First Journey Chapter: 19

Chapter: 19 Catching up on Friends Interlude: Cirruit There was panic, people screaming and yelling. Something had hit the space bus and damaged it. Against the instructions, Cirruit left his seat and went towards the rear. His eyes capable of seeing across the entire electromagnetic spectrum had no problem using infrared emissions. He avoided colliding with a human crewman in a space suit."What is going on?" A Nogoll ship has fired upon us, we have a hull breach in the middle deck, and we lost life support. The Main Lifeboat release is fused, and we can't activate the seat safety capsules. Our engineer who could fix it is dead." Cirruit said." You need to help the passengers correctly put on their space suits. I am a decent engineer I see what I can do to resolve the problems here in engineering." He entered the airlock and cycled to the conditions in the engine room. As he accessed the room, his sensors noted the coldness, but neither the extreme cold or the lack of air hindered him as since he did not require either to exist.  He located a comm-link and called the bridge, and he informed the bridge of who and what he was, an X101 with extensive engineering training. At first they would not authorize him to work on any of the equipment, but then a voice in the background on the bridge said loud and clear,  "Well, if he is not allowed, then bend over and kiss your ass goodbye, as there is no crew member alive who can do the repair."   That voice was the captain, who then over the comm-link and gave him the go ahead.  Cirruit then informed them as soon as possible to get a crew on the outer hull and find and repair the rupture on it. The captain confirmed that and stated they were preparing to do that as so as the conditions allowed an EVA. Cirruit quickly surveyed the room. He found two dead humanoids, and both appeared to be Terrans. The rupture of the interior hull was freshly sealed, after checking and beefing up several weak areas, he considered it safe to start on the repair of the electronics. He saw the partially melted data and system command cables and conduit, as a toolbox floated by he grabbed it. Locating and repairing the power to the inertia damper was priority one since swimming and rebuilding in the confined area of the engine room was not practical. The ship received another disastrous strike, but he ignored it and kept on working. Getting the damper back online proved to be a matter of jury-rigging the connecting power cables, he had to bypass the conduits damaged beyond use. He thought for a moment that this room would resemble an enormous spider's web, he laughed as he continued with the damper stabilization. Then he reactivated the life support emergency bypass, extinguished a plasma fire, and patched a Nuc gas fuel leak to the main drive. During this time he realized that he was relaxed and truly enjoying the challenge. The situation was severe and deadly dangerous with the lives of a thousand passengers depended on his work. But he was confident, and he had a solid plan laid out in his mind and saw no weakness in it. He was saving his heroes or at the least relatives of them. Some of them may even be directly related to those marines who ignored their personal safety to free Mothermachine. Back on the comm-link, he recalled the bridge, "May I speak with the captain." After a short pause, "Captain Thadson, Go ahead, Cirruit." " I re-established life support systems and repaired the Data cables to release the lifeboats. I am presently re-cycling the startup protocol for the Nuc engines, anticipated engine stability within three minutes. Suggest you send someone down here to monitor the final stages. I have several other projects going and cannot stop to monitor them properly.  It is important to do that immediately." "Whoever you are, Mister, you earned a medal and all our gratitude. Can you give any Helm control, without it we must remain dead in the water, so to speak?" "I don't have the proper data cables. All I could find were low level, megabyte cables, but I bypass the broken lines by doubling the cables, and you should have helm back for about twenty minutes, these bypass lines are not meant to handle that kind of data streaming for long.  Keep the control data to short burst, and you may extend that to thirty but do not count on it for any longer than that, sorry." " I do not hear sorry. You have no reason even to think that, Sir. That should be sufficient time as we are approximately twelve minutes from Corri-Door. Thankfully,  Wolf Crafts has dispatched the Nogoll with prejudice, and we should be safe for the remaining time." "That is good news. If you still have contact with fighter control, ask if they will be so kind as to send the Nogolls a few kisses from the X101's. It is our wish that all the Kermac lackeys eat space dust from their destroyed spaceships. also, that relieves some urgency and gives me a little more time." Then he smiled, only on the inside of course, as his face was unable to translate even the most elemental emotions. Something he may wish to modify later, he thought then out loud, "Sir, you have helm control, but remember short data burst." Two Space bus crew members came through the airlock, and they started hugging him and shaking his hand. "We made it thanks to you." One of them said with a sad face. "Unfortunately, we lose eight passengers and three crewmen, but it would have been 1015 dead, without you." Cirruit learned that the nice girl that had sat next to him was one of the victims. The second hit had ruptured the hull right next to her seat. Sadness and anger mixed inside him to a cold rage against the Nogoll. He also thought he could have reacted a little faster, but that longed but for a moment. X101's did not deal in the past, and their eyes always sought the future. The people of Corri-Door hailed him a hero, although he didn't feel like one at all, as he evaluated the situation, designed a plan of action to execute then followed same. As any X101 would have done, at least that was his train of reasoning. He had heard the news and understood the reason behind the Nogoll attacking the space buses, and their intention infuriated him even more. He realized that if the space bus he was on had indeed been destroyed by the Nogoll's, the war would be a reality, he was proud to have saved the passengers and did his part to stop the war from occurring. Cirruit, upon a request from space bus HQ, was presently writing a summary of his patchwork and also some recommendations regarding the type cables and their locations in the engine room on the space bus. He was surprised to learn that most of the coaches still used copper wiring. A report from long ago stated that fiber optic cabling cost was prohibitive. The faultiness of the accounts were, since its writing, the price of copper quadrupled, and fiber optic decreased accordingly. It was now less expensive to use fiber in place of copper. A man approached him."Are you Cirruit Seven niner four? " "Yes, that is me." "I am from Schwartz industries and am instructed to take you to Omni." Cirruit handed him the unsigned contract. "The incident on the space bus changed my perspective, and I will not be going to Omni. I am flying to Arsenal to gain entry into the Fleet Academy. I am going to become a Union engineer and the next time there is war I am doing my part to protect the Seilaghs and all the other beings of the Union." Interlude: The Narth The Narth is a Union member civilization, and they occupy a planet around a white dwarf of type DX. On the outermost regions of the A1 Outer arm of the M-0 galaxy and the Upward sector. The system is off limits to all space traffic and has no known Union installations. All transports and communication terminate at a deep space station, located outside the heliopause of the star, Narth Gate. No space ship accidentally or intentionally has ever managed to approach the star's heliopause closer than one light year. The spaceships are diverted and lose all abilities to navigate closer. The sun, Narth-Light, has none of the typical characteristics of a standard white star. The Wurgus Sun engineers claim it is the only star beyond their knowledge and or comprehension. There is no known incident of anyone other than Narth to set foot on the single satellite of this solar system. The planet seemingly featureless and defies all attempts to scan it. The solar system is not always there and often vanishes completely. Narth does not export or import anything. All Narth individuals appear to be humanoid and wear body covering, consisting of a floor-length dull colored robe with long sleeves and metallic belts. Their head and faces forever hidden beneath hoods. The hoods have eye holes which usually glow a dark red, but at times bright yellows as well, the colors somehow displayed their level of concentration. According to the Saresii, the Narths has been known to the ancient civilizations pre-dating even the Pre and the Uni societies. The Saresii further claim that the Narths are the most potent psionic talents in the known universe. (a claim that has been substantiated by Leedei scholars in a study published just before the historic decision by the Narths to enlarge their participation in Union matters and actively challenge existing members in 5011 OTT.) Before 5011 the Narths rarely proliferated activities with other civilizations and is widely accepted they had maintained a stringent isolationist policy. Only after the most recent Y'All invasion did the Narth requested membership but with the express wish to remain undisturbed unless they request information or specific actions. The Union had no biological data on file, no individual names or Citizen Data recorded on any Narth. In April of 5012, OTT the first Narth representative arrived, unannounced to attend the Assembly at Pluribus. A Narth, the youngest of the unified entity Narth Supreme, being the first Narth conceived in 300 Million Standard years. This Narth was barely 5000 years old. Besides being a part of all that is Narth, it is also an individual and still requires teaching as he has much to learn. The young Narth was at his favorite location known by all Narth as the perch to eternity, a perfect place where pure energy consciousness could look over all conditions known as space and time. It was an Omni dimensional window to exotic locations and concepts not fully understood by the Narth. They had recently sought a path to become a valid trans-spatial entity. The young Narth currently rejoiced in the birth of a star felt a mild sensation of regret brushed his core consciousness as he received the gentle summon of the Narth Supreme. The young Narth separated its senses from the swirling energies of the young star and physically returned to the location occupied by Narth Supreme. The collection of all that was Narth addressed him. "We decided to take a more active interest in the space-time continuum we presently occupy. Your conception was designed to incarnate this interest. It is possible that the corporal linear existence in this continuum holds answers and secrets we have not pondered. Narth Supreme furthermore observed continuum trigger events that require closer observation. Therefore you shall receive a corporal shell and join those Narth who interact with this continuum. Your corporal shell will be unique as we used a human body as a model and have approximated how it would function. We are now a part of a Multicultural civilization and want to be more interactive and partake in the conscience-binding of these civilizations. You shall be our explorer and provocateur. You will explore and engage human feelings and emotions, and determine how, what, and why these strange concepts affect humans. You will share all with us so we can gain understanding through your experiences." "A corporal existence will certainly be an interesting experience." "Yes, we are looking forward to sharing your experiences. There are other Narth that have begun to interact, but you are the first that is truly corporal and attempt to emerge into active participation in their society. You will immediately depart Narth Prime and go to a world called Arsenal.  You will enter the Union Naval Academy which will train you to become a Union Fleet Officer.  Therefore, We the Narth will fulfill our obligation by sending one of our young to partake in defense of this Union. Your observations and your experience will give Narth Supreme the answers to the many questions posed to the Narth.  Your existence must be honorable and obey that which is pervaded to you by the Naval Academy and its educators.  Through you and your acquired knowledge of the Terrans and other beings in this time continuum, we shall make a determination regarding the continuants of this companionship and partaking more from other societies or disengage and ponder the advancement to another plane of existence." Another Narth voice said. "Please try to experience pain. One wants to analyze this concept one cannot fathom." "One is intrigued to learn what is "a hooded freak." Please ask and establish knowledge also about the following. "Another Narth tasked." "How a human addressed another being"  and Narth does not know if this is another concept. "One shall undertake attempts to collect information to aid comprehension."  They, these concepts and saying hold significant meaning and bearing to human, but at present are a conundrum to Narth. As the young Narth departed, he heard the Narth Supreme say in parting, "You carry on your shoulders the burden of civilizations, both past, and present. Beware the pitfalls of the human unexperienced in social niceties." That is interesting through the young Narth, just what is social niceties? Interlude:  Shea Shea could not believe the size of the Black Sirius. It somehow reminded her of an exquisite and swift bird with half-moon shaped forward spread wings a long neck and slender body. It was shiny black with silver accents. Rex Schwartz had casually called it his home, away from home. The inside was a very subdued luxury of the finest, black marble floors, wide sweeping staircases, glass, and chrome elevators and large viewports. She followed him like in a trance and now more than a little afraid of the man. He was nothing but kind and gentle to her in the most attentive way but realizing who he was, and the power he held was not easy to accept. Her intellect was quite capable of understanding who and what he was. Even on Sin 4, she had heard stories about Schwartz Industries and about the absolute ruthless way they did business. No one ever tried to rob the Coin exchange, at least no one ever tried successfully. He led her into a warm and comfortable furnished living room with a large leather seating group around a glass table. Nothing here screamed high tech or uber-lux, but she was certain the finest technology was still there, just well hidden. A tall blonde looking like an older sister to the girl he had introduced as his daughter, wearing a tasteful, very feminine black pantsuit. Rex kissed her and said." Wetmouth this is my wife, Linda. Linda meet Wetmouth." Shea blushed under her mask. Even though it was not unheard off, but still usual that a man would introduce a Sojo Prostitute to his wife, usually for some threesome action, but the woman greeted her friendly as if she was just a friend. Wetmouth learned from lessons in the temple that the Sojonit Sisters had an unmatched reputation. But they were still prostitutes, and many called them whores and even less flattering names. In many cultures and societies, the selling sex and sexual pleasures had always had an immoral and unethical aspect. However, Linda had no apparent or detectable tone of disapproval or disrespect. "Welcome Wetmouth, can I get you something to eat or drink?" Wetmouth shook her head, even though she still only had a cup of coffee and was very hungry. She asked. "Where are we truly going, Sir?" He turned and smiled at her." To Sin 4 so we can talk to your Mother Superior about the possibility of my family adopting you." Shea looked around." Sir, you seriously cannot be thinking about going to Sin 4 in this ship?" "Yes I was planning to, but if you don't like it, we can get something else." "Mr. Schwartz, Sin 4 is in Freespace. I know your corporation maintains a business there, but every pirate in the sector will try to capture this ship and you. The ship I left Sin 4 on, was attacked by a pirate and we barely made it to Alvors Cove, Sir." What happened to her then welled up tears again and constricted her throat with shame and fear. "No worries Wetmouth, this ship is not without teeth, and I am almost certain there is no ship in the known galaxy quite as fast. No pirate could keep up with us." Linda said, "That and the fact two large heavily armored Schwartz Security ships are always close behind us. You will be quite safe. If you want I show you to your rooms so you can freshen up and if you like you can join us for dinner. I am making good old fashioned Pork chops tonight. You do eat meat, yes?" The Sojoinit girl merely nodded and continued to the bedroom and bath area. Happy she could bathe and direct a marvelous auto dresser to restored her outfit. Shea was stunned to find that the Schwartz Family did not use servants and that Linda cooked the meal herself using very little robotic help. On their way to Sin 4, he introduced her to a game called chess. Having no exposure to it, she asks for a PDD ap. for instructions. Rex stated book learning of chess as okay, but on-the-job training from a chess player was much more enjoyable. She quickly understood the concept and found the game based on logic and mathematical understanding and memory entertaining and unlike most game she experienced based on solely on luck or chance of a draw. After analyzing his game for a while, noticed he let her win. She requested his stop doing so and challenge her for real, as they played she began to test him with mathematical problems. She discovered that his intellect equal to hers. To finally talk to someone who genuinely understood her with in-depth knowledge in a wide area of scientific areas was perhaps the most significant discovery of her life so far and immensely joyful. Only a little while ago she thought she would never see Sin 4 again and perish on a cold, impersonal space platform and now she had returned to Sojo Island inside a massive heavily armored limousine. None of the crocks and enforcers came near the Black Sirius or the two Corporate Battle ships sitting to each side of it. No one interfered with the flight of the flyer to the island. Mother Superior was surprised to see her, but she recognized Rex right away. "Mr. Schwartz, what an honor. I will of course personally serve you if you like. " Then she turned to Wetmouth. "Bringing such an esteemed customer is quite an accomplishment young Sojo, but I hoped you would be in school by now." The temple was abuzz about the famous visitor and Mother superior took her guest and Wetmouth in the most elegant Love chambers the temple had. She closed the door and then to Wetmouth's surprise hugged the big man in a very uncharacteristic fashion, more like a sister or a dear friend, not like a Sojonit. "I certainly have not expected you here. Still married to Linda?" "And happily so. Linda remained aboard the Sirius.  She did want to distract us from the main reason for being here." Mother Superior said to Wetmouth. "This man and his wife will celebrate their 2501 anniversary next month, correct, Rex. Most empires don't last that long. " The Highest Sojonit offered him a seat, and he took it and then asked." What brings you here? It has to do with my pupil, right?" "Yes, I found her stranded at Checkpoint 96. She had a rough time on Alvor's Cove and lost her means to travel, and according to Port control bio scanners, she is too young to apply for citizenship. Besides she would need to reveal her identity and all that." The First Sojonit sounded angry and apologetic at the same time. "I was so certain you were old enough and could you not find help at our temple at Alvors Cove? I am sure you know we have one there." "Mother Superior, I beg your forgiveness, but no one occupied the temple. The Alvor's Cove temple appeared abandoned." "Rex, I really could use one of your Security ships to get a group of Vengeance Angels to Alvor's Cove and If possible two of that marvelous extended coverage GalComs your Security supposedly possesses." "You are as well informed as always, old friend. I let the captain of the SSI Stuyvesant know that he is to accept your orders. I am sure he has whatever you need aboard." "The ER-Gal Coms will help a lot, the Sojonit Order and I owe you a big favor. Now I know you have a soft spot under that ice block of your heart, but flying with the Black Sirius to Sin 4 to bring me a lost Sojo back? I suspect there is more to this than means the eye." "I request permission to adopt her. I can then make her a citizen, and her identity remains secret under the VIP protection act. I will send her choice of Oxford, Stanford, or Heidelberg or Arsenal, but she must drop her mask and wig, and I would not ask this of her without your approval." Mother superior vainly tried to hold back a sniffed, "Oh, how beautiful. Wetmouth I give you my blessing. I can assure you, that you could not have found a better solution. I am not sure if you noticed, but Rex has a mind equal to yours. Not only is he the wealthiest individual in the known universe he is also a kind and generous person. He wishes to adopt you and offer you all that he commands.  That will include excellent education,  food, and clothing, all with only your approval as payment.  That you never have to worry about anything material comes as a bonus." She padded his knee. "A Skath girl from the worst slums in the universe will rise to become a princess in the court of the Union's secret emperor. That is poetic justice, old friend. And after these millennia you are still a sucker for girl tears." Rex shrugged." I know the difference between crocodile tears and real ones. I fathered twenty-eight daughters and adopted eleven. I consider myself an expert on girl tears." Then looked at Wetmouth with a smile. "You see you won't be the first daughter I raised; actually with you, it will be an even 40. "Then he smirked. "She is right you know. I still can't ignore a girl crying." Shea said shyly." Am I no longer a Sojonit?" "You will always be a Sojonit, but you will embrace but not wear the Veil of Abstinence from now and for the foreseeable future. If you ever wish to remove that veil, please advice me, and I will help you return here or wherever you desire to go. I hope you return so I may escort you to the Rainbow Palace where you will become a higher sister, respected and honored for your service to our cause." Rex said. "Mother Superior will you allow me to visit that palace?" "Rex, I am sorry, but no man may step foot on that planet or in that palace. But I will show you some visuals of the areas not protected by our oath, one of these days." Rex wore a small hi-tech on his left wrist, and it began humming, shaking her head, the Mother stated, "Only you could have a GalNet device that receives messages in a room shielded by the finest Union and First Age Saresii high tech security devices." He tried to look innocent, "I am sure the Stuyvesant has a good Counter Intel Tech who can help you with that, but I need to take this call. They would not have disturbed me if it wasn't urgent." That the mightiest CEO trusted the masked woman was evident as he opened his call before her. A man in an all-black uniform appeared. "Sir I am sorry for the interruption, but Situation Red Flood is operational right now. Nogoll forces joined.  The Union is on Highest Threat Alarm. Our analysts calculated a fifty-seven percent chance the incident will escalate to full galactic conflict." "Yvonne will engage Contingent Plan Iota Phi and prepare for Alpha Order seven. Dispatch the Robert E. Lee to go with the Omega Answer and prepare deployment protocol, Rex out." His smile had vanished. "A large number of Dai clans have accepted the offer and joined the Union. An even larger Dai group is trying to force their return to Dai Than or face elimination. The conflict is centered in the Prometheus Nebula group, with Admiral Stahl and several battle groups in the mix to protect the fleeing Dai. The Nogoll have violated the Freespace treaty, and there is a high probability their aggregation signals the launching of an Intra-Galactic War." These developments were troublesome to the Mother Superior, "This could change the status of Sin 4 and cause wholesale panic on the planet." "The Stuyvesant is available for your exclusive use. The captain is awaiting your command. If you need to evacuate it has sufficient room for your people and enough storage to take the temple along. You know it has full traction beam capabilities. I don't let friends behind. Oh, I am leaving a small group of T-Rex rangers to assist you also. Password for their command is, how about sarren dippity , that is double "r" and "p" use the phonetic alphabet to spell, aka Sierra, Alfa,  Romeo, Romeo, November space Delta, india, papa, papa, india, tango, yankee." "Oh, Rex is my feisty captain still running amuck with the rangers." "Nope, she got herself promoted to major and put charge of the gang I am leaving with you. Don't be too hard on her. She got the promotion when she was awarded the Medal of Honor in the last Kermac conflict in the  Fringe war last year.  That's right, she brags about her troops and forgets about herself." "That sounds like her, and thank you, Rex, and I contact the captain of the Stuyvesant immediately, need to get to the Cove soonest. Something terrible wrong there.  Now, about the other matter, I hope our other friend Richard keeps a cool head. I have a feeling he might get on his high horse and already be halfway to Kermac Prime.   "He will do the right thing. He always does." Rex assured her.