by Chris Hechtl
“Don't go near there, Miss Briggs; it's bad. We're trying to shut the gas lines off to this district but …,” a firefighter waved his hand. “You shouldn't be here.”
“I'm going to my apartment to grab what I can.” She pointed to the untouched building nearby.
The Neodalmatian looked at the building, then her and then reached under his hat to scratch at his head. “If you say so. I don't recommend it, ma'am,” he said.
“I'll chance it,” she said determinedly as she marched off.
She avoided the elevator and took the stairs. It was bad, covered in debris and the belongings of some of the people, her neighbors, who had left them in their haste to get out. Being a cat though it made it difficult but not impossible to climb over all of it. She took her shoes off, bit the straps to keep them with her, then moved on. Eventually she gave up taking the stairs at all and climbed the handrailing.
When she got to her floor near the top of the building she was winded but wary. The emergency lights were on. She could smell horrible stenches, but her ears flicked to try to pick out the sounds of people to go with them. Nothing moved. She padded her way to her apartment, shoes in hand then unlocked the door and went inside.
When she was on the other side of the door she leaned against it, feeling safe. She sagged, fatigue sapping her strength and will for a brief time. Finally, she got up enough reserve will to get what she'd come for.
She passed through her kitchenette and snapped up what she could. Power had been out for a long time so she avoided the fridge. But the snacks and emergency rations were still there. She munched them with one hand as she padded to grab her pictures, jewelry and clothes. Getting it down would be a hassle... she found a duffle and experimented with using it as a backpack. When she was sure it would work, she went back to packing it.
Noises outside drew her attention to the balcony. She went out onto it to see the firefighters pulling back frantically from the fires. She frowned, concerned as to why until she heard a distant klaxon warning of an impending explosion. Her eyes flared wide as adrenalin hit her blood stream.
She got off the balcony and turned away from the window to press her back to a concrete column just as the window glass was blown in. She could feel the searing heat and cried out in pain, clutching at herself and tucking into a ball. But the cry was sucked away with some of the air.
A few minutes later she was surprised to find herself alive when the blast had ended. She found herself on the ground under some debris, battered, deafened, and incredibly weary. She was unsure how she'd gotten there, but she was alive, despite it all.
Lights shined on the balcony from above. She felt more than heard a drone of something familiar, like the sound of thousands of bees. The curtains were gone but she could imagine them fluttering as they had in the past at such visits.
“Miss Briggs!” Razor called out. She saw a familiar figure moving around what was left of her balcony and tried to wave her free hand feebly. Finally, he seemed to see it.
He instantly came over and gripped her hand. “Hang on,” Razor said. Using his wrist grapple, he ran the mono-filament line around a column then back to a piece of a beam pinning her. He didn't bother with the winch, just heaved on the line, using the column like a pulley. The pile shifted enough for Callie to pull her legs out.
Razor let the debris down then went over to her, assessing her. When she coughed he took his mask off and put it on her as his free hand dug through the debris around her to get her the rest of the way clear.
“I don't see any broken bones. You got chewed up though,” Razor said.
“Jake,” she murmured, hands gripping his forearms. She pulled on his arms until they were head to head then rested her forehead on the front of his helmet. “Thanks,” she murmured.
“You're welcome, I think,” he replied, tucking her into his arms as she passed out.
He carried her out to what was left of the balcony and grabbed the line T-Bone shot to him from their jet. He looked around the devastated city. “Not quite the happy ending any of us were hoping for,” he murmured as he clipped in to the line and then gave it a tug for T-Bone to haul them away.
The End
The Bismark Incident
Proofread by Tom Stoecklein, Wayne Gaskin, Thomas Burrows
Cast:
Ensign Leopold: A.I. of dreadnaught Bismark.
Captain J'ck'zR'll: Veraxin commander, ship captain of Bismark.
LT Commander Alicia Montoya: Neoape XO on Bismark.
LT Commander Yoshi Sato: Chief navigator on Bismark.
Commander Roger Young: Chief engineer on Bismark.
Po2 Maui: Petty officer on Bismark.
Commander Sprite: A.I. adjunct and chief of staff of Admiral Irons. Also senior most A.I. in the sector.
Commander Jani Matilda: Head of G-3 Schools.
Lieutenant JG Qr'll'ck : G-5 BUPERS department head.
Sharon Farrage: Female janitor hooked on Bliss and Shren. Compromised.
Commander Vestri Sindri: Engineer and yard manager.
Lieutenant JG Ali Ulster: Security administrator on duty.
Chief Warrant Officer Riley Quigon: Purple Neogorilla. Chief Noncom of the navy.
Horathians:
Blake Baker's Dozen:
Mister Black: (King real name Blake Baker) team lead.
Miss White: (Bishop One) female cracker, lock breaker, ID thief.
Mister Gray: Cyberneticist, sleeper, lock breaker, ID thief (Bishop Two).
Stephanie St. Clair: (Queen or Queenie) Human turned A.I.
Mister Brown: Head assassin/muscle (Knight One).
Mister Blue: Chief engineer (Rook One).
Mister Purple: Engineer, lock breaker, pick pocket (Rook Two).
Miss Green: Engineer/life support, medic (Rook Three).
Mister Tan: Nav/helm/engineering (Bishop Three).
Mister Yellow: Nav/helm (Bishop Four).
Miss Red: Muscle, medic, assassin (Knight Two).
Mister Orange: Muscle, tech (Knight Three).
Mister Plaid: Muscle, recon (Knight Four).
Antigua:
Victor Knedson: Team One leader and recruiter.
Shren: Long haired blond signer seducer/handler. “Incubus Honeypot.” A product of Horathian intelligence training and breeding.
Siam Najid: Team Two leader.
Jock Lamure: Hired muscle with a brain.
Mo: Team One Muscle. Big guy with big hands and a big mouth.
1
The Federation Navy had spent the past twelve years in an on-again-off-again rebuild attempt on the Tauren derelict battleship Bismark. The ship had been stripped clean by previous rounds of scavengers over the centuries prior to the Xeno war.
That meant the navy could start with a clean slate, which they had. They'd lengthened her hull and had begun the steps to modernized her and return her to service just prior to Admiral Irons' exile from Pyrax. For a decade the ship sat with only minor work done on her.
Admiral Irons had sent what materials he could to keep the project running on more than just life support. Over time he'd managed to send them enough parts to get her into space as a working hull. After the battle of B101a1, he'd sent back a hyperdrive, limited sensor pallets, a larger reactor, and computers to allow her to function as a true starship for the first time.
She was still practically toothless however or had been. Her life support was the one section of the ship that was fully online; even her sublight drive was barely functional.
After the admiral was settled in Antigua, he sent orders to transfer Bismark to Antigua to complete her rebuild. He'd intended to do it on his off time, but he'd found his off time rather sharply limited, more than he'd anticipated. Fortunately, Commander Sindri had taken a keen interest right off and had done his best to steer excess resources to the ship's refit and even cajole Admiral Irons into playing hooky to resolve some of the engineering issues they'd faced along the way.
Problems had
erupted with the battleship turned dreadnaught. She like a few of the other former derelict or pirate ships suffered various ailments from time to time. Cracks in her structure were not uncommon, though they only presented themselves when the ship was under drive power.
After the third set of cracks had presented themselves, Admiral Irons had ordered a full in-depth scan of the ship, centimeter by centimeter. That meant the crews and robots couldn't just scan the welds and new construction but had to go back to the bow and start over. It had been a long tedious frustrating experience, but ultimately proven necessary when several hairline cracks and buckles within frame members were found. Each had to be repaired, which had set progress back significantly.
That inevitably led to frustration with Bismark's A.I. Ensign Leopold and her crew. Leopold had taken on a Tauren form and persona when he'd been initially created as homage to the ship's original Tauren ancestry. He'd been upgraded to full smart A.I. status when the ship had arrived in Antigua. But his ship had languished, almost forgotten as new construction started to churn out of the yard and the repair yard began to back up. Crews were transferred from the older ships to man the new construction. The older ships were frequently mothballed.
That was slowly changing for Bismark however; Commander Sindri's patronage and stubborn insistence on the capital ship's rebirth had kept her in his sights for a long time. Once engineering had the repaired frame under control, they'd gone back to finishing her refit. She had worked her way through the cycle and the various docks, sometimes arriving just as a dock large enough to accommodate her majestic size was completed.
Recently promoted Lieutenant Commander Yoshi Sato had thought his new position as chief navigator of a warship, let alone the flagship, was a quite the feather in his cap. That was until he'd found out which ship. Bismark was well known as a cursed ship. He'd groaned but had taken his gear to the ship and reported on board dutifully since he didn't have any way to escape the assignment.
He'd been joined by one familiar face. The last time he'd seen Roger he'd been a first lieutenant on the heavy cruiser Enterprise. They'd been classmates at one time.
He'd run into Roger in officer's country when he'd come out of his cabin. He'd been psyched about having his own cabin for the first time in his career. It was another sign he was climbing the chain of command.
“Nice to see a familiar face,” Roger said with a smile and nod to Yoshi. “And the extra rank suits you.”
“Finally catching up. I thought engineers got shorted on the rank?” Yoshi retorted as he took a sip of coffee.
“That's logistics and staff. If you serve on enough ships and know your stuff, the brass showers you with love,” Roger replied sitting back.
“So? What'd you want to talk to me about? And why here?” the navigator asked, indicating their surroundings.
Roger looked around at the coffee shop with a slight frown then shrugged. “Let's just say I didn't want little ears to be listening as you get a different sort of in-brief,” he said.
“Oh?” Yoshi asked.
“You heard about the rumors of Bismark being a cursed ship?”
“Yeah,” Yoshi drawled as he took another sip of coffee.
“It's bull. I know it, most everyone does. She's had some problems, but its straight forward shit. Sure it's taken us a while to figure out, but so far no one has died from it.”
“So far,” Yoshi said dubiously.
“Cut it out,” Roger scolded as an eye-searing purple Neogorilla took a seat nearby and sat back with his coffee and a tablet. “See,” he glanced over to the gorilla, but he wasn't an officer. He felt a slight sign of relief.
Yoshi's eyes cut to the chief and then back to the chief engineer. He raised an eyebrow in inquiry. “Go on,” he urged.
“See, it's not the ship as much as the A.I. You'll see when you go back on board. He's … a pain in the ass. We've traced some of the problems to him. Don't get on his bad side.”
“Problems?”
“Pranks, crap like that. But mean shit, not funny stuff. Stuff to make you and the ship look bad, though I don't think he actually means for the ship to look bad,” he said in earnest. “Though I honestly don't know that for sure at this point. It's getting to be a problem.”
“A problem,” Yoshi echoed, frowning as he sat back. “I'm not sure I like a problem ship A.I. who likes to play pranks.”
“If you can't handle the joke, you shouldn't have joined. But he's … different. Malicious.” he downed his warm coffee then rose from his chair. “I've got to get going. I'm still teaching a class while the ship's in dock, but not for too much longer now that we're nearly at the finish line thank the gods. Just watch your back. Don't be a kiss ass, but don't complain either. He's a pain if provoked.”
“Frack,” Yoshi muttered as he heard that warning. He finished his own coffee as Roger headed to the head to relieve himself. “Now what the frack do I do?” he muttered as he shook his head and left.
<===@^{:::}{<
Chief Warrant officer Riley Quigon was in a dilemma. He'd heard through the chief's phone that there were problems with Bismark, and the overheard conversation between the two officers had proved it. But he wasn't certain who was the best person to solve them. But he did know a conversation was going to take place about the new skipper of the ship shortly. Which meant he needed to chat with someone so he put in a call, not really expecting a response right off.
An email exchange would put it down in writing; something he wanted to avoid. The conversation would be better if it was off the record. Normally he didn't involve himself in decisions of this magnitude, but he didn't have a choice. Clearly, from what he'd heard and the brief conversation he'd had with the ensign, something had to be done and soon.
“Chief, long time no see. What gives?” A familiar chipper voice said, entering his implants.
“Nice to see you as well, Commander.”
“You rarely write, you keep it all business, so I'm guessing this isn't a social call,” Commander Sprite said, smiling as she took up a pose on his HUD.
“Ma'am, I need to keep this conversation low key, as in off the official record.”
“Ominous,” the A.I. said, straightening. “Okay.” She nodded once.
He heaved a sigh. “I'm at a loss on where to begin.”
“If this is about time shock, we've got counselors for that. Or time off if …”
He waved a hand.
“From your vital signs, I'd say it wasn't about you. Okay, so out with it. Get it off your chest. Tell mama Sprite all about it,” she said.
He snorted. “Mama Sprite is putting a finger on the possible solution, ma'am, or at least part of it. I've been told of a problem.”
“Chief's phone?”
“Yes.”
“That explains the off-the-record approach. Which problem are we talking about?”
“Bismark. I need you to have a quiet conversation with the command team there. Preferably before you make any decisions regarding her future officers.”
“Okay,” Sprite drawled. “I've seen some of the reports. Not a lot of flags being flown there, Chief. What am I looking for?” she asked.
His eyes narrowed. “I think you need to have a direct counseling session with the Ensign, ma'am,” he said. He felt like he was being roasted when she flinched. A pure A.I. like Commander Sprite wasn't known for physical reactions. It meant she had some questionable ancestry in her coding or she'd picked up the habit after prolonged interaction with John.
“Why?” the commander finally asked, eying him.
He spread his massive hands in supplication. “Ma'am, it isn't my place to say.”
“But you are saying it is important anyway,” she said carefully, still eying him.
“Yes, ma'am. Admiral Irons wants that ship turned around ASAP now that her engineering is finally getting squared away. I know you are going to be taking a personal eye on her crew.”
“He's visited it often enough to help
with morale and to help with her refit. Anything he should be addressing?”
The purple Neogorilla hesitated then bit down on a frown. He worked his jaw and then shrugged. “Just a suggestion, ma'am, for you to look into something before it becomes more of a problem than it already is,” he finally said.
“Care to tell me what it is?”
“You'll know it when you see it, ma'am. I don't want to prejudice you too early. But a look at the ship's logs and files, transfer requests, and that chat should give you all of what you need to know, ma'am.”
“You're hoping the chat will fix the problem,” she said thoughtfully. She checked her schedule. “I'm booked rather solid, but I can spin off a clone to have a look and chat.”
“It'd be better if you did it yourself, ma'am. You'll need to see it for yourself,” the chief said cautiously.
“Okay then,” the commander replied. “I'm not in the mood for surprises, Chief.”
“Neither am I, ma'am. This is a way to try to nip one off in the bud I hope.”
“I'm not liking the sound of that,” the commander said.
“I didn't think you would, ma'am.”
“Okay, I'll move some things around in my schedule,” she said. “Bismark is still in need of a new captain. Suggestions?”
“That's above my pay grade, ma'am,” the Chief replied.
“But you've got an opinion I'll bet,” she stated. “Out with it.”
“Someone who can dig in and get things done. Someone old school, ma'am. There are a few candidates who are a bit high rank for their current position,” the Gorilla said.