NaNo 2009 - Part 2

So, six days into the month of November and NaNo 2009 and we should be 1/5th of the way through the novel (10 000 words). You may not be able to tell, but I'm short, running at 9022 (that includes Part 1). Hopefully with weekend 1 I can make it up!


The post battle silence weighed heavily on Maria. Jakob had told hero of the encounter he had with the captain as he headed to the bridge to relieve her. She had intended to exercise on cycle exercise devices that used magnets for resistance. She opted to spend her shift off in the solitude of remote access ways, the ones used only by engineers to repair damage to the ship’s hull. Sitting with the active purr of the well maintained engine, she tried to remember why she joined onto the Valiant Confederacy of Forces, instead of taking up the family business of politics.
As the daughter of a colony governor, sister of an Imperial councilman, niece of a political fixer, she could have easily secured position in colony governance.
Her now-deceased father had tried to talk her into taking a command position in the Imperial Space Fleet, something relaxed since none openly defied the Empire, but she had insisted leading a life of accomplishment. After two years as a lieutenant on a small frigate, she had scored a senior lieutenant on the Alexia and finally a promotion to lieutenant commander and second in command.
Four years on the Alexia since then, with her life in peril over one hundred times since she enrolled in the Confederacy, Maria Fields had begun to seriously doubt her decision. As she lay in the cool, quiet tunnel, her shoulder-length blonde hair piling beneath her ear, she traced the jointed between the giant metal sheets that had been bundled and bended to form a small, triangular shaft. She released a deep sigh and closed her eye, imagining the space that hung less than ten meters away.
Spending a few more minutes in the dim, stillness, Maria began to descend back to the core of the ship. She began a meandering tour of the vessel, nodding occasionally to crew members that she failed to recognize. She chided herself mentally, since for a crew of about two hundred and twenty people, she believed that she should at least recognize all of the members. She progressed beyond the blue residential core of the ship to the lavender and lilac recreation and dining rooms. These common areas are located in the innermost section of the ship for two reasons: to allow quarters to be near duty stations and recreation areas and to allow for a final defensive zone if a ship like the Alexia were ever boarded.
The heavy cruiser model was optimum for deep space travel since it could hold a large crew for extended periods and was capable for generating the power required for faster than light travel. The technology known as hyperthreading used advanced computational power to form a ‘needle’ that could bunch up a large section of the ‘fabric’ of space and pull the ship through to the other side, like a thread. The technique was found to work only in empty space, distant from any large masses, with otherwise catastrophic consequences. Imperial science seems to do something useful about every fifty years.
The lieutenant commander entered the dining hall, complete with long benches of tables, although the food was all distributed in pouches to prevent it from migrating into walls and people. Faced with over a hundred flavor options of the same, nutritionally complete, vitamin enriched, and probably behavior modification drug laced food substance, Maria settled for the item labeled mac and cheese, tasted like it may have at one time been mac and cheese, but was now powdered cheese mush. As she sat to eat, she was approached by Lieutenant Magda, who indicated a desire to sit. Maria nodded, politely, half smiling.
Magda returned the smile and sat across from the second officer. “So,” she began, “what’s it like, being the second in line to command a cruiser?” She paused to take a sip from her pouch of a loaded, baked potato. “I mean, to feel like you belong on that upper bridge… must be great.”
“Well, Lieutenant,” replied Maria, stressing the rank of the officer. “The novelty and perks of the position are quickly out paced by all of the other considerations. The extra hours watching the bridge, the compiling of reports, the eulogies, the responsibility in knowing that one mistake while you’re in command can leave over two hundred people gasping for air in that vacuum.” Taking a large portion of her dinner in at once caused her to started coughing loudly. She spent the next few minutes trying to clear throat of any debris before continuing, “Not to say. Ahem. That victories are any less sweet. It is a bit of a rush to know that you directly help save the ship and fend off an attack. Of my eight years of service, the most fulfilling and exciting times were that of the war with the Guild… Although we won and could call it a massacre, but I wouldn’t know who was the one doing the killing, us or the Guild…”
Maria realized that a tear had developed in the corner of one eye, but she did not know if it were from her late husband or from the battles she dedicated to him. The quick, discreet motion to remove the drop of longing did not go unnoticed by Magda, who hesitantly asked, afraid of crossing a personal boundary, “Did you lose someone to the Guild?”
Maria folder her hands and rested them on the metal table before them. Her only reply to the question about her past was a slight nibble on her bottom lip and a cautious nod. She sighed, not wanting to tell the story, but now felt obligated to inform her fellow crewmembers. She swept back her hair and began:
“My husband, Joshua, served on the Cornerstone station. It was the first and most massive station built by the Confederacy. I was first assigned to the Alexia complement ship, the Enyo. Of course, the goals of the Enyo were completely different than anything the Alexia would undertake. Where the Alexia protects its core group and various locations that come down from command, the Enyo would lay waste to supply lines, raid other company’s core groups, and be an attack vessel. We had docked with Cornerstone to unload recently acquired supplies. I was the junior officer in charge of unloading the payload and Joshua managed the station’s resources, which included space… so we worked closely over a few days. Shortly after I joined the Alexia when the Enyo suffered engine damage, we were married…
We had expected that any challenges to our network would come from small companies, start ups, or the ones that operated on the fringe. The Cornerstone was the second target attacked by the Guild… less than forty eights hours after an assault on central… Two thirds of the station survived, my husband wasn’t so lucky. We had been married for only about nine months. Despite their vast resources and Imperial support, the Guild hadn’t invested a lot of security in areas of low piracy. The massive profits that deluded them to worth and power couldn’t be quickly turned into a skilled force. Where were you stationed before this?”
Magda, unready for a question, stuttered briefly, “Uh, I was onboard the Hiro command group. I was a first officer on a frigate stationed there. I mean, sure I did move down on the hierarchical scale, but there were more possibilities. I’d rather wait for captain of a light cruiser than be stuck as a lieutenant commander in charge of a frigate.” She searched her superior’s face and decided to continue, “No family left, although there is a guy on the Hiro itself that I kind of liked.”
With that Maria genuinely smiled, adding absently, “I hope they’re okay… and I hope we can return to them soon. The Alexia was the single most powerful ship of the Hiro command group… Unless the Rainier has finally been completed and manned.”
“The Rainier? That’s Confederate? I’ve never heard of it:” Interrupted a slightly puzzled Magda. She had been attempting to keep track of new ships for possible advancements and apparently missed one.
“Oh, yes. The Rainier is the first of a non-Imperial derived class used by the Confederates. They’re calling it a juggernaut class ship and could probably wipe out a whole command group alone. I believe it fits somewhere between the Imperial Goliath and Titan, the vice-admiral’s and admiral’s ships. It should be a big draw for us… Being able to crew a ship with five times the Alexia’s crew for just essential personnel.”
“Wow. That’s really,” a call from the bridge for Maria interrupt Magda in mid sentence. Both women shrugged, disposed of their food pouches and parted company, with Maria, regrettably, returning to the bridge.

Jakob had been the one to summon Maria to the bridge, but it had been captain’s orders. He stood after near the station where he fought in the previous battle. The commander was grateful that the Reaper ship, Jinn, had a very insecure computer mainframe. The ghosts, special operations and covert intelligent agents, had been able to blunt force their way through the system’s defenses in a matter of hours. The information that the captain wanted would be secure and stored in the innermost sections of the cases.
Jakob sighed, anxious to begin the briefing, and hoping that she was heading here in all haste. The sealed data went directly to the captain and the agents never talked about intelligence. He decided to ask Katsuro if there was any key to carrying on conversation with the ghosts.
Four minutes later, as the paler than usual Jakob paced behind the captain, Maria still had not arrived. Jakob may have not always been in control of every situation, but the desire to remain informed and know as much as possible about anything and everything relevant. This innate need drove him to excel past the Confederacy qualification exam’s requirements and allowed him to be placed as a mid level officer on the Hiro quickly. He had joined in the midst of the war with the Guild, but the threat of death did not deter him from trying to go out and learn of the universe.
Humanity has spread among the stars quite prolifically, with massive sleeper colony ships causing an exodus of over a third of Earth’s population and a half of the entire Sol system. Over three generations had passed for terrestrial humans before those ships began to make planet fall. Messages from the home system arrived within months of arrival to inform the intrepid crews and families that they were now a part of the Human Empire and tributes would begin being collected soon.
The true age of discovery was born from those pioneers and over the past four generations the shape of the galaxy had changed greatly. Jakob still hoped there were great adventures and exploration remaining and prayed for something more than the war and disaster that dominated his life in space.
Finally Maria emerged on to the bridge and urgently pushed herself to the upper deck, where only Jakob and the captain waited. The captain stood and directed her to the near her previous workstation from the battle. He leaned back slightly on the fixed command chair and squinted to examine the control pad in his hand. “The ghosts,” began Captain Reynolds, “have provided me with a report of the contents from the Jinn’s mainframe. Their analysis has deemed it for captain’s eyes only; however you both deserve some information.”
Jakob leaned in forward slightly, betraying his eagerness. “It appears that someone is simultaneously attempting to eliminate the Confederacy. The records show the entire Reaper mercenary company has been hired to eliminate local VCF forces. We now have the estimated strength and locations of the remaining Reaper ships and your orders,” he paused to make eye contact with each of them, “are to optimize our ship to be able to eliminate the entire mercenary company in as few battles as reasonably possible.”
Both Jakob and Maria nodded in acknowledgement. “Sir,” Jakob asked, “How many of the Hiro command group will be joining us? We need to know the maximal size force that we can take on.” Once again, Maria nodded in agreement.
“Jakob, forget the command group. Assume we’re running solo at this point. We, alone, will eliminate this brigade and then turn our sites on their employer.” He continued, answering their incredulous expressions, “Yes. They left that information in their mainframe. Apparently the Reaper command doesn’t know about secrets or encryption. Perhaps they thought that Captain Loredo would obliterate us by catching us under prepared. Loredo was a fool.”
The captain paused for a few hanging, silent minutes, despite the bustling activity of repair coordination continuing below. “Loredo and I were officers in the Raptor Flotilla, back before the Guild had established dominance for contracts around the central sector, instead of just region three. He was always the arrogant prick, despite never receiving command authority in the group. When the Empire granted the Guild the exclusive contract, we were displaced. I joined the Confederacy, since it was the thing most opposite the Guild. I guess Loredo ended up with small bands until he died in command of a small group.”
“I want you two to plan this together. I’ll be in my office. Come to me when you’re ready to present your course,” finished the captain abruptly, as he turned and left towards the access shaft.
“So, where do you want to work on this?” Jakob asked dryly.
Maria pondered slightly before replying, “Well, why don’t we just go to the map room?” When the commander nodded in agreement, they both entered to the small closet-like room attached directly behind the command chair. The room was small for a starship, which means it would be tiny for a civilian house. Capable of holding four people comfortably, the two commanders used the almost empty room to plot several courses of action.
After keying the large projector to begin streaming the data from the mobile control pad, the whirl of older equipment resurrecting itself began to fill the space. After minutes of dull silence, Jakob asked, “I need to know, Maria, do you think the captain is acting very strange?”
Maria stared deeply into Jakob’s color-shifting eyes before replying, “Well, strange isn’t really the main word I’d use to describe him. I’d seen this before, with some of the people…” She trailed off, her eyes wandering up the corner of the room, before inhaling deeply and continuing, “Especially one man. His name was Raoul Sorsdt. He had come to my family’s house when I was thirteen, home from school on holiday. I saw him four times over the next six months. I could tell the first time that he was confident and proud. Always beaming that stupid smile, that fake, knowing smile. The one you see on politician’s that haven’t held office or were in some nonsensical bureaucratic job. The ones that don’t know what they’re getting into. I saw him six months later, making a campaign speech outside of schools as they dismissed for a spring holiday, which, by the way, is a really stupid idea. Parents have minimal contact with their children these days. I guess it’s some thing from the colony days.
The third time I remember the most vividly. He very much reminds me of the man when I saw him. Sorsdt was rambling, yelling at the smallest detail. Simultaneously trying to pass off responsibility while trying to do it all himself. He went into my mother’s study and began yelling at them about trivial topics. I do remember what my mother said, since my interest had piqued and I had my ear near the door. She had said, in her normal, cold, honest-truth tone, ‘Raoul, if you lose your head now, you’re going to end up losing it for good. You knew the risks you took and responsibilities you acquired when you went to them. There’s nothing we can do to help.’ That only agitated Raoul, who return to shouting, then crying, and finally pleading. I actually heard him sink to his knees. One of my parent’s, I assume my mother, told him no again.”
She paused to take a recollecting breath. Rubbing her temple, she continued, “Raoul resume shouting. I distinctly remember hearing the words ‘stupid’ and ‘whore.’ Less than thirty seconds later, there was a loud crash. He had smashed a picture from the wall. A loud pop and crack. I was on the other side of the door and was flung back when he shoved it open, splintering the lock.
My father lived from the shot though. It was a grazing wound in the leg… but Raoul before that night used to be a friendly man, ready to talk, discuss, and enjoy life. That night he had none of that spirit, he had become a man running out of options, a man acting only out of desperation.”
Looking at the screen, she realized that the system had been ready for them to begin their work for a few minutes. Pulling all of her hair behind her head, she said shortly, “I guess we should get started.”
Nodding in agreement, Jakob leaned forward towards the screen, before cocking his head curiously and asking, “What was the fourth time that you saw him?”
Maria frowned and sighed. “Two weeks later he had leapt from the top of the capital building,” she replied regrettably. “Desperation is always a serious companion.”
Jakob frowned knowingly. Diving into the data on the main display, they began their analysis. After over an hour of time sorting out the foreign data, Jakob and Maria had finished their independent analysis of the Reaper forces. “Stupid…” said the first officer, mutely.
After Maria’s questioning glance, Jakob continued, “At the high estimate, we expect seven frigates, twenty one small fighters, a command ship, and a resolute-class of battle ship. All dated at least forty years, all appear to be near original specifications, except the command ship was retrofitted with a hyperthread capable engine…”
“But,” Maria interjected, “business looks like it’s been very slow. I doubt they have enough fuel and material reserves to pose a significant challenge; although, I don’t think we should try both the command ship and the battle cruiser at the same time.”
Shaking his head, Jakob replied, “No we don’t, but a scan of the data shows the battleship not leaving the command ship’s side for months now. Why would they send their only attack ship and two frigates to take on a foe that wasn’t a sure-thing? The three ships may have posed a major threat, but now… It’s stupid.”
“Yeah,” agreed the lieutenant commander. “Unless it was one hell of a bounty. They look like they’re hard up for resources, perhaps they sent everything they thought they could spare. Whoever set that bounty must of wanted us dead really quickly, perhaps we should raise the standard alert level, in case of sneak attacks.”
“We can’t constantly be looking over our shoulders now. And perhaps the bidder wanted the Reapers gone, so they picked the largest foe in the area,” proposed Jakob. He cradled his eyes with his fingers and sighed. “No matter what, this is messy. We need to retaliate and send a message that we can fend off any attack… but if the bounty is that high, it would have leaked by now and we may have to fight every armed group in the sector.”
“Do you think the Hiro is destroyed?” asked Maria, abruptly. “We receive a code rose message from them, get attacked, and the captain reacts violently whenever the group is mentioned…”
The commander pondered this for a few minutes. He took a deep breath and began with a quick exhale, “The command ground was more fit for extreme combat than we were. I highly doubt the Reaper group could inflict minor damage to the force, even if it were a complete surprise attack. Unless a separate force attacked Hiro command group and dispatched the Reapers to eliminate us, I’d say that the command group is still intact. For any of this to be possible, it would be a massive conspiracy with superb coordination. For that matter, central would have been in on it, and we both know that’d rather keep the equipment and abandon the crew than destroy the whole ship.”
“I suppose you’re right,” surrendered Maria. “But, anyway, if the command ship and its defender seem inseparable, then we’ll have to take them both on at once. Preferably after we eliminate some frigates, so we can focus all of our attention on the larger vessels.”
She examined the map briefly before exclaiming, “Here!” Jabbing her finder at the screen, which generated a large red circle at the location that she pointed towards. “This is the closest and best place that we can hyperthread into the system. The gravitation field is weak enough to punch through the space. Three of the seven frigates are between the location and the command ships. Two of the remaining frigates are out of system, so we’ll only have two to contend with, assuming we can swiftly eliminate the first three. I expect a window of seven to twelve minutes from contact with the last of the three until the main group arrives, depending on their real time analysis and momentum of the situation.”
“Agreed. It really is the only viable option. The second best choice depends on the enemy being disorganized. We could thread to here, opposite the command ship’s position from the sun. If the enemy doesn’t form up, we’d still have a few minutes to crush the three frigates.” Jakob pointed out the other location on the grid, which generated a smaller blue circle.
“Do you think they’ll surrender?” asked the third in command.
“Not until the command ship falls. Who knows if the captain would accept the surrender, though. We did take on a lot of prisoners with the previous battle. Perhaps he’s hoping to corrupt the remnants of the Reapers for manning any losses or claiming repairable ships,” he proposed indifferently. Captain’s business was captain’s business.
“Commander, can you finish the rest of the analysis while I go change back into my uniform?”
Jakob realized that she have been wearing an off duty uniform the entire time and waved her on to leave, saying, “Absolutely Commander Fields. Just requires a little bit of polish and then we’ll take it to the captain.” He turned back to the control pad and heard the heavy door close behind him.
He worked for a few minutes more before leaning back in the uncomfortable metal chair. He tried to remember anything before his life in the Confederacy. His family were Imperial station workers, a communications technician and a mechanic, always a valued commodity on space stations. He was an only child and all he seemed to remember from his young life was frustration about not being able to do what he wanted. Thinking back though, he could do what he wanted and it was his parent’s frustration that he remembered. Not getting the transfers they wanted, being passed over for promotion by much less junior officers that were related to commanders and admirals.
Biting the inside of his lip, he mentally grunted as he remarked how people with such diverse backgrounds and goals could end up in the same place. Perhaps one day in the future, when he’s finally a captain and Maria, too, he thought, we could work together and make a pretty damn awesome team. His eyes refocused on the blinking yellow dots from on the projected screen and painfully added, if we live that long.