<Post Warp: 3 months 15 days>
“A little more power, it would be worse if this panel came flying off then if you strip the bolt,” said Ben.
The small girl nodded and placing the bolt driver that was nearly half her size back on the panel she flipped the power up higher and drove the fastener home.
“Good!” said Ben.
The girl smiled and let go of the drill, “When are you going to show me how to do something more complicated then screwing something in?” she asked.
Ben considered her for a moment, since he and Megan had been trading between working their shifts on the Yamato while she went through her post war retro fits and upgrades courtesy of the Martian government and working at the secret Martian dry dock on the Ark both of them had taken a liking to the small girl.
Ostensibly the daughter of Janus the small girl was constantly around the construction site, the Martian engineers ignored her for the most part perhaps not wanting to get on the bad side of Janus whom was inspecting the construction of the Ark every other day. At first Ben had tried to ignore her but perhaps realizing that he was not one of the Martian engineers and therefore a weak link she had pestered him with hundreds of questions, getting in his way until he answered them.
Now she was an assistant, any annoying one but helpful all the same.
“When you tell me your name,” Ben said.
The little girl crossed her arms and shook her head, “No.”
Ben pursed his lips and grabbing the pad out of his toolkit he theatrically scrolled through it, “Shame, we’re supposed to be working on the FTL drive next now that we have the power distribution system up and running. Lots of dangerous stuff there.”
“That’s not going to work,” said the little girl.
“Why not?” asked Ben.
The little girl grabbed the driver and pulling it off of the mount points to keep it from spinning in zero-g tossed it at Ben, sending herself flying backwards as the heavy piece of machinery lazily drifted towards him.
Recovering the small girl hooked her feet into the wall and glared at Ben.
Pushing the tool away Ben glared at the girl, “Why are you throwing stuff at me now?”
“Megan told me to, if you annoyed me,” she said.
Ben rolled his eyes, “So you take her advice?”
The girl nodded, “You’re not going to let me help?” she asked, her lower lip quivering and her eyes growing wet.
“Now I know what you’re doing,” said Ben.
“Is it working?” asked the girl sounding as if she were on the verge of heartbroken tears.
“Yes,” growled Ben.
The girl smiled and unhooked her feet from the mooring point, “I’ll beat you there!” she shouted over her shoulder as she bounced off through the corridors of the ship.
Ben heard the muffled curses of other engineers as she flew past them and undoubtedly used them as springboards to travel faster through the air.
Ben followed after her and glanced around the inside of the ship, it was amazing how quickly everything was coming together, but then the Ark was not a terribly complicated ship, her entire volume save for the mid-level was a uniform layout of bulkheads and storage rooms to carry everything a new colony might need. The only complicated part was the FTL system which instead of being a jury-rigged job was a fully integrated system.
The Ark was a glorified shipping vessel, but she was the first human ship built specifically for FTL and even the illegal engineers working on her were putting extra care into their tasks. Ben had expected the builders of smuggler ships and illegal warships to cut corners and skip checks, but on the Ark at least they were triple checking and in many cases over engineering the systems for safety and redundancy.
Ben had no idea if it was because Janus was leaning on them or if they were truly invested, he was hoping it was the latter, but then again he had seen the paychecks of a few of them, and Ben had for several seconds debated quitting the navy to build illegal ships if he could make that kind of money.
Floating into the main engineering compartment Ben frowned, “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
Megan turned around to glare at him, “I’m helping build the Ark, what the hell are you doing?” she asked.
“The Yamato is about to go on another scouting mission to Eridani and I though we agreed you were going to stay on her during it,” said Ben.
Megan nodded, “I was but the Captain wanted us to finish up the Ark, the auxiliary guys are having a crack at running the FTL systems,” said Megan.
Ben winced, “The fusion reactor is going to be out of sync then, not to mention the inertia dampers,” said Ben.
Megan nodded in agreement, “I told them not to touch them but they never listen, it’s going to take a week to get everything back in order,” said Megan.
“Well great, just great,” said Ben.
The girl floated over in front of them, “Someone wrecking your ship?” she asked.
“Yes, those idiots who think that you should crank the power up to 110% all the time,” said Megan.
The girl sagely nodded, “that sucks.”
Megan turned to look at the engineering readout of the Ark, “Did you finish those adjustments like I asked Diana?” asked Megan.
Ben looked over at the girl and she stuck her tongue out at him, “You know her name?” asked Ben.
Megan turned around to look at him, “what you don’t? She told me the first day we were here,” said Megan.
Ben put his hands up in the air, “unbelievable, why the hell is it always me?” asked Ben.
Diana giggled, “You make it too entertaining to do anything else.”
The General, Lincoln, and Janus all looked down at the partially constructed ship, its outer hull was nearly complete with only a few large patches left to weld or fix into place. The internal electronics and controls systems were still being installed but it looked like a ship, a flying brick of a ship but nonetheless a ship.
“You’ve made stunning progress,” said the General.
“You can move a lot more quickly when you don’t need to fill out all the paperwork,” said Janus.
“When will it be completed?” asked Lincoln.
Janus glanced over at the woman, “We’re hoping in about another two weeks or so, we’ve started to requisition all of the appropriate colonization equipment from Sagan city, ostensibly for an outpost in Hellas Planitia.”
“How many people are we going to be able to support?” asked Lincoln.
“Well the life support systems for the Ark are more robust than anything in the fleets of Earth or Mars, that’s your only limit if this is a one way trip. About four hundred people can fit on the Ark if they are willing to squeeze in,” said Janus.
“We need to start the process of selecting candidates and secretly inviting them then,” said Lincoln.
“Selecting?” asked the General.
“We need to offer spots to scientists of multiple fields, engineers, colonization experts,”
“We’re not just offering this to the elite,” said the General.
Lincoln turned to look at him, “We have a limited number of seats, we need to send the best to ensure the success of the colony.”
The General shook his head, “That’s a good start but history would suggest that we need to send a different kind of person. What were the first Martian colonists like?” he asked.
“Insane,” supplied Janus not missing a beat.
“Right, they were insane, they came to Mars in tin cans that barely had self-sustaining life support. The people on Earth said they were going to die and a whole hell of a lot of them did. They were the rejects of society who had nothing else to live for, they were not the Nobel Laureates, they were the insane inventors who wanted to live on another planet. Within 200 years those insane first colonists managed to create a society with almost as much power as Earth!” said the General.
“So you want to send insane people on the Ark?” asked Lincoln skeptical.
The General sighed, “No, but we need some decidedly normal people to be on it as well, we’re only going to get one shot to launch the Ark before the politicians fall down on top of this whole project, heck just the fact that we’ve produced antimatter will get heads rolling. The Colony might be out of contact indefinitely,” said the General.
“Ten years, and a few months is the time lag between Sol and Eridani, so the politicians will have 20 years to figure things out if they want to demand the colonists come back,” said Lincoln.
“An eternity in politics,” said Janus, “I’ll help draw up the requirements, and I have a few recommendations for some people who might not have official resumes.”
“Good, how’s the antimatter production coming along Lincoln?” asked the General.
“Well enough, the accelerator can’t be active for more than 16 hours straight without overheating, but we’ve managed to produce about an ounce of antimatter, we’re going to start producing the strange matter in a week or so,” said Lincoln as she rubbed at her eyes, “I would prefer that the Ark had six ounces of antimatter, that would allow for a jump to Eridani and a jump back. That might not be realistic though. The longer the accelerator is in operation the more we risk detection, it is the weakest link in this little endeavor,” said Lincoln.
“I can’t hide this ship forever, I’ve paid my engineers well enough but eventually one will let something slip,” warned Janus.
“We’re rushing everything so we don’t get caught, but we can’t make any slip ups on this we’ll only have one shot,” said the General.
Janus leaned back in the air, “Well I have my best agent working on the ship, that won’t be the weak link,” she said.
The General frowned, “Your daughter, Diana?” he asked.
Janus shrugged, “Clone actually, with a few genetic tweaks and the next generation of nano-machines, she’s never set foot on a planet but she’s got bones strong enough to stand up on Jupiter if she wanted too,” said Janus.
The General groaned, “You did not need to say that, I did not hear you say that,” he said.
Janus smiled, “You’re already in trouble, what’s a little genetic enhancement and augmentation,” said Janus.
“It’s illegal and is one of the few laws that both Earth and Mars followed during the war, hell its part of the Geneva Convention under biological experimentation!” said the General.
“I thought the whole point of this FTL Ark was to ignore the politicians? She’s not a weapon or experiment, she’s my daughter. I hardly think a three century old ban should hold clout,” said Janus.
The General sighed and reaching into his pocket pulled out a small flask and took a swig.
“Gerald!” said Janus reproachfully.
The General turned to glare at her, “You’re one to talk?” he growled.
Janus crossed her arms, “I know what happens when you retreat into the bottle.”
The General growled something under his breath and put the flask back inside his uniform.
“Sir!” said the communications officer, “we have an incoming message from the home world!” he said.
“Who is it from?” asked [Charles].
“It is from the Consul Sir!” said the officer.
[Charles] stiffened in his chair but nodded, “I’ll take it in my ready room, transfer it there,” said [Charles].
Getting up from his chair [Charles] quickly walked across the bridge and stepped into his small ready room, the lights dimmed and the holographic image of the Consul materialized.
“Consul,” said [Charles] placing his hand over his eye, saluting the man.
“What has taken you so long Captain?” asked [Marcus].
[Charles] hesitated for a moment not sure exactly what to say, “We’re having some difficulty obtaining data on the FTL technology, the technical sophistication of the data encryption techniques the Class C species uses is comparable to our own in many respects.”
[Marcus] raised an eyebrow at that, “Our technology is in no way similar to anything a Class C species uses. I want that technology under the control of the Empire within [two weeks] Captain. Use whatever methods are necessary to obtain it, but do make sure that planet is purged,” said the Consul.
For a moment [Charles] considered asking the Consul if they could try to make peaceful contact, but the species was a Class C species, interaction was only through extermination, and the species below was the most dangerous the Empire had ever encountered, they were a threat that had to be eliminated lest they challenge them in the future.
“Yes sir, we will make final recordings and prepare for the assault, could I request that a [wing] be on standby to assist if needed. They do have antimatter weapon technology and I would prefer not to lose anyone,” said [Charles].
[Marcus] frowned but then nodded, the [Singer] was a ship entirely staffed by Class A’s after all any loss of life would have to be explained.
“They will be on standby,” said [Marcus].
“Thank you sir,” said [Charles].
The Consul cut the line and [Charles] let out a sigh of relief, interacting with the de-facto leader of the Empire on an almost [weekly] basis was taking it out of him, with a single order the man could do anything and he was not known to be forgiving.
Sitting down in his office chair [Charles] closed his eyes and tried to calm the headache that was building, this mission itself was too stressful. The species below was unlike others he had seen from outside the Empire, he had observed a total of three class C species, but both times he had not been the commanding officer.
The first species had been C1655, a species whose seed had been entirely corrupted several billion years ago the creatures had never managed to make it past their agricultural age. When the survey team took readings and samples it had shown that they had been stagnant in their development for nearly a million years. They had purple skin and elongated limbs, and the small tribes of them that had formed would be constantly at war with the others they encountered, in many situations resorting to cannibalism.
They had left the species to stagnate, the world they inhabited was barely habitable in the first place.
The second species had been C1702, and [Charles] had been an officer of the ship when they were surveyed, the species was short and stocky due to the gravity of the world their Seed had hatched on billions of years ago. Other than that they had almost been a Class B species, their skin color and number of fingers was correct, the amount of hair they produced normal.
Were it not for the brain abnormality that caused the females of the species to go mad after childbearing age they would have been accepted. The planet they had inhabited was lush and plentiful, the plants and other species on the world adjusted for the higher gravitational pull were neatly within the Class B category.
The Empire had removed the Class C species and set up a small colony.
This new species, C1764 though, it was one of the most deviant species on record. Their bodies were hardier than any Class A species, their skin and bones stronger and denser than anything in the databanks, their eyes and hearing keener by a slight measure, their ability to heal was also astounding.
A subject of the C1764 species could survive loosing almost any number of limbs and senses, so long as the internal organs were not severely damaged they would heal, coupled with what [Sam] had been able to pull from their data networks the state of their medical science was at the point that they could survive almost anything which left the brain intact.
[Charles] shook his head and turned to look at the planet, even the plants and animal life that had developed from the seed that had taken root on this planet were more vicious then normal, and it seemed as if throughout its entire history the life on the planet had been in a furious race to dominate it.
Now a species that had conquered that vicious world was reaching out to the stars, if they ever managed to make that leap they would be like a virus, a cancer throughout space. Still there was something about them that made them feel different from the other two Class C species, [Charles] couldn’t put his finger on what it was but something was different.
He hoped that whatever it was wouldn’t come back to bite them.
<Post Warp: 3 months 20 days>
Leaning back in her chair Lincoln looked out at the small portion of the accelerator that she could see from the small workstation / lab that she had set up in the underground tunnels.
The table in front of her was a mess of information and calculations, the design schematics for the Ark were on a glowing screen, the analysis of the Eridani system on another tablet, the engine schematics for the Yamato were on old fashioned paper, and the FTL calculations that had started it all lay off to the side, the crumpled and by this point somewhat faded scratch work of calculations that she had first done.
Leaning forward Lincoln picked up the sheet of paper and slowly unrumpled it, it was only a year ago that she had made the calculations, and ten months ago when she had first met Malcom.
Her heart skipped a beat and Lincoln closed her eyes remembering the first meeting she had with the insane pilot.
“Lincoln!”
Startled Lincoln looked up from her workstation, the science director was walking down the hall towards her office, never a good sign.
“Yes?” asked Lincoln.
The man smiled, “I want to introduce you to your pilot!”
Lincoln looked at the director, either the old geezer had finally cracked or the pilot was missing. Seeing her confused gaze the director turned around and sighed, “Mr. Malcolm!” he shouted.
Getting up Lincoln followed the director as he backtracked through the complex, entering the open area Lincoln spotted a man who was obviously a Martian on the other side of the security perimeter around the Longboat IV pacing the length of the ship examining it.
“How the hell did he get in their?” mumbled the director.
Swiping his keycard to open the security perimeter the director walked into the hanger and up to the Martian.
“Mr. Malcolm, I was hoping to introduce you to the-“
“What the hell did you guys do to the stabilizer profile? It looks like its gone through a thresher!” said Malcolm pointing at the side of the ship where a patchwork of panels was covering a small bulge from the uniform skin of the ship.
“Mr. Malcolm-“
Lincoln stepped forward, “Well we decided that the pilot of the ship might want to have some actual control of the ship within a subspace / normal space convergence. It’s an old style reaction wheel, the quantum vacuum propulsion theory most likely breaks down in subspace being that there are no virtual quantum particles to push against, so I guess we could remove it if you really don’t like it,” said Lincoln interrupting the director.
Malcolm turned away from the ship and slowly turned his head down to look at the Lincoln a small woman even by Terran standards.
“Reaction wheels? The trainer I flew back in the day had those, haven’t flown with them since,” he said.
“Well then I certainly hope you won’t have any issues flying with them then, the turbulence around the subspace rupture will be extreme, any errors in the piloting will cause the ship to shear along point of contact with the event horizon,” said Lincoln.
Malcolm smiled, “So risky piloting, with deadly consequences if I mess even one thing up? Easy enough,” he said.
Lincoln frowned, “Are all pilots like this? I was hoping the Martian’s might be different,” said Lincoln.
“Nah, pilots are all assholes unless their Mothers are in the room, we’re better than sailors though they’re still rude even with their Mothers,” said Malcom.
Lincoln rolled her eyes and groaned, “I’m going to die,”
Malcom shook his head, “It wouldn’t be nice to let a woman like yourself die Doc, and I’ll make sure you get through it in one piece.”
Lincoln looked at the pilot and raised an eyebrow, he grinned and turned back to look at the Longboat IV.
“Doctor?” asked a technician.
Startled Lincoln opened her eyes and looked at the man, he was holding out a form to her.
“Could you look these calculations over? We’ve run them through the computer a dozen times but we’re still running short on the magnetic bottle limits,” he said.
Blinking Lincoln nodded, “Sure,” taking the tablet from him she quickly started to sort through the math in front of her, balancing and calculating the values of the magnetic fields and the electronics that would hold the antimatter in place, within moments she found the small error, someone had not converted the units correctly, and the computer was not supposed to do those conversions for fear of accuracy.
Pointing it out Lincoln handed the tablet back to the technician and he hurried away to his colleges.
Lincoln once again looked out at the accelerator, it was strange, it hadn’t even been a year yet she felt as if it had been a lifetime. Up until the point of Malcolm’s death it was like she had been asleep, she hadn’t broke any laws in her life, she had dreamed but never really fought to make those dreams a reality.
Now she was committing crimes of a degree that would have two planetary governments vying to execute her, but she had never felt so alive, so full of hope for the future of humanity.
“Captain!” said [Sam] from her station.
“Yes?” Asked [Charles]
“The FTL ship, it’s being moved! From the second planet to the third one we are orbiting right now, the public data streams just broadcasted the information!” said [Sam].
[Charles] felt himself pail slightly, this would be the best opportunity to take the ship and the technology it contained, an FTL technology more advanced than the tachyon drives the Empire used, a species more violent and deviant than any the Empire had ever encountered, the odd something that made him hesitate.
[Charles] closed his eyes and let out a breath.
“All hands to stations, prep the package for deployment. [Sam] I want to know exactly where that ship is going, helm prepare us to move to that location.”
The subordinates nodded and turned to their stations to execute his orders, [Charles] once again looked out at the planet far below, it was now or never, for the glory of the Empire.
“I don’t get why the hell we have to be here,” groaned Ares.
“Dignitaries and VIP’s are coming to greet the ship as it comes home, the higher ups want us here because we’re the public face of military cooperation.” Said James.
Ares winced, “I know and I’m still recovering from the last cooperative event, I swear the nano-machines didn’t knit my skin together right, it itches,” said Ares.
James shook his head and looked out at the display, they were on Aldrin Station around the Moon, and it was one of the few ring stations with artificial gravity the dignitaries uncomfortable with zero-g unlike most space fairing individuals.
“You’re fine Ares.”
“What happened to the Doctor Lincoln? Will she be showing up?”
“I’ve heard she’s up to something, don’t know what.” Said James.
Ares glanced over at his friend, “I’ve heard the same, got a buddy on Mars Station who said something odd was going on in lower docks, all hushed up of course. What do you think she’s up too?”
James shrugged, “No idea, and I’m not digging into it, she might be an egghead but she’s vicious.”
Ares nodded in agreement, remembering the sounds the man in the hospital room had made as his brain slowly melted inside his own skull, or as the reports stated it succumbed to his injuries from the crowd pouncing on him.
Ares glanced over at the small window, in the side of the wall. It was idiotic to put windows on space stations and ships, but some people mostly the politicians liked them. Stepping over Ares looked outside, “Is that it?” he asked.
James followed his gaze spotting the Longboat IV outside the station as they rotated past it, “yeah, it’s a modified fighter, what did you expect?” he asked.
“I don’t know something more impressive.”
James started to say something but the floor beneath them shook, the gravity holding them to the curved floor slowly started to lessen, and alarms of every kind began to blare.