Ep.#14 - A Line in the Sand (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “Then you believe Captain Scott is bluffing,” Lord Dusahn concluded.

  “I do,” the commander confirmed. “Captain Scott knows that we still have the ability to strike any world.”

  “But not destroy them.”

  “Complete destruction of member worlds is not necessary,” Commander Jexx insisted. “The infliction of damage and the loss of life on any semi-regular basis is enough to prevent most worlds from allying with the Karuzari. The only thing Scott has to offer is protection against us, which he cannot provide, given our failsafe. It is simply a matter of utilizing the stalemate that you so wisely created to our greatest advantage. I believe that a cease-fire is the tool to give us that advantage.”

  Lord Dusahn thought for a moment. “You realize the Karuzari will suspect that we have no intention of honoring a cease-fire any longer than necessary.”

  “Of course, my lord,” the commander repeated. “But it will buy us the time we need to once again gain the upper hand against our enemy, which we shall do.”

  Lord Dusahn turned slowly about in his chair, eventually coming to stare out the massive window behind him. “A cease-fire is not the show of strength our people will expect,” he finally said. “Many will see it as a weakness, as an admission of failure.”

  “Or as a clever move by a leader wise enough to know when diplomacy is more deadly than force.”

  Lord Dusahn continued to gaze out the window, admiring what was left of the gardens after the attack a few days ago. “Perhaps there is some wisdom in your recommendations,” he finally admitted. “I will consider them further.”

  “Thank you, my lord,” the commander said as he bowed and backed away toward the exit.

  * * *

  After getting misdirected twice and wandering the complex for several minutes, Nathan finally found Abby in one of the prototype labs. She was hunched over a metal table, along with several Rakuens in white lab coats, studying a partially disassembled device.

  “Finally,” Nathan sighed, closing the door behind him as he entered the lab.

  Abby straightened up and turned around, spotting Nathan. “Captain, I had no idea you were coming.”

  “Last-minute trip,” Nathan replied as he walked over to her. “What’s all this?”

  “Another prototype emitter.”

  “Kind of big for an emitter, isn’t it?”

  “We’re trying to scale them up for larger vessels,” she explained.

  “Why?”

  “The more emitters used to create the jump field, the more power required to create the field, and the greater the amount of power that must be dumped into that field in order to jump the same distance.”

  “So a larger ship can jump the same distance using similar amounts of power as a smaller ship,” Nathan surmised.

  “Something like that.”

  “I wasn’t aware you were working on this,” Nathan admitted.

  “I’m not,” Abby insisted. “They are,” she added, pointing to the group of Rakuens leaning over the table. “We got the idea from the XKs you’re modifying. They create a jump bubble that doesn’t adhere to the shape of the hull like our jump fields do.”

  “What are you going to use it for?”

  “Well, for example, if installed on the Aurora, you could adjust her jump ‘bubble’ to surround a neighboring ship and jump it with you.”

  “Kind of like what the jump tugs do.”

  “Yes, but without the need for an emitter net or extension arms. Just dial up a field bubble big enough to engulf both ships, and you’re ready to go.”

  “Interesting,” Nathan replied, “although I’m not sure how that’s going to help us out at this point.”

  “That’s why I’m not working on it,” she smiled, turning to the others. “Try adding another layer of tritium to the array spreaders.” Abby turned back around and began walking toward the exit. “So what brings you?”

  “I can’t just stop by to say hello?”

  “What is it, three hundred light years from Corinair to Rakuen?”

  “Three hundred and forty-seven point six,” Nathan corrected. “So just a few minutes out of my way.”

  “You’re too busy to stop by just to say hello.”

  “Yeah,” Nathan agreed, a sense of longing on his face. “I sometimes miss the life of Conner Tuplo.”

  “Always broke and always broken?” she asked as they arrived at her office.

  “The good old days,” Nathan replied, smiling.

  Abby opened her office door, gesturing for the captain to enter. “If you’re here to ask about the mini-jump missiles, we haven’t been able to create a shield-penetrating version yet. We just don’t understand the grav-lift tech well enough yet to scale it down properly. And you’ve got SilTek pretty busy at the moment,” she stated as she followed him inside.

  “Yeah, I threw another one at them recently,” Nathan admitted.

  “Such as?”

  “Modifying and upgrading twelve of their cargo ships to use as a starter fleet for our alliance,” Nathan explained.

  Abby looked surprised as she took her seat behind her desk. “Then you’re really planning on going through with this whole Alliance thing?”

  Nathan also sat, but with confusion on his face.

  “I figured it was just until you defeated the Dusahn,” Abby explained.

  “The Dusahn have not yet been defeated.”

  “It was my understanding that they created a stalemate of sorts.”

  “Against a direct assault, yes,” Nathan admitted. “But not against diplomatic and trade warfare.”

  “I see. And the twelve ships will help you with this?”

  “That’s what I’m hoping,” Nathan explained. “The plan is to get as many worlds as possible to join our alliance, starting with the worlds of the Pentaurus sector.”

  “You’re going to try to isolate the Dusahn?”

  “Contain would be a better word.”

  “Don’t embargoes often start wars?”

  “We’re not looking to interfere with their trade with other worlds, as that would be ineffective,” Nathan explained. “The systems they currently hold are easily capable of supplying them with all that they need. It’s more of a delaying tactic.”

  “Delaying until what?” Abby wondered.

  “Until I figure out something better.”

  “I see. Am I the one who can provide something better?” she asked with trepidation.

  “In an indirect way, I suppose,” Nathan replied. “Now that the Dusahn’s ability to wage war has been curtailed, we need to provide something for our allies other than protection.”

  “Such as?”

  Nathan took a breath, adjusting in his seat to begin his pitch. “When I began my life as Conner, the jump drive was just beginning to filter out to the worlds outside of the Pentaurus cluster. Mostly, it was via recently jump-enabled ships from Corinair and Takara. At first, they tried to control the technology, trying to maintain a position of dominance in the interstellar transportation business throughout the sector. But they were fighting a losing battle from the start. It only took a handful of entrepreneurs to realize that the theft, and then sale, of jump drive technology was a quick and easy way to jump start their own financial empires. By the time the Seiiki was born, jump ships flown by at least a dozen different operators were plying for business. In the beginning, it was great. Demand was high, and supply was low; but that changed. By the time the Dusahn invaded, we were finding it difficult to get regular legal runs. Too much competition.”

  “I don’t see how this pertains to your alliance,” Abby admitted.

  “What you have to realize is that most human-inhabited worlds don’t have interstellar capabilities of their own. Not even linear. Most colonization expeditions cannibalized their seed ships
to support the initial settlement. Even with fabricators, it takes centuries for a world to become industrialized to the point of being able to support interstellar travel. That makes those worlds dependent upon visiting transports and independent operators for interstellar trade. So independent operators have the run of the market and charge whatever they think they can get away with, and the customer has no choice but to pay, as they have no idea when the next ship will come by or how much that ship might charge.”

  “And you aim to change all that?”

  “I do,” Nathan replied.

  “How?”

  “By providing a transportation network,” Nathan explained. “One that would link all member systems together with regular, affordable cargo and passenger service.”

  “That’s a tall order,” Abby worried. “Especially considering how far apart some of your member systems are.”

  “That’s where I’m hoping you can help out.”

  “Again, how?” Abby repeated.

  “How’s that jump gate idea of yours coming?” Nathan asked.

  Abby took a long slow breath, releasing it in an equally long sigh as she leaned back in her chair. “You do realize that the jump-gate idea is just a theory, right?”

  “So was the jump drive.”

  “One that took ten years to turn into a prototype,” Abby reminded him.

  “So you’re saying it may take a while,” Nathan surmised.

  Abby thought for a moment, drawing another breath. “If I had unlimited resources and assuming my theories are correct, then I might have a working prototype in a few years.”

  “Well, that’s not bad,” Nathan replied, feeling optimistic.

  “That’s just a prototype,” she reiterated. “You also have to take into consideration the scale of the thing. Just because it can be done doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it. Science doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We don’t have unlimited resources that allow us to work on whatever we feel like. There is usually a need for something which science is looking to fill.”

  “Such as a convenient method of transportation,” Nathan surmised.

  “The problem is that you don’t yet have a need that justifies the cost of building and operating a jump-gate network,” Abby explained. “First, you must create the need.”

  “And how do I do that?” Nathan wondered.

  “Well, you already have a number of jump-capable cargo ships in your fleet,” Abby reminded him. “Use them to start regular interstellar service.”

  “The beauty of the jump-gate is that you don’t need to build jump ships,” Nathan explained. “As long as a ship can reach a nearby gate, it can get pretty much anywhere within the network.”

  “I understand that,” Abby replied, “but you’re proposing we build a bridge when we don’t yet have enough traffic to justify a ferry.”

  “Nevertheless, I do think you should continue your work on the jump-gate idea,” Nathan suggested. “At least on the theoretical side.”

  “It’s too intriguing of an idea for me not to,” Abby admitted.

  * * *

  “Whatcha’ got, Ken?” Cameron asked as she entered the Aurora’s intel office.

  “Data dump from one of our recon drones,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied, pointing at the slideshow of images being displayed on one of the view screens hanging from the overhead.

  Cameron studied the images. “Looks like a war zone,” she decided. “Where is this?”

  “Haven.”

  Cameron looked at her intelligence officer, surprise on her face. “How long ago?”

  “Images are from a few hours ago. Based on the number of burnt-out fires, I’d guess the attack was within the last twenty-four hours.”

  “Dusahn?”

  “The blast patterns indicate missile strikes,” the lieutenant commander explained. “But we won’t be able to confirm that until we conduct an old-light scan, possibly as far back as a day.”

  “Get it done,” Cameron instructed.

  “That’s not all, though,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda told her. “Look at this.”

  Another image appeared on the view screen. A single fused concrete structure several stories tall, with a comm-array on top and automated gun emplacements on the rooftop corners. The odd thing was that all the buildings around it were destroyed.

  “That is the only building still standing in Haven City,” the lieutenant commander stated.

  “That’s the Haven Syndicate’s headquarters, right?” Cameron surmised.

  “It is.”

  “Why leave them standing?” Cameron wondered.

  “I’m guessing the Haven Syndicate pissed off the Dusahn, and this was their reaction.”

  “Why not level them as well,” Cameron wondered. “Or why not just level that building, and let the chaos that would likely follow destroy everything else?”

  “To send a message?” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda suggested.

  “That would be my guess,” Cameron replied. “How many people lived in that city?”

  “Last estimate was about sixty thousand.”

  Cameron sighed. “Hell of a price for a message,” she said as she turned to exit. “Let me know the results of your old-light scan.”

  “You got it,” the lieutenant commander replied.

  * * *

  Nathan stared out the large, forward-facing windows of the Manamu’s galley, enjoying the view of Corinair slowly growing larger as they approached.

  “Captain Scott,” a female voice called from behind.

  Nathan turned around, spotting a woman about ten years his senior sporting a jacket with the ship’s name emblazoned on the shoulder patch.

  “Sheba Madrid,” she introduced, holding out her hand. “I’m CO of this bucket.”

  “Of course,” Nathan replied, standing to shake her hand. “A pleasure to meet you. My XO speaks highly of you.”

  “I heard you’d hitched a ride with us,” Sheba said. “It must suck not having the Aurora at your disposal.”

  “It does make me a bit antsy when she’s not up to snuff. I’m just glad we were able to get all the medium cargo ships upgraded to the long-range jump systems. This is a lot more comfortable than riding in a boxcar.”

  “I suspect so,” Captain Madrid agreed. “May I?”

  “Of course,” Nathan replied, gesturing for her to sit. “I’m surprised you’re not on the bridge for approach and rendezvous.”

  “I’m letting my second officer manage things as much as possible,” she explained, taking a seat. “He’s a bit green and needs more experience being in command during important cycles. The only way he’s going to get it is if I let him.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Besides, I don’t expect to be running this ship forever.”

  “Going somewhere?” Nathan asked, leaning back in his chair.

  “I’ve got family on Yaratru that I’d like to get back to. This assignment was only supposed to be temporary, as a favor to the owner of the Manamu. Her former captain had to resign quite suddenly. A legal matter of some kind. I was only supposed to be here for a few months. Then the Dusahn came along, and…”

  “I know what you mean,” Nathan agreed. “Have you been flying long?”

  “About thirty years, give or take. Yaratru years, that is. I have no idea how that would convert to Earth years.”

  “You don’t see many female ship captains in the Pentaurus sector.”

  “Not around the inner worlds, I suppose. Most of my time was on a sleeper ship, making runs between Yaratru and Juntor.”

  “Then you’re much older than you look, I suppose.”

  Sheba smiled. “Seventy-three next month. In Yaratru years, of course. For a sleeper pilot, that’s a baby.”

  “How’d you end up in command?”


  “Did a good job, I guess. My last assignment before I retired was as the second officer on the Careb Morlean. When she went in for a jump drive upgrade, I called it quits. Got married, had a couple kids. Like I said, the only reason I took this job was as a favor.”

  “Too bad,” Nathan replied. “According to Captain Taylor, you’re a natural.”

  “Maybe, but I’ve had my fill of space travel.”

  “Can’t say that I’ve had my fill just yet,” Nathan admitted.

  “You must like the punishment, being in charge of everything.”

  “Oh, I’ve had my fill of that. I just like being in space. Traveling from world to world, seeing new people and cultures.”

  “Well, when you run the same route between the same two worlds for thirty years, it gets old.”

  “I suppose so.” Nathan looked out the windows again as the Manamu closed in on the Aurora and the Glendanon, orbiting side by side over Corinair. “Looks like we’re about to rendezvous.”

  Sheba also gazed out the windows. “It never ceases to amaze me just how big the Glendanon is. We were lucky to have her on our side.”

  “Yes, she’s been an incredibly versatile platform,” Nathan agreed.

  “You know, the Manamu could actually fit inside the Glendanon’s cargo bay. Hell, if she were just a bit bigger, the Aurora could probably fit inside her.”

  Nathan looked at the Glendanon, his head cocking to one side as a smile came across his face. “Now why didn’t I think of that?”

  * * *

  “Time to show off more welds?” Cameron asked Vladimir as she walked across the port large transfer airlock. “I see you installed the door within a door. Where’d you get it?”

  “From a broken-down cargo ship on Corinair,” Vladimir replied, “but that’s not what I wanted to show you.” He reached for the door control panel.

  “Wait!” Cameron warned.

  It was too late. Vladimir pressed the button, and the small cargo door split open vertically, sliding open to either side.

  Cameron looked pale as a ghost, her eyes wide. “Are you insane?”

  “What? It’s perfectly safe!” Vladimir insisted.