Running With Argentine

by William Lee Gordon

  And it wasn’t all forms of energy. Kinetic energy posed no problems and even the bioelectric processes inside the human body weren’t affected. Electrical energy, though - everyday A.C. or D.C. current - couldn’t dissipate fast enough upon reentry. Therefore… boom.

  The solution was to create an energy dump.

  Immediately before reentry, all of a ship’s electricity was fed into the dump and ‘vented’ into Dreamspace. For a ship’s crew this typically caused a barely noticeable flicker of the lights. From the outside it created the now well-known blue light effect that accompanied all ships’ exit from that alien universe.

  Argentine was now realizing, however, that the Pelican’s technology was far inferior to what was common in this sector of the spiral arm.

  On the Pelican, the dump could only handle the energy of one system being dumped at a time. It was rapid; all of the ship’s systems could dump their energy within the blink of an eye… but it couldn’t happen simultaneously.

  Therefore, if an emergency exit was called for, the People’s Republic of Chezden’s ships just turned off.

  Apparently, everyone else from this region of space used dumps with no such limitations.

  But that wasn’t what was occupying Argentine’s thoughts at the moment…

  He needed to know why they’d made an emergency exit.

  ΔΔΔ

  After telling everyone to man their bridge stations he’d made his way to engineering as quickly as he could; he’d only stubbed his toe once along the way.

  When he burst into the engineering bay he was greeted with an unexpected scene…

  Rory was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his head in his hands.

  The chief was leaning up against the wall, quietly whistling some tune.

  "What's going on? What happened?"

  "Ah, here he is, Rory. I told you we wouldn't have to wait long."

  "Chief?"

  "Well, we had to make an emergency drop out of Dreamspace…"

  "Yeah, I get that part. But why? What's going on?"

  "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

  "Chief…" Argentine said with a bit of menace in his voice.

  "Okay, okay… The good news is that it's not anything serious, or at least not fatal…

  "It's my fault, really," he continued. "I knew that our maintenance protocols were stretched too thin but I thought I was still on top of it."

  Rory lifted his head and started to say something, but the chief went on…

  "Rory's going to try and take the blame but really, Frank, I can't let him. It's my responsibility and he's been working his butt off. He thought that I was taking care of the ionization field calibrations… And I should've been.

  "The long and the short of it is that we're adrift in deep space and we're stuck here until we can totally recalibrate the system.

  "The good news is that it shouldn't be a problem; it will just take some time."

  "How much time?"

  "Rory and I are the only two that are competent to work on it. Normally, it would take a team of five about two days. We'll do our best but to do it safely I'd say to give us six days."

  When Argentine didn't say anything the chief hesitated, and then pressed on…

  "On the other hand, it could be a blessing in disguise."

  Argentine cocked his head, listening.

  We could use the downtime to take care of all the other maintenance duties that I've been hesitant to do in port… You know, in case we needed to leave really quickly."

  "How much extra time would that take?"

  "Well, if the whole crew chipped in, not much. Maybe an extra day? Call it a full week to get everything back up and running so I don't lay awake at night."

  "We'll miss our deadline on delivering the ore," Argentine mused.

  In a much more animated way the chief said, "To hell with that! Go tell your redhead and the professor that if they don't agree to a new delivery schedule and pay us as promised we’ll just forget about dropping him off at Trinity along the way."

  Argentine raised an eyebrow. "I think you're onto something, chief. I'll do just that. In the meantime…

  "Do you think you could turn the lights back on?"

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Insight

  Adrift in Deep Space

  Rory and the chief were hip-deep in the ionization field calibrations.

  Sami and Barry were conducting a complete systems check on the ships sensors, and would then start on the computer maintenance.

  Lieutenant Stark and Gossip were EVA; they were conducting a thorough inspection of the ship’s hull and would follow-up with long overdue maintenance on the weapons systems.

  The Petulengro family had seemed eager to help and were surprisingly adept at repairing and cleaning food dispensers and other important, but nonessential equipment.

  Even the professor had gotten involved; he could be found in any number of the ship’s departments with a cleaning agent and a rag. There wasn’t much dust in space but control panels did get grimy. The showers and head also got cleaned so it seemed he was keeping himself busy.

  That left Argentine and Mandi.

  He hadn’t planned it so they’d be paired up together… not really. And the task they were undertaking was important.

  They were taking a complete inventory.

  Most Dirt Denizens don’t realize how important it is for ships to carry accurate inventories.

  It isn’t just for the accounting purposes associated with buying and selling cargo…

  For the most part, a starship is a closed system. On a long-haul military ship like the Pelican this is especially true. The only way that additional mass is added or subtracted from the ship is by taking on supplies in port or via the crew on shore leave.

  Every returning crewman is automatically weighed when returning to the ship and is, technically, required to fill out a property report detailing everything new they either brought aboard or left ashore.

  Argentine knew that it was possibly the most abused regulation in the Republic’s navy.

  Whether it was the chief sneaking his cognac and unauthorized spare parts, or the political officer giving private ‘tours’ of his living quarters and having ‘Top Secret’ items delivered to the ship, no one filled out the reports.

  Although he’d never seen it on the Pelican, he even knew of a ship where the crew liked to collect exotic pets.

  The reason that all this is important is because the mass of the Pelican is a critical factor in astrogating the ship through Dreamspace and, on a lessor scale, navigating through real space.

  Fortunately, the tolerances weren’t incredibly tight; the mass calculations could be off by a fair amount without creating significant danger. Still, Argentine knew for a fact that the ship’s inventory log still included equipment that they’d long ago traded away, so…

  “That makes for seven Anaphylaxis shock pens and three boxes of 500 count tongue depressors,” Mandi called out.

  “You know, an allergic reaction can kill you and you’ve only got seven pens. But boy, you’re sure prepared for an uncontrolled outbreak of sore throats…”

  This wasn’t the first time she’d commented on some absurdities in their provisioning and Argentine was doing his best to ignore them. She’d never experienced the People’s Republic of Chezden.

  She went on, "Explain to me again why we're doing this?"

  "I've told you; there are a lot of reasons."

  "Yeah, you talked about tracking volatiles and the importance of the computer analyzing all the possible chemical contraindications in our environment, but it's got to be more than that, right?"

  "Of course there's more to it. Sami needs to have good mass calculations and it's past time that we updated them."

  They had just finished with the medical alcove and were turning to walk up corridor towards the bridge when Mandi stopped in her tracks.

  "You're taking inventory to calculat
e the mass of the ship?" she asked incredulously.

  Argentine gritted his teeth but didn't say anything.

  An honestly perplexed Mandi went on, "Why wouldn't you just check the increased velocity after a controlled burst from the engines?"

  Still musing out loud she continued, "f = ma… Force equals mass times acceleration. You apply a known amount of thrust and it will equal your acceleration times X. It's a simple equation. Solve X and you'll know your mass down to 9 decimals…"

  Realization suddenly dawned on her…

  "You can't measure your thrust! This ship's engines are so low-tech that you can't get a consistent or reliable thrust!"

  Argentine couldn't be sure but it felt like he might be getting a little red in the face.

  When Mandi laughed, it was all he could take.

  "I'm glad you find us so backwards and low-tech. You must think we're barbaric, too. What I'd like to know is, if we are so hopeless why do you keep constantly tagging along with us?"

  Mandi had stopped laughing and was listening.

  "You know, not everyone that joins our crew thinks the Pelican is ready for the boneyard. She's a little old but she's a good ship, and everyone that works her knows that."

  After a moment of thought Mandi said, "Captain, I didn't mean to insult your ship. But let me ask you something… Have you ever been on any other ships in this sector of space?"

  "Well… No, I guess not. And I know that Asperia is a more advanced civilization, but Barry's experienced other levels of technology and he doesn't think we’re so backwards."

  "Actually, he does," she said. "I've even heard him complain about it."

  "Maybe, but not so much that he’s in a hurry to leave our crew."

  "If he's not wanting to leave, he's got other reasons. I promise you it has nothing to do who with wanting to pilot this glorious hunk of metal…

  "Okay, okay… Sorry," she said as she realized he was starting to rile up again.

  "Is there really that much difference in the Pelican and other ships that are in common use around here?"

  Mandi pursed her lips and then blew out her breath, "Yeah, there really is. You obviously now know about the engine and astrogation technology – they’re way ahead of where you're at. But it's more than that…

  "Your food preparation, your climate control… When I first came aboard I thought maybe your ship was still under construction, with all the exposed conduits on the ceiling and walls.

  "Look Captain, I'm really not trying to be offensive. Apparently this ship has served you and your crew well. It's just that… I mean, even your bathrooms are primitive."

  Somewhere in the conversation her voice had lost its taunting edge. By the time she'd finished Argentine realized that this was simply her attempt at being candid.

  After a moment, he spoke again, "Well, it's all the more reason that we need to keep a clean record and get off to a good start in an advanced society like Asperia. I don't know if you realize it, Mandi, but these are good people and they’re just looking for a good place to settle into."

  "And you can’t decide whether I'm helping or hurting that effort," she finished for him.

  When he didn't say anything she cocked her head slightly and then asked an important question…

  "What makes you think the Asperian Sphere would be a good place to settle into? What makes you think this is a good place at all?"

  ΔΔΔ

  "Are you saying it's not?" Argentine asked.

  "They say it used to be," she replied. "My dad used to tell me stories… They say that Asperia and her surrounding sphere of influence became the safest place in the known spiral arm.

  "Outsiders would hear the story of Asperia and flock here, wanting to start a new life. And they were welcomed…"

  "Huh? A few people have been friendly enough, but I can't say we've had much of a welcoming experience."

  "No. Things have changed."

  Intrigued despite himself, Argentine asked, "What happened?"

  In a less somber manner Mandi said, "That's the million credit question! No one knows, not really. From what I gather there used to be a real sense of pride here. People followed the rules because they were, well… fair. I doubt that it was ever a perfect utopia, but Asperia stood for something people believed in."

  "And what was that?"

  "Freedom. Freedom to live and let live. They say it use to be a place where even an orphan girl could grow up and do well for herself."

  "And it's not anymore?"

  She suddenly laughed.

  "Are you asking me if my sordid life is simply a result of the bad choices I've made? Are you suggesting it has nothing to do with the system being rigged and stacked against people?”

  Mandi paused in reflection…

  "Yeah, there are probably a lot of bad decisions involved in my personal situation… But I'm not trying to blame anyone else for my troubles. Things really have changed; at least if you believe my daddy and others about the way things used to be."

  After a moment of his own reflection Argentine said, "Back in the People's Republic of Chezden, we were always being bombarded with how great the Republic was, about how fortunate we were and how grateful we should be.

  "I think a lot of the masses fell for it. But you didn't have to serve in the Navy for very long to realize it was all propaganda. That utopia they wanted us to believe in didn't exist; it probably never existed."

  "That doesn't surprise me, Captain. From what I've learned about where you came from it sounds like it was a brutal regime. I never paid much attention, but when I did go to school they tried to teach us the histories of places like that.

  "I don't think that's the way it happened here, though.

  "We get our fair share of propaganda… The guilds promote themselves, the open societies are always advertising about the good they're doing with one cause or another, and of course the police and military have their own public relations arms.

  "So yeah, there are still a fair number of people that believe Asperia is a great place. But there are too many people around that still remember the way it used to be."

  "Mandi, I'm still not sure I understand what's changed?" Argentine said softly.

  "It's the military," she said. “You have no idea what's happened here."

  ΔΔΔ

  "I had my own run in with your military," Argentine reminded her.

  "So I heard," she responded. "But that's not really what I'm getting at…

  "Asperia has always been a loose collection of different factions. The guilds have their own interests; the open societies have theirs… And that’s always given us a kind of natural set of checks and balances that keep any one entity from getting too out of line."

  "You're leaving out the secret societies," he said.

  "Yes, and that's where most people think the problem is coming from. Our prosperity happened so fast - once it started settling in on the planets and colonies aligned with Asperia, pirates and other scoundrels were attracted like moths to a flame. Our trade ships and smaller colonies needed protection, so the secret societies chipped in and funded the Asperian military – what you would call a space navy."

  "Well, if it's made up of the type of thugs I met I can understand why it's been a problem."

  "That's the thing… it wasn't. At least not at first. Even when I was a kid I remember people being very patriotic and respectful of military service. It was an honorable profession."

  Argentine could've prodded her to continue, but he let his silence do it for him…

  "Somewhere along the way, a bunch of regulations started popping up that the military needed to enforce. The secret societies issued them in the name of security. But over time, the amount of dictates became massive. Today, we have over twenty thousand new regulations being issued every year.

  "They started out just regulating interstellar trade, but now, most of the regulations apply to any kind of trade… Anyplace, anytime.

  "The
military has the authority to enforce them but, at least for the larger planets, they simply pressure the police to do it for them.