Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet 33

Chapter 33: Interlude: A Dragon Is Born

Swybar was the first out of the D 60 Long Distance shuttle; the two men that accompanied him followed down the ramp and looked around. One of them was a disguised Kermac, that much he knew but he had no idea who the other was, but he expected him to be an agent of the worm. All three of them were disguised as humanoids wearing heavy insulated and heated suits and cold masks. Patches on their suits identified them as civilian contractors. All his life Swybar thought it was impossible to forge a CITI implant and yet all three of them had passed the controls on Norman’s Planet without any problems.

The man he suspected to be Kermac now listened to the name of John Anderson and the other one Sergei Kachinski.

His new name was Bolon Darr.

The dark red sun in the sky above them provided little light, and the temperatures on the surface of this world rarely rose above 223 degrees Kelvin.

The D 60 had landed on an immense Duro-Crete field built into a crater or valley surrounded by rough looking mountains. It was the only ship here. The entire place looked as deserted and empty as a place could look. Their helmet lights drew sharp circles onto the smooth surface.

The man he suspected to be an Agent of the Worm grunted.” You promised us a surprise and a way to Koken, I see nothing.”

The Kermac slowly looked around. “What is this place anyway?”

“This planet is called Bone Yard 72 and you Kermac would kill millions for what is here.”

“We will complete the job of the hangman and kill just one if that does not come true.”

Swybar kept his thoughts to himself. He used to be an Admiral and now he was treated like a lakey. Of course he knew about the famous arrogance of the Kermac, but to experience it every day close up cost him much self-control.

He decided to play along, they had rescued him and had immense resources, but he was only moments away from being in charge again and neither of his companions suspected a thing.

Sergei put a hand on his shoulder and said to the Kermac.” It is quite enough. I am sure the Admiral had a reason to come here and we are further into Union Space than any Kermac Agent ever managed to come. We are here because we have certain common goals. Now Admiral I suggest you show us why we are here.”

Both the Kermac and the other man lost their entire swagger as four immense humanoid shaped robots rose from suddenly opening trap doors, each of them at least 20 meters tall.

The Kermac recognized them and none of his usual arrogance made it to the surface, it was fear that made his voice tremble.” Ramas, Type 7.”

Swybar stepped forward.” Command Code: Terra Terra 4-4-6.” While he did that he produced his hidden Code Key and held it up. One of the giant arms lowered and he pushed it into a slot that appeared on the robots thumb.

Sergei whispered. “I never saw any Terran weapon system like that.”

The Kermac answered with a hush voice. “Because they are over 700 years old, designed by none other than Dr. Isah as a last answer to the Y’All invasion, before that cursed Stahl appeared to save the day.”

“As in Isah Drive?”

“Dr. Isah was one of the Immortals. Chosen by that mysterious Guardian the Earthers tell about. He was the single most intelligent being in the known Universe; even we Kermac have to admit that. He designed and invented more ground breaking technology than anyone.”

Swybar turned. “The Type 7 have accepted my command codes. We have full access to the Bone Yard now.”

The Kermac could not shake his uneasiness quite as fast. “Those are really Rama 7?”

“Three of three hundred mothballed here. All fully operational, and as everything else here almost forgotten, but then I was in charge of logistics and Bone Yard depots were under my jurisdiction.”

“We must find a way to get them off this planet.”

The Kermac literally salivated, seeing himself carried by one of these machines down the parade alley on Kermac prime.

Swybar grinned coldly. “We are not here to take the Ramas, which would be no real problem as they are all fully Trans light flight capable.”

Sergei spoke for the first time. “Why have they been moth balled if they are so magnificent?”

“Because when Stahl came with the Translocator cannons the Rama project was put on the back burner. Then you Kermac assassinated Dr. Isah the lead designer and the project itself was even further pushed back. When the war ended, resources were needed to rebuild the fleet and the Rama project was officially of the grid. Most research and weapon manufacturing is now outsourced to private corporations. This was one of the last projects directly managed by the now defunct Fleet Technology Development Bureau.”

“If we are not here for the robots why are we here?” The Kermac wanted to know.

Swybar stepped onto the lowered hand of the robot. “To make me once again independent and equal and not a slave. You saved my life I grant you that, but you treated me like a servant. This ends now. Arrogant Kermac, I am tempted to teach you a lesson in arrogance.”

The Kermac extended his Psionic powers but his Telekinetics were stopped by an invisible barrier.

The other man said.” It seems our trust in you was ill placed. Good thing I trust no one. You do carry an explosive device in your head and I control it.”

“You don’t even begin to understand the capabilities of a Rama 7. Dr. Isah incorporated the finest Saresii Anti PSI tech and combined it with his very own devices. I am a safe as can be, besides without me the Ramas and everything else here will be quite hostile to you.”

Sergei hushed the Kermac agent before he could respond. “For the time being let us assume you are now in charge. What is it you want?”

“Actually I will do what I said I would. I will help you, but no longer as the helpless servant but as equal partner. After I helped you to get to Koken, as a repayment for my rescue, I will use what we take here today to start a new career in the private sector.”

The Robot lowered its other hand.

Swybar said. “Step on. It would be a long walk otherwise.”

Both men hesitated but then climbed on the metallic hand.

The robot turned and walked with great speed towards the mountains.

It took the machine no time at all to reach them, the characteristic green shimmer of Terran Arti Grav built up underneath the robots feet and it lifted into the air and moments later they looked over a dusty flat plane, filled with thousands of space ships.

Swybar said with a triumphant tone in his voice. “Here are 25,000 ships of all sizes ages and conditions. Some are very old, some are not space worthy anymore, but there are a few gems among the scrap. I decided a Privateer needs a proper ship and it is here the Red Dragon Prototype is stored. Much like the Rama Bots, a forgotten project, one of its kind and the pinnacle of Terran mil tech.”

--””--

FIGHTING PIRATES

I had one option only, I killed thrust, turned the ship as fast and tight as I could, hoping not to hit another Gravo mine and gunned the engines to max, aiming straight at the middle ship of the attackers.

All happened fast, the attackers were immediately in range their shots peppered our shields, at least the shields were the genuine kind. While the shields were strained, they held for the first five or six shots. I changed course virtually in the last micro second, I doubted there was more than twenty meters distance between our hulls, and several more shots wore the aft shields down to nothing. I was hoping to reach the expanse and hide in it and it looked good. The Sturgeon was faster than the Vascars and their FTL’s were powerful but I was soon out of their range. The aft shields down to 10 percent and the rest not looking to fresh either, I hoped I could reach thresh hold speed before the matter density became too dense to try that without fully operational shields and a hull that was not stressed.

“Commander use the Comm. System and call for help. We should still be in range for GalCom.”

She acknowledged.

The forward shields glowed white hot as they tried to displace molecular matter at these speeds. Less than sixty seconds to Trans light. The shields were down to 20 percent and the Computronic warned that the hull would not last if the shields failed.

Thirty seconds now. There was no more energy I could divert from anywhere to strengthen the forward shields, now down to 12 percent. If they failed we would be dead.

“Warning, Shield failure imminent.”

I ignored the warning and then as if an ice cold hand grabbed my heart, the acceleration display reversed and we slowed down.

The Computronic said. “Emergency Shutdown procedure initiated.”

I actually screamed at the system. “I did not order any Safety Shut down.”

“Such order was not necessary, Command person lacks engineering overwrite authority.”

“I can’t keep us alive if this Loki cursed ship turns out to be my worst enemy. Computronic go into deep diagnostic cycle and turn all systems to manual.”

“Acknowledged.”

I had little hope to steer and fight the ship without the Computronic, the shields were nearly gone and the enemy vessels gained on us.

Without the system I could not go Trans light, but that was no longer possible anyhow. The particle count was getting denser by the moment. To all this the sensors already reduced in efficiency picked up three more ships of similar size and make, but instead of attacking us they screamed past us and attacked our pursuers.

The Commander said. “I have Fleet Command on the line.”

“This is Midshipman Olafson of the USS Elena; we are near the Igras expanse due to yet unidentified Nav system error. We are under attack by unknown hostiles. Hull integrity damage, Computronic unreliable and shut down, no weapons, shields nearly gone. This is a distress call.”

The response came immediately.” There are no fleet units within 120 light years that can render assistance. Nearest units have been alerted and dispatched. Records indicate that your ship is equipped with a Translocator system.”

“Yes but I have not a single bomb.”

“Details are unimportant now. If there is a chance you will be boarded or captured you must execute Order Omega.”

“Aye Sir.”

“Every cadet knew about Order Omega of course. The Translocator Cannon was not to fall into enemy hands under no circumstance. The Union based much of its strength on the secret of this weapon and it meant that everything must be done to keep it out of the hands of others. Order Omega was simple: Self Destruction.

More ships appeared and we were hailed again.” This is Valiant Scooper Crew, we going to blow that pirate scum into scoop matter for you but we like to receive payment. Your piece of scrap seems to have some things we might find useful.”

“I thank you for your timely assistance and Union ships are already on their way. I am sure we can show our gratitude with credits or some polonium.”

“Don’t play games with me soldier boy. Your rescue ships might be on the way, but they will have a hard time finding you in this soup. I clearly see some nice weaponry on your ship and frankly I want it.”

His last words were underlined with an explosion, that killed the regular lights on the bridge and emergency lighting came on. I could hear the high pitched gnarling sound of metal tearing apart. The upper part of the Command seat came down and sealed the unit, the same happened to Gwenn’s seat. Somewhere was a hull breach, and without the Computronic I did not know where. Not that I had the time or resources to affect repairs.

This is how my first command would end? I would lose my first ship?

Was there anything I overlooked anything I could do?

I didn’t have much time.

It had to be done. I activated the Computronic again.” Hostile takeover imminent, execute Omega Order, authorized Olafson, Eric. Neuro Scan verify, Destruct.”

“Omega order received, Command code verified with transmission of Fleet Command. Log Drone launched. Sixty seconds before AM containment fields are deactivated.”

This was it, no command could stop it now...