Panther and Giraffe

by Gregory Anderson

  Without hesitation he sent two dispatches, one to the ships heading to the nebula, “Take out the Cyrillium ships and put the survivors on Edahni.” He intended that this would be his new mining crew. Second dispatch went to the high council on the Cyrillium home world. “Your deal with Federated was false and is hereby terminated.” As soon as the the gray nebula was cleared he would keep ten ships there and have three protect his planet Edahni. Salvaging the Cyrillium ships and slaving their crews would be compensation for their treachery and deception. Out past Edahni all was quiet, the explorer ship had moved on to map the perimeter and probe the nebula as they waited for another communication from Panther. The Cyrillium high council was still divided about sending another ship through to investigate or to trust this unknown earth human Giraffe.

  Giraffe was not the tallest of those gathered in the great cavern on Mars but she was the most striking. The emerald eyes and fiery red hair were unique to earth humans and only rumor or legend to those of the core worlds. As soon as the weather cleared they would be heading for the core but now she was being honored by this new combined colony of Mars. Giraffe had never given a speech before and decided that a short and sweet thank you was enough but somehow... ”I do sincerely thank you all, for the opportunity to help you achieve what may be the most significant event in the history of the known worlds, a peaceful start. A start that will not be easy but at the same time filled with rewards. You are the first generation of what someday, will be a beacon to the universe.” She was not sure why but the words seemed to set the right tone with all standing and cheering. In a few hours they hoped to be moving to the nebula where they would send a message through and wait for a return message of all clear. Hicks and Hart had set up a regimen for reducing the effects of the long jump. They hoped to come out of the nebula with their wits intact instead of helpless like the Federated ship that they had sent back. Giraffe had spent time in her quarters developing a set of commands for specific operations that the ship could carry out much faster than any human, hegmon or grax. Marx, Uhr and Dihr had been working simulations with Panthers massive but hidden armaments.

  The Cyrillium armada was reasonably well armed and manned by highly trained crews. The problem, which was rarely discussed was, what will happen if we actually go into combat? There had been no major wars among the core worlds for centuries and the small interplanetary skirmishes that cropped up sometimes, never happened on the Cyrillium worlds. The formidable Cyrillium armed forces had never been tried in battle, they were just too big and too powerful to mess with. “It is what happens when someone goes messing around in my backyard.” Hallbrook proclaimed to his 'friends.' He reasoned, “Cyrillium does not want to deal with some fringe world like ours anyway, no profit in it for them.” Better shields and better guns did not help the Cyrillium armada. Federated ships were not big but they had two advantages, lots of arms and, crews that had a lot of experience using them. These crews would coordinate hits on ships with the intention of salvage or outright capture. The boarding missiles that almost took down the Panther with its layers of shielding, quite often went straight through most ships. “Sir, we have thirteen ships on long range coming directly at us!” Commander Tanaka, of the armada replied, “Hail them, let us see what they are about.” A Federated captain named Halsey came back, “We are on routine reconnaissance of our territory and are here to escort you out of it.” Tanaka issued an yellow alert to his crew and then replied, “We are here on orders from the Cyrillium high council to provide security for our explorer ship.” He paused for a moment and then added, ”And the planet Edahni and are not going anywhere, please be about your way sir.” The Federated ships were all listening in to the conversation and were just waiting for the keyword while laughing at the arrogance of the Cyrillium commander. The conversation went back and forth for another fifteen minutes until Federated was in range. “Commander Tanaka, I agree that this is ridiculous, it will be better when your crews are our slaves...” And so, the Federated ships opened up on the Cyrillium armada at the same time they were talking to them.

  The first salvo was away and the communication closed, Cyrillium ships went to red alert and scrambled to target and fire back. Immediately after the first salvo was away Federated split their force in two and started a lateral approach. Although their first shots did not penetrate shields it did a good job of shaking up the untested Cyrillium crews. Their first return fire hit nothing and the split left them confused as to who should target what. Federated fired it's second salvo followed immediately by boarding missiles. The effects were devastating to the armada which was still in convoy positions providing near broadside targets. Faced with superior numbers two Cyrillium ships broke and ran, three were venting but still trying to fire.

  Federated took one ship after each of the runners, targeting and launching long range torpedoes, those two ships would die. Still approaching optimum firing range Halsey opened a channel. “Tanaka, stand down and surrender now before you are no longer able to.” He was met with silence. “Be sensible now, I just destroyed those two who ran, I do not enjoy taking life but I will.” Finally Tanaka came back, “Alright stop!” It was all over in no time. The four remaining Cyrillium ships shut down and prepared to be boarded but found out that would not happen. The ships were going to be left cold, the crews would all be moving to one Federated ship. In space the cold ships would be stabilized along with the two destroyed ones and brought to a dead stop for later retrieval and salvage, this was business. The crews and survivors from the blasted ships were crammed into a huge holding cell. They were treated civilly, fed and treated for medical issues. Halsey was frustrated with the take-down, they lost two ships. They would have been major upgrades to the Federated fleet and the loss of workers did not bode well either. He sent the dispatch to the Federated boss, Hallbrook. During the event the Cyrillium explorer ship had gone quiet and waited things out totally defenseless to help anyway then quietly headed to home. Halsey's thirteen ships had taken no significant damage and the crews were geared for celebration. They would all see a sizable bonus from the action. Three ships, including the one with the prisoners headed to Edahni, the new home of the Cyrillium crews who would be working as miners, and getting paid with food and shelter. Tanaka, the somewhat arrogant Cyrillium commander, however, was aboard Halsey's ship as a heavily escorted guest. He would be meeting the big boss eventually and given the opportunity to work for Federated or, take a final space walk. Halsey set up the remaining ten ships in a double row moving screen in front of the gray nebula with the six cold Cyrillium ships in a static third row, nothing would pass, ever.

  It was unfortunate perhaps that the Cyrillium armada had sent an all clear message back through the gray nebula just before Federated showed up. Giraffe was just getting ready to order the Panther back through. “Are we ready?” She asked. “Very well, Panther, bring us through”. The feeling of entering jump space was slight and they hoped to make this passage without any disabling effects. They all had specially prepared drinks packed full of nutrients, glucose and proteins made to combat the depletion caused by the thirty hours that it would take to travel the one hundred twenty light years back to the core worlds. Every one was also wearing med monitors to record every bit of the trip. The professor would monitor and study the nebula as they passed through along with crew health status. Junes and Hart both volunteered for a medically induced sleep of twenty eight hours. There was something in jump space that made it hard to do anything but think and sleep. Eating was out of the question and just drinking water could only be accomplished a sip at a time. At twenty eight hours Giraffe called everyone to stations and they all were fairly alert. “Uhr, are you ready and able aft?” He returned, “Yes to all captain, Marx and Dihr both at gun stations and ready.”

  On the bridge Zak was the only one who had not come out so well so she ordered Junes in the second chair and Hart was ready on weapons. No one had questioned why they were at high alert despite the all clear they h
ad received. It was simple really, if Giraffe expected trouble there would be trouble, they just did not know what. On board the Federated ships they had been maintaining a high alert level for days. All stations armed and at the ready, they were astounded just the same, when the Panther appeared out of the nebula right in front of them. The command was instantly given on all ships. “Fire all guns.”

  The instant that the Panther emerged and could lock a target they fired. Giraffe calmly commanded, 'Panther, king to queen one, execute, hang on this is going to be rough.” Outnumbered thirteen to one the Panther fired full on all four giant ion thrusters straight at the first ship, the shields holding strong. With the control only an AI could provide they blew past the first row of ships firing into the vulnerable engines of the Federated ships. They gained speed towards the second row. Four Federated ships had lost maneuvering but could still fire. Three others had lost half their guns, thanks to Marx and Dihr's uncanny firing capabilities. Panther then dropped a bevy of missiles at the ships they had passed. While passing the second row of Federated ships Panther's crew started firing on their engines. They were past inertial dampers by four gees when Panther automatically flipped at almost ten gees, the crew groaned with the stress as the pressure slacked a bit. Dropping around so close to those ships confused Federated guns so much that they started shooting at each other. Uhr had been constantly adjusting shield frequency and although they had dropped to sixty percent their effectiveness had tripled. Another of Marx's earth engineering skills. More Federated ships were going offline, mostly from the missile hits which were very similar to their own boarding missiles. A big difference was that Panther could fire and make solid hits at close range. Federated could not fire their own because the Panther was too close, even their own guns had taken out their own ships. What had been a sure defeat and destruction of the Panther had been turned around. Federated captain Halsey sent out a dispatch,

  “Overwhelmed by superior forces of unknown origin.” And then did something he swore he would never do, he hailed Panther and surrendered. Aboard Panther there was a sigh of relief when the surrender came in. “Panther, execute queen two queen.” There was a dizziness as they came out of what would become known as a micro jump. The Panther disappeared. Giraffe then replied to the hail, “Accepted, stand down all guns shut down engines, Marx ready on rails.” The Federated ships had been shooting at thin air and had no idea where Panther was. As soon as they heard the 'ready on rails' all shut down guns immediately and Halsey replied, “Done, we are at your command.”

  Federated had determined after the second attack on the Panther that the demise of so many of their ships had come from some sort of rail gun so when they heard “ready rails” they became fearful, rightfully so. Giraffe then gave a command that was more perceptive than any knew. “Halsey, get all your crew moved to two ships and leave all others cold.” She got back a terse, “Aye captain.”

  Halsey passed the order down, he was smart enough to recognize what was coming. They had found the Panther on radar at just past their guns range, no guns showing and without a scratch. How, just how, Panther had pulled off that maneuver was way beyond their comprehension. They moved off to Edahni at sub light speed with the Panther staying just out of range, the nebula was gathering quite a collection of dead ships, this would be an effective warning for all to stay away.

  The crew of the Panther was just coming down from the rush of combat but still highly alert. The micro jump had surprised all but Giraffe who had worked countless hours with Panther to perfect it. This was a powerful tool that needed to remain secret. The physical stress of the gee force movements had left them all hurting and all were given light pain medication by Hart. It would be some time yet before they could truly relax. The next stop, Edahni, and from the information Panther had gleaned from Federation communications, the remaining crew of the Cyrillium ships was there. There was going to be an exchange, with Federated crew going down to the planet and the Cyrillium coming up to man the Federated ships. Zak was put in charge of overseeing the exchange of crews and suggested that Halsey be questioned but Giraffe. She declined saying, “It does not really matter what he has to say, he is not in charge of anything anymore, we will go to the source.” In short order Federated had been effectively cut in half and because of the deaths of innocent people Giraffe decided that it was time that it's 'protection services' be shut down. Before Halsey went down to the planet Giraffe relented to a video chat. The earlier hails had all been audio only and Halsey for one wanted to see the captain that had bested him with a single container ship. The conversation was short, when Giraffe came on screen. Halsey almost collapsed, the fiery red hair and emerald eyes were something he had never seen before, he stammered out, “Who are you?” Giraffe replied in that calm voice that rattled so many, “Someone you never want to see again, because it will be the last. Take care of your crews and stay out of trouble, I have eyes everywhere, McCord out.” Halsey would not be a problem. Since the rest of Zak's crew were on Colusis Two that would be the next stop. Then they would hopefully move on the Cyrillium home world.

  Communications in space are not instantaneous even with a good relay system it would take days for word to reach the Cyrillium high council about the incidents out past Edahni. Captain Jings with the Cyrillium explorer ship was currently at Colusis Two station taking on supplies but also keeping tabs on Hallbrook. They also tracked Federated comings and goings. Jings did not expect to encounter the Panther there. But Colusis Two is where Zak's crew was. Zak's Panther crew would now be reunited after months apart. At least for those that had not given up and left. Only eight were left on planet, the others had joined on passing ships or taken the credits and went elsewhere. This was not surprising as six months at a time in space was about all most could do.

  It was a tearful reunion with those that were most loyal to Zak. They were in for a surprise, it was no longer captain Zak's ship. Now it belonged to a female with a weird name 'Giraffe' and an AI called Panther. The eight came aboard in the morning, stowing their gear in familiar spaces and eventually moving on to the galley as it was the biggest single room on the ship. They all looked forward to going home for awhile before moving out to the fringe worlds again. It had been a hard several months for those aboard and because of this it was with mixed feelings the others were welcomed aboard first by Zak, ever the diplomat. First he introduce the earth born crew, Giraffe would come in last. The two pilots, engineer, and general workers would provide relief for those now doing twelve on twelve off duty and give them much needed down time. It was hoped the the old and new crews could integrate as well as the earth born had meshed with the others. All were present and sitting down when Zak announced. “Attention please, as you may have heard I am no longer the captain of the Panther and, well, Panther is a Panther, not sure how to explain it so I will leave it to your new captain.....” The sound of chairs scraping back drowned him out as they all stood to attention, no one had warned them.

  Giraffe walked in and looked around, “Sit down now, this is not a military ship, although sometimes maybe it is. I am glad to see the loyalty that kept you waiting so long, it shows character and I hope that you will stay beyond leave time on the home worlds.” She paused for a moment and looked into the faces of her new crew members. “As you have been told, I, Marx and Hicks are from another planet that you are not aware of called earth. Part of the reason I am here is to make sure that planet is left alone, they are not ready. This ship is not mine, it is now it's own, say hello Panther.” And the ship spoke. “Welcome back!” Then she named each one of them. “Giraffe is wrong though, I belong to Giraffe and only obey her commands. For the rest I am here to help in any way I can.” This was a lot to absorb and Junes broke in, “I know you have been able to enjoy fresh food for awhile now but it's back to mana. But, thanks to our brilliant earth born engineer, and what they call 'gourmet chef' I think you will be pleasantly surprised, dig in!”

  Food is a universal ice breaker
and when the three hegmon workers tasted vegetable stir fry for the first time, they felt at home. Giraffe, Zak and Dihr slipped out, they were going across station to visit the CEO of Federated. Hallbrook was in for a couple of surprises but before they left Panther stopped them. “I detected your other ship docked at the station also, I will be listening so if you need it to do anything just talk into your wrist com.” “Thanks, that gives me an idea, Marx, have you got another of those things, ah, for ships?” Marx came back, “I have several and will bring one to you now.” Marx met them at the airlock, handed over the 'thing' and wished them luck. Dihr took the lead to clear the way in the crowded walkway, that was how much human types seem to hate and fear the grax. They were given plenty of space and disgusting looks. This worked out well for another reason, no one really noticed Giraffe. When they got to the docking tube of the Federated vessel two huge humans blocked the way. When Dihr asked to see Hallbrook they told them, “He is not here and you are not welcome anyway so leave now.” Just as Zak was stepping forward Giraffe reached out and touched his arm holding him back. Now the two giants were staring at her as she said, “Hallbrook is in, I just talked to him, he is expecting us so get out of the way before I have Dihr slice and dice you for lunch.” Then she reached out with both arms and pushed them to the sides, the others followed her in. Dihr asked jokingly, which was uncommon for a grax, “We were invited for lunch?” They all chuckled as they moved to the bridge and Hallbrook's office. Those they passed stayed out of there way assuming that if they got by the gate it must be OK . Giraffe said as she slipped the thing to Dihr “Do what you have to do and then just say 'done' if you get it in place. But do not risk your life, we can do without it if necessary.”