by P F Walsh
“A new planet?” They were buzzing.
A few hours before, Artie and Mel had gotten Caerus re-booted, and one of the first things that came online was the hologram and shields so it looked to Earth observers that Earth had a second moon, but it was not orbiting, it was stationary. It didn’t take the Observatory team long to conclude the planet was in a Lagrange point. This is a point where gravity influences from nearby celestial bodies are equal. The discovery swept through the astronomical world and then to the press who became manic with interviews of every scare monger they could get in front of their cameras. Within hours, the white House was notified. Religious leaders called for prayers. Leftists accused the White House of arranging another place to conduct nuclear testing, and so on. The President was forced to hold a news conference.
The President walked calmly to the microphones set up outside the White House on the green. Immediately, shouts of questions so overlapped, no one could decipher any one of them, to begin. The President let this go on for a while and just stood there until one voice cut through and shouted,
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I certainly do, if the rest of you will just shut up for a minute!” He snapped. Taken aback at his rebuke, they quieted down.
“Now, first of all, it rained yesterday, and then I’m told the corn crop is coming in early this year, and Maisey Fillbrick shot a grizzly yesterday outside of Anchorage, Alaska. Dressed it out herself too!” He said with a smile on his face.
“All of your crazies with claims, are all wrong, and none of what I just said has anything to do with anything either. By now, I would think the press would know everything has a true story. There will always be people ready to put forth some ridiculous reason why something has happened, and you people broadcast it!” He paused as he looked at all of the major newscasters lined up in front of him.
“So what is it? Do you know?” Shouted out one of the more irritating journalists in a sarcastic manner.
“Yes, of course I know, you might have started here. This administration has calmly handled and fielded some of the most startling events in history, and we’re on top of things.” He said with an icy smile that sent “I know something you don’t’ know.”
“The new celestial body in our solar system looks like a moon, but it is actually a space station, and it will be a way point for space travelers, and a major research center for science and medicine. It is owned by S&N Enterprises, and yes, Captain Sean Flynn is one of the owners. There will be lots more information to be released later along with space station staff recruitments by S&N. In the meantime, you can all calm down. The sky is not about to fall. Now, I have more serious things to do, so I will leave you with that.” The President turned, and walked away without taking any more questions that were shouted at him.
When he got back inside the White House his aid said to him,
“Sir, you really zinged that press crowd out there today, feeling good are we, sir?”
The President chuckled and said,
“Yes, that felt good. I owe Sean a case of something for the ‘heads up’ drone he sent. Remind me when he gets back.
Chapter Twelve
Book Three
Nazzdropa Paklar, Chief Priest of the Shrine of First Faith on Denknish was in his reading study with the scroll of First Faith spread out before him as he reread it. Reading the words set down centuries ago refreshed his faith. He paused and recalled the events of the past months, and the end of a century’s old war. How it had come about was revelation to be sure. What the scrolls had described had come true, centuries later, when the planet was in desperate need. He smiled as he realized that perhaps it was time to begin another scroll to document everything that had happened, lest it be lost. He resolved to begin the collection of notes and records of the events so as to summarize for the new scroll. He already had a vid storage cube with the funeral ceremonies for Admiral Felicit Andregga. He would have to get another one. This one was already intended for another purpose.
Later, as the sun began to set, all the lights in the Shrine were extinguished. Every seat in the Shrine was occupied. The all-male choir began chanting the scroll’s missives in a soft voice. Dozens of thick candles were arranged in rows before the front of the Shrine, and were lit one by one to remind that their first celestial gifts were humble, and one was the gift of fire. The flickers reflected off the polished golden door set in the Shrine wall several steps above the main floor. The Shrine was full. All the priests, acolytes, and those from the seminary were in the front left rows. Doreem Nool the Honored Speaker of Denknish and the Members of the Denknish Assembly were seated in the right front rows.
The Chief Priest went to the pulpit and began to speak,
“May all the words of the Holy scroll come to pass!” The opening words of every sermon ever given echoed throughout the Shrine.
“We gather here today for the Ceremony of “Gift Remembrance.” He said.
“As we pass through the centuries of time, we are called to recognize the gifts we have received, which have advanced the welfare of our lives. This day is no different and we have this ceremony to honor what has been given and to remind us how important those gifts are. Today, we place in our Chamber of Gifts articles which represent the gift of peace. As we have seen, there can be no more valuable gift. We cannot and could not ignore this gift. We will add these representative articles to the collection we have treasured for centuries. Let us first give thanks in prayer.” He said.
Then the Priest began to lead the congregation in several long prayers of thanks and hope. When the prayers were done, he stepped down from the pulpit with his walking staff and stood before the gold door of the Chamber of Gifts. He bowed his head and struck the stone floor once with the bottom of his staff. It echoed throughout the Shrine. The gold door emblazoned with writing and figures slowly swung open. The inside was brightly lit and it shone out into the Shrine. An aid took the Chief Priest’s staff and handed him a small tray. On it was the vid cube of Felicit Andregga’s funeral, a gold medal struck in her honor, a copy of the documents of peace, and a photo of the Majoo with the Sisters of Mak’am embedded in a plastic cube.
All could see the chamber was lined with shelves on both sides. Many shelves were full of historical artifacts of their civilization’s development. Each was considered a celestial gift from a beneficent deity. The Chief Priest entered the Chamber of Gifts, and placed the articles he brought onto a shelf. It was set right next to an aluminum box with a diagonal red stripe.
On New Mak, Tilga, the old Master of Arms lay dying. He was now amidst his eightieth decade and had been ill for months. Jillip was by his bedside holding his hand.
“My time has come, Jillip, and I must leave you. My work is done. None can humble your blade, but there is so much more that you do not know of the old planet Mak before we left. The palace has destroyed much of those books and records as heresy against the throne. I am leaving you my sword and my small house as I have no family. More importantly, beneath my bed, under the floor stones, you will find real Mak histories. Read them and know what the true history says. Let no one see you read those, speak of them, or reveal where they are. To do so will cost you your life. The Queen’s claim to the throne is false.” He said, and then began coughing spasms which went on for a while. She wiped his forehead with a cool cloth as he settled down and began to breathe again.
“You are destined for great things and your time will come; you will know it when it happens. Do not hesitate, grasp your destiny firmly, because you...” His voice faded away, and with a small sigh, he was gone.
She sat there silently for a long while holding his hand, and then closed his eyes. She would have to call the bearers to prepare him for his last passage. She did not cry,
“I will do that later when I fully realize the vacuum he has created with his passing,” she thought, “but not now. I must be strong.”
In the days that followed after putting him t
o his final rest, Jillip drove herself into intense practice as a balm to the hurt of his passing. At night, she read the books and documents one by one, coming to know the original history of Mak. There was so much she didn’t know and she was sure the rest of the planet didn’t know either. She read of the Cities, the people, the real Queen, and the Sisters of Mak’am who could expose deceivers. Little by little, the real history had been smudged and made unclear by the present Queen’s instructions. She could see what advantage that offered an illegitimate pretender.
“But, what of the heirs? She thought. “Where are they? The records show at least one survived who was hidden. If they had children, then the line would secretly be continued.” She mused.
“Should I become their champion?” She wondered, and then thought,
“I will bide my place, and watch as Tilga said to do.”
She placed the books and records down in the stone box and replaced the floor stones so she could move the bed back into its place. She began her nightly ritual of cleaning and sharpening her sword and dagger. When she was satisfied it was done well, she repeated the whole ritual with Tilga’s blades. This brought tears to her eyes but she did not cry openly. She finished, wiped her eyes and thought,
“A well-prepared weapon is now my greatest comfort.”
Now, it was time to turn out the light and rest herself for another day.
The Discovery ship and her fleet of five had been synced together by Allister so that their jumps were made in relative formation. All departing and arriving at the same time close to each other. The five sentient ships were experiencing happiness for the first time in their existence. The sense of power and freedom was like a rare, sweet liqueur that refreshed. They sucked in the sensory input of the stars and transition colors and enjoyed adding to their star charts as they went. Frequent conversation between them was now full of the comradery and the joy of serving an ethical Master, though, they all knew he preferred to be called Captain.
On Discovery, Allister, Sean and Nasht-Mer were seated in the Captain’s cabin and discussing what names to give the sentient ships. Each was certainly a distinct personality and different from each another. Doris amusingly referred to them as Flynn’s Fleet, a nickname they would not be able to shake as the annuals went by, it was just too lyrical, and she was sure it would stick. It did.
“I have an idea for some names.” Sean said and continued,
“I have always enjoyed the Earth story of King Arthur and the Roundtable.” He went on to discuss the story that Nasht-Mer did not know. Allister smiled as he told how the King was confronted with Knights who argued over what Knight should have a seat of honor more than another at the table. The King decided wisely that the table should be round, so that none had a place of more honor than another. It was a brilliant solution.
Nasht-Mer laughed, and said,
“A very wise king!”
Sean followed with,
“Accordingly, I would like to have your thoughts on naming the ships after some of the knights of the roundtable, after telling them the story of course. I propose the following,
Ship number five has had her name already, but I think we could give her an option to change it. After all, she is the only one whose brain was transplanted from a woman. The rest of them as follow,
Ship one will be SNS Galahad,
Ship Two will be SNS Bedivere,
Ship Three will be SNS Lucan,
Ship Four will be SNS Lionel” He listed.
What do you all think?” He asked. Nasht-Mer clapped her hands and said,
“Sean that’s a splendid idea, I agree, what does the SNS stand for?”
“That stands for S&N Starship.” He said. “What do you think Allister?”
“Captain, I believe they will all agree immediately, especially after they learn the full story, as I have, in my database. I will send it over when we are out of ‘no-space.’”
“Very well, tell them we have picked some honored names in Earth history and send them the story file. We will announce the names at our next jump pause.
The Discovery and her accompanying fleet were making short jumps from one system to another, searching for signals from a populated world. They had departed Caerus in the direction of the original migration and hoped to find where they went.
After meeting with Sean and Nasht-Mer, Allister appeared in the engine room to talk to Welly who was trying to understand the theory and implementation of the ‘fold space’ drive plans he had taken from the ‘seed box’ Sean had sent to him. Welly was not a physicist, but a very skilled ship’s engineer, and had untangled many of the mysterious systems on Discovery that he had not seen before. This one had him stumped but not defeated.
“Welly, can I help you with something. I can see you’re vexed?”
“I was trying to understand how such a drive works but I’m not getting it. It is very complex and uses math I have never seen before.” He said a bit dejectedly.
“I can see what you mean, I looked those over and much of it challenges me as well. In some regards it ignores what we believe to be the finite rule of relativity, and several other rules actually. I have a suggestion Welly.” He said.
“What’s that Allister?”
“I suggest we consider building the drive system from the plans and not spending time understanding the underlying principles. That can come later from help we don’t have with us.” He said.
“I would agree with you, but look at the size of these capacitors, there isn’t room in the engine room for those, and they are essential.”
“Welly, that’s not exactly true. These ships were all built from ‘seed box’ plans.” He said.
“How do you know that Allister?” Welly asked.
Allister walked over to a wall next to the engine and pointed at it.
“Welly, behind this wall is a vacant chamber. I have always wondered why it was there. So too did the ship builders I’ll bet. I concluded they provided the vacant space shown on the plans as something essential to the drive system.” He said, and went on,
“It is for ‘fold space’ drive capacitors. If you cut away a hatch to that space, you will see it has racks to stack cylinders. The space goes all the way around the inside of hull. It is for energy-storing capacitors, of course. That is where they mount. Now this is only part of what we need. There needs to be a major upgrade on my processor capability, and also my memory sink. I think if you go through the box, you will find some sort of data storage device. It will contain the software to define what we need, as well as to make the calculations and control to fold space. Without the calculations necessary to assign a destination, you can’t go anywhere.” He said as Welly looked at him with surprise.
“You mean, there is a room on the other side of that wall we don’t know about?” He asked.
“Not now. Now we know.” He said with a smile. Welly went back to the ‘seed’ box.
On Hhearn, in the District of Hhearn City Regional Court, one hundred and twenty-six Counselors of Law had each presented a motion based upon different premises to the court. All on behalf of their individual clients to be tried separately for kidnaping honor breakers using drugs under substance control, kidnapping, and for slavery. The plan was to overload the court system into fatigue, to give way and allow separate trials. The Judge, now having the benefit of hearing the two Sisters of Mak’am in the court whisper that their intentions were divergent, was well armed for that approach. He sat patiently for fourteen solars while each Counselor made his case. Many of the alleged felons sat in the courtroom smiling as the drama proceeded with floral legal phraseology that none of them understood. The Judge sat stony-faced, betraying no influence from any of it. He did convey rapt attention to each pleading though, and could not be criticized later for poor listening.
There was a moment of drama when one of the larger alleged felons noticed that the only Rules Enforcement Officer in the courtroom at that time was a new female Officer. The other b
ig Officer had taken a rest break. The prisoner jumped up and ran at the back door where she was stationed, planning to run right through her and keep going out the door. She stood there unmoving as though shocked. He ran straight at her. At the last minute she said,
“Going somewhere, sweetie?” She drew her stun pistol and shot him in the face. She stepped aside as his body continued forward and collapsing, crashed against the back row of sturdy benches. She said,
“Sorry about that Judge, we’ll take him back to his cell.” As other Rules Officers, hearing the snap of a stun gun, rushed into the courtroom.
“Thank you, Officer.” The Judge said.
She smiled and nodded while thinking,
“Just like Earth Officer Doris did on that SIS raid, he walked right into it.”
When everyone had calmed down, the Judge called the room back to order. He pointed to the stack of motions,
“Learned Counselors, I would like to complement you all on some very creative massaging of the law in the specific. Regrettably, that is not how I see it, and I am the Judge in this room. For all of these men charged here, there is identifiable specificity in their acts based upon the truthmed records. However, they all acted collectively, and in concert with one another. To begin to try to assign victim harm based upon individual contribution is not possible, or in this case, even reasonable. More importantly, the criminal financial benefits in this syndicate were shared uniformly, most unusual for a crime organization. They typically cheat each other, with one criminal benefitting more than another.” He said, and looked at all the Counselors.
“Accordingly, they will all be tried collectively and share the punishments as equally as they shared the profits of their crimes. Motions denied!” He slammed the gavel on the plaque, and he stood,
“Court adjourned until midweek next. Be prepared to defend, Counselors.” And he left the court room. The Officers swept in to take the crestfallen prisoners back to their cells.