by Jay Toney
The fleet jumped into the system as we hoped. They changed course following us at flank speed. They would have to decelerate hard, or fly past the planet.
*****
Alas our guests have arrived. I told you that we only needed a little patience. Captain Roberts has delivered the means for us to escape our exile and expand throughout the galaxy.
"Yes Chancellor, what are we to do with their two ships?"
"They are no longer of any concern to us. Let them go."
"What if they alert the other systems about us?"
"It will be to late. We will be gone, and a new generation will be left behind, without any knowledge of our whereabouts or plans Let us greet our new guests." Chancellor De'ville focused his monitor on the inbound Alliance ships, and opened a communications channel. "I am Chancellor De'ville. I offer you our warmest greetings. Please join us for a feast in your honor. I can offer you, servicing of your ships, as well as any needed supplies or repairs."
"We will see. What happened with the renegade vessels we followed here?"
"They have departed. They left before we even had a chance to greet them again. Please join us at our humble docking facilities and spaceport. We will prepare a night of celebration. Our women are anxiously waiting. They get so few visitors to entertain."
****
That was all I needed to hear. I set our course for the Hades system, and set up a synchronized jump with the Vengeance. We jumped into hyperspace, hidden by the shadow of the planet. I hoped that enough of Reds refugees made it this far to be worthwhile. So far, half of them were gone, defeated by the Alliance, the Crimson Tide, and Avalon. From the Hades System, we would head to Antares, and begin our search for the star bridge.
To Hell and Gone
We entered the Hades System. We were finally at our objective. Red broadcast the recall signal, as we headed towards the inner planets. The second planet was a high tech world with an orbiting space station. The third and fourth planets were also colonized.
The three planets provided the space station with raw materials and food. In exchange the space station traded luxury items, medicines, and needed machinery to the colonies. Shuttles were constantly either heading towards the different colonies, or returning to the orbiting space station. Even the surface traffic of the colonized planets were busy with shuttle, and speeder traffic. According to Red the space station was capable of meeting any of our needs.
I had Natty brought to me. She was much calmer, with the sedatives Doc was treating her with. For helping with the crew who were infected with the Vamp virus, I owed her at least a face to face conversation.
"Cappy, you should have just jumped here, and avoided the Alliance. Now the Vamps are free to roam the galaxy."
"What about the Lucy and her crew? Something had to be done to make them pay for destroying a defenseless ship and killing her crew. It was obvious the ship was out of control. There was no need to destroy it other than target practice. Even if the Vamps manage to take over the fleet, which I am sure they will, they will have to spend time learning the different ship systems. They can't just suddenly take off."
"Astrea told me they are going to take over the galaxy, spreading from system to system. It's all my fault. If I stayed with you, like she asked, all of you would have been protected from the Vamps. But I was stupid, I celebrated my becoming pregnant, and ignored your raid. That is what started the chain of events leading to the Vamps freedom."
"Astrea told you a possible future, the worst she could imagine. It is not necessarily the actual future. If she could foresee the future she would have known this would happen, and taken steps to prevent it. She could have also appeared to us and warned us. The Alliance will oppose them when they learn about the fleet. There are many other races that will seek out the destruction of the Vamps, such as our friends, the Vorg, and the Iniguar. I am sure they will either defeat or exile them again. A tremendous battle was fought in the past and the Vamps were exiled to their dark planet. They were left with docking and repair facilities, but with no ships that they could use to escape their exile."
"I hope you are right."
I had Doc shuttle Natty back to the Revenge. Her marauder was technically mine. I wasn't going to leave her with a personal ship she could use anytime she wanted. She would have to rely on Red's shuttles from now on.
Our long range scanners didn't reveal any of Red's refugees and their ships. We had lost at least half of the refugees in various battles with the Alliance and others. Half of the refugees and their ships were still missing. It was possible we would find them docked at the station.
The system had a dim red dwarf sun. Its inner planet was to close for any life to exist. The next three were inhabited by colonies. The fifth and sixth were gas giants, and the last planet consisted of mostly frozen water.
When we got close to the station we were able to read a logo on the space station's exterior, "Welcome to Hell," painted in flaming red letters. I hoped it was someones idea of a practical joke, and not a sign of what was to come.
I contacted the space station requesting landing clearance.
"Where's Red. I ain't in the mood to talk to any underlings."
Red's image joined the short, bald, poor excuse of a man on my viewscreen, "Nugget, your still in charge? What happened to the refugees I sent here?"
"Hold on Red. I've honored my end of the pact. No docking charges or fees were levied against any of your people. Fact is most of those who made it here kept on going, as if the devil was on their tails. A few decided to sell their ships and make a stake on the planets, wanting a little peace of heaven for themselves."
"And what of the rest?"
"The Falcon and the Gryphon are berthed in blue section. They are free to come and go as they please."
"That's it, only two ships?"
"That's all who decided to stay. What happened to the rest of the fleet?"
"They were destroyed by the Alliance, the Crimson Tide, and others, half of my fleet were lost in battle. They got the last ship, the Lucy, just days ago. The Alliance had a large fleet waiting in the Premius Capulus System. She flew right into them without even firing a shot. She was destroyed in seconds. They didn't even bother trying to capture her."
"Who is this newbie you have flying with you. He claims to be a captain?"
"There isn't a more loyal man, dead or alive. He would be the Fleet Admiral, if he would let me promote him."
"I guess he might be more intelligent than he looks. You're cleared to moor your ship off of white section, and I guess he can dock in white section too, considering he is part of your fleet, but make sure he wipes his feet."
All of the docking ports were clear, so I chose one. The docks didn't have number designations like every other space station I visited. Instead of numbers, they listed sins. They read; Infanticide, Patricide, Matricide, Homicide, Genocide, and The Seven Deadly Sins where I decided to dock. Maybe it wasn't a joke.
I shut down the ship, cycling the ships power to external. Fresh air flooded the ship from the umbilical hoses. We would be here for at least a month before continuing our journey. We all needed someplace we could relax after the last few systems we visited, and the alien parasites we were infested with. Only a few of us had gotten over the illness that the Pharmakon treatment left us with. I hoped this place was better than advertised. It gave me the creeps.
Natty and Red were on the dock waiting for Amber, Jewel and I. Natty was wearing a control collar. I hadn't seen any since leaving the Alliance. The collar would insure complete obedience from its wearer. If the wearer traveled to far from its owner, he, or she in this case would be given a painful electrical shock that would continue until the owner res
et the collar's remote control. The owner could also induce shock for punishment, or just as a reminder, any time he chose. It was a common means of controlling the slave population the Alliance maintained. It was the same collar that the people whose worlds, held captive by the Alliance were forced to wear. The people of San Paulos would never be the same free society that they once were after willingly putting on the collar.
Red noticed me starring at the collar.
"I can't have her running around loose causing problems again. It's either this or a prison cell. I love her to much to lock he away, so she will wear the collar until I can trust he not to run off again and behave. She knows she messed up bad, and not with just you. I trusted her not to get into any more trouble. Keep her marauder, she won't be needing it any longer."
"She is a good pilot, you may want to reconsider her being able to fly missions."
"When she earns my trust again, she will pilot marauders again, but under my command. She doesn't need her own personal ship for that. This way I can make sure she doesn't run off again. I can tell she is feeling sorrowful, but I don't know if it is because of what she did to you, or because she was disobedient to me. Either way she broke the trust I had in her, and she will have to earn it back."
Red led her into the stations inner offices where I was sure he would be meeting with Nugget, and getting more details about what happened to the rest of his fleet. She followed Red, two feet behind him, in her new place instead of at his side. It was up to her to earn his trust and freedom again.
I keyed the items I wanted to trade into the stations computers, and selected the services I desired, the items I needed to replenish, and the purchases I needed to make. I also credited Beverly's girls with five hundred credits each, as an advance, so they could purchase more clothes, and essentials. I had a draft of their new contracts, and would be reviewing it later with Amber, Jewel, and Beverly.
My first desire was to do something that was fun, relaxing, and exciting. I downloaded the address and directions into my comp and led the girls coreward into the stations depths. I found a rental store near our destination, and passed by it looking for a store that specialized in the equipment we needed.
I spotted the retailer, and ushered the girls inside. We were all fitted for their top of the line zero gravity suits, and helmets. The helmets each had a comlink built into them, that would allow us to talk to each other. They were scrambled each time we would go flying, so other chatter would be blocked out, leaving us with our own private signal. Next were the wings. I bypassed the beginner and intermediate wings, going straight to the advanced. We were fitted to the wings and their finger tip controls adjusted and calibrated.
"Unlike you, the girls have never flown before. Should I adjust the control settings to the beginner settings?"
"No, they are instinctive pilots, they will figure it out with an little experimentation. They will be able to out fly your best students, with about 30 minutes of flying experience."
"I will accept your wager. Lets say the losing team buys dinner at hells kitchen tonight for the winning team."
"I agree, bring plenty of credits, my wives eat a lot and they will be hungry after flying."
We entered the airlock that led into the stations core. There was a course laid out below us that would be used for the competition. There were rings set at various heights and levels that we would have to fly through. It would be essential for all of us to pass through the rings without touching them. We would also be timed. The fastest flying team, with the fewest penalty points would win.
For now we would experience free flight, allowing them to learn to control their wings. I jumped, extending my wings, and using my feet as a tail. Amber and Jewel followed. At first they were a little shaky, over controlling their wings, but their flight smoothed our in minutes.
I took them through the same acrobatic maneuvers and stalls that I taught them in the marauders. They followed me flawlessly. Our half our quickly expired and the sporting goods store's team waited for us to land on the platform. They called themselves Hells Furies.
Their team captain flipped a coin into the air. I jumped up, caught it, and slowly drifted back down to the platform, in the stations core's light gravity. I won the coin toss, it was up to me to lead the way. I hadn't competed in low gravity flying in a long time, but I was sure I still had the skills needed.
I dove extending my wings only half way. That would give me the speed I needed in the dive. I opened my wings just before passing through the first ring. I had to pull up hard to make the next ring then roll rapidly to the right for the third. It felt similar to the feelings I experienced in combat. I let my body take over, enjoying the sensation of flight. Watching the rings as I passed through them. I completed the course in 1:15 minutes and seconds. I got a penalty of 10 seconds for touching a ring bringing my score to 1:25. I couldn't remember when that happened.
The next person through the rings was the team's captain. He was graceful as well as fast. He passed through the rings, without touching them, and tying my score. Amber was next, followed by another team member, jumping on her heals. Jewel jumped next followed by the last flier.
Amber finished the course with a time of 1:20 with her opponent tying her. Jewel was next to finish with a time of 1:15 rolling and tucking her wings as she passed through the final ring. She spread her wings braking and stopping her spin after she finished the course. The Hell's Furies team member tried following her maneuver, concentrating on Jewels feet. He didn't make it. He crashed into the ring and its suspension cables.
We landed on the platform, and folded our wings waiting. Their team member was not injured, but highly embarrassed after causing his team to loose so badly. They were so impressed by Jewels final maneuver, that they didn't even mind loosing, and led the way to Hell's Kitchen.
Hell's Kitchen turned out to be a buffet style restaurant. Its prices were affordable, and the food plenty. Everyone chose different items that appealed to them. Amber and Jewel made me eat different tidbits from their plates, and took portions from mine. It was a place that I would recommend to my crew members when I got a chance. After dinner, we headed back to the Persephone, and stored our wings and flying suits in our closets. I wondered if there was a low gravity simulation where we could use our wings in the holosimulator.
The next morning we had our meeting with Beverly. I had several changes to make to her contract. I was going to make the contract similar to what I did for Sally's. Beverly would be taking over the management of all the entertainers, but under my conditions. First off Beverly wanted a 70% commission, but had nothing to offer in exchange. I changed it to 15% thinking that it was more than enough compensation for her managing them. Persephone maintained the appointment schedule, all she had to do was provide a shuttle service using my shuttles. Their was also the issue of feeding them, housing them, providing amenities such as the recreation center and holosimulator, and medical services. All of those were mine, and I would not allow her to charge them for those services. I would be collecting 35% of the revenue, and investing that into the ships infrastructure and payroll. That left 50% for the entertainers, they were earning their way without the benefit of a regular salary, so I thought it fair that they should be allowed to keep the biggest percentage of their earnings. It took a little convincing to get Beverly to agree, but she agreed after several heated arguments. All of the entertainers joyfully signed the new contract. Appointments would resume, now that they were feeling better.
It turned out that Nugget was telling the truth, and had all of the records to back him up. Few, outside of his regular customers wanted to stay on a space station that greeted its guests with Welcome to Hell. He liked it that way. His space station was profitable, and had few problems coming from visitors. The people who worked here and lived
here were generally happy. Regulars who visited the space station weren't bombarded with different scams. They were treated to the real thing, like my low gravity flying experience here.
Beverly had a holosimulation running to emulate a bordello complete with a saloon and parlor. It had rooms that the ladies and men could use. Not only did Beverly pick up business from the station, she had the stations social entertainers coming aboard to see how they could improve their services. They also looked at our contracts with the workers, and began discussing new contracts of their own.
An advertisement for a theme park caught my attention. It was titled as To Hell and Gone. I couldn't imagine what type of park would have such a title, or what attractions it would have that would attract customers.
We paid our admission fees, and were escorted down a tunnel made of glowing rock, with the slight scent of burning sulfur and brimstone. At the end of the tunnel a door opened to the parks center. The person dresses as an imp disappeared, leaving us alone. We stepped through the threshold and were greeted by Satan himself. He welcomed the three of to Hell, laughing. I wasn't sure what to think of it.
There were several she-devils bidding the parks guests into their shops. The shops had everything from toys to souvenirs, and drinks to snacks. I bought a round of Devil's Elixir for us. It turned out to be warm apple cider.
The first attraction we went on was the Inferno. The rides attendant made sure we were all safely buckled in before starting the roller coaster. Instead of the steep climb we expected, we made a sudden drop accelerating downwards. We went through a series of banks, loops, turns and twists before the ride finished, climbing our way back out of the pits of Hell. The ride was worth the price of admission itself.
Jewel pointed out another ride she wanted to experience. It was simply called The Tunnel. The rides imp seated us together in a log shaped boat with Charon in the rear to guide us down the river Styx. The water was illuminated with a red glow around the boat, fog and mist filled the tunnel ahead of us.