Contingency

by Florian Nagy

  Chapter 1

  A bright, shining sun glistened in cold space. Its rays shot out in all directions, bathing all who looked upon it in its uplifting light. A glazed, blue planet looked on it with admiration and dependence. It turned slowly on its axis, and even more slowly around the burning light.

  Those rays also came in through thick composite-glass windows set in the walls of the Earth Star Base. They landed on the walls illuminating them in beautiful organic light, giving the ensemble of the base a small contrast to its entirely artificial being.

  Aboard the star base, Darius Targen walked down the halls leading to the command center. He had just come back from a call in the far end of the Perseus arm, dealing with aggression against a colony from an independent group of "traders." The raiding party was quickly put down: the traders’ small fleet of five ships had been destroyed and the remains salvaged by the colony.

  Darius had been notified of a promotion from his rank of commander to one of full-level captain, and he was being assigned to a new vessel. He knew neither the details of his promotion nor of his new task, but he was to be put in command of a newly fabricated frigate chassis ship at the shipyards at Galar. A fresh set of crewmembers was being sent to the location, the recruits ready to start their careers aboard the ship. Oftentimes sets of these new ships with new pilots were put together so the pieces would find it easier to bind to each other, to learn quickly, and to work efficiently. In time these would produce the hardened ships and crews required to sustain Earth’s task force.

  Darius recalled his long years with the fleet. He had joined the Imperial Fleet at the age of twenty-one, after a brief period of time spent studying the various tactical forms of warfare, the political frame of the galaxy, xenology, as well as ship mechanics and systems. A few of Darius’ ancestors had served aboard ships fighting to suppress the last of the Skyrrnian attacks on Earth's colonies. For decades in the second half of the fourth millennium, the Skyrrnian fleets had relentlessly attacked all human establishments. By making sure not to let their raids become too widespread, they had always just barely tottered on the brink of open war.

  The decision was then made to counter the attack instead of only defending and supporting vulnerable systems. The Earth Imperial Fleet launched a massive offensive on the Skyrrnian worlds. The Skyrrnian marauders were not equipped for square, sustained battle, and so even with the combined force of their recalled fleets, they were unable to fend off the Imperial attackers. All of the Skyrrnian outposts in the local sector of the Sagittarius Arm, near the human colonies, were razed. The Skyrrnian expansions were then put down.

  The Skyrrnians did not colonize and develop an infrastructure for their developing empire. Their form of existence was one of migration. From the time before they roamed the stars they had been raiders and nomads. As they developed into a new level of existence, they found it hard to separate themselves from their old ways. As a result, they had scattered their outposts and bases around their area, but had never taken the time to instate proper, coordinated habitations. They controlled only a handful of planets and moons, most of which were left to fend for themselves, with no notion of a whole.

  As a result, after the fragile network of outposts fell, the Skyrrnian colonies were unable to put up much resistance. The population on these planets was not even entirely Skyrrnian, and with no loyalty to a whole, they were easily assimilated. The feudal-like shards of people here and there did not have the interest to bind to their own and were easily separated from the Skyrrnian sovereign territories. As had been done before, people were removed from the planet. In order to ensure that there would be no further aggression from the defeated peoples, some were taken and spread around the empire, and used to assist in labor on newly colonized worlds. Most of all, however, these people served precious roles on mining bases found on barren moons and asteroids.

  In time, measures were taken so that the servile population dwindled and all but disappeared. It was a long held belief of most of the people of Earth that an enemy is never truly defeated until every single member has disappeared.

  In times when the beings in question were not even genetically related, the matter became of utmost importance: they had to be hindered from prolonging the existence of their genes. Over generations, regulations straining the creation of new alien members and their livelihood worked to expunge all foreign genetic material. With this decrease, the need to oversee the captured population also decreased.

  When the fleet had removed all of the Skyrrnian planets, it advanced on the Skyrrnian world itself. The world would have been put to waste, and not too many of its people spared, were it not for the collective outcry for mercy.

  The citizens of the Earth’s Imperium had been pulled quite far. Taking the necessary means to ensure an aggressor was put down was hard to accept for some, but it was bearable. To obliterate the legacy of an entire people, however, seemed entirely inhumane and weighed much more heavily on them than it had a thousand years ago. Protests had begun in many systems and threatened to lash at the stability of the Imperium. In order to ensure peace and to avoid any unnecessary conflict, the rulers had struck a compromise.

  The Imperial ships stormed the two remaining Skyrrnian orbital bases left in its home system and destroyed any additional orbital facilities. The only things spared were a few miners in the local asteroid belt and the urban structures and population of the scrap of planet itself. A generous portion of the population was removed to serve the Imperium. A strong occupational force was deployed on the planet to oversee all of the Skyrrnian affairs. All actions carried out, especially those in relation to the space mining operations, were under the most watchful eyes of the Imperium’s best men.

  As freighter after freighter carried off the Skyrrnian population, so that the few that would be left would remember to change their pitiful ways, the Skyrrnians’ hearts turned to stone, and they vowed revenge. Their coarse minds already began molding plans from their grudges: in secret meetings they plotted and planned against their invaders.

  And now, well over three hundred years later, Targen remembered with pride the overwhelming power he felt in the ships that flew around him. The Imperium was strong, the Imperial Fleet was strong. Humankind had assured its place among the stars. It could pass judgment upon others and take a hand in influencing and deciding the fate of its ambient cohabiters. He had always worn the Earth Imperial Fleet insignia with pride.

  He walked down the last few steps of the gray corridor leading to the double doors of the command center, his dress shoes softy padding on the floor. He looked at the silver-gray lining on the walls and door and into the insignia carved onto the door: Earth Star Base Command. He moved his hand across the pad sticking out from the door. "Welcome, Earth Imperial Fleet, Command Section, Commander Darius Targen" the automated computer responded in a deep, digital male voice. The doors clicked a moment then proceeded to slide apart and allow him to enter into the Earth Star Base Command room. Darius quickly stepped inside. The room was shaped like a spacious hemisphere and was very large. It did not seem to be subject to the volume/efficiency ratio that the rest of the station was. If you’re the boss, who’s there to stop you, Targen thought to himself.

  The room had a thick walkway all around the perimeter that allowed for a decent number of people to move around freely without actually being a part of the activity in the central hub within. Going down a short and shallow set of steps set in six places around the ring would bring you to a middle circle full of rows of chairs and hubs of monitors and processors, as well as to three holographic display stations. By going down another shallow set of steps, you came to an inner circle dominated by an enormous holographic display and a single set of seats. By default, that display was set to show the beautiful Earth as it was slowly spinning on its axis. High above the heads of the people, there was a glass dome, and above that the dark of space could be seen. The command center was located at the apex of the star base and so,
because the top was transparent, one could look out freely into space. The hangars and docking bays were situated on the cubic, bottom layers of the base.

  Darius started towards the nearest set of stairs when, from across the bustling set of officers and high ranking crew, the admiral greeted him. "Targen!" He shouted, "This way, Station seven!" A bit amazed that the admiral knew him by name, he followed the call. The admiral was sitting beside a few fleet commanders and captains. The vice admirals were nowhere to be seen. Darius strode over to the men and saluted them.

  "Commander, you must already know why I have summoned you."

  "Yes, sir."

  "I have received many commendations for you, and in reviewing your file I have no objections to the promotion. You’ve done good work and been with us a good seventeen years.” The admiral finished as he glanced over the report.

  “Our production facilities at Galar have been producing more and more ships than we are currently able to commission into use, and I am happy to immediately present you with your own ship and crew. Recent growth in recruitment has created entire new sets of men and women ready to serve on new ships and bases. These people are able to expand our force of influence exponentially. We need capable captains, and even more capable fleet commanders to ensure these people will reach their potential. These new ships and crew are not patched with veteran officers, so we need strong captains to work closely with their officers to lead our ships to a healthy and law-abiding expansion. You are an experienced candidate and have been a part of both armed and peaceful resolutions of conflict. Based on four recommendations and backed by the power of the EIF, I grant you the full rank of captain in command of the ship EFS Vigilante. You shall report to the Galar space facility in two weeks. Thank you,” the admiral concluded with a smile.

  The various people at the stations immediately around them looked up from their tasks and gave hearty applause. Targen couldn't resist, and let out a smile. The admiral and the fleet commanders were discussing something, he muttered a few finishing words to them and moved to say something to Darius. "Targen, your first order is to join a flotilla forming around the Tyrll Colony. A small strike force is being assembled to deal with raider activity in the area. You will find your detailed orders waiting for you so you can get to work, good luck!” The admiral shook his hand heartily, his gray hair standing firmly as a complement to his deep, powerful eyes.

  Darius thanked the admiral with a quick and polite bow and turned around to exit the command center. Before he left, Darius watched the man return to his previous duty alongside the other men. One man gave a short speech while gesturing towards something displayed on the screen. He concluded his announcement with a deciding tone and then lowered his hand in a closing gesture.

  Darius had a few days shy of two weeks to do what he liked. There were many consoles available on the upper level for personal use, and he took one of these to check for Earth-bound flights. Because he was so close to home, he thought he should visit it again.