NEBULAR Collection 7 - Guardians of the Continuum: Episodes 31 - 34

by Thomas Rabenstein

  »Sure, why not,« Fosset invited him, but then looked startled. »Uh … wait a minute … who’s flying the ship right now?«

  Wolf Rouven grimaced thoughtfully and seemed to search for an answer. His hands grabbed an imaginary joystick. »I don’t know. Maybe the autopilot?«

  »Autopilot?« Fosset wanted to protest but was interrupted by Rouven’s grin.

  »Of course not! This space sector is teeming with comets which are buzzing around on random orbits and trajectories. We don’t want a collision and that our dinner ends in a fiasco. The Second Navigator is monitoring our flight and has everything under control. He has a keen eye on the scanners.«

  Fosset smiled relieved.

  »It’s good that you’re here, Welf. I intend to use this opportunity to clarify some details of our upcoming mission.«

  »Rumors are already circulating,« said Rouven and cleared his throat. »Everyone wants to be here in person when the mission is revealed, or why do you think there’re so many crewmembers present today?«

  »Certainly,« Fosset replied mischievously and whispered to Rouven, »By the way, was there another contact with that mysterious pursuer?«

  Rouven moved a little closer and also whispered, »Since we’ve crossed Neptune’s orbit, the strange target echo no longer appeared on our scanner holos. I think, the unknown, small spaceship has landed on Triton and stopped following us.«

  Rouven nervously pulled on his collar.

  »This is a very clear case of Union Fleet snooping. I bet we’re dealing with one of those newfangled mini Hawks. Perhaps, the ship has new stealth technology.«

  »Do you really believe that?« Fosset asked with narrowed eyes. However, his tense face only lasted for a few seconds, then his infamous crow feet around his eyes re-appeared. Encouragingly, he slapped Rouven’s shoulder and said, »I’d be disappointed if it weren’t like that. A small chase through space is like salt in the soup. This makes our mission a bit more exciting. Thanks for the tip regarding the stealth technology. I’ll ask Kokrint on occasion if he can get us something like that and install it on our ship.«

  »So, that’s why we’re flying back and forth across the outer system ring! I thought it amuses you to waste our fuel for senseless maneuvers. »You want to outmaneuver and shake off a Union ship?« Gamze Acun’s solemn voice sounded who walked around the table and critically squinted at her place card. »Was is not planned, that our extraterrestrial friend, Kokrint, was supposed to play the table lady?«

  »Of course, I’d consider it also an honor,« said Fosset, waving at Kokrint regretfully. »But I didn’t want to mess up Chamber’s planning, he has arranged everything so beautifully.«

  Gamze’s eyes flashed.

  This look! That’s too much for me, thought Fosset and swallowed hard.

  Then Gamze Acun suddenly smiled and said with a conciliatory tone, »Of course, if Chambers wanted it this way. I’ll ask him.«

  »Besides, Kokrint is a vegetarian,« Welf Rouven came to Fosset’s aid. »He wouldn’t feel comfortable next to you.«

  Rouven smiled and said to Kokrint loudly, »What have you ordered tonight from Chambers, A Jabba-Jabba salad?«

  »Jabba-Jabba!« Kokrint confirmed enthralled while his skin turned orange in expectation. He didn’t care much about a Human meal like this. Ceremonies were alien to him. The engineer from Zerbit was still wearing the, to some extent, dirty, topless overall whose wide bags were filled with small, specialized tools which were clanking with every movement.

  A quiet chime sounded, and the lighting was turned down a bit which interrupted the discussions, calling the crew members to the table.

  As Gamze Acun sat down slowly, Fosset gallantly got up, stepped behind her and moved her chair closer to the table. Her glance over the shoulder looked worried.

  »It’s not good if you always strain our good relations with the Union Fleet.«

  Fosset leaned slightly forward and whispered in her ear, »Even though, the Union Government considers the Solar System as her territory and wants to restrict flights by private individuals, it doesn’t change the fact that a free man should be able to move around freely in the cosmos.«

  »If you can afford it,« mocked Gamze Acun with sparkling eyes.

  »Sooner or later there will be more of us,« replied Fosset convinced. »Space is not only for governments or organizations. We all are called to explore these infinite spaces.«

  A second chime interrupted Fosset. He nodded apologetically and sat down beside Gamze.

  Proudly, Chambers entered the mess hall through the swinging door of his galley, walking in front of a heavy serving cart which was pushed, with visible effort, by two muscular assistant cooks. The sturdy built, nearly two meters tall chief-cook, had difficulties looking over the large bell-shaped service cart cover.

  »For heaven’s sake!« Rouven gasped. »What did Chambers come up with now? Must indeed be an incredibly big animal! Is that a roasted elephant?«

  »If that’s the case then he would have violated some Union animal protection laws,« Gamze Acun replied amused. »No one would allow us to eat such a rare and valuable animal. I think, there’re around fifty-seven of them left on Earth.«

  She turned toward Fosset and said, »Don’t you want to give us a hint, Commander?«

  Instead of an answer, Fosset just shrugged.

  »I’ve got nothing to say in the kitchen. My command ends exactly at the door to the galley. Chambers has a free hand. Let’s just wait and see.«

  All guests held their breath. Only the faint squeaking of the cart wheels could be heard. Chambers positioned the car in the middle of the mess hall and fumbled with the cover. The assistant cooks stepped back from the cart. Now came Chambers’ turn.

  Seconds later, two hooks lowered down from the ceiling, each attached to a sturdy chain. Chambers was fishing the hooks and fastened them to the eyelets which were attached to the top of the cover.

  »What’s he up to?« Gamze Acun whispered tensely.

  »I have no idea,« hissed Welf Rouven. »But I think, Chambers’ menu for today isn’t that straightforward.«

  By touching a holographic sensor field, the cook set the hoist motor in motion and tightened the chains. Slowly, the lid lifted. With a gentle hiss, the ambient air was sucked through a small gap between the large cover and the plate, only to be released again in the form of steam shortly after that. A hearty-spicy aroma suddenly filled the entire room.

  »I’m going crazy,« whispered Rouven. »That’s some sort of giant pressure cooker!«

  »Jabba-Jabba?« Kokrint shouted excitedly, but the navigator gently shook his head. »I’m afraid not. I’m really sorry.«

  Fosset struggled to suppress a grin and stared at the scene. Chambers looked around. Making fun of his presentation and the way he was going about it, would have had grave consequences for the mess hall food in the coming days.

  As the cover slowly rose, a truly massive roast became visible. The delicate brown crust of the mountain of meat bubbled while the roast was surrounded by delicate blue flames. With a quick movement, which nobody had expected, Chambers drew two arm-long knives from under the cart. He took aim and cut off a hose-like extension, which extended from the roast.

  With a muffled explosive noise, the internal pressure of the roast escaped and shook the mountain of meat. To the astonishment of all present, the roast began to shrink slowly. The flames, which enveloped the roast, blazed up again violently before they extinguished.

  Chambers opened his arms, still holding the two knives in his hands. With this gesture, he looked like a samurai warrior who was practicing a swordfight exercise.

  While the roast lost further in size, Chambers said aloud to the speechless audience, »A personal recommendation from the house! A Vorgonian running bird, simmered in a vacuum chamber, served to you, coated with plasma!«

  The roast had now shrunk to the size of a large turkey. Fosset rose slowly and reverently from his seat and began to clap his hands enthus
iastically. By now, the crew members had overcome their astonishments and expressed their thanks with a vociferous applause for the cook’s presentation. Chambers bowed formally and waved at Fosset.

  »The first cut is for the boss!« he announced proudly.

  »Well, then,« replied Fosset.

  He walked over to the serving cart and received the plate from Chambers’ hands.

  Hunter of lost treasures

  While the crew was waiting for the dessert, Chambers revealed the last outstanding part of the meal – the Neo-Sapien drinking goblets! As the cook asked his guests to open the goblet cover, again, surprised shouts could be heard.

  »A cold Chiropter drink, specially made for Human consumption,« quipped Chambers. »Prepared from fruits of their home-world, the punch, called Klaukirk, doesn’t contain any alcohol as this would be fatal for Chiropters. Instead, Klaukirk is enriched with herbal ingredients that produce an absolute well-being. I have obtained the recipe specifically for this event from the Conceptor on Sedna.«

  While Fosset was fishing some of the exotic fruits with his ladle, filling a tall glass with the extraterrestrial syrup, more and more eyes turned to him.

  Fosset raised the glass and looked at its contents interestedly. Then, he signaled Chambers. The ship’s cook nodded and activated the intercom. Everyone on board the Solar Pride could now hear and see Fosset. Holodisplays flared up in all ship sections and transferred Fosset’s address to the crew.

  »I made sure that all of you who are busy at the moment and can’t come to the mess hall, will receive a proper meal and this cold Chiropter drink. I’d now like to tell you more about our mission.«

  Fosset smiled and nodded toward the intercom camera. The people in the mess hall became silent. All eyes turned to the ship owner.

  »Many of you have witnessed the changes of recent years. I can modestly claim to have actively participated in these changes. Without the discovery of the tachyon portal on Neptune and the transfer to Morgotradon’s torture planet, history might have taken a different course.«

  Fosset allowed himself a short break while sipping on his glass with Klaukirk. His eyes widened with delight, and his cheeks flushed slightly before he continued, »Not the Solar Union, not the Union Fleet or their staff, but a Privateer made the most important discovery of mankind and so got the ball rolling!«

  Short applause sounded which Fosset clearly enjoyed. However, his quick glance to Gamze Acun disappointed him a little. She returned his glance with an earnest gaze. She was frowning.

  »Privateers,« Fosset repeated. »There’re not too many of us around yet, but soon we’ll be followed by others. The interstellar trade, the expansion of the GCC and extended contacts with other galactic nations and civilizations will accelerate this trend. In the near future, the faster-than-light restrictions for us Privateers will end, opening the worlds of the Milky Way for us!«

  »Yes, yes,« Kokrint said joyfully while noisily eating another Jabba-Jabba leaf. »The Pirates are looking forward to it. Some will rob you, some enslaved you, and still others have no interest in your goods, but eat you instead.«

  Fosset briefly looked at Kokrint before he continued, »Of course, the first steps will be dangerous. Christopher Columbus also didn’t know if he would ever return home as he was sailing across the open sea. His reward was the discovery of the New World! We have to prepare well before we can venture into the far reaches of the galaxy and precisely this point brings me back to our current mission.«

  Fosset let his words sink in for a moment, then he declared with his distinctive smile, »I refer to the age-old laws of the seas, which, to my knowledge, were never changed or revoked. I’m talking about the old legal texts of the prize laws. Accordingly, it is permitted to stop enemy ships to take them over, including their cargo and therefore claiming it. Since many of these general, legal texts have been adopted by the Union Fleet, these prize laws also apply to us.«

  Welf Rouven looked up surprised. The corners of his mouth twitched nervously.

  »Are you actually suggesting that we become pirates and capture ships?«

  Quiet laughter echoed through the mess hall, but died away immediately, when Fosset cleared his throat.

  »Much less spectacular, Welf. I want to make use of confidential information to retrieve technical artifacts in the Oort Cloud. Since the Union Government makes it impossible for us to acquire FTL drives, we need to obtain this extraterrestrial technology ourselves. My objective is to find wreckage or remains of the destroyed Circle People spaceships to possibly recover components that can be used for our purposes.«

  Wolf Rouven almost choked on his punch. A faint murmur went through the mess hall. Fosset patted his Navigator on the shoulder.

  Gamze Acun looked startled, her voice trembled slightly as she said, »I can’t imagine that the Union isn’t searching for this technology already. Should we still find something, which I doubt, then we have to surrender these components to the Union Government.«

  »No, we don’t!« Fosset rebutted. »The Circle People were undoubtedly hostile and attacked Humanity. As Privateers, we are a part of Humanity and broadly interpreted, a warring party. Fragments of these powerful vessels are therefore subject to the prize law and can be claimed by the finder, which I intend to do.«

  »Now, I understand why the Solar Pride is being shadowed,« said Rouven.

  »Yes,« Fosset acknowledged. »I couldn’t hide my research from the GCC Secret Service. I assume that they know exactly at Fleet HQ what I’m trying to do.«

  »Why didn’t they prevent the Solar Pride from taking off? The Union Fleet has the means to keep us from flying,« said Gamze surprised.

  »This has been attempted, and they briefly denied me permission to start from Oberon, but my lawyers dealt with these trivialities in less than fifteen minutes,« Fosset declared with an innocent face and threw a descriptive glance to his mobile neuronal mini-computer, which he always wore on the wrist.

  »We’ll reach the search area in about ten hours,« said Fosset. »The space sector in question is almost as large as the inner Solar System. Kokrint will help us classify and evaluate the recovered components.«

  The Zerbite made such big eyes that it looked as if they were falling out of their sockets. His eyes doubled in volume. At the same time, he changed his skin color to dark red.

  »Spirits live in wrecks! I will not enter ships of dead people!«

  »Don’t worry, Kokrint,« Fosset calmed him. »This task is handled by my team. You only have to look at what we bring back. You can check it out in the hangar then.«

  »With my team, he probably meant us?« Welf Rouven hissed to Gamze Acun.

  Her face darkened.

  »You’ve unquestionably hit the nail on the head.«

  Frost Sector

  »We got another one!« Welf Rouven reported once again and checked the flight vector of the detected object. »Distance at closest range 115,000 kilometers. No risk of collision. Spectroscopic analysis: water, dust, and coarse debris. The object has an irregular shape. Its diameter is approximately 350 meters. A typical frost object and it looks like a giant potato.«

  Gamze Acun produced a thin smile while massaging the bridge of the nose with two fingers. The cammand central team was scouting this space sector already for hours without any result. First signs of fatigue and lack of concentration were slowly setting in.

  Gamze blinked at Rouven.

  »Should this massive frost core be deflected toward the sun, then a full-grown comet could develop from it. We could then baptize it “Rouven”.«

  »If anything, then Welf Rouven,« he replied in a tired voice. »Double names sound better with such objects.«

  Hugh Fosset frowned disappointedly.

  »What’s the count?« he asked.

  »Number 62, so far,« Gamze read from her list. »There’re certainly millions of them out there.«

  »Does anybody want to eat something before we investigate the remaining frost core
s?« asked Kokrint enthusiastically, but was ignored.

  Only Fosset gave him a brief glance and activated his terminal again to run the simulation which he had created.

  Where is the error in my calculations? Were the original coordinates possibly wrong? How trustworthy is third-hand information? he thought.

  »If it is indeed true that the four Circle battleships have destroyed each other, then a cloud of debris must have formed that drifts and spreads out according to the laws of physics. Knowing the origin of the explosion cloud and the amount of energy generated while taking into account the time factor and some other conditions, then the result leads precisely to this sector.«

  »If you look at it seriously,« Welf Rouven remarked, »how likely is this kind of scenario, I mean … really?«

  Fosset looked surprised and exchanged a quick glance with Gamze.

  »Welf?«

  The navigator shrugged.

  »Well. We had four superior and technically advanced battleships, each strong enough to destroy the Earth. Now, these four warships, who’s crews were actually allies, battled it out and fought each other, firing their weapons all at once and destroyed each other at the same time? No winner emerged from this battle?«

  Fossett terminated the simulation program and turned toward Welf. The opinion of his command central crew was important to him, but he didn’t want to let Welf’s doubts left unchallenged.

  »It’s a bit more complicated than you’ve just presented. There was a profound manipulation, caused by the cuckoo gene, which the Union scientists had developed. Moreover, the Circle People were always eying each other even before the cookoo gene was introduced. The Circle of Victors was a community held together by force. It was not an alliance in the actual spirit of the word. According to scientific analysis, these different nations would have sooner or later jumped at each other’s throats so-to-speak.«

  Welf marked another object and transferred it to Gamze’s console before replying, »I didn’t mean it like that. To me, it doesn’t matter what mood change caused these Circle People to fight each other or what else happened on board their battleships. There should’ve been losers and winners at the end. In my mind, if there are two or more opponents who keep a shaky balance of power, then the one who is most determined and reacting the quickest, will win the battle. I’m convinced that you did your research well on this subject matter. I, however, can’t believe this story.«