by Joe Crouch
Sean looked down at his terminal, a visual representation was shown of the sprawling asteroid belt, detailed information on their composition scrolled freely beside it. Looking up with a glint in his eye, a smile spread across his face as he turned to face Fez, a thought formulating in his mind. “Fez…” he said in a leading voice.
“What is it?”
“That new fighter you assigned me…” Fez looked at him if he could raise an eyebrow he would have, “I don’t suppose you’ll let me take her out for a spin.” The captain sighed, looking around the bridge he could feel every officer’s eyes burning into his head, pleading him not to allow it. He stared towards the Captain with wide puppy-dog eyes, the alien pondered for a while longer before making his decision.
“Alright,” he replied, “But under two conditions.”
“Ok… What are you imposing on me?” he asked dejectedly.
“First, I want you to enable the automatic avoidance systems, so if you go to slam into anything, hopefully, it’ll save our ship… And you.” Nodding, he agreed to the first condition.
“And the second?” he asked.
“The second,” Fez smiled, “I’m coming with you.” Jumping out of his seat, he stormed towards the bridge’s exit, almost tripping over the bulkhead in excitement.
“Agreed,” he beamed, waiting patiently on the slow alien. They headed for the flight deck. First, they would need to get into suitable attire, while G-forces were still diminished within the craft, the new fighter would be pushing the grav-plating to its maximum, the flight suits would compensate for any additional G’s they may feel.
The flight deck was once again alive with activity as his fighter was prepped for flight, engineers buzzed around its hull checking for any problems which may hinder their outing. Pulling on his final compression boot, he stood up and ran his hands down the flight suit, straightening out any creases which may have remained, the Ioution had no such need to look immaculate. “Captain Feghouli and Ambassador Maguire, please report to the flight deck,” a call came over the ship wide tannoy.
Descending the steps and strolling towards his sleek new fighter he couldn’t help but feel excited, it had been specially constructed for the Human with controls similar to Earth-based aircraft. As they approached, a hatch split open along its side, a ramp descended to the ground allowing them access, climbing aboard he stood in awe once again. “Welcome aboard Captain Maguire,” the ships AI pronounced, “Is there anything I can prepare for you?” Ignoring the female voice, he slipped into the pilot’s seat and ran his hands over the controls to get a feel. The console in front of him was littered with terminals and physical buttons, all flashing and blinking different colours indicating their usage. Fez climbed into the small bridge and sat down in the co-pilot's seat, strapping himself in tightly he looked over towards the Human.
“Why’re you worried, Fez?” he smiled.
“I still don’t know where were going or what we’re doing,” the alien replied, Sean turned back to face the terminal and slipped on his headset.
“Mar’Ell this is Arrakis-Two, requesting permission to undock… And head towards the local asteroid belt,” Fez’s head snapped around, his eyes burning brightly.
“We are not going into that asteroid field,” exclaimed Fez, “Not with the new ship.” A reply didn’t come over the radio, but the undocking sequence was cleared on the ships terminal, and with a solitary flashing green light, they were good for escape velocity. Sean pushed his foot down on the pedal and felt the power rip across the ship flooding the grav-drive. The craft lifted off from its bearing and came to a steady hover above the decking. Gently pushing the stick forward, the ship’s nose tilted as the engines pushed the craft past the shielded departure. It didn’t take long for the darkness of the void to encompass their view.
Passing smoothly into space nothing had exploded and no warning lights were blaring, so it was at least a partial success so far he decided. Reaching over, he flicked a switch allowing the craft to swap drives, going from their version of the landing gear to full flight mode. Once the lights turned green, he glanced over to Fez, a captain who had been involved in multiple battles against foes who wanted nothing more than to exterminate his entire race, but he gripped the edges of his seat like this was the worst thing he had ever experienced. Embracing the fear, he pushed hard down on the throttle and sent the fighter blasting away from the Mar’Ell at thousands of miles per hour.
Cruising through the vastness of space gave everything scale, the belt that appeared nearby on the Mar’Ell’s sensors was still an hour or two away at good speeds. Looking out the window the closest planet was a small marble in the distance, its foggy atmosphere obscuring any potential view of its surface. Looking at his local scanners, Sean watched the stream of ships that funnelled out from the most active slip point, freighters passed them by that were magnitudes larger than the Mar’Ell. Plotting a course and allowing the ship to navigate it automatically, he decided to get up and have a look around his new vessel. Stepping out from the small bridge he noticed Fez relaxing in his seat, scrolling through the ships technical data on a handheld pad. The seating area was much like the shuttle they had been in previously; no chairs were visible but he knew when the time was right they would emerge from the walls and mould to their passengers. The area was clean; shelves were filled up with different bags and supplies all neatly arranged. Continuing down the small flight of stairs to the rear of the ship, he arrived in a small open area, to the rear was engineering, the powerful hum emanating from the room gave him pause. Behind the stairs was the mess hall, benches and chairs were piled up in the corner ready for someone to come along and arrange them as they saw fit.
Sliding back into his seat, he grabbed the controls and jolted the ship side-to-side watching as Fez’s head swayed. Looking down at his various terminals the asteroid belt began to come into view, the size and mass of the rocks were visually represented on an overlaid image on the radar. “You’re not thinking of going in there… are you?” Fez asked, the worry obvious in his voice. He was right, it was almost suicidal for a larger class of fighter like the Arrakis-two, it was almost a gunship, but good judgement was never part of Sean’s repertoire.
“Alright Fez, hold on,” he declared as he threw the ship into the belt, flying so close to an asteroid their shadow zipped along its surface. Pushing the engines to the max, they darted in-between two smaller rocks, rolling the fighter onto her side and snaking between them, the grav-drive displaced the asteroid’s orbit and pushed them off-course. “Hell yeah,” he shouted like an excited kid, “You see that Fez?”
“Oh I saw it alright,” Fez replied, “… Watch out for that big one.”
“What big… Shit,” looking ahead he noticed the massive asteroid, pulling quickly on the controls and slowing their speed, he slammed the craft into a vertical ascent, the drives kicked ice and dust off the rocky surface as they passed. Continuing to push the engines to their full potential Sean enjoyed himself, he knew the fighter craft in the TEF had no hope in making the sharp, tight turns that the Ioution drives allowed him to pull off. The chaos the pair were causing as once stable asteroids flew off in all directions didn’t go un-noticed as they received a hail request from local enforcement.
“Ioution vessel, state your business and explain your actions,” the voice demanded, looking over at Fez, he saw him shake his head and pull on a communicator.
“Araba enforcement, this is the Arrakis-two, sorry for any disturbance, we were testing a new ship configuration,” Fez replied, trying his hardest to bluff his way through the conversation.
“Your actions have affected many orbits within the belt, we ask that you see to the stray projectiles and return to your vessel,” Fez lowered his head in dejection, not wanting to look over at the smile that he knew would be plastered across Sean’s face. Pulling the ship about in a vicious vertical loop, he straightened it out and slammed his foot down, the violent rocking that shook them was a clea
r sign that he was pushing his luck. The asteroids hadn’t gotten far, pulling his visor down the local enforcement had sent the locations of the stray rocks to his ship and marked them for his computer to target. Multiple red triangles blinked into view, their velocity and mass were displayed alongside the visual representation of the rocks.
Slowly rolling the craft around he targeted the nearest stray. He accelerated towards it, his finger trembling above the trigger, and as they got within firing distance he pressed down sharp on the large trigger that sat on the reverse of the flight stick. Four large cannons on the wings of the ship began to rumble as their capacitors were charged. Spitting out multiple large green bolts of super-heated, ionised matter, the asteroid vaporised, nothing was left but a cloud of dust, “God damn Fez, these weapons are amazing,” he declared, almost bouncing in his seat. It wasn’t long before he had spun the ship around and targeted the second and third threat, this time, he flicked a switch on the terminal and pressed on the smaller button that sat atop the flight controls. Launch tubes emerged from both sides of the ship, simultaneously they unleashed two missiles each, the four projectile’s paths were displayed on his HUD. The targets were engulfed in a bright orange light, obscuring any view of what may have happened, but the results were easy to observe, sitting where the two rocks used to be was a thin cloud of debris. Turning to face the final target, he looked to Fez, “Got any fun ways we can dispatch the last bogey,” he asked.
“Bogey?” Fez questioned, “The translator had trouble with that, but I think I know what you mean.” He thought hard, rubbing his chin in a very human way, a habit he had no doubt picked up from Sean. “How about we fire two missiles, one to go either side of the asteroid, then as they arrive blow them up with plasma, the resulting shockwaves will crush the rock.” Sean looked on at his co-pilot impressed, he was getting into the spirit of the occasion. He armed the two warheads and sent them flying in the fashion Fez demanded, waiting for his gut instinct to tell him when to fire. Pulling hard on the trigger two bolts screamed towards the slowing missiles, a single explosion rocked the asteroid blowing it into small pieces, “Shit,” he fumed. On his visor the second missile was still in transit, streaking across the system with no guidance or designated target, Sean’s comms button began to flash.
“Arrakis-two, we see a stray projectile heading through our system, explain yourself at once,” the voice demanded.
“Errr…” Sean hesitated.
“This is Captain Feghouli of the Ioution Fleet vessel Mar’Ell,” he said with authority, “This is a mere mistake, training gone wrong, we will rectify it at once.”
“Make sure that you do, Captain.” Sean pushed the craft past her safe maximum speed, trying his best to catch up to the projectile that had a considerable lead. Darting towards the missile it flashed up on his HUD, the computer acquired a lock automatically and pressing hard on the trigger, two bolts lashed out from the ship, the projectile veered off course dodging the plasma that was headed towards it.
“What the hell was that?” he shouted, “It dodged our weapons.” The gap was closing; he knew if he could get close enough the missile would have no time to evade their shots. “Alright, here goes nothing,” he huffed, pulling the trigger and praying to a God he didn’t believe in. The bright orange light that bounced around the cabin was enough evidence that they had been successful, sighing, he slumped back into his chair, avoiding eye contact with the furious captain. Turning the ship back towards the Mar’Ell, he headed towards their base with his tail firmly between his legs. The trip back was uneventful; the duo didn’t mutter a single word to one another instead opting for an awkward silence that neither one wanted to break. “Mar’Ell this is the Arrakis-two, requesting permission to dock,” he said.
“Arrakis-two you are cleared for auto-docking; I see you had a fun trip.” Groaning, he flipped the switch to turn the ship into an autonomous construct and sat back, watching as the vessel righted itself and headed into the dock. Passing through the shield, he saw the deck crew shaking their heads in disgust, he noted it might be the best choice to rush back towards his quarters and sleep the day off. Settling into place the exit ramp snaked out until it touched the warm flooring. Walking down the slope, the deckhands’ angry eyes bore into his back, quickly scurrying up the stairs he rushed out the hangar and into the relative safety of the corridors.
He strolled the corridors to allow his body some relaxation from the rush of adrenaline it had suffered, but the quiet let his mind wander back to the locked door he had found. What could possibly need to be that cold? he thought. Passing the med-bay Xe’Olo shouted out to him, “Human, come in here, we need to discuss something,” the geneticist seemed adamant, so Sean obliged and stepped in, delaying his own mission to return to the cold room. “Your species,” she opened with, “It’s a curious one, quite similar to so many species that inhabit the galaxy but also so vastly different,” she paused to stroll around, seeming to think to herself. “Your bipedal stance, it’s very familiar but has its own nuance, but your internal organs are a mess, so many redundant systems,” she turned, muttering to herself, Sean didn’t know if to be offended, redundant systems he thought, pssh. “What would you say to letting me open you up and examine your insides?” she asked straight-faced, “I assure you no harm will come to your body, I just need to look around.”
“You need to look around in there,” he snapped, staring blankly into her eyes, “I need you to leave my organs alone, however redundant they may or may not be.” Turning sharply, he marched out from the med-bay as fast as his legs could carry him and headed towards his quarters, forgetting about what he had come to do.
It wasn’t long before his doors hissed open and he was throwing his suit across the oak table, letting his body breathe a sigh of relief at the fresh air that rushed over his gasping, clammy skin. He stood in front of his terminal keying in for a mieno and some dinner, gruel number four he thought, grrreat, I can’t wait, when I’m back on Earth I should bring provisions or reprogram this thing for a roast dinner. A small red flashing light caught his attention, he strolled over to the terminal and flicked open the screen, his inbox was up to fifteen now, the latest message being from his Dad. He sat down and set about replying to the ones he could, giving away as little detail about his location. Writing letters home, even aboard the Arrakis, was a tough job, but now he was so far away his instant virtual connections to home were lost, replaced by a crew of aliens. He loved the new crew he found himself with, in a platonic way, but he worried it would become the norm and seeing his own race would become the out-of-place occasional treat. Regardless, he continued writing, typing out feelings that he didn’t feel, but knew would appease the recipient.
Sitting down at his table, he didn’t think about anything or anyone, his mind was blank and ready for something new to come and sweep him up in the excitement that was interstellar travel - He didn’t have to wait long. “Ambassador Maguire, report to the bridge,” a voice sounded from a terminal. Stepping out from his cabin he saw the recently acquired marines jogging away from him at a furious pace, marking it down as training he continued, idly wondering what they could possibly need from him.
Fez greeted him as he set foot on the almost empty bridge, he sat down waiting for the orders that would inevitably come. “We’ve been called to the Desciea,” Fez started, it was a place he had avoided discussing with outsiders, even with the trust they had built.
“The Ioution capital world? What for?” he asked.
“It appears Xe’Olo has some war crimes to answer for…” he paused, sitting uncomfortably, “You’ve also been summoned to appear in front of the High Council…”
“… Right,” Sean gulped.
Chapter 13
Unshackling herself from the tethers holding her in place, the Mar’Ell threw the fuel lines across space as it reeled away from the station. The ship was ready to embark, fuel for the reactors was full, ammo stocks had been replenished and the marine contin
gent had settled in well, at least so far. Xe’Olo had been detained and thrown into the brig for her supposed war crimes, information was lacking but the order had come from the High Council itself with intelligence provided by Ioution Security Services, something was up and Fez didn’t like it. At the time he was unsure of what to do, if the orders had come from an Admiral in the Ioution fleet, there would be no question and it would be carried out without hesitation, but the High Council had a poor track record. Corruption within the Ioutions surprised Sean, the thoughts of a united space-faring race were ones of harmony, but it seemed that absolute power corrupted absolutely across all species, at least what he had seen so far. It was disappointing, as more layers of his starry-eyed vision of the worlds beyond his own peeled away, there was no grand saviour. The war with the Xuron had raged for ages, even with the upper hand the Ioution command had never struck the killing blow.
Roaring into life, the engines came online as power was pumped through the veins that kept the ship alive. The Mar’Ell pulled away, staying at a low speed as to not disrupt the local space and cause any more damage than they already had. It was a short trip to their slip point and their destination was relatively close. Filling with a blinding blue light, everyone on the bridge averted their gaze as the ship slipped into FTL travel.
The trip was uneventful and flashing back into normal space they sat at their destination. They were positioned in the heliopause of the Ioutions capital system, Iunius, giving them enough time and distance to go over their plan. It wouldn’t take long for them to reach the inner system so the crew worked frantically. The ship buzzed with excitement as people darted about ensuring the vessel was in top shape for any potential inspections. Walking onto the bridge, Sean noticed Fez sat in his chair, a look of worry was spread across his face, “What’s up, Fez?” he asked, receiving no reply he left it and sat down at a spare console and brought up the system map. From what he could see, the system had two suns, seven planets and hundreds of moons. Tapping on any item brought up a list of information regarding the selection, and Sean quickly saw why the Ioutions chose this area as their capital. The moons were rich with rare earths and minerals, there was a large asteroid belt in the inner system as well as an Oort cloud similar to Earth’s encircling the perimeter giving this system near infinite resources, especially water.