Show threadrdm1d ago

Two days ago:

The watch officer saw a blip towards the outer system, near the further gas giant.

A tiny ripple in gravity.

She thumbed a button on the laser link to the station above All Mother "Command? Watch station three. I have a jump signature near Smithy. Coordinates follow." It was not unheard of for ships to visit, but Scouts always jumped in much closer. This was something else. The Patrol would look into it.

She went back to her duties.

----

Seeker of Hidden Truths sat in the command seat for Divessen Station. The only reason she was seated here was because all the command staff were in a briefing with the Council.

Many, many years ago her ancestor had met and bonded with a Scout whose ship had been destroyed by the raiders that had plagued their planet. That had led to the destruction of the raiders, and a vague alliance with the Scouts.

Sixty years ago, her great-grandmother had left to join the Scouts. Her return saw the building of the station, the establishment of the Patrol, and much more.

Now, she served as an apprentice. But, when no-one else was available...

A message came in - an arriving ship, near the gas giant Smithy. That was the behaviour of either someone taking a shortcut, in which case no harm, or a raider. And for them they had a special welcome.

"Findottier, this is Command. Jump sign at these coordinates. Monitor and investigate under stealth if no departure in eight hours" she transmitted to the newest of their patrol boats.

Seeker then sent a copy of the information and the orders to the Council.

---

An hour later she was summoned to Council. She walked in, and bowed to the elders. "I am Seeker of Hidden Truths, I come as summoned."

"You have done well, Seeker" came a familiar voice from the assembled Elders. It was her great-grandmother! "We have determined that you are to maintain command of this situation until it is resolved. Do you accept this commission?"

Seeker took a moment to find her voice "I ... I accept the Council's commission."

"Very good. Remember that even in command, you are not alone."

"Thank-you, Elder."

"To your duties, Seeker"

And with that, she almost ran back to the command centre.

#SFF #SF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

rdm2d ago

---- Part 2 -----
The crew of the Athena assembled at the airlock that mated with the station. Another oddity - the fittings had been completely standard.

The Captain ran the checks. "Sparks, confirm?"

Sparks re-ran the checks "Confirm, seals good, pressure good, no contaminates."

With that the Captain opened the locks. Beyond their airlock was a second one - the station-side one, with the outer door already open. As they watched, the inner door opened, forming a short corridor between the station and the ship. The Captain led the way.

They emerged into a wide concourse, much like any other orbital station. There were two armed guards. Armed with holstered pistols of some kind - and alarmingly sharp looking pole-arms in their hands. They nodded to the Captain, and stepped back, revealing a young woman dressed in flowing black.

She looked them over and then spoke, her voice unexpectedly musical and resonate - like a deep bell sounding in the distance "I am Seeker of Hidden Truths. I will escort you to the Council. Follow me."

Alaine watched her as they followed. She would be around his age he guessed. Odd for them to send someone so junior to escort them. Also odd was that the two guards did not follow, but stayed at the airlock, which they had closed.

They passed several groups along the way - all oddly quiet. All looked at them curiously as they passed, but made no comment. Alaine was starting to feel just a little creeped out. The whole place was eerily quiet. The crew was keeping quiet in turn. The Captain would speak for them.

And everywhere, everything was so ... normal. Hatches looked completely standard, signage was dual language, in both what was presumably the native tongue and in Standard, just like any other station. Even the clothes looked familiar. They looked like ... Alaine gave voice to his realisation "Captain, those clothes..."
"Aye, hush now."
So she had noticed as well. Everyone other than their guide were wearing clothes that looked worryingly like Scout uniforms. Had they stumbled upon a top-secret Scout base?

Seeker took them through an ornate door into a large room, with dozens of people seated in stepped rows, like an auditorium. "I have brought the crew of the Athena before the Council" she announced.

One of the seated figures asked "How do you find them?"

"What?!" Alaine wondered - they had not exchanged a single word since leaving the concourse, how could they have any sort of verdict? He looked around, and the rest of the crew looked just as confused and worried.

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Show threadrdm2d ago

Now:

Under the watchful gaze of the patrol ship, Athena docked with the orbital spaceport above the fourth planet.

By this stage they had a full accounting of the damage. Number 2 turret had a jammed canister in the launcher, the tiny 6-seat launch had a score of shrapnel holes in the hull, there were gaping holes in both the cargo hold and the engine room. Two reactors were inoperative. One of the reaction drives was wrecked, and the hyperspace jump coils had been mangled.

The only miracle was that the actual cargo appeared undamaged.

As they had approached, it became clear that this was in no way an uninhabited system. The space dock had an almost constant stream of craft of all sizes coming and going. What their equipment did not show was any sign of ships making the jump to hyperspace, and the distinctive gravitational ripple it caused.

"All hands secure stations" the all-crew channel crackled.
Then on Alaine's private channel "Alaine to the bridge." That was the Captain.
"Aye, Captain!" was his prompt response.

When he arrived, the Captain pointed to his PDU. "You've seen the damage assessment?"
"Yes Captain!"
"If your family's yard had us in, how long to fix it?"
"At a rough guess, a couple of months."
"And here?"
"I don't know. I've seen the report that no jump traces have been seen. If they don't have that, we could be here a very long time."
"And yet they speak our language, and have our frequencies."

Alaine was about to reply, when the ship's radio crackled to life again "Heavy Trader Athena, this is Divesen Station Control. You are ordered to present all able-bodied crew to the Station Council. If you have non-ambulant crew, they will be attended by our medical teams. Your ship will be held under seal until you return from your meeting with the Council."

"That did not sound friendly," Alaine observed.
The Captain grimaced "No, but by the same token, it was not unfriendly, either. At the very least they are offering medical aid. Not that we need it."
"But Captain, all of us?"
"You know the first rule, Alaine?"
"Local customs must be observed."
"And now we have to learn them."

--------- End Part One -------

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Show threadrdm2d ago

One day ago:

The all-ship intercom chimed "All hands, all hands, stand by for re-entry into normal space."
The announcement was an old tradition going back to the first days of hyperspace travel. Alaine was in his bunk, and put down his PDU. While there were a handful of people who reacted badly to the hyperspace transition, most could not even detect that it had taken place. As a result spacers often tried to see if they could tell when the transition took place.

A few moments later, the intercom chimed again "We are now in normal space. Resume duties." Alaine had not felt a thing. He shrugged, and looked at the clock. On duty in 30 minutes. He got up, had a wash, and went to the galley.

Dyani the second gunner and sometimes passenger steward looked up from her bowl of spicy soup. He'd tried it once, and it had nearly taken his head off. "Hiya kid. You got your calcs for a gas giant worked?" she asked.

His final assignment the night before had been to work out optimal fuel scooping trajectories for either of the two gas giants in the uninhabited system they were heading for.

In the year that he'd been aboard, his days had been 8 hours work, 8 hours study, and 8 hours sleep. And snatching the odd bite on the fly. But that was what it took if he was going to pass any exams when they next hit a Board testing centre.

"Yes, Ma'am" as a junior, everyone was "Sir" or "Ma'am" to him. Or "Captain".
"Good. Eat, and run it by Suri."
"Yes, Ma'am." And he got himself a small bowl of dried fruits, nuts, and flakes of grain. He had no idea what any of them were, but they combined to make something that was almost familiar.

He was just finishing his breakfast, when the lights went red. "All hands, all hands, we are being painted with a targeting radar. Suit up, and prepare to take fire."

Pirates? Here? Why would they be hanging around in an uninhabited system? Then Alaine realized. Someone at the last port had figured out what they were probably going to do, and had arrived to lay in wait for them.

He suited up, and went aft. Sparks the engineer was waiting for him. "OK, kid. We check the gauges, run the diagnostics, and then come back to the airlock. They'll probably target the engine room first, so we don't want to be in there if it gets hit."
"Yes Ma'am!"

He could feel the two turrets firing off chaff and pebble canisters.

The two of them completed the checks, and reported to the bridge that all was good. Then they retreated to the airlock, and closed both doors.

Several minutes passed.

Then the explosions started.

#SFF #SF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

Show threadrdm2d ago

Now:

By the time the mystery patrol ship Findottier was in visual range, Sparks and Alaine had got the deck gravitics up and running - not perfectly, but good enough for the ship to run at 1G and for the floor to be the floor.

The bridge sent an image of it to all the displays aboard, in case anyone recognized the class. It was certainly unusual.

Unlike themselves and all the common classes of ships, this ship did not have any visible turrets. Instead it appeared to have missile tubes along its sides, like an ancient sailing ship. And there were no visible laser mounts at all.

"Well, Alaine, you grew up around a shipyard, ever see anything like that?" Sparks asked.

Alaine studied the wedge shaped craft. "In layout it sort of reminds me of a Scout, but much, much bigger. And I've never seen a weapon setup like that before. I wonder where they - oh, look!" He pointed at some barely visible patches on the hull. "The laser mounts must retract!"

The Captain's voice came over the radio "All hands, make secure. We are instructed to make our way to the fourth planet, which appears to be the primary. There is a space dock and repair facility there. ETA 22 hours." Then, on the engineering channel "Alaine, if Sparks can spare you, please assist Engle and Yaani in assessing damage to the cargo."
"Yes, Captain!"

Five hours later Alaine was exhausted - he, like the rest of the crew had been up for over a day. Engle, the First Mate, had sent him off to eat, and to get a few hours sleep.

It took him some time to get to sleep, despite his exhaustion. But once there, he slept hard. Eventually he awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. Six hours sleep.
"Alaine?" It was Yaani.
"Mm, yeah?" he still wasn't completely awake.
"Captain wants you on bridge. You're backing Grendel as co-pilot."
"Grendel? Isn't she on guns?"
"She's got an in-system licence. You're to back her up."
"Right." Alaine shook himself awake, pulled on a new skinsuit, and put his pressure suit on over it, helmet folded back.

He stopped by the little galley and made himself a drink to take with him. The rich, slightly sweet aroma filled the tiny space. He made one for Grendel as well, adding a pinch of spices, as was her preference. Capping the mugs, he entered the bridge. He could see Suri and the Captain standing, waiting and Grendel in the pilot's seat. "Good, you're here Alaine. Take your place."
"Yes, Captain. I have co-pilot."
"Very good. Grendel?"
"I have the con."
"You have the con. Buzz my cabin when we are one hour out."
"Acknowledged."

Alaine handed Grendel the drink he'd prepared.

"Thanks, Alaine. You'll see multiple incoming ships on the display. Our new friend says they are the local search and rescue teams, checking for survivors from the pirate ship."

"After it got nuked?"

"They say they have to check."

(reposted into thread)

#SFF #SF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

Show threadrdm2d ago

One week ago:

Alaine was on the bridge, shadowing Suri the navigator. She was only a couple of years older than him, but still called him "kid" like everyone else aboard.

"OK kid. Let's see your plan" she held out her hand for his PDU.
He handed it over asking "Why head for an uninhabited system, though?"
"There's a good market for the fabrication units just beyond. We could stop off at a couple of other planets first, but if we take the short-cut, we can arrive in time for a big industrial fair at their capital."
"So we stop off once, refuel from an iceball or gas giant, and carry on."
"Yep. OK, look at my calculations now" Suri pointed at her screen.

"I think I must be getting the hang of astrogation. That looks identical to mine!" Alaine exclaimed excitedly.
"Not so fast kid" the screen changed "This is the calculation I did last night."
"Wait, so what was the other one?"
"That was what I thought you'd do."
Alaine's face fell "I'm not getting it am I?"
Suri grinned "It isn't too bad, kid. You made the same mistake I would have made two years ago. Wencell, the navigator before me pulled the same trick on me. Off you go, and compare the two. Tell me where you went wrong over dinner."
"Yes Ma'am."

Alaine went back to the cabin he shared with the other spacehand, Yaani, and sat at the desk, going over the calculations. After about half an hour he found his error - he'd gotten the mass wrong for one of the outer planets. A minor error, but one that would have placed them light-weeks away from their intended destination. Not a fatal error, but it would have cost them most of the time they were trying to save.

Yaani came in, all 80 kilograms and 110cm of them. Yaani could also bench over 400kg, having come from a high-G world. "Whatcha got there, kid?"
"Suri's nav calcs for the next jump. I was shadowing her."
"She put up what she thought you'd do?"
"Yeah. I'm to tell her where I went wrong at dinner."
"You got an answer for her?"
"Yep."
"Good on ya. It took me nearly a week when she did that to me. I just ain't got the head for astrogation."
That made Alaine feel a little better. Mind you, Yaani had an almost instinctive sense for cargo packing, and was usually working with Engle, who acted as the Load Master.

He wrote up his error in detail, ready for dinner.

(reposted into thread)

#SFF #SF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

WarmasterPalak2d ago

#WritersCoffeeClub #WordWeavers #TimeTravelAuthors #PennedPossibilities #Microfic #BluePlanetRecontact #BluePlanetFirstContact #DarktideSaga

"Where is it?"

"He's not here."

"I know it isn't here. Where did it go?"

"Somewhere else." The interrogator sat back in his chair. He wasn't in restraints, but that hardly mattered since there was nowhere for him to go. "I can't be certain. He could be anywhere he wants to be, and I have no way of knowing where that would be. I've only just started to understand."

The agent stood up and left the room. A series of clicks from the door indicated that the locks had been engaged.

He looked around the room. He stilled his mind and focused on the idea of being where the room was not. The walls softened slightly, becoming less substantial, but one does not overcome a lifetime of reinforced causality after one lesson.

He rose from his chair and walked over to the door. He checked and verified that the door was, in fact, locked. Perhaps something less drastic could be accomplished. He considered that the door was not locked, and had, in fact, never been locked. He reached out and tried the door again.

This time, to his surprise, it opened. Standing outside, grasping the door handle, was a bruin, one of the uplifted ursine security guards recently brought in from Earth. They both appeared startled at the proximity of the other.

The bruin's facial expression was inscrutable. He hadn't had enough time with them to be able to read their faces easily. But it didn't appear hostile. No, he chided himself, -he- didn't appear hostile.

The bruin chuffed, as if he could read the man's thoughts, but it was probably not that. "Why are you...?" the bruin began, his voice very deep and rumbling, then he stopped and started again. "Nevermind. We don't have a lot of time. You know where the child is, and we have to recover them before this whole thing escalates and all of you humans get wiped off the face of Poseidon."

He stepped back, trying to process all that. "Wait... what? Are you talking about war with the Xiang?"

"No, not war. Well, yes, but you... Look, you know what they can do. I don't have to explain to you what is going to happen if they decide your kind need to go. If anything happens to their cub, they will wipe you out without a second, or even a first, thought."

The look on the bruin's face was one of concern, but not for himself. Bruin's weren't known for their overly sentimental behavior towards humans. Not like some of the new canine shock troopers were, at least. But he seemed genuinely concerned.

The world faded from view and became insubstantial. He saw events playing out all around him. A vivsection leading to anger, leading to violence and death. A rescue leading to interception, leading to death and still resulting in violence and death. Every way he looked forward, he saw violence and death and anger and pain. Except one.

"We can't save him. But, we have to try. Let's go."

The pair took off down the hall, the bruin occasionally dropping to all fours to boost his speed. The corridors weren't made for someone his size, but that wasn't going to stop him.

rdm2d ago

Now:

By the time the mystery patrol ship Findottier was in visual range, Sparks and Alaine had got the deck gravitics up and running - not perfectly, but good enough for the ship to run at 1G and for the floor to be the floor.

The bridge sent an image of it to all the displays aboard, in case anyone recognized the class. It was certainly unusual.

Unlike themselves and all the common classes of ships, this ship did not have any visible turrets. Instead it appeared to have missile tubes along its sides, like an ancient sailing ship. And there were no visible laser mounts at all.

"Well, Alaine, you grew up around a shipyard, ever see anything like that?" Sparks asked.

Alaine studied the wedge shaped craft. "In layout it sort of reminds me of a Scout, but much, much bigger. And I've never seen a weapon setup like that before. I wonder where they - oh, look!" He pointed at some barely visible patches on the hull. "The laser mounts must retract!"

The Captain's voice came over the radio "All hands, make secure. We are instructed to make our way to the fourth planet, which appears to be the primary. There is a space dock and repair facility there. ETA 22 hours." Then, on the engineering channel "Alaine, if Sparks can spare you, please assist Engle and Yaani in assessing damage to the cargo."
"Yes, Captain!"

Five hours later Alaine was exhausted - he, like the rest of the crew had been up for over a day. Engle, the First Mate, had sent him off to eat, and to get a few hours sleep.

It took him some time to get to sleep, despite his exhaustion. But once there, he slept hard. Eventually he awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. Six hours sleep.
"Alaine?" It was Yaani.
"Mm, yeah?" he still wasn't completely awake.
"Captain wants you on bridge. You're backing Grendel as co-pilot."
"Grendel? Isn't she on guns?"
"She's got an in-system licence. You're to back her up."
"Right." Alaine shook himself awake, pulled on a new skinsuit, and put his pressure suit on over it, helmet folded back.

He stopped by the little galley and made himself a drink to take with him. The rich, slightly sweet aroma filled the tiny space. He made one for Grendel as well, adding a pinch of spices, as was her preference. Capping the mugs, he entered the bridge. He could see Suri and the Captain standing, waiting and Grendel in the pilot's seat. "Good, you're here Alaine. Take your place."
"Yes, Captain. I have co-pilot."
"Very good. Grendel?"
"I have the con."
"You have the con. Buzz my cabin when we are one hour out."
"Acknowledged."

Alaine handed Grendel the drink he'd prepared.

"Thanks, Alaine. You'll see multiple incoming ships on the display. Our new friend says they are the local search and rescue teams, checking for survivors from the pirate ship."

"After it got nuked?"

"They say they have to check."

#SF #SFF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

rdm3d ago

One week ago:

Alaine was on the bridge, shadowing Suri the navigator. She was only a couple of years older than him, but still called him "kid" like everyone else aboard.

"OK kid. Let's see your plan" she held out her hand for his PDU.
He handed it over asking "Why head for an uninhabited system, though?"
"There's a good market for the fabrication units just beyond. We could stop off at a couple of other planets first, but if we take the short-cut, we can arrive in time for a big industrial fair at their capital."
"So we stop off once, refuel from an iceball or gas giant, and carry on."
"Yep. OK, look at my calculations now" Suri pointed at her screen.

"I think I must be getting the hang of astrogation. That looks identical to mine!" Alaine exclaimed excitedly.
"Not so fast kid" the screen changed "This is the calculation I did last night."
"Wait, so what was the other one?"
"That was what I thought you'd do."
Alaine's face fell "I'm not getting it am I?"
Suri grinned "It isn't too bad, kid. You made the same mistake I would have made two years ago. Wencell, the navigator before me pulled the same trick on me. Off you go, and compare the two. Tell me where you went wrong over dinner."
"Yes Ma'am."

Alaine went back to the cabin he shared with the other spacehand, Yaani, and sat at the desk, going over the calculations. After about half an hour he found his error - he'd gotten the mass wrong for one of the outer planets. A minor error, but one that would have placed them light-weeks away from their intended destination. Not a fatal error, but it would have cost them most of the time they were trying to save.

Yani came in, all 80 kilograms and 110cm of them. Yani could also bench over 400kg, having come from a high-G world. "Whatcha got there, kid?"
"Suri's nav calcs for the next jump. I was shadowing her."
"She put up what she thought you'd do?"
"Yeah. I'm to tell her where I went wrong at dinner."
"You got an answer for her?"
"Yep."
"Good on ya. It took me nearly a week when she did that to me. I just ain't got the head for astrogation."
That made Alaine feel a little better. Mind you, Yaani had an almost instinctive sense for cargo packing, and was usually working with Engle, who acted as the Load Master.

He wrote up his error in detail, ready for dinner.

#SF #SFF #SciFi #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #IAmWriting #ShamanSpace

Show threadrdm4d ago

Now:

Sparks and Alaine managed to get two more reactors running, providing sixty percent of normal power.

"Can you splice that cable, Alaine?" Sparks asked.
"Yes, Ma'am" he replied in shock. This was the first time she had called him by name.
"Right Get to it, and I'll go and report to the Captain. Wait until I get back for plugging it in. Got it?"
"Yes ... Sparks?" despite his best efforts, the name came more as a question.

The old engineer grinned through her helmet at him, and left through the open airlock. With holes in both the hold and the engineering space, the interlocks did not complain about both doors being open.

As Alaine worked on splicing the two diagnostic cables together, he started seeing small bursts of light through the hole the missile had made.

At first he thought some part of the ship's circuits were arcing, now that a decent amount of power was available. Then he saw some in the middle of the hole, and realized it was the ship's laser turret burning away the chaff and pebbles they had deployed. And bits of their ship as well. Debris was debris.

His radio came to life - it was the Captain. Sparks must have fixed the relay on her way through. "Alaine? Do you copy?"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Sparks tells me you might be able to get one of the reaction drives up and running, is that right?
"Yes Captain."
"Good, we're going to have a local patrol ship meeting us, and I'd like us to be able to make our own way if we can. Let me know when you have it running. Sparks is on her way back to you now. Out."

Alaine was just putting the final touches on the cable when Sparks re-entered the engine room.

"All done, Sparks!" he called on the local channel.
"Good work. Let me get the interfaces up."

Over the next ten minutes they worked over the controls and software. Finally Sparks nodded "It's your cable, you get to plug it in."

Alaine swallowed, and plugged one end into the undamaged control unit of Drive One. No smoke or sparks. Then he stretched the cable across the engine room to Drive Two's mangled control unit, and unplugged that from the drive housing. He swallowed again, and plugged in the jury-rigged cable. Again no sparks or smoke.
"OK, we're connected, Sparks."
"Running startup checks" Sparks paused "We have green across the board." Then she changed to the shipwide channel "Captain, we have Drive Two operational. Please test with point one G."
The Captain's voice came back "Brace for acceleration. Point one G in five, four..."
Alaine attached a harness clip to a frame.
"...three, two, one, zero"
And he felt the pull of acceleration.
Across the ship channel was a cheer.
"OK, keep it down!" the Captain cut over everyone. "Sparks, Alaine, see if you can get grav back."
"Yes Captain!" they acknowledged.

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