The technical maintenance supervisor of beta shift on Tripoli shipyard handed him a data pad with a long and extensive list of cost estimates on it.
Ben took it and said nothing, the list was long, the costs high. He glanced over it and stopped at one figure that was unusually large.
"Whats this?" he grunted.
"Salvage" the supervisor answered. "She was crippled in Brettonian space, Leeds to be exact, getting it all the way back here without getting stopped by the law was not easy."
He exhaled loudly and thumbed his authorization on the ID scanner at the bottom of the pad. "Very well."
The technician smiled awkwardly "Don't worry Sir he said I know my way around the Venganza pretty well, this will be done before you know it."
Laowai cocked and eyebrow at him and the technician realized the implications of what he had said, he stuttered; "I only meant that I know the ship design pretty well and er..."
"Never mind" Ben said, "I know what you meant, just get it done and contact me when shes space worthy again."
The Venganza hung once more in the dock that was now crawling with technicians and cabling. Once more she had been blasted to the point of abandoning ship and her crew were starting to show signs of strain - rumors were beginning to circulate among some of the more superstitious about her being a cursed ship, stricken by bad luck and dangerous for all who crewed her.
There were almost certainly similar rumours about her captain.
Twenty six of her crew had perished when her hull had ruptured after the skirmish with the Outcast battleship in Leeds. They had actually defeated the enemy vessel, but when one of its reactors exploded the Venganza was caught in the blast. Unable to avoid the brunt of it with her shields down her hull had collapsed in several areas and been exposed to hard vacuum. Her own engines had failed and the resulting explosion took out her remainder - once more, for at least the third time in 6 months, he would have to completely replace the ships engines.
And a portion of her crew.
They still signed up; he had no shortage of those willing to fly. Laowai was known for being generous with his money, many of his former crew had made their fortunes and others were willing to take on the risks to do the same. But morale among his regular crew was starting to fall; and throwing money at them was only a brief fix.
And so, lately he had taken to flying his smaller craft alone, his Titan and his recently purchased Praetorian. He enjoyed the ease and the solitude that these ships allowed him; but he was no great fighter ace, nor had he ever been and after many years out of the cockpit he knew how rusty his solo piloting skills were. At least here though he thought, I can only get myself killed.
He flew his Titan back to Crete, putting her down on the landing platform in front of his hangar. Entering it he could tell immediately that his sister had been here, for the place was showing signs of tidiness that it would otherwise not show. Since the successful conclusion of her mission to Omicron Alpha, Isabel had been showing up on Crete a lot more regularly, it was as if she was trying to make peace with the Corsair part of her heritage. He hadn't said anything about it, just provided her with the pass codes for his hangar and told her to make herself at home. While he had been away in his mountain hideaway, it appeared she had. Sure enough as he collapsed onto his cot in the mezzanine he could see the small flashing message light on his internal computer.
"Computer, play message" he said to the ceiling, kicking off his boots and groaning in relief as his feet finally felt free of their restraint.
His sisters image appeared on a monitor; "Ben, I know you're up in the hills but I didn't want to disturb you, I took you up on your offer and Ive been back to Crete since I left, obviously Ive stayed here"
He could see several of his uniforms pressed an hanging on a rack in the corner, he chuckled, obviously... the thought to himself, for he never hung anything he wore..
"Ill be back in a few weeks, well talk again then."
The monitor blinked off.
Lying back on his cot he thought of the crew that didn't come back from his last mission, the rumours that were now circulating. He needed some victories and soon, but more practically, he needed more money. He had planned to purchase another gunboat to captain himself but had scrapped the plan spending the money instead on compensation, rewards and pay for his crews, he would have to get busy now making some money the old fashioned Corsair way: by stealing it.
"Computer" he called out, a small beeping acknowledged him. "Get me a channel to the Outsider, encrypted, audio only."
The computer beeped again and then the comm. System kicked in, a soft crackling sound lingered for a moment before a voice took over, scratchy and distant but easily recognizable.
"This is Alberto, is that you Capitan?"
"Phillip" Laowai said, "When you get back to Tau 44 I need you to pack your things, I need you and the boat back home."
There was a pause and Phillip Alberto's voice kicked in again, slightly delayed it seemed by the vast distances this comm link was having to traverse "Si Si of course" he said "Is everything well? I have sent you the latest reports, our mission here is going well"
"Everything's well Phillip, and the mission has been going very well" Ben answered, "I need you all home right now though, were going to go take some peoples money."
The Bridge of the Battleship Venganza was a hive of activity as she hung in a synchronous high orbit with the docking rings above Planet Crete. Her bridge crew handling the dozens of manifest scans, comm transmissions and other administration matters that seemed to come flooding in each time she was taken on patrol.
She was a warship, but sometimes Ben Laowai felt her to be a large floating office, with a few guns to allow the staff to let off steam.
Since the battle in Brettonia however she had been major incident free, the ship and her crew had even managed to amass a few small victories that had done wonders for the regular crews' morale. In a small room behind the bridge, Laowai sat at a desk strewn with papers. Seemingly sprawled across the table with no thought to order there were council matters, finance matters, crew matters and a half a dozen other things that needed attending to.
He sat facing the door, scrawling across a note sent to him by a Tripoli engineer offering a price on an internal upgrade; he had just finished writing the words "You're supposed to pirate outsiders, not corsairs" on it when a soft buzzing sound from the door disturbed his thoughts.
"Open" he called out so that the ships computer would register the command. He always worked with a door locked, it was a habit that he had begun years ago and one that he now did without thinking. Some people thought him paranoid, he just thought himself careful.
Recently a bounty hunter had managed to hack his personal comms and had spent an extremely irritating period of time taunting him over the comm system as he attempted to track Laowai and his personal Titan in Omega 47. Added to that came the news from Corsair intelligence agents that the Outcast Council of Dons had place a personal bounty on his head as part of a general bounty on the whole council. He wasnt exactly looking over his shoulder, but he wasnt giving them any chances, you dont rise to a position of power in the corsairs without the ability to pick your battles.
Phillip Alberto strode into the room "Hola Capitan!" he said. Ben looked up and gestured to a chair on the other side of the desk. Alberto was a good man, and Laowai had found he had come to trust the younger man a great deal. He had proven himself capable many times over, both as the helmsman of the Xibanya Nuren and then commanding the Outsider. He would make a good captain in his own right someday Ben had thought often and now had confidence in trusting the man with a range of important tasks.
"I need you head out to Omicron Delta" he said to him. Alberto nodded quickly, "Si senor, you shall be needing more.. Samples"? Laowai shook his head - "No, not this time". He handed a datapad across the desk on which there was a starchart of the Omicron Delta system. He highlighted part of it "Here" he said "Is a jumphole that goes to an as yet relatively uncharted system". The coordinates now centered on the data pads small screen and Phillip studied them carefully. "i want you to jump though, scan the place and if you meet any significant resistance, get out."
Phillip nodded again "Just scans Captain?"
"Just scans" Ben said nodding.
His comm indicator beeped and he pressed it "What is it?"
"transmission for you captain, coming in from the Texas system"
He scolwed slightly; "Put it through". He looked up and shook his head "This will be the boy". Phillip raised his eyebrows "Your nephew?" and Ben scowled again; "yes, my nephew."
The screen on the desk flickered and the slightly grainy image of a young fair haired Libertonian lad appeared on the screen, his usual cheery countenance, slightly muted for this call. "Howdy there Uncl... i mean Ben" he said.
Laowai scowled 'Howdy nothing boy, you got careless." He held up an intelligence report that was one of many laying on his desk, on it was a list of Bounties being broadcast by the Brettonian Authorities, highlighted was the name "Donny Ren".
Donny was visibly uncomfortable "I can explain that, it was a one off, i swear i wasn't even at the conn and...." he paused... "well, what i rightly mean is..."
Laowai interrupted him "I don't want excuses boy, that cargo was valuable and I'm paying you far more than you should be getting paid to take it. You lose it, and i will NOT be impressed - now with a bounty on your head you will get noticed and NOT being noticed is crucial in what we do do you understand?"
The young man nodded, the image on the screen distorting slightly from interference "Well, i know i know, i done bad there, I'll be much more careful from now on, you'll see."
Ben dropped the report, "you had better be, now, I'll see you next time you're here, Laowai out."
He closed the connection. Phillip raised one eyebrow; "The boy got caught eh?".
"More that he got scanned" Ben answered. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "I had to swallow my pride to admit it but the boy is good at what he does, i dare say he's been lucky to not have had a run in this long."
He handed Phillip a code key "Outsiders' new comm frequencies" he said. "Remember, i just want scans for now, thats all."
Phillip took the key and stood to leave "Very well Capitan, i will have them for you as soon as possible." Smiling he turned and left the room.
Ben leaned back in the chair and looked out the window at the stars and the slowly rotating globe far below that was Crete. Its brown and red burnt surface obscured in patches by drifts of cloud that circled it like random brush strokes from a child's painting. On the table near the window, sitting in a black open box which was padded, lined and specially fitted, sat a small purple-bluish crystal.
In the past, he had come here as part of a fighter wing. Stationed in Leon he would radio in an engine failure, navigation failure, or in some cases he would not radio at all. Questions had been asked, but because it only happened periodically it was explainable - Corsair pilots in the front line often didn’t live very long, it was quite conceivable for there to be a few equipment failures a year.
He had been lucky that no one noticed that these failures seemed to happen at roughly regular 6 monthly intervals, and always in the same system.
Later, after his return of service obligation was over and he was free to make his own fortune and path, he no longer had to lie. He came alone in his Titan, stopping off on battleship Fes to visit and drink with his friends there, disappearing for days, then returning.
They did notice the 6 monthly intervals in visits, which while initially raising a curious eyebrow or two quickly took on the mantle of “tradition” and thus was never questioned further.
Now, “for the sake of tradition and friendship” he told them, he came as he pleased, and in a style that those who still remembered the old days could not help but be impressed by. Battleship Fes was an Osiris class battleship, marginally smaller than the Legate class battleship that now pulled up alongside her, the massive bulk of the Venganza slid gently through the orange gas clouds and meteors, to take up station beside this, the loneliest of Corsair outposts.
Nowadays, he came in style.
She moored beside the Fes. The two battleships joined by tethers and airlocks, both her crews enjoying the novelty of each others bars and populations. Usually sometime in the morning after it arrived, Elder Ben Laowai would embark from the docking bay on the Venganza onboard a titan, and vanish for a few days.
Those who were still around who remembered the old days, noted to themselves that he always did this, knew that he never answered their questions as to “why?” and smiled and shook their heads.
They did notice however, that the visits had started to become more frequent, more often than “every 6 months”, none of them yet had felt the need to ask. Protocol demanded that he dine with the Fes's captain, but afterwards he would retire to the bar to meet his old friends They enjoyed the company, the war stories, the banter – and they enjoyed the looks of bewilderment from the younger pilots who had the misfortune of being posted to this backwater that an Elder sat at their table.
The “Kusari” Elder at that.
Venganza was here often they noted, Elders had these kinds of discretionary powers, and none asked the obvious questions.
It was just as well, for none could have possibly conceived the answer.
He sat in the crystal chamber, the machine he had constructed over years sitting before him.
It looked like nothing. A collection of metal lined wiring an in box, swirling outwards and then congealing in a single point at the centre, surrounding a small orifice that looked built to hold something. Within this, small connection points, ultra-fine and barely visible to the eye lined its interior, each of them emitting a beam of light no more than a microscopic fraction of a measurement beyond itself.
Yet he knew it worked, he knew it was able to interface with the very specific technology that would sit within it.
He opened the container he always carried and took out the purplish crystal within, placing it carefully into an opening in the crystal walls, in his hand, he held another. The voice within his mind asked the question:
*** What does it do? ***
He smiled, saying nothing but thinking the answer *** its just a test, I know it can hear them, receive this kind of communication, I want to know if it can be manipulated the same way***
He had already boosted the receiving power of his own crystal by a vast amount, and barely a month ago, hed heard her for the first time, outside this system, whilst resting in quarters on Leon. This revelation alone had been a joy, amazement. But this was now a test of something else.
*** Ill place your crystal here *** he thought, and looked at the opening in the machine, *** and I want you to turn on the lights on its outside ***.
*** Thats it? *** Her voice appeared again *** turn on lights it seems like... nothing? ***
Laowai knew the test was small, yet if she was able to interface with this, most limited of technology it opened up possibilities that he now only dared consider. *** Youve been able to exert your will on things in the past *** he thought back to her.
*** But that was on people, and I wasnt. *** she paused *** like this, I wasnt dead***
He looked about him. He wished it was the time of the year he could see her, persuading her to try, to risk this would be so much easier if he was able to look her in the eye, touch her.
That was not this time however, but it still had to be tried.
*** This is no different*** he thought back *** this thing amplifies your ability to communicate through the crystal, I think it could do more ***
*** You want to see if I can control a machine *** she came back at him; he sensed immediately her feelings and the images that came with it. She had understood then that there was more to this than turning on lights, more than curiosity.
*** Yes*** he thought ***I want to take you out of here ***
He felt her emotion recoil. This sensation never ceased to amaze him, to feel emotions, real and tangible yet completely outside himself and disembodied. It was something a person could never realty get used to. *** I cannot leave! *** She came back at him *** I cant! If anything happens I will cease to exist! ***
Ben knew that she could move herself into her crystal and no where else. He had discovered this some years ago when she had accidentally done exactly that whilst he was trying to engage his own crystal with the chamber. He had knocked hers from its interface and it fell to the floor - her presence in the virtual reality that was created when they joined every 6 months immediately vanished. He only found her again when he detached himself and picked up her crystal, reinserting it in to the wall.
*** There is no danger, not in this room, not here *** he thought, calming his emotions as much as he could so that she would feel them.
*** Its not here Im worried about *** she thought back, *** its what could happen if this works ***
He understood her trepidation. In this chamber the Corsairs of Tangier had found a way to cheat death, to live in an altered state essentially forever, as far as they knew. By even allowing her to reside purely within her crystal, he risked that.
He could not risk losing her, he would not. It was why he had not suggested this these thirty odd years. But now, he had the position, the power, and the wealth to do something - and more importantly, his experiments on the technology, so expertly tested by his sister without her even knowing had proved fruitful. Thus, he was convinced the risk was minimal, almost negligent, he just needed to know if this could work.
*** There is no risk, here, now, in this room *** he thought *** it will just stay here and now, for now ***
She felt his determination, his stubbornness, and behind that, his utter conviction that this small step alone, held no danger. She felt misgivings, he felt her misgivings, she was worried, and he felt her worries. But behind the shadow of doubt she felt his hope, burning like a distant sun on everything she now feared could transpire - and she trusted him, implicitly, knew his mind beyond any level a flesh and blood human being could, and knew he believed in this.
She willed herself to inhabit nothing but the small crystal she was bound to which lay within its space in the wall. He tenderly lifted it in his hand and placed it into the interface on the machine, its opening designed exactly to match the shape and spacing of the crystal.
He watched it, feeling nothing now that she was not in the room and he was not touching the crystal. It felt strange in this place, to not hear her thoughts and feel her emotions. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, a moment of sheer terror when he realised that if something were to happen to that crystal whilst she was in it alone, he would lose her forever.
Then the miracle happened before his eyes. The small diodes on the side of the machine he had placed for this exact purpose lit up.
Slowly at first, like a light switch with a fader being turned up gently, then brighter, brighter, and brighter again - he started transfixed as they reached their pinnacle of illumination and then suddenly and loudly in the otherwise silent room exploded with a pop and a splattering of broken glass and smoke.
He quickly retrieved the crystal, the moment his hands touched it he heard her *** it worked, but they were small, they couldnt hold me, I told them to be bright I think I broke them ***
He could feel her excitement, beside her doubts what she had done shocked even her. Placing the crystal back in its opening he felt her surround him again within the room instantly *** you did break it my love, but it doesnt matter, it worked, it really worked, you could interface and control the machine ***
*** What does that mean? *** She thought back it him, her excitement evident through her feelings but within that feeling he felt her uncertainty.
*** possibilities *** he thought *** infinite possibilities***
The Cargo bay doors opened with a clang as Ben piloted the small escape pod from Valentine’s ship “There you go Elder” he heard Valentine’s voice in his comm. System, “home at last eh!”
Piloting the tiny pod through the docking rings he answered gratefully “Indeed my friend, and thankyou for the ride”.
The skirmish with the Bounty Hunters had gone well for the Corsairs, not so well for the Bounty Hunters, a small raiding party had been spotted out near the ’41 Jumphole and a force of Corsairs had moved to intercept.
All had been well until Laowai failed to dodge a nuclear mine; one of dozens that had been cast off by one of the bounty hunters as he frantically tried to avoid the swarms of Corsairs on his tail.
“Blast! So many of the things in space I could get out and walk back to Crete!” Ben had cursed as his pod ejected swiftly from his disintegrating Titan. He had been flying her more on his own lately, the Venganza’s crew on leave after several trips out to Omega 47 and the Xibanya Nuren having her weapons refit. Never much of a fighter pilot, he did however enjoy the solitude the Titans small enclosure gave him.
Which was nothing compared to the escape pod he now touched down on the landing in front of his hangar. As it came to rest one of his techinicians made his way out “Titan get lost Elder?” the man said cheekily. Laowai shot him a look and then chuckled, “yes, don’t know where I parked the thing… get me another one will you?”
The man chuckled as well and nodded in affirmative. He would have a new Titan ready to do within an hour or so, so many were turned out by the foundries on Crete, so many were lost.
Laowai made his way inside and up into his mezzanine living quarters, it was neat; a sure sign that his sister had been here again. Sure enough, the message was waiting for him on his comm system. Kicking off his flight boots he dropped into the couch, poured a drink of Baijiu and called out “Computer, play message”.
His sisters’ voice chimed over the comm system “Ben, are you ever here?” sipping his drink he chuckled and answered to no-one “at the moment not really”. Her message continued, “I got your message while I was in Freeport 9 and came back as soon as I could, I missed you by hours apparently, faced the usual pleasant conversation from your goons in orbit. I use the name in my comm. Signature now, don’t your people know how to read?”
Laughing quietly to himself he pictured his sister’s irritation at being grilled by a Corsair squad on approach to the Crete. She knew how to handle herself, and even though she flew under the family name, she didn’t fly under a Corsair flag and would usually be asked to explain her presence here. She went on: “Anyway, I found your… machine or whatever it was, and dropped it off with the person you asked me to at the Cambridge research station, nervous fellow, but there were no troubles there, I’ll be back down in a few weeks prepping the payment for Matthuis’s next shipment of food, might be nice to actually see you for once, Isabel out”.
The comm. System clicked off and the computer’s voice chimed in “Incoming transmission”
Ben downed his Baijiu and poured another, getting up he sat himself in front of the view screen and said “Open the channel”.
The nervous visage of Dr Remington of the Cambridge research institute appeared on the screen. “Dr!” Ben said with a dry tone “What wonderful timing! I hope you have information for me I might like.”
The Dr looked around him, and nodded “ I… I do indeed Senor Laowai, I do indeed”. His nervous stutter less pronounced than it usually was, a clear sign that the man was excited about what he was going to say.
“Well, you got the item I sent you then I presume?” Ben asked him. Remington nodded quickly, “I did indeed and I have to tell you, the initial results….”
Ben sipped some Baijiu and sat back “Go on Dr…”
The Dr nodded quickly, “The results were extremely promising, I cross referenced it with other research that we have done on the N..Nomads control of their own technology, interfaces, control systems, that k..kind of thing, all highly c…classified I might add, but the ..c…code tool you gave me worked wonders!”
Smiling his sharks tooth smile Ben nodded slightly; “I’m sure it did, and so… you were able to expand on the research?”
“Expand is an… an understatement!” The Dr stammered “This stuff goes way beyond Xenotechnology, you’re looking at military research here, and some of this stuff is way out there, I mean the applications of what you have found crossed with what’s known its… its”
“Not for general consumption Dr” Laowai interjected, “Don’t forget that…. Now, will any of this help the interface?”
The Dr gathered himself and continued “M..most certainly, much of the research that has been done here is on how they interface with their technology, spe…specifically how one lifeform controls its ship, or links with the others, or in the case of larger ones, how they control multiple ships. Your design is basically sound but with some work from what we know here it will work m… much better, and on much more c… complicated designs”
Pausing and looking a little more sheepish than usual, the Dr asked “W..where did you get the basis for this interface design?”
Laowai smiled “Oh I have my sources Dr”. He put down the now empty glass and sat forward “Amend the blueprints and the prototype to include your new data, let me know when its done and I’ll have someone come and retrieve it” Smiling again he added “I must say Dr, im quite pleased with your cooperation on this matter, should things continue how they are… we might look at removing that nasty device from your body eh?”
The Dr Smiled and nodded “Oh that would b… be SO good Senor Laow…wai… I’ll get on this right away.”
“See that you do, Laowai out”. He switched off the comm. System.
This was good news and what he had hoped for. His crystal interface design had worked but it was limited in the functions he could open it up to. He knew that Nomads themselves were capable of controlling much more complicated items such as their ships, or their basic technology, and that there had to be a way he could duplicate that. It turns out, there was.
He sat back and thought on Zarita’s situation, What If he could get her out? He needed to give her some form of autonomy. He had been trolling the information nets of the various houses and militaries for information on cybernetic research but so far, apart from a few tantalizing hints, he had drawn blanks… he had to figure something out, it would be intolerable to get her out only to have her in a computer somewhere, even less lifelike than she was now where at least he could still touch her every 6 months.
Sighing he stood up and stretched, tossing off his flight jacket he layed down on his cot…. Pondering where to take this next inquiry.
He punched up a map on his data pad, scrolling the layers of systems with his fingers until he came to one in Particular: "Omicron Major". He knew what was reported to be there, though the place was crawling with Nomads and considered extremely dangerous. Added to that, no one had decent scans of the surface interior of the thing, how do you get decent scans of a system sized Dyson Sphere?.
He pressed at link on his screen and a voice chimed "Yes Elder?"
"Have the Venganza prepped and ready, equip her with several weeks rations and extra arms and ammunition to be loaded onboard" He paused, "In fact, i'll send you a manifest of what she will need but once you have it all i want to be ready to leave in the next 24 hours."
"Yes Elder" the man said and the screen clicked off.
She had been manned with a skeleton crew, the bare minimum needed to keep her functioning, armed and maintained. The crew had been promised a million credits each for the journey, but Laowai had been wary of taking the more inexperienced younger members. He knew this trip could be one that many would not come back from, far from Corsair space should they be forced to abandon ship; there would be little hope of rescue.
They stopped at Freeport 11, taking that last opportunity to stock up on supplies and to go over the intelligence on the systems they would be going through. Laowai had taken the Venganza into Nomad space on two occasions before, but recent reports from the order and from the Corsairs own listening posts indicated that the defenses in Nomad space had been upgraded.
When they arrived in Omicron Iota, "upgraded" proved to be an understatement. They had been set upon consistently by patrols from the moment they jumped into the system and by the time they had crossed to the expanse of Iota to the next jumphole the crew was tired and showing strain. Gun crews had been working rotational shifts but the weapons had never fallen silent - Laowai toured the ship constantly, bolstering the crew. They were covered in sweat, shirts off or with sleeves up, the heat of the weapons gradually building over the hours as they fought off the nomad waves.
Omicron 99 had been the same, Nomad patrols had come in harder, faster and better armed than anything their intelligence had led them to believe. They held their own, the Venganza's mighty shields never dropping below 40%. Laowai didnt sleep for the duration of this part of the trip, he noted everything, updated their charts and urged his crew onwards when they began to tire.
In Omicron 90 the pace eased, the patrols became fewer until the navigator called out "There it is Elder.... the jumphole is right where the charts said it would be."
Corsair intelligence on this part of Sirius was particularly sparse. This was on the borders of Outcast space, far from the usual operating area of any Corsair ship and what intelligence he had Laowai had pieced together from various sources: The Order, paying lip service to their alliance had supplied some, but were noticeably reluctant to part with any real detailed information, much had come from the Junkers, and some, surprisingly from a lone IMG survey vessel, the pilot of which Laowai had met in a bar on Crete. The man had seemed strange, distant as if haunted by something. However Ben had found him a valuable source of information on this part of space, and the information came freely with a little motivation from Credits and a free servicing of the man's Ravens Talon.
"Hold here a moment" he said, leaning forward in his chair. He knew that on the other side of this jumphole, there was supposed to be a vast, system sized construction known as a Dyson Sphere. This was the entrance into its interior... an interior which had not been explored in any known detail and which he hoped could help him in his quest to understand and modify the ancient technology that both preserved and imprisoned his wife.
"The jumphole is stable Elder" the navigator added. Ben sat back in his chair, pressing a button on it's arm he sounded a warning across the ship "weapons crews standby for hostiles".
"Take us in" be said calmly.
The ship split the aperture of the anomaly and then shuddered as she plunged into hyperspace, the chaotic maelstrom of lights flying past at inconceivable speeds. Suddenly she burst back into open space, to be greeted by a view that drew collective gasps from all on the bridge who could see it....
The vastness of the structure around them silenced all of those on the bridge who could see it, even Laowai leaned forward in his command chair, eyes wide and mouth agape.
It was only the insistence beeping of a warning sensor that roused them back to their senses, "Incoming alien ships, 1, 2 no.... 3 wings of them coming in fast!" yelled the officer at the scanning control. Laowai sat back into his chair and strapped himself in again, hitting a button on the arm-consol he spoke "Crew, get back to your stations, hostiles on the way - the fun isn't over yet."
The great ships engines engaged and she began to thrust away from the jumphole, her gun batteries opening up once again filling the vaccum of space outside with a flurry of supercharged lights dancing to and fro as they chased their elusive targets. The Nomad vessels were fast and maneuverable, able to dodge the blasts of the bigger ships weapons with relative ease, sweeping past and unleashing their own volleys at the vessel that had just invaded this, one of their most revered places.
It became apparent quickly however that the light fighters, while great in number did not possess the firepower to do the Venganza any harm and soon they began to be picked off, one by one exploding in a sudden bright flash. They began to fall off and hold their distance.
While the Venganza made its way slowly through the asteroids that filled the space within the sphere Laowai stood by the officer at the scanning controls. He plugged a data pad into an access port on the mans console and a strange list of numbers and shapes appeared briefly on his screen, "Scan for anything that matches that energy signature and those patterns of structure" he told the perplexed looking man. "Elder... im not sure what im looking for... I..". Laowai pointed to the patterns now sitting on the mans screen, "search for matches, you don't need to know what it is, just find something that matches it."
The officer moved his hands over the controls, pushing buttons quickly as he instructed the ships scanners to carry out the task. Quickly however, he shook his head and said "Its too big, its just too big. Our scanners don't have the range to even get to the facing wall, its impossible to do the whole thing."
Laowai scowled... How had he not anticipated that? "Keep scanning" he told the man. He turned quickly, "Engage the cruise engines, get us to the facing wall."
The navigator turned "Elder, that will take days, its off our charts now as it is!"
Laowai sat down in his chair and cracked his knuckles loudly; "Then it takes days, get us there."
"Aye" the navigator answered and punched in the code to arm and engage the engines. The battleship leapt forward at a far greater speed now, rocks and asteroids bouncing off her shields as she surged forward.
"Where are the Nomad ships?" Laowai asked. The scanning officer punched another control and answered "5k behind us, they are in formation and have jumped to cruise; Their shadowing us!"
Thought they might, Laowai thought to himself. "No matter, until they bring in something bigger they can't hurt the ship, get us to scanning range of the wall."
He unstrapped himself from the chair and stood, "I'll be in my office for a while, any change in the situation call me straight away".
The Navigating officer nodded and Ben made his way to the door at the back of the bridge. He made his way down the hallway to his office, speaking to no one as he passed, his mind lost in thought.
Reaching his office he opened his safe on the wall beside his desk. From inside he took a metal box and placed it on the desk. He sat down and entered a code on the box, a small slide opened and he looked into it, the retinal scanner within matching his eye to the code stored within. Another slide clicked open and a pad of 26 letters appeared with a small screen above them displaying the word "Why?"
He entered two words into the pad and the lid of the box clicked open.
Sitting inside the box, resting in a niche created especially for it, was his own Crystal from Tangier.
Dare he use it here? it would save time to just search around him, in the alien minds around him for the structures he was looking for. Could he do it? He stared at the crystal intently, it was a risk, they were many, he was one - this was their language not his... and they would know why he came, what he was seeking and could guess then that perhaps there were others out there among the stars, that their masters' legacies, the legacy that preserved his wife, were being usurped by Humanity.
He closed the box and it locked itself, closing its respective chambers with mechanical whirs and clicks.
No, he couldn't do it, it was too risky. This would have to be done by old fashioned looking and luck.
He clicked the comm control on his desk and said to the Navigating officer "Estimated time to scanning range of the facing wall?"
There was a pause and the mans voice came down the line "At least a day Elder... probably two, we're still too far out to get an accurate reading of the distance."
"Let me know as soon as you can" Laowai said, the frustration carrying on his voice. He switched off the channel. He had come here hoping in the possibility of finding answers, something that could aid him in his task. So far however, this seemed like chasing a single piece of dust in an asteroid field.
A day turned into two, and then three.... and halfway through the fourth day the navigator's voice chimed across Laowai's cabin comm system: "We've reached the facing wall Elder, commencing scans as ordered."
Ben looked up from the notes he was studying on his desk. Hitting the comm system he replied, "Good, let me know as soon as you find anything that matches the energy and configuration that we're looking for".
Clicking the system off he sat back in his chair. This mission was guesswork, a stab in the proverbial dark and he knew it, the chances of finding what he was looking for, and then getting anything useful from it, were slim to none.
On top of that, he did not know if he had the ability to do what he thought needed to be done.
She was imprisoned. While it was true she was alive in a sense, he could see her, periodically touch her, she was, for all intents an purposes imprisoned. Locked in the crystal chamber on Tangier, which was now orbited by a Hessian supply station - a fact that made this mission all the more important. He had to get her out.
There had to be a way.
He had gleaned, over numerous personal encounters and by various dealings with those who knew that what passed as a consiousness among the Nomads was able to move from one physical entity to another. It was also well known among the Corsairs, from many deadly examples of personal experience that these beings could take on different shapes, adapt themselves, become what they needed to - death was, as it was to Zarita, a state of transferance.
What the Corsairs of Tangier lacked though, was a desitnation to transfer to. They considered their crystal chamber to be life beyond death and in many ways it was. However Laowai had began to understand that this was incomplete technology, the consiousnesses stored in the chamber were meant to be maintained yes, but they were also meant to be able to be transfered.
How?
That was another question, the answer to which, he hoped to find here.
He rose from behind his desk and opened a small door in the wall beside it. Reaching in he retrieved a small glass and a bottle of Kusari Baijiu. He poured a large dram and took a swig, the heat of the liquid passed from his throat to his chest and he closed his eyes, "i hope this isnt a waste of time" he thought.
Sipping from the glass he moved the the window in his cabin and gazed out at the vastness of the system around him - it was strange, unnatural to see what he beheld; there were no stars, only the vastness of a landscape that sprawled out where open space should be.
In that moment he felt truly small; "who are we to even hope to comprehend... that"? he thought.
He shook himself from his thoughts and decided to make himself useful while the scans were being run. He had been out of touch with Crete for some time and decided to see if he could still access his home system
"Computer" he called out, "access Elder system #Laowai and download contents".
The computer chimed a confirmation and then its emotionless voice called out; "unable to comply, Elder systems unavailable, Comm beacon does not reply".
He took another sip from the glass. This had better work, and if not they could not stick around - for they were very, very much alone out here.
The great ship shook ever so slightly as another barrage of volleys from the passing Nomad fighters glanced it's shields. Through the deck plating Laowai could feel the "Thrum thrum thrum" of the Venganza's gun batteries as they opened up in response. Her crew were now well trained and versed in the attack patterns and tactics of the Nomad fighters, and the enemy ships were quickly vaporised.
The attacks were coming in sporadic waves, seemingly without pattern. They knew they were here, obviously, but it was strange that they didnt send anything larger than the light fighters and Assasins that they had so far encountered.
He sat behind his desk, chair arched back and his feet up on the desk itself, sipping Baijiu and staring intently at the crystal in the box in front of him. All he had to do was reach out, touch it, seek them... and he could find out.
That or everything he hoped for could be lost, he had no idea how powerful they could be in here, in this.... place.
As he mused a voice chimed over his commlink, it sounded excited: "Elder... we've found something!".
Ben sat forward quickly, dropping the glass on the table in a rush and spililng what remained of its contents on the desk. "What is it?" he asked "what have you found?"
The voice chimed back "I'm.. not sure, but its energy signatures match the ones you gave us exactly, its even geometrically identical...."
Ben jumped up and moved quickly to the door. Leaving the room he made his way to the bridge and once there approached the Corsair sitting behind the scanning controls.
"Show me" he said bluntly.
The man moved his chair aside and Laowai stooped over the console. There it was, rotating on the screen before him, mapped out in all its glory - a 3 dimensional graphical representation of the scan data that formed a shape that he knew all too well - A crystal Chamber.
Exactly the same shape, size and specifications as the one he had visited on Tangier so many times. He skimmed the readouts on the side of the display, it was showing active energy, it was showing movement of energy..... This thing is still active!? he thought excitedly.
He stood up and turned round, striding across the bridge he moved to his command chair and withdrew his arms belt and webbing that he had left dangling over its side.
"Move the ship into a low orbit over that location" He said.
The helmsmen nodded a reply and the image in the screen began to slowly move as the Venganza banked toward the specified coordinates.
Laowai strapped on his gear and spoke once more to the helmsmen. "I'm going down there, you'll have the bridge while im gone."
The young man nodded but looked uncertain, reading his thoughts Ben added "Dont worry, i wont be gone long". He zipped up his combat jacket. "However, if you do not hear back from me within 72 hours you are to get the Venganza out of here and report to what remains of the council that i was lost on mission - Do you understand me?"
The man swallowed and then nodded again "Yes Elder" he answered firmly.
"under no circumstances are you to deviate from these orders without my specific insruction."
He turned and left the slightly stunned bridge crew behind him and left the bridge. Heading back to his quarters he retrieved his Crystal and a pack of supplies and headed to the ships fighter bay. He had been well prepared for this moment since they had left Crete some time ago.... and as he strapped himself into his waiting Gladiator fighter he wondered what it is, if anything, he would find.
Without another moments hesitation, he engaged the small fighters engines, she hovered as the Venganza's fighter bay doors opened and the room depreassurised. A voice called over his earpeice "Stable orbit achieved Elder, bay doors are open and you are clear to depart."
"Roger that" Ben answered, "I will return within 72 hours, remember my Orders, Laowai out.".
Sliding the thrust controls forward he sent the small ship hurtling out of the bay and into the vastness of open space beyond. He startled momentarily as he saw the endless expanse of the Dyson sphere's surface sprawling out before him, cities, mountains, rivers, lakes... even oceans....
He set the nav computer and aimed for one specific point in what looked like an enourmouse city.
Like a spec of dust in the sky, the Gladiator descended down towards the unknown.
He guided the ship down towards the location displayed on his navigation screen. As it decended it became progressivly more dwarfed by the immensity of the structure around him.
Suddenly the ship shook slightly and a turbulance alarm went off on the side console - momentarily startled Laowai checked his readings. Of course it has an atmosphere! he thought to himself, looking ahead he saw whisps of cloud approaching him rapidly and he steered the ship gracefully around them, compensating for the pockets of turbulance now by letting the computer calculate an atmospheric flight.
Lower and lower he flew. The structures on the ground - those that had appeared as blurs from orbit - begand to coalesce into harder shapes, squares, circles... long expanses that might have been streets, boulevades... if that is, whoever constructed this place had any such human similes.
The signal he had locked onto from the Vanganza's sensors now displayed as being directly below him and he aimed at what appeared from this altitude to be a series of massive monolithic buildings; not that they stood out... from what he could see, everything on the surface of this place was massive and monolithic.
Locating a suitable place to land he thrusted the Gladiator gently down and brought her to land a few hundred meters from there the signal seemed to be originating.
It was darker here than he had expected - the light from the dimming suns of this system cast long shadows from the buildings and structures that now towered above him. He paused for a moment.... awed by the sight about him.
Vast block shaped buildings stretched up into the sky, grey, blue and blueish purple, reaching up it seemed to the clouds themselves. The sky from down here, surprisingly clear and showing no sign of the space beyond it, only the dull hint of the suns in this system broke through the atmospheric veil. Where does a species that can do this go to? he wondered aloud.
Shutting the engines down he scanned the surrounding area - the atmosphere was light, rare.. but breathable and so disconnecting himself from the ships oxygen supply and computer system he popped the canopy. It slid open and he stood in his seat and looked around him.
It was cold, almost bitterly so and he shook the moment the air hit his face. Reaching into his supply kit at the side of his cockpit he retrieved his survival thermals and kit that he had prepared onboard the Venganza. Putting on the coat and leggings he slid the remaining kit over his shoulder and then retrieved his Blaster rifle and combat belt. Finally, he carefully lifted the small metal travel container that held his crystal and tucked it into his combat jacket.
He lept down from the ship and surveyed the scene around him. It was quiet and nothing moved - as far as he knew he was the first Human to ever set foot here, and there was no evidence that anything else living had visted this place in millenia. He stood in the dark shadow of one of the massive buildings that towered about him, he had no idea when or if night fell in this place and he assumed that it never did - a fact he was glad of judging from how cold it was already.
He retrieved his portable scanner and checked his readings. The structure was about a kilometre away, and down. He set off in the direction that it indicated, heading towards one of the towering block buildings a short distance away.
There was an entrance to it in front of him, something he was glad of as he had not really considered what he would do if he encountered doors of the size this kind of entrance would need. This was a massive open square chasm of an entrace that was showing signs of its age, cracks as wide as a man split upwards and out from its massive stone lintels and for a moment he wondered how stable all this stuff was, after all no one had any real idea how old it actually was.
He continued inside, igniting his shoulder lights as he did so. The interior was dark but by the light his kit cast out he could see that it was built on the same monumental scale as everything else here seemed to be. Huge interlocked blocks formed the base for walls that stretched up so high he was not able to see if there was a ceiling - the walls themselves were seamless and showed no sign of join, construction or decoration.
Save one.
In the distance he saw another relatively smaller entrance above which was carved a series of strange symbols. As he drew closer he recognised none of them specifically but their patterns and shape were vaguely reminiscant of the shapes he had seen on hundreds and thousands of... artifacts.... "Hello" he said, out loud in possibly the first human voice to ever cast sound in this place "I think we have met before".
This entrance was sealed, however age had also had its effect and the door, if the massive block of stone that played this part could be called that was split down its centre with a large crack that if he turned sideways and dragged his pack behind him, he could fit through relatively easily.
He squeezed through and the moment he reached the other side there he heard a faint humming sound. The darkness of the space around him was broken by a hundred blocks of light as the walls suddenly reacted to his presence and illuminated.
It was the same mysterious technology that he had first seen on Tangier all those years ago, somehow the building itself reacted to his presence and became active.
He looked about him. He stood in another massive space of a room, empty save for a single pillar of crystal which stood in the centre of the room. He had seen something like this before as well. It was similar in appearance to the crystal column that stood in the chamber on Tangier. Except this one dwarfed the earlier model he had seen and seemed to pulse with an energy that was so tangible he could almost reach out and touch it.
For the first time since he had landed, he hesitated - he had no idea what he was walking into.
He checked his scanner and sure enough, he was only a few hundred meters from the location of the chamber that he had scanned from Orbit, he switched channels on the scanner quickly, reassuring himself that he could still see his ship somewhere out there, sure enough, the Venganza showed as being in orbit, its locating beacon transmitting reassuringly down to its captain.
He walked towards the crystal pylon, slowly and carefully he scanned it. It was active and the energy he had sensed when he entered the room was showing all too clearly on his scanners. Its wavelength pattern was all too familiar - This was it, he was in the right place.
It was stunning to look at, blue, purple but transluscent at the same time, humming and throbbling with power and energy. Not sure what to do, he reached out carefully and touched it.
Instantly there was piercing high pitched wail and the ground around him seemed to vanish. He leapt back but to no avail, a large area of floor around the pillar had seemed to vanish and suddenly he found himseld going down at an insane speed. Suddenly, almost before he had had time to register what had happened the floor below him became solid once more and he found himself standing inside a vast open crystal chamber.
He stared... wide eyed and in shock and he realised he was holding something in his hand. His blaster. Instinctivley he must have reached for it and realising the futility of this he carefully placed it back into its holster.
This was the place, it had to be.
In appearance it was remarkably similar to the chamber on Tangier, only many many times larger. A crystal pylon stood in the centre of the room though it too was on a much larger scale and towered above the room.
One thing however was the same, thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of small niches in the crystal walls that he could tell immediatly were designed to hold the the same kind of crystal pieces he now had cradled within his jacket. However, he noticed immediatly, most of these niches were empty.
Not sure how to proceed he moved towards the pylon. It too seemed to glow with energy and he knew better this time than to touch it. No, what he sought was not in the physical realm, and there was only one way to access it.
He took out the metal container that held his crystal and placed it on the floor. Crouching down he opened his pack and retrieved the small interface device he had been constructing all these years, this was his insurance policy, his way out - and it was a gamble.
He put on his flight gloves and opened the crystal container, carefully he took the crystal from within it and placed it within the interface. Gently, he took off his gloves and placed his hand on the crystal.