<Post Warp: 4 days>
Lincoln stepped up to the guards flanking the room, a Martian and a Terran guard by the looks of it consider one was in power armor with deep red and the other was in a deep blue uniform.
“I’m going inside.” Said Lincoln.
The guards glanced at one another, “We can’t let you in ma’am,” said the Terran.
“I hold the status of a TS-15, step aside,” Said Lincoln.
The Terran guard shifted uncomfortably where he stood. “Ma’am I was given orders by Vice Admiral Jones, you do not outrank his commands even if that was how civilian ranks worked.” Said the Terran guard.
“Then you’ll have to arrest and drag away the woman who is distraught over the death of her partner, who just flew the FTL ship and is a Sol system hero,” hissed Lincoln. She took another step towards the door the two guards were in front of.
They glanced at one another. The Martian caved first.
“I’ve got an armor malfunction, my hydraulics are leaking. I think that stuff is toxic,” Said the Martian.
His counterpart looked at him for a moment and then leaning down inspected the man’s armor, reaching down the Terran picked the knife off of his belt.
“Right here?” asked the Terran as he stabbed the knife into the leg of the suit.
“Yeah right there, we should get someone to clean this up in case its toxic right?” asked the Martian.
“Let’s go,” said the Terran. The two guards quickly jogged away from the door, careful to keep the “toxic” leak from getting on anything.
Lincoln watched them leave and taking a breath she opened the door to the room and stepped inside. A man in his late forties without anti-aging drugs was on the bed in the room, a vial of regenerative nano-machines plugged into the IV drip going into his arm.
The man glanced up as she entered, and a brief look of surprise crossed his face before it turned into sneer.
“He dead?”
“Yes, your assassination was successful,” Said Lincoln, her voice neutral. To anyone who knew her that was a warning, she was not loud when angry, but instead terrifyingly quite.
“You sad I killed Martian? You were fucking weren’t you? Being a good little whore getting all up and close with that filth,” the man spat his face contorting as he spoke.
“You know I’m at a loss about what you were trying to accomplish, do you want to enlighten me?” asked Lincoln her voice low.
“The Martian’s killed millions of us! Now the governments want to be all nice with one another!? We have millions of soldiers! They have thousands! We can crush them and make them pay for what they have done!” Shouted the man his face red.
Lincoln looked at the man almost pitying him, he had no concepts of what the tactics behind the war or why Earth and Mars were nearly equal despite the numerical advantage. The Martians had a working Elevator, something that would never function on Earth. They could move things into orbit with the greatest of ease while Earth still have to force everything up through the atmosphere.
Shaking her head Lincoln picked up the remote for the entertainment center in the room.
“So killing a single man, who had just accomplished what explorers has been striving to do for generations is retribution, vengeance upon the enemy of humanity?” asked Lincoln.
The man was starting to notice her deadly calm and the almost predatory look on her face.
“That’ right,” he said somewhat hesitantly.
Lincoln flipped the screen on and the news began to play, showing the throngs of people outside the hospital, it showed half of a crowd that were paying respects with candles and hastily constructed but genuine posters, and then panning moved to the other half of the crowd who were irately standing at the police lines in front of the hospital itching to get past the defenses.
The man glanced at the screen and shook his head. “Idiots, lambs to the slaughter willing to follow whatever the politicians spout. Real humans are the people born on Earth, the people who abandoned her do not deserve to live.” Said the man.
Reaching down Lincoln unscrewed the nano-machines from the IV.
“Hey!” the man shouted he struggled against the bonds holding him to the bed.
Ignoring him Lincoln opened a drawer in the bed next to him and finding the longest and thinnest needle she could she quickly screwed it into the vial.
“You have no respect for Martians, you will not use their anti-aging cure but you will use their other medicines to heal your body?” asked Lincoln as she held up the vial to the man. He continued to struggle but the cuffs locking him to the bed did not budge.
“Put that back you bitch!” he shouted.
“Do you know what I did during the war?” asked Lincoln as she spun the vial around in her hand ignoring the man.
“Fuck if I know, you were some cowering scientist hiding in the bunkers that soldiers protected with their lives!” he said.
Lincoln smiled. “I was in a bunker, but inside that bunker I killed thousands of people. Math, numbers and equations do not lie. I was the one who calculated kinetic weapons strikes against the Martians. I calculated where their forces would be, and when to strike.”
The man was groaning now, without the fresh infusion of nano-machines the amount in his body making repairs and dulling pain was rapidly decreasing.
“I have killed humans, what makes you think I won’t kill something that is less than human?”
“You’ll be arrested!” growled the man through the pain, perhaps realizing for the first time that he was in danger trapped with a monster in the room.
“No I won’t be. I’m a hero, the only real symbol of the relationship between Earth and Mars. So long as I don’t kill you in front of the camera’s the people won’t care. Hell I could probably get away with it anyway,” said Lincoln as she spread her arms out as if accepting the praise of the crowds.
“You’re insane!” Said the creature in the bed.
Lincoln leaned down and poised over the thing held the vial in front of it, the needle inches from the eye.
“No I’m Nemesis,” she said and stabbed the needle into its eye, going right through the tear duct and past the blood brain barrier directly into the brain.
She let him struggle for a moment before pulling the needle out, and wiping it on the sheets of the bed Lincoln carefully unscrewed the needle and placed the vial back into the appropriate slot.
“So you just stab me in the eye? I thought you were going to kill me!” growled the creature as it wincingly closed and opened its eyes a few times, there was little blood the high concentration of nano-machines having already repaired the damage.
Lincoln smiled and turning, slowly walked out of the room leaving the thing to its fate.
Nano-machines for all of their benefits could not under any circumstances be allowed into the brain. The tiny machines were dumb, simply repairing the damage to any cells around them. There would be no evidence to suggest she had done anything, and in hours the thing would suffer the same fate as Malcolm. It would feel its mind slipping away though as the tiny machines moved through its sorry excuse for a brain.
The two guards watched as she walked away, “So what do you think she did?” asked Ares as he finished patching up the hydraulic “leak”.
“I’m not sure we want to know, did you see the look on her face? She was smiling!” Said James.
“So?” asked Ares as he stood back up.
“Who the hell smiles like that after confronting an assassin?”
“She volunteered to sit on top of a 1.5 kilogram antimatter warhead. That’s a serious level of crazy in my book,” Said Ares.
“You live in a bubble on a planet that’s like Antarctica but colder and you’re calling her crazy?” said James.
Ares shrugged, “its perspective I guess.”
James rolled his eyes and followed Ares back to the door, “Did you get the same kind of order I did?” he asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Ares looking like the paragon of innocence.
“Ah, so no orders in your HUD about letting the good doctor into the room, definitely nothing like that?” asked James.
Ares exaggeratedly shook his head, “No, that would imply something unethical wouldn’t it? I didn’t get an order like that and neither did you, right?” he asked.
James nodded, “Right.”
The two guards stood by the door and waited, inside the room they could hear the moaning and the beginnings of the pleas for help. They were both wondering how the higher ups on the two sides had known to let Lincoln into the room, and they were slightly afraid of what might have happened had they not received those orders.
<Post Warp: 5 days>
[Charles] paced back and forth across the yellow tiles of the palace briefing room, the High Scientists of which there were now at least thirty were all congregated in the front of the room their discussions heated and loud. Various other dignitaries including several councilors and Generals were also in attendance although they were seated waiting for the briefing to start which would be when the Emperor and his staff were present.
“Will you sit down?” asked [Sam].
[Charles] sighed and following his subordinate’s suggestion sat down.
“This is amazing, I never thought I would even get to visit the home world let alone the imperial Palace! I get to see the Emperor up close as well! This is amazing,” said [Tom] as he looked around the ornate briefing room.
“You sound like a giddy colony boy,” said [Sam].
“I am,” said [Tom].
[Sam] rolled her eyes, “I pity the woman that bonds with you.”
[Tom’s] smile just widened.
“Will you both shut it, we are in the Palace and your bickering like cadets. Show some decorum,” Said [Charles] admonishing his team.
They were prevented from responding as the first Royal guard stepped into the room, instantly all conversation died and those sitting quickly got up to their feet.
Several more guards in their dark green uniforms marched into the room, with the Emperor in the middle of the throng, looking as serious as he could at his [1 meter] height. Behind the young Emperor were his Consul’s and handmaidens.
Everyone in the room placed their right hand over their right eye as he entered greeting the young Emperor with respect.
The Emperor barely acknowledged this and sat down in his designated seat in the front row of the briefing room, his handmaidens and Consul’s flanking him as the guards took up positions around the perimeter of the room. With the Emperor seated everyone else quickly took their places.
The High Scientist, [Roland] with whom [Charles] had first communicated stepped forward the small controller for the projector in his hand.
“We are honored by your presence Emperor, I regret that the purpose of the brief is to inform you of a great threat to your Empire,” said High Scientist [Roland].
The Emperor said nothing and clearing his throat [Roland] activated the projector and a simplified pictorial representation of system in G43b appeared in the air above the High Scientist. It quickly zoomed into the second largest gas giant where a representation of the tear into subspace was shown.
“Approximately a [day] ago a routine patrol detected deviant power readings from this system consistent with a large antimatter detonation. Assuming that the C classified species that had developed from the seed in that system had destroyed themselves the patrol following protocol and jumped to the system to examine the world to see if anything remained to colonize and thus expand your Empire,” High Scientist [Roland] nodded towards the Emperor.
“Instead they found evidence of a subspace rupture, by utilization of a technology previously thought to be only theoretical. This class C species opened a rift into subspace via antimatter and [strange matter] interactions. They do not need tachyon beacons to direct themselves in subspace transit,” said [Roland].
A gasp went up from the councilors and Generals in the room, and one of the Consul’s stood.
[Marcus] looked up at the High Scientist, “That is impossible! A malignantly formed C class species has never developed FTL, much less an FTL technology beyond the capabilities of our own Empire,” he said, his tone almost accusatory.
High Scientist [Roland] once more put his right hand over his right eye, paying his respects to the Consul. “I am stating only the facts, how the species developed this technology is unknown. They might have had help from the Outcasts for all we know. All I am requesting is that this system be more closely monitored, perhaps by a dedicated team,” Said Roland.
He flipped to the next image, and it showed the alien craft that [Sam] had been able to catch images of as it docked with a structure around the second planet in the system. It showed a small ship roughly cylindrical in shape and with a dish mounted on the back.
“Considering the small design of the ship which traveled through subspace as well as the short distance covered and the massive energy needed to fuel its journey I would suggest that the craft was a prototype. For now it is an oddity which could become a threat in the future,” said [Roland].
“And you would suggest that was simply monitor this development?” asked [Marcus].
[Roland] hesitated. “For now I would suggest we monitor them, yes. If we can see how they developed these systems then the Empire would be able to expand at a much greater rate, we would no longer have to wait for beacons to make it to neighboring star systems around our borders. Wipe them out and the technology might be lost,” said [Roland].
[Marcus]’s eyes widened at the prospect, to be responsible for allowing the Empire to expand uninhibited would solidify the name of those responsible in history. Slowly he sat back down.
“I would propose sending the [Singer] to monitor the system,” said [Roland].
Another consul stood, “The [Singer]? She’s the last ship still in service from the rebellions. Why send her?” he asked.
“The cloaking system’s which allowed her to be so successful in that war will allow her to remain undetected by whatever means of detection the C species uses. If they have not had first contact the presence of an alien ship would no doubt prompt faster production of these ships. The [Singer] need only access their communications network and locate plans for construction of the drive system. Once that is complete the elimination of the deviant species would be my recommendation.”
<Post Warp: 1 Month>
Lincoln leaned back in her chair and once again had to catch herself, the nervous movement was normal enough on Earth but in Martian gravity it easily threw off her sense of balance when everything moved too easily.
Flailing her arms out Lincoln winced as she collapsed onto the deck plates, directly in front of the door to the lab which to her horror opened a second later letting someone into her lab.
“Need help?” asked the General somewhat bemused.
“No thank you, I’m still getting used to this gravity.” Said Lincoln as she righted herself and did a quick hope to demonstrate her readiness. Unfortunately she put too much energy into it and performed a John Carter like jump into the air where she once again lost her footing and collapsed.
“Oww,” She groaned and much more slowly this time picked herself up from the floor. Brushing herself off as well as she could, Martian dust seemed to make it into every nook and cranny she turned to the General.
“We’ve been found out,” said the General.
Lincoln paled, “How?”
“The information gathering capabilities of a certain Terran Captain seem to be more adept than I had anticipated. Captain Takuya, the head of special tactics has contacted me,” said the General.
Lincoln’s eyes widened at the name, “Captain Takuya? We’ve got nothing to worry about then,” Said Lincoln.
The General nodded in agreement, “He contacted me when the Yamato entered orbit, and provided enough information to show that he is not guessing about what we are doing. He has the particle accelerator logs, how he got them is another matter that will be sorted out latter. He wants to meet with you while the ambassadors on his ship meet with the Martian delegates. He’s threatening to release the information to his superiors,” said the General.
“We can meet, I was a passenger aboard the Yamato at one point, he owes me,” Said Lincoln.
“That favor wouldn’t happen to involve the Yamato skip would it?” asked the General referring to the incident during the second year of the war where the Yamato had been disabled and knocked from orbit her main computers and thrusters completely inoperable and left for scrap to burn up in the atmosphere of Mars.
By some miracle the ship had managed to angle it’s decent by just enough with the maneuvering thrusters to perform an atmospheric skip and swing back around to make it to the Martian magnetic rail assembly where by detonating small nuclear devices at specific points along the rail managing to charge it and launch themselves back towards Earth completely disabling the main Martian rail launcher for nearly a month.
Lincoln smiled, “He owes me a big favor,” she said.
The General harrumphed but didn’t press. He had the dossier on Lincoln but it was missing a few parts of her history.
“I’ll give him the coordinates then,” Said the General.
“Thank you.”
“I got your message, why did you have me threaten the General?” asked Takuya as he took a sip of the Martian coffee and winced at the taste.
“It will force him to look at his own people in case there are any actual moles. I assume your crew is still the same?” asked Lincoln.
“Of course, it’s the same twenty people and it has been for nearly five years now. A dozen other ships have tried to poach them but they all stayed. We all owe you so they’ll keep their mouths shut, to be frank though quite a few of them were considering jumping ship now that all we do is ferry nervous diplomats. When we got your data packet, well we were ecstatic to say the least.”
Lincoln smiled and slid a small data stick across the table to the Captain. “I’m fairly confident that insane engineer of your will be able to make the modifications.”
“You’ll seriously be able to get the Yamato up to FTL speeds?” asked Takuya as he took the data stick.
“I think so. The Yamato is one of the few ships in the fleet that can accelerate to the required speeds in a reasonable amount of time to perform an FTL jump and decelerate from a jump without the assistance of a net,” said Lincoln.
“What are you having us do?” asked Takuya.
“Once I get the antimatter needed, you’re the scout ship.”
“So we’re really doing this, expanding to another solar system without involving the politicians?” asked Takuya.
Lincoln shrugged, “I’m going to do it if it kills me. Before we decide where we’re going we need to find a habitable planet. That’s what the Yamato will be doing while we spin up the rest of the projects.”
“For example?”
“An ark to carry the colonists, and any equipment we will need to survive. Once we’re out of the Sol system we’ll be free to work on expanding from their without interference,” said Lincoln.
“The antimatter though, how are you going to produce it?” asked Takuya.
“Right here,” said Lincoln and she pointed at the main accelerator tunnel outside the window of the lab they were in.
Takuya glanced over at it and then at Lincoln and raised his eyebrow, “this facility is under control of the Martian government, and it’s scheduled for decommission.”
“Exactly,” said Lincoln and she took a sip of her coffee and winced at the acrid taste.
“I don’t follow,” said Takuya.
“I’m here to help decommission it, the main accelerator rail is being left there’s no point in moving it, but to comply with the treaty the government is going to bury this place, we’re going to make a big show of everything but the main tunnel will be protected. We then power it via a cold fusion reactor,” said Lincoln.
Takuya slowly nodded following along with her insane plan. “What about you? You can’t just disappear on Mars, people will know something is wrong,” said Takuya.
“I suffer a complete mental breakdown due to my guilt over what I did in the war triggered by the death of my partner, simple.”
Takuya blinked and then sighed, “Alright I’m convinced. I’ll get the designs for the modifications to Megan, how soon can we expect an antimatter supply?”
Reaching under the lab table Lincoln picked up a canister about the size of a thermos and put it on the table.
Takuya’s eyes widened and he reeled back in shock, and unaccustomed to the lesser gravity fell on his ass, “why the hell are you waving that around!” he shouted as he tried to get his heart rate back under control.
Lincoln shrugged, “If something were to go wrong you and I would never know,” she said.
Getting back to his feet Takuya picked up his cup of Martian coffee and drained it hardly noticing the bitterness as he stared at the silver canister on the table.
“Where the hell did you get that anyway? I thought it was all used on the Longboat IV,” He said.
“Yes exactly like Earth the Martians dismantled all of their most devastating weapons,” she rolled her eyes.
“This could start another war right here, just the fact that this thing exists!” said Takuya pointing at the canister.
“Yep, and you can report this and start that war or use this and explore at least two other Solar systems for now before we get the accelerator back up and running,” said Lincoln.
“Two?” asked Takuya.
“Well a distance of about 45 light-years total travel if my math is correct and the new ship configurations work. You do want to come back in between the exploratory missions though so we can run viability analysis. You’ll have to find an excuse to drop off the proverbial radar for about a week on each mission.”
“I’m sure I can think up some excuse.” Said Takuya. He looked back down at the canister, “you can hold onto that thing for now though.”
SPECIFICATIONS: Longboat IV (FTL Prototype)
Length: 20.6 m / 67.85 ft.
Height: 5.1 m / 16.73 ft.
Height (extended): 15.9 m / 52.16 ft.
Weight Empty: 14100 kg / 31085 lb.
Maximum Weight: 19000 kg / 41887 lb.
Max g-rating: 10.3
Max g-rating (dampening system): 8420.14 (theoretical)
Life Support: 240 hours (two occupants)
Delta V: 40.5 Km/s (chamber burnout)
Power: Micro Fusion Reactor (75 MW)
Drive: Quantum Vacuum Drive (Mark VII) / Prototype FTL Navigation Systems
Weapons Payload: 4000 kg / 8818 lb.
Description: A modified Terran S-53 fighter this was the first human craft to jump to FTL speeds for a historic 2 second flight. Although the S-53 was designed for high g acceleration the systems had to be greatly enhanced on the Longboat IV to handle the acceleration to .005% C for the FTL jump. The magnetic rail Tesla which it was launched from had to be modified as well, two standard magnetic rail launch systems integrated into one, to form the 20 km track which was cleared by the ship in 20 seconds. The magnetic net in orbit of Venus had to bring a second Fusion reactor online to catch the Longboat IV which was unable to slow itself. As one of the first joint ventures between Earth and Mars after the war it remains a symbol of Sol system unity.