Starflake (T'aafhal Legacy Book 3)

by Doug Hoffman

  They had taken the tube from Earthside City, where they lived, to Farside to inspect their new ship. It was a trip they had made many times over the past five months. The Peggy Sue II was still under construction in the yards nearby, but was finally nearing completion, and the owners had come to oversee the final outfitting. Before getting down to business they had decided to visit some old friends, shipmates from earlier voyages. Voyages taken before humanity clawed its way into interstellar space, before the alien bombardment devastated Earth, before the war against the Dark Lords. Humanity managed to survive but the galaxy remained dangerous, constantly threatening to swallow the unwary whole.

  “The old place looks pretty much the same,” remarked Captain Billy Ray Vincent, the taller of the men.

  The tall dark woman next to him smiled a crooked smile. “The Navy runs on tradition, dear, even if that tradition is less than a decade old.”

  Beth Mekalu was the Captain's wife, first officer, and a one time Navy Commander. Before leaving Earth she had been in the Royal Navy and later commanded the corvette squadron during the battle for Earth. Now she was one of four partners who were the primary investors in the Peggy Sue II.

  “Last time I recall coming here we were all mustering out and about to sign on with the Company,” said Bobby Danner, the other male. He too had served in the Navy, commanding a ship on patrol among the neighboring stars.

  “I have no fond memories of this place,” added Mizuki Ogawa, “but then I was at the University research labs most of the time.”

  Mizuki was an astrophysicist, astronomer and experienced science officer, having spent time on the old Peggy Sue and the M'tak Ka'fek, an alien built ship that had come into human possession. It was on those earlier voyages that she and her companions had become friends with the people they were here to visit.

  Stopping at the reception desk inside the HQ proper, Billy Ray cleared his throat to attract the attention of the young Marine lance corporal sitting there. The pretty blond looked up and took in the four people standing in front of her. She frowned slightly at the Company uniforms.

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  “Yes you can. Please inform Admiral Curtis that Captain Vincent and party have arrived.”

  “Do you have an appointment? The Admiral is very busy...” The receptionist's voice trailed off as she consulted a display built into the desk.

  “Just pass on the message, Lance Corporal.” There was an edge to Billy Ray's voice that caused the Marine to stop perusing the desk display and look back up at the visitors. Any enlisted person quickly comes to recognize that tone, the sound of a senior officer annoyed.

  “Yes, sir.” The receptionist's fingers danced across the touch display. Seconds later her eyebrows went up in surprise when the near instantaneous reply came back. “Someone from the Admiral’s office will be here to take you back in a second, Captain.”

  Less than twenty seconds later a Navy lieutenant hurried up. “Captain Vincent, sorry to keep you waiting, the Admiral will see you immediately, please follow me.”

  As the OATC officers followed the lieutenant from the lobby the receptionist thought to herself, who are these people? No one gets taken right in to see the Admiral, not even ship captains.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Gretchen Curtis sat behind her desk, reading through reports on its display surface. The collars of her jet black jumpsuit held the four stars of a Fleet Admiral, her roan red hair was pulled back and pinned in a tight bun at the back of her head. At one time she had been the first officer of the Peggy Sue, back when it was the first Earth ship to travel to the stars. Now she was the commanding officer of the entire Earth space fleet, a position she was thrust into when Earth came under attack by the minions of the Dark Lords years ago.

  She kept meaning to take some leave time, to step away from the Admiral's chair for a week or two, but somehow that never happened. There was always the next problem to attend to, the next SNAFU to be sorted out. Her only relaxation was an occasional sparring match with Yuki Saito, the head of Navy research and a kendo master.

  A soft chime sounded as the door to her office opened. She looked up to see her aide step into the room and announce. “Admiral, Captain Vincent and party are here to see you.”

  A rare smile lit up Gretchen's face as she came around the desk to greet her visitors. She shocked her lieutenant by hugging each of the civilians in turn, starting with the tall captain.

  “Billy Ray, damn its good to see you! And you as well Beth, Mizuki, Bobby.”

  “Good to see you too, Gretchen. We were in the neighborhood and decided to drop by.”

  “I keep promising myself a trip to Earthside to see you all but somehow it never seems to happen.”

  “You are working too hard, Gretchen,” scolded Mizuki. “The Universe will still be there if you take some time off.”

  “You are right as always, Mizuki. But I'm being a terrible host, please take a seat.” Gretchen motioned to a couch and chairs surrounding a coffee table. “Would you like something to drink, coffee, tea, or something with a bit more character? Johnny, pour my guests a libation, the good bourbon.”

  The aide moved quickly to the side of the room where a panel slid aside to reveal a well stocked bar. As the lieutenant poured six shots of caramel colored whiskey Gretchen continued talking to her old friends at a rapid clip.

  “I asked Jennifer to join us, she should be here any second. It is so good to see people from the old crew.” Turning to her aide she said, “Johnny, these old space dogs were among the first people to leave the solar system. Captain Vincent went to Gliese 581 and brought back the Triad Guardians during the battle for Earth; Commander Melaku commanded the corvette squadron during the engagement; and both Commander Danner and Dr. Ogawa were on board the M'tak Ka'fek, the T'aafhal battle cruiser that finally routed the enemy.”

  “I'm honored to meet you,” the young officer replied, balancing the silver tray holding the drinks. As he set the glasses in front of the Admiral and her friends he added: “I poured a drink for the Commandant as well, Ma'am.”

  The office door slid open and a Marine officer walked in. Her uniform was dark green and she too wore four stars on her collar tab. “Why are my ears burning?” the newcomer asked.

  “I knew mentioning booze would get you to appear,” the Admiral said with a smile. “We have some old friends visiting.”

  “Well look at you,” Marine Commandant Jennifer Rodriguez said as the OATC officers rose. Again hugs were exchanged. When the greetings were complete the six friends reclaimed their seats.

  “It's so good to see you Jennifer,” said Beth. She and Jennifer and Gretchen had been central to the defense of Earth during the assault on the solar system by the Dark Lord's minions. “Except for the stars you haven't changed a bit.”

  “I appreciate the lie, Beth, but I think the years have been kinder to you. What brings you to Farside? It can't be the ambiance or the fine dining, even Jean-Jacques moved his restaurant to Earthside. Jessie’s bar is still here though.”

  “That's good news,” said Bobby, “I haven't had a Fantasy in forever.”

  “We'll have to meet for cocktails one evening before we weigh anchor,” added Billy Ray.

  “Speaking of ships, I understand you are mothballing the Peggy Sue.” Gretchen got a faraway look in her eyes. “She was my first command.”

  “She's not going to the breakers,” Beth said. “In fact, she's going to finally become what she was designed to be—a luxury yacht for the richest man in the solar system.”

  “Speaking of TK, how is that old goat?”

  “Ornery as ever, but Maria keeps him in line... mostly. In fact, she renamed the ship.”

  “Yeah,” Bobby chimed in, “TK wanted something Texan, like The Alamo, but Maria wanted something prettier.”

  “So they compromised,” Beth finished, “on Rosa Amarilla.”

  “The Yellow Rose,” Jennifer translated, “nice choice. What about you
r new ship? I've seen it in the yards and it's huge, as big as a cruiser.”

  “We transferred the computer system from the old Peggy Sue to the new one, so we're calling her the Peggy Sue II—Sue Two for short. I hope she'll be as lucky as the Peggy Sue. After all, the old ship managed to escape a number of really tight spots.”

  “I think that had less to do with the ship being lucky and more that her captains all knew their jobs, Billy Ray.” Mizuki, being a scientist, didn't share the superstitions of sailors.

  “We decided that we needed a stouter ship for our next trip, after we were ambushed at Alpha Phoenicis,” Beth explained. “Since we are headed for the Pleiades we are going to be all on our own. Aldebaran is twenty parsecs away and that's just the first transit.”

  Gretchen shook her head. “The Fleet is pushing out farther each year but not nearly that far, and things out there are definitely not safe. We just had a frigate limp home after being shot up by some race we've never seen before.”

  “Yeah, and the hawks in the Fleet and on the Council are pushing to send an expedition to invade the alien system,” added Jennifer.

  “Can't blame 'em for wanting to get their money's worth out of those new assault ships you've been building, they're even bigger than Sue Two.”

  “We still need to be cautious,” said the Commandant, always protective of her Marines. “We need better intel before we stick a favored appendage into the meat-grinder.”

  “We do greatly appreciate the data on that warp drive ship you encountered, and the design for sensors to detect them. No matter how impressive our new ships are there are bound to be aliens out there that can swat us like flies.”

  “We know that well, Gretchen,” Beth said, sadness in her voice. “We've lost a lot of good people over the years.”

  “Amen,” said Billy Ray.

  Gretchen stood, raising her glass. “To absent companions.”

  The others stood and repeated the toast: “Absent companions.”

  After draining their glasses they paused for a moment of silence before retaking their seats. Gretchen looked at her aide and said, “Johnny, we need another round.”

  Turning back to her friends she smiled. “Now tell Jennifer and me about this last voyage you were on...”

  Chapter 2

  The Drunken Crab, Farside

  The nearest of the three newcomers spoke. “You didn't leave any for us, Chief.”

  “If'n yous had showed up on time there would have been plenty to go around,” the Chief replied. The other man chuckled.

  Rosey stepped over a downed Marine. “As much as I'd love to stand here all afternoon exchanging pleasantries with you fellas, I think that haulin' ass is probably a good idea right about now.”

  “Shit, I thought we were gonna get free beers outta this,” another of the newcomers said.

  “We got beer on the ship, let's move.”

  The four crewmates and the three newcomers exited the bar, strolled casually across the main passageway and entered a side tunnel. Once off the beaten path they all broke into a run, sprinting away from the site of the bar fight. As they ran Hitch spoke to one of the other men.

  “How are you doing, Bud? Good to see you.”

  “You too, Stevie, still getting into trouble I see.”

  “Hey, the Chief started it.”

  “Right.”

  They slowed to a brisk walk as they debouched into the main space of the shipyard. Half a kilometer wide, equally as high, and four kilometers in length, the cavernous space seemed to extend to infinity. It was lined with openings giving access to construction bays. Within those bays new ships of many sizes and shapes were being built amidst gigantic fabrication units and supporting scaffolding.

  Above each bay was a metal roof made from T'aafhal hull material. Part of the advance technology mankind had inherited from those ancient aliens, the material was selectively permeable, allowing solid objects like spaceships to pass through it while holding an atmosphere inside. This eliminated the need for airlocks to pass ships into space and allowed the shipyard docks to be kept under normal atmosphere. When a ship was completed the scaffolding was removed and the new vessel would rise on its repulsors, pass through the metal ceiling, and into the freedom of space above.

  Workers in hard hats and hover sleds crisscrossed the open space, headed for one construction bay or another, while delivery drones drifted overhead. Across the way were a number of in-system transports, fat cylindrical ships with no alter-space capability, intended to haul people and freight around the solar system. On the side adjacent to the fleeing crewmates more elegant ships were housed—frigates and patrol craft intended for the Navy. Four bays in they came upon a familiar torpedo shaped craft, its bow made from silver and crystal. The newcomers started to turn into the bay.

  “That's not where we are going, fellas,” said Matt.

  “Isn't that the Peggy Sue?”

  “Not anymore. That's TK Parker's yacht, in for refitting. Our ship is in the next berth down.”

  Passing in front of Parker's pleasure craft, they rounded a barrier separating the two bays. Before them was their destination, the Peggy Sue II. It had a conical bow make from curved transparent panels and silver metal joinery, much like the bow on the original Peggy Sue. Unlike the older ship, which was shaped like a nuclear submarine or a dirigible, this ship's hull swelled significantly just aft of the transparent bow and bridge section. The front section was fifteen meters in diameter at its base, where the hull smoothly flared outward to the main hull's full thirty meters. It maintained its full beam until twenty meters from the stern, where it once again tapered to a blunt aft end.

  The hull was not a featureless silver cylinder, it had three shallow indentations that ran its length from fore to aft. One ran down the top of the ship with two others spaced at 120 degree angles. In the shallow indentations were docking sites for auxiliary craft: two armored landing shuttles for the ship's marines and two exo/endoatmospheric interceptors along the sides; a large shuttle for the crew and a smaller shuttle to act as the Captain's pinnace on top. None were currently nestled against their mother ship’s hull—they would be picked up later, after the ship left the yards.

  Not as obvious was the ship's armament, only hinted at by blisters of varying sizes scattered around the hull. Two hyperluminal particle cannon, starboard and port; six X-ray laser batteries; six 30mm railguns for close support; and two large railgun cannon that also served as launchers for gravitonic torpedoes. Wrapped in the most advanced shields ever built by humans, Peggy Sue II was more than a match for even the latest Navy cruisers—a fact the Company did not advertise.

  Bud left out a low whistle. “Man that ship is huge!”

  “Well yer not wrong about that,” said the Chief with obvious pride. “She's two hundred meters in length with a thirty meter beam, massing eighteen thousand metric tons.”

  “What's the complement?” asked the lead newcomer.

  “Ten officers, six chief petty officers, forty two enlisted and twenty six Marines.”

  “You planning on invading a planet or space station somewheres?”

  “Chief Morgan, you and yer SEAL buddies were with the M'tak Ka'fek when they had to board a couple of space stations. Captain Vincent want's to be sure we have the personnel to do that if needed without leaving only a skeleton crew on board.”

  CPO Rick Morgan, formerly of the US Navy SEALs, smiled at his old friend, Master Chief Frank Zackly. “You always did manage to land the best assignments, Frank.”

  “Enough of old home week, Rick,” Rosey interjected. “How about you and your fellow snake eaters get on board. I don't want to be hanging around waiting for a bunch of shore patrol apes to show up, stunners blazing.”

  “After you, Rosey.”

  “Follow me,” said Steve Hitch, heading up the boarding ramp. “Try not to trip over any snipes, they're still running around installing stuff.”

  The Atrium, Farside

  After sp
ending far longer than they had intended—and drinking far more bourbon than was advisable—Billy Ray, Beth, Mizuki, and Bobby parted from their friends and headed toward the shipyard. Leaving Fleet HQ, they descended the broad stairs to the Atrium, a large open space surrounded by trendy shops and eateries, festooned with palm trees and tropical vegetation. At the far end there was even an artificial waterfall to lend added ambiance.

  “I don't know about y'all, but I'm half in the bag.”

  “It's your own fault, dear, no one forced you to keep drinking, though Gretchen was quite free with her liquor.”

  “Well we couldn't refuse an old friend's hospitality, could we?”

  “You both know that our nanites will burn off the alcohol quickly with a little physical activity,” chided Mizuki.

  Bobby simply smiled, enjoying the temporary buzz. Having T'aafhal medical nanites in their systems made getting really drunk a very hard thing to accomplish. At least Gretchen's bourbon was top draw stuff, not local rotgut.

  “What are you grinnin' about, pardner,” Billy Ray said to his Sailing Master, noticing the self satisfied grin on his face. They had been best friends since high school and had served together for decades. They were fortunate that their wives put up with their shenanigans and also genuinely liked each other.

  Before Bobby could answer a bald, bespectacled man in a Navy officer's jumpsuit nearly walked into them. The officer was head down, fiddling with the data display on his left arm. He was trailed by a pudgy ensign carrying two briefcases.

  The officer looked up and snapped at Billy Ray. “Watch where you're going!”

  “You were the one flyin' blind, Captain. Most people don't walk while looking at their forearm.”

  The officer looked over the four people in front of him, frowning at the Company uniforms. Then a look of recognition came over his face. “You're the captain of the OATC ship that blasted out of here with a Marine deserter on board a couple of years back.”