by Paul, Alan
Necessary to operate, the craft’s Skin could automatically adapt to any change in environment. It could easily camouflage itself, allowing it to blend perfectly into any surroundings, or go into the Cloak Mode, and completely disappear. However, the Safe Operations Mode was the preferred mode of travel, so other piloted crafts would not crash into her.
“Sofia, open hatch.”
“My pleasure, Jason.”
Unsealing the airtight gasket, the Chameleon’s exterior entrance unlocked, and the mechanical pivoting arms forced the thick hatch to open, exposing the interior’s controlled environment to the dry dusty world. Concealed metal stairs slid outward, making an easy egress for Jason as he stepped inside on to the finely carpeted floor; the interior lights brightened.
“Welcome back, Jason.”
“Thank you, Sofia.”
“Please remove your contaminated footwear.”
“Not just yet,” responded Jason as he pushed the polished metallic tube, containing the Manifest, into a consul’s hub. He then continued saying, “Here’s the Manifest…”
Instantly, the cockpit’s one hundred and eighty-degree visual heads-up display burst to life displaying the Manifest’s information. Just like the Colony Membrane, the vehicle’s interior surface was interactive. Not only did the ship’s systems information populate the Skin but satellite imagery, weather forecasts, route and traffic information broadcast there too.
Jason continued, “…Unlock the door to the IER…”
To the rear of the large cabin, a wall-flush mounted door opened automatically. Jason then squeezed through the tight entrance that led into the (I.E.R.), Integrated Equipment Room where the brightly lit space, echoed Jason’s image in a near endless kaleidoscope of reflections off the mirrored equipment’s surface and walls.
“Sofia, I need you to disconnect the Off World Tracking Device but please, don’t disable the equipment.”
“Why is that?” questioned Sofia.
“Because I don’t want the Corporation to know where I am going…” Then Jason thought to himself, “I’ll place the device in our cargo container…they’ll never know we have left this shithole.”
“Done.” Sofia complied, and the flush mounted rectangular shaped tube, eased out of its port.
“Thank you, Sofia.”
“You are welcome, Jason.”
Jason Bjorn gently pulled the semi-cylindrical device out, and exited the Integrated Equipment Room.
“Sofia, shut the I.E.R.…”
Compliantly, Sofia shut the door behind him, and then he asked, “Have you seen the slave cables anywhere?”
“Jason, the Manifest is not Corporate Sanctioned,” Sofia stated as she opened a low flush mounted drawer containing the slave cables.
Ignoring Sofia, Jason grabbed the slave cables and withdrew from the vehicle. He then walked to the rear of the empty cargo container, and loudly commanded, “Sofia, open the utility port on the cargo container.”
The utility port glided open, and Jason then attached the slave cables to the cargo containers’ power supply with the Off World Tracking Device, and thought, “The Corporation can get fucked.”
“Sofia, disengage the Chameleon from Cargo Container, 1205, and slowly maneuver us to our pick up,” Jason commanded after re-entering the Chameleon.
The Chameleon silently unlatched from the Cargo Container, and smoothly hovered out into the Conveyance Passage.
“Jason, we will be in violation of Polaris law, 318.9 section 52b, which states, ‘Transference of any illegal power source to a non-sanctioned Entity, can be punishable by death.’ I cannot ignore the illegal actions you are asking me to undertake.”
“Override Polaris Law, 318.9 section 52b, Sofia,” said Jason while climbing into the pilot’s chair.
“Override accepted and stored in Ship’s Log. However, I beg you to change your mind,” Sofia implored.
“Sofia, erase last entry in Ship’s Log and turn off the S.L.E. and turn off Records Storage.”
“Jason, we will be in violation of Polaris Law, 1267.02 section 5c, which states, ‘All Commercial freighters must record all violations against Polaris Law.’”
“Override Polaris Law, 1267.02 section 5c, Sofia.”
“Under protest, I vehemently disagree with your decision making.”
“You are ordered to comply!” he said brusquely.
“Override accepted,” she bitterly obeyed.
“Thank you…and Sofia…please stop quoting Polaris Law. Now if would be so kind, engage docking procedures.”
“My pleasure, Jason.”
Three red laser dots beamed out from the Chameleon and trained on to Learner’s unsanctioned cargo container. Each laser locked on to target points and the wall-flush cargo container slowly eased out of the loading dock.
“We are in alignment,” Sofia confidently stated.
“Proceed slowly,” Jason replied.
“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP…” The Chameleon echoed equally, and simultaneously as bright orange warning lights flashed linearly around the ship’s exterior Skin. This behavior warned others that they were moving backward.
“POP, POP, POP, POP!” boomed the ship’s coupling device, endorsing a successful linking of the two crafts.
“Sofia, engage Cargo Cloaking.”
“Cloaking complete, Jason.”
“Okay, move us out into the Conveyance Passage, and toward our final destination… Decrease the heads-up display by twenty percent, and darken cab lights.”
The Chameleon and her cargo drifted in near silence across the subterranean hanger. Jason eased back in his chair, and gazed upon the hundreds of docking bays, and cargo runners that were lined perfectly, and equally spaced.
“Fissure Pipe Central’s Processing is trying to access the Chameleon…”
“Inform Fissure Pipe Central of our, Off Location, and request a top speed of five hundred miles per hour.”
“Our top speed has been denied…however, they will allow us a maximum speed of two hundred and sixty-five miles per hour.”
“That almost doubles our travel time…” Jason complained and continued, “Accept Pipe Central’s terms, and calculate the thrust ratio levitation, and calibrate hover pads for positive forced acceleration.”
“We are five by five, and ready to go, Jason.”
“Push us into the Pipe’s postern, Sofia,” Jason commanded, and Sofia complied by floating the Chameleon sideways into the Pipe’s postern, where they then waited for the Pipe System to engage forward kinesis.
The Pipe is an extensive transportation tunnel system, designed for Magnetic Levitation, where vehicles travel at high speeds, using the straightest routes possible. Throughout the Pipe, large Elements focus high levels of Magnetized Pulsation Waves around vehicles. Technically, kinetic energy propels the vehicles at high speeds and these waves carry vehicles to preprogrammed locations.
In order for vehicles to travel the Pipe, they must have propulsion drive systems that incorporate Hover Technology. Hover Technology is similar to Anti-Gravity Technology but remains more consistent with Magnetic Levitation Technology (MAGLEV).
The Pipe gets its energy from Core Displacement Stations deep inside the Earth. The Mega-City, Polaris, incorporates their highly guarded Ring Technology with Core Displacement Technology. However, the majority of the energy generated on Earth, comes from the not so advanced, Core Displacement Technology. Fissure Point Colonist, and the Vril’s Devonian Enclave, both use Core Displacement Technology to power their cities.
“Ask the Pipe what’s taking so long.”
“We are waiting for a priority outbound ship to pass through,” Sofia calmly stated.
Blue glowing hover pads held the Chameleon in a suspended animation. The flash of the outgoing ship screamed by, and rocked them wildly by the displaced air around the Chameleon. Jason asked, “Wow! How fast were they going?”
“I clocked them at four hundred and twenty-eight miles per hour.”
“Did you register any anomalies within that ship?”
“Negative, and what is with all your paranoia, Jason?”
“Never mind, Sofia; can you access the Pipe, and find their destination and cargo?”
“Pipe access denied,” responded Sofia. The Chameleon slowly moved into the Pipe, and she continued, “We are in MAGLEV automation.” And quickly picking up speed in the dark tunnel, the hover pads intensely glowed as the Chameleon smoothly accelerated.
“Sofia, please play Twentieth Century jazz…and let’s try to hail that ship.”
“My pleasure, Jason.”
Sofia played smooth jazz in the darkly lit cockpit. Visuals of the musician’s biography popped up on the heads-up display.
Pipe Central transmitted updated weather information for their manifested destination, along with the plethora of commercials. Also, a gamete of systems information including: cab environment, top speed, estimated time of arrival, off location, and even all Jason’s vitals, all populated the Skin.
“We have a dark-ship in front of us, Jason.”
“Keep me updated to any changes… Sofia, besides the music, please silence all nonessential information, and commercials playing on the Skin,” Jason stated as he reclined in his Captain’s seat, and recounted, “I hate those fucking advertisements! Who cares about eating nutritional food from recycled refuse? I would never want to live on the Moon of Thereon, or ever vacation in the Kyper belt again; both places are in the disputed sector. I could end up in off world slavery chains. And why would anyone want to change their species designation? Fucking brain washing shit.”
“What are you thinking, Jason?” Sofia asked in a soft and inquiring voice.
“Nothing, Sofia…”
“I can tell by your eye movement and bio-rhythm feedback, that, ‘Nothing,’ is not a true answer.”
“Sofia, you don’t always need to know what I’m thinking,” Jason irritably snapped.
“You just seem a little disgruntled and I want to help.”
“If I tell you, can we just relax in silence, and listen to the music?”
“Yes, Jason.”
“I was thinking about the DNA re-designation advertisements…and why anyone would want to become another species?”
“Changing for a better life, and new beginnings, are two of Mankind’s biggest dreams.” She spoke in a ceremonious tone.
“Thanks for that information, Sofia, but now can we enjoy the music in silence…? And please turn up the volume by twelve percent.”
“Be my pleasure, Jason,” Sofia softly responded.
THE SWITCH
After exiting Fissure Point Pipe in the dead of the night, the Chameleon raced across the crackled red surface of an alkali endorheic salt lake. Displacing its slippery film coating, the Land-ship’s powerful hover pads created an enormous rooster tail hundreds of feet high; geothermic pressures bubbled up small amounts of hydroxide, generating the slick surface.
The entire dead-sea basin bloomed a bright orangey-red color, giving fuel to the huge sandstorms plaguing the planet; dust sucked up from these types of salt lakes gave the giant anti-cyclonic storm its signature red look.
In some areas of the planet, liquid rivers and lakes existed deep down below the surface. However, they were heavily polluted with metals such as hydroxides, and hexavalent chromium; countless numbers of other heavy metals have destroyed the waters, but hydroxides, and hexavalent chromium dominate the total volume of contaminate.
“Jason, we are nearing the exchange coordinates,” Sofia softly responded.
“Thank you, Sofia.”
“I have a faint signature at the edge of the lake bed.”
“Speak to me…”
“Looks like a partial resonance of a Transport, and traces of its Plutonium C3 cargo.”
“Should I hail them?”
“Not just yet, let’s wait till we get right on them… I don’t want them to know we’re are here yet.”
“Jason, may I suggest once we hit the shoreline, we leave an electronic impression of our direct line of travel, and then flank their position… since they know we are almost here, we can at least take the high ground behind them, giving us some tactical advantage.”
“We’re cloaked, Sofia…how do they know we’re here?”
“There is a 98.9% probability the exchange vessel has been monitoring our travel since entering the salt lake.”
“That’s not possible, Sofia.”
“Jason, our wake is visible from outer space.” Sofia zoomed in on the infrared satellite image showing the Chameleon’s huge rooster tail.
“Wow, look at that trail we are making…good call, Sofia.”
When the cloaked Chameleon finally reached the shoreline, they spoofed any tracking signals by bursting off a false electronic impression; faking their direction of travel. After their wake disappeared from striking dry earth, Jason ordered the ship to make a flanking move. The invisible ship slowly hovered over rocky outcroppings and up the natural incline of the barren terrain. Circling wide around the position of the exchange vehicle, Jason and the Chameleon now looked slightly down on the rear of the crude but heavily armed hover ship.
“Jason, this is the dark-ship that left out before us…should I hail them?” Sofia asked.
“No, let’s wait, and observe them for a while… I want to see what our dark-ship’s reaction is when they think I’ve missed the exchange coordinates.”
Shaped more like a cuttlefish, the Chameleon had the highest level of cloaking technology, and attributes incorporated into every inch of her sophisticated design; and as she hovered in absolute stealthy silence, giving off a zero energy signature, Jason patiently watched the drop ship in absolute suspicion.
“I don’t trust these Vril, scum… Sofia, activate a Spider, and be ready to deploy on our Cargo hatch.”
“Jason, Phase Five Spider Lock, ready to deploy on your Voice Command.”
“Let’s wait until they make a move.”
Moonlight outlined the boxy looking Vrilion Drop-ship but it was not without its own cloaking ability. However, the Chameleon’s counter measures could easily defeat the outdated, and antiquated technology. Everything on the Chameleon was state of the art and nothing could defeat the technology she employed. The Vrilion ship hovered nearly twenty more minutes before giving off a slight energy wave spike, giving Jason advance warning that the ship was about to move.
“Sofia, let’s follow them for a few miles to see if they have any nearby friends…”
“How far back would you like us to follow?” Sofia asked in her softly but monotonous voice.
“Three hundred feet will be fine.”
Cloaked, the Chameleon followed unnoticed over the hard compact surface. And as they headed toward the Devonian Enclave, Sofia could easily detect the Vril ship using the Polaris Satellite information transmitted freely in open bands of communication. This bothered Jason to some degree but the avarice of the deal blinded him of the potential danger. Being spotted by Polaris Security Forces, during the actual cargo exchange, was a real threat. However, the risk verses reward ratio did not outweigh his inquisitive nature; and the transaction would go down, danger or not.
“Sofia, once I deploy the Spider, the Vril might pick up the wave spike…to mask the Spider’s deployment… I want to hail them simultaneously…got it?”
“Yes, I will hail the Vrilion ship concurrently on deployment of the Phase Five Spider Lock.”
“On my command, launch Spider…” A port opened on top of the ship, and Jason continued saying, “Spider, launch!”
The mechanical device popped straight up out of the Chameleon’s head, and legs splaying outward, the Spider grappled on to the cargo container. Like crossing a web, the arachnid-looking machine crept over the surface until reaching the entry hatch. Spindly arm, over spindly arm, the Phase Five Spider Lock imbedded itself across the hinges, locking in the illegal NEPRs.
“Jason, I have the Vril ship in
our queue.”
“Put them up on display, please.”
“Thought you’d past right on by us, Jason Bjorn.”
“You know my name, so who are you?” Jason brusquely asked.
“I am Mitchell Thacker, and I’m with the Captain Rengar Falger.”
Sarcastically, Jason fiercely asked, “Captain of what?”
“Captain of the Raven, of course,” Mitchell proudly responded.
“Captain of a hunk of crap,” Jason mumbled under his breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that last transmission,” asked Mitchell.
“Well, Mitchell, you gonna pull that tub over so we can make the switch?”
“I think you hurt Captain Falger’s feelings,” Mitchell playfully remarked.
“That’s impossible, Mitchell Thacker.”
“Why is that?” Mitchell’s tone hinted with slight curiosity.
“The Vril have no feelings!” he echoed with spitting malevolence.
“Ha ha, so true, Jason Bjorn... Mitchell, out!”
And before Mitchell disappeared from the heads-up display, Jason read the near expressionless smile perfectly. He knew Mitchell failed at hiding the contempt he had toward him and his snide remarks. The Vril Ship then circled around, detached the cargo container containing the Plutonium C3, and pulled forward waiting for the Chameleon to de-cloak.
As the Chameleon closed in on the cargo, Jason spoke. “Sofia, full cloak again and do a full spectral display on the Raven… Please enhance the Skin imagery by 20%.”
