Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins

by Randolph Lalonde

  “So they probably bought it, and you're afraid that the Vindyne fleet has bought the control codes from whoever made them,” Ayan added.

  “Something like that. Their buildings may as well be sticks and stones. The base we're on is lightly armoured on the outside but plaster and concrete on the inside. They don't even have transparent metals. It's like putting a house of cards up against an asteroid strike.”

  “You want to stay and help?” Ayan asked with sceptically.

  “The people back home could use a friend with these kinds of resources to trade with. If we could help turn the tide, or at least show them a way to improve their fortifications, it might just give them a chance. If it worked out, we could be opening trade with an entire solar system. I think we should try.”

  “What if they don't want our help Jonas?” asked the Doctor. “Independents are stubborn, they fear being deeply indebted to anyone and don't trust easily.”

  I thought for a moment, there had to be a middle ground between staying and risking everything and leaving the system to whatever fate the Vindyne had planned for them. “I'll offer them three days. In that time let's take a look at anything that can be improved within the time frame. If they don't want it, we'll just have to trade and move on.”

  “I like it. Just tell me what their priorities are and where you need my people,” Ayan agreed.

  “It'll give me enough time to go down there, treat Elise, and train her physician so he can pass the knowledge on. It's not as much time as I'd like for such an advanced case, but I can work with it,” said Doctor Lang.

  “I'd stick around to make sure we see that through,” Oz nodded.

  Minh-Chu had moved on to a peach and was leisurely eating it as though nothing was going on. Everyone was looking at him by the time he said, “I need a closer look at one of those cannons,” casually.

  “I think that can come later. We may even be able to trade for--”

  Minh cut me off. “If they're made by some corporation, say a daughter company of Vindyne, then it wouldn't be hard for them to build a receiver into them and shut them down whenever they want. If we can get close enough, and such a system exists, we might just be able to make it work against them. I'd love to see those cannons reprogrammed to fire at any unauthorized ship or control system trying to access it. It would be like adding the perfect targeting system to the most deadly weapon I've seen. Now that would be a surprise worth seeing. I'll need Jason and a tech who isn't afraid to touch something without an instruction manual.”

  “I think that's a good first step to making a difference,” I started feeling that dark mood lifting. “I'll be meeting with the Governor again in a few minutes. I just need Oz, Doctor Lang and Jason with me this time. Everyone else take the indirect route back to the shuttle. Spend half an hour or so looking around and getting a sense of what these people are like.”

  Less than twenty minutes later, Jason, Oz, Doctor Lang, the Governor, and William were all back in the board room. “Our head of medical, Doctor Anderson, would like to take a trip down here to treat your daughter personally, but we need time,” I opened, skipping all the formalities and trying to bring us right back to where we left off.

  Governor Finnley was taken by surprise, but not unpleasantly from what I could tell. “I'm sure I can arrange that,” he paused for a moment, looked at Jason, Oz, then myself. “Your ship, your crew, it's not like any mercenary or trade vessel I've ever seen. Our military is growing suspicious of you.”

  “Sir, this isn't something that--” his assistant started to interject.

  “William, are you aide to the military or to the Governor's Office? These people deserve to know what kind of nest they're guesting in. Now, before I was interrupted, I was about to say that it looks like the military want to take over these trade negotiations, which means that the priorities will change and our civilian government will be cut out of the decision making entirely.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that, even though I thought they'd be more involved from the start.”

  “Well, normally they would, but they didn't see one ship as much of a factor in this war. Then they heard about your offer of medical technology, the favour you'll be doing for my daughter and I, and now they want in. I don't know how long I'll be able to offer you anything, but as of this moment I still have control. What do you want Captain?”

  His urgency didn't allow for any finesse or modesty. I took his cue and just came out with our primary purpose. “When we were on our way here, and had no idea your planet would be under siege, we were hoping to trade for shield technology and anything else that could help us protect our ship. We can offer you our medical data base in return.”

  Governor Finnley started working through menus on the table in front of him, selecting entire categories of information and sending them sliding across the display towards me. “So all our information on shield technology and one working sample of our most recent development for your entire medical data base. Our Surgeon General has already weighed in on this, and she believes that we should be trading even more just based on the treatments you're offering my daughter. According to her you're over a hundred years further along than we are medically. Consider it done.”

  I didn't take time to look too closely, but from what I could see, the mathematics, mechanics, and specifications to entire working models on various ships and bases, including the port we were sitting in, were piling up on the display in front of me. “Alice, can you interface with the table and collect the data displayed there?” I whispered.

  “Yes sir, I'll collect it now.”

  I looked up to the Governor's assistant, who had fixed me with a quizzical expression. “Alice is my personal assistant. She's an artificial intelligence,” I explained.

  “Sir, the Governor has even included all the research they've done on Vindyne's shields. Ayan should be able to build a formidable defence for the ship using the information here and some basic components. It says the working sample is already being loaded on our shuttle, and Commander Minh-Chu has authorized entry for the loading crew,” Alice whispered into my ear. “This is almost a fair trade for our medical database if the shield technology works properly.”

  Alice had already packaged the medical database in my command unit, and I pressed the send icon on the display. It appeared on the table and I moved my finger across it towards the Governor, sending it to his end. “That's the whole thing. It should help your people a great deal.”

  His smile looked weary but relieved. “I believe you. You should send the shield information that I gave you to your ship as soon as possible. I don't want to give our military time to reverse the trade.”

  I looked down to my command console and saw that Alice was already sending it straight to First Light engineering over a secure channel. “You seem worried about what the military will do when they take over trade. Is there something I should know?”

  “They're a suspicious bunch. Believe that the affairs of the planet and solar system should be solely under their control where travellers are concerned. I don't expect trade will be nearly as open.”

  “I can understand where they're coming from. I'm sure they're just interested in protecting you,” Oz commented.

  “Perhaps but they tend to be heavy handed. I'm only glad I had the opportunity to serve the interests of my constituents.”

  “About that, my crew and I would like to stay for a few more days and see what we could do to shore up your defences. It's come to our attention that your planetary defences may have been built by another company.”

  The Governor was about to respond when the door was opened by a sentry and two men. One had greying hair and medals on his chest and the other was much younger, walking straight and tall. Two more sentries trailed behind them and closed the door behind.

  “Colonel Douglas, allow me to introduce you to our guests,” the Governor said with a sweeping gesture.

  “I've been briefed Samuel. We'll take it from here.
Is there any more damage I should know about?”

  “I managed to trade for their medical database. It only cost us some shield technology. We came out on top if you ask me.”

  “How much shield technology? What did you give them?”

  “I didn't give them anything, they traded their entire medical database for our shield technology research and a working sample. It's a matter of record if you'd like to look at the details.”

  “I don’t care what medical advances you think you’ve found here, no one authorized you to trade proprietary military technology. You'll be lucky to see another term in office,” the General threatened in a low tone.

  “I'll be lucky if I ever get to retire. I never thought of it this way, but I might just become known as the Governor who helped cure dozens of diseases and prevent even more. Not everyone in this government cares about the turf war between the military and civil services. I’ll bet my constituents will see this step up in medicine as evidence that I care more about them than the perpetual turf war between the military and civil service. You should treat Captain Valent and his people here with respect. They're a generous people if you give them a little trust.” Governor Finnley turned to me then. “My daughter and I will be at your disposal, Captain. Thank you very much. You've helped my people a great deal. My office stands ready to serve your needs while you're on our world.”

  “You're welcome. You'll hear from me soon,” I replied, smiling at him but inwardly bracing myself for what was to come with the Colonel.

  The Governor and his assistant left the room and the Colonel made himself comfortable in the chair at the head of the table. “So, a ship we've never seen before comes out of nowhere in the middle of a battle and offers its assistance. Our scans can't penetrate the hull, but it's more heavily armed than any of our destroyers and such a hard target that they weather the battle effortlessly without any energy shielding. If I weren't so suspicious I'd be impressed, Captain.”

  “We're here to offer help while we're welcome,” I explained quietly.

  “Well, I might believe that if I knew who your sponsor was, where the currency that pays for that ship and crew come from.”

  “Like I said before, we're a shareholder crew. That ship, hard target or not, is an antique. We do what we can, but she's old. We trade technology and freight between free systems.”

  “That's a convenient explanation, but the other free ports we're allied with have never heard of you. One had a profile similar to your ship's design in their data banks but it was over two hundred years old and reported as scrap. All that ergranian steel in one place was impractical, they took it apart to sell the raw materials, so don't tell me buying that ship, as old as it is, was a cost saving measure.

  “Nothing about your crew sits right with me. Intelligence has taken a look at the data stamps on the medical information you provided for Elise and found that they're all blank, there's no tag telling us where the information came from, who generated the files initially, or if they were paid for. We can only assume that you're hiding its origin point.”

  “You'd be right, what good would information we traded for be if you could trace it back to the source and skip the middleman?”

  “Your crew behaves like military. The suits you wear may be far more advanced than our uniforms, but they carry rank insignia, look the same or similar from one person to another, and it's obvious that there's a clear chain of command.”

  I have to admit, I was getting more than a little impatient. “You're right, and I can give you one simple reason why. It's much easier to control a crew that adhere to a clearly established system, a chain of command. My crew follow rank and basic regulations out of necessity. If they have a problem with it, my security team is happy to escort them to the nearest airlock. Now, I'm here to trade, and my crew is willing to help with your defence while we're in the system.”

  “That's what really worries me. You offer the Governor a miracle, earn his trust in the first half hour of knowing him, but you're not willing to answer any of our questions about you.”

  “Ask a question I can answer.”

  “Where do you come from?”

  “We're a shareholder crew. We're from all over the galaxy. Most of us grew up on ships, and I seeded the purchase of the First Light with an inheritance.”

  “All right. I find that hard to believe, but I'll ask another question. Who hired you first, us or Vindyne? Have you been sent here to sabotage or spy on us?”

  “We don’t work for Vindyne, we don’t work for you. Nobody hired us. In fact, we’re not interested in being hired, independence is central to how we operate.”

  “Really? What is this mission you spoke about just a while ago in the apartment? It seemed like something you didn't want us to overhear.” The Colonel's aide brought up a surveillance menu on the table and selected footage of Oz silencing Minh, playing back in the center of the table.

  “I'm afraid I can't discuss it, but it has absolutely nothing to do with you or your people.”

  “Can't discuss it. I could easily take you into custody and our interrogators could take the time to discuss it with you.”

  “Listen, if I were here to sabotage your defence, it would have been done and I would already be gone by now. In fact, I can see exactly where someone would sabotage your defences and I'll be happy to warn you about it.”

  “How do we know that all of this isn't just a distraction? That you're not just some disposable hired gun who is here for nothing more than to lure our focus away from the Vindyne ships just outside our system?”

  I ignored his side of the argument and pressed my point. “The cannons you purchased were obviously made by a company with a great deal more experience in weaponry construction. We suspect that they may have hidden a remote access system inside. I wouldn't be surprised if they offered the access codes to Vindyne for a price, or that a daughter company of Vindyne built them. We may be able to help you reprogram them so access is restricted, or so they automatically target unauthorized ships trying to take control.”

  “Do you think we're stupid? Backwards? We've checked those cannons and they were made by an independent contractor. They also have no kind of remote transmitters or receivers, the controls are hard wired. We're quite safe on the surface.”

  “That doesn't make them impossible to manipulate. Someone could patch themselves in from one of those cables and take direct control or add a receiver at any point along the cable's path.”

  “Impossible, the junction sites have alarms built in and the penalty for treason is death. The chances of us being betrayed by one of our own are slim to none.”

  “When the cannons are taken out of commission, they can mount an assault from the air and hold your cities hostage. Even with energy shielding, a large enough explosion just outside the protected radius would shake any settlement to the ground. Especially if they're made of glass, metal sheeting, wood and plaster. Like I said, we are here to help.”

  “Then tell me who your patrons are. Who do you really serve and what this mission of yours is all about?”

  I thought for a moment, knowing full well that we'd have to reveal something significant to convince him we were trustworthy. “If I tell you anything it can't go past this room.”

  “I can't promise that until I know what it is you're going to tell me.”

  “Look, I'm willing to give you critical information about where we're from and what we're doing here, but you've got to promise me that this doesn't leak.”

  “I follow a chain of command and have an obligation to pass information up to my superiors. I'll decide what kind of secrecy is necessary once I know what it is you have to tell me.”

  “In that case, it's time for us to leave. The terms of your trust aren't a good fit with our priorities. I'd like to honour our promises to the Governor's daughter, so we'll stay in orbit to make sure the medical treatment we offered is carried out properly. I assume we're free to return to our ship?”

>   “Under escort, yes,” Colonel Douglas looked surprised.

  The station shook suddenly and I looked at my command control console.

  The General brought a menu up on the table and made a selection. “Sentries, draw and take aim on our friends here,” he said casually. The two guards behind him drew their sidearms and pointed them at us. They looked like conventional projectile weapons. It didn't matter that our suits could withstand that kind of impact, our heads were uncovered and the projectiles could still cause broken bones and bruised or ruptured organs if they impacted on our suits too hard or too many times.

  Colonel Douglas brought a live image of the station up on the table. One of the domes were smoking, the wall of it looked like it had blown out from the inside and was on fire. “It looks like there was an explosion in the market section. Some of your crew members passed through there on their way to your lander,” The Colonel said a matter-of-factly. “The control station to one of our planetary defence cannons happens to be out of commission thanks to that bomb. You're all under arrest.” He pressed another spot on the table and the door opened to reveal two more sentinels.

  “That went well,” Oz whispered sarcastically. “Hey Colonel!” He yelled as he tossed a small, round energy grenade right at him. Shots rang out and everyone ducked. My head was above the table just long enough to see Oz's grenade attach itself directly to the bridge of the Colonel's nose.

  A second later there was a flash of light and I could hear bodies hit the floor at the front of the room. By the time I was out from under the table Oz was on his feet at the front, taking a sidearm from one of the unconscious sentinels. He fired it at one of the windows half a dozen times and tossed the weapon aside. His hood was already up and his suit was sealed. Without a word he took a running start and jumped through the glass, shattering it outward.