*****
Allistor took his time finding the bridge. He wandered the corridors of the ship, peeking into rooms or down side corridors as he went. The ship was huge, with several decks, and he was lost after just a few turns. He decided the bridge was likely on the highest deck, so he kept going until he found an elevator. When the doors opened, he stepped inside and prepared to push the top button.
There were no buttons.
“Uhh… hey Nigel can you hear me?”
“Of course, Sire. I have reached an agreement with this ship’s AI as I did with Alpha on the yacht.”
“Great. Please take me to whatever deck the bridge is on. And… point me in the right direction?”
“Certainly, Sire. From this lift, you turn left and proceed to the first junction. There you will turn right, and the bridge is approximately fifty meters straight ahead.”
“Thank you, Nigel. I’d be lost without you. Literally.” Allistor grinned up at the ceiling.
“Quite amusing, Sire. And you are most welcome.”
When the elevator reached the proper deck, Allistor followed Nigel’s directions and arrived in the bridge to find Gene in an undersized chair near the center. The others were all sitting in similar chairs at the various stations. Allistor had to stifle a laugh. The furniture was built for the much smaller-statured goblins, and his people looked like parents visiting a pre-school classroom sitting in the tiny chairs.
“Uhh… Gene? The droids couldn’t build you bigger chairs?” Allistor did his best to keep a straight face.
Blushing, Gene turned to him, the tiny captain’s chair squeaking as it swiveled. Allistor couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing.
Gene rolled his eyes, waiting for Allistor to get himself together. “Yes, they did in fact produce larger chairs. But the consoles were also designed on a smaller scale, and the larger chairs would have them all knocking their knees. We have a plan for refitting the entire bridge. The components are being manufactured down in the fabrication lab on the engineering deck. Once they’re complete, it’ll take us three days to switch it all out.”
Allistor asked, “What about the toilets?” He couldn’t help but snicker a little more.
“Luckily, the rest of the ship was constructed to more average scale. The beds in crew quarters are six feet long; the toilets, and the tables and chairs in the galley are slightly smaller than we’re used to, but comfortable enough. I believe the goblins may have hired out the ship for non-goblin colonists at some point.” Gene sounded slightly offended, and Allistor decided to give him a break. Adopting a more serious face, he addressed the crew.
“Bridge crew! Gene is your Captain on this trip. He’s the only guy in the room who can fly this thing…” He turned to Gene. “You can fly this thing, right?”
Gene just gave him a dirty look.
“Sorry. So, yeah. This first flight, you shouldn’t have much to do. Sit and observe your stations, try to absorb what’s going on. If we start to crash, or get attacked, or something… well I don’t know what you should do. So listen to Gene! Follow his orders, remain calm, and let’s have some fun!”
The crew looked at him like he was insane, and he didn’t care one bit. He was about to go up into space in his very own goblin colony ship.
Gene turned his chair back toward the main viewscreen, the squeak once again causing Allistor to snort. He thought about taking an empty seat to the right of Gene’s, but decided against it. Instead he stood right behind the captain’s chair and watched over Gene’s shoulders as he powered up the engines.
Allistor and the crew cheered when they felt the ship lift off. The viewscreens activated, showing the horizon in a three-hundred degree arc as the ground dropped away below them. Allistor wondered why they couldn’t see directly behind the ship, but waved the concern away to be addressed later.
The ship passed up through the clouds and climbed higher. In just moments, the blue sky darkened, then disappeared to be replaced with the emptiness of space. The twin suns were considerably brighter without the filter of Earth’s atmosphere, and the screens dimmed to compensate. The sheer number and density of stars visible was nearly overwhelming.
“Aaaaand, we are officially in space!” Gene shouted, giddy as a kid on Christmas morning. The crew cheered again, but it was more subdued as they were distracted by the view.
“Nigel, ship-wide intercom, please.” Allistor waited a moment, then said, “Attention all crew. We have left the Earth’s atmosphere and are orbiting the planet. Congratulations! You’re all astronauts. Or… space… navy…force… marines… Damn! We should have thought of a cool name before we left! Anyway, welcome to outer space! If you’ve completed your interview, you might want to find a window, or porthole, or whatever. The view is pretty awesome!”
Allistor resumed his observation of Gene’s piloting as he pulled up various displays.
“The AI is doing most of the work here. Once we were airborne, I simply designated a low Earth orbit, and followed the path it gave me. Just like when Kira was flying the yacht.”
When he didn’t get any increase in his Aviator skill, Allistor began to move about the bridge, peering over the crew’s shoulders at their various displays. The sensor operator seemed to have gotten the hang of her station’s basics, at least. There were several holo-displays showing in an arc in front of her, including one that looked like a bubble that surrounded the ship. When Allistor pointed to it and asked what it was, she explained.
“Just figured that one out myself! That’s our sensor bubble. That’s not its real name, I’m just calling it that. It’s the area covered by our short-range sensors. They are the most sensitive and accurate, for obvious reasons. We also have longer range sensors that can be directed in a specific direction, or sweep all the space around us like radar. Only much cooler!”
The weapons officer was grinning at the display in front of him, which looked like a three-dimensional version of an ancient video game. There were multiple target reticles sweeping the space around the ship, and the crewman was using them to target space rocks and the broken remains of what had once been Earth’s satellites. Every time he got a target lock, he mumbled, “Pew! Pew!” Allistor laughed, patting the man on the shoulder.
“Give ‘em hell! Just don’t actually pull the trigger, yeah?” The man nodded with a wide smile before turning back to his display.
The engineering station featured a large central hologram of the entire ship, with various sections highlighted with different colors. Each of those sections had its own zoomed in display that was color-coded to the master. A quick check didn’t show Allistor any flashing red lights or anything that signified danger or failure, so he assumed the ship was in working order.
One by one he checked out the stations as they orbited the planet. Sensors called out the occasional alien ship approaching, and the crew watched with bated breath as the ships grew larger on the view screens, then passed by without incident.
The third time that happened, the approaching ship altered course to intercept them. Communications called out, “Uh, Captain? Boss? We have a transmission coming in from that ship. They sound pissed.”
Gene looked at Allistor, who just stared back. Looking toward the comms station, he said, “Put it up on the screen.”
She pushed a holographic button, and a face filled the center viewscreen, making it about eight feet tall. If Allistor had to guess, he’d say it was an elf. The face was angular, with pointed ears that swept back close to the skull. The skin was pale, and youthful looking.
“How dare you insult us in such a manner!?” The elf’s pale face flushed slightly pink with anger.
Gene looked at Allistor, who nodded. “You’re the Captain.”
Clearing his throat, he said, “I am Gene Sullivan, Captain of this vessel. I assure you, we meant no insult.”
The face grew redder, though the expression changed very little, remaining disturbingly placid. “You have targeted my ship with your wea
pons array!”
Every head on the bridge turned toward the weapons officer, who was trying unsuccessfully to sink into his tiny chair. Allistor heard him mumble, “Oh, shit.”
Allistor stepped forward. “My name is Allistor. Planetary Prince of Earth, and ruler of Invictus. You have my sincere apologies… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”
The body attached to the giant face leaned back, and they were all able to see some of the elven ship’s bridge. It was beautiful. Full of graceful curves and smooth lines. And the chairs looked very comfortable. The elf’s voice took a slightly more respectful tone.
“I am Commander Enalion of the High Elven faction Or’Dralon, and Captain of the colony ship Ileriel.”
“I am pleased to meet you, Commander Enalion. I must apologize for the misunderstanding. We just recently captured this ship after its goblin crew attacked us. This is our first test flight after completing repairs. The crew and I, being human, have never been in space before today, and are learning to use the technology. I’m afraid my weapons officer was just targeting everything around us as practice.”
The elf seemed to calm a bit, the red shade fading from his face. “Prince Allistor. It is considered extremely rude, if not outright hostile, to track another ship with your weapons. I suggest you do not do so again, unless you intend to fight.”
“Thank you for your understanding and advice, Commander. May I ask where on Earth you intend to land? If your colony is anywhere near my lands, I would enjoy the opportunity to speak with you more. Perhaps you would join me for dinner sometime? I’m afraid we’re probably still rather more humble and unsophisticated than you’re used to, but we are learning and growing quickly.”
The elf inclined his head slightly. “I see that you have achieved a significant amount of fame with our faction. You seem to be favored by at least one of the Ancient Ones. It would be my pleasure to dine with you. We are headed for the deep woods of a place called Vermont.”
“A beautiful place! And just a very short flight from my Capital City, or a quick step, once you have set up your teleport hub. You’ll need time to settle in, I’m sure, so I’ll leave the invitation open, for your convenience.”
“Until we meet again, Prince Allistor. May you rule long and wisely.” The elf actually bowed his head, and Allistor returned with an awkward hand motion that was half salute, half wave. Allistor was distracted for a moment as his screen flooded with both Fame and Infamy Points.
The crew all watched as the graceful-looking elven ship resumed its previous course and descended into the atmosphere. The weapons officer tried to avoid eye contact with everyone, keeping his focus on the display in front of him. He jumped and nearly fell from his chair when Allistor’s hand settled on his shoulder.
“Can I assume that you will not make that mistake again?” Allistor tried to look and sound as serious as he could.
“Absolutely, boss! No targeting other ships, boss! Loud and clear. Burned right into the brain, it is.” The others chuckled and Allistor let a grin escape.
“Great. Do me a favor and pass that on to the others who take up the weapons station. Maybe stick a note on the console there somewhere. I don’t need to be at war with the elves or anyone else this week.” He patted the man on the shoulder and turned back to Gene.
“Are we… burning fuel while we’re up here? What does this thing run on?”
Gene’s eyes lit up. “Hydrogen! We topped off our fuel when it rained yesterday. Just opened the collectors atop the hull and let the rainwater flow in to be processed into hydrogen, oxygen, and its other components. The oxygen went to the ship’s environmental systems, while the other trace elements were separated and stored in tanks in the fabrication lab for future use.”
“So how long can we stay up here with our current fuel supply?”
Gene’s eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as he did some calculations. “Well, this is just a rough number, but… three months?”
Allistor coughed. He’d been expecting a few hours, maybe a day.
Gene explained. “It takes very little energy to maintain orbit, and these engines are incredibly efficient. The takeoff took some energy, obviously, as will our landing. But if we had sufficient food and water, we could stay up here quite some time.”
“Excellent! I’ll go back to the cargo bay and see how things are going there. I’ll send up another round of bridge crew applicants in… an hour? Give you some time to assess this group.”
Gene nodded, and Allistor retraced his path back to the cargo bay.
“Ah, Allistor. How were things on the bridge?” Gralen asked.
“Ever heard of the Or’Dralon faction?”
Gralen nodded. “One of the older and more powerful elven factions. They control several star systems.”
“Yeah… we almost went to war with them a few minutes ago.” Allistor’s words made all four of the mercenaries’ heads jerk toward him in alarm.
“That would be… very bad.” Gralen said, hoping the human was somehow joking.
Allistor decided to make a lesson of it for everyone. “Listen up, people! We had an incident on the bridge just now. Something I want all of you to learn from. The first group we sent up as potential bridge crew were at their stations, experimenting and learning how things work. Our weapons officer was practicing with the targeting system, targeting everything within range, and shouting ‘Pew! Pew!’ as he pretended to fire.” The humans in the group laughed, and Allistor let them. He figured a little humiliation would cement the lesson for the guy up on the bridge.
The mercenaries quickly realized what was coming and looked on with dread.
“As it happens, he targeted one of several vessels that were approaching Earth. One of them, an elven vessel of the Or’Dralon faction, took offense. They changed course and nearly blew us away. It seems targeting another vessel is considered quite rude.”
There was a good deal of mumbling and whispering among the group. Gralen’s hands clenched and unclenched as he stepped closer to Allistor. “Please tell me you apologized?”
“I did. And I invited the commander who contacted us to dinner. It seems I have a decent reputation with his faction, and he accepted.”
“Thank the Ancient Ones.” Gralen breathed a sigh of relief.
“He mentioned that I had earned the favor of one or two of them, as well. Whoever they are.” Allistor casually mentioned.
“That is very good news, Allistor. And possibly the only reason we still live. The Or’Dralon are high elves, an ancient faction of warriors, crafters, and scholars. One of the oldest, in fact. They establish a presence on nearly every newly acquired world, and have become so powerful that even my guild hesitates to accept contracts against one of their members. When we do so, the payment required is… significant. There is a rumor that the payment required for the last contract we undertook against them was an entire habitable moon.”
Gralen looked at him as the other mercenaries nodded. “Had you not defused the situation, the commander would not have stopped with destroying this vessel. His people would have destroyed every one of your people and properties on Earth.”
Now it was Allistor’s turn to feel a bit queasy as the scope of the disaster he’d just avoided sunk in.
Gralen put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “On the bright side, you’ve just successfully negotiated a positive resolution to a potentially disastrous inter-faction confrontation. I imagine that will positively impact your reputation.”
Allistor nodded, feeling numb. “I got a screen full of points notifications. Both good and bad.”
Gralen looked concerned. His voice took on a very firm tone. “Sire, I strongly urge you to take a seat right now and make detailed notes of who those points came from. Particularly the Infamy Points. Going forward, you will need to know who your allies and enemies are. And just as importantly, you need to know the allies and enemies of your allies and enemies. If you received Infamy Points for avoiding conflict with
the Or’Dralon, knowing who disapproved will be vital. Eventually, you will need to know whether they disapproved because they dislike the elves, or because they were hoping for your death. Do you follow?”
Allistor nodded, moving toward a crate and taking a seat. “I hear you. And thank you for pointing that out while the notifications are still fresh. I’ll make it a habit to try and track all this going forward.”
Gralen smiled. “It will become second nature after a while. There are entire disciplines dedicated to the gathering and analysis of such information. You’ll find that you will acquire a skill or two as you undertake the effort. Masters of those skills are valued assets among the factions, paid great sums to analyze the data and make socio-political predictions on their employer’s behalf.”
“Gralen, I need your help. I know nothing of the universe outside Earth’s atmosphere, and little more about what Earth is becoming. I need advisors who can give me information like you’ve just shared, but give it to me before I manage to get myself obliterated out of stupidity. I’d like you to advise me, and maybe recommend another advisor or two I could hire? Like one of those analysts?”
Gralen shook his head. “I doubt you could afford one of the masters, Allistor. And frankly, you are not yet in a position to need one. You are… forgive me… still insignificant. But I might be able to recommend a few beings that I’ve run across in my travels. Beings I trust to honor a contract with you, and serve you well.”
“Great! If you’ll have your men send up the next round of bridge crew candidates in about forty-five minutes, and finish with the interviews, you and I can find a room to sit and talk while I make note of who likes me, and who doesn’t.”
Chapter 14
After a full day of orbiting the Earth while the various crew candidates cycled through short shifts on the bridge, Gene took them back to Earth. Allistor had Gene set the ship down inside the Citadel’s walls, the ship covering a big chunk of the former parking lot on the east side. He reasoned that if another attack came, it would be difficult for him and his people to defend the ship from the walls of the citadel if it were parked at the airport.
Shadow Sun Rebellion Page 23