Last updated on 1/21/98
Passive scans reveal the usual signatures of the various ships, plus a broadband noise background that gradually (and VERY slowly) appears to be rising in intensity and average energy... if in fact an "average" energy means anything, as it appears to cover the spectrum from ULF to gamma radiation. The size of the sphere is determinable with the use of echolocation of each ship's own passive IR output by its own sensors; it appears to have an odd combination of absorptive and reflective properties.
All computer-guided craft are currently not under thrust; the autopilots will not allow maneuver if their astronav guidance systems are suddenly unable to fix on the stars they need for orientation. The only craft that was under direct manual control at the moment of shift was the Talisman, whose drives were taken offline by Shrike.
The ships without grids (the Kingfisher, Khaurl, and the piece of wreckage) appear to be suffering no ill effects. No one feels Jump-sick yet either.
"
"Nicholas, are you all right?"
"I'm...
"Do you require medical assistance?"
"No, I...
"Did the sudden transition through the portal cause you some sort of
physiological distress?"
"No, it's...
"You really don't sound well. Are you sure you are all right?"
"Yes, I'm...
"I'm afraid I don't know, Nicholas. This is not a phenomenon I have
any familiarity with. I am currently running full scans with all
passive sensors. I do hope we will have the opportunity to tell
Dr. Bell about this. I'm sure he would be absolutely enthralled."
"Yeah. Now...
"Pardon my skepticism, Nicholas, but I think perhaps you are just
making that up."
"If you have a better name for it I'm...
Alcyon Bridge
Ger is seated in the command station aboard the Alcyon, he seems
cheerier in the last few seconds than for quite a while.
"Yet another problem suddenly disappears for a little while."
Ger takes the Hud from his belt, and carefully places it on his head.
...and he realizes that the psionic shield helmet he was wearing a few
seconds ago, that he ALWAYS has on him, is now no longer nestled snugly
at the base of his neck where it's supposed to be. It was definitely
there from the moment he got up that morning to the moment things went
nuts over at the Kingfisher; now, though, it's gone. Fortunately there
are spares on the Bridge within easy access, and he can grab one and don
it with no trouble.
After taking a few seconds to replace the psi shield and initialize
the HUD, Ger jabs the plug into the control panel. A few more seconds
pass as he looks at what little information the sensors display, and
then he starts broadcasting to all the ships.
"All Turnskaad ships, This is commander Ger. Until further investigation
proves otherwise I think that it is best for all ships to dock with
the Alcyon, keep all drives in idle in case we need them in a hurry.
Talisman, see if you can secure that wreck with a line before you dock.
I want to see all section heads for a meeting as soon as medical is free.
All ships please check all your crew members and report any missing
personnel ASAP. 'Vouf I want you to report immediately. Ger out."
Kingfisher
Bhyarrvouf looks out the viewport at the endless expanse of grey
nothing. His ears fold back flat against his skull and his tail tucks
between his legs. He mutters to himself in Vuakedh for a moment or two
as he stares at the unbelievable sight outside. Then, with a vigorous
shake that starts at his nose and works its way all the way down his
body to the tip of his tail, he pulls himself together.
Forcing his eyes away from the view, he looks around him, trying
briefly to make eye contact with everyone present.
"Is every--" His voice cracks on a high squeak, and he clears his
throat angrily. "Bha-HRM!....is everyone all right?"
"Aye, sir," Etienne softly responds, without turning around.
Zben continues to stare at the featureless gray horizon. In a
soft voice, basically to himself though others can hear him, "I feel
like a rabbit that's just been pulled INTO a hat."
He shakes a bit then addresses Bhyarrvouf. "Sir! Permission to
scan surroundings and see what we can see?"
"Yorblin, OK, proceeding to station." Jan quickly scans the bridge.
If any injured personnel are seen, he'll treat accordingly, elsewise...
Wait a minute...
"Sir, Judge Jett no longer seems to be with us. Did you teleport
him out of this situation?"
"No...." Vouf looks at the empty chair.
"Tightbeam lasercom from the Alcyon, sir," Mac says....
<< All Turnskaad ships, This is commander Ger. Until further
investigation proves otherwise I think that it is best for all ships
to dock with the Alcyon, keep all drives in idle in case we need them
in a hurry. Talisman, see if you can secure that wrek with a line
before you dock. I want to see all section heads for a meeting as
soon as medical is free. All ships please check all your crew members
and report any missing personnel ASAP. 'Vouf I want you to report
immediately. Ger out. >>
"Open a channel, Mister Witfield," Vouf says coolly. "Lasercom to Alcyon."
"Aye Sir." Mac opens the laser com chanel to Alcyon. "This is the
Commanding Shuttle. Come in Alcyon."
"Channel open, sir." He reports.
"Keyaho, Alcyon, this is Command Shuttle, Bhyarrvouf. We are adrift off
the Alcyon's starboard flank. Now maneuvering to enter main hangar bay."
In a sotto voce aside to de Mer: "See voo play, Etienne...."
Etienne just nods. With a final glance at his disabled gravitic
controls, he sends them back into the void and replaces them with a
commo-panel. He selects one of the masers and aims it at one of the
Alcyon's antenna's. "Pater, this is Etienne at the helm of the
Kingfisher, would you please open the Shuttle bay door and prepare the
bay for docking?" After a moment... "With ALL safety procedures!"
For some reason, Etienne's accent, normally quite small despite
recurrent jibes, is more obvious now than at most times.
Then, "The only person missing from the Shuttle appears to be Judge
Jett. No sign of him on board. I'll report to you ASAP upon docking
and debarkation in main hangar bay. The situation on the shuttle is
normalized, sir; the parties involved have relenquished control of the
Command Shuttle to me, and are awaiting my orders. Kingfisher out."
He turns to the others. "And speaking of awaiting my orders...."
Inside the Rescue Pod
Slowly, Simon Levy's small world returns to view. And small it is.
"Hmm. Let's see if we can get (ouch) one of the radios to (ouch)
work. Damn designers. Bet they just thought of space and mass,
never of actually haivng to USE one of these contraptions.
Enough to induce claustrophobia - or agoraphobia. Here is this
3m long coffin, tumbling endlessly in wide-open space.
Sheeittt. For all I know I'm about to be swallowed up by those
merciless head-hunters and sold to some four-armed bimbo from
a chirper world for her personal entertainment. If... I... can..
just... (Finally breaking an arm free and getting to the comm
panel)... uh oh. Which one is the ON switch?"
So, toggling all the switches, then faster, and finally in frustration
beating his fists against the console in frustration, Simon realizes
that it just don't work. A few tears bead up around the corners of
his eyes.
The vargr in the naval uniform lay quietly beside him looking calmly asleep.
Unnoticed, Kara's ears flick over to the source of the noise. A tired look
of annoyance crosses her face.
"I'm gonna die. Alone. In space. And *ABSOLUTELY* no one is
going to know where I went. I don't even know if I left any genes
for posterity. What a waste my life has been, selling to the highest
bidder regardless of consequenses, always making it a game to stay
just ahead of the competition, the law.
"It's over now. Maybe if I hold my breath 'till I pass out? Nope
that won't do it. Yer just gonna have to live with it. (ha ha)"
Simon jumps slightly as a paw grasps his shoulder gently but Firmly and pulls
him back into his couch to lie quiet.
She turns her head slowly and catches Simon's teary eyes in her golden ones.
Her Galanglic is accented, but quite good The gentle tone of command
penetrates Simon's panic. "Calm down crewman. We AREN'T going to die. The
ELT in these pods is auto-triggered on eject. They'll fiiiind us."
Simon looks her over. She's a passenger he hadn't spoken with much before,
a tall graceful vargr, wearing a Vargr naval uniform and cap with enough
scrambled eggs on her cap to be an Imperial Sector Admiral. He can't see
the rest of her, but his eyes are able to focus on the necklace she's
wearing: it's adorned with two Gauss needles, both bent and deformed as
if retrieved from where they'd struck flesh....
"Now lie quiet, and conserve oooxygen."
Simon shuts his eyes.
She pats his shoulder reassuringly and then returns to her quiet meditaition,
silently wondering if she can believe her own little morale booster.
As Simon slowly sinks to unconciousness, Kara reaches tiredly around to her
back. The PLSS is almost exhausted, but contains a few minutes of oxygen.
Sadly she looks at Simon gasping the last of their air.
Where's his helmet?.... No helmet.
With a sigh, she slowly opens the stopcock on the air bottle. It hisses
hatefully as it dumps the last of its fresh contents into the stale murk
of the pod.
She flops back down on her couch exhausted. The pod slowly fills with
a new stench, as Simon's failing nervous system releases control of
his bladder. Kara doesn't even notice the smell as she slips into a
choking black pit of silence.
Trakh Bridge
Akhouw blinks several times in rapid succession as he tries to comprehend
the latest, and strangest, of recent events. He stares at the flat grey
haze for several seconds, then his sense of duty reasserts itself and reminds
him that he cannot spare himself the luxury of meditation just yet, while
there were matters of command to attend to. Figuring out exactly where they
were was a matter for the female scientists to contemplate.
He shifts his gaze from the external viewport to an adjacent holomonitor and
locks in the speeder bay securecam. Indeed, there was the speeder and both
of its occupants seemed no worse for the experience. A slight shift of his
right hand activates the intercom.
"Permission granted, Hfolraw. You may come to the bridge and give your
report. Scientist Hryawi, we have a most unusual situation in the immediate
area of space, a condition which is not unlike jumpspace despite the fact
that we have not energized our grid. Begin a detailed study of this phenomenon
at once and report your findings when practicable." Akhouw gives a sidelong
glance at Aolrkhea'. "Keep an eye on Hryawi's progress."
Aolrkhea' continues for a brief while to stare at her viewer although the
images of destruction are no longer visible there. Almost imperceptibly,
she seems to alter her position. Then suddenly, with a harsh, shaken
exhalation, she stops straining against her restraints and collapses back
into her acceleration couch. She takes several deep breaths in an attempt
to return her inner self to some semblance of balance.
Until _Khaurl_ can tell her more about the condition and species of the
lifepod occupants, there is little more that Aolrkhea' can do to prepare
Sickbay beyond what is already done. *I hope whoever is on that thing
isn't too badly hurt or something exotic like an Ael or a Jgdi, there's
been enough trouble today.* She settles down to patiently await more
information from Eihoftyah.
"Understood, Admiral." Aolrkhea' touches her panel. "Hryawi, Aolrkhea'.
I'll try to coordinate the science station interfaces to sensory until
we get some more information from _Khaurl_ about the lifepod casualties.
I will also require a debriefing report on your contact mission once the
immediate crisis is past. But for now, what sensors will you need...."
Trakh Bridge
Upon recovering from her shock of being being teleported across the
planitary distances, Hryawi acknowledges her latest assignment. She
quickly climbs out of the speeder and moves to the ships science station.
"Aiwi, Aolrkhea', Hryawi. Am on station. All passive sensors on line;
I am avoiding active scans for the moment."
"Acknowledged, Hryawi. Copy appropriate non-critical incoming data to
my station; critical data and hypotheses to both mine and the
Admiral's. Aiwi out."
Hryawi quickly settles down and starts pulling up data about jump
space, normal space and all data available about missjumps. Once that
processes is off and running, she start having sensors examine the
current space for comparison. When the data begins solidifying, she
starts running down differences and similarities.
After a few moments, she realizes she missed all known data about space
near and enclosed by black globes and brings that data up for additional
comparison.
Once all that is in progress she turns additional sensors on the
Trakh's jump grid and on all the other ships jump grids.
Akhouw returns his focused attention to the main holotank as he manipulates
the controls to get a close, high-resolution depiction of the current ship
locations within the anomaly. Small blurbs of trokh fade into existence,
measuring distances, angles, and so on. Gazing upon the Alcyon, Akhouw leans
toward the holo, his right hand tracing an outline, stabbing forwards as
the attachment points are noted. He passes a hand through his mane, and
gives it a sharp shake as he turns towards Aiwi... and then stops as a small
symbol and data blurb catch his eye. Akhouw flicks his tail to one side as
he reads.
He leans over to Aiwi. "Signal the Khaurl by masercom to return to the Trakh,
after securing the possible lifepod, with all due speed. Any injured sophonts
aboard it might need treatment." He glances at Aolrkhea'. "Stand ready for
them." Akhouw relaxes back into his command chair. "Then, Aiwi, signal the
shuttle Kingfisher by lasercomm. I want to speak to Admiral Nanadth. Also
inform them that we intend to secure the lifepod."
Alcyon Jump Drive Area
Slide Wrinkley has just wet himself.
Aaron haut-Frieder isn't in much better shape.
Slowly, both men creep forward toward the impossible tableau before them.
Gingerly, Slide reaches out a hand and touches the piece of wall. The pipes
are still wet, the steam condensing on the deck....
Aaron carefully toes the gun out of the unconscious man's grip, and kicks it
away. He then gently turns the body over onto its back, and examines it
carefully. "Greyson," he says.
"Wh..who?" Slide stammers.
"Greyson," Aaron responds, pointing to the name tag on the uniform. "Must be
this guy's name." He lifts up one eyelid. "Out cold. Must be in shock."
"HE'S in shock?!" Slide giggles hysterically. "I'M the one who's in SHOCK--"
Aaron looks over at Slide, his mustache twitching. Without preamble, he
gently reaches out and grabs the front of Wrinkley's shirt and begins to
shake him back and forth like a terrier shakes a rat. Ten or twelve shakes,
and Wrinkely gasps, "Okay okay OKAY!"
Aaron lets him go. "Okay?"
"Okay. Thanks." Slide runs a hand through his thinning hair. He frowns at
the man before him and says, "What the hell kind of uniform is that?"
"The color and insignia are Imperial Navy," Aaron frowns. "And the shoulder
pips and body armor look like standard NavInt issue. But the cut of the
uniform's all wrong...."
"Yeah! Yeah, THAT'S what's so weird!" Slide nods furiously. "It's like
a suit of ANTIQUE clothes, like they wore, oh, back in the last--"
His voice trails off. "....century...."
Aaron scoops the man up with a limp arm held over his shoulder. "Tell the
Bridge what happened," he says. "I'll take him to Sickbay."
Slide watches him leave with his burden, then staggers over to the intercom.
"Bridge? Doctor Vandermerwhee? This is, uh, this is Slide Wrinkely in the
J-Drive area. Aaron's, uh, Aaron's uh, taking someone to Sickbay. He's a,
uhm, he, uh, he just, ah, um... like... he just APPEARED out of like THIN
AIR, you know? With a big chunk of hallway from somewhere....Kinda."
Alcyon Bridge
After finishing the transmission, Ger turns on all the external video
sensors, and waits for any reports or messages. Totally unaware that
engineering has any problems, he is simply waiting to be notified
by Christian that the thrusters are on line. Then Slide's report comes
in....
"Hello Mr. Wrinkely, This is Admiral Ger. Exactly who is this somebody?
Mr. Jett perhaps? Hallway, you say, well is it a ship hallway or something
from the ring. Why don't you record a report on all the info and check
into the status with medical for me, I don't want to disturb the Doctor.
Ger out."
Ger then turns on the cameras in the cargo hold and puts them on the
main dispay (assuming they still work). Concluding that it is not
a ship chunk, and seeing the gun on the deck, Ger again goes for
the intercom.
"This is the commander, Security to the Cargo hold, secure the area and
report on possible intruders. Ger out."
"Security to Bridge," Mahlel reports in."Am I to assume, C'mander,
that you are overriding my current orders ta remain confined ta
quarters, as issued by tha' previously rankin' off'cer aboard?"
"No I am giving you orders which superceed those given to you
by the previous officer. You'll just have to wait to be confined to
quarters util you finish what I have instructed."
"Aye, sir. On my way."
"Why exactly were you confined to quarters? [unseen by Wrinkely, Ger
shakes his head in fustration] Tell me sometime later.
Just don't shoot anything unless it fires first, and then only
to disable"
"I wuz c'nfined ta quaters 'cuz I helped the Doc save somebody's life
and he got sore at me 'cuz I'm a better field surgeon than he is.
Mahlel out."
Kingfisher
'Vouf turns to Blaine and nods. "Please proceed at once, Mister Blaine.
Doctor Abuko and Doctor Silvmane shall assist. Mister Witfield,
hit the other ships and make sure they know where to dock; assign
them to low- and medium-stress dock points. When you've gotten all
the friendlies, try to raise the Aslan. Oh, and Mac, tightbeam lasercom
only. I have a bad feeling about using broadcast media in here...."
"Roger." Mac's hand goes to work. He started punching the comm
panel as fast as he can. Using tightbeam laser comm transmission,
he contacted each ship on our side, one by one. "Attention, this is
the commanding shuttle. You are instructed to dock in Alcyon. Here are
your docking points, and flight data." He starts transmitting docking
instructions.
"Mister Edmondsen, please secure all active sensors under security lock.
I don't want to make any noise in here...yet. Then go aft and supervise
Mister Severin's repair of the turret. Doctor Yorblin...."
'Vouf sighs, and suddenly, just for a moment, seems very old.
"Do you have a topical anaesthetic? My nose hurts."
Paladin
The sudden shift in sensor readings throws Morser for a loop; it takes a few
moments for him to re-orient himself once everything stabilizes. Staring at
the outputs, he kind of goes slack-jawed for a few minutes...gazing out
into something decades of research and experimentation tell him shouldn't
be possible....Is it a jump field? Nein...it cannot be...ze other ships
could not be here wizout grids...An eggggstrrapolation of ze balck globe
generators? Nein, not zat either...Could it be...a...POCKET UNIVERSE?!?!?
Unglaublich! Unmoglich! Could zis be ze refuge of ze Ancients!?! Mein Gott!!
While all this is running through his head, Morser's body just sits there
limp...
Gemini Arbiter
Aurelia is busy piloting the ship.
Nichole is busy monitoring ship systems particularly engineering.
> A huge glowing disk appears in the path of the ship.
Before Aurelia has time to react the ship passes through.
She does manage a little squeak though, causing Nikki to glance up.
> Then the stars all vanish, leaving only a featureless gray sky.
The next several seconds produces a flurry of activity which would
astonish any onlooker especially since the sisters seem to know
exactly what the other is doing.
"...aiyeeee!" echoes across the bridge.
"Navigational reference failure. System shutdown." announces the ships
computer.
"Now wha....!" exclaims Aurelia punching buttons, "Arby! Nav systems
check. Include sensors."
"Engine shutdown. Powerplant output reduced." states Nikki who then
calls forth several holo displays of information.
"Systems check normal. Unable to acquire navigational reference points."
responds the computer.
"How's the rest of the ships' systems, Nikki?" asks Aurelia.
"Everything seems okay. Whatever happened caused either system shutdown
or suspension." replies Nikki.
"Didn't RW send a message? I seem to remember something just before
we ended up here." looking around "Where ever here is." quips Nikki.
Punching buttons to replay the last few moments. "Here it is." states
Aurelia.
"I apologize for the interference. . ."
"What the hell's he mean farewell! This doesn't look good, Aury!"
Kingfisher
And so the Kingfisher bridge returns to normal, whatever that means,
Lazer thinks to himself. 'Vouf is giving orders; Abuko and Blaine are
going nuts on sensors; de Mer is taking the shuttle into the dock.
All pistols have been returned to their holsters, except Lazer's. That
still lies on the deck, where he kicked it.
The Solomani threat seems to have disappeared, so Lazer removes his
helmet.
Ger is no longer threatening the ringworld--whatever possessed him to
arm the secondary rack? The Solomani shared that insanity, but on an
altogether grander scale. They're likely defeated now. I wonder how
much mercy the Ring will show? Curious how calmly I can consider that.
It's sad, how good a prophet Bishop turned out to be. Everything we
touch is battered, crumpling like tinfoil underfoot.
So is that news, Farouk? It's the law of nature, everywhere and always.
Entropy never rests, so it's no bloody good feeling sorry for yourself.
The despair that washed through him when the fires bloomed along the
great arc of the ring seems to have cleansed him of the whirling
carousel of emotions of the past day, and left a pensive calm.
Kingfisher
Zben turns to Mac, "If you have any trouble, I speak a little
Aslan."
"Thanks, I'm hoping they are actually going to be polite about this,
and actually speak Anglic to us." Witfield smiles. "After all,
they are probably trapped here just as we are."
"Aye, but trapped in `who-knows-where' with a ship full of
Aslans wasn't covered in MY briefing..." Zben turns to look at `Vouf
and Johann. "Of course, I don't think Any of this was..."
"True, oh well, look on the bright side, we are all still alive and
breathing."
Kingfisher
Jan moves over to the command chair and looks at 'Vouf's slightly
abraded nose. "Hmm, let me exam that really quickly." Bones
grossly intact, a little swelling, this guy must be getting worn
down. Who wouldn't with either a commander whose gone nutso, or
a bunch of ex-military types who've gone off the deep end
themselves.
"Nothing broke, no foul, let's go ahead and numb it." Jan grabs a
small tube out of his trauma vest. Undoing the cap, he squirts a bit
of amber goo onto 'Vouf's nose. The goo is absorbed quickly.
"That should numb it, no guarantee if it will mess with your
sense of smell or not. It doesn't effect humans, but in any
case, it will wear off in 45 minutes to an hour. I'll fix
you up with something more long lasting, if it's still there
then, OK?"
"Snrf. Snrk. Snff?" 'Vouf makes nose-twitching motions for a
moment. Then, very slowly, he squeezes his eyes tightly shut
and raises his nose until it points toward the ceiling....
"*SSSHHHWWUMMPPHHH!!!*"
With an abrupt downward motion of his head, 'Vouf sneezes violently.
He wipes teary eyes and gasps, "Uh, yeah, THAT did the trick. Thanks."
Kingfisher
As Abuko and Silvmane set up the passive scan, Zben sets up a
diagnostic check-out of Engineering. As it gets underway, he moves
over toward `Vouf, and asks in a quiet voice "Sir? What happens now? I
assume there's going to be the devil to pay..." with a glance outside
"...and it seems we may been sent to the right spot."
'Vouf favors Zben with a sidelong, ice-blue glance. Blaine hasn't seen
him look this ragged since they dragged his bleeding body from underneath
Leadfoot. "All in good time, Zben," he whispers. "Let's try to get ourselves
all together before we start worrying about the small tsakha. Okay?"
One gauntlet, able to crush steel easily, gives Zben's shoulder a gentle
pat, and with a wink 'Vouf is on to his next crisis....
Kingfisher
At his console Rigo calls up the security menu, studies it for a few
moments, then pauses, a brief look of annoyance passing over his face.
He then quickly enters a series of orders before turning back towards
the command chair:
"Mr. Bhyarrvouf, I've checked that all active sensors are off, but you
forget that I'm neither command nor security. The locks I've set up can
be disengaged by anyone. Best I can do is to set up an alarm if that
happens. Do you want that alarm to go to you too? Or do you want to lock
the sensors yourself?"
"No, an alarm will do fine. Thanks, Rigo." 'Vouf is staring at the seat
where Jett had been. He looks bone-weary all of a sudden.
With the sensors taken care of, Rigo rises from his chair and and goes
aft. As he leaves the cabin he points to his translator, which he has
left by his console: "Oh, by the way, the translator is fitted for
translating the Aslan lingo, in case anyone needs it. And if you have
a moment, sir, could I speak to you?" He then goes to the engineering
room to watch Severin fix the turret.
"Sure, be right there," 'Vouf says.
Kingfisher
"Sir, am I to consider myself under arrest?"
Bhyarrvouf favors Lazer with a look rather reminiscent of the one his
third-grade teacher gave him when he asked that a math problem be
explained more than once. "NO, Mister Farouk," 'Vouf sighs. "NOBODY
is under arrest. And nobody WILL be, until I get this mess straightened
out and figure out WHO ought to be arrested... and who ought to be
given commendations. At the moment, a coin toss looks good."
"You want the coin now? OR perhaps we should try poker?" Witfield says,
trying to relieve the tension.
"What's 'poker'?" Vouf wonders.
"Poker, a very popular card game. Its popularity started around the
20th century Earth, and it's still popular among the card players
today." Witfield exaplins. "Or, we can always just draw straws." :)
"Draw...." Mac can see the gears clicking. "What does drawing pictures
of STRAWS have to-- never mind. Just never mind."
A sort of choked laugh comes from Lazer, and he appears to be smiling
against his will. "In that case, sir, permission to withdraw. I need a
drink to celebrate my half-commendation." He gives up on resisting
the smile, and adds, "You look like you could use one yourself."
"Vouf," Mac says, "One of these days I'll have to teach you all about
silly games human play. You'll get a good laugh out of how silly we
are."
"Mac, I grew UP around humans. I am fully aware of how silly they can get.
And if Bishop were here," he pauses for a moment, "I'd make a crack about
what an improvement we were over the original design. But as it is, I'll
refrain, since I don't believe that any more than HE did."
Mac looks at Lazer. "Uh, drinking at a time like this? Hey, maybe we
can invite the Aslan to a drinking party? That should be quite a ice
breaker." He smirks.
"What, the LAST party wasn't enough for you?" 'Vouf snarls.
"It was for me," Zben groans. "I don't think I've fully recovered
from it yet!"
"It was fun, but the Aslans weren't there." He smiles. "I heard Aslan
do the wildest things when they party."
On that note Zben turns to the Engineering console and runs
through the docking checklist, making sure there will be no surprises
upon contact. He pulls one of the forward views into a corner of his
screen, the better to coordinate with the pilot. "Mr. de Mer, I
confirm all docking connectors show green, discharge arm extended,
umbilical nominal...." and continues through the checklist, unless any
anomalies show up. His attitude is `Business as usual'.
"Stay on the Bridge until we're safely docked, Lazer," 'Vouf says mildly.
"I REALLY don't like anyone letting their guard down while we're out...
HERE." He sighs. "And pick up your gun before someone kicks it and shoots
someone, e-hrf?"
Lazer nods fractionally.
He retrieves his pistol and holsters it, and takes a spare acceleration
couch. He configures his board to general systems, with a repeater from
Etienne's weapons panel. A quick check reassures him that the security
interlocks on the secondary missile rack are restored.
Then he sits back and gazes out the main viewscreen at the weirdly
glowing, claustrophobic arc of the Ring's pocket universe. His posture
is comfortably alert and his eyes are clear again.
Etienne notices the blink of a message saying that his weapons controls
had been duplicated and quickly looks up from his maneuvering. When he
sees Lazer sitting nearby he nods and takes the time to send his weapons
data trailing after the gravitic controls, into whatever place it is that
holographic data spheres go when they die.
Kingfisher
Johann have been sitting looking at the sensor readouts since the strange
transfer too place muttering 'wierd, wierd, wierd' when he suddenly speaks up:
"Is this your work Vouf? Moved entire ships in the same way you exchanged
yourself and Ger?"
"Yeah, I'm actually an Ancient myself, and you're all my lab animals,"
'Vouf snaps. He then catches himself, and rubs his nose, frowning.
"Sorry, A.P., that was out of line."
"I'd be interested in that answer as well," Zben adds, "Or is
security involved?"
"Na, I don't think so." Mac shakes his head. "If Vouf can do all this
just by himself. He would have been the MOST POWERFUL being existing
on the face of this universe. While I think highly of Vouf, I don't
think his abilities are QUITE THAT GOOD."
'Vouf manages a laugh at that, but it's kind of feeble. In fact, he looks
like he's starting to show definite signs of wear and tear....
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mister Witfield. Remind me to promote
you to the rank of Demigod when I *do* take the throne of the Great Pack!"
Mac gives him a glance of comfort.
"Hmm, demigod. This has promise. Think of all the things I can do." He smiles.
"No," 'Vouf continues wearily, "I *didn't* do this. I didn't actually
*DO* ANYTHING."
He grimaces. "It was the Ring. I'm from a part of the Galaxy where
psionics isn't as feared as it is in the Imperium-- my culture views
it as more of a tool that requires discipline than a terrible curse.
When the Ring demonstrated essentially infinite power at its command,
I just made a wild guess and asked it to key into my thoughts and let
me do stuff. Anyone else could have done it, if their prejudices had
allowed them to even consider it....."
Etienne spares a short glance over his shoulder at Bhyarvouf, too short a
time for anyone to decide if his expression of disgust is aimed at the
Vargr or at himself.
'Vouf's eyes gleam for a moment. "I can see why psis find it so
invigorating. Infinite power at my command-- every Vargr's dream. To
GO anywhere, BE anywhere, DO ANYTHING, with just a thought! The
problem is, my poor head wasn't really built for that kind of thing."
He gives Zben a rueful look. "You said you felt like the rabbit going
INTO the hat, Zben? Well, I feel like the hose after someone turned
off the water pressure. I'm gonna sleep for a MONTH when I finally
tuck my nose under my tail...."
"'Scuse me a moment." He steps off the Bridge after Rigo.
Abuko calls after his retreating back, "Mighty considerate of R-alpha
to cart us off and lock us up in pseudo- jumpspace without a single
word of explanation of where or why!" Johann both sounds and looks
very uncomfortable with the situation. "It didn't bother telling you
where or why or for how long I suppose? Is it still there so you can
ask it?"
"No, and no." The iris valve shuts.
Kingfisher
'Vouf follows Rigo aft to Engineering. On the way down there, he says,
"What's on your mind, Rigo?"
Rigo turns to Bhyarrouf. His voice sounds apologetic, his words are formal,
but underneath 'Vouf can still smell repressed anger.
"Mr. Bhyarrvouf, I want to apologize for drawing a gun on you. I got the
wrong impression about your mental... er... that is... You see, I was in a
hostages situation that when sour once. That was one of the reasons why I
retired. I remember the way the perp's voice sounded... Anyway, you pushed
the wrong buttons when you arrived like that. When you... when you..."
Suddenly the anger breaks through and Rigo's voice goes up quite a few
decibels.
"What the holy blue blazes did you think you were doing, bursting into a
hostage situation with guns waving in all directions!?! Don't you realize
you could've caused a bloodbath? Stars above, man, the situation was under
control! It was defusing! And then you comes barging in like a cheap holovid
_chikkal_ after a quadgang!! I've posted rookies to The Black Hole for less
brainburnt behavior! I would be obliged, _Sir_, if, the next time you decide
to use your balls for brains, you'd take a deep breath and think again. If
you ever, _EVER_, pull another stunt like that, then, superior officer or not,
I'm going to give you the licking of a lifetime, or at least have me a good
country try, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?!"
'Vouf's ears go back reflexively when Rigo raises his voice, and he lets
Rigo vent his steam for as long as is necessary. He then pauses and
scratches his chin for a moment, and when he speaks his voice is that same
icy whisper that scared Rigo in the first place....
"Mister Edmondsen, I appreciate both your concern and your experience
regarding these matters. But as you pointed out, this WAS a hostage
situation, with weapons, LETHAL weapons, drawn and aimed at a helpless
prisoner. If YOU were in a position to replace an unarmed man, the only
hostage leverage a group of khebreyth had, with a surprise intervention
by an armed and armored officer whose JOB it is to get shot at, AND
rescue your superior officer by putting yourself in his place at the
same time....wouldn't YOU have taken the chance?"
He doesn't give Rigo time to answer. "I think you would, because you
know hostage situations as well as I do. A normalizing situation, such
as the one that existed prior to my arrival, can flare up again at a
moment's notice, and I preferred to take the Count's place if that
were to happen. Besides," and with that, his voice returns to its
normal half-bark, "It was a calculated risk-- I knew I could hit Lazer
in time, and if YOU drew on me you were only carrying a stungun.
Shooting somebody would've sobered everyone up in a BIG hurry. As it
was," and he rubs his nose, "Nobody got hurt. Much."
"And maybe, just MAYBE, I *was* looking for a fight before you bopped
me one. But that's the closest you're ever going to get to my
admitting partial blame... and if you want to take a poke at me, for
this or any other offense of which you feel I'm guilty, and you're
willing to take the consequences, feel free." That last remark was
delivered with a smile. Or at least it LOOKED like a smile-- on a
Vargr, it's hard to tell sometimes....
Rigo closes his eyes as if in pain and opens them again. "Mr. Bhyarrvouf,
I would not, and though this is not the time to go into a lenghty debate,
I must at least tell you why, because you're kidding yourself. What you
did was admirably brave. It was also the self-indulgent act of an short-
sighted, irresponsible fool. It would have been appropiate against a band
of hop-head sociopaths, but not against a cabin-full of calm, sober, but
tense, professionals. If any gun had gone off everybody would've gotten
into the act, not just you, me and Mr. Farouk. You may have calculated
the risk to yourself, but you totally failed to consider everybody else.
Acts of personal bravery may be necessary to lead a pack, but it takes
more to make a good peace officer. Or any other kind of officer, I should
imagine." He grins. "Reckless bravery is all right for lone wolves, but
you have responsibilities to others than yourself now. OK, I've had my
say. Think about it."
"I've been an officer for a long time, Rigo," 'Vouf remarks. "From about
my twenty-second birthday to this month, it was always on Vargr craft.
I'm sorry if you think the Vargr way of handling things is irresponsible,
but it's how I've worked in the past. Don't think that I'm shrugging off
your arguments, though-- if you're demonstrably upset that this was
mishandled, then I deserve to give your views a thorough airing. Especially
in the light of the fact that there WILL be an inquiry into these matters
-- and I'M probably going to be conducting it. Human justice for humans.
Probably the safest and fairest thing in the long run. I may even learn
something!" The half-smile that follows this is shortened by weariness.
Bhyarrvouf may have his doubts about Rigo's ability to carry out his
threat, but none whatsoever about his sincerity. However, as he pauses to
draw breath, Rigo relaxes and his angry face is replaced by a puzzled frown.
"Say... how the Hole did you pull that stunt anyway???"
Bhyarrvouf's iron demeanor wilts a bit. "I *didn't*," he says. "Like I
told Zben-- it was the *Ring* that did it. I just told it where I had
to go, and it plunked Ger down on the Alcyon's Bridge, safe and sound,
and put me in the hotseat in his place. It also," he adds with an angry
snarl, "yanked Jett away before I could do him an injury or three."
"Jett?"
"Yes, JETT." 'Vouf scowls. This isn't a madman's anger, though; it's
the more familiar frustrated-Vargr look everyone's seen at least once.
"He and I were enemies from the start, Rigo. I was doing my damnedest
to stay fair and objective with EVERYONE on board, but he just came
waltzing into Ger's office and said that effectively HE was going to
run things from now on, just to 'look out for Turnskaad's interests'."
"Look out for their interests!" 'Vouf seethes silently for a moment.
"If they didn't trust us, why give us the Alcyon to begin with? Why not
send a crew they DID trust? And what in the name of the Thagk-Kabra could
one snide LAWYER accomplish to stop us, if we WEREN'T trustworthy? If
he had no power, then he just served as a living insult to our integrity.
If he DID have a deadman switch of some kind, then we could be equally
badly crippled...." He sighs and shakes his head. "It's the principle
of the thing. He acted as if our signatures, our word of honor, was
meaningless. When I say I'm going to do something, I DO it. I don't
need a lawyer breathing down my neck to MAKE me honorable or decent!"
He rubs his eyes. "Forgive me...I'm rambling. Not as young as I used to
be, and this has been a TSAKHA-smelly long day. And a long way to go
before I can sleep, I bet...."
"Rigo," 'Vouf says, "I consider this matter closed, at least as far as
your drawing the gun is concerned. I don't plan to press charges of
assaulting a fellow officer, on two conditions. One, that you replace
the grips on your stungun with nonslip type at once. And two, that
you teach me that reverse-draw you used on me."
Rigo looks ruefully at his stun-gun: "First chance I get, you can bet
your canines on that! As for the reverse-draw..." He grins and
stretches out his hand for a shake. "It's a deal, 'Vouf, provided you
let me lecture you a bit about human-type hostage psycology. And
perhaps you can reciprocate about vargr-type behaviour. My knowledge
there seems a bit deficient! Now, don't you think you'd better get
back to the business of commanding, Sub-commander?"
"No rest for the weary," 'Vouf sighs. "Okay, it's a date." He shakes hands
with Rigo, his grip gentle despite the cybernetic muscles.
'Vouf grins, and this time the smile is genuine. "Go tell Fitz it really
IS okay to put the guns back on line. I'm for the Bridge." He leaves.
Rigo enters the Kingfisher's Engineering Room and looks around
for Severin. "Need any help fixing that turret?" he asks.
"Nope," Severin says. "All done. Just pulled a fuse, is all. Had 'em
back on line soon's I heard about the Solomani. What's goin' on out there?"
Severin punches his commdot. "A 'Vouf! The Turret all taken care
of..., but you could sent down one of those *real* engineers to
relieve me..." He winks at Rigo.
"BTW, has anyone done any gravitational constants tests here? Should be
interesting..."
After Rigo leaves, Fitz Severin stays behind in the engineering
compartment with his feet up, flipping through display channels
looking at the various craft inside our pocket universe...
"About time, *someone* relieved me... howcome, a *real* engineer wasn't on
duty back here the whole time though the supposed trip to the ringworld...
Sure would have been handy what with AI computer invasions, system crashs,
missle attacks, war fleets, and all?"
"But Nooo...! Everyone wants to cram themselves up on the bridge, but doesn't
want to do the dirty work back here..."
Kingfisher
Vouf comes back from aft, where he's left Rigo and Fitz with the
turret circuits, just as Mac finishes running down the list of ships,
ending with the Trakh....
"Sir, the Aslans are hailing us." Mac looks to Vouf. When Vouf nods,
Mac will open the hailing frequency.
"Topnotch, Mac." Bhyarrvouf straightens his uniform, and runs a quick
hand over his fur to smooth it, then sits down in the command chair
to face the holo pickup. He summons up, from some storage battery
somewhere, the oomph to look "commanding."
Mac smiles at Vouf's attempt to look commanding and together.
"Keyaho, _Trakh._ This is Turnskaad Command Shuttle Kingfisher....
Might I have the honor of communicating with your commanding officer?"
He flicks off the holo for a moment, and whispers to Mac, "Punch in a fast
datapulse to the Alcyon; get Ger's permission to let them dock, or not."
"Aye sir." Mac punches a few buttons. Sending datapulse to Alcyon.
_Commander Ger. Vouf Request your permission to let the Aslan dock_
'Vouf settles back in his chair to await the Aslan answer, and suddenly
sits up with a small, surprised yip. He reaches under him, and picks up a
small metallic object from off the command chair cushions. A psi-shield.
He tosses it to Mac, and waggles a hand.
_ASK GWR IF OTS HIS_
Mac catches it with his left hand. And started smiling.
Witfield transmits more message to Alcyon.
_SO LIKE, GER. DID YOU LOSE A PSI-SHIELD OR TWO? _
Ger doesn't bother answering the message.
Khaurl
The Khaurl has not been idle in the minutes since the sudden shift.
Responding to Akhouw's orders, it has peeled off to intercept the
Trakh, and was in fact about to do so when the question of the
lifepod was raised. The Khaurl's pilot, acting on his own authority,
elected to haul in the lifepod himself, thereby risking only the
shuttle and not the Trakh.
The operation was a simple one; despite the fear of being exposed to
the grey nothingness with only a vacc suit on, there were no ill effects,
and the lifepod was quickly manhandled into the Khaurl's tiny cargo bay.
After that, the Trakh receives a lasercom call from the Khaurl:
"Trakh, this is Khaurl. We have retrieved the fiyfiyalr lifepod and
opened it. Two occupants, both alive but unconscious from lack of
oxygen. One hisol'i, a female of the administrative sort from what we
can tell, and a male arlaeaha, quite large for the species and heavily
armed. We have confiscated the arlaeaha's weapon pending your approval;
awaiting permission to dock. Have medical personnel standing by with
oxygen masks."
"Fine work, Eihoftyah. Retain the arlaeaha's weaponry for the moment
until medical has looked him over and we have had a chance to talk to
both beings. Permission to dock is granted. Upon arrival, transport the
beings to Sickbay, Aeawiyh will meet you at the pinnace bay. Post a
trooper outside Sickbay for the moment."
Akhouw growls in evident satisfaction. At least SOME things were going
right around here...
He activates the intercom. "Doctor Aeawiyh, report to Pinnace Bay with
standard medkit and oxygen apparatus." Akhouw turns to Aolrkhea'. "Join
them in Sickbay when you are able. Try and see if you can discover where
these beings have come from."
"As you wish, M'lord," Aeawiyh replies. "Reports will follow as soon as
feasible."
"Noted, Doctor. I will be in Sickbay shortly."
A very soft sigh escapes Aolrkhea''s lips. *Much better than I'd
hoped.* "Aeawiyh. Remember to take the computer medscanner to the
dock, not the little portables, or you'll get all sorts of false
alarms off those Terran bioforms until we can recalibrate them. I'll
be in sickbay swiftly."
"Fa'eairl. When the casualties are brought aboard, please route audio
from their location to my commdot. Also any important messages."
"Eihoftyah, Aolrkhea'. Are there any other signs of trauma on the patients?
Can you estimate how long they've been without oxygen? Over."
She swiftly returns her station to unattended operation, and removing her
acceleration couch restraints, leaves the bridge.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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