Crucible: Records of the Argos

by Michael J. Farlow

  “Those are good points — I may have done the same. However, you were incredibly lucky. The idea of a small ship and an understaffed crew venturing into fleet style actions is unheard of. It was the technology of Argos that allowed most of your success. That will not always be the case. My advice to you if you continue these missions is that you limit yourself to the smallest types of action you can. For your ship and crew, the bigger the involvement, the greater the chance of failure and the loss of your ship. Ultimately that also means potential problems for the Consortium. Not what you want to create.

  “In this case, your luck paid off. You developed a new ally for the Consortium. In fact, President Marza wondered if you and your crew could be loaned to her planet for an indefinite period. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Good, because I told her no. So now, what should we do with you? I mean, it would be logical to return to Consortium space, get a little R&R (Rest and Recreation), and see your families again. What do you think?”

  When you give a ship to a twenty-something officer and orders which offer nothing but new adventures, how could he give that up? The answer, on my part, is you can’t. I didn’t want or need R&R. What to say?

  “Ah, I have to leave it up to my crew, sir. To be frank, I’m having too much fun to stop what I’m doing, if you know what I mean. As far as Argos and myself, I’ll dictate messages for my father and Rose, and for my mother on Earth.”

  There was a sparkle in Stan’s eyes that I hadn’t seen before. I guessed that he had experienced the same thing when he and my father started Galactic Force. He nodded.

  “Believe it or not, I understand. As it happens, I have another, similar assignment for the Argos and whoever the crew is. Have you heard of a planet called Azel?”

  Of course, I had. That was the home planet of Tiana.

  “Yes, sir. We even know a native of that planet.”

  “That would be Tiana, correct? Did you know she has been offered the command of all Tye space forces?”

  “I hadn’t heard, but I’m not surprised.”

  “Um. Well, talk it over with your crew and see what they want to do. Meanwhile, send me a list of everything you need. By now, you will be short of lots of stuff, I imagine. Also, while the ship is moored with New Horizons, we will be doing some upgrades to your systems, weapons included, and topping off the deuterium pellet fuel for your fusion engines in the event your ZPE systems fail. We have upgraded the armored combat suits and a few other things we will replace.” He stood and offered his hand again. “You’ve done a surprising job — and you’ve been lucky.” He said that with emphasis on the surprising and lucky part. “Oh, one more thing. I asked President Marza if we could install some communications relay stations in the area. You know, to keep in touch with our remote forces.”

  I knew what he meant.

  “When you send me the list of your needs, also send me places that you think would be good for stations like that.”

  I promised the list he requested as well as a promise to talk to my crew and left his office with a bounce in my step I hadn’t expected. I wasn’t going to be shot.

  “You mean he didn’t chew you, I mean us, apart?” Amini asked when I returned to the ship and told everyone what happened.

  “No, but it was easy to read between the lines. If our adventure here hadn’t been a success, we would all be fired by now. I’m sure.”

  “And you didn’t mention the changes in Wizzy?” Doc asked, still not believing what he was hearing.

  “I did mention he had changed his name but other than that, nothing. He didn’t ask for more, and I didn’t volunteer. All he wants is a list of what we need, places to put communication stations, and, of course, your desires to stay or go home.”

  “I’m staying,” Amini said. “I’ll never get this experience back home.”

  Doc rubbed his chin in contemplation, then said, “I’m staying also.”

  “Sif, you have a vote in this also. What do you want to do?”

  “Where you go, I go,” was his simple answer.

  “Good, then we are all decided. Next stop, Azel.”

  “Wait a minute!” Wizzy broke in as his avatar appeared in the air next to us in the galley. His avatar hands were on his hips, and he had a scowl on his face.

  “Aren’t I a member of this crew? Don’t I get a chance to volunteer — or not?”

  I felt bad. I just assumed Wizzy would stay. After all, his system is embedded in the Argos.

  “My mistake, o’marvelous one. What do you want to do? We really need you.”

  “Oh, well, when you put it that way, I guess I’m in too, even though it’s with a smelly group of apes.”

  “Great,” I said. “Wizzy, put a list together of everything we need and can carry on the ship. Add to the list another armed shuttle to replace the one we lost. Also, now that I think about it, how about more robots — the kind you can convert to battle bots. Doc, Amini, and Sif, let Wizzy know what you need as well. You can also record some messages to family and New Horizons will carry them back for us. Oh, and Wizzy, for the list of locations for communications relay stations, I suggest Asteroid 3, Asteroid 5, and Fort Apache. If there are others, add them.

  “This evening we have all been invited to a dinner President Marza is giving in Kiber at the former assembly building that Gurko and Toor used to fête their friends. Sorry Wizzy, you are too secret and valuable to be allowed to show up there. Is that okay with you?”

  He wasn’t actually a secret anymore, but I had to have a reason to encourage him to stay. I shivered at the thought of the AI making himself the center of attention at a state party.

  “Of course. We mustn’t boggle the local primitives with my awesomeness. I can watch and listen in, though, right? I mean, I’ll be here all the time.”

  “Sure. It should give you the chance to study the local culture more.”

  “Like that will be important. Not. By the way, Nick, I need to talk to you before you run off.”

  “What about?”

  “Just a minute.” A moment later, I heard him ask over implant, “Can you hear me now on implant private?”

  “Yes. Why the secrecy?’ I asked as I walked to a corner of the room.

  “Remember that ‘rock’ that hit us coming out of FTL?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, thanks to my new bigger space and workbench, I’ve completed my initial assessment.”

  “And?” Wizzy liked to draw things out.

  “It isn’t a rock.”

  I waited to hear more, but nothing followed.

  “If it isn’t a rock, what is it?”

  “Not completely sure. It is made up of various silicone laminates in layers connected by forms of precious metals and has an imbedded grid system.”

  That shocked me.

  “Wizzy, that sounds like a computer.”

  “It does, doesn’t it? That was my first thought. The problem is, it is too dense to be any kind of known computer. Plus, there is no sign of a power pack or battery, yet it emits energy. Very curious.”

  Now Wizzy had my attention. “What else?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what else do you know about it?”

  “Oh. Nothing. Like I said, it is very curious.”

  “And you just now got around to examining it?”

  “Do you think I haven’t been doing anything all this time? Was it you that converted all those ships? Was it you who designed and installed new plasma cannons? Was it you who did all the things that made this mission a success? Nooooo. It was me, Wizzy, the magnificent. I’ve been busy!”

  He was right.

  “You’ll let me know as soon as you know more, right?”

  “Sure thing. See ya.” He disappeared.


  “Wizzy?” I asked. But there was no response. I didn’t have time for this. We all had to get ready for dinner.

  As it turned out, the dinner was pleasant. Not too many people. In fact, there were only twelve of us, including the commodore. When the congratulations and toasts were over, we had the chance to walk around the room and see the new art that was recently put on the walls from ancient storage. The place was starting to look less like a bordello and more like a presidential suite.

  “Captain Nick.”

  I turned to see Tiana standing next to me. This time she had a golden yellow gown that, like the blue one I saw once, was form-fitting and revealing much of her stripes which were glowing dark.

  “Tiana, great to see you. I guess congratulations are in order. Command of all Tye space forces is a big deal.”

  She tipped her head down and then back up as if trying to gather her thoughts.

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “If you’re asking me to join the force, I can’t. The commodore already said no.”

  “No, it isn’t that. It’s about your next set of orders. You are headed to Azel, are you not?”

  I looked left and right to see who might be within hearing distance. There was nobody.

  “That’s secret.”

  “I know, President Marza mentioned it to me. Don’t worry. I’ll keep the secret. What I want to know is if you have space on the Argos for another crew member. At least as far as Azel.”

  “Like who?” I asked, knowing what the answer probably was.

  “Me.”

  “Why do you want to go there? Your people have just named you commander of all their forces in space. That’s a high honor. I thought you’d love that.”

  “It is an honor, and the job would be great. But these are not my people. Mine are on Azel — those that survived.

  I suddenly got where she was going with this.

  “If you really want it, we can take you as a passenger. But as a crew member, you would be committed to staying with the ship, enduring whatever happens to us, abiding by Consortium rules, and you must be willing to be a full part of the crew — and that means Sif. That’s a heavy commitment. Plus, I will have to tell the commodore since what you are asking will impact the Tye government and the Consortium as well.”

  “I know. I have already mentioned it to Marza. She doesn’t want me to go but understands if I must. But first, she says you are the final decision maker. It is your crew and your ship. I can accept the rules of the Consortium. I have already read them in your computer system. As far as Sif is concerned, I’m still not fond of Arkons, as you know. However, Sif is different, and we have worked well together. I can make it work.”

  Having a person like Tiana as part of the Argos crew would be a brilliant move on our part. She could fight, fly, and command forces. She was smart and knew what she would be getting into. Somebody like that would be next to impossible to find. I gave it some thought before I spoke.

  “If you are absolutely sure this is what you want, I could say yes right now. However, the Argos crew is a tight one, and we share nearly everything. In addition to the commodore, I’ll have to bring it up with them first. In my opinion, they would be fools to say no.”

  “Absolutely not!” Amini said with her arms crossed in front of her, face red as a beet. I had just told the crew aboard Argos what Tiana had asked the previous night. I didn’t expect this.

  “Why not?” asked Doc, who had already said yes.

  “She… she just isn’t right for us, that’s all. She is opinionated, self-serving, and pushy.”

  I didn’t know what to say. But Sif did.

  “You are jealous,” Sif said in his short, direct manner.

  It shocked me, and I stayed out of it.

  “What? I am not!” was her quick reply.

  Doc raised a pointing finger at her and slowly shook it before he spoke.

  “I see it as well. You are. You’re jealous that she might replace you as an important part of this crew.” That wasn’t all Doc was thinking, but it was as far as he wanted to go.

  “So, what if I am?” Amini asked, seeing the loophole Sif and Doc had given her, some of the red fading from her cheeks.

  “That will not happen,” added Sif. “Your skill sets are different than hers. Different from all of us. She cannot replace that. If anything, she is a warrior and could replace some of my skills. But I welcome the competition. She will make a fine addition.”

  That was a long speech coming from Sif. And it must have had an impact on Amini.

  “Maybe you’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way. If you all believe it is the right thing, then I say yes as well.” There was still some pink in her cheeks.

  I stepped in to take advantage of the truce or whatever it was.

  “Great. I’ll let the commodore know and then Tiana. I don’t think the commodore will object.

  The commodore didn’t object. I really didn’t think he would, and he sent me the following orders:

  Captain Hall:

  As a backup to our verbal discussion, you are ordered to the area of space in which Azel is the only inhabitable planet. The Consortium has limited intelligence on Azel and its system. What we do know is that the planet was a considerable resource for the Arkon before the war. It was a major source of manufacturing, agriculture, shipbuilding, and even mining for the Arkon war machine. In the past two and a half years after the war, very little is known about what might or might not be left of the Arkon on the planet. We think the Arkon are gone or in so little strength that they, as an organized force, are not currently a threat to the Consortium and its allies. However, what little information we do have suggests that, like Tye, there may be a local threat to commerce and the expansion of peaceful coexistence in the former Arkon empire. Like Tye, the few ships that have ventured into the area have not been heard from since.

  Your mission, and that of the Argos, is to carefully enter Azel’s area of influence, which is centered around the star Itaska. You will acquaint yourself with the status of the planet and its countries, determine threats, if any, to the Consortium and the welfare of the planet’s people, and report your findings to the Consortium through me. As always, you will not allow the ship to fall into non-Consortium hands and will deal with the unexpected as appropriate.

  As in the Tye mission, Argos will present itself as a trading ship, this time in agricultural machinery. Samples have been provided and stowed in the cargo bay of the ship. You have adequate supplies of rare materials, such as gold, to use as payment for supplies and, possibly, other cargo.

  Rather than one large, inhabited continent as on Tye, we know there are four continents on Azel, not including the two polar regions. In order of size, they are as follows: Volarix, Azelius, Banafria, and Arkanus. Pre-war details are attached in the appendix to these orders. Be aware that with more countries and continents come more problems and complications. As we discussed, this would not be a good place to get as deeply involved as you did in the Tye system. You are one ship, not a fleet.

  Of note, we learned from the President of Tye that the new member of your crew, Tiana, was part of the royal family of Azelius before the Arkon took over the planet. That could mean a challenge to her and to you, should you visit that country. Be reminded that she, by her own agreement, is part of the Argos’ crew now and, as such, a part of the Consortium and of Galactic Force. Her potential interface with any of the remaining royal family will be solely as a member of your crew under your orders.

  Also, at the request of the government of Tye, now part of the Consortium, you will be on the alert for General Gurko, an Arkon Red, and his superior, Berzalius, an Arkon Blue. The Tye government has reason to suspect that these two may be operating in or around Azel. That government and the Consortium wish to have these two captured, if possible, and
returned to Tye for trial based on their heinous crimes against the Tye people.

  Finally, we have provided small but powerful communications relay stations that you will deploy as necessary to maintain a communications link to me via the Tye stations currently being stood up.

  Good luck.

  Stan Walters

  Commodore

  That was how the crew of four became the crew of five. Six, if you add Wizzy. Our first mission was a crucible that made something new. We were stronger as a crew and carried a sense of accomplishment that made us confident of handling the new task given to us. Or, as Wizzy would say, “I think. I’m pretty sure.”

  About the Author

  A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, Mike was a career naval officer, decorated combat pilot, and served in senior positions on staff in Washington, D.C. Following his military service, he embarked on a career as an aerospace systems engineer and executive with several Fortune 500 companies.

  With a desire to help others develop as leaders, Mike earned his PhD in Organizational Leadership and started a leadership development consulting firm specializing in executive coaching and development.

  Mike’s passion for writing, developed throughout his career and in his doctoral studies, resulted in his writing an award-winning non-fiction book, Leaders Are Made Not Born. That writing and publishing experience fueled Mike’s desire to try his hand at writing fiction. Multiple award-winning books later, he still finds fiction writing a constant challenge.

  When he’s not writing, Mike spends as much time as possible saltwater fishing in Texas and Panama with his wife, Lynne.

  Sign up for his newsletter www.michaeljfarlow.com to get access to updates, new books and events.