Virus and earth ii boxse.., p.142
Virus & Earth II Boxset, page 142
part #1 of Virus Series
Now he was being taken into the sector, and it appeared that he was heading to one of the large asteroids that had been captured and placed into orbit. Asteroids turned out to be excellent platforms to monitor, mine or manufacture. In this case, Pardold didn’t know the primary purpose of their destination, but he suspected that it would be interesting.
Captain Pardold had never been to one of the manufacturing asteroids. They were either for mining or ‘other purposes.’ Up to that point in his career, he didn’t need to know about what the ‘other purposes’ were.
The surface appeared to 100% industrial. There were no facilities for personnel that Pardold could see. Everyone must be living underground, he thought.
Once the landing was complete, and the door to the pressurized receiving area opened, a formidable person walked onboard and looked directly at Pardold. He immediately knew the person was there for him.
“Sir, are you Captain Pardold?” he asked.
“Yes,” Pardold said, trying to act calm and confident.
“Please follow me,” the man standing over Captain Pardold instructed.
Pardold stood and realized that the receiving area was an environment of reduced gravity. Unlike onboard his military ship, the asteroids were kept at 30% gravity. That allowed the work to be done easily and personnel movement to be effortless. For Pardold it took a moment to adjust to the difference before he followed the man who had already left the shuttle.
The man in front of Pardold moved quickly, and it was a challenge to navigate the reduced gravity and to catch up to him. It was obvious that he had spent a great deal of time on the asteroid because he moved adroitly. He was using large steps and bounding along. Pardold picked up the technique and pace within a few hops.
The path followed wound through a couple of loading and unloading facilities before they approached the vertical lifts. The man leading, passed by the larger industrial lift needed to move large groups of workers or hardware and he turned down a hallway to a smaller lift that was sized for only a couple of individuals. The man entered and turned, waiting for Pardold to find his way into the mover.
The instant Pardold entered, the lift began to move, even before he had settled himself and prepared for the rapid movement. The sudden change in trajectory forced all of Pardold’s weight onto his feet, and he almost stumbled and fell, but he was able to maintain his poise through the sudden acceleration. Even though Pardold had never been to a manufacturing Asteroid, he knew that with no gravity, the movers rotated and accelerated along their paths forcing the force of acceleration on their feet. Remembering how the vehicles moved was different than actually experiencing it. The rotation and acceleration, even under reduced gravity, was disorientating. The vessel continued to accelerate adding more pressure to Pardold’s legs which he thought was a clear indication that it was going a long distance. The noise and vibration indicated the increase in speed. The asteroids had no air. They were orbiting the largest planet in the Borram system, and because the asteroid had little gravity, it wasn’t practical for vehicles to orbit. Travel along the surface was also difficult because it was usually very uneven. The industrial communities were stand-alone and self-sufficient, travel between the sites was underground. The lifts went through central nodes within the asteroid that redirected them to the sites on the surface. The changes in acceleration and orientation during transit were compensated for with little artificial gravity generators in each of the units which tried to compensate for changes in velocity vectors. But they were a little slow and a little inadequate, which made the ride difficult on an inexperienced passenger. If the gravity units failed, the trip could get very uncomfortable.
Pardold felt the minor deviations as they entered one of the underground nodes, but he was surprised. He felt them move through the node. Then he realized, they were passing through the asteroid to the other side. He sensed the orientation of the lift change after they passed the center of the mass. The changes were minimal as the vessel rotated so they would reach the opposite surface orientated with their heads up.
Pardold’s excitement level increased. He knew the sites on the surface facing the planet were the support sites where they processed materials, manufactured what was needed and produced the fuels and consumables necessary for the vehicles they were manufacturing. He heard rumors that the other sides were the deep, dark and secret facilities where the real weapons of war were produced. But, to date, nothing had been released. The manufacturing asteroids dedicated to the military were new and held under tight security. As far as Captain Pardold knew, nothing had been launched from any of them yet.
When they reached the other side of the Asteroid, Pardold was surprised when the door opened. He was greeted by two armed guards that were facing each other, and it was plain they were there to escort them if the term ‘escort’ was the proper interpretation. The man who was leading the Captain didn’t appear surprised by the two soldiers. Pardold wasn’t in any position to argue, so he stepped off the lift, and they moved down the corridor with Pardold’s escort leading them and the soldiers following There was no welcome, no discussion just rapid bounding down the hall.
Pardold was lead along a circuitous path, with many turns and doors before the small party entered another elevator. This one was larger and when the entire entourage was inside it descended rapidly into the huge rock. When the doors opened, Pardold faced a fully functioning space dock where he was introduced to Renoar; the ancient War-God of the Borram.
This new ship was the largest in the fleet, and she had the greatest firepower by an order of magnitude. It was a mystery to Pardold how the Fleet Commander had been able to build such a huge ship, but that wasn’t his immediate concern. Learning how to use it as a fighting weapon was his concern.
There was no orientation, no briefings as to the status of the new ship. Pardold wondered why the Space Marshal gave him no indication of what to expect. “Perhaps it was beneath him to worry about such detail,” he concluded. Captain Pardold was deposited on the bridge, and his escorts left without a word. Pardold was stunned but elated. It was clear that he was going to be the Captain of this amazing vessel. He took a moment and remembered how all of the powerful men that he had met had acted, and he tried to put on the same persona.
Captain Pardold had always known that his career would take off, he just needed the right breaks. He was tired of others in his class from ‘The Academy,' getting promotions and recognition. True, many of them were from the ‘core families,' the families with the names that were part of the Borram history. Regardless, he was as smart as they were and he deserved to be recognized for his skills.
He had finally got the break that he deserved. As he stepped on board the Renoar which was the product of all of the research and development of the Borram Empire, he felt that he had arrived. She was the first of her kind, and if she were successful in battle, then many more would be built. In the Empire, only a select group knew of her design and capabilities beyond Fleet Commander Morot who had her designed and built with a budget that he controlled. Like other Fleet Commanders at his level, they were looking for the next step up in rank, authority, and respect. For Fleet Commanders at that level, there was only one position left, that of the Borram Leader Lran.
Not that they were planning a coup or assassination, but someday in the future, a new leader would be needed. When that day occurred, each of the Fleet Commanders wanted a few extra tools under their control. None of them knew when that time would come.
Fleet Commander Morot was betting his life and future promotion on the success of the Renoar. If it worked, he would be in the position of saving the Borram Empire, and if he failed, the Borram Leader Lran would know what his plans were because Fleet Commander Morot had kept the Renoar a secret. Neither the Supreme Leader or Fleet Commander Morot’s contemporaries liked secrets.
Captain Pardold’s staff were standing in a semi-circle around his command chair in the center of the control room. His job was to lead, and the feeling of leadership welled up inside him as he looked at the fear in his officer's faces. He knew that they would fear him because he was Captain of the newest weapon in the inventory. Any officer given that prestigious position would surely be destined for a powerful position in the future. His staff knew that if they wanted to progress and get better assignments, they must make their new Captain happy and succeed in any mission they were expected to perform.
Pardold looked at his staff and enjoyed the discomfort his silence caused them. He enjoyed the focus and concentration they directed towards him. Everything he said, would lay the groundwork for his future command, so Pardold wanted to select his first words carefully.
“You have one mission, and that mission is to do what I tell you when I tell you. There will be no questions, no hesitation. Is that clear?”
His entire senior staff responded with one voice.
“Yes, Captain.”
“I want you to show me what this ship will do.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Captain Pardold sat in his plush Captain’s Chair and looked around the bridge of the Renoar. The crew was new to him, but he hoped that the fear they were showing would mean that they would follow any order he gave them. He had to assume that they had been on the ship long enough to know her well.
“What is the status of the Renoar?” he asked.
The only crewman that showed any authority wore the uniform of his Chief of Operations. He took one step forward, and Pardold could see the many stripes on his sleeve that showed his rank and experience.
“Sir, the Renoar is fully operational. We have just finished checking out all of the systems, and she is ready for her first flight,” the tall man said, with some fear and respect in his voice.
Captain Pardold was impressed, even though he never would let his crew know that. They went through the ship’s offensive, maneuvering, and defensive capabilities quickly. When they were done, Pardold knew that he was sitting on the most powerful weapon in the Borram inventory. Pardold hoped that the Renoar was equal in power to the mystery ship that had stolen the Ilade. During the systems check out he found out that the Renoar had one powerful pulse weapon that was designed to take out the Lennari Defensive Space Stations’ lasers. It’s one limitation was that it had to get close enough to fire the massive, and once it was fired it needed a long time to build up the power again. That was its limitation, but if they could get close enough, one shot from the huge weapon would wipe out the offensive laser of the station and leave it defenseless. To help it get close enough, the Renoar had 100 small and powerful Coherent Light Weapons that could deal with the smaller ships in the Lennari Space Defense Force. When the Renoar was attacking in close range, the Coherent Light Weapons could hold off the attackers until the final huge weapon was fired.
He knew that he had a lot to learn but he was gratified when he told his crew to go to sector AF012, they said, “Yes, sir,” and they made it happen.
Captain Pardold sat back and watched his crew execute his orders. The giant hangar doors were opened and the huge ship, lifted from its moorings into the shadow of the asteroid.
The practice drills that he was running helped him to familiarize himself with the ship, the crew and the drills went well.
Pardold was learning about the power of his new position, and when he wanted to take the Renoar out for a test flight, he found that the entire sector was his. He was able to move any of the other members of the fleet out of his way so their sensors couldn’t get a good reading on the Fleet Commander’s new weapon. He did so and took his new ship to the sector he was most familiar with.
The one momentary gratification occurred when he ordered Captain Destain to move to another sector and was rewarded with a simple, “Yes, sir.”
Captain Pardold loved his new ship. She performed amazingly, and her firepower was more than he could have hoped for. He was a little concerned about the secrecy behind it, though. Fleet Commander Morot made it perfectly clear that Pardold was given one ship and it was a special ship. When Pardold was ordered, not to tell anyone and the level of secrecy regarding the ship, Pardold appreciated the significance. Total secrecy.
Captain Pardold worked his crew hard. In a way, it was the only way that he could hide from them. He didn’t know anything about the ship, and if he acted like he was testing them all of the time, they would be afraid that anything less than perfection would be disastrous for them. It worked, and after a few days, the crew was performing well, and he began feeling confident.
“Sir, we are picking up a ship coming out of a near jump point,” his navigation officer announced.
“When and where?” Pardold responded.
“Sir, the pulse is 4-10 relative, and the ship will go sub-light in 12 percs.”
“Can you get us in position abeam them as they enter our field?”
“Yes, sir. It will take a little maneuvering for us to reach a speed sufficient to flank them, but we should be able to achieve a satisfactory position when they pass the barrier.”
“Excellent. Maneuver.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Captain the radiation pulse indicates the ship has entered our sensor field and its image is coming up on our sensors.”
Captain Pardold was interested. Was it the ship he had encountered? Pardold wondered. To his disappointment, it wasn’t.
“Sir, it appears to be a trader.”
“What is its designation? There aren’t any approved entry points in this sector.”
“Sir, it is not responding to our messages.”
This should be fun, Captain Pardold thought.
“Tell them to maintain their current vector, and we’re going to board them.”
“Yes, sir,” responded the Com Officer.
A moment later, he announced, “Sir, they haven’t responded.”
This is going to be a lot of fun, he smiled.
“Fire at them, but don’t destroy them,” Pardold ordered.
His order was followed by a quick succession of pulses from his Coherent Light Weapons.
“Sir, they are responding.”
“Vessel that just fired upon us. We are a peaceful trading vessel returning to Borram. We don’t recognize your ship.”
“We are the Warship Renoar, and we represent the Borram People. Prepare to be inspected.”
“Renoar, we will comply.”
“Sir, they are maintaining their vector and exposing their docking mechanism.”
“Excellent, I want to talk with their captain. Prepare my shuttle.”
“Yes, Sir.”
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The entire time that Pardold was riding in his shuttle he impressed himself with his own importance. He knew that he was in a unique position and controlling a unique spaceship. To be in such a position, he must be significant, and he wanted to make the impression complete. By forming the image in his own mind, he hoped to convey the same image to the traders. They didn’t know who he was and if he thought that he was fearsome, then they would.
The Renoar shuttle was large enough to have 10 Borram Space Soldiers onboard. They would do his bidding and also give the other crew the proper impression.
“When we board the vessel, I want you to clear the space before I enter. Then lead me to their Captain.”
“Yes, Sir!” responded the leader of the military team assigned as his escort.
The trader had a standard Borram docking mechanism, so it took only a few moments for the two craft to connect. The airlock to the trader ship opened, and the soldiers boarded the ship and made sure the path to the command area of the ship was clear. Then they formed a group to escort Pardold who walked in the middle towards the command section.
Pardold wanted to look impressive and to act as such. He walked, trying to seem taller than he was. He made sure that his heels, made the appropriate noise striking the surface of the gangway. How effective his efforts were, weren’t that important. The picture that he had of himself was all that was important.
As Pardold walked, he paid attention to the ship around him. It was an older class freighter from a bygone era. It had seen its best days a long time ago. Fluid leaks were running down the sides of the gangway, and Pardold decided that someone would be punished if something dripped on him.
Pardold walked onto the bridge and stopped by the entry hatch. It was a small bridge, about half the size of what he had on the Renoar. It was dark and hot. The air circulation wasn’t adequate for the number of people and amount of equipment. Neither was it adequate for the odors. The captain was standing, by himself, in the middle of the deck and each of his command crew was standing by their stations.
Pardold decided to use a trick others had used on him a couple of times, and he didn’t say anything. He just took his time and walked slowly around the periphery, looking at the workstations and the Borram crewmen. At each stop, he looked the person in the eye for a moment before moving on. When he finally reached the last of them he turned and looked at the captain.
“What is your name,” he asked.
“Sir, I am Captain Tarlock.”
“Why are you entering Borram space at this point?”
Tarlock stood quietly for a moment.
“I asked you a question,” Pardold said with sharpness in his voice.
Tarlock looked uneasy and still didn’t provide an answer.
“You have entered Borram space from the Lennari system. If you don’t answer me, I will assume that you are a Lennari spy and I will execute you and your crew.”
Tarlock’s crew looked at each other, then looked at their captain. He stood for a minute, sweating and wetted his lips preparing to talk.
“Sir, we are returning from trading.”
“With the Lennari?”
“Yes, sir,” Tarlock answered, acting as if it might have been the last thing he ever said as a Captain.
Pardold took a few steps in a small circle on his side of the bridge as if he were deciding what to do. He had already decided, but he wanted to make the proper impression on the captain and crew.
