First Journey Chapter: 14

Chapter:  14

American Spirit

The American Spirit was nothing I expected a space ship to look on the inside. It was more like a luxurious villa, complete with garden, swimming pool and what he called a "green lawn." We stepped through a sliding glass door into an area beneath a blue sky with a single yellow sun. On the green plant surface, he called grass lawn, was a table with an umbrella and a few garden chairs. In the distance were rolling hills with a lush forest.

"All simulated of course," Alex explained. "The walls are a mere 30 meters from us, but I like the feeling of wide open space, and so this happened.  Care for a drink?"

"This is amazing you do not feel as if you are in a space ship sitting here.  And yes to a drink, do you have coffee?"

"Of course, it is one of our most favorite drinks." He reached for his PDD and placed an order, and then he gestured around. "This is my private deck, of course, I have the money and wanted this section to be relaxing and comfortable on long extended trips.  The design and layout of the other parts of the ship are more traditional."

He sat down, and I followed suit. Just as the Coffee was brought out by an older man with white gloves part of the sky vanished, and a large field screen appeared. A voice said. "Mr. Enroe there is news on GalNet you might want to see, Sir."

"Put it on."

A news announcer said: "I repeat Intergalactic war imminent. Nogoll forces have violated the free space treaty and are engaging Union ships. A force of more than 500,000 Dai Than Units is fighting alongside Nogoll forces against units of the first fleet in the Prometheus Five Sun Nebula area. First reports of casualties are confirmed."

The CEO of Enroe Industries sighed. "They say all wars are good for business and in a pure profit sense, that is true. But I wish our generation could skip that horror. I feel pain and sorrow for the lives that are going to be lost."

"I need to go to Arsenal then Sir. I will do my part."

"I have no doubt you will, Eric. I may call you Eric?"

"Yes of course."

"Call me Alex then."

The News announcer said. "This has just been announced on GalNet one. All Union forces are on the highest alert. Pluribus Assembly just called for an emergency session. All civilian craft are asked to avoid border areas and return to the nearest union port, if possible."

"Well, that voids your plans to get to Arsenal for a while, Eric. Arsenal is now in enemy space. That region is highly disputed, and Arsenal is ours by terms of the armistice, which is void now, of course.  It is now in enemy territory. I bet there won't be any space bus traffic to Arsenal gate.

He got up. "I can drop you off at the next Union planet where you can wait for space bus traffic to resume or you can come along with me to Austin, one of my corporation's planets."

"Austin, your corporation planet and not Gore?"

"I am sorry Eric, I must give you a rain check on the visit to Gore. Enroe Industries will do its patriotic share. We do have a substantial fleet of our own, and I am planning to mobilize it and allow it to be used to do our part to shorten that war."

With a gesture, he conjured up a bubble display that hovered above the table between us. It showed a three-dimensional star map. He pointed at a star system and said."Austin is one of our corporate planets, and it is not too far from the Prometheus Five sun nebula. It is one of our biggest corporate fleet ports. I am sure we can find something for you to do until Arsenal opens again."

"If we are at war then I want to do my share, be it as a Fleet cadet or as a civilian. Count me in Alex. Can I make a call?

Sure go right ahead.

I called the contact listed in my application documents. The Union Navy logo appeared. Then a voice said. "Caller identified, applicant Eric Olafson of planet Nilfeheim. Please stand by for the next communication resource to be available to you. Wait time is approximately nineteen seconds."

The Spatial Navy march started to play. The voice came back on after the first few notes. "You are now connected to Arsenal Two, Union Spatial Navy Academy Headquarters, Recruiting specialist Olivia Green."

The screen changed, and the same dark-haired, exotic beauty with dark brown skin and almond-shaped eyes looked at me. "Good Afternoon, Applicant Olafson. Thank you for calling. I am the AI avatar assigned to you. What can I do for you?"

"If war is imminent, as an applicant, what must I do?"

"Thank you for your question and your willingness to serve, Applicant Olafson. I am accessing your records now. You are not due to report to Arsenal Gate until the first of October, 5017. Currently, no civilian traffic allowed to Arsenal.

Suspended until further notice. Should no civilian traffic be possible by then, we will contact you with an alternative academy destination."

"But what are my orders right now?"

"Applicant Olafson. I assure you the situation is well at hand and the spatial navy will contact you. Please be assured the Union and the Spatial Navy appreciates your commitment to service and duty.  Again I confirm a note was made to your file.  You will be contacted should your application destination change.

I thanked the simulated person and shrugged.

"It appears they have no need for me at this time, so I will be happy to accompany you for at least a few months, Alex."

"Perfect." He gave me a reassuring smile,  "No worries, our Union is a big kid, and I positive he will prevail, well at least, I hope so," he laughingly stated. The tycoon was turning out to be a super nice guy. He then said, "Well let's eat something, and then I give you a tour of the yacht.

The food was truly magnificent. The old man with white gloves served, tender beef steaks and potatoes that were about as perfect as possible without being fish. I was becoming more and more impressed with off-world food.

After the meal, he kept his word. We took a whirlwind tour of the entire ship, from its horticulture gardens to the aft-deck of the fighter launch pads and then the impressive engineering section which held the massive engines and other exotic machinery, most of which I had no name nor image to relate with them. Finally, after an extended period, which I believe Alex, was extending to enhance my excitement of being on the bridge of a spaceship. We arrived at a sealed bulkhead. Alex stated, "This door must always be secure, as it is the entry to the bridge and will stop everything but a tachyon cannon shell." He touched a square on the wall beside the door, and a computerized voice responded, "State your name and the name of your guest."

"Alex, 34501, and guest, Eric Olafson."

"Eric, clearance is temporarily granted to level 6F.  Do you Alex, agree to extend it further to include bridge and weapons control station."

"Alex, 34501, accepted and please record change to permanent status for the duration of this trip.  Now Eric, please place your hand, palm toward the center of the square on the wall.  It will read and record your bios, for future use.  Good, now we can enter the bridge."

In the subdued light on the bridge, I could see men and women sitting at duty stations. Many had screens showing different images. A feline creature, with a pelt of deep blue that was almost black, occupied the captain's chair.

Alex approached his chair, standing to the left,  "Captain Letrah, may I introduced  Eric Olafson, Eric, Captain Calia Letrah.  Calia, this is a very resourceful young man I had the pleasure to meet. Eric, Captain Calia Letrah is Togar, a race of impeccable character and honor.  Who I am proud to say has captained my ship for like, forever. "

The feline Captain offered her claw-tipped hand and with a gnarling sound to her voice. "Nice to meet you Eric and yes I know what you are thinking. I am Togar but I can be trusted and won't eat human flesh."

"I don't think it is my thoughts you are reading, Captain Letrah. I never have seen or heard of the Togar. They eat humans regularly or just on special occasions?"

A man next to her laughed. "Our captain can get very agitated when things not done her way, but she hasn't eaten any of us, yet."

Alex said to her." Take us to Austin, at flank speed. As you know of the urgency, I will not need to explain."

"Yes, Mr. Enroe."

Alex leaned over and said in a quiet tone. "Togars are an elusive civilization clear across Free space. There is no direct Union contact with her world or species.   They are fiercely independent neutrals and don't like the Union much.  Out-traders reports indicate they buy human slaves for food."

"We also have extremely sensitive hearing," whispered the Captain. "True, the Togar Empire, doesn't like the Union but Togar also don't like the Kermac, the Nul, and the Shiss.  Or, in other words, the Empire likes no one very much, except for Alex perhaps. Yes, Togars like human flesh, we also eat Shiss and Kermac and pretty much everyone we can digest, I heard Ult are delicious too. Nul, on the other hand, are not digestible. I subjectively prefer Terran pork, as it is similar in texture to humans and much less rancid."

Then she laughed with a roar. "It smells like war and who knows if there is a Freespace after that or a Togar empire. If Admiral Stahl is on a roll, he might not stop until he reached the other side of Downward."

Her comment caused smiles and fist-pumping among her bridge crew. Alex also grinned. "The Eternal Warrior has never been known to be an outstanding diplomat, but I am sure he has the situation well in hand. The news spoke of the First Fleet, and that means he and the Devi are right where the fighting happens.  My sources had it the Dai Than were to become members of the Union. It appears some of them had a change of heart or did not want to in the first place.  We shall find out when the "dust" has settled."

The American Spirit was a private Yacht, a massive one but still a civilian ship. But the need for efficiency and professionalism was addictive. It was a real space ship, and I was on its' bridge. I had the same feeling I had back then when I first saw the USS Ragnarsson. This is where I belonged, on the bridge of a space ship. Although, at the moment my chances ever getting there looked dim.

The Togar female got up from her chair and stood beside me. "What fascinates you so? You are giving off the vibes of a Togar cub standing inside a meat shop."

"All this." I made a gesture around the bridge." It is where I wish to be, where I belong."

"Yes, I too, was the same ever since I was just a cub. I did not belong to an important family so I would have never been allowed to become an officer in the Togar fleet. Enlisted, yes, but never Command, never."

When Enroe Industries started to deliver Pork to our worlds, I sneaked on board and stowed away one of his freighters. Long story short, I was allowed to become a Union citizen, and Alex made me the Commanding Officer of this Yacht. Enroe Industries is the only contact Togar has with the Union, I am proud to say that I helped, for I believed and was proven correct, that Mr. Enroe would be a fair and honor contact."

"Why aren't there more Union contacts with Togar?"

"I told you, most Togars don't like humans other than minced on a platter.  One of Alex big corporate security ships rescued our queen from Shiss raiders, and then he fought our queen in personal combat. He lost, but only by the narrowest of margins and survived.  For that, our Queen respects him, and even likes him, and all Togar loves Enroe bacon." Her Tail twitched with excitement as she told her tale as if she had been a part of the battle. "How about you, Human. You appear young. What are your plans?"

"I am on my way to join the  Academy to become a starship captain."

Her slitted eyes were indeed quite beautiful in an impressive wild face with Black/Blue fur, with small golden flakes that shimmered like suns. "Yes, that is a worthy goal if there ever was one. There is no species friend or foe to the Union that does not openly or secretly admire Union fleet captains. They are a special breed of beings, and regardless species,  Be it Saresii, Saran, Shiss, Terran, Klack, Ult or any of the many others. The Union seemed to have found the secret to remarkably select and train them. Infinite confident as the depth of space they are. I have met quite a few you know." She gestured around. "I am very content with this, it might only be a yacht to you, but it is an important one. We can easily take on a Togar battleship in terms of shields and weapons.  We can outrun everything the Togar has with ease."

She curled her lips under her black nose with the long whiskers on each side. "The American Dream technically is a Union fleet super cruiser, a test platform as much as a private yacht for the latest Enroe tech developments.  If push comes to shove, we can become a fighting ship in a matter of seconds.  If that were to happen, Mr. Enroe would become  Alexander Enroe, Rear Admiral(upper half) RADM, USSNF (reserve).   The Union fleet operates several thousand of these ships in a different configuration and layout, of course.

She pointed at the captain chair. "We are still deep in union space, and two days away from Austin if you wish, you can try it out for size."

"Captain, you mean I can sit in the Command chair?"

"It's where you are going to spend much of your time if you are successful with your quest. You might as well see if you like it."

It was nothing short of a religious experience for me, to exactly sit in the captain chair of a space ship. It immediately adjusted to my body, and Captain Letrah explained. "It is all pretty much fleet standard except the classified stuff, and we don't have Translocators, of course.  Although there is a rumor, we will be taking them on at Austin." She took my hand and placed it over a ball-shaped object. "That, under your right hand, is the Master Control. With it, you can access all bridge functions. Helm, Navigation, Tactical, Engineering, Security, and Ops. If any of these stations fail or don't react as you want you can overwrite them from here. It takes only a little to get used to it and then it becomes intuitive. Fleet calls it Intuit-control for that reason. The panel now sliding open, under your left hand is the Master Access Panel. It directly connects you with Communications to all stations; ship-wide, departments, and Computronic. You can raise alerts, isolate ship sections, manage damage control, and evacuation procedures. The pedal below your left foot activates chair controls and the right one the Command Monitor bank."

I, somehow, could feel the ships very power through the leather of the seat. It was as if the ship became a part of my mind. There will be nothing to ever compared with the feeling of control, of the power to determine destinies.

Her whiskers twisted and she exposed her razor sharp teeth, and it took me but a moment to realize she was smiling. "I am not the best judge of human expressions, but even I see you are where you belong.  welcome home, Eric."