Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores

by David Buck

  ***

  Steve and Dan had taken a runabout with Ian Mitchin and Douglas Stoneham, all of them a bit worse for wear, over to the island for a meeting with Captain Narindestat after getting to bed very late last night. Douglas and Ian had supplied several bottles of wine and the mission team had celebrated Steve’s appointment as colony governor.

  Ian Ridge had enjoyed several drinks with them, and Samantha and Rebecca when they returned a short time later, before the prime minister pleaded age and seniority and went off to bed. Steve was starting to slur his words, and he realised that he was telling the story of the Malaysian militants a second time to the polite Europeans. But Samantha had appeared at his side, and in moments she had managed to steer him towards their master cabin.

  Steve had been shaken awake at first light and had breakfast with a strong coffee before he donned his uniform and went to the rear deck. Now as the runabout neared the island, Steve waved a greeting to Garendestat who had hurried down to the beach and the Trader lieutenant spoke first.

  ‘Steve you are very early this morning, I trust everything is going well?’

  Steve reassured his friend as he looked around and noticed that all the Maveen probes had left the island again.

  ‘All is well, though I need to see Captain Narindestat as soon as possible please. And I am hoping to talk, or be talked to, by that obdurate Maveen lead probe.’

  Garendestat looked directly at Steve and the three other humans with him. They seemed different this morning and he asked a couple of further questions.

  ‘Steve, I see your uniform has another change with the red cable across one shoulder? Also you and your team seem, well, you seem different today? Now as for the lead probe it is probably off inspecting one of the myriads of strange animals on your world.’

  Steve again reassured his friend as they made their way to the main ramp.

  ‘Garendestat, we had a late night but all is well, and it will all be explained in detail when we see the captain.’

  Garendestat asked for them to remain at the foot of the ramp whilst he sorted out access to the captain. After fifteen minutes he returned and led them towards a meeting room that overlooked the main hold. Steve noted with interest the teams of engineers working on sections of the main doors. Captain Narindestat slowly shuffled into the room, and all were silent as he took a seat and looked around him, before he finally smiled and then spoke.

  ‘Steve, to you and your engineers my personal thanks and gratitude for repairing the aero spike engine over the last two days. Now you seem to have something you need to tell me, but please take your time as I am not fully recovered yet.’

  Steve informed the captain of the recent developments relating the colony, including the discussion and consensus that lead to his own elevation to founding governor. The new marine gateways and the expected departure in three days were also mentioned. The Trader captain looked over Steve’s uniform, obviously noted the change, and now offered his congratulations.

  ‘I think the decision is well made and I congratulate you. You have displayed a great deal of personal courage, integrity and honour, and I look forward to working with you and your people at the Barede colony over the years.’

  Steve and the others looked really confused at the captain’s comment, and Garendestat now added additional information.

  ‘The Maveen lead probe, now Earth probe, insisted or rather commanded that we also go to the colony. We will lie low on the remote colony for many years and provide ongoing assistance in elevating your technology beyond fossil fuels.’

  Steve looked at both Traders as he continued on again.

  ‘We will be glad to have you with us in the new colony and your assistance will be most valued. Now that Maveen Earth probe has a lot to answer for as I understand it, as we are now are concerned with their recent actions on this world.’

  Steve then outlaid his concerns and Captain Narindestat now replied.

  ‘You must speak with the Earth probe to resolve this matter if it can be resolved. I think that the Maveen merely are taking several specimens of your diverse animals and planets to other sanctuary worlds in the outer part of the galaxy.’

  Steve looked around and noted the resigned emotions on the other three humans present as he spoke again.

  ‘So I hear they are robot conservationists, and I understand now that this is part of their greater role, but why us and why now?’

  Captain Narindestat did not try to explain in his answer.

  ‘Who knows with the Maveen and why they do things they do. We are concentrating on leaving as soon as possible and the next three days could be three days too long.’

  Steve and his team sat with the two Traders for an additional length of time to discuss what they could be facing when they launched, as Ian and Douglas had information on a proposed solution. All the time Steve was considering the wisdom of extending the Maveen deal three days given the risks, plus he was also very concerned on the whereabouts of the Maveen probes from the island.

  ***

  The Maveen Earth probe had made another unexpected high speed underwater trip into the Southern Ocean, before he reached the hidden underwater facility of the ancients. Probe three had reached him first and he had given the junior Maveen urgent last minute instructions even as Angwene reached them both. The prototype cruiser gun still stood in the nearby diagnostics pod, however a partially completed copy of the gun stood nearby and he knew that Angwene would not baulk in her efforts to both copy and improve on the new weapon.

  The queen’s daughters quietly listened to the probe’s update report in the inky depths as they went about their construction work. The probe now silently faced the ancient queen after providing an urgent briefing, and noted her silence as he looked over at probe three, who wisely refrained from speaking to him. After another moment Angwene now spoke calmly to both to her daughters and the two Maveen probes.

  ‘Maveen Earth Probe, your return here is unexpected but not unwelcome. You have neatly mitigated a series of severe future risks of our discovery in exchange for a slight immediate risk over three days. The taking of the Traders to the new human colony is a wise decision and the rationale on technological assistance to the humans is both logical and very convenient. My daughters and I are once again in your debt.’

  The probe thanked the queen for her comments and then asked the queen for her advice on a different matter.

  ‘Majesty, may I also seek your council on how best to aid the humans? As it appears another round of warfare is erupting in this part of the sector.’

  The ancient queen was informed of further events in the Carinae sector by the Earth Probe, and she paused in contemplation for several minutes before speaking again.

  ‘So of all things to happen, the Cephrit now wars with the Tilmud. Yet the Cephrit are hardly a warlike race compared to those Tilmud beasts. Now I see the future problems of the humans to be restricted to two races that might attack them in the next two hundred years. So what can you tell me of the Tilmud and Jerecab races lately?’

  Angwene listened at length to the Maveen earth probe before she gave her opinions.

  ‘I have identified the race that is the most dangerous to the humans, and do you want to hear the logic behind my reasons?’

  The Maveen probes listened closely to what the queen had to say before the Maveen Earth probe made to leave after a quick farewell with probe three. Angwene was concise in her gratitude, farewell and her instructions.

  ‘Again my gratitude and my farewells eternal servant, and you are a credit to your remarkable race. Now I have only two final instructions….’

  Within minutes of leaving the ancients, the Maveen Earth probe was travelling at high speed on the long underwater northward to the central Indian Ocean, before a short supersonic flight back to the Trader landing site.

  ***

  Captain Thomas Grills stood on the bridge wing of his small but modern coastal freighter in the cool early morning breeze.
He calmly observed the nearby gateway in the water several kilometres off the entrance to Sydney harbour. Already a procession of smaller boats and yachts had passed through the gateway, and he now watched as three fishing boats made their way through the strange cloud. From time to time, he could see several of the Maveen probes either fly through the gateway or circle the gathering of human ships at a distance.

  The freighter captain had discharged any of his crew that wanted to stay behind and not bothered to replace them. He was confident he could obtain more crew from the colony at a later stage. The ship had been loaded at a frantic pace in the early hours of the morning by a swarm of dock workers. The ship hold was now crammed to beyond capacity with boxed and canned food. The decks had several small boats, cars, motor bikes and trailer homes parked where they could be loaded safely. Fortunately the ship had taken on full load of fuel when it arrived from Newcastle three days earlier, as the whole world had turned their attention to the gateways at several international airports.

  Captain Grills had considered the news of the galactic races with real interest, and was certainly not afraid of any of them, despite the media speculation now rampant on many channels. The fact that the gateways now allowed the passage of small ships had seemed provident to him and he was looking forward to the challenge of the new colony. He walked into the bridge itself and closed the wing door securely behind him. The captain looked at the radar display one last time and noted the position of the other ships, though the restrictions of the gateway meant that his freighter was among the largest in the immediate area. He gave a series of curt orders and the ship slowly turned towards the gateway and held speed.

  ‘Turn all electronics off, including the radio and especially the GPS, the radar and the sonar. I want speed to remain at five knots and we will stay on the current heading.’

  The small freighter nosed slowly towards the gate way, and the attentive seaman at the helm altered course fractionally to keep within two thin beams of light from the two smaller Maveen probes on either side of the gate way. Captain Grills looked over at the larger stationary hulls of the Maveen gate ships, calmly floating in the air on either side, as his ship entered the mist of the gateway. He felt a sense of disorientation, and everything seemed to shiver for a moment before they cleared the mist. He quickly checked the status of his ship and noted that decking seemed warm to tread on for several minutes. He decided it must have been something to do with the transfer of several thousand tonnes of his ship at once through the alien gateway. He immediately gave the expected order.

  ‘Hold her steady and take her to ten knots please to clear the gateway quickly.’

  Captain Grills noted next the calm state of the colony ocean before surprised shout from one of the crew forward on watch alerted the bridge. Soon they all crowded further forward on the bridge to look in wonder at the strange night sky of Barede.

  ***

  Chapter 9

  Garendestat adjusted his arm sling and resisted the urge to kick the enormous cargo hold door in frustration. He had assisted the engineers in the long process of setting up laser calibration checks of the doors and surrounding hull that verified the structure integrity of the hold door whenever it was closed. However on yet another attempt to seal the hold door a series of error messages were displayed stating that the door seal was about to fail. He watched as Beronestat squatted and ran his hand against the lowest inside edge of the door as it swung down and away from him. As the engineer pulled his hand away he noted it was wet, and he looked thoughtful for a few moments before he spoke.

  ‘Now I recall Marenkestat later reporting that the ship pitched backwards for some reason upon landing. The weight balance during slow flight towards the island landing site appeared to be off centre as well.’

  Garendestat looked at the massive door again with fresh insight, before he took a large spanner with his good arm from a nearby tool chest and walked up beside the engineer. He then rapped the spanner against the door heavily expecting a heavy and hollow sound; instead he heard a muffled thud. Wasting no time he selected a large bolt a meter above the bottom of the door and turned to question the junior engineer.

  ‘Beronestat, I want to remove this bolt and I think it just supports an inside reinforcement already secured by several other bolts at either end, now can I do this safely?

  Beronestat confirmed the accuracy of Garendestat’s statement within a few moments, as the equipment trolley carried a holographic projector, and he also offered some advice.

  ‘Yes lieutenant that will work and it will not compromise the door. I do also advise that you are not behind the bolt when it comes free of the hole.’

  Garendestat carefully loosened the large bolt and found that it was stiff to move. However after taking care to stand to one side, the bolt eventually came lose and shot several meters across the hold floor followed by a heavy stream of water. He then selected and loosened two other bolts that were also verified as safe to remove, before he turned to the bemused junior engineer and handed him the spanner.

  ‘We will allow all the water to drain away then we will flush out the door and carefully replace the bolts. Note that the bolts should go in easier than they came out. Now we have to check the top seal of the door again as water obviously got inside the door. We will have to check the alignment of the door again, and then we….’

  Halbindestat was soon advised of the main door problems by Garendestat. He now set up yet another update folder he titled ‘hold door seals’, before acting on a hunch, he led another team of engineers to check again the landing skids. Captain Narindestat sat in his command chair and attempted to catch up with his reports. He was still feeling unwell and Emeria would occasionally come onto the bridge to eye him over critically. He looked at the new reports from the lieutenants helping the engineers and was satisfied at Garendestat’s latest effort with the main hold door. However he was uncertain of the reasons for Halbindestat to move off from a previously assigned repair task, and he wasted no time speaking to him over the communications link.

  ‘Captain to Chief Engineer, I thought the landing skids have been already checked out?’

  The chief huffed as he answered, as he was in a hurry, and he also omitted convention in his reply.

  ‘Narindestat, I am checking the skids again based on hunch after the atypical repairs we needed to do on that engine and the hold door. Now remember how you lowered and raised the landing skids last time?’

  Captain Narindestat replayed the information in his head and remained silent as he considered that perhaps they could all do with a bit of luck now. His contemplation was broken by the communications officer, who relayed across a message that the Maveen Earth probe wanted to speak with him. The captain was in no mood or condition for a long walk, and he merely ordered that the probe be patched through to the rear meeting room. The metallic voice of the probe came into the meeting room as Narindestat closed the door.

  ‘Captain Narindestat, I have been conferring with other Maveen off world and we are still concerned about the future role of the humans in the galaxy. I think it highly likely that a fleet will arrive before or as we leave, but we must stay on the decided path. I insist that we change a few details of our agreement and here is what I want you to do….’

  The Trader captain listened resignedly as the probe outlaid briefly what it was seeking. For once, he had no trouble with what the probe suggested. He even highlighted the advantages of being a biological life form to the probe as he added a few embellishments of his own. The Maveen Earth Probe had no compunction in lying again to the Trader captain, as he had in fact already been off world to advise other Maveen about the key characteristics of the humans. The probe evaluated that the Trader’s suggestions added the subtlety he was seeking to his plans for protecting both the humans and the secrets of the ancients.

  Satisfied now that the plans were correctly in place, the Earth Probe accessed the core software changes made earlier. He supplied the both the m
ission password, and an encrypted password, prudently supplied by the sector probe before he returned to the interstellar assembly point. In a moment the probe had reversed out the changes applicable to ancient compliance and reverted to the standard Maveen probe configuration. As the changes were replicated to the other members of the probe team, apart from the absent probe three, the Earth probe considered the challenges of their escape to have been addressed. Shortly afterwards, the probe led his team and a gate ship south then south east until they reached the massive ice continent the humans called Antarctica.

  ***

  Troop Commander Gavin Lewis looked over the tall, but very wet frame of James Mudbury, as he was led in hand cuffs into his command post and brief introductions were made. Gavin placed a ruler on a report, before he looked James in the eye and noted the quiet determination of the man. He then nodded and spoke to his troopers and to a civilian who must have been an ex-policeman.

  ‘The cuffs can come off for as I see it our friend here will not leave again soon.’

  A moment’s hesitation came from the civilian, but none came from the troopers, who quickly released the hand cuffs. James glanced at Gavin for a moment, and he in turn noted the open but decisive nature of the larger and older man as he spoke.