by M J Gauntlet
“Pardonmeforasking, butdoyouhaveany, er, relatives who are spacers?” Zax frowned at the incongruity of the question, but before he could answer, Phoebe rushed on speaking. “It is…well…you see…the only person I’ve ever seen move that fast, with so much power, was the captain of the pirates. Remember when I told your captain that he singlehandedly destroyed Krag? Well…he looked a little like you, and man… he was the only one I ever saw who moved that quickly, with all that power.”
Zax stopped dead still and looked at the girl incredulously.
“What do you mean ‘he looked like me’?”
“Well, I said a little like you. He was brown skinned, like you, and he had golden yellow hair, just like you. I know it wasn’t dyed because, unfortunately, I saw that it was blond all over his body.” Despite all she had been through, she still possessed the ability to blush as she spoke the words.
“You mean, he was a Nubian?” Zax asked, surprised. “Yes, if what I said is what a Nubian is like.”
“Well to answer your question, no… I don’t have any living relatives.”
“Ok, I was just curious.” After a few more steps Phoebe tentatively asked another question: “Is it possible that you were responsible for thwarting my cyber-attack on your A.I.?” Zax paused, stumbled his next step and before he could answer a smile sprouted on Phoebe’s face. “Never mind if you can’t answer that for ship security reasons, but I think I got my answer. I only wanted to know because whoever orchestrated that bit of programing is very, very good!” Zax couldn’t help but blushing and hoped that Phoebe didn’t notice but he doubted it, it seems that very little got past her. As if to confirm his thought, she piped up. “Well if I am talking to the person to came up with that cyber counterattack, I would like to talk to them someday…er…. assuming I do have a future aboard the Windjammer!” she said, her face turning gloomy for a second. Before Zax could comment they had reached Phoebe’s cell. Without another word, she stepped inside with a wry smile the doors sealed themselves shut.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After about a week inward bound to Pluto, the status of the ‘prisoner’ Phoebe Watts slowly changed as she continued to prove to the Captain and the crew, her value. Within a week she was able to correct several issues within the software of most of the crew’s individual pads and made suggestions that helped Windy process data more efficiently. Without ceremony, she was moved out of the holding cell and into a lower berth aboard ship. A week later it wasn’t uncommon to see her moving among the corridors of the Windjammer, usually looking at her handheld computer, usually in the company of Zax. After a time both her and Zax became thick as thieves. Eyebrows among the crew began to rise until they realized that at no time did Zax shut down Windy’s cameras in his room while they were together.
The day before planetfall on Plato, Zax went to Captain Ahosi on the bridge and asked for a private meeting in the wardroom. Passing on the bridge operations to first mate Gomez, they both entered the wardroom.
“Captain I have read the trader’s contract and I think I have a good understanding of what my responsibilities would be once I committed to the agreement, but before I do, I have an unorthodox request of you. Before I make this appeal, I want to say up front that I wouldn’t be doing so if it weren’t extremely important and relevant to my becoming a member of the crew,” he said straightforwardly.
“Ok Zax, you have my attention,” she replied, eyeing him somewhat reservedly.
Zax paused for a moment, then reached under his left arm and removed the initial data cube his father made, when he was still a Unity Imperial scout.
“I need to access this cube through the navcomp to retrieve certain data that has been encrypted and stored on it, and I must do it…alone,” Ahosi’s eyes widened, then a stern look came over her face. Seeing this, Zax sighed but continued speaking.
“Look, believe me when I say I know what kind of favor I am asking here. And if I were a member of the crew, you might view my request differently, but believe me when I say that it is crucial that I first view this data alone. If it turns out that the data on the cube allows me to join this crew, I will gladly do so and upon that time and I will tell you everything I can about why the data is so important,” he finished saying, in a rush.
“Zaxxion Grayson, do you have any idea of what you are asking me to do? Well actually, I don’t believe you do, or you would have never gotten the nerve up to ask me in the first place! Did you know that the navcomp is a separate compartmentalized portion of Windy’s processing matrix? That this precaution is a safeguard in case either of them becomes corrupted. By giving you access to the navcomp, I risk the possible failure of the navigation computer’s functions! Can you tell me unequivocally that this wouldn’t happen? Because if you can’t, then I’m not sure I will allow this breach of ship’s safety protocols.”
“I understand what I’m asking, and I also realize that it would be a risk for any captain to take, especially under the conditions that I have specified, but I think I have a way to minimize the risk to both the ship and my data, please hear me out,” Zax responded somberly.
“Very well, let’s hear what you are proposing,” she replied.
“For the past two days, I have taken your advice and read the contract you have given me and in doing so Windy has been very helpful in clarifying certain parts of the document, especially where it outlines the relationship between her functions and the rest of the crew. With the help of Phoebe Watt, it turns out that she can create partitions within Windy’s programing and can isolate them within her matrix. With her assistance here’s what I intend for her to do…”
Twenty-five minutes later, Captain Ahosi sat back in her cabin seat with a look of amazement on her face, then rubbing her chin she sat back up. “Windy, do you think you can do what Zax here proposes?”
“Yes captain, I have gone over the software adaptations and find them quite intriguing. There is only a very slight risk of memory fragmentation and that would only affect the partitioned areas.”
“Are you willing to take that risk Windy?” Ahosi asked directly.
“Yes captain, I am willing. The gains I could achieve in my total operation far outweigh the minor risk to my matrix. If I succeed with this unique procedure, I predict a 37% increase in my overall processing speed and a 17% increase in my storage capacity.”
“Very well, I see I have little choice with you two ganging up on me like this. Zaxxion Grayson I hereby authorize you to proceed with your proposal to make this one modification to Windy’s matrix. But so help me, if this backfires…”
“Yes, I know, you will personally throw me out of the nearest airlock without a suit…”
Two hours later, Zax was in his cabin sitting at the Tri-D cube reader in the corner, holding the data cube from his father in his hand. “Ok Windy, are you ready?”
“Yes. The cube reader in your room has been cloned so that it will mimic the operations of a navcomputer, with limitations of course. I have firewalled its functions to be isolated from my own. I will be able to observe the functions but will not be able to interact with them or they with me.”
Taking a deep breath, Zax deposited the cube into the reader. The results were a little startling. The surface of the reader blinked once, and a blue scanning beam issued from the cube receptacle that covered the immediate volume in front of the unit, including the area where Zax was sitting. After a quick scan, the beam winked out and was replaced with a projected Tri-D star chart that floated in the air in front of him. Zax made a mental picture of the area of space outlined, then removed the cube from the reader.
“Windy are you alright?”
“Yes Zax. I am functioning well within my parameters. You and Ms. Watt were wise to have me create a firewall between the pseudo navcomp and myself. I detected a hidden worm program within the cube’s main programming. Since I denied it access to my memory, I have no information as to what the worm was designed to do. You must be careful if you
intend to use this cube in a real navcomputer.”
“Thank you, girl and I will take your advice. Now I better go and see the captain.”
Zax found himself back in the wardroom facing a concerned Ahosi. “Well Zax, did you find the information you were looking for?”
“Yes ma’am, and I have a question. How far into the frontier do you ply your trade? Do you ever work the planets out near the Carina-Sagittarius Arm system stars or beyond?” Zax asked hopefully.
“Humm…no Zax, we seldom go that far out, hell there are only a handful of worthwhile planetary systems out that way. We mostly work the Scutum-Arm star systems. But strange you should mention that section of the Imperium, I’ve heard that the Rapture has routes that go out into the CSA. Traderships are cagey about their routes, they tend to want to keep them to themselves to avoid poaching by other traders,” Ahosi said, looking at Zax with speculation in her eyes.
“I was afraid of that,” he said disappointed.
“I guess this means that you won’t be accepting a contract with us after all, doesn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so, at least not until I get a chance to talk to the captain of the Rapture. Who knows, maybe he will flatly turn down my request. After all, like you said, he doesn’t know anything about me and whatever debt he owed my father might have died with him,” said Zax.
“A couple words of advice don’t sell trader oaths short. We tend to uphold them to the grave, and beyond sometimes. Ito especially so, something to do with ancestral honor going back to what he calls ‘Meiyo Kisom’. Don’t ask me what the hell that means in galactic speak, it is some ancient language from somewhere called Jupon or Japchin or some old place like that.
“The second thing you should know is that if you are truly headed out into the Carina-Sagittarius Arm, then you should be aware that it is very close to Nubian- Marcosian space and neither one of those cultures are exactly fans of ‘the Nubian look’ fad that is sweeping the Imperium. If you should run across either Marcosians or pureblood Nubians, you might find yourself in real trouble. So be careful,” she ended sternly.
“I will ma’am. I just want to say that I wish things were different. It would have been an honor to be part of the Windjammer’s crew.”
“Zax, I almost wish that the Rapture was to hell and gone. You are one hell of a spacer and would make a great member of this crew, I can feel it in my bones,” said Captain Ahosi, with a sad shake of her head. “Zaxxion Grayson, since you are no longer crew, before you leave us there is one thing that I would like you to do for me…”
The Windjammer gently descended onto loading dock seven at Plato’s only spaceport in Newton city at 1500 local standard time. This time the entire tradership made planetfall, not just one of the detachable cargo shuttles. Abrams told him that Windjammer was due for exhaust tube scrubbing this trip, and the captain had promised Windy that she would get a complete scrub down at the next port of call. Once Windjammer set down, her entire crew immediately began off-loading the ship’s cargo. There was little time for long farewells, although Engineer Abrams did stop by to hand Zax a package of cartridges for is ‘cannon’, as Abrams called it. Also in the bundle, was a data cube he made showing Zax how to fabricate more of the shells, if needed. He told him that any decent machine shop could do the work. The only person missing from the assemblage was Captain Ahosi, but she had called him to the bridge just before he disembarked and handed him a data cube.
“I don’t know if this will help or hurt your chances with captain Murphy Ito, but give this to him anyway,” she said as she pushed the cube into his hand, then without another word she shooed him off the bridge and into the lift. As Zax neared the gangplank, he cast his eyes ceilingward one last time.
“Goodbye Windy. I think I’m gonna miss you the most, old girl.”
“Farewell Zaxxion Grayson. I do believe I shall miss you too…”
Zax wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that there was a hint of sadness in her reply. But that was impossible. Windy had no emotive programming.
As he passed various members of the crew, they all paused for a moment to salute him or wave, then went hurriedly back to work. Pilar rushed up to him, gave him a bone crushing hug and then kissed him lightly on his cheek.
“Goodbye, Zaxxion Grayson. Maybe now I and the rest of us girls can finally get some sleep!” she said, with a parting grin.
Zax smiled back, wincing as his bones shifted back into place. Waving his goodbyes to all, he walked across the landing field towards the Rapture that was docked halfway across the spaceport. The Rapture was a class C trader vessel. It was smaller than the Jammer and had no separable cargo holds, which meant that the entire ship made contragrav assisted planetfall each time it docked.
Hoisting his now full rucksack over his shoulders and holding the ornate wooden box with its invaluable contents, Zax headed to the Rapture. As he hurried towards the tradership, Zax passed its massive ion exhaust assembly and spied two men who were arguing beneath the tubes. Is it the same in every port? he wondered, rolling his eyes. When he finally reached the tradership, he had barely cleared the lowered gangplank, before it was retracted, and the hatch sealed. A stone faced single Krillian crew member greeted him in the main passageway and without a single word turned and quickly made his way down the corridor, grumbling beneath his beak about lost time and unnecessary delays.
Not once did the alien turn to see if Zax was even following him. As Zax rushed to keep up with the rapidly moving alien, he couldn’t but help notice the seemingly state of disrepair of the Rapture.
There were uncovered conduits overhead, and here and there he swore he saw uncovered wiring! The lighting was poor due to almost every other light panel being dark, and the air had the dank smell of a poorly maintained recycling plant.
As Grayson quickly walked across the tarmac towards the Rapture, a lone heavily tattooed figure was watching him intently from the plasticine viewing bubbles of the landing terminal. Once it was obvious that Zax wasn’t headed for the customs terminal, M’Lak, realizing his mistake, suddenly scurried down the corridor and raced towards landing bay seven, arriving just in time to see the gangplank retract and the outer hatch seal. Cursing, he went to the nearest spaceport terminal and accessed the trading itinerary of a tradership called the Rapture.
At the opposite end of the U-shaped terminal, a second man watched the movements of the young man through a pair of image amplifiers. He also cursed under his breath, as the youth veered away from the customs gate and headed straight across the field to the second tradership. He lowered his imagers, and thoughtfully scratched his chin, reaching over he accessed the nearest terminal kiosk and inquired as to the shipping routes of the Rapture.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The White Tower
Military Headquarters, Planet Brit
Hidden deep within the Marcosian Restoration Worlds
0700 hours local time, 4th month of Sirius, local calendar year 2,017 ac
“Shirrs, there are several matters to discuss on today’s agenda, so I suggest that we proceed immediately with the matter at hand. Our first order of business is the fleet report from Rear Admiral van Walt. Admiral, please provide those assembled with a progress report on the building of our hidden fleet.”
“As you command, First Lady,” Admiral van Walt responded, rising from his contragrav chair, and bowing to the woman on the dais. “Shirrs, there has been steady progress on the construction of units for the hidden fleet. The new Dreadnaught class battleship the Vengeance is over three quarters complete, while her sister ship the Honor is more than halfway finished. Both ships are ahead of schedule. The new Van Ander drives have been tested and are due for instillation throughout the fleets. This should increase the total battle worthiness of each unit in which they are installed by at least twenty percent.
On a lesser note, the erection of the three ships of the line carrier class units, has run into an unforeseen delay. The slave rebellion on Tinta
ck 5, the mining facility for the fleet, has created an unexpected shortage of adequate components for both hull and superstructure construction. We are currently considering other sources for the raw materials.”
“Surely Admiral van Walt, we can compel our satellite systems to produce the materials needed at a higher ratio to meet the demand, without going outside of the Restoration Worlds,” Fleet Admiral Van Poll interjected.
Admiral Van Walt paused a fraction of a second and pondered whether to take offence at the rude interruption. Choosing to chalk it up to youthful exuberance, he decided not to issue a formal challenge, but he would brook no further insults from the young pup. He will have his seconds, talk to Van Poll’s seconds, to make sure that the young hellion understood his position. Loudly clearing his throat, he continued.
“As we are all aware,” he said, leveling a stern look at the younger admiral, “it is imperative that we keep the construction of this new fleet as secret as possible until its deployment. Any undue increase in the production of fleet usable materials by our satellite planetary systems, is sure to be noticed by the spies of the Unity Imperium and those of the accursed Nubians Alliance. Therefore, it is vital that we use all manner of duplicity in procuring the necessary components. As it now stands, barring any further delays, I can safely project that the new fleet will be operational within three T-years.”
