Alutia Rising

by Craig Gerttula

  Trent burst through the opening and into the darkness, freezing as his mind returned. Too late he realized his mistake; the darkness completely enveloping him as the opening vanished, blocking the only light...and his only escape. Panic set in and he began seeing horrors attacking him from every corner, his eyes wide with sudden terror...his wounds forgotten. A white flash filled the room and something struck him, his body suddenly going limp, falling to the cold floor. Trent heard the skittering of the beast and in his mind's eye could see it hovering overhead, ready to devour his limp form. One thought filled his being as another white flash struck and his mind began to fail him...finally...it's over.

  *********

  The exquisitely crafted shuttle started its ascent, having cleared the landing pad on the roof of Tidelia Castle, the only home Sasha had ever known. It rose slowly, passing through the ever-present white mist, causing it to ripple off the hull and flow past the viewport like tiny waves, reflecting the sunlight in a prismatic fashion. Sasha sighed, trying to memorize the hazy view of the colorful landscape, hoping that one day she would be able to return to this beautiful world where she was raised.

  A small figure appeared on the landing pad far below and she immediately knew who it was, even at the increasing distance. Sasha forced the tears away, trying her best not to cry again, the emotion filled goodbyes still fresh in her heart. Tiana peered past her, her trembling revealing that she could no longer control her own tears, even though she tried so hard, having promised her mother, Countess Liana, when they said their final goodbyes. The figure faded from view and Sasha cradled the sobbing Tiana in her arms, turning her gaze on the interior of her private shuttle and her unknown future.

  Tiana's tears finally began to subside as her breathing slowed and her eyes closed...she was asleep. Sasha carefully pulled her hand free from the younger girl's vice like grip and fell back into her thoughts.

  The large, ornately decorated shuttle was the first of what she was sure would become many gifts from her parents. The creation of a new duchy was no small feat, in both cost and political capital, for any established galaxy. But her father was able to succeed without angering the ruling nobles, which she found very impressive. However, the hardest part still lay before her, the colonization and construction, with a monetary and material cost that would be staggering. Luckily, Sasha knew royal gifts would help fill many of the initial gaps.

  She stretched as she rose to her feet, gazing with steady emotions around the interior of the shuttle for the first time. There was only one word she could think of to describe the sight...extravagant. Red rose silk from a far off galaxy covered the cushioned seats at a cost beyond what Sasha could possibly imagine. Golden tassels fell at intervals, outlining the edges and ending with gems the like Sasha had never seen. A strange metal, that seemed to be infused by a red rose, lined the red carpeted isle between the rows of seats. Programmable matter art covered the walls, displaying strange creatures moving through a vast forest, then shifting to a white mountain covered in mist...it was breathtaking.

  Sasha gently inched around Tiana, trying not to wake her, and casually walked past the rows of empty seating, admiring the interior while approaching a crested door with a ceremoniously dressed guard standing at attention.

  "Your Grace." the guard said while he gave the noble salute, the crossing of the arms in front of one's chest, and with a flourish, opened the door.

  "Thank you..." Sasha paused, having already forgotten the name of the man who had been introduced during the emotional goodbyes.

  "Knight Captain Seb'Losh, Captain of the Alutian Guard." said Sir Seb'Losh, not fazed by the need to reintroduce himself, while continuing to politely hold open the door.

  She always found it refreshing when a noble chose a position within the military, as she knew Sir Seb'Losh had done based on the title of Knight before his rank. Most nobles would never think of sacrificing their noble living stipend for the good of the NHA, as Knight Officers were required to do. She'd spent her life surrounded by traditionalists, except for Tiana and Lady Liana, who believed any sort of work was below them, to only be performed by the lower classes...which disgusted her. Seeing Sir Seb'Losh looking at her curiously, she stopped her train of thought, and nodded her thanks.

  She started through the door, stopping midstride as she noticed the colors and crest of his uniform for the first time. The doublet and pants that the Alutia Guard wore were a dark red, similar to a rose, and identical to the coloring used throughout the interior of the shuttle. The guard's undercoat, gloves, and boots were black, making the dark red even more pronounced. On his breast was a crest, the same as what adorned almost everything on the shuttle, a silver tiara wrapped in a rose vine with three blooming roses forming a triangle at the tiara's edges and peak. The background was a spiral galaxy, colored a rose red with swirling, star speckled black arms.

  "Sir Seb'Losh, may I gather that you are wearing the colors and crest of my new Duchy?" Sasha asked in a quizzical tone. Sir Seb'Losh let slip a look of surprise, but quickly recovered with a trained professionalism.

  "Yes, Your Grace. I was under the impression that this design was of your choosing?" Sir Seb'Losh responded with genuine interest.

  "Ah...that would be my mother. She has always had a fascination with roses and I'm sure my father was more than happy to oblige her free reign over my new duchy's colors and crest." Sasha said with a slight melancholy in her voice. The dislike she'd originally felt over the use of red roses and opulent luxury faded slightly when she realized it must have been a gift from her mother, Lady Vahna, the Queen.

  "Since I gather you or another Alutian Guard will expect to be around me at all times, being your duty, I would like to set aside a moment to discuss my protection and what I deem appropriate. It took me quite a long time to convince my guards on Tidelia that I have no need to be constantly babysat." Sasha said with a slight hint of amusement barely hidden behind her commanding tone. Her favorite pastime on Tidelia had been finding ways to escape her ever present protectors and watching with girlish delight as they would scurry through the castle, trying to locate her.

  "It is as Your Grace commands. But until said discussion, I will continue my duty of protecting Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia as is my vow as her Guard-Captain." No smile or amusement showed on Sir Seb'Losh's unemotional face as he made his pronouncement, giving Sasha the feeling that he would not be as easily defeated as her guards on Tidelia. She nodded again, hiding a smirk, and proceeded through the door, taking slight amusement in the fact that he followed her through, coming to attention on the side she had entered.

  A small, curving balcony greeted her that extended over the shuttle's bridge. She recognized it immediately as a much smaller version of the fleet command deck usually located on larger NHA starships, which provided the fleet commanders and staff officers an area to operate separately from the starship's crew. It also allowed the fleet commander the ability to discreetly supervise the starships operations. There were some major differences however. The standard fleet command deck would have rows of staff officer stations running parallel to a giant combat information display, or CID, allowing them to perform their duties effectively. The fleet commander would be oriented at the head of the CID, allowing full view of their staff officers, the CID projection, and the starships bridge. On NHA super-capital ships, which she was familiar with since they would escort her on the twice yearly journey to Planet Vn'Oco to visit her parents, the fleet commanders chair was mobile, allowing it to hover over the massive three-dimensional battle space displayed by the enormous CID. Sasha's command deck was less complex, since the size was significantly smaller, and she couldn't think of any plausible situation that she would actually command a fleet in battle from this location.

  She walked gracefully towards the chair in the center of the deck, constructed with her crest as the backing and rose colored metal vines wrapping around the arms and legs, with ruby roses blooming throughout. Shaking her head with a f
rown at how ostentatious the chair must appear to others, she suddenly thought of the joy it must have given her mother to design, causing her frown to vanish and a smile to take its place.

  In front of the chair, was a very small CID, a meter by a meter...big enough to display a decent sized depiction of the surrounding space, but too small to show all the surrounding starships and their status, which was standard on the larger CID's. On the right side of the chair, peeking out from just under the armrest, was the small half circle of a irradiated particle display unit input station that would allow her to access the CID controls through the use of floating icons.

  Satisfied that she'd taken in everything the deck had to offer, she quietly accessed her BC node, reaching out for a biological access point, or BAP, in range and quickly stumbled across a private terminal set into the back of her chair that allowed only her brain frequency access. She queued a request for information on her new duchy, thinking it may be a good idea to become familiar with her new duties as soon as possible. But as the restricted topics started flowing into her mind, she decided to wait until another day to fully explore them. Reports such as, Alutia Duchies Minable and Tradable Resources, Habitable Planet Locations, and Defensive and Fleet Requirements, required a little more preparation to fully enjoy. She moved on, accessing her private messages, finding nothing of interest besides a short note from her older sister, Lady Valia, who had married for love and now traveled around the universe as the wife of an explorer. Not the most prestigious life, but the excitement of exploring was second only to combat...or so Valia had told her.

  Sasha filed the message away, planning to reply when she'd settled in, and proceeded to sit in her chair of roses, finding it surprisingly comfortable. Before she had a chance to do anything else, six two-dimensional images appeared, at arm’s length, in front of her. Sasha quickly scanned her surrounding and found another PDU recessed in the ceiling, which handled the current projections. Glancing at each image in turn, she found six saluting crewmen who were, she realized, the six officers sitting below her command deck, on the bridge.

  "Your Grace, let me and my officers welcome you to your private starship, the NHA Shuttle ABF Princess One. I am Flight Captain Jeb'Tol." The old, white haired man shown in the topmost projection said as he and the rest of the crew lowered their salutes.

  "We will be clearing the Tidelia gravity well shortly and will rendezvous with the Alutian Battle Fleet escort, commanded by Knight Admiral Bhool, within the hour. We will then make way to the Tidelia SJS Gate hub and on to the Vn'Oco Kingship...which should take a little over two weeks." Flight-Captain Jeb'Tol finished his report with a second salute.

  "Thank you for the greeting and update, Flight Captain. It is a pleasure to be on such a fine vessel." responded Sasha with the voice of authority she planned to use as much as possible. She paused briefly, pushing away a jet black lock of hair that fell across her forehead.

  "Flight Captain, I am unfamiliar with this shuttle design. Are all private shuttles this opulent?" Sasha asked, continuing to push at the lock that refused to stay in place.

  "No, Your Grace...this shuttle is special. Unfortunately, I must return to flight operations, we are still working a few kinks out of the system and I'd like to be prepa-." The Flight Captain suddenly froze. Sasha realized her face must have shown some surprise when she heard the word...kinks. Jeb'Tol quickly continued.

  "The kinks are nothing major, of course, just some minor fluctuations in the NSD core and weapons systems. Both well within fleet operating limits. But this is Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia's private shuttle and even the most minor, inconsequential fluctuation is taken seriously." He was good, Sasha realized as the Flight Captain finished his recovery. It's never wise to make your patron feel unsafe and Jeb'Tol recognized, and recovered, quickly from his minor foible.

  "I understand, Flight Captain, and I am very relieved to have such a capable crew to run what appears to be a very fine vessel." Jeb'Tol let slip a small smile and a few of the other officers faces were grinning openly.

  "You are very kind, Your Grace, I will let Flight Supply Officer Xin'Eir provide a more thorough explanation of the shuttles features...if it would please you?" said the Flight Captain as the image on the bottom right quarter of the screen, showing an attractive, sharp faced young woman, moved next to the image of Flight Captain Jeb'Tol.

  The face of the young lady was filled with utter fascination and uncontrollable fear most likely born by suddenly being thrust into a situation she was not prepared. Sasha, seeing this immediately, decided to take steps to alleviate her understandable concern.

  "That would be fine, Flight Captain. In reverence to you and your crew I will move my discussion with Flight Supply Officer Xin'Eir to a private channel. I would not want to be the one responsible for you missing the appearance of a kink or unexpected fluctuation." said Sasha with a hint of humor. She waited for the officers salutes to fall before closing the open channel and transferring Flight Supply Officer Xin'Eri and herself to an encrypted, private channel.

  Xin'Eir was still uncomfortable, Sasha noted, as she tried to think of the best way to calm the young woman. But the young Flight Officer suddenly started speaking, most likely taking Sasha's silent thinking as impatience for her to begin.

  "Yo..Your Grace-." She started with a stutter before Sasha quickly cut her off.

  "I would like you to call me Sasha, Xin'Eir." asked Sasha in a friendly tone.

  "Your Grace, I could never do that! It would be disrespectful!" Xin'Eri finally found her voice, but Sasha had already made up her mind.

  "Xin'Eir, I do understand that you do not want to be disrespectful...but since I am the one requesting you call me Sasha, there will be no disrespect. I get tired of the ceremony, especially when I'm involved in a normal conversation!" Sasha raised her voice slightly at the end to further substantiate her point to the young Flight Supply Officer. Looking down slightly, Sasha had a sudden thought of her guardian's pet vordian being complacent after being scolded for eating the neighbor's pet clitin. Suppressing a sudden urge to laugh, she waited for a response.

  "Yes, Your Grac-" Sasha raised her eyebrows. "Sasha..." It was barely audible, but it was a start.

  "Good, now, please tell me about my private shuttle." said Sasha casually, in a similar tone she used when talking with a good friend, letting all command and authority exit her speech.

  "Yes, Your Gr....I mean, Sasha. I'll bring up an image of the shuttle so you can follow my explanations." The image of the space surrounding the shuttle on her CID blurred, and transformed into a perfect three dimensional representation of the ABF Princess One. The starship was of a rectangular shape, standard for all NHA vessels, tapering slightly in the front. Rows of small thruster tubes jutted out of the rear of the starship, while the smaller tubes of the maneuvering thrusters ran down each edge. The large crest of Alutia was plastered on each side of the otherwise smooth starship. Xin'Eir continued.

  "The NHA Shuttle ABF Princess One accommodates up to 50 passengers and has a current crew complement of 17, with a battle crew of 21. The shuttle is 75 meters long with a height and width of 25 meters respectively. In reference, a standard Emperor Class shuttle is less than 50 meters long with a height and width of 15 meters. This shuttle has two decks...the top deck contains a small engineering section in the rear..." An area was highlighted showing where Xin'Eir was referring, a very small section of the top-rear of the rectangular shaped vessel.

  "... the Grand Duchess's..." Sasha decided to let this slide. "...private apartments and seating area are towards the bow from the upper engineering bay..." Sasha assumed she meant front, based on the now highlighted section of the upper deck of the shuttle being displayed.

  She quickly took an inventory of what would be her home for the next six months. There was a large bedchamber and private washroom, which she knew must be hers, with two smaller adjacent bedchambers that were probably meant for her ladies-in-waiting, at the rear of the apartments. A wid
e hallway led forward from the bedchambers, through the middle of the apartments, with all the rooms a noble lady requires lining each side, such as a dining hall, sitting room, meeting room, general washroom, and servant's quarters.

  In front of the main area of her apartments was a section simply labeled, Alutia Guard Barracks. It was obvious that this was where her ever present protectors would be quartered, and the idea that she would have to pass through the guard barracks to explore her starship caused her a slight bit of irritation.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Knight Captain Seb'Losh, whose faced looked distant, a sign of using his BC node. Leaving a quick note to herself to have her planned discussion with him as soon as possible, she glanced back at the image of the shuttle, noticing the small seating area she had just left and wondering about its purpose, deciding to interrupt Xin'Eir.

  "What is the reason for the seating area here?" She pointed at the image, hoping that Xin'Eir could see where she meant. Xin'Eir quickly looked down, then continued.

  "Ah...that is the area you and your companions must be during landings, takeoffs, and any emergency situations. Since so much of the shuttle has been converted for your private use, certain defensive systems are not uniformly effective. It was decided to create a...safe area...in the starship that would also double as an escape shuttle. In the event of the eminent destruction of the ABF Princess One, we can eject the seating area and you and your companions will be able to escape and rendezvous with friendly forces." The thought sent a shiver down her spine and her words escaped before she had a chance to think.

  "What about you and the rest of the crew, Xin'Eir? Does the bridge have a similar function?" The idea of her floating away safely while the rest of the crew was trapped, awaiting death, made her anxious.

  "Not exactly, Sasha..." The use of her name, not her title, brought a grin to Sasha's face, even with the morbid question in the air. "...there are escape pods in addition to the small ferry shuttle. The crew should be able to escape if we have sufficient time." Sasha noticed the small smile vanish from Xin'Eir's face. It was a rarity to have enough time to reach an escape pod in combat, and survivors from destroyed starships were rarely found. Sasha decided to move on from this less then upbeat topic.