Sorry for the delay. I got held up by work, Civ4 and lacking inspiration. But here we go, next chapter up for grabs.
Merry Christmas to everybody!
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After twenty stazuras they arrived at the dry dock of Rolk’s Fate. The fight at the Atreus Clouds North gate had been short. Val made short work of the medium and small fighters that guarded the gate. In the process of it she managed to acquire two Bayamons. While she watched her new ships dock Val addressed Bola Ti.
“Where would you want to go? We obviously need to return the chip and the beam weapon to the Boron government. I also presume that you have a home somewhere?”
Bola Ti did not answer right away. After uncomfortable five mizuras he finally had come up with a response.
“The Boron government can currently not protect me. You on the other hand have rescued me twice. Can I hire your services as a protector for the time being? I need to finish research on the weapon and with your ships data it should be possible to complete the project in relatively short time.”
Val really wanted to help him but having a permanent passenger was not after her liking. Sooner or later it’d become difficult. What spoke for his proposition was the fact that she could keep that incredible weapon for the duration of their cooperation. It gave her a significant edge over her enemies. Enemies. Who actually were they? It was not very likely that somebody tried to kill her. She was nobody in the wide universe. But then there was the Pegasus. The ship had followed her and she did not know who the pilot was or for what reason she was being followed. Maybe it was time for her talents to re-surface.
“Can you give me access to the Boron military mainframe?” Bola Ti looked surprised and sceptical at this question. The last thing he wanted was have somebody tamper with records of national security.
“What use do you have for that? As you can imagine, it contains a lot of data that is not meant for the public.”
“I know, but if we are to survive we need to know who is after you, and potentially also after me.”
“Ok, but my access is limited to science, I cannot get hold of military information.”
“That is alright, all we need is get into it in the first place. Arox, can you please collate at the information we have acquired about the enemy ships we encountered. Then please open a scrambled channel over 200 hops to the Boron mainframe. Bola, your login, please.”
During the following mizuras Val scavenged feverishly through the information the Boron had collected. It was a massive amount and she’d wished for more time to investigate the demise of her clan. However, time was the one thing she did not have. Eventually she finished her typing frenzy, closed the link and sat back. All screens were filled with data on ships, people and factions. Only a few ends remained untied.
“Looking at it in reverse order returns the following. Our latest encounters have been with ships of the local clan of Atreus Clouds. That’d be nothing out of the ordinary, were it not for the very organised fashion they ran their attack with. Also, the lack of local support implies involvement of one way or another of the local Boron representative. All ships were very well equipped, which requires funds that, to my knowledge, this clan does not have.”
Val paused but Bola Ti did have no intention of interrupting.
“Ok, looking back at when we met last time. Government records indicate involvement of the Curada clan of Brennan’s Triumph. This would also explain the good equipment and quality of pilots we faced in both fights. The Curada clan is probably the most powerful and influential of all. Having said all that, what puzzles me is the capture of two Split spies in Kingdom End soon after we were there. What are Split doing in Boron space? They’d find it difficult to hide among themselves, not to think about in a Boron station.”
Again she paused, not expecting any response. It was more to let her own thoughts sink in. Val found it difficult to plot relations between factions; politics had never been her favourite subject. While she pondered Arox disrupted the quiet.
“You forgot to mention our shadow. Just to let you know, he entered the sector through the South gate and is heading for the Alpha PAC forge.”
Bola Ti looked blank but Val knew who was meant.
“Right, we need another connection to the mainframe. How could I forget about that one.” And turning to her Boron passenger she continued. “We noticed a Paranid Pegasus following us in CBSE lately and had managed to put some distance between us. But from the looks of it our shadow is back.”
Addressing Arox again, Val asked: “ Can we somehow get video footage of the ship and pilot? I am sure the ship’s ID will not yield any results. Are there any deep space military cameras in this sector?”
“Negative. However, we could convert one of the message drones. I am sure with your talent you can replace some of the parts with a micro camera. They are in the locker to the left.”
Val got up and after a brief search she returned to her seat, holding a device as long and thick as her lower arm. The majority of the device was made up by its drive system. The very powerful M/AM drive propelled these drones to very high speeds. Due to their low mass it’d be impossible to track them.
She was a very capable engineer but it still took Val the better part of a stazura to modify the drone that it now record images. To obtain best results she also re-programmed the navigation routines to allow for multiple vectors to be entered. Now it was time to try it.
“Is there anything else to do onboard this station? We sold the Bayamons and sent the Orinoco to the EQ dock. Arox, get us departure clearance.”
Elegantly the Barracuda floated through the thick liquid that filled the Boron station towards the docking bay doors and out into space. It did not take long and their shadow appeared at the APAC station.
“Set a course for the North gate and launch the drone.”
Only 20 mizuras later the drone returned and they looked at the recorded images. In surprisingly good resolution they could make out an Argon male. There was nothing obviously special about his ship.
“Right, can we establish that link again? I’d like to see if the Boron military has any information on that guy.”
Even a thorough scan of the database did not reveal any useful data. The man would remain mysterious for the time being. With this rather discomforting knowledge Val started to remove the traces of her action.
Only when she had almost finished her work and scanned the data log for a last time did she notice something strange. The bit count of data she had transmitted and received did not match that the remote computer displayed. Somebody was piggybacking her data stream. Further investigation showed an Argon code related to the parasite. What would the Argon secret service do with information of the Boron mainframe? They for sure knew it all. Even more curious, why would they use her data stream? Or, how did they pick it up? Had the Boron hired the Argon to secure the network? Very unlikely, yet possible.
There were a number of potential scenarios. Somebody was tracking Bola Ti. Somebody was tracking Val and listening to all her communications and data links. The network security had noticed access and traced back where it came from. Val could think of more but those were the most likely ones. All of them had one thing in common: Each and every contact would eventually allow somebody to trace their steps. It would leave a foot print in every sector they were in when accessing the database. This was not exactly what Val liked to see. There had to be a way to work around it. For now, however, she had all the information she could get.
“Now that is strange. The parasitic stream had been with our connection right from the first server. This can only mean it originated from this sector. Did you notice any streams, Arox?”
”The signal appeared to come from one of the military satellites at the outskirts of this sector. But that is as far as I can trace it.”
“Right. Any news from our independent traders?”
“You should have a look at the financial logs every now and again and you’ll notice that they are making good profits. The majority of their credits have, however, been re-invested when they got fitted with jumpdrives.”
“Jumpdrives? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Jumpdrives will allow them to trade throughout the universe, which means profit margins will increase considerably. It also provides them with the means to avoid fights, hence increasing their lifetime.”
“Fine then. Now, we still have quite some credits, should we not invest them? Get another trader or two?”
“For the time being I’d recommend not to purchase any more ships and invest in stations instead.”
“What do you suggest? I’d need a construction permit from the sector owning race. How do I go about that? Stations are also a liability, one needs to guard them or place them in populated sectors. This does then again cut into the profit margins.”
“You are right.” Bola Ti entered the conversation. “But if you place stations in Boron sectors you will be protected by my people. I know for sure that there is demand for energy cells in Lucky Planets, as my brother is governor of this sector. Thus obtaining a construction license should not be too difficult. It is also fortified due to its shipyard and EQ dock. The local SPP can not in the least cover the needs for energy.”
“Bola Ti is correct. Analysing the financial reports of the sector does show severe shortage. A Solar Power Plant is also a cheap station, which has high returns.”
*
The negotiations with Hare Ti, the governor of Lucky Planets were brief. The fact that Val had saved his brother’s life twice and that Bola Ti intended to remain on the power plant wiped away his concerns. It was the first time that an alien had been allowed to erect a factory in Lucky Planets. 60% of the production yields had to be sold to local factories at a set price. This would encourage the local economy and at the same time guarantee Val a steady income.
Four stazuras later they had ordered two SPP’s and contracted the local transport ship to erect them at a confirmed location, 20km South of the shipyard. Construction was supposed to be complete in two tazuras.
A brief analysis of potential support ships pointed towards getting Scorpions. These ships were fast and had sufficient cargo space for the amount of crystals that was usually available at stations. They were also not too expensive.
“As far as I can see the closest Split shipyard is in Family Rhy. If we jump there and then return here in old-fashion style we should be back by the time the stations go online. Do we have to worry about getting crews for the stations or are they fully automated?” Val asked Bola Ti.
“All Boron stations are fully automated. This makes them more expensive than, for example Split ones. However, in the long run you save because you do not have to worry about staff.”
“Excellent. Right, Family Rhy, here we come.”
*
Purchasing Split ships while sitting in a Boron ship was not as easy as Val thought. In fact the Split just generally declined docking to their stations. This was going to be problematic. While she was still pondering over her options the North gate activated and fourteen medium and heavy Xenon fighters entered the sector.
Instantly the sector patrol was on their way. The fast Mambas and Scorpions covered the distance quickly and were entangled in close knife fights. They fought skilful and courageous but soon it was obvious that they were about to lose.
“Now don’t you want to do something about it? We will have to get docking permission one way or another and nothing will impress the barbarians more than a good fight.”
Arox had recognised the chance that was offered to them. A single Mamba was left, twisting frantically to avoid the incoming fighter. It was only a matter of time before it would fall. Three Xenon heavy fighters had survived the fight and made the Split pilot’s life as difficult as they could.
Val activated the booster and the Barracuda headed for the battlefield. The Split pilot must have recognised the inbound assistance. He changed his course and approached them at full speed. Sooner than liked, Val was in the middle of Xenon crossfire. A quick roll and sharp turn brought her behind two of them and the beam lanced out and locked on to both ships. When their shields were down to fifty percent she had to abort as the third one had gotten on her six and poured plasma over her ship. Val strafed out of the line of fire, slowed down and re-acquired her target. Locking onto only one ship stripped its protective energy barrier in a couple of sezuras and soon the hull took damage. A last snapshot destroyed the target and not a single moment too early had Val changed the trajectory of the Barracuda as the second XL attempted a head-on manoeuvre that would most likely have resulted in a collision. When the shields touched the energy dropped to 40% and Bola Ti screamed in terror.
“Where are they? Why is the Mamba not assisting? Arox, update, I need it now!”
Val’s nerves were lying blank. These heavy fighters were slower but much more manoeuvrable than her ship and could easily out-turn her at will. The only good thing at the moment was that they must have fired all missiles in the early stages of the fight.
“XL one at five o’clock high; number two at eight o’clock high. The latter one is on collision course.”
Val changed her course and accelerated away. A random zigzag course at full speed helped putting some distance between her and the two Xenon ships. Then she turned the Barracuda around and opened fire. The Xenon subroutines recognised the hits and both ships went defensive. Quickly Val got behind the one that had taken a tighter turn, the other one would take slightly longer to lock on to her. With blazing guns the Barracuda made short work of the enemy fighter. Now the odds were better and Val took her time. After three mizuras the circuits of the Xenon heavy fighter overloaded under the constant beam of the Boron weapon. The ship surrendered.
“Thank you for your help. You fight well despite piloting an inferior ship. My ship lost all guns and you saved me from certain demise. I am indebted to you.”
With these words the Mamba pilot lined his ship up at the Barracuda’s side and together they headed for the shipyard. This time the negotiations were more successful. Still, the Split demanded the captured Xenon fighter in exchange for docking permission. Although it meant the loss of nearly 400k credits, docking rights were more important at this point in time.
Not much later two Scorpion medium fighters launched from the station and headed for Lucky Planets.
“We have an incoming transmission from the station manager. He asked in the friendly tone idiosyncratic to all Split that you may see him in his office.”
“I don’t fancy seeing this guy, to be totally honest. Looking a few wozuras back, I believe there is little reason to trust these guys.”
“This is quite correct. But if they really wanted to harm you they could easily tear the ship to pieces while we are landed.“
“Perhaps he is just smart and tries to take the option of least resistance?”
*
Having witnessed the battle the station manager had been curious to see the person who had defeated the Xenon. Now that Val stood in front of him he found it hard to hide his disappointment. This was not the kind of warrior he’d expected! After a few embarrassing mizuras of silence he addressed her.
“Split thank you for your assistance and destroying the Xenon fighters.”
He taxed her again. Val still looked at him with an impartial expression. Though, inside she was considering all possible scenarios, which might arise and how she’d get off the station quickly if need be. Her train of thoughts got interrupted when the station manager continued.
“We did not think you’d be able to defeat the heavy fighters of the machines in your ship. What is that beam weapon that I have never seen before? Where did you get it?
“I am not in a position to disclose this information.”
An angry growl made clear what the station manager held from that response. “Are you aware that I could put you in chains and torture you until you provide this information?”
Val’s heart missed a beat. That was exactly what she had been afraid of. But this was not the place to display weakness.
“Many have tried before you. As you can imagine, I would not enter a station that initially declined docking permission without safeguards, let alone leave my ship.”
The old Split looked surprised. He had not expected such a response from the Argon female. His engineers had scanned the ship but not managed to obtain any useful data. It appeared to block deep scans. Though, the weapon had proved to be very efficient against the Xenon, there had to be a way to find out more about it.
“I have not yet decided if you are just very courageous or simply foolhardy. You should not underestimate the Split.”
“You will certainly have scanned my ship by now. The results of those scans are all you are going to get. I have come to propose ongoing business relationships but if you are not interested I may as well depart again.”
Val turned around and headed for the door.
“Wait! Although Split only offer business to very select traders of other races, I am prepared to grant it to you. But it comes at a price.”
“You mean a Xenon heavy fighter is not enough? Forget it, I will find somebody else.”
“No, wait! I want you to deliver a parcel to an affiliate of mine on the Laser Forge in Rhy’s Desire. As you witnessed, I have just lost a number of fighters, so can’t currently spare one to do the delivery.”
“Alright. I will do it. In return I’ll ask you to be able to provide freighters and medium fighters within two tazuras when I order them. At this point in time I will not ask for any discounts but I want the option to renegotiate at a later point in time.”
“I can agree to these conditions. Now excuse me, I have important business to attend to.”
Val was glad things did turn out so well in the end but still made an effort to get back to her ship as quickly as possible. When she passed through the main foyer a small group of Teladi and Split looked at her quizzically, or was it threateningly? Probably paranoia, Val thought. She had been travelling quite some distance and it would not be too easy to track her down. These creatures were perhaps only surprised to see an Argon female on this station. She was glad, though, that the station did not have many visitors. It gave her space to all sides.
Back in the ship, Val took a few sezuras to distress. “I am glad to be back. At some point in time I was not so sure I’d make it out of there alive.”
“We haven’t left the station yet. Somebody is approaching the ship.”
Val looked up at Arox’ note. Indeed a large Split, carrying a parcel, motioned to open the hatch. Once the cargo was onboard and they had cleared the station Val laid course to the North gate.
“We are being scanned.”
“Scanned? By who? There is nobody around?”
“I don’t now. The source appears to be very close but I cannot determine its exact location. One could almost think it is attached to our hull.”
“Did you do a hull scan?”
“Yes, but I did not find anything.”
“Hmm. This leaves the parcel that we have onboard. Let me check.” Val took a hand scanner and went over to the bench the parcel was on. The scanner results did not leave any questions. It appeared as though the station manager had spoken the truth: never underestimate the Split! He had indeed tricked her into transporting a scanner that then could scan her ship from the inside, avoiding Arox’ shield.
“Smart man.” She mumbled, returning to her seat. After half a stazura of silence and frantic hacking code into the console in front of her, Val was interrupted by Arox.
“Do you care to share what you are trying to do?”
“The parcel is a scanner and I am trying to write a program we can use to manipulate the data it records and has already stored. As I did not detect any outgoing data streams I have to assume the scanner stores the information internally.”
They were in the final approach of the gate when Val let out a sigh. “Done and uploaded. This should do the trick.”
As it turned out it was not a sezura too early. Upon entering of the gate activation zone the scanner suddenly initiated and outgoing transmission.
“Was this what I think it was?” Val asked.
“Yes, the data stream had been directed to the Wharf.”
“Well, I hope they like Argon fairytales.” Val chuckled.
*
“Did you see that?”
“Can you be any more vague?”
“Oh, sorry. I thought I saw a reflection far up there, SW of us in a nebula.” Val had become so comfortable with addressing Arox as a person, for a moment she had forgotten that the AI could only ‘see’ as far as the scanners reached.
Pressing a few buttons, Val zoomed in on the nebula. There it was, a gate in the nebula. Why had nobody discovered that before yet? Split are short-sighted, that is a known fact but that is what Video Enhancement Goggles are for.
“Is there any chance of getting the coordinates of that gate without flying to it?”
“Not really. We need to get close enough to scan it.”
“That is going to be a long trip at a low speed. Set course for the East gate. We’ll fake a pass through it and cloak.”
*
After 14 long stazuras the gate was finally in scanner range. It took Val another four stazuras to finally get to the ring. The surface of the gate looked rather corroded.
“Now what? It doesn’t look pretty but other than that, all appears fine. Just, where is it going to take us? If we are slightly better prepared than last time we jumped into the unknown we should be fine, don’t you think?”
“There is a fine difference between our last jump and this one. At the other end of this jump tunnel there will be a gate. What if there is an armada of ships waiting to vaporise everything that passes through the gate? We will hardly have enough time to charge the singularity engine.”
“Camera drone!” With these words Val walked over to the locker and got the modified message drone out.
“We will not be able to receive any data shortly after it has entered the sector. So we will make sure it captures a wide angle immediately on entry.”
It did take Val not very long to make the necessary amendments and the drone was on its way.
The images received did not reveal anything. There were no ships or anything else to see. Just black with a pinkish glare in the centre.
“Well, I can’t se anything, hostile or friendly. I’d say we risk it.”
Slowly Val eased the ship towards the gate. The cloak would fall as soon as they exited the jump tunnel. If there was really something, somebody waiting she had to be quick. And lucky.
