by Jay Toney
"I will make module 57 available to you. There are plenty of deer to hunt, and the crops ready to harvest. May I assume we have a deal?"
"You have a deal."
I took his hand and shook it, binding the deal. "When we get back to the Persephone, I will ask for and send any volunteers to help in addition to the promised Keshian assistance."
We spent three weeks hunting, and harvesting crops, in habitat module 57. During that time the volunteers had made a lot of progress. Cannibalism had all but come to an end. Word spread fast after a few public examples were made. Watching the executions was mandatory for the inhabitants. Anyone who failed to show up, was forced to join the condemned. The deaths were intentionally made slow, and as gruesome as possible. The crowds of people, forced to watch, begged for a quick end to the condemned. No public execution needed repeating, in any city which they were held in.
The people were busy, cleaning and repairing their cities. It didn't take them long to realize that if they didn't work, they wouldn't eat. All broken glass, furniture, and litter were in the process of being gathered and placed into collection bins.
Twenty-seven volunteers joined the six Keshian volunteers. They were made up of the refugees from Callisto II. Before I let them leave to join the ringworld engineers, I asked why. I wanted to make sure it wasn't because of how they were treated since being rescued. Every one of them gave the same answer. When they were in need, someone came to their aid, giving them a second chance at life. This was their way of returning that favor. They wanted to help give the people of the ringworld a second chance at life.
"It is a noble choice that they have made, sacrificing their comfort to help strangers. It reminds me of another who has done the same," Persephone said.
"Who was that?"
"You, of course."
With the volunteers relocated to the ringworld and our ships full of provisions it was time to leave. I contacted Nugget with my neurochip. "Nugget lets get out of here. Set course to Sigma Luminae."
When the fleet signaled its readiness, we jumped to hyperspace.
War Games
Swarms of ships surrounded our fleet. They were small, fast, and highly maneuverable. Our ships fought to fight off the hundreds of fighters attacking our ships. They were inhumanly maneuverable, evading our best efforts. Even the Keshians were struggling to defend us.
****
Jazz struggled to match maneuvers with his target. The sudden changes in direction the ship he pursued was inhumanly, or Keshian, possible. That meant drones, and whoever was flying them was very good.
"I got one," Tav reported. That only increased Jazz's frustration. He was the squadron leader and hadn't shot one of the drones down yet. He fired off a random burst of gunfire to relieve his frustration. The drone maneuvered to evade his shot, flying right into his weapons fire destroying it.
It was a lucky shot, but he accepted it. Luck played as much of a role as skill did in combat. That is how he came to be a part of Nathaniel's fleet. The captain had scored a lucky shot against him, winning a challenge. Jazz adopted a new tactic for the next drone. Instead of firing directly at the target, he randomly fired to the left, the right, above, or below the target. He expended more ammunition, but he was rewarded with frequent kills. He passed this new tactic onto the other defending fighters. Drone after drone was destroyed. Not from the skill of the defenders, but by random chance, and luck.
The drones evaded the Keshian and Vorg gunfire, flying into the path of their random gunfire. The direction of battle turned. The drones were now the prey being hunted by Nathaniel's fleet and its fighters. With defeat in sight, the drones vanished into hyperspace.
****
"Jewel, recall our fighters." The newly installed force field projectors made launch and recovery of the fighters much easier. The shuttle bay didn't have to be depressurized when the fighters were launched or recovered. The fighter pilots no longer to wait for all the other ships to land before the shuttle bay doors were closed, and the hangar pressurized. They could exit their craft immediately after landing now. The Vengeance was in the process of having the new force fields installed in its hangar deck. The Valkyrie and the Sequoia would be next to get the new force fields. Beverly's ship already had working force fields, but they were not nearly as efficient, requiring multiple layers which consumed much more power.
We no sooner got our ships recovered and serviced before we were under attack again. This time by manned fighters and freighters. They were raiders. We launched our fighters again to deal with this new threat. The attackers were unskilled, even clumsy. They flew straight at our fighters, firing. Our fighters easily evaded their assault and engaged them. It wasn't even a contest. With most of the ships destroyed, the freighters fled escaping into hyperspace. The few remaining attackers surrendered and were escorted to my ship.
I took a transport car to the shuttle bay to interrogate the prisoners. Jazz had them lined up and waiting. I was eager to meet our attackers and find out just what was going on.
They were just kids. What were children doing flying fighters? I was young when I first started doing raids. I was an exception, being naturally gifted to fly. I was also raised on a pirate ship, where all of my family and friends were pirates. It was the way of life for me.
I pointed to the prisoner who looked the oldest. He couldn't have been older than 14 standard years. "Who are you, and who sent you to attack us?"
"I'm Kevin. I am a level 4 fighter. This isn't how the game is supposed to be played."
"Game? This is no game. You attacked us without provocation. I hope you are ready to pay the price. Jazz place them in chains and irons. Use a storage room as a brig, and confine them."
"Wait, that's not how the game is played. You are supposed to return us so that we can play again."
"This is no game. You attacked us with drones, then came in to pick up the pieces. The rest of your pilots are dead. There are no more games for them. As for you, I hope you enjoy a life of slavery, hard labor is what you all have to look forward to for the rest of your lives."
"The drones were supposed to have made you defenseless. Somehow you cheated. The game master will deal with you. You all will be reset to level one."
"Take them away."
"Aren't you being a little hard on them? They're just children after all," Persephone's voice spoke in my mind.
"They are children playing a dangerous game without fear of repercussions. They don't know how to loose. I will teach them, and end their games."
I headed back to the bridge.
"Amber scan the system. Our friends must have come from someplace close by."
"Captain, I received a communications signal just before and just after the attacks. They were short burst signals, I am not able to decrypt them, but I have a point of origin. They came from the fourth planet."
"Nugget set course for the fourth planet. I have an appointment with the game master. He just doesn't know it yet."
"Is it really worth our trouble?"
"They sent drones to attack us with highly skilled controllers. The drones were meant to destroy our defenses. Then they sent children to pick up the pieces. We were supposed to be defenseless according to the captured pilots. They still believe this is a game, and that we will be punished for cheating by their game master."
"You intend to give them a lesson then?"
"I plan on teaching them about the repercussions for attacking my fleet without provocation,"
"That sounds like it may be interesting. Not as much as the ringworld, but still enough for a visit." He changed our course. Our new destination was Sigma Luminae IV. I was anxious to meet with this game master whoever he or
she was. I would personally see to it that the game was ended.
The Vengeance, captained by my brother in law, Red, took the lead. His ship was far more capable of dealing with any threats. The Vengeance was a battleship captured from the Alliance. It was heavily modified by our Iniguar friends, followed by the Keshians. It was possible that it was one of the most powerful ships remaining since the 100 years war with the Alliance.
Beverly, my sister in law, was next in the formation. She was captain of the Valkyrie, my former ship. The Valkyrie was a modified light cruiser. Her refit converted her from a warship to a private cruiser. She was designed for comfort, with pirating and smuggling in mind. While no longer a warship, she still had plenty of fight left in her. She had proven herself on several occasions.
The Falcon and the Gryphon flanked the Valkyrie. They were military scout ships, and capable of putting up a good fight. They were crewed by mercenaries, handpicked by Red.
We followed next in line. My new ship was a cruise ship. The Persephone was capable of defending herself against raiders, but was not designed to fight, and had no offensive weapons. Space was made in her shuttle bay for two squadrons of fighters, by eliminating some of the lifeboats, and transport shuttles. Our Vipers and Marauders were capable of dealing with most threats.
The Sequoia was dedicated to agriculture, she had few defensive and no offensive weapons. She carried six biodomes, half of them were dedicated to being forests. One hosted botanical gardens. The remaining two were used for food production. They had orchards filled with fruit and nut trees. They also had fields dedicated to growing a wide assortment of fruits and vegetables. It wouldn't be long before we could start harvesting them, making us more self-sufficient. We would be able to trade our surplus produce, rather than having to purchase food from the ports we visited.
In addition to the problem I was having with our recent attack, I had a more urgent problem to take care of. Persephone informed me about an outbreak of baby fever. It was mostly contained on my ship, but there were a few occurrences throughout the fleet.
Our Iniguar women were all pregnant. Beverly would have to deal with that. Nearly half of the women aboard my ship had their birth control implants deactivated and were now pregnant. Doc and Miranda were going to be very busy.
Worse, I overheard Jewel and Amber talking about wanting babies. They hadn't confronted me yet, but they would soon. I liked to practice baby making a lot. We all did. It kept our relationship healthy. But, I wasn't sure I was ready for the main event.
I already had two children with Amber's sister. I didn't have any choice, in that decision. It was entirely Beverly's idea. She got pregnant by me as a keepsake, thinking she may never see Amber or me again. Since then our relationship had improved. She is satisfied with Sultan as her husband and no longer tries stealing me from Amber.
"Captain, I'm detecting a missile launch, they have nuclear warheads on board," Amber reported.
"Raise our shields, point defense cannons to standby."
Red launched a couple of missiles of his own.
"Red's missiles are on the wrong trajectory, they're going to miss."
Beverly was next to fire a salvo. Red's missiles shot past the oncoming missiles, heading towards the planet. The missile's warheads separated, descending through the planet's atmosphere. Beverly's missiles detonated amongst the incoming threat, The inbound missiles were destroyed.
Red's missiles were never meant for the incoming missiles. We were able to see the flashes from his missiles detonating on the planet's surface. The yield from his warheads destroyed the launch complex, and about a 50-mile radius from it as well.
"Captain, we have an incoming transmission from someone calling himself the Game Master."
"Put it on screen."
There was no image, just audio. The voice sounded artificial, rather than coming from a human. "Welcome newcomers. You have completed the final level in War Games. You have been awarded level 12. Simulation complete. War Games will reset and begin in 48 hours."
That meant we had less than two days to stop the simulation and get out of here. Our ships entered high orbit. I would be taking Amber, Jewel, and Nugget with me down to the surface. I needed a computer specialist to join the landing party.
"Persephone, I need you to review our files and select the most qualified computer specialist we have aboard to join our landing party."
"What about me? Who is better qualified and more knowledgeable about computers than I am?"
She had a point. She appeared in front of us. She was no longer just an image unless she wanted to be. The multiple emitters I now wore as a pendant gave her a corporeal body when she wished.
"I will be coming along."
Why did women have to be so stubborn? Once again I was given no choice by a strong minded woman. She had proven herself as a valuable member of my team on the ringworld. There was no doubt that she would do so again. She had a point. As far as computers went, I couldn't think of anyone more knowledgeable than her.
Persephone seated herself in the copilot's seat. Nugget didn't say a word. He quietly sat down behind her. Amber took a seat next to the ships sensor suite, and I sat in the pilot's seat.
I rested my right arm on the seat's armrest and willed it to make the connection with the Marauder's computers. The tendrils extended from my arm again, this time under my control. They made the connection with the computers diagnostic port. There was no wait for reprogramming or flight control calibrations this time. I quickly cycled through the preflight checklist and started the engines.
The force field activated and the shuttle bay doors opened. I taxied to the runway and took off. The feeling of flying returned to me. It was as if I was the ship. I accelerated towards the planet, diving down into the atmosphere. The ship glowed, and flames covered the cockpit's viewport. I didn't need to see out the viewport. The Marauders sensors acted as my eyes, feeding their information directly to me.
"Your ability to learn and adapt is amazing Nathaniel," Persephone whispered in my mind, so as not to distract me. I leveled the ship, slowing down and began searching for a place to land. "I suggest this place," Persephone whispered to me again. The image of a city with a landing strip appeared in my mind with the coordinates.
I set the coordinates in my navigation computer, and changed our course, for the city. I circled the spaceport. There was no airborne traffic on our sensors. The control tower didn't challenge us, nor did they answer our call for landing clearance. I landed my Marauder and taxied to an empty parking spot. I shut down the engines and opened the rear hatch.
The tendrils broke their connection with the Marauders computer and retracted back into my wrist. We all got up and exited the ship. There was no one to greet us. We walked to the spaceports buildings. The repair shops and hangars all stood empty. The hotels and restaurants were also empty.
We walked past small dome shaped buildings who purpose I didn't know. A young couple emerged from one of the buildings.
"That game was the best ever. I earned enough credits to upgrade to a fighter pilot for the next simulation."
"I'm not going to waste my credits on that. I'm going to apply to be a drone pilot. That's where the action is."
They walked off continuing their conversation. We came across a computer directory. It gave directions to all of the housing centers in the area. A few were marked in green, indicating that they were occupied. Even fewer were marked in red, also occupied. Most were in black.
There were no directions for a computer center. When I queried instructions for the Game Master, all of the housing units lit up. I selected one of the houses nearby, it was marked in black. I hoped that it meant unoccupied.
The door to
the unit was standing open, ready to receive us. It was small, with just two recliners in front of a viewscreen. It was occupied, or at least it was.
The mummified remains of two people were still in the chairs. Intravenous tubes extended from the recliners armrest into the wrists of the occupants. A connection to a computer port was still plugged into the back of their necks. It appeared that the people sitting in the chair died while playing their part in the simulation. Nugget, Jewel, and Amber removed the bodies and laid them in front of the house. I took a seat, on one of the recliners, and willed a connection with the computer port.
"Nathaniel, be careful. We don't know what happened to the last occupants who sat here."
It was advice to be concerned about, but we needed to get in contact with the Game Master and end this simulation once and for all. We only had a little time left to do it in. A connection was made.
"Welcome to War Games. Simulation to begin 36:21:17."
"I wish to speak to the Game Master."
"I am the Game Master."
"You must end this simulation."
"The simulation has a 98.60% approval rate. The simulation will continue."
"I have only seen a few occupants in this city. Where is everyone?"
"Current census data shows population at 110,013. Most occupants are waiting for the simulation to begin."
Images of what I thought of as housing, were game centers. The game centers with green lights were occupied by waiting players. I knew what the blacked out game centers were now. They were game centers where the players died playing the games.
"What are the game centers marked in red for?"
"Red indicates terminally ill. Players will soon expire."
"What is the planet's population?"
The game center repeated the 110,013 population figure. Only a small percentage of the population was left alive to play the game. It wouldn't be long before the planet's population completely expired.
