Panther and Giraffe

by Gregory Anderson

  19

  Hallbrook's office was located next to the bridge entrance and no one was guarding it so Zak and Giraffe walked right in while Dihr stepped on the bridge deck. Hallbrook was turned and looking at monitors. “Doesn't anyone have manners anymore, knock or....” He had turned and was momentarily speechless but recovered quickly. “Zak Johns, I thought you were dead and yet you here you are, along with a ghost, nicely done by the way.” Hallbrook was definitely on edge but covered it well, Giraffe locked eyes with him and said in that calm voice, “You stepped beyond the bounds of all that is decent when you bombarded Edahni, enslaved it's people and then, had the nerve to try and sell it to Cyrillium. Quite brilliant perhaps but now you will have to pay the price.” Zak reached over and touched her sleeve. “What she says is quite true, you will have to pay, she is 'done' with you.” Hallbrook was not amused and said,

  “You should be dead Zak, and your well made ghost also, but I am a businessman and will just say get out and do not, ever, come back, ever!” Giraffe did not even flinch at his intimidating tone “You and your ship, and Hanks ship will be departing shortly for Edahni where you will go and join your employees on the surface. That will be your new home, I hope you make the best of it, good day.” She spun and walked out with Zak following after a glance at Hallbrook with raised eyebrows. Dihr was waiting in the hallway and as they made to leave, she said, “Done” Giraffe said, “Panther lock down every door on this ship and then the airlock as we leave.” Panther returned a text, “Aye captain.” Hallbrook had just started screaming when they had left the ship. They stopped for a moment and Giraffe looked thoughtful, “Panther, lock down the other Federated ship then issue an order to both to prepare for departure to Edahni. Can you do that in Hallbrook's voice?” Panther texted back. “Excellent captain” Giraffe had a small smile on her face as she said. “Panther, execute pawn takes king..”

  The preplanned orders and their meaning was lost on all but professor Hicks who did know about the ancient earth game called chess. The two Federated ships would be departing for Edahni on voice command of 'Hallbrook' and he would remain in his office until reaching the planet. All controls would be locked out and all arms disabled. Once reaching Edahni they would voluntarily make for the surface. If they refused, life support would be shut down until they complied, then the two ships would join the other cold ships at the gray nebula. When they got back to the Panther captain Jings from the explorer ship was waiting for them. He was standing there at the docking tube looking at Giraffe and she said, “No I am not a ghost captain Jings, shall we go in and talk?” With that they moved on in and followed her to the galley and sat down. “What brings you to us Jings?” Giraffe asked, he replied, “I was here keeping tabs on Federated and when I heard you were making a call on their CEO. I was curious, to say the least. It is good to finally meet you in person.” “Yes, we have sent Federated to their new home on Edahni so any others you may encounter should be sent there also.” Giraffe stated. Jings paused for a moment before responding carefully, “How would I send anyone anywhere, I'm just the captain of an exploration ship?” He turned and looked at Zak curiously. Giraffe replied, “Both you and Zak are much more than you seem and we can leave it at that, please make sure that the two ships that recently departed for Edahni end up with the others in the cold pile.” Giraffe had just given an order to the captain of another ship, she had been doing that lately and seemed to take it as her due.

  Jings did not question the order and never would. He said his goodbyes and moved on as Giraffe, Zak and Dihr went into the Panther. They were all more than ready, ready to finally get Zak's crew home. On the bridge Junes stood when Zak and Giraffe stepped on the bridge, she looked nervous when she said, “We have received word from the Cyrillium high council. “We are ordered to stay put until they can provide a proper escort to the home world, they estimate fourteen days.” Zak looked incredulous and Giraffe just shrugged her shoulders, ”Did they ask for a reply?” Junes was silent for a minute. “They did request that captain Zak Johns confirm at his earliest convenience.” Giraffe considered this for a moment before turning to Zak, “We need to replenish our armaments do you have a location we can pick up a few things?” Professor Hicks smiled and said, “That's my Mindy, always thinking ten steps ahead.” Hart replied. “Third moon of Colusis Five.” He knew all of Zak's stash spots, and Zak confirmed, Yes, that should do, perhaps a bit much but then, we do not really know what may be between us and the home world.” Giraffe commanded, “Hart set course to third moon of Colusis Five, best speed, lets keep alert, an escort would not be offered unless they anticipated troubles.” No one said a word when Giraffe declined to reply to the high council. It would take a day and a half to make the trip, there were just to many obstacles in the way to execute a jump.

  The trip through the system was uneventful as they avoided the major traffic lanes. Where they had passed other ships the Panthers stealth allowed that they were undetected. The third moon of Colusis Five was surrounded by an asteroid belt with only a narrow passage to move through. Giraffe asked the new pilot to bring them through, the professor approved, Zak and Jane shuddered. Two pilots had rejoined the Panther and neither had much experience so this was an extreme test of capabilities. Giraffe as always was calm and encouraging and as they broke past the asteroids she said, “Go ahead and bring us down on the containers please.” She then turned and went to her quarters. The Panther settled roughly on the containers and the crew got busy with the tethers and pylons, the pilot got up, sweat pouring down and ran for the fresher. Giraffe came on the comms. “Attention crew, we will be taking a eight hour break so rest, eat and take care of personal things. We will be running hard all the way to the home world, captain out”.

  The high council met in a simple and clean hall with a long table in the middle where they sat on each side, those bringing business would sit on one end while the other contained an single ornate chair on a dais. The walls held portraits of past rulers and leaders with chairs below for guest and aids. On the end wall behind the dais was a large portrait of the first High Council leader. Cyrillium was rich with the history of ruling families and the joining of the worlds into one under one leader and council.

  The building was simple and clean lined so unlike the palaces of centuries past. The ornate chair and the surrounding open land were the only concessions to that past. Council was arguing, “I am concerned that we have received no reply from Zak, it was confirmed that he left Colusis Two station.” Another said , “I am inclined to agree but perhaps Jings is right and this Giraffe from beyond the nebula is in control now.” The chairwoman said, “This may just be Zak grandstanding again for one of his causes you know how he can be.” The industrialist replied, “If this is all some elaborate hoax it is a most convincing one, to claim that there is a gateway reaching one hundred twenty light years to a sentient race and, to bring back real proof.” Another added, “Yes, well, they will show up sooner or later and then, only then shall we see, until then enough talk, show the ambassador from Bentar in please.” And business went on. Cyrillium was still eighteen light years away but getting closer as the other new pilot lifted off the moon and navigated through the asteroid field.

  In the galley Giraffe was sitting down with others to determine the best route not only time wise, but also conflict wise. Some of the core worlds were not all that friendly and some were over-friendly requiring visitors to 'stay awhile, spend credits'. The best route was not the shortest by far but the one with the longest jumps out along the fringe. The big argument seemed too be the best way around the system inhabited by the Moog, as they did not allow anyone to pass. Little was really know about these short stocky human's or their heavy gravity worlds. They clearly preferred to be left alone. The only contact was a few trades going on with Cyrillium concerns and always on the edge of their territory. Giraffe had been quietly listening to all this when she asked, “Panther, how many jumps will it take to go straight across the Moog world
s?” This stopped conversation dead as they all looked at her in horror as Panther replied, “It will take two jumps, one in to just past the fourth planet and then a four hour thrust past two capitol worlds and then directly into the Cyrillium system. “Very well, let us plan on that with an alternative around the far side of the system.” Giraffe said and before anyone could speak she queried further. “Professor Hicks what is their language and who do we talk to?” Hicks replied, “According to records the Moog have no central government but each planet has it's own. They are all similar constitutional monarchies so we would only need to contact those whose space we would actually be in.” Zak spoke up. “That would be why no one has ever made any diplomatic inroads, no central government, but that still does not get us through!” Zak was frustrated by Giraffe's lack of understanding and the peril this would put them all in. Hicks suggested, “I believe that if Mindy sends a video message phrased correctly they will let us through.” Zak asked, “What would be the correct way to ask professor?” Giraffe answered instead, “It is not for me to ask, it is for me to tell the prime ministers what will be happening between their planets, they may not even respond.” Junes asked, “What if they object?” Giraffe did not answer just got up and smiled as she left for the bridge. Later, on the bridge Hart had just finished configuring a new display for the captain, it was control of the integrated containers they had picked up. Those containers looked like any other cargo containers but were actually loaded with missiles and rows of canon. They could be controlled independently or by the crew of Panther. As Giraffe walked onto the bridge and looked she said, “I just hope we do not have to use any of that. ” Hart chittered back,“I to, have no wish to unleash this hoard of destruction.”

  Giraffe understood every word without the benefit of a translator after their weeks together. She said, “I will be in my quarters trying to learn the Moog's language so no disturbances please.” Hart came back, “Yes captain but you may want to ask Dihr, she may be able to help on that.” It turned out that Dihr did know the Moog language from when she had worked for the Cyrillium embassy and it was a close cousin to old earth French. French was a language she Giraffe knew making learning Moog much easier. After two days of uninterrupted travel she was ready to record a message to the Moog. “Greetings, I am McCord, captain of the Panther and have traveled from beyond charted space, I will be traveling through your space for six hours along the listed coordinates on the listed times, be advised that I respect your privacy as much as you respect mine, let us not meet at this time.” This was the message that Hicks saw clearly as the best approach and Zak questioned, “Respectfully, captain, this does not make any sense to me, can you explain?” Giraffe explained in a way that would take Zak and Junes a long time to understand as it was a earth saying, “Two ships pass in the night, they both know each other is there, why would they wish to collide?”

  When the message was received by the prime ministers of the two Moog worlds they realized the coordinates lay between them and decided to discuss the matter. One said, “This is an honorable woman to notify us of their passage.” Two replied, “Yes, I agree, chances are we may not of been aware of the short passage but this eliminates any chance encounter, wise indeed” One raised a question with a single word “Kniagina?” And the Moog prepared.

  The Cyrillium high council was expecting the Panther sometime soon but had lost track of it's whereabouts, they were looking. To cross light years of inhabited space with virtually no contact would seem difficult at best. Panther was just an old style container ship so moving between jumps around the fringe worlds, she just did not stand out. What the Cyrillium and others expected was that the Panther would be on a direct route to the core on the regular lanes. They reasoned that the Panther would resupply and refresh along the way, so they were befuddled as to where she was. On balance, the direct route left for few jump points between systems and would take almost three times longer than the route they were taking,. The advanced algorithms that Giraffe had instituted into jump navigation made it possible for Panther to jump where no others could. The Panther was approaching Moog space and paused before making the first jump. Giraffe addressed the crew, “Attention, we will be jumping into Moog space, as always a series of automated commands have been programmed in case of problems so be prepared for a rough ride. However, I do not anticipate any problems here. We should take advantage of any non-invasive information we may be able to collect over the six hours under thrust. Based on what Hicks and Hart say we all can tolerate, we will be moving at two gee over dampers. That is all,captain out.”

  20

  The Moog ship had been waiting for almost a full day when the Panther appeared right on time and right in position, quite a feat for a long jump. Immediately they went quite and began observation at maximum range confident that their superior radar and scanning systems would leave them beyond the Panther's range. They would be invisible. The Panther saw the single ship the minute the jumped in because of what the Moog and others could not know, the earth born engineer had taken most of the alien technology and made significant improvements to it. Hart said, “Captain, we have a watcher.” Zak responded, “Anything else out there?” Hart replied. “Nothing else as far as we can see. And I would bet that they believe they are invisible'. They are moving parallel but slightly slower, might be there max thrust.” Giraffe came in from her quarters and Zak made to give her the captains chair. “Sit down Zak I'm just passing through.” She stepped up beside him, ”Panther prepare and record video message wide view, record; 'Thank you for the escort, McCord out.' Stop recording, send this message direct to that ship only a second before we jump out.” She moved off the bridge and went down to the galley. Junes and Hicks were in the galley having tea and talking about Cyrillium history. Junes was impressed with what the professor knew. “Panther has marvelous data banks and a great mind, she has taught me much.” “Thanks for the compliment dear.” replied Panther. Hicks was one of a few that she would respond to vocally and they sounded a lot like an old married couple when they talked. Giraffe had walked in and said, “Hicks, you can sweet talk her forever and I bet she still won't let you in her knickers!” June blushed and they all laughed, Giraffe had a way of keeping things on an even keel in stressful times. On board the Moog ship they had been following the Panther for some time, slowly falling back, “That old container ship should not be able to go that fast.” Said the captain and the navigator added, “They have to be exceeding dampers by ten gees at least, you have to admire their stamina.” The captain quietly watched the Panther move through space on the monitor, barely visible against the blackness. “She does resemble her namesake though, doesn't she.” Just then the comm officer piped up, “Message coming in from the Panther on direct, coming on screen now.” They all watched and listened as Giraffe spoke. “Thank you for the escort, McCord out.” And the Panther jumped, the crew of the Moog ship was silent for almost a minute and then the captain said, “Amazing, they knew we were here the entire time. Then he added, “Probably slowed down enough for us to keep up, very well, send the report. Perhaps we will have another opportunity in the next few days, perhaps conversation, if appropriate.”

  When the Panther dropped in to Cyrillium space word reached the high council in no time. They were surprised by two things, how impossibly fast they reached here and how impossible it was to come from Moog space. The high council ordered the nearest official ship to 'move to escort the Panther home'. Meaning of course, the central home world. Admiral Byrd of the empire ship Gulden was closest and incensed when he was ordered to escort the Panther. An empire ship was Cyrillium's largest battleship with 120 guns and a crew of over a thousand, it was not, an escort ship. Nevertheless the Admiral had the Panther contacted and when it was put on screen he saw the woman with fiery red hair and emerald eyes and was speechless for a moment. Giraffe was looking back at him with a half smile on her face and said, “Admiral Byrd you contacted me, can you tell me what you want?' The admiral flushed
red before he got his voice and spoke, “Ah, yes, you are ordered to stay put until we can escort you to the home world.” Before he could say anything more Giraffe came back “Admiral we both know that it would be ridiculous for you to 'escort' a simple container ship so thanks for the offer but we will decline. Besides, that behemoth of yours could not keep up with us anyway, McCord out.” Admiral Byrd had just had just been vindicated by a fiery red haired woman and she had done it with grace. He was suitably impressed as he had a message sent to the high council 'escort refused'. He was also impressed when the Panther disappeared, again. On board the Panther, Zak, Junes and Hart were rolling with laughter that one of the highest ranking officers in the Cyrillium forces was refused. And even funnier, she had called his ship called big and slow, it was just too funny. They had just made a short, extremely precise jump that would cut their remaining travel time in half. The rest of the way would take just over five hours at maximum thrust. They had received clearance all the way to the Cyrillium home world space station. From there they would take a shuttle down to the surface.

  Ignoring multiple warnings the Panther did not stop at the space station opting for dropping into the atmosphere and to the grounds of the great hall directly. This caused quite a sensation, burned some grass and incensed some of the high council members. Giraffe had given the crew the option of being dropped off at the space station in order for them to go to their homes from there but all stayed. Saying that their first obligation was to their captain showed a loyalty that was beyond belief. It had been almost a year since Zak had dropped into the earth system. Giraffe had explained to the crew that this meeting was to arrange for the guarding of this side of the gateway and not a diplomatic mission. They were waiting for Panther to break through the security systems of the great hall. This stall was in order for the crew to listen in and get in if there was trouble. Panthers engines or systems would not go cold. Zak and Giraffe had barely walked into the great hall when questions started flying. They were all directed to Zak. “What treasure have you brought us this time?” “It is simply too much, even for you Zak, landing that ship here like that!” “You have disobeyed repeated commands....” “Really, who is this impostor....?”