Without.odt



Chapter 3:



I woke to the gentle voice of SHIP. “ Captain, I am sorry to distrub you, but the Swift Profit is powering up and power distribution indicates she is about to leave.”

I still felt tired but swung my legs out of bed.”Who has the Conn.?”

“Lt. Three Four, Captian.”

“Give me the bridge.”

The Com link light went green. “Good motning, Lt.Three Four. There are indications the Swift Profit is about to leave?” “Yes, Captain. They have completed fuel transfer and told Brahma Port they are planning to leave in 40 minutes.”

“Alright, keep me posted, I will be on the bridge in ten.”

I glanced at the time display and grunted. “That is the disadvantage of keeping Union OTT. When he said he will leave in the morning, he obviously didn't mean 0200 OTT in the morning.”

“No Captain, the Swift Profit chronometers running after Kaliment time.”

“And you know that how?”

“The Swift Profit has send five TLFAX messages since we are here and each message carries meta data, including a time stamp. This is neccesary for communicaton devices and methods that are not instantaneous like ours, Captain.”

“Makes sense of course. I am glad Ididn't ask this with Narth or Shea present.”

While I went to my bathroom facilities, SHIP's voice followed me.

“No one aboard would ever disrespect you.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“I know but my friends, and especially those two like to point tthose things out always reminds me, that underneath it all I am still an ignorant hick from Nilfeheim.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Since I am your SHIP, I have digested any information I could find on Nilfeheim. If I corelate all this with focus on you, I can clearly say you are not ignorant, Captain.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I went under the shower and enjoyed the first moments of ice cold water. “But you still think I am a hick, right? I should have said “Narth, Shea and you!”

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">--!!--

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I found Two-Three holding the Conn, as he was the Watch Officer for the middle watch. He got up and repeated his earlier greeting. “Good morning Captain. The Swift Profit has completed refueling and her main energy source has gone from standby to full power.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Good morning Lieutenant.” I also acknowleged the rest of the Middlewatch and sat down in the Command Chair.

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Should I call the Senior Officers to the Bridge?” He asked.

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“No not yet, let them sleep.” Of course I knew the names of all my officers aboard but with the exception of Three Four and TheOther manning Communications I knew little about them. As I turned to see who was at the engineering console, I could not completely stop the smile that crept into my face. “Mr. Warner, are you pulling double shifts? Haven't I seen you on First Dog watch too?”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“I wasn't on duty then, Captain. Sobody was.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“I see. Well Mr, Warner since you are the engineer on duty. Begin to buttom her up. We are leaving.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Aye Captain.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sitting at Shaka's station was a very tall Andorian. Accordig to his personal file he had completed his Midshipman year just a six month prior to us on the USS Boney Hoo. Unlike Shaka he was unable to use the Virtu Helm system, but had a high Helm rating of 503. Other than that he was more or less just a face to me. “Mr. Rohmor stand by for undocking manouvers.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Standing by, Ma'am.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">TheOther rised one of his hands. “Captain we are being hailed by the Swift Profit.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Put him on, audio only.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Swift's voice said. “Not feeling sociable, Captain Velvet? No visuals?”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“I am still getting myself representable, Swift. Ready to leave?”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Women, you are always fussing about your looks. A shame you hide yours, anyway that is why I am calling. We're leaving for Sin 4 and if you haven't changed your mind, fire up your engines and let us fly together. If we are lucky there might be am opportunity or two as well on the way, and with two ships we might even try one of the bigger fish, if you're game.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Lead the way, Captain Swift. We are right behind you.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Let's see if your rusty Karthanian can keep up with my nimble Profit. Isah pots and all your's is a big one with lots of mass to accelerate. I an sending you the coordinates to my first stop, just in case.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Just get going, I will try to keep up.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I gave TheOther the signal to terminate.

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Warner reported. “We are spaceworthy captain. All boards are greem,”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Three Four now sitting at OPS said. “The Swift Profit is moving.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Mr Rohmor follow the Swift Profit and keep accellerating just 5 percent slower than them.”

<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">To Three Four I said. “What kind of ship is that anyway?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Lt. Hi suspected it to be a custom refit of an Ongloran armed post ship but that is hardly possible as the Ongloran Federation was destroyed 2000 years before the Union was born.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The being at the Science Console was a Leedei and that he was Ensign Fivcheer, other than that I had seen him several times during our weekly department meetings. His file mentioned that he had served with the Science Corps for five years before he decided to join the Fleet. I blinked his file up while I said. “Ensign Fivcheer any ideas about the other ship?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Material composition appears to be of multiple sources. S|ome Karthanian, but there are Togar metals used as well. Energy source is consistent with a Nogoll Arguwaid Matter anhiliation reactor. Much less efficient than compareable reactors from Togar or Karthanian manufacture, but able to process solid matter. For easy fuel handling and storage it appears it is converted to Mol Gas. Mass versus energy calculations and the type of the Nogoll version of ISAH pods. We think she can reach 500 klicks. We could read 178 life forms, while they were docked. Shield projector nodes point to modern Kermac Shimmer type shields.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“What about his offensive capabilites?” I directed my question to the female human Ensign manning Tactical. “Three Kermac FTL Line Cannons 1 Megawatt per pulse. From the power layout not energy independent. Still serious weapons to anyone not having Union Para or TransDim Shields. We also noticed 4 missile doors but we do not know what type.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“How far to his first stop?”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The human Ensign at the Navigation console, I knew came from the Kingdom of New Siam answered. “122 light years and with the anticipated translight speed of these engines of approximatley 4500 times light, about nine days, Ma'am.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Thank you Mr. Shinawatra. And I thought Tiny Tim freighters were slow.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The Leedei said, “Captain, that ship is TL 7. Union average is TL 8 and the Tigershark is beyond that. Given the fact that over 90 percent of all known non Union civilizations are of TL 7 or less, this is quite fast in relation.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Mr. Fivcheer you sound just like Lt. Schwartz.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“That, Captain is a great compliment, thank you.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The Helmsman said “We could technically fly to Richter, have a cup of coffee and come back and he still be on his way to his first waypoint. ”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Well a cup of coffee sounds like a good idea. Mr. Three Four you have the Conn. I am having breakfast.”

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<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">--””--

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I actually contemplated to return to bed, as I walked past my quarters. While I suspected Swift to try something, I was quite certain he would do it with a good distance between us and the station. I was no psychic and could not reald minds. I knew however he had heard about me selling two space ships. The heavy loads of Iridium Ingots we received as pay had not been a secret either, I was certain that was the real reason he wanted to fly together.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">His Swift Profit was a well armed ship, but the simulated Karthanian with our Froth Casters was a number to big for him in a direct heads on attack. So I expected some sort of trickery, some way of him boarding us.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">With those thoughts I decided against sleeping but was not in a particular hurry.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I was relaxed but still noticed a crew member, down the corridor changing direction very fast as I approached.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Now it could have been coincidence, but I somehow had the distinct feeling, that Crew member didn't want to run into the Captain.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Instead of taking the IST, I followed the Corridor further. There wasn;t much more here on the command deck. Har-Hi's quarters, a second conference room, the upper Armory filled with the latest Union weaponry, most of it still prototypes or test units. There were twelve so called VIP quarters behind thant, Finally there was senior officer's mess and officer's lounge. I had never used any of these facilities, I just knew they were there.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Command deck was the smallest deck and all the way on top of the ship. Most civilizations built their bridge or command center deep within the bowels of a ship, to protect this vital part, but Union planners always had Translocator cannons in mind and to these weapons it mattered little where the bridge or engineering was. While no known adversary of the Union had Translocator technology, it was always considered that this secret could be stolen or some unknown species used something similar.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">In case of an emergency the entire Command Deck could be seperated from the Tigershark and turn into an independent space craft with FTL engines. It was called rhe Captain's Yacht.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">One of these days I planned to run a drill of seperation and re uniting the Yacht, but that would have to wait until we could be our selves.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">While I was thinking all this I went down the slightly curved corridor to catch up with that captain avoidng crew member. Initially I had not noticed more than a movement, but now almost caught up coming around the corriodor bent I saw a human female with blue skin and shyny coppery hair slip past the doors of the Officer;s mess.

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<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">There was always someone in our Pirate Den. It had become the most popular recreation room of the ship. Even more than the actual R Deck facilites. It had become a second ,mess hall and if needed and with the dividing curtains raised there even was plenty of room for the entire crew to eat. Of course it also provided a challenge for the galley, as this was a Hangar and not meant for food service. While there were vent matics and drink dispensers on pretty much every deck. There weren't any down here, but that didn't stop my crew. Circuit had asked permission to make some changed and I knew he was working on ways to address the many logistical problems my spontaneous idea to have our meals in a hangar caused. Luckily my crew was still technically a skeleton crew, the 360 serving her instead of the 800 she was designed to have.

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">As I entered our Pirate's Den, a Vantax standing next to the door started to clap and seconds later everyone applauded me. The Vantax I had seen only during my initial address said. “Captain, I am proud to serve you. This was a mighty fine thing you did. I doubt any other Captain would have ever admitted to something and appologized.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I tried to remember his name, as he was in civilian attire, he did not have a name tag. Thankfully I received Narth's thoughts. “This is Lt. Ziodo. Call him Dr. Ziodo, he much prefers academic titles over his rank. He is part of our science department and the resident Astro Biologist.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“Dr. Ziodo, I appreciate the sentiment but this isn't neccesary. I will have to give orders that won't be liked and this perhaps raised expectations I can't always meet.”

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“You underestimate your crew, Captain. We are all Union Citizens before we started wearing uniforms and the commitment to duty and the understanding of doing ones part is part of our shared society for nearly 3000 years. “

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">“I must confess, Dr. Ziodo I find it suprising to find a Vantax among my crew, espeically considering the nature of our mission; and I don't say that in a negative way.” “Your

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The USS Shadowrunner was just like the Chimera, a disguised ship. On the outside, an old Mega-Poodle operated by a privateer and on the inside, a state of the art Union ship. Just like a regular poodle, only three times as big and better armed, this Poodle had also bigger cargo holds. We transferred the pirate crews and much of the loot of the Swift Profit, as we hoped it could be returned to the families of the victims. In return we received our first Wolfcraft fighter. It was equipped with a smaller version of the Janus Device. Along with the Wolfcraft came a few crates of fresh food supplies. Not that we were anywhere near running out and we did have Molecular reconstitution systems that recycled 99.99% of our waste, but it was nice to have fresh things and a larger variety. I stood in the Cargo hold and talked to the Captain of the Shadowrunner who was from Holstein Planet. Holstein was close to Nilfeheim and it was nice to exchange some non-important local gossip. He had send over a crate of Holstein Pilsner, my favorite beer, and to the delight of our chef, a supply of Holstein butter. While I was standing there a large Battle Robot, bigger than a Fenris and more massive than a Cerberus, came over the freight tunnel that connected our ships and stomped towards me. The entire machine saluted and then remained in that position. Then a hatch on the at least three and a half meter tall machine opened and three hand sized men appeared, and they saluted again. I noticed they wore Union Black but I recognized them as Mini Terrans.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">A magnifying field screen established between us and the man said. "Lieutenant Charles Bergdorf and two specialist of the New World Commonwealth reporting for Duty, Ma'am." Admiral Rutherford personally sends this Terror Mech. He thinks you might be able to use it and us."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Welcome aboard then. I am delighted to have you aboard. Your machine looks impressive."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Yes Ma'am it is the pinnacle of NWC technology and rivals one of our Battle ships fire power. It was conceived to answer possible invasions by large enemies and the Terror-Machine-Suit series is the latest. We have been briefed about the Tigershark's true mission and volunteered."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi walked around the towering machine and said."If this thing equals the fire power of one of these spheres, then it exceeds a Fenris for sure."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Lt. Bergdorf said."It is also a full functioning space ship, capable of reaching destinations of over 500 light years. It maneuvers almost as good as a Wolfcraft and can operate in full robotic mode, but when I am connected to it, it can move like a human, picking up feathers, or crush steel."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said. "I think this is a nice addition to our Marine detachment and Lt. Pure will get you situated."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Pure came and I filled him in and the three Mini Terrans returned inside their machine and followed the Attikan Marine.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I watched Sobody talking to Har-Hi and he repeated that strange move with his hand and' from Har-Hi's face, I could tell my Dai friend was deeply impressed.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I asked."How did you actually cut that Thauran?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sobody pushed the sleeve of his robe back and revealed a metal wrist band with a little hump and said. "This is a Monofilament whip. It shoots a strand of molecular thick Nonochronium metal wire. The thing is highly flexible and there is a little weight ball at the end. It is so thin it cuts through nearly everything and it can be electrified or heated to 4000 degrees if the cutting alone doesn't do the trick. It isn't useful against a fully armored person in a Union Battle suit, or against shields, but in close quarter or hand to hand situations it is deadly. It takes quite a bit of practice as it can be very dangerous to the user. It's a very old Golden weapon but I have thad his one now for a very long time and it turned out I am still good with it, I haven't used it in anger in almost 500 years, you know."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi said."I need one of those. I think I could fit one above my dart launcher and below the bomb pellet dispenser."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sobody smiled proudly. "This is a great compliment coming from a Dai. I have a spare one for sure and I'll show you how to use it, too." I said: "Above the dart launcher and below the bomb pellet dispenser. Are we talking about the arsenal you carry on one arm?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi shook his head. "No, only what I carry between wrist and elbow, I've got a bigger list if we talk about the whole arm."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I rolled my eyes and said: "Thor's Hammer, I had to ask!"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The Captain of the Shadowrunner handed me a PDD in clip board mode. "I think that is all. I got the sleeping beauties and the loot and you got the walking doll house complete with real life action figures."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I checked the list just flying over it with my eyes just because it was nice to do something that was fleet routine. Something normal captains would do every day. I loved our current mission, but once in a while I wished we could be a Union ship openly. I stopped and read over the list more carefully and then said to Har-Hi who was still next to me and said: "Say the Togar female isn't on this list. Aren't we transferring her too?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi said: "She is still at sick bay. Cateria hasn't released her."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I thanked the captain and wished him a good trip home. After our ships had separated and we were back on course to Sin 4, I went to our sickbay. I found it strange that the Togar female was still here; she didn't look that badly wounded and as far as I knew, Togar were biologically similar to many mammalian species. I also remembered Narth's ominous thoughts and wondered why he hadn't come back to me about it.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I never seen our sickbay other than during my first ship tour and looked forward to see Cateria in her element.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Out of thin air, Narth appeared next to me as I turned into the corridor of sickbay and he said: "Apologies, Captain. I have not updated you as I am still missing certain information I am not sure how to obtain."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I stopped and said:"What do you mean by that?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I mean I am morally hampered, it has partially to do with your sense of fairness and as I said the Hugavh share goes both ways."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Narth, I am not complaining or expecting you to have all the answers for me all the time. I just think we are not the right environment for these human flesh eaters, and sending her along with the Shadowrunner would have been a good idea. However I am curious what my sense of fairness has to do with all of this." "You bought her, acting out of that very sense, and I must tell you that the Togar female was tortured and raped in the most horrible ways aboard that Pirate ship Her psychological condition is fragile and very difficult and Cateria is trying her best with old fashioned counseling and medication to help her. She didn't think having her treated like an enemy by uncaring Union authorities would be good."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">What he said touched me somewhere deep. I remembered as Egill had transferred me somehow into the body of a female to teach me what hell could mean, and I had almost been raped by Harkun. I had not thought about this for a long time but now it returned as a vivid memory.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth nodded. "You see, all your past experiences have formed your personality and we shared this with the Hugavh. Now the Togar female has a mental shield, preventing me from probing deeper and finding out more details. I could easily break it of course, but I would basically commit the same crime on her again as these men did,"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He lowered his head. "With my increased understanding of human emotions, my own approach to things changes. I would have broken her shield without hesitation only a year ago."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Narth, this is not a bad thing, it is what we call a conscience, and it tells us what is right and what is wrong above any laws or any rules. We humans can differentiate between good and evil, and this opens a whole can of worms on such subjects as ethics and religion."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I am still at the beginning trying to understand all this, but I fail to see why opening a can of worms is of any significance to this discussion? I am certain we have no can of worms in our freight manifest."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Go ask Shea about that one later. Let us check on the Togar and see if we can get her home somehow." "That is the problem I mentioned earlier." I went through the double doors of our sickbay. It had the symbol of Aesculapius over a six pointed star etched into semi transparent material. The lobby behind was white and blue and everything looked brand new and sparkling clean. Cateria wore a light blue and white coat and white pants. Her usually short cropped hair was now a little longer and gave her a somewhat gentler appearance. Her slight smile also helped."Hello Captain, what can I do for you? Is it an inspection, or are my services required? Back issues perhaps, walking day in and out in these murderous heels carrying that rack you decided to have must do a number on your back."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"No Cateria, my back is fine and I am not here for an inspection either. I am here to inquire about the Togar female."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria lost her smile and said. "Her name is Jolaj Grotha and physically she is as good as new. She comes from a matriarchal society and has been raped not once but many times and not by members of her own kind but by aliens to her, whict makes it even worse. She is young, barely adult in her society, and she is also perhaps the most wanted person in the Togar Empire."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth said."That is what I meant, if the Togar Empire becomes aware that she is alive and aboard our ship, they will try to capture us and kill her."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said gloomily: "I didn't make a big secret out of buying her either. In a Tavern of all places. Chances are the Togar already know we have her. What has she done?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth said."That is the information I was unable to obtain."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria said."All I know about the Togar society is what I could find on GalNet. I am trying to win her trust so she opens up on her own. Captain I simply could not release her. What would they have done to her on Union side? She doesn't belong there, they know as much about the Togar as I do, and she belongs to a society that eats humans. I asked Narth and the others not to mention her and I hoped you would forget her for a while." She looked at me intensely. "I know why you bought her. To impregnate her with a virus or something and make her the instrument of her own kind's demise, and half the ship agrees with your idea."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I said what I said as I stood in a cargo hold with thousands of dead humans, slaughtered and butchered like Fangsnappers. I saw humans herded and separated in slave pens destined for the spits of Togar grills. So my general opinion of Togar society isn't very favorable, but I don't buy sentient beings for any purpose whatsoever. I bought her to get her out of the situation she was in. I wonder what what kind of monster you think I am?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria said. "I don't know you as well as the others do. I know you are fair and straight forward. I know I can trust you with my life and I am here because you showed me mercy, but I also remember how it is to be your enemy."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I didn't have any real response to that and said: "Well I am not going to kill her or kick her out, but I'd still like to know what we are going to do with her. She isn't a prisoner. Can I talk to her?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria shrugged. "I am not the best psychiatric expert and know next to nothing about Togar, so I guess you can."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I followed her into a well lit room with a bed with curtains on a window that simulated the view onto a green sun drenched meadow. There was a desk and a chair as well. The white Togar female was on the bed and she was restrained. Cateria answered my unspoken question. "Partially to prevent her from harming herself and partially because she is a Togar with very sharp claws and teeth. Neither I nor my staff have the desire to become patients."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The Togar was really pretty, looking almost like a human woman with a skintight white fur suit, if it wasn't for the four toed, claw like feet, the catlike face and the long tail. I wondered if the Pree or the UNI who supposedly seeded human life also seeded the Togar. She looked straight at the ceiling and did not move or react as we came in,

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said to Cateria."Deactivate her restraints."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"You think that is wise Captain?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Deactivate her restraints and leave me alone then. I don't think I am in danger."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She did and the restrains holding the Togar disappeared into the bed frame.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Hi Jolaj, I am Freya and I am the Captain of this ship."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She did not move as she said."You bought me!"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Only to get you away, we are on our way to Sin 4. I can even make a little side trip to Kaliment and you are free to go. You are not my property and you are not a prisoner."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"You can kill me if you want and you can use me."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I killed the man named Bloom and his men are all going to be hanged for acts of Piracy." She moved her head for the first time and looked at me." You do not show your face, yet you are not pirates. The ship is old on the outside but inside like we think a Union ship might be. Why should I believe you?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"You do not have to believe me. I am sorry for what happened to you, but I have a mission and a ship that comes first. I will instruct my Ships surgeon to do Psycho Surgery on you. Afterwards you will remember nothing. My ship's secret is safe, you will not remember any of the bad things and we let you go on Kaliment where you can reach the Togar side easily."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Then you are a coward and let others do your killing for you. Why not kill me right away? Any Togar that helps me is automatically sentenced to death. Any Togar that kills me will gain great fortune with the Queen."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"What could you have done that is so terrible?" She turned her head away and said. "I was born."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I can understand that you don't trust me or anyone for that matter and frankly, I don't trust you. I don't particularly like Togars, and I am not too fond of any species that buys and hunts my kind for food. But I hate unfair situations and yours is very unfair. So I am asking you, what is it you want?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Kill me, please, simply kill me and all the problems are gone. The pain I feel, the trouble I cause everything will be gone and you are rid of me as well."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Why I sat down and touched her hand. I was not sure, but her pain and sorrow I could almost physically feel. "Death comes to us all sooner or later; there is no need to seek it out."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She turned her head and I could see the pain and the shame she felt in her big green cat eyes.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Her fine whiskers quivered and I saw the fine fur underneath her big eyes was wet. "Just kill me, please!"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I touched her cheeks and said."No worries Jolaj, I give you my word I will find a solution and, while this is a war ship and we will be in dangerous situations, I promise you no one will ever hurt you again while you aboard this ship and under my care." I took her paw like hand in mine and squeezed it saying: "Do you believe that?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Tears rolled down her cheeks and she nodded. "Yes, I believe you."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Again I was surprised by my own actions as I pulled the dangerous alien cat being close and hugged her and she started sobbing in a strange mix of animalistic and human noises. "I am sorry for everything. I didn't ask to be born you know. I didn't ask for white fur, I am sorry for being Togar and that I have eaten human. I am sorry for being female and making them…"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Her fur was at least as soft as that of the little Holdian commander. I did not understand everything she said as she switched between native Togar and Freeszone Squawk. Many of her words were swallowed between deep sobs, but I could feel her pain and hopelessness while I was holding her. I was suddenly reminded of Egill and could almost see him nodding with approval. I was certain I heard another voice say: "As long as he can feel compassion so strongly through the female persona I have given him, all hope is not lost."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">For a brief moment I wondered about my own imagination but then was distracted by the white furred Togar I was still holding. She was crying softer now and I patted her back. I don't know how long I sat there holding the alien female, but then I noticed she had fallen asleep and I let her down, covered her and quietly left.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria and Narth were there outside the door, but it was the Seenian CMO that spoke first: "She hasn't been able to sleep without sedation...I'm sorry for having misjudged you, Captain." (1)

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I didn't get into that and said: "Don't restrain her any more and if she wants to get up and wander around, let her. Ship will keep an eye on her so she isn't wandering in restricted areas."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Cateria looked back through the door window and said:"I'll see to it, Captain."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth said: "I will attempt to learn more about the Togar and maybe I can find out why white fur would be of significance."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">We had reached the Sin system and as always, I had us drop out of Quasi-space in the outmost regions of the star system. I said: "Maintain course to Sin 4, and steady as she goes. Mr. Shaka."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Aye Captain, keeping it all well within the limits for a Kartanian."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Elfi keep your ears open and record all comm traffic. Ship, help her please."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Already on it, Captain, search patterns for Pirate name activity, Mil tech offers in effect." "Narth and Shea, make sure you don't use any active scanner beams we are not supposed to have."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"We adjusted our active Sensors to match our Disguise." Har-Hi handed me a PDD in clipboard mode and said: "Arrival at Sin 4 or not, it is 0900 Union time and that means you got to sign the daily order sheet, Moi Captain. Only with your signature can I process them."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Where is Ms. O'Connells? Is that not her duty?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Her duty yes, but since you decided to pull two shifts and throw my carefully arranged shift schedule in chaos, she is off duty." I blinked guilty and said: "I just wanted to be on the bridge myself when we arrived. I somehow hoped never to set foot on Sin 4 again and yet here we are."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea sighed at that and said: "I can't help but think the same way, and this dirt ball is supposed to be my home."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said. "Your home is where you make it and not where fate put you when you were born. At least we arrive in a nice ship this time, and at least I am not bound and can go to the bathroom anytime I want."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Everyone looked at me and I said: "Well the first time I arrived here I was bound and I needed to go to the bathroom real bad. It's not a story I should tell you all, but not being able to go can be real painful."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi said: "No one is laughing, Captain. This makes your accomplishment to escape barefoot and without any resources even more amazing. You didn't go into great details when you told us how you escaped your tormentor, but I can imagine it was much more difficult than you let on."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Maybe I'll tell you one day. Right now we've got a job to do and, as we are the first federation ship in this system, while we are here we might as well collect some data and upgrade our catalogs and information on this system."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The Golden One came onto the bridge and Ship said to me: "I asked Sobody to the bridge to help Elfi with the Comm traffic analysis."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"It's all good Ship. I think we can throw regulation 563.43 B out the window with many of the other regulations regarding proper bridge conduct. Besides you are not just the AI. You do carry rank and you are an Officer."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sobody looked over to the busy science console and said: "Captain, we are supposed to be pirates! Pirates don't survey, measure and explore."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I smiled, answering: "Not to worry, Ancient Merchant. We won't launch any probes or send survey teams to the other planets."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har Hi, who stood with crossed arms next to my seat watching the science crew do their job, turned to the Golden and said: "Even you might be surprised at the data we can collect just with our sensors. I doubt there is another species that elevated scientific sensor analysis to such a science as the Union."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sobody agreed saying: "This is one of the reasons I am such a fan of the Terrans and the Union, Mr. Hi."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea looked at her readouts and reported: "None of the other planets are used or occupied as far as I can tell; there are no energy signatures or material concentrations that would suggest artificial manipulation or presence. Yet it appears that there are several candidates with promising mineral and metal riches."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi said. "Crooks don't mine and those who do don't want to mine and have the fruits of their labor stolen or taken away. So I guess that is the reason no one is mining out here,"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She nodded and returned to looking at her read outs. I knew her well enough that I could tell by her body language she found something, so I asked: "Lt. Schwartz is there anything I should know about?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"No Capitan it is not anything that would affect us or the mission in any way. The Sun is a Spectral Type O2 and..." She stopped in mid sentence and kept looking at her read outs. She turned: " It is my home system Captain but I never had the chance to scan our sun before. This star is unstable and I am running a simulation through Ship right now, and a Nova eruption is likely to occur within the next two or three hundred years."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I responded saying. "It won't affect our mission then because I hope we all will be somewhere else by then. Maybe the situation will have changed by then and the Wurgus Solar Engineers could stabilize that sun."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth was also busy on his console and said: "Captain, there is a lot of traffic in this system, and I am detecting weapon fire at nine different locations within the system. Mao analyzed the conflicts and concluded that none of the fights are connected."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Mao did not take his eyes off his read outs and confirmed what Narth had said: "Narth send me the scanner data but I can't see any correlation between any of these shoot outs. It appears no big ships are involved. Weapon energies exchanged are consistent with armed system shuttles and the like." Shea said: "That is normal. There is only one law here, the law of the stronger. There are always quarrels and fights anywhere on or around Sin 4"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I leaned back." Har Hi sound Battle stations anyway. I like to be ready."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Aye Captain! General Quarters!"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">We reached the Planet without any incidents and Shaka took us into a standard orbit around the Garden world that was known as SIN 4.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">It had only two continents and several large islands. The rest was Ocean. Even from space the upper continent didn't look very inviting. It was gray and looked dirty. There was visible pollution oozing from one of the large islands in a gray smear across the greenish oceans.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"So how do we land?" I asked. "Did anyone hail us?" This question I directed to Elfi. The beautiful Saran woman answered: "There is lots of activity on all channels, but no one is taking any interest in us, Sir."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth checked his scanners and said: "No one has even noticed us."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea said: "We simply land. There are a few space ports but there is no active landing control. I suggest we land at the Gorotolah and expand if it is still there. It is the largest space port on the southern most edge of the Continent."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She waved her hands over the main viewer and magnified a section of the planet below and pointed at an area. I was certain it was the same spaceport I had been before, as it had the Ocean close by.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shaka was under his Virtu Helmet but unlike most other Virtu Helmsmen he always paid attention to what happened on the bridge and participated in our conversations. He said: "I am on Ship vision and can see it and there are other ships as well."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I smiled at Shea and then said: "Shaka, take us down there and put us as far away from the other ships as possible. Mao, keep our shields active and Narth, double check the Janus system."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">We landed on the same cracked and crumbling, Duro-Crete field I had been on before. I recognized the tall Duro-crete wall in the distance, but most of the Skeleton hand spider infested terminal was gone, and there was still a crater where the SII ship had blasted one of the Spaceports turrets away. To my utter surprise I recognized the now completely salvaged and butchered hulk of the Kartanian courier ship that I had arrived on Sin 4 not so long ago. It was nothing more than a twisted wreck, but I recognized its hull shape,

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Nothing much had changed; there were the same garbage fires, piles of waste and filth.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shaka took off his helmet and shook his head looking at the main viewer saying: "Good lord, what a dump. If this is such a lawless place, who actually build this spaceport? It looks it had been a well planned facility once."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I looked into the direction of our geek squad and said:"Good question."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">It was Sobody who had the answer, as neither Shea nor Narth seemed to know. He said: "It is a little known side note of Galactic History. After the first signing, the Nioban did not want to have any more meetings on their world and the Big Four looked for another place where they could meet, sort of a neutral ground place. This planet was chosen, and the Kartanian, smelling the opportunity to do business with the Big Four, build this space port, the terminal and the original city. It never happened. The Nioban changed their mind and now everyone meets at Crossroads, a Nioban world, and not here. The Kartanian abandoned the world and, since it was in Freespace and had a city and space port for the taking, it didn't take long for pirates and similar vermin to find this place. Syndicate Families developed and it all turned into the Sin 4 we all know today."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea said: "Not that anyone had the right to take this world, as it has a sentient native population."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Elfi said: "Someone did notice us and we are being hailed."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I settled back down in my seat and put on my mask then said: "I am ready, put it on."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The being looked like an Oghar mixed with a Shiss and looked quite frightening. "We are calling the Silver Streak."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said: "Looks like you got our attention. Speak up, what is it you want?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"We know who you are, Captain Velvet, your reputation travels faster than your ship."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Put it on."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"This is indeed Captain Black Velvet of the Silver Streak. Whom do I have the dubious honor to talk with?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The answer came right away. The voice sounded rough and somewhat high pitched and I could hear other voices in the background. "Captain Velvet, you are talking to the Gorotolah Spaceport Protection Agency. We heard of you and your ship and we know you are a successful pirate. We are very happy you choose to land on our port. However this is a dangerous place and we can only guarantee your safety for 20,000 Polo coins, or goods of similar value. If you decide not to pay or to leave we are forced to use our DE guns on you. We have two large DE turrets aimed directly at you. You have exactly 20 minutes to comply. A group of our associates will approach in a floater and expect payment to be transferred."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Mao manipulated the main viewer and magnified a set of buildings across the landing field. Indeed there was a bunker like building with a force field surrounding it and a set of DE turrets on top aiming at us. Mao said. "Captain, those pea shooters won't even dent our armor without shields. They don't have anything big enough to put us in any real danger."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har Hi agreed: "They are bluffing and hope we don't know, but there aren't any weapons big enough on a planet that could seriously harm a ship of our size, even if we really were a Kartanian Freighter with original shields. Any weapon big enough to could crack our shields would seriously damage a huge area around us. This isn't a Poodle." (2)

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I nodded and said: "Elfi can you pinpoint the location of the transmission?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">She moved her hands over her console and responded: "Yes Captain I have localized it to that transmitter array over there."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I pointed at the turrets and said: "Mao, fire our simulated Froth Caster and place a 5 gram TL bomb right where that transmission originates. That should do as payment."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">From the outside it looked as if our Nul turret fired, the Translocator load was invisible and undetectable.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">The result was more than I expected. The 5 gram antimatter exploded and obliterated not only the bunker and the building with the transmitter but the entire building complex with a tremendous fire cloud.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi coughed into his fist and rubbed his fingernails on his jacket. "I don't think this is what they had in mind when they asked for goods of similar value, Captain."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea shrugged. "I doubt anyone really will notice and expect others will take their place and try a similar scam."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I got up from the seat, and said: "Let's have a conference in the Den to figure out what we need to do and how we are going to do it."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Har-Hi was standing and said: "There are three reasons why we came here. Number one is to find the Terran weapons dealer and shut him down. Number two is to find out where the Sinister Alliance is meeting and what they are planning and number three on our list of things to do is to identify all pirates and freelancers that are on the wanted list of Union Police, with special focus on the Red Dragon."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Hans spread out a series of high resolution pictures of three space ships. "These are the ships that share the landing area with us right now. All three are operated by notorious outlaws and pirates. I prepared dossiers on each of them from the data we have available. As for the Mil-Tech dealer I would like to go into the city and gather some intel on that."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Hans managed to look embarrassed and said: "I am not on Sin 4 for the first time either and I have some contacts and a reputation here, even though I am supposed to be dead."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I said: "Not that I want to sound nosy or anything like that, but could you be a tad more specific?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He looked down on the table surface and said. "Before I joined the Fleet I was fighting for money in one of the big Arenas here. Nothing to be proud of, but back then I was a young punk with no brain and an expensive taste."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"You?" Was all I could say. Hans was always so correct and straight.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, me, I was known as the Terror Hammer and fought in the top league. I still have some connections here. Golden said he would come along as well."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I can't simply allow you go outside Mr. Merchant. It is very dangerous out there and how would they react to the Merchant of Merchants being here?" He smiled and said: "You worry too much, Captain, Cateria will do some plastic surgery again and add the ugly branding of the Expelled on my head and besides even us Golden have a hard time to tell us apart. To any stranger we look very much alike." He then looked up to Hans and said: "I think I could help out there more than I can here. Sin 4 is a rotten place but it runs on money and business and that's what I know best."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I sighed: "You know how to make a point but be careful and stay with Hans."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea said: "I would like to go to the temple and get a few things."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"How will you get there safely?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"I'll call the temple and have them pick me up."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Elfi was next and said: "Ship and I decoded a message send from one of the pirate ships out there. The ship identified as the Merchants Sorrow, commanded by Sodex the Wild, was contacted by the Red Dragon. The message tells Sodex that the Red Dragon will be here in seven days to participate in the semi-annual Pirates market."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I acknowledged her report and said to Hans and Sobody: "Well we are here for at least that long, so you may go and do your intel-gathering, but keep in touch and report as often as you can."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Sobody and Hans agreed to do that.

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Now it was Narth who got up and I said to him: "Don't tell me you, too, have been on Sin 4 before as well."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He shook his shrouded head. "Not in a corporal sense, no, but I did share some of your experiences while you were here. I got up as it seems that's what everyone does when reporting. "I am addressing you in my capacity as OPS officer and it is part of my duty and my department to allocate resources and delegate projects. The OPS department is often called the XO's …"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I interrupted him: "Not that I mind a refresher course about what OPS is but I am sure you had another reason for getting up, right?" He said: "Oh yes, of course. I have a request from Ensign Dien Tallow."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I actually remembered the name from some list I signed or someone I greeted, so I said: "I think I heard the name and I believe it is someone in our science department. Is he from Sin 4?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"No Captain, but as you correctly remembered, he is a member of our science department. He is quite a brilliant and talented Scientist with Sociology, Xeno Archeology, Biology, Microbiology and Xenoentomology as his main fields of expertise. He had an interesting proposal and suggestion."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Narth waved the man over. He was human and one of those who would not stand out in a crowd of one. He looked older than most Ensigns but then he had gone the Science Corps route and they often tended to be older. He saluted me and he managed to make a military greeting look shy and weak. I told him that no one had to salute here in the Pirate's Den and encouraged him to simply tell us his suggestion."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He said: "Captain, we are the first Union ship on Sin 4 and I heard we might have a few days time, so I would like to propose we survey the planet. I am aware of our mission but I think we can do it while hidden and not be obvious. The southern continent and some of the islands, and especially Trash Island, are of particular interest to me."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Yeoman O'Connell had appeared behind me in her usual quiet way and held a mug of coffee. I was so getting used to her punctuality that I grabbed the mug before I even acknowledged and thanked her. To the scientist I said: "I am not opposed to your idea, but we do have a cover to maintain."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">He pointed to Cirruit and said: "Ma'am, the Chief Engineer and his team has modified one of our Armadillos to make it look old and non-Union. I studied as much about Sin 4 as I could find since it was a possibility that we would come here. Visiting Trash Island would be a highlight in my scientific career, Ma'am."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I sipped at m coffee and asked.:"Why is this island of such interest to you?"

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">"Unrestricted transfer of goods and life forms for almost 500 years from all regions of our galaxy must have created a very unique environment, especially in terms of vermin."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">Shea agreed: "It sure would be an interesting expedition and no one but Skaakh and Stiks live on Trash Island."

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<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom:0cm;border-style:none;padding:0cm;line-height:0.58cm;">I finished my coffee and said: "Alright, I approve it, but I better go along to make sure our science crew isn't overdoing things."

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