gave a big laugh at something Jason said, causing Amy to notice. "Has Jarra told you guys about her and Lieutenant Commander Jason yet?"

  Sasha smiled. She could use a little distraction to keep the Princess from asking so much about her and John. "No," she said. "Do tell."

  "Oh yeah, those two are quite an item." Amy said with a twinkle in her eye. "Dinner every evening, long walks on the observation deck, who knows what's next."

  Sara had just dropped back out of the implant search she'd been running. She heard all of Amy's details. "Do tell," she said.

  All of a sudden the center of unwanted attention, Jarra told them, "Like Sasha said earlier, I just knew he was special the moment I met him."

  "Still feel that way," she said as Jason came up to put his arm around her. She looked up at him, "Don't know where it's going, but we're taking what we have day-to-day right now."

  Smiling, Jason pulled his chair in beside her. They sat there for some time, talking with the group. Jarra felt quite safe with him there to hold her and for a few moments she was able to forget all the big things and enjoy her time with her friends.

  Unfortunately, there was still a big galaxy out there.

  #

  Eventually the conversation returned to their mission. Greg asked the question that some of the others had probably been afraid to ask.

  "What's this Badlands that you keep talking about? I've never even heard of it."

  Jarra looked around at the group but no one volunteered to answer. "The Badlands is a large area of space near the edge of the Galactic Empire. It's considered almost unnavigable. The few stars within are far apart and it's full of rogue moons and planets. Huge areas of energy storms that can wreck a ship.

  "No one knows how the area came to be. It was discovered long after man first took to the stars and for a long time, no one ventured near there. The few times ships did try to explore the area within, none of them returned. We believe the badlands are the result of some type of hyperspace explosion. Quite possibly some kind of space battle centuries ago; obviously, humans weren't involved since at that time we were probably still working with stone tools."

  She still could see the questions in his eyes. Having been there once, Jarra knew he would have to just see it in person to fully comprehend; nevertheless, she had Jynks pull up a view of it to display it on the table's 3D VR.

  "This is a recent hyperspace view of the Badlands," she told him. "Even modern 3D VR doesn't do it justice."

  They all stared at the view in front of them. It was beautiful yet horrific to look at. Bright colored energy streams swept across the entire area. The streams bent and curved in gigantic swirls; other areas, they seemed to twist and spin in giant whirlpools that ended in bright bursts of energy. Rogue planets, moons, and rock debris seemed to move at random throughout the area. Even a novice would be able to figure out the difficulties of navigating a ship in there.

  "It gets worse," Jarra told them. "We still don't know why, but those rogues reflect a physical existence into hyperspace." Jarra saw that Galen and Amy immediately recognized the significance of that statement. Knowing the question that would likely follow, she went on, "Yes, even the smaller debris that normally we can ignore reflects there and a collision could be catastrophic."

  "But do they propagate all the way up to the delta and epsilon energy levels?" Gabo asked.

  Jarra shook her head. "I don't know that. The view you're looking at only reads up to the gamma level. Hyperspace theory says it should be impossible at any level. It all goes back to the universe being basically flat. The only theory I've seen that makes any sense is that the Badlands is an actual distortion of the fabric of space so that locally the universe is not flat in that one area. You can see how that opens up a lot of possibilities. For example, a hyper jump capability to travel immense distances in an extremely short time by short-circuiting the fabric of the universe temporarily."

  "As to your question, my guess is that nobody's ever scanned the area at those levels since our hyperspace engines aren't powerful enough to take us there."

  Gabo gave her a smile. "Our modifications to the Katarina's engines should allow us to go to that level. Based on what you've told us so far, I believe we'll be able to navigate the Badlands to some extent. As a side effect, it should double our shield strength and allow us to fire our beam at twice the power we expected."

  "You have been busy," Jarra said, looking back and forth at her team. She turned to Amy, who had her mouth hanging open. "Didn't I tell you my team was the best?"

  Amy still couldn't believe what she'd heard. She looked at them in wonder. How could these brilliant people ever want me around?

  Gabo smiled at Jarra. "Anyway, we believe that at the higher hyper frequencies, beginning with the delta level and higher, we can not only navigate the shoals of the Badlands, we should be able to do so at a much higher speed than previously experienced."

  "How?" Amy had to ask. "No one has overcome the power curve."

  "We have a special reactor," he told her. "But it's more than that. That one," he pointed to Sasha, "figured it out. If we apply a feedba
ck loop to channel the energy excess from hyperspace, we can use it to supplement our power." He went on, seeing the surprise on more than one face, "It's not free. We have to have an equivalent amount of power to balance the effect and we have to have extra cooling, but it's pretty amazing."

  "Just how much power are you talking about?" Jarra asked. She'd already known some of this, but not what they'd done since she left the ship.

  Gabo answered that one. After all, he was the one managing their reactor. "More than what you saw in that horrendous monitor ship of theirs. Short of those crazy aliens that won't talk to us, more than anyone else we've encountered in the galaxy. To match them, we've just got to figure out a way to scale up. We don't think their stun weapon will shut us down either."

  Then Galen said the words that floored them all. "If our hyperspace engine upgrades work in the Badlands, it's possible it will allow us to navigate around their crazy barriers."

  It was Jarra's turn to sit with her mouth open. Finally, she closed it. But just like she had her feelings about the Badlands, she sensed someday in the future they'd be talking with those aliens. Either Jarra, or possibly her daughter, the daughter she didn't have yet. The one that would help fulfill those prophecies that supposedly pointed to her and her future daughter.

  #

  Their little impromptu party lasted for several hours. Jarra only had to remind everyone once of the need to keep the drinks to the level their implants could compensate. Plus, the bar served great food, one of the things not known by very many. But after all, the group this bar catered to was different from most. They had all seen enough in the galaxy and faced life and death challenges enough that their idea of fun was a lot different from your average Marine.

  The group spent the night in the hotel suites arranged for by Jarra, the girls in one set of rooms and the guys in the other. For Jarra, it was a chance to spend a couple of days like a normal person and she'd found it to be quite an experience. It all started the next day with a girl's day shopping.

  Jarra had been surprised to find that Sigmus Station had an area that catered to females and their shopping habits. Anything to separate you from your money. She had known the basic data statistic that said nearly twenty-five percent of the Space Forces were female, but it had never occurred to her that anyone would care. With Jarra's virtually unlimited funds, the girls all had quite a bit of fun.

  Greg and Maze had insisted on going with them and Jarra knew they were right to do so, especially after the incident with Mad Dog. She finally ended the shopping trip when their obvious misery became more than she could take. Nevertheless, the girls had great fun.

  Jarra also got to spend a lot of time with Jason and that had been fantastic. Mostly they'd just held each other close and talked. Jarra finally had someone with whom she could share all her concerns and problems without the need to keep herself apart, a burden that due to being a Princess was just always something she had to bear.

  But finally it was time to once more go their separate ways. To gain the time they needed, the Katarina had to get a head start on the way to the Badlands. Jarra gave them each a big hug before she let them go, but she saved Sasha for last. After that last hug, she pulled Sasha to the side for a moment.

  "Sasha, I know you're outside your comfort zone, but you're doing a great job. I'm sorry to tell you it's going to get harder before it gets easier, but we have to do our part in this time of need. You're going to have to persevere. The only advice I have is to let the guys push the envelope as far as they can, but you've got to rein them in if they try to go too far. That's a fine line, but when your instincts start screaming, that's the time to pull back."

  She looked around to make sure none of the others were listening. "There's one more thing I need to tell you. I have a strong premonition that things are going to get really bad for a little while, but you have to stay with the plan I've given you. At some point the team is going to want to rush off after the Admiral, but I'm going to need you to hold your position."

  Then she said the words that Sasha would wonder about for the next several days until to her horror it came true. "Somehow, I have this very strong feeling that I'm going to need rescuing."

  #

  Captain Michael Alexandrai of the merchant ship Avalon had finally arrived at the location for the Merchant Gathering. One of the few times he could actually relax, Michael had enjoyed the festivities the first couple of days even though his thoughts never strayed far from his brief conversation with his daughter. He tried to dwell on the positive aspects of their discussion, remembering just how happy she seemed to be, but his thoughts kept going back to the rest of it.

  He had reviewed the data she'd given him, wondering again about her declaration that she could only give him the parts that weren't classified. How had she managed to get such high contacts within the Imperial Intelligence community? What he read was enough to scare him to death. There were a lot of holes in that data, but he was able to fill a lot of it in from his own experience out in the Rim.

  As a father, he was still worried about her, but when he put feelers out with his many contacts within the Imperial Intelligence community, the answers he got back were more than he'd expected. His daughter had high connections indeed.

  As the second day of festivities wound itself down, he began preparing himself for the upcoming Merchant Council meeting that evening. It was not going to be an easy meeting, with some of the council members likely to take some convincing of the realities of the situation. Part of the problem was that many of the council members had gotten too far from their roots, no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of their ships. Only the elevated loss of shipping in the Basil District was likely to get them to really listen.

  Before the Council session, Michael met with Troy McCarthy, the current council chairman and a very good friend. Michael had sent him an encrypted copy of his report and the data behind it so he could review it beforehand.

  "Hello, Michael, my good friend," Troy told him as they shook hands in greeting. "It's always good to see you. Even with 3D VR, it's never the same as being there, is it?"

  "No, and we wouldn't have that if the Merchants Council hadn't seen that real-time communication of information could be quite valuable. You had quite a lot to do with that being passed, as I remember."

  "Yes, but it's been your information that has often led to the income stream that has paid for those connections such that they've allowed us to keep expanding it. Speaking of which," Troy looked up at his friend in question, "how sure are you of what you've given me?"

  Michael wished he could tell his friend it was all going to be alright. "Unfortunately, I'm absolutely certain. It came straight from my little Sasha, who's managed to find her way to a special group within the Rim Patrol, apparently created by the Emperor himself." He smiled. He couldn't help but feel a little pride at that.

  Michael summarized what he had found out from his contacts. "They've already seen action with a rebel group, somehow defeating them easily despite the fact the rebels had a huge ship enhanced with alien tech. She also told me they were hunting the pirates themselves. I managed to get a quick scan of her ship and despite the fact it was barely the size of a corvette class ship, I was able to pick up evidence of quite heavy armament and power levels I've never seen before.

  "The real question is, how much do we want to let the Council know about? Can they handle it?"

  Troy had struggled with that question himself. "I worried with that one myself and I've finally come to the conclusion that it has to be all of it.

  "I did do a little prep work for you. I've talked with a few of our most influential council members and I've given them a head's up that we had some very serious issues to discuss. I also asked them to do their own research into the current situation. I suspect those that followed through now have a pretty good idea. Not that I think anyone else has a source like you do. Your daughter has become quite the treasure trove of information."


  Michael smiled. "She always was the best at getting to the root of it all. Give her a dump of information and she'd come back with a detailed analysis that was always spot on. She's just doing it at a higher level now, apparently for the whole Empire. Lucky for us, this one at least has worked out for our benefit."

  Troy shook his head. "It's pretty amazing. I wonder what all she's found that she didn't tell us."

  It was Michael's turn to shake his head. "I very much fear we don't want to know."

  Troy nodded. "You're probably right." He glanced up at a reminder from his AI. "It's time, my friend. Shall we go make history?"

  Troy led the way into the Council Chamber, stepping up to the podium. His AI had already negotiated a connection to the VR systems.

  The talk among the council members stopped almost immediately. Usually Troy conducted an informal meeting, allowing comments and interruptions from the various attendees. That was not going to happen this time.

  Troy spoke quietly but his voice was amplified across the chamber. "My fellow council members, I must break from our traditions tonight. I hereby declare this an Emergency Session, as you will all understand shortly. I give the floor up to our esteemed colleague, who has grave news."

  Michael stepped up to the podium. "I fear, our friends, it is the gravest news of all. Very few know what I have discovered, but I have the information to back it up. The Galactic Empire is currently at war. Even as we speak, a handful of our Galaxy's chosen are fighting to defend our Empire. We can only hope they are enough." He paused to let that sink in.

  The councilors couldn't help but react among themselves, but no one was able to speak to the group since Michael had not released the floor. After the internal discussion died down a little, Michael continued giving them details, backed by the information he'd been given by Sasha. By the time he finished telling them everything he knew, no one wanted the floor.