“What is the purpose of this interruption?”
“A soft skin jump-ship, My Leader. A soft skin jump-ship has been detected examining our fleet!”
“What?”
“Yes, My Leader. Three times, it has made multiple jumps throughout this human system.”
“Where?”
“Once among our standing fleet, once around our shipyards and once around our ships that are on patrol.”
“Get those ships back here!”
“Should I contact First Commander?”
“No! I will do it!”
First Administrator angrily stabbed the disconnect then stabbed another button.
“First Commander, contact me immediately!”
“Yes, First Administrator?’
“A soft skin jump ship has been detected.”
“I am aware, First Administrator.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“There is nothing that can be done, First Administrator. Since its last foray, there has been no sign of it.”
“What should be done?”
“I have withdrawn all of our ships which were on patrol. I will arm them with munitions and set them to sentry duty. That is all that can be done until we receive enough crew members for the rest of our fleet.”
“Then, there is nothing which we can do, except sit and wait.”
“And continue to build more ships, First Administrator.”
“That is my job, First Commander. Yours is to protect our fleet.”
Aboard Jewel of the Stars, Atlantius Space
The sleeping ship began to awaken. First, lighting brightened the bridge and shown down the hallway. Then blowers began pumping air back into the vacuum which had previously filled every corner of Jewel of the Stars. Heating units fought against the freezing cold of the deep dark. Slowly the cruise liner approached habitancy.
“Boy, Cap. Look at those pods. I’m betting me Grandpa flew in one of them.”
“The whole bridge looks ancient.”
“Just looking around makes me real glad that we’ve got Griffin, with her gravity chairs and all.”
“Me, too. Status, Buster?”
“I’ve focused on the environment, leaving all other systems dormant, Captain. I thought that we should inspect each system before we attempt activation.”
“Excellent decision, Buster. Sue, Mack, how are we coming with the link?”
“Almost there, Cap. I’ve modified the connector to one of Jewel’s antenna so that it can interface with the command console.”
“Does this mean that Buster can access the console remotely?”
“Ya, Cap. Tinman can sit on Griffin and fly Jewel anywhere he wants.”
“Captain, I have a thought,” Krag heard over his com implant.
“And what is that, Igaklay?”
“Why don’t we connect a quant-com to the interface? Then we can control Jewel of the Stars from anywhere in the galaxy?”
“Mack?”
“Easily done, Cap.”
“It wouldn’t be full control, Captain. Because of the small bandwidth, only small packets can be passed. Therefore, only simple commands can be sent.”
“Enough to fly her, Igaklay?”
“Yes. Destination coordinates, vector selection, thrust and mass negator activation would be about the limit.”
“But, when we are close enough, with Buster, bypassing the quant-com, would have full access?”
“That is correct, Captain.”
“I see what ya need, Cap. I can put an electronic toggle in so that we can use standard coms or a quant-com. Ya, I can do that.”
“Let’s hold off on the quant-com control for now. Our current goal is to get Jewel moving and back to Ballison.”
“Then, my part is done, Cap. Me and Buster, we can begin checking out this old girl.”
“Start with the engines. I want to get Jewel out system as soon as possible.”
“On it, Cap.”
The remaining Griffin members watched Buster and Mack walk off to check out Jewel.
“Sue, where do you stand?”
“I’ve quarantined the original security systems and overrode them with our own, as we planned. Also, I’ve finished the remote-control interface. I’m testing my work now. If all checks out, we should have full control in about an hour.”
“Keep at it.”
“Captain, Jewel of the Stars has a breathable atmosphere and is warm enough for normal ship’s attire.”
“Tribune, Sergeant, you may have your squads remove their helmets. But I want them to remain on alert and ready to seal up at a moment’s notice.”
“At your command, Commander.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
The three humans and one Elonian disconnected, then removed, their helmets. Sue also removed her gloves.
“I really need one of those Elonian space suits. My gloves are so clunky.”
“You will love a Ballisonian suit much more, Mz. Benton! Everyone heard the exclamation over their communications units. “You won’t even know that it is a space suit!”
“You keep telling us that, Igaklay. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“You’re no fun,” Igaklay moped.
Chapter 05
Aboard Heimdallr, Arium Shipyard
“I Can really get used to this, Cap. One minute, we’re in Atlantius. A second later, we’re in Arium. The shipyard is off our bow. We should be on site in ten minutes.”
“Toast, give Doctor McCauley a squawk.”
Lieutenant Torres worked her board and sent a tight-beam message to Gregor’s shipyard. She received a visual response.
“Ahoy, Heimdallr. Welcome back.”
“Ahoy, shipyard. Captain Scott requests a vid link with Doctor McCauley.”
“One moment while I run him down.”
Scotty, Toast and Brooksy fiddled around, staring the screen displaying an empty office, waiting for Gregor’s chief scientist. First, they got his trainee.
“Hello, Heimdallr. I’m Dean. Doctor McCauley is just finishing up some wiring. He should be here within the next ten minutes.”
“Dean. You’re Sue Benton’s boy?”
“Yes. She’s my mom.”
“Well, she’s very smart. Without her, we couldn’t have run off the Morteks. Oh. I’m Lieutenant Torres. She and I have been working together.”
“When’s she coming back?”
“In a little while. We’re working over in Atlantius, trying to get some more ships up and running.”
“Really? I would love to work on a ship with a jump drive.”
Just then Hank strolled up, wiping his hands on a small towel.
“Your time will come, Dean. But first, you need a proper education. Lieutenant Torres. What can I do for you?”
“Captain Scott will explain the situation.”
Scotty came into view and cleared his throat.
“I don’t know if you know, but when Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff assembled the fleet and fled to Old Earth, he had to leave fifty-one ships behind.”
“You want us to work on them?”
“I’m not sure. That’s Hawk’s, Commander Marston’s, call. We have another task. While we were activating one of the ships, we discovered some sort of Mortek drone. We think that it’s a surveillance drone. But we’re not sure. We have it in our hold.”
“You want me to look at it.”
“That’s the thought, Doctor.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“We’re not sure. We zapped it with the X-cannon you mounted on Heimdallr. That seemed to knock the stuffing out of it. Just to be sure, we bumped it with a com drone and nothing happened. So, we brought it here. Thought maybe you could do something with it.”
“There’s an open area in the belt. We do all our testing there. I’ll pass you the coordinates. Take the drone there and drop it off. Then, we’ll see what we’ve got.”
“Will do, Doctor.”
&nbs
p; “Anything else?”
“Nope. We’re good here. We need to get back to Atlantius and find the rest of the ships.”
“Good luck to ya, Captain.”
“Have fun with your new toy, Doctor.”
After breaking the connection Scotty delivered the Mortek drone to the same empty space in which Keiko and Krag had learned to fly their CERVEs. Then he ordered Brooksy to jump back to Atlantius space.
“Man, I’m loving this, Cap.”
“Toast, com Griffin. Let her know that we are back and that the Mortek drone has been delivered. Then, you two, find me another ship.”
Aboard Jewel of the Stars, Atlantius Space
After Jewel of the Stars returned to her normal state of habitable living, the crew and squads of Griffin looked around. They all saw the same thing – a faded majesty of the past, overused, overworked and worn down to its final legs. They stood on threadbare carpeting covering the decks and cabins. Griffin’s beings saw lighting covers cracked or broken. They saw walls of crumbling and curling paint, with chips scattered at their feet.
With the bright lights exposing the bridge, Krag and Sue saw the well-worn consoles and heavily used pods sitting like overused homages to history.
“I don’t like this, Sue. I hope that the operational systems are in better shape.”
“I haven’t found anything glitchy with the computer system, Captain. I have discovered that it hasn’t been upgraded since before I was born, though.”
“I wonder how a cruise ship could be allowed to erode like this. Where was it berthed?”
“According to the records, Cencore Station One, dock nine.”
“Jewel must be three hundred years old.”
“Two hundred and seventy-one, to be precise, Captain.”
“Then old money owned it. That’s why it was allowed to run with so much neglect. More Cencore corruption.” Krag said the last with venom in his voice.
“I’ve been wandering around Jewel’s menus and checked out the status board. Have a look.”
Krag and Sue spent time reading down the list of various systems and areas. They both saw many with red lights in the status column.
“This liner couldn’t have done many more cruises. There are a lot of systems failing. Mack, where are you?”
“In the engine room, Cap. What a dump.”
“Find anything?”
“If Pa saw this, many people would be missing a lot of hide, Cap. He’d ah skinned them right down to their butt bones.”
“Can we fire the engines up?”
“I think so. Give me the rest of the day to give them a look-over. Then I can tell ya for sure.”
“Take your time. Give me a report in the morning.”
“Ya want us to stay on board for the night?”
“Yup. We need to get Jewel spaceworthy as soon as possible.”
“Okay. I’ll hop back to Griffin and get us some supplies.”
Krag broke contact and turned to his two officers.
“Tribune Ambakai, Sergeant Boulos, have you been listening?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Each of you, send someone back to Griffin for gear. We are going to be here awhile.”
“At your command, Commander.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
“You two will be in charge of protection and military requirements. Sue, you, Mack and Buster keep working on getting Jewel ready for travel. I’m heading back to Griffin.”
Aboard Griffin, Atlantius Space
“Welcome back, Big Guy.”
“Glad to be back, Half-Pint. That old ship is really trashed. Igaklay, do you see anything out there?”
“Just Heimdallr, Captain. She has returned from delivering the Mortek drone to Doctor McCauley.”
“You’ve been tracking her?”
“I always track every ship with a quant-com. It’s my job.”
“Right. I keep forgetting. Keiko, let’s contact First Cruiser and explain the situation to him.”
“Shouldn’t you do it, captain to captain?”
“No. This is a civilian demand. Since you are humanity’s ambassador, it falls on you.
“And you want the Morteks to get used to taking orders from an egg layer.”
“There is that.”
“Thanks. Igaklay, would you contact Cruiser One, please?”
“Cruiser One, this is Griffin. Please respond.”
First Cruiser immediately responded.
“This is First Cruiser. What are your commands?”
Keiko took over, using Igaklay as her pass-through.
“Hello, First Cruiser. How are you and your crew?”
“Ambassador Suzume?”
“That is correct.”
“We are doing well.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“No. we are fully supplied.”
“Why I am contacting you is that I request that you sail Cruiser One back to the Tolimar system.”
“Is that your command, Ambassador Suzume?”
“More of a very firm request. I am not in the chain of command of human military. Let me explain why I want Cruiser One in Tolimar. Commander Marston foresees another battle between the Morteks and Humans. I explained, that from our discussions, Cruiser One and all on board would be destroyed the moment that a Mortek ship came within range. Did I state this correctly?”
“Yes, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Also, that you, as First Cruiser, have decided that you want your ship and your crew to survive. Is that also correct?”
“Yes, Ambassador Suzume. That is also correct.”
“To prevent the deaths of your ship and crew from happening, I am firmly requesting that you sail Cruiser One to the Tolimar system.”
“My second officers will not follow the command of an egg layer.”
“I understand. But they will follow the orders of First Cruiser. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Therefore, I am not ordering you to sail to Tolimar. I am only requesting that you do so.”
“From my brief experience with Humans, I also suspect that there is another reason. Commander Marston does not want us around if a battle does occur.”
“Commander Marston did voice that concern. You are very astute, First Cruiser.”
“I will honor your request, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Thank you, First Cruiser. One other point. Commander Marston has tasked two jump ships to escort you through the gate and to Tolimar.”
“A very thoughtful decision, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Now, I have a question. Are the Mortek a space-faring race, or do you prefer living on a planet?”
“We are planet dwellers, Ambassador Suzume.”
“I have some thoughts on that, First Cruiser. Shortly, I will contact you again and we will discuss this further.”
“At your convenience, Ambassador Suzume.”
“Good sailing, First Officer.”
As a Mortek, I cannot wish you any successes, Ambassador Suzume.”
“I completely understand, First Cruiser. Preceptor Igaklay, please disconnect our communication.”
“Good job, Keiko.”
“First Cruiser did all of the work, Krag. He, obviously, swallowed a great deal of pride.”
“And Misogyny.”
“That too.”
“What are you thinking about the Mortek being planet-side?”
“My first thought was Ballison. Then I got to thinking. Tolimar’s second continent is uninhabited. I wonder if the Mortek could settle there.”
“I can think of a whole lot of Tolimarians that wouldn’t like that idea.”
“Just thoughts.”
Keiko saw her com blink.
“Just a moment. Griffin here.”
“Heimdallr actual. Is Hawk around?”
“I’m here, Scotty. What’s up?”
“We found another one. It’s pretty small. A family recreationa
l vehicle.”
“Stick a beacon on it. When we finish up with Jewel, we’ll see what we’ve got.”
“Copy that, Hawk. Moving on.”
“Good job, Scotty. Keep hunting.”
“Will do.”
Chapter 06
Aboard Griffin, Atlantius Space
After having eight Elonian Guardsmen, five Federacy Marines, Keiko, Mack, Sue, Igaklay and Gopai underfoot for so many months, to Krag, Griffin felt empty. The following morning, only four beings took their positions in her galley – Krag, Keiko, Gopai and Igaklay.
The four shuffled around, getting wakeup beverages and breakfasts, even Igaklay. Although Igaklay’s avatar was an artificial construct, it was constructed to be a Ballisonian with all the requirements, to keep itself running. Igaklay’s avatar even required sleep to limit energy consumption during downtime. It used normal food to store the energy needed for operation, just like any living organism would. With no previous food-choice preferences, Igaklay chose to enjoy human food. So, he sat with his steaming cup of sweetened, creamed coffee and a full breakfast consisting of replicated eggs, ham, potatoes and toast.
Gopai, continuing to become more and more a fully excepted member of the Griffin crew, followed suit. The Ballisonian-modified replicator, while creating Gopai’s meal, also added the extra nutrients required for the Elonian physiology.
Now, with Griffin utilizing Elonian gravity generators, Krag sipped his own, open-lidded cup of hot coffee. Again, as almost every time before, he relished the fact that he no longer needed to suck fluids through a straw or fight his food from drifting off its plate.
All four quietly, peacefully worked through their meals, enjoying the moment, enjoying each other’s presence.
“Oy, Cap. Are you up and about?” Krag heard through his implant.
“Yes, Mack. What’s up?”
“We’re ready to fire up the engines, see if Buster can get Jewel moving.”
“Did you find anything to worry about?”
“Nae, Cap. Me and Buster, we found things needing fixing, but nothing major. Everything’s just old and worn out.”
“Don’t worry, Mack! Once you get Jewel of the Stars to Ballison, I can make everything brand new, again!”
“Ya, Iggy. That’s the plan.”
Victory in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 6) Page 5