Coeus?

by Andur

  Gideon is standing in the middle of the room and looks like he didn't notice my entry. Suddenly he turns around and throws something at me. I manage to duck away just in time. The thrown bottle shatters harmlessly on the wall behind me.

  I erect a barrier just in case, but my precaution turns out to be unnecessary. Gideon is the only person in the room who is standing, or swaying would be a better term.

  “Ah, sowy. Its Ed. Dun schneak up o- on me lik thad.” Gideon raises a bottle to his mouth and takes a sip.

  “Gideon, are you drunk?” I ask flabbergasted.

  Gideon doesn't reply. Instead he turns around to the person who is pressed by an invisible force to the wall. “No. Were were we?”

  The bearded man at the wall turns his head to me, his face distorted in a pained manner. I can tell that breathing alone takes all his power. “P- Please! S- Save me!”

  Gideon somehow manages to bend down and picks up a big shard of glass. “Wong anser.” He throws the shard at the man in a lazy manner and it picks up speed like falling down a cliff, just that its falling towards the wall. The shard embeds itself in the man's left thigh and he screams.

  “Aw, shud up. I didnt efen hid whad I aimet fa!” Gideon bends down to pick up another shard, but he falls over and lies still. Moments later he is loudly snoring while lying between broken beer bottles.

  Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean

  Gideon

  “Gideon, are you okay?” Nina asks me. “You look tired and sick. Are you sure that you should be at school? It's not that bad to take a day off once in a while. We can have our session at another time.”

  Yeah, probably she is right. But I have to confirm something. Being interrogated by faceless isn't a happy experience. Luckily I managed to lie to them. For some reason I am able to trick their truth reading, though I am not completely sure why.

  According to my story I was abducted and they made me drunk, then I blacked out and the next thing I know is that I wake up inside a detention centre of the faceless, my grandmother in tears at my side.

  Though in reality I didn't black out. At least not completely. It seems that being drunk somehow caused me to fall into a strange emotional state. I enjoyed causing pain to my abductors while I interrogated them. Unfortunately my mental state caused me to overdo it and I wasted four of my five tries without getting any valuable information. There were also other emotions, for the lack of a better term. It was a disturbing experience. I think I'll distance myself from drinking alcohol in the future.

  It was really lucky that the faceless believed my story and dropped any charges against me. First I was drugged with sleeping gas and alcohol, secondly it happened against my will and third, I wasn't in complete possession of my mental and physical capabilities.

  “Gideon?” Nina asks once more.

  “Yes, I was just thinking. Do you know that someone tried to abduct me yesterday?” I ask the counsellor.

  She tilts her head. “Oh, my. I didn't know. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but your minions aren't.” I answer, trying to force a reaction out of her.

  “I think you may be affected by your traumatic experience. I'll call for help.” She says.

  “Then I'll inform the authorities that you hacked the school's counsellor and are influencing it from outside Aether.” I drop the bomb on Nina.

  Nina is the last clue which I have in regards to the Revelation Wing. First they tried to kill me and now they attempted to abduct me. It's clear that I have to do something about them. Going on the offensive is my only option, otherwise they'll try again and again until they get lucky.

  Unfortunately the interrogation of my attackers didn't give me any valuable clues. My only chance is to roll the dice with the only other anomaly within my life and that's Nina.

  I checked her very soon after my counselling with her started. At first I didn't think much of it, but after a while her questions got a little bit too personal and I took a very close look at her.

  But apparently her code was rewritten by someone with at least my level of skill. The only thing I can tell is that her construct is controlled from outside the school.

  I am reluctant in trying to hack her since I am not entirely sure that I would get the whereabouts of her operator by doing so. Sometimes it's better to let a spy do his spying in order to feed him false information. Though I don't think that she is with the Revelation Wing. That leaves only a few other possibilities.

  Nina flickers for a moment and then she drops her faked concerned expression. At the same time I notice an ingoing connection from outside Aether. “Since when did you know?”

  It seems like I've caused a reaction. The other party took direct control of the sprite. “A while.” I answer. “So what do you want from me?”

  She purses her lips. “Nothing particular to be honest. I was just interested in your mental state.”

  So it's another cold track. “You don't belong to the terrorists? That doesn't leave many other possibilities in regards to your identity.”

  The avatar starts squirming. “If you could see your expression right now, Gideon. I am glad that we are not in the same room with each other.”

  “I am tempted to try my abilities on you. Possibly I manage to lock you out of the school.” I look up at the ceiling where the camera is installed. “No, actually I am pretty sure that I can do at least that.”

  Nina stops her strange behaviour to look at me. “You don't even ask why?”

  “It's of no consequence to me at this point in my life.” I answer.

  She raises a hand and scratches her chin. “Hah, that's disturbing. You actually managed to cause me to feel something about this situation. Right now it's bugging me that you don't seem to care about me at all. Congratulations. I wouldn't have cared if you had wished to ask me the most important question.”

  I cross my arms in front of my chest and show her my most defying expression. “It seems I inherited my mental state from you. I don't have to ask questions to gain the hints I need.”

  Nina freezes for a moment and eyes me with interest. “I see. So why did you want to know the whereabouts of the Revelation Wing?”

  “To kill them.” I answer. “Why do you even ask?”

  Nina contemplates my answer for several moments, then she makes a decision. “Asteroid belt, grid 05-BZ-33-U5.”

  I raise an eyebrow without saying a word.

  “I won't tell you what's there. I only say that you should go prepared.” She pushes up her bust and smiles. “The outcome of this experiment might be interesting.”

  I notice that the two way connection is terminated and Nina flickers once more, losing her smile and returning to her previous concerned expression. “I think you may be affected by your traumatic experience. I'll call for help.”

  “That's not necessary. You are right and I feel very tired today. I'll go home and rest.” I turn around and leave without caring any further for the construct.

  It turned out that the unknown party is more troublesome than I thought.

  19. ~Launch.~

  “The Forge is currently located at Mercury. It's a collection of several big rotating cylinders. Each with a radius of five kilometres and a length of twenty kilometres. Their number is steadily increasing with the population. The colonists who built The Forge are creating their habitats by pulling asteroids with high contents of metal close to the sun and spinning them into the desired shape.

  The Forge is the biggest known shipyard complex with over two hundred docks.”

  -Colonies of Sol

  Mercury, The Forge – Shipyard Main Complex

  Gideon

  I lean back in my chair and watch in silent anticipation as the last tests are conducted on my personal spaceship. It's docked inside the main complex of Paul's company, which is a huge cylinder.

  Normally the living habitats are rotating to create cheap gravity, but this one is stopped to make building ships and reactors easier. />
  My ship is held by huge clamps to keep it in place and behind it is the sun, bigger than I would ever have imagined it. The sun looks three times larger and six times brighter than watching it from Earth. Luckily the protective barrier around the habitat lets enough light through to allow a nice look at it. If it didn't block most of the radiation we would be toast.

  Against my assumptions I was able to end my education as a pilot at the age of twenty-two. I would have never imagined that the practical part consists just of a few months of flying shuttles. But the rest of the time made me feel like flying a spaceship consists only of solving equations. At least I wasn't disturbed in my studies and so I managed to ace the school's tests.

  The Revelation Wing didn't manage to launch any more attacks against me or my family.

  I don't know what Ed did, but after the last attack the faceless swarmed through Aether like angry ants. Supposedly because Crono was damaged. I didn't know that the sprite had human rights and was counted as a faceless on top of that.

  “What an ugly thing.” Paul comments from behind me and I turn around. He walks around the rows of chairs inside the observation launch. “It's hard to believe that a brilliant mind like yours would design something like this as a personal yacht. I hope you continue working for us after you fulfilled your dream.”

  “I don't understand what you mean.” Yes, I admit that the ship doesn't look very special. The hull is shaped like a tear and the spherical part has a radius of a hundred metres. The cone which is attached to it stretches the ship to a length of six hundred metres.

  The plating of the hull is adaptive armour, the latest invention on the market. Currently it's configured to look like brass which gives the whole ship an expensive look. Of course it doesn't just look expensive, it is. I poured a sizeable amount of my capital into it.

  “Oh, I don't know.” Paul shrugs his shoulders. “It looks bland. The other rich people who can afford building their own design always choose something futuristic. Like from the Sci-Fi movies from Earth. Why didn't you build the Enterprise? It's a popular model.”

  My head snaps towards him. “You mean there are really idiots who would go for a completely non-functional design like that? No, I went purely for functionality.” If I ever run across a fake Enterprise or Romulan Warbird I'll blast them out of the sky without hesitation.

  Paul tilts his head. “The dimensions of the ship don't really matter with our gravitational drives. So why a tear? And can you even build a teleportation bubble around it? It's huge.”

  “It's a freighter and yes, it can teleport. The math adds up. You can shape the bubble into a tear by manipulating the spell a little.” And accidentally that's also the best shape for long range teleportation.

  “I chose a tear because the structure can withstand the gravitational forces better. So that means the thick end is the front which is falling towards the gravitational anomaly.

  But at the same time I've the needed length to install some of the bigger equipment.”

  Paul nods slowly. “So why did you place the pilot chamber inside the ship? There aren't any windows. I thought you want to take a look at the solar system's sights with a big nice window?”

  I shake my head once more. “Again that's because of functionality! Who in his right mind would place the bridge of a spaceship at the hull? A single stray asteroid without proper shields and you are a goner. No, the bridge, life support and fusion reactors are all as deep within the ship as possible.” I even added extra armour around those sections.

  “In addition I designed the innards modular. The ship's inside can be reconfigured according to my current needs.” And while I am on my way to the belt, the automatic manufacturing plant will make me some things which I am officially not allowed to have.

  He smirks at me. “So what about your family? Aren't they going to have a farewell party?”

  I snort. “Please spare me. We already partied for three days and nights. They already headed home. Maybe I'll visit them once a month when I make a stop at a big colony.”

  Paul's eyes widen. “You plan to teleport the ship that often? That's costly!”

  “No, I'll use the official connection when I make a stop at the big colonies. The ship stays parked at a dock.” I answer. “I've designed the energy banks with a lot of capacity left, but teleporting on a regular basis will reduce the lifespan of the fusion reactors drastically and there is also the issue with fuel. I would have to spend a lot of my time on repairs.”

  “Yes, the reactors. Aren't there a few too much of them? Ten is overdoing it, even for a ship of that size.” Paul gestures at the ship. “And have you found a name yet?”

  “What else can I say than that I like redundancy. And as for the name, I thought about Modular I. Because of the modular innards.” I muse.

  “No.” Paul answers flat-out.

  So it's no good. “Strange. My family was also against it. What do you think about the Redundancy? Bec-”

  “No.”

  “Then the Adaptive!”

  But Paul shoots me down once more. “No! Come up with something unique that's not revealing everything about the ship!”

  “What do you think about the Coeus? It's the titan of intellect and knowledge, so the name fits the ship's purpose because it was built out of pure curiosity. You used only the latest technologies in its design.” A faceless enters the observation lounge with a stash of papers in his hands.

  “Ed, what are you doing here!?” I call out in surprise. Do the faceless have their nose in everything? Did something happen? “But I admit that the name seems to fit. You have talent in naming things. Maybe I'll use it.”

  Ed chuckles. “I was just curious what you need a warship for. There are regulations, you know? A fully automated vessel of that size isn't allowed to carry that much firepower.” He waves the blueprints of my ship in front of my nose.

  “I don't know what you are talking about? Firepower? I've only a few grade one lasers against asteroids and a single torpedo launcher. I don't even carry the necessary torpedoes, it's just to satisfy the board of inquiry.” I answer. “Where did you even get the plan for my ship?”

  Ed shakes the blueprint in front of my nose and it unfolds. “Don't lie to me. Those bulkheads in the hull and the empty compartments behind them can be used to install hidden weaponry! The power routing accidentally runs along all of them, so a conversion can be done with very little effort. And then there is the empty cylinder which is running along the entire ship. It fits perfectly to install one of the rail-gun cannons which are used by miners to smash asteroids.”

  I widen my eyes, trying to fake utter shock. “I didn't realize that the sensor compartments could be misinterpreted like that!”

  “Don't try to joke with me, Gideon. I am not some stupid pen pusher who signs each and every proposal which doesn't have warship written on it in big, red letters. It's a mystery to me how you got this past the officials!” Ed complains, almost losing his mask.

  I bit into my lower lip. Maybe Ed doesn't know that the government is actually happy about every hull which can be easily converted into a warship? Then I probably shouldn't tell it to him. “I am sorry, Ed. They were probably simply lazy. And I admit that I intend to install a weapon or two.” Or even more, depending on how much firepower I need to make my problems go away.

  “For what!?” He calls out and scrunches the blueprint up to toss it at my forehead.

  “To blast a comet or two.” I answer, but after a few moments it's becoming clear that he isn't satisfied. Maybe I should simply tell him the truth. I know that he hates the terrorists to the bone. Once he knows my reasons he surely won't snitch on me. “Okay, I'll take the ship out and look for the base of the Revelation Wing. When I find them I'll deal with them on my own accord.”

  “You know that it's illegal to take the law into your own hands?” He asks. “And you probably won't find them. We are searching for them since generations. Don't you realize that the belt is si
mply too huge? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack as large as the Earth!”

  “They attacked first! If I don't do something they'll always try again when they see a chance.” I try to defend myself. “And what's the problem if I go looking? If they are that well hidden, then I won't find them anyway.”

  Ed sighs, looking at me for a long moment. “Call it the Coeus.” He turns and leaves the lounge.

  Paul whistles. “Whoa. Who would have thought that a faceless lets you simply walk off after you admitted that you intend to install illegal weaponry!”

  I face Paul and try to smile. “That's because Ed is a good guy.”

  Paul frowns and takes a deep breath. “Yeah... sure.”

  20. ~Recommendation.~

  “Oibras Station is located in an orbit around the Jupiter colony and acts as a major shipping point for the planet's goods.

  Its designers wanted to give the settlers as much comfort as possible and created a miniature sun in the centre of a hollow metal sphere. The inside of the sphere is settled like any other city and the population fluctuates between three hundred thousand and six hundred thousand inhabitants.

  The reason for the strong variation is the fact that most of the population consists of temporary inhabitants like technicians, merchants, tourists, pilots and other folk who are just travelling through.”

  -Colonies of Sol

  Jupiter, Oibras Station

  Gideon

  It's so boring! There is nothing to do as a pilot! If I had realized how much time is actually consumed by waiting to arrive at the destination.

  Once I made myself comfortable inside the command module I requested clearance from the dock and informed them of my flight path as soon as the ship was cleared for departure. And thus I left the Forge. Off to new worlds, where thousands and millions of people were before me.

  My ship is now officially cleared as the Coeus, experimental test vessel of the Gideon Cooperation, a sub-contractor of the StarDrive Group. The involved paperwork to get this through with Paul and creating my own enterprise took me months!