Version 2006 - Ch 42

THE TIGERSHARK -1- ________________________________________

we all assembled in the briefing room of the Tigershark, located on the same deck as the Bridge. A viewport on the starboard side showed the landing field and the stark landscape of Richter Four. The rooms main feature was a triangle shaped table. Across form us sat Fleet Admiral Mc Elligott, Highest Ranking Officer of the United Stars Navy for over 3000 years. Next to him Admiral Stahl, living legend, Commander of the Sixth Fleet and the Flag ship, the Devastator, a mysterious masked woman named Cherubim Commanding officer of Terran Space Intelligence, with them was a beautiful Saraesii Woman with the characteristic long silvery white hair of her species Mc Elligott greeted us and waited till we all found a chair, then he said."You all know Admiral Stahl and me. Some of you already know Cherubim , the Chief of TSI. Next to her Colonel Alyia Lichfangh , Psi Corps." With that he nodded to Cherubim and said." Go ahead Cher." The masked woman looked us over. " Not even I have seen a more diverse group than you. Ever since Richard became aware of you and put you together we are watching your development and progress and frankly you excelled in any expectation and that is the reason you are here." She gestured to the walls and the ship:" This Vessel is as unique as you are. In many ways it exceeds Tech Level Eight and anything known . It is the first ship incorporating Narth technology combined with the newest and most advanced developments of all our member species." Elligott touched a few symbols before him and a Holo of the ship slowly turned over the tables center and said:" The frame and hull are made of quad-matrix molecule arranged Ultronit, the outer armor plating made of tetra compacted Quarks in other words, there isn't much out there that could even scratch the hull. This also makes you impenetrable to any known Tech stop, Paralysator or Scanner beam. The shields are quadruple TransDim Shields. But the most important feature of your ship is the Janus Device, developed with extensive Narth cooperation. It is the only of its kind and allows your ship to appear as something else. An asteroid or another ship of approximately the same size. The Janus Device fools eyes and any known sensor." Seamlessly Cherubim continued." We want you to go undercover into Free Space and hunt Pirates, Spies, free and rescue slaves, destroy pirate bases and hunt the Worm. As you know, union ships are prohibited to cross into Free Space therefore you will assume the identity of Pirates yourself. Despite the advanced ship this is a dangerous mission and you are on your own for most of the time. Resupplying you will be difficult." The Saresii Woman spoke." The new Fleet Omnitronic NELSON will go online this week. It was developed in cooperation with Narth and Mothermachine of the X101. The purpose of NELSON is to upgrade Fleet Administrations capability to shift through the trillions of reports faster and more efficiently to give CID (Criminal Investigations Department) and NAVINT a better chance to react to Intel reports, activities of the worm and irregularities. This and the recent shake up due to the collapse of the Newport Academy as well as the addition of Narth Agents to PSI Corps led not only to an avalanche of arrests and investigations. It also caused and causes a migration of Fleet members and Officers that know their days are numbered into Freespace. This is of grave concern to us. Foreign forces scrambling to gather Mil-Tec information and military secrets that way. An important part of your mission is to arrest or eliminate any deserters and follow trails of Mil-Tech trade. You are authorized to use deadly force against anyone dealing with Union Mil Tec. or identify the individuals and Organizations wherever encountered." The Fleet Admiral leaned back." I know it is a tall order but we need to get a handle on these problems both internally as well as externally. With NELSON and a beefed up PSY Corps we are making tremendous progress on our side but we need an operational unit in areas we can't operate. We will give you all the support we can and all information we have. You have this tremendous ship as tool and you have 3 month to get to know your ship and crew. "Your crew is another challenge. This ship needs a crew of at least 300 to operate. It would be better if w can get you the full 800 this ship is designed for. Since this is an unusual mission we are handpicking your crew as we speak and it will take time to get them here." Stahl spoke for the first time." Richter Base will be your base of Operations and currently the only Union Port for you." After all this information was a moment of silence and they looked at us. Har-Hi glanced at me from the side and I nodded. So he said." We are going to be Pirates to the world?" Elligott nodded."Yes." "While I must say this idea appeals to me as I can't deny my heritage. I have one great concern. What if anything happens to you or if you decide to cut the losses for politics sake, are we then Outlaws for real?" "We managed to remain 3000 years around, but you have a very valid point. There is one more who knows the details of this operation, Narth Supreme." Narth send me a confirmation and I knew there was nothing that could corrupt the Narth Supreme and I nodded." We do it!" " Splendid!" he clapped his wrinkled hands." This project is Above Top Secret. Now I hope you understand that we can't give you that leave of absence you deserve after completing your third year, but you may use GalNet. If anything goes as planned you might be able to take a short break next year." He gestured towards Cherubim." She will fill you in on the details of your cover and your mission. I need to hurry now and get to the Atlantis as I am not even here officially." With those words he got up. We did the same and he shook hands with us. "Good Luck and a safe return to you all." Without waiting for a reply he waved once more and left in an obvious hurry. Cherubim made a different Holo appear. It was a Kartanian Destroyer Merchant, 312 meters long shaped like an old fashioned Coffin, still popular with the Foundation Christians all over the Union. Normally these ships had two Drive Pods, this one had four, two of them looked as if added by First Year Engineering School Cadets with only crowbars and sledgehammers for tools. The hull was patched many times with armor plating welded in place, but not always aligned correctly. Some of the patches were of different materials, there actually were some rusty steel plates. the bow section was scarred with micro meteor holes and I could clearly see several scorch marks from weapons fire. The ship had eight non retractable gun turrets of various origins and types including Nul-Froth Casters and one modern looking dual FTL Projector. To each side were six pods with Nul-Nul Gravitation Torpedo tubes. It looked old but still quite dangerous, especially with the Nul Weaponry. The ship was painted black, except were armor plate patches had been welded over the paint job, it's turrets, some trim details, the weapons and drive pods were of a silvery color. Cherubim had given us a little time to check it out then said." This is the Silver Streak, notorious Pirate Ship of Pirate Captain Black Velvet, a legendary assumedly Saran Pirate of about 400 years ago. The ship and the crew so the legend knows disappeared in the Micro Matter fields of the Igras Nebula fleeing from a Union taskforce." Elfi nodded." It's a story still told on Saran worlds. It was never proven she was Saran however. Some thought she was Terran and others were convinced she was a Saresii turned bad. But even if she had survived the Igras Nebula. and that is highly unlikely, she be either very old or dead by now. Even Saresii don't get much older than that." Cherubim nodded." This is true, but it doesn't matter. She has mysteriously returned and GalNet News Channels running stories and evil deeds she has done for weeks now. TSI and NAVINT agents planting stories, rumors and tidbits of her cruel and successful raids for almost a year. There are now sightings reported all over the known Galaxy by witnesses who have nothing to do with us and a group of Union Citizens demand that the Navy is hunting her down." Har-Hi grinned." That always works. Rumors and stories of no substance travel faster than any factual news to the furthest corners. I assume we are going to mask this ship so it looks like the Silver Streak?" "Correct, my Dai Lieutenant. The Janus Device is programmed with hundreds of ship masks including this one." Wetmouth leaned closer and touched the Holo to magnify a few details. " Since we do not know the true Identity of that pirate. is it not possible that she still might be alive, there are a few species that do live longer than others, there are Cryo options and of course there could be relatives or crew members still remembering and blow our cover?" "Highly unlikely since Black Velvet was just like you today a TSI operative and her ship a TSI unit. A secret less than 4 people knew until now." I raised my hand." Uhm, you are talking about a Female Pirate Captain, right? Black Velvet isn't a Fight name that a male Render would choose and you keep saying she." Cherubim shrugged."So? It is part of your personal file that you have no problem impersonating females. Every one of this crew must choose a second identity when you deal with anyone in person during your mission. It is not just the ship that will be in disguise." To have my secret so directly revealed to my friends was something I wanted to avoid. Wetmouth knew, Narth did too but the others? I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks and ears. Elfi smiled:"At least the team will be a little more balanced in terms of gender mix." I tried to see any reaction in my friends faces but neither made any signs of surprise. Was I that obvious to them before? Admiral Stahl said." You need to be more accepting and open about this, you know. If you try to keep it a secret from even your best friends it could turn out to be your Achilles heel and if I get the feeling you are becoming corruptible because of this I will have you removed from any command post and this Navy. I have no problem with your dual sexual identity, the Navy hasn't, your friends obviously have not." His tone became very serious." But I have a problem with a Commanding Officer who can't come to a decision about his or her own personality." I had no response to that and simply nodded. Har-Hi put his hand on my shoulder." We all know for a while now. While I was preparing to write your eulogy we got access to your personnel file. You are my friend Eric, what clothing you wear or what gender you are makes no difference at all." I swallowed at that."You all knew?" And now I felt guilty for not telling my best friends all about me and I knew Stahl was correct it was my weak point. Cherubim got up." There are a few more details we need to discuss before you depart but that has still a little time. Take a day off and call your families and then there will be lots of work to get you ready for your assignment." ________________________________________