by Jay Toney
I contacted Haven's space station and warned them about our niffid infestation, prior to getting docking clearance.
"You've got niffids? Our deevils will see that as a special treat. Please share as many as you like. You are cleared to dock in white section dock 1."
Natty hungrily ate her breakfast, while I docked the Persephone at the space station. The Lucy docked next to us. Reds ship was to large to dock. He anchored his ship at a mooring station, and took a shuttle to the space station.
I grabbed a few things from my cabin, and met with Red, Mike, and the Iniguar representatives in our conference room.
"We have been able to verify much of what you have told us. What information is it that you have for us."
I gave them a copy of the downloaded data from the reptilian vessel, and a copy of what we were able to translate, and begin cataloging.
"What do you want for this data?"
I told him that I wanted to upgrade our ships and replace our ammunition. I also had more items that I wanted their opinions on. I gave them the astrogation book that I bought, the partial star map, and the box of memory crystals that I acquired.
"The star map, and the astrogation data do not match anything in our records. Mike, our best engineer, assures me that the memory stored in the crystals are still intact, but he hasn't been able to adapt them to our computers."
"We will look into it, and get back to you shortly. In the mean time enjoy yourselves on our space station."
Haven wasn't anything like what I expected. It was modern and clean. The only Iniguar space station I visited before coming here was in the Invaldi System. It was clean and had modern facilities, but had a village like atmosphere, amongst its people. I enjoyed my stay there with Shree'tek as my host. This was like stepping into a modern city, with Iniguar going every which way. It would be easy to get lost if they didn't have the same color coding system as our space stations. This one was easily twice the size of anyone I had ever seen or heard about.
Jewel and Amber bought some clothing that they thought our female Iniguar crew might find appealing, and sexy. I was still interested in artwork and curios, and purchased a few pieces for my collection. After a few hours of sightseeing we returned to our ship. We stopped at the four cabins our Iniguar shipmates we residing in, bringing them some new clothing. They were not able to leave the ship, being declared dead. They clapped and jumped with joy, when my wives gave them each four new outfits to wear.
When we returned to our cabin, Natty was just getting up. She worked a long shift, while we slept, and was just now waking. While the girls caught up on today's events, I used the comp to order more fresh fruits and vegetables. The girls watched a movie on our common room monitor, and I watched Jewel.
Watching her was loads more fun than the movie. I loved the way she reacted to the different parts of the movie. She was so animated, I could watch her all night, and never tire of watching her. During romance scenes she would clasp her hands together, or hug her self. When the movie turned suspenseful, she pulled the blanket she had brought with her from the bedroom up to her chin. My favorite was when the move turned grisly, she would cover her eyes with both hands to avoid watching it. She had many other gestures making her as animated as the movie was.
Amber caught me, she came over to me and whispered, "Nathaniel staring at Jewel isn't nice."
"I can't get enough of her. She is so animated I can watch her all night. I love the gestures she makes when watching movies."
"You're not making fun of her then?"
"Not at all, you should watch her to. She is more entertaining than the movie, and I mean that in a good way."
"I grew up with her. We have been friends for a long time, but I haven't paid that much attention to her." We both watched her until the end of the movie.
It was time to let our deevils out to hunt, first I wanted to have a talk with mine.
"Is there a way, we can keep the niffids contained in the rubbish chambers, and the waste treatment center?"
He thought about it for a minute and nodded.
"Can you help with this?"
He nodded again.
"The way they are treating our waste and rubbish, is very helpful to our ship. I would like to restrict them to these areas, and maintain a controlled population. We need enough to clean our waste products without them spreading all over the ship."
He made some gestures that made him look like he was shivering and cold.
"We can use cold air to control where they are?"
My deevil nodded.
"Freezing cold?"
He shook his head.
"Just cold enough to be uncomfortable?"
He nodded again.
"We don't want to run out of niffids. Can you spread the word to only eat enough to maintain the population. Any niffids that escape the waste treatment center, or the waste bins are fair game. I don't want my crew suffering with the noids."
He nodded again.
"I also don't want any of you to run out of niffids to hunt, like they did on Haven."
He nodded again, and I took him to the refuse chute to start his hunting.
"Nathaniel were you just talking to your deevil? Amber asked.
"Yes. You three talk to your deevils too."
"But not the way that you do."
"You should try it, they are really very intelligent."
"Yours talks back?"
"No. He makes gestures or nods to answer or get his point across."
"So, in a sense, he answers your questions."
"Absolutely. Do you want to eat out or in tonight?"
"Rosie and Doc are having another competition now that Natty's back. I wouldn't miss it for anything."
We had eight officers that would be voting tonight. Doc was sure to bring out the big guns to sway Natty to his side. I would just have to see how the voting went. If either Doc or Rosie won, it would mean regular bland meals. If it was a somehow a tie, they would continue cooking their best, to sway the vote.
Just like the last time, both Doc and Rosie stood by the tables with their meal choices. All of us sampled food from both tables. It was going to be close. Both Doc and Rosie went all out with this meal, paying particular attention to Natty. Doc sprung his secret weapon. He served Natty a large serving of Death by Chocolate. I thought we were done for. Natty was sure to vote for Doc. Rosie was expecting something like this, and served us all a fruit cobbler, made from the fresh fruit I purchased from the Iniguar. She topped the cobbler with French Vanilla ice cream, placing a large portion in front of Natty. She moved the chocolate desert to the side whispering, "Try mine first." Doc looked like he just swallowed a bunch of niffids.
Jane, Kim, Randolph, and Natty voted for Doc. Amber, Jewel, and Mike voted for Rosie. The vote came down to me again. Everyone stared at me waiting for my vote. I placed my vote for Rosie, keeping the stalemate going, and our meals too.
"Mike, before Doc kicks us out, I've been consulting a niffid expert, and have come up with a plan to isolate them in our rubbish collection, waste treatment, and hydroponics areas. All we need to do is refrigerate all the entrances and exits. We can do this with something like airlocks. We only need to refrigerate the airlocks to 40°-50°F, to keep them contained in these areas. Our deevils can be used to hunt any strays, and control the niffid population."
"Amber told me that you have been talking with your deevil. Is that your consultant?"
"It is, I assure you he is intelligent, and knows what he is talking about. He even agreed to organize the deevils, to prevent them from over hunting and eating all the niffids. If we c
an contain the niffids, in these areas, it will do us a lot of good. Our rubbish is now clean of all organic material. It will mean better prices when we recycle it. Also, have you seen how clear the waste water is in the hydroponics department?"
"You make some good points. It will not hurt to try your deevils idea. Just don't tell anyone we are taking advice from our pets."
We headed back to our cabins. I knew Mike would start designing and building the airlocks tomorrow morning. I was use to turning in early now and that's just what I did. The girls would join me when they were ready.
I woke early the next morning. Rosie made coffee for me while I drank my morning juice. Our deevils were back. Mine curled up on the couch. He looked like he got more than his share of niffids. He was starting to look a little round around the middle. I would have to have a talk with him about that when he woke up.
Amber and Jewel got up, while I was on my second cup of coffee. Natty remained asleep. She was just starting to experience sleeping and dreaming, shortly before she was killed. I didn't have anything in particular that needed to be done, so I let her sleep in. She could eat her breakfast later, when she woke up.
It was only about an hour after we got up, that we were summoned to the conference room. The Iniguar delegation had some news for us.
"Much of the data you obtained comes from different space faring civilizations, not the reptilians. This technology was stolen from them with the lizards conquest and the extinction of their captives. We have been able to finish the translation, and correlate the data into a manual."
He provided me with a copy of the new data.
"We can make upgrades to your shields, your propulsion, and your hyperdrive. While making these upgrades we will also have to make several upgrades to your computers. It will take about six weeks to make the changes to your ships. The exchange of data only covers the upgrades to one ship. The other ships will have to be paid for in credits or trade."
I was hoping the exchange of information would go further. We needed all of our ships upgraded to continue our journey. We were near the fringe of the galaxy, any further movement would have to be spinward moving around the galaxy.
"What amount of credits are needed to make the modifications?"
"We estimate the cost as being 12,500,000 credits."
I had plenty of credits, so I wasn't worried about paying for the upgrades. I didn't want to use the credits I had aboard, I had other expenses and payroll to make.
"Would you be interested in trading for silver?"
"If we could get a good price. Silver is currently selling at 105 credits per ounce."
"I have three pallets of silver I can trade for the work. Each pallet has 50 bricks weighing between 1000-1080 ounces per brick."
"You have that much aboard your ship?"
"Yes and more if you want to do some more trading for my silver. I have 147 additional pallets."
"Perhaps, we will consider trading for some of your silver."
"I will trade it at 85 credits per ounce if purchased by the pallet."
"We will talk again when I get the astrogation data you gave us finished. We will begin upgrading your ships today."
"I will have my cargo handlers bring the silver to you."
I didn't want to unload the silver at to cheep of a price, that would attract trouble. But I needed to gain some of my hanger space back. Most of planets we stopped at were willing to trade with us, buying our silver at our best price. I was sure the people of Haven would do so too.
It was three weeks before the Iniguar delegates contacted us again. My ship was a mess. Access panels and floor plates were opened to accommodate the refit. More access panels were opened along the main corridor, to allow workers into the service areas of the ship. Engineering was worse with our ships engines removed. Mike assured me that everything was going to plan, and the ship would be back together on time.
I sat with the delegates in our conference room. I told them how we were able to control the niffids with refrigerated airlocks. Our deevils were rotating in small groups to manage the niffid population. Any escaping niffids were fair game to the deevils. Few if any escaped, or at least none that I knew of. We were benefiting, by having no organic waste, or even toxic waste. The niffids ate nearly everything. So far the only things they didn't ear were made of plastic, metal, or glass.
"How are you controlling your deevils, so they don't over hunt?"
"The devils are really pretty smart. All I had to do is explain what I wanted done to my deevil. I let him know that if they over hunted the niffids, there would be no more to replace them. He explained it to the other devils and organized them into small hunting parties. My deevil only hunts once a week now. It has been working on all of our ships, since we started two weeks ago."
"We have collected a few niffids, and will allow them to multiply. We have seen these airlocks you use, and will adopt them to our needs. It won't take long for the population to return, allowing our deevils to hunt again. This time under control and with limitations."
The astrogation data that you gave us is authentic. We were able to compare most of it with the data we downloaded from the memory crystals. The astrogation data doesn't match anything that is known in this galaxy. Their is mention of something they refer to as a star bridge. Its exact location is unknown. Going through our historic files, it mentions that humanity first appeared near the Antares System. I suggest you start your search from there, searching the fringe systems going spinward from there. The data and our notes have been placed on modern data crystals."
He gave me the journal, and the box of old memory crystals along with two new crystals. I thanked him for the astrogation data, and he thanked me for the means to control the niffids and deevils.
After five weeks the ship looked like it was getting back together. The access panels and floor plates, leading to the maintenance and service areas, were mostly closed. New engines were installed, and the bridge and engineering were now cluttered with test equipment. Maintenance technicians were calibrating and making adjustments to our engines, shields, and hyperdrive. They were running simulation, after simulation, tweaking the systems based on the outcome of the simulations.
The Iniguar purchased 30 pallets of silver. The credits were locked into the storage room. Ten percent of the credits were divided equally and credited in the crews accounts. The ships officers and I got our respective shares. They could withdrawal the credits from the pursers office anytime. Most of the crew were either enjoying themselves on the Lucy, or were seeking exotic companions amongst the Iniguar. They weren't due back for another week.
The new engines they installed were more efficient, using less fuel, and more powerful. They were designed to cruise at .3 light speed, and up to .4 light speed, at flank speed. They were thoroughly tested and ready.
All three ships had dual shield banks now. The new design allowed us to raise both shield banks simultaneously or individually. We were also capable of rotating the shields, and balancing them between each bank. The reptilian armor was useless to us. We fought with a mix of energy weapons and ballistic weapons. Their armor was more resistant to energy weapons, but was useless against ballistic weapons.
The biggest gain both us, and the Iniguar received came with the new hyperdrive. They were assured a steady business upgrading their ships, and those of their friends. The new drive still had a 30 light year limit, due to our computers limited ability to process all of the calculations needed to travel the lanes of hyperspace. The advantage we now had was in being able to jump to hyperspace from anywhere. It was priceless. The Iniguar also put in a neural interface at both the helm station and the command chair. This new interface would make it easier for Amber, Jewel, or I to
make changes in our course while we were still in hyperspace. We also had a larger monitor at the helm station, with a lot higher resolution. This monitor allowed us to see objects within star systems, in three dimensions. It also allowed us to see the hyperspace lanes three dimensionally, without reverting to a holographic image.
The ships missiles and spent ammunition were replaced, and additional missiles and ammunition were purchased filling our cargo holds. Our crew were back aboard and we had clearance to leave tomorrow morning.
Alliance Justice
We jumped when we were 30 minutes out from Haven. Our course took us back into Vorg space, to the Capsia System. We exited hyperspace, decelerating much faster, with our new engines. Scan data took half the time to catch up. The monitor began showing visual details, while Amber was running her scans. It looked like there was a battle ahead of us.
"Captain, it's the Alliance, and they are about to bombard the planet. The Vorg resistance has nearly been defeated. The Alliance flagship is the Ajax."
"Jewel, announce all hands to battle stations."
"Jane get our shields up."
"Natty, go to flank speed, start computing missile solutions."
"Amber how many ships are we facing?"
"The Ajax, as you know is an old heavy cruiser commanded by Admiral Thornton. There are two more light cruisers, two frigates, and three destroyers."
I opened a channel to Randolph in engineering, "Randolph, I need every marauder, and 14 vipers armed for combat."
"They're armed and loaded, just give me 20 minutes to get them ready."
Next I opened a channel to Nord, "Nord I need 6 pilots for my marauders, and the rest for vipers, be ready to launch in 20 minutes."
Shar'tu and the rest of the second watch joined us on the bridge. I got him up to speed explaining that Admiral Thornton was a major bad ass. If we took him out, the rest of the fleet was likely to fall apart without his leadership. He would be in command while we were fighting in our marauders and vipers.