Version 2006 - Ch 1

Version 2006 - Ch 1

ARSENAL GATE Gigamon Class Space Station, 1 LY to Arsenal System ________________________________________ United Stars Naval Installation- Military Installation- Extremely Limited Civilian Access. 34,000 meters diameter.

I woke from a dreamless sleep. That meant the sleep inducer of my seat had been turned off. So I swung the seat in its upright position and deactivated the opaque privacy bubble. I saw other passengers of the Space bus do the same. One of the flight attendant robots floated down the middle isle and started to announce: "Dear passengers we are approaching Arsenal Gate. We will dock at the station in 25 minutes. All passengers with destinations beyond Arsenal system are asked to remain in the lounge area. The space station is a military installation and is off limits to non military personnel. Passengers with destination Arsenal System please gather your personal belongings and prepare for debarking. Gray Lines Incorporated cannot be held responsible for items left behind." The robot had reached the end of the isle of this passenger compartment, turned around in a fluid motion and continued. "Arsenal Gate maintains a nitrogen oxygen atmosphere and living conditions suitable for oxygen breathing carbon life forms. Non humanoid life forms with special needs are asked to remain in their protective suits or keep their life support devices' active. "This space bus will remain docked for three hours and resume its journey to the next destination. Our next destination will be Barrows System and we will reach Point Barrow in seven standard days." The attendant robot repeated his message. I rubbed my eyes and dialed for a drink of water at the Serv-matic installed in front of me. Moments later and half a credit poorer I sipped the cold water and looked around. "You're getting off at Arsenal as well?" asked a male humanoid sitting next to me?" "Yes!" I answered, putting the film cup into the waste recycler. He was about my age, had almost white blond short cropped hair. His skin had a rosy shine and his face was covered with freckles. "I am Derek Simmons from Harvest 12." "I am Eric Olafson and I am from Nilfleheim." "I am guessing you never heard of Harvest 12, but then I wouldn't blame you, no one ever has." "Nope I never heard of Harvest 12, but then I don't think you know about Nilfleheim." He smiled. "Actually I think I do. I saw a National Galactic show on Gal Net. Isn't that the planet where they have those really big fish?" "Yep, sure enough that's Nilfleheim, we call them Tyranno Fins and they are the biggest carnivorous fish in the known galaxy. Why don't you tell me about Harvest 12?" He sighed." we don't have anything exciting on Harvest 12. It's a boring planet, entirely dedicated to raise agricultural products. The planet is owned by SII Agra Corp and completely terra formed. If there ever was any native life in the past, there isn't any now. Our entire planet was sterilized, homogenized, leveled and plowed over a thousand times. We have no seasons, weather control and collector mirrors see to that, but we have wheat fields as big as continents and that's all there is to Harvest 12, Identical cookie cutter world to Harvest 1 through 56." He sounded cynical, sighed and he continued:" My father is an Agra Bot technician, my Grandfather was an Agra Bot technician and so was his father. I simply had to get away or I would have ended up doing the same thing." "Nilfleheim isn't all that exciting either. We have really long winters, lots of snow and lots of water. All we export is fish and Agra Marine products." He smiled. "So are you going to apply for the Academy or are you going to enlist?" "I am going to apply at the Academy" "So am I! I want to become an Engineer! One day I will have my own Engine Room on a battle ship!" "That is a tall goal! "said a dark skinned being, leaning over the back of his seat. "That's what I am dreaming about as well!" The being was humanoid proportioned, had two arms and three fingered hands, but his eyes were huge and his ears looked like dinner plates glued to the side of his head. The lower jaw was pronounced and he had rows of sharp looking teeth."I am Mix." He introduced himself." And I am from ThreeOz." "I never meet a Threeozian. "Said Derek." Where is your planet?" "I am from across the Bridge. I come from M32. My race is one of the newest members and I am the first of my species trying to become a Cadet!" "You come from M32?" I repeated. "That's sure a long way from home!" He looked at me for at least a minute without any reaction and then nodded. "Yes it is a long way indeed. I am also sorry for my delayed answer. I had to remember that nodding your head means yes to most humanoids." "Oh don't worry about that. Most is just as alien to me and I am human. What gesture do you use for saying yes?" "Like this!" His dinner plate shaped ears spread away from his head like opening hatches. "I doubt I could move my ears that far away from my head, even with a lot of practice." "They are too little anyway. The first time a Terran smiled at me and I thought he was angry at me and wanted to eat me!" "Eat you?" "The display of teeth is a sign of extreme hostility where I come from and usually means I am so angry at you I will eat you!" "Does that happen? I mean do folks eat each other where you come from?" "Not anymore but in the old days it sure did. It is against the law to eat anyone now." "I am sure glad they outlawed it. Otherwise I might smile at a ThreeOz and end up on his dinner table." I said with a smile. Our attention was diverted by someone pointing at the big view screen that provided passengers. "And speaking of disappearing... " He turned with a sensor enhanced view of space and saying," Arsenal gate is in visual range now." "I'm sure glad we're through that darn corridor. A space bus would be an easy target for any GC raider!" Derek said with a gloomy undertone. A passenger across the aisle, looking older than most of the other passengers turned. "There haven't been any GC incidents in the corridor for as long time. I live on Nome in the Barrow System, that's even closer to GC than Arsenal and much less protected and we don't worry too much. They haven't forgotten that we almost wiped them out twice." Derek was not so convinced and answered. "Maybe that should be even more reason to be at least a little worried." "You forget we still have Admiral Stahl and the Devastator. Whatever else might fail, the Kermac sure don't want to mess with him!" The man crossed his arms and looked pretty confident. Evoking the name of this mystical immortal Admiral made Derek smile." You are right of course! The Galactic Community would not want to make him angry!" "Who is this?" Asked the ThreeOz. Derek almost glowed as he said. "He is one of the 200 Immortals. A man picked by the Guardian over 3000 years ago! He is the greatest warrior of all time. They even once chased him away, didn't heed his warnings and he left for centuries but when everything looked lost and it seemed we would lose to the Y'All he returned with a huge battleship of unknown origin and incredible powerful weapons and saved us all." "I am sorry for my ignorance. We ThreeOz have joined only recently and we do come from another Galaxy. How can it be that he is 3000 years old?" The Older man across the aisle smiled. "We always welcome new members in our Federation. No need to be sorry. As for the Immortals, that is an old story and no one knows the details, except of course the Immortals, but it was at a time when Earth was still isolated and Terrans had not discovered faster than light travel. A very hostile species called the Xunx awoke from its 3000 year sleep cycle to once more conquer and destroy. One of the planets that would have been attacked was Earth. But a godlike machine left behind on Earth by an entity we only know as the Friends awoke and guided humankind to the stars. To do so this machine chose 200 Terrans and each of them a special task. In order to complete that task those 200 where made Immortal and became special gifts, powers if you will. Of those 200 Immortals only Admiral Stahl, Admiral Mc Elligott and a few others remained in the public eye. Who the others where I don't know and where they went I don't know." "It's all just myth and story!" someone behind us grunted. "There are no Immortals, no mystic Gods or Entities." "But Encyclopedia Galactica confirms what the man just said. "complained yet another voice. Meanwhile the screen showed the space station getting bigger by the moment. It was a gigantic spherical construct with a thick ring around its equator. Huge illuminated letters in Standard lingo identified it as: ARSENAL GATE. The actual Arsenal system was still one light year away, but no civilian vessel was allowed to approach the system and all non military traffic to Arsenal had to go through Arsenal Gate. Arsenal was home to the Fleet and considered to be the best guarded system in the known universe. The space bus approached a huge docking gate, probably able to accommodate a full size Ultra battle ship, and slipped through the shimmering energy membrane that separated the inside of the dock from space. The robot repeated its announcement once again and added, "thank you for choosing Grey Lines as your transportation service provider. Please consider us again. A Ticket kiosk and booking agent can be found at the Gray Line docking area aboard the station." ________________________________________ I debarked with at least 300 beings from all over Union Space and we were herded to stand in line before the Station access doors. A four armed, non humanoid giant wearing Navy uniform and two heavily armed Space Marines in bulking Destroyer suits checked everyone before they let them pass. "That is a Petharian. "said Mix. "He too comes from Andromeda but they have been members for a long time. They are as mean and strong as your Galaxies Nul-Nul." "Is it true what I heard, that they are related to the Y'All?" asked Derek. Mix wiggled his ears back and forth. "That's the rumor, but not according to the Encyclopedia Galactica. They do look similar to Y'All that is for sure." I too had learned about the Y'All in Gal History and Xeno Class, but I never heard of the Petharian or that rumor. "How come you know so much about other species and such?" I asked Derek. "I have a subscription to the Galactic Geographic Magazine. There is nothing I'd read or watch. I have collected every issue since 3300 and my brother sends me old downloads whenever he finds them. He works at the Harvest 12 public library." I felt almost a little ashamed for never even going to the public library we had on Nilfleheim. Derek raised an eyebrow; probably guessing what I was thinking and said: "I didn't mean to sound like a geek, but going to the library and going on Virtu Expeditions with the GGM was a wonderful escape for me, when I was a kid. I am no Data head or anything like that." I grinned back. "I know what you mean. I spend any free moment aboard Virtu Ships." It took the better part of an hour before it was my turn. The Petharian Navy officer eyed me up and down with glowing yellow eyes, and it had six of them. Its skin looked like the surface of a barnacle and the voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a steel barrel. "State your name and your home planet. Expose your Citizen ID implant for scanning!" While I swiped my left wrist where my CIDI was implanted across the reader sensor I answered," Eric Olafson, Nilfleheim." It seemed to look at something beyond me; he probably had the data read out projected straight to one of its eyes." Olafson, Eric. Nilfleheim. Citizen ship confirmed. Your reason for visiting Arsenal gate? "I want to apply at the Academy!" "Academy applicants are to follow the red line after the air lock and proceed to the red waiting room. You will wait there until receiving further instructions. Be advised that if you are found outside red marked areas you might get shot." After saying that the being no longer paid any attention to me and barked, " Next!" The red line was a lighted band in the floor and it lead to a red door revealing a waiting lounge with rows of bio-netic chairs. To one side of the room were large windows allowing a view into deep space and the brisk traffic of small and large space craft, the other wall was occupied by a row of Serv-Matic Vending machines. The wall facing the entrance had recruiting posters, one for the Navy and one for the United Stars Marine Corps. There also was a small podium and a lectern. The room started to fill with humanoid and non humanoid beings. I walked over to the view ports and gazed outside. A wedge shaped battle ship of the new Uni design emerged from the station dwarfing a heavy destroyer nearby as it gained speed and disappeared. "That was the USS Melbourne!" It was Derek who had stepped next to me. "Have you ever seen a real battle ship?" "No, I haven't" com "I wonder what mission they have, perhaps patrolling the Nul-Nul border, or hunting pirates!" Mix joined us as well and he said, "My people fought a long war with the Biraaad and lost it. You cannot imagine our wonder and awe as we saw an entire squadron of those Ultra battle ships appear in our system, blasting through the Briaar invasion fleet like a Nastooh wind through a Nolch forest." Mix eyes became even bigger, " We joined the United Stars the very next day and one day I will be aboard one of those ships visiting other worlds. Repaying with my service what you all have done for us." A fish-faced Ult overheard Mix and said, "The Briaar made one big and fatal mistake; they fired on a Terran Explorer ship and made Terrans angry. Everyone in this galaxy knows you don't make Terrans angry!" Before anyone else could say anything, a humanoid female in black uniform stepped behind the lectern and her voice was obviously field amplified as she said: "Welcome aboard Arsenal Gate, Academy applicants. I would like to thank you all for coming this far and considering a career in the United Stars Navy. By doing so you showed your willingness to serve and protect this federation of civilizations and do your share to make it work. Some have come here after visiting a Recruiting office either on Gal Net or in person. Some of you might have simply boarded the space bus to Arsenal Gate to see what will happen. "Here you are all equal. Before we ship you to Arsenal we need to test you for some pre qualification requirements. Those requirements are of physical nature and mental nature. Some of the tests we have to perform are to make sure that no agent of a hostile civilization gains access to the Academy or Arsenal. "Once you step through that door next to me you are Navy personnel. You have no ranks yet but you are subject to all Navy rules and regulations. Civilian laws and rights have no meaning. You must follow orders and do what you have been told. Failure to comply can result in punishment and punishment ranges from expelling you from the Navy, losing your citizen status to interment and immediate execution." She made a pause and looked from one end of the lobby to the other. I am not here to discourage you. We welcome you and the Navy needs Officers and Personnel. But we don't want anyone who has doubts. Now is the time to think about it. If you feel you made the wrong decision coming here, simply remain in this room and you will receive free passage back to your home world or any other place in the United Stars territory. "You will be compensated for your troubles and receive 500 credits. No civilian record will be kept of this decision and it will not affect your Citizen status." A man dressed in some sort of transparent purple plastic film and not much else raised his hand:" Excuse me; did you say we get free passage to anywhere and 500 credits?" The woman sighed and nodded. "Yes Sir, that is correct!" The strangely dressed man got up. "That's sounds good to me! I am out of here!" To my surprise seven more decided to take the money and leave. I wondered why anyone would make this trip just to get 500 credits. Max answered me. "They do that every 3 months Travel from Academy to Academy get their ticket and the 500 and go on. They have no intention to join. That man in the plastic garment did that several hundred times." I gasped. "And the Navy doesn't keep records on that and let them get away with it? "I don't know but I am sure the Navy keeps records and they know about it, but what are a few thousand credits to the Navy? They spend ten times as much every micro second just for floor polish" "How do you know all this?" "I read their minds!" "You are a telepath?" He nodded. "Not as good as the Saresii but my Heidelberg Psionic Index is at 130." "Don't get caught. It's against the law to read other folks minds." "No it's not. It is illegal to pry into it but I can't help to overhear what they transmit. It would be same as to make overhearing a conversation illegal to any being that has ears." "You hear everyone's thoughts all the time?" "No not everyone. I met beings I can't hear all the time. For example that female fleet officer or those Marines can't detect a thing, but your thoughts are pretty clear and quite loud in a Psionic sort of sense. " I didn't feel quite right someone else hearing what I was thinking. I knew about Telepaths but this was the first I ever actually encountered. The female officer resumed her speech: "All those who still plan to apply at the academy are to pass through that door. You will be asked to take off all your clothing and relinquish all your personal belongings. They will be returned to you after you completed your training or you decide to quit You will be scanned for cybernetic and genetic enhancements, bio weapons and microbes. We will evaluate your Psionic abilities and give you a physical check up before we leave to Arsenal II." She smiled. "We have a lot of applicants today so this process might take a while, please be patient and wait your turn. The Vent-Matics are provided for your convenience and do not require credit payments" She ended her speech and was joined by four more officers and they handed out little plastic cards with numbers, mine was 239. After a while it looked like they called 10 applicants at about every 20 minutes and from the looks of things I was among the last. Max and Derek went among the first and even the repeating visuals of the recruiting posters became boring. The Vent-O-Matics were well programmed and provided brand name snacks and drinks for every taste. I was just at my third trip to the Vent-matics, as I heard my number. Hastily I put the candy-bar in my pocket and went through the door. Behind it was a corridor with ten doors and over one door I saw my number and name displayed in bright illuminated letters. I looked for a door chime or buzzer but found none, so I knocked and the door opened immediately. A uniformed humanoid being sat behind a desk. The room was sparsely lit and the walls, floors and everything were colored in a dark gray with dark red accents. The being was about human size had two arms, a torso and a head on a neck, but there was no visible mouth or nose, and the eyes seemed just darker areas in the beings otherwise gray skin. It extended a hand and said. "Have a seat applicant. I am Specialist Yda." I sat down and said." I am Eric Olafson from New Sweden." "Nice to meet you Eric and I would like to say thank you that you consider a career in the United Stars Navy." He moved one of his hands over a dimly lit contact area of his desk. "Yes you are Eric Olafson, you are from New Sweden and you are a lawful citizen. I see you spoke with a Navy recruiter every year for over 9 years." I was a little surprised to see they kept records of this, especially the calls I made when I was a kid." I just liked to get as much information about the Navy as I could, Sir." "It tells me that your decision was certainly not a spur of the moment thing but you planned this for a long time." The being folded its hands and its long spidery fingers had several more joints than a regular human hand. I got almost dizzy just watching and wondered if his kind ever made knots they could not get apart. The being vibrated and made a humming sound. "Yes actually we do. When I was young I often got so tangled up that my Sip-Sap had to help me." "You can hear my thoughts as well?" I really didn't like that at all. "Yes Applicant I can, and as your new friend Mix told you, your thoughts are quite loud. "It leaned forward. "What is your real reason for wanting to join?" "To serve and protect, to do my share to keep this Union…" It interrupted. "Not the poster reason, why did you decide to join and be frank and truthful" "I needed to get away from New Sweden. I had no future there but ever since I could think I had no other plans no alternative ideas what I wanted to do with my life. I always wanted to join the Navy." "What is it that attracts you?" "It's the only place where I eventually could become a Star Ship captain." The being made a series of whispering sounds and then it said. "I think you are indeed at the right place then." He unfolded his hands in what must have been a mental challenge. "You have a very long way ahead of you. Once you leave my office you will be further tested, and scanned. From now on everything that happens might be a test and part of an old evaluation process, keep that in mind!" The being was not kidding. After a dozen more interviews, medical exams and scans. I felt as if I was turned inside out and every last molecule and thought of mine had been examined, dissected and recorded. At one point they had me undress and bathe in a milky white liquid that had a metallic odor to it. A technician explained it was to make sure no bio weapons were transported to Arsenal II. After that bath they gave me a bright orange jumpsuit with my last name stenciled across my chest and the word applicant on my back. My personal belongings so I was told would be returned to me when I left the academy, either accepted or rejected. Since I had also to give up my Multi Com, I did not know what time it was or how long all this took. It seemed to me at least 20 hours had passed since I walked through the red door. ________________________________________ They herded us aboard a Leyland Military Shuttle, everyone wearing that bright orange colored jumpsuit. I was tired and thirsty. They used every test and every sensor known to science on me, at least that's how I felt. I had been bathed, sterilized inside and out. Filled out forms and questionnaires and then was probed and measured and scanned some more. "They are treating us more like penal colony prisoners than Academy aspirants!" complained Derek. He managed to get a seat next to me. Max who also made it wiggled his big ears."To become an officer on one of those magnificent ships, I'd endure much worse." "I wonder why they do it that way!" I said." I mean would it hurt to show a little more respect?" Max answered again: "It wasn't so bad. They need to make sure no spies make it to Arsenal. Do you know how many times the Kermac and others have tried to find out just what Terrans really found on Arsenal III?" I shook my head. "Aren't we at peace with the GC? Would they risk sending spies and anger the Navy?" Derek answered this one. "Peace is a relative thing my friend. The GC does not like the Union and they didn't like losing this star system to the Union, especially since everyone knows we found something there, something very important. I would be very angry to lose my own front yard to a hated neighbor and then find out that neighbor found a treasure in it." Derek shrugged. "I think it is a ruse, there is nothing there. The real treasure was found in the Lighthouse system and all this is to throw the GC off course and it worked for the last 2000 years!" "And you read that in your galactic National Magazines?" Derek gave me a broad grin. "Sure have, but that's not the only thing I watch or read." "So what did they find then?" I asked "No one that knows ever talked, but rumors persisted a very long time that they found a Celtest city or ship yard and completely intact, with the entire Tech level 11 stuff ready for the taking!" "They found that I think in 2516." I said smiling back .Showing Derek I was not completely ignorant." Why haven't we have reached Tech Level 11 yet?" "2516 was when the war ended and the System was signed to us. " Derek corrected me and Max said: "it takes the average Civilization between 3- 5000 years to reach tech level 3 and over 15,000 to reach Tech level 7. Look at the Kermac. They have been around for almost a million years and have not advanced past tech Level 7. Some of Saresii technology is considered to be Tech level 8 and they reached Tech level three over a Million years ago. The Union in general is at Tech level 7 but many consider Terran technology already well past Tech 8. Now the Terrans are still one of the youngest and newest galactic civilizations. When my people heard of the speed the Terrans achieved this, we called it the Terran Miracle." He wiggled his ears in excitement. "It takes long term research to even fundamentally understand the principles of any Tech level higher than yours. I bet they found just what the rumor said and that is why Terrans and the Union advance so fast." While we talked our shuttle left Arsenal Gate, went super luminal and we reached Arsenal II only 4 hours later.