Rat-ta-ta rat-ta-ta

Gun rounds shot into a metal plate on a small hillside. It had been quickly set up for target practice.

Bzzztt

A bright blue electric arc hissed as it shot out of Alan’s gauntlets. It speared across the field to smash just left of a metal plate. Adjusting slightly, the arc moved to hit the metal plate. Adjusting the controls slightly the azure ark went from electrifying the plate and doing dispersal damage, to growing more focused and narrow. A narrow circle on the plate grew hot red until finally the arc cut clean threw like a welding torch. At that point Alan suddenly released the beam.

“Dang! That thing cuts through metal like butter!” Nick exclaimed.

They’d all practiced for a good hour. Adrian, who was familiar with the AR-15 and handguns due to his time with the JROTC and his father, helped Nick learn the basics. Alan, on the other hand, had to read the manual that came with his gloves, and then had to practice using them.

This item had serious power requirements, he was lucky to be a VE generator. The gloves had a number of offensive abilities. The energy arc, which he had used on the monster that he fought in the brick, provided a spectrum of options for combat. To high penetration on one end vs a potent electrical spread on the other. There was also a melee option too, which coated his hands in energy. Another option was to send out pulses of energy. Much more efficient in its energy use. However, it was much more difficult to aim consistently for Alan, and he instead opted for the energy arc.

“So when are we going to get a weapon like that?” Nick asked, while looking disappointingly at his gun.

“That’s up to you I guess.” Alan smirked at his friend, “You could always grab another weapon. There are some metal rods that might be perfect for melee”

“Oh.” Nick looked down at his gun, realizing how excited he had been a little while ago at his new weapons. “I think I’m ok for now."

Adrian chuckled at his friend. And then proceeded to put his gun away. Both Nick and Adrian had been given a few units of VE in order to power their rings.

Alan checked his messages. Shelley had gotten his message and was scheduled to arrive at 10. In anticipation for her arrival, Alan found himself smoothing out his hair, and adjusting his uniform. Nick and Adrian joined him, while each giving him a smirk.

Precisely at 10 am. Motes of light appeared in front of him. First there were just a few, but more and more appeared. Until there were hundreds, then a thousand, finally thousands upon thousands. The pinpricks of light formed a silhouette, until, at last the brightness faded and Shelly appeared, seemingly left behind by the dazzling display.

Unlike the green dress she’d worn before, she wore an outfit more suited for the outdoors. Khaki pants, a t-shirt, with a canvas jacket. She had a simple side arm at her hip. Her dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, which all sat under a baseball cap. Her dark eyes met Alans, and then shifted to look at his sides taking in the whole trio. Taking a brisk step forward, she reached out her right hand.

“Hi Alan, it’s good to see you again.”

“Shelley, I’m glad you were able to make it.” Alan noticed that she was looking at his friends curiously. “These are my friends Adrian and Nick. I thought it would be helpful to have a few extra hands as there are some occasional monsters in the area.” She nodded appreciatively.

Alan invited her for a brief walk up the hill they’d just been using as target practice, in order to give Shelley a better view of the surrounding area. The landscape of Kragga’s Waste Sea was bleak. Black, short tufted grasses and dark molds were the only living plant around. Dark, inky hills dotted the area, silent mausoleums of once grand structures, a shadow of what had once been a grand and vast empire. The occasional metal girder would peak out of the earth, adding to the grim scene. The soil, stained black from an ecological catastrophe.

The disaster led to Kragga to be abandoned and uninhabitable. An ideal dumping ground to avoid regulations on radioactive waste and other dangerous products. The air had been poisonous until just a few centuries ago. This now fallen conglomerate introduced microbes to the planet which slowly transformed the poisons.

“It’s not the prettiest location.” Alan commented. “This area had once been a port before being a discreet dumping zone for discarded, or dangerously damaged ships and other hazardous material.” He pointed out along the horizon. “This area had once been a mega city, a jewel of a vast empire, before catastrophe wiped it out.”

“I don’t know, it’s got it’s own sort of beauty.” She stood, arms folded, gazing outward. “It reminds me a little of Death Valley national park. Just more black than brown, and instead of dunes you have little dark hills.”

Alan smiled at that. “Well, we have a lot of ground to cover.” They descended the hill and Alan removed the three 4-wheelers from the ring. Alan was about to offer her a seat, when she took matters in her own hand She immediately selected one of the vehicles for herself. This left Nick and Adrian in the awkward position of sharing.

Alan could see Nick about to protest, before Adrian elbowed him in the ribs, cutting him off. Instead he settled with glowering at Shelley and Alan. Shelley decidedly pretended she didn’t see anything. Alan almost offered to take Adrian on his, but decided to let it lie as the two had already positioned themselves, and he was eager to get the tour started.

They cruised the waste sea, specifically beginning to tour the various wreckages of old ships dumped after the catastrophe. Shelley stopped suddenly.

“Thats a Phralax 725 light transport, one of the fastest planetary tech level ships of its time.” She spoke excitedly and hopped off her vehicle.

“Now how does she know a thing like that?” Nick said off-handed.

She turned to him sharply, “I know because I took a knowledge pack outlining most of the popular ships in Cosmos in the last 500 years.” Turning back to the ship she began to relay a few bits of information to Alan, while also writing down a few pieces of information on a note pad which appeared from her rings. Completely missing Nick’s face mockingly mouthing a repeat of what she just said. This got an eye roll from Adrian, along with a subtle smirk.

They stayed for nearly a half hour before Shelley realized that she couldn’t spend the entire trip on one ship. They hopped back on the vehicles to tour the other ships in the area. Massive freighters, touring vessels, mining ships, and even the occasional military vessel made the rounds. Alan would also stop by the occasional mound, and report that this area had also been a spaceport, as he’d learned from his own knowledge download. He speculated that under a few of these mounds, they might find a few preserved ships. A likely outcome, if his memory about the future was any indication.

They continued to stop occasionally at noteworthy vessels, where she would make a few comments. Alan and Adrian would listen intently, offering what little knowledge they could. Nick, however, put on a grim face and kept himself busy looking for potential threats. He’d occasionally point to the sky, where large birds, the size of small planes hovered in the distance.

Shelley would make a few notes, and they would move to the next area. Soon, however, Alan felt his stomach rumble, and Alan veered his 4 wheeler and toward more familiar territory, passing a few ships along the way. Though Shelley motioned him to stop a few times, he urged her on until he pulled in front of a familiar red, rectangular ship.

“This is The Brick. It's what I’ve been using as a home base up to this point.” Alan pointed out. The ship was a dull red color, and had a rectangular shape which had inspired Alan’s choice of name.

Shelley looked unimpressed. “Ok, so why did we stop here?”

“Lunch.” Alan offered simply. Shelley seemed to want to protest until her stomach rumbled, she blushed slightly, and ended the debate.

Inviting them inside, Alan cleared a table and started removing items for lunch. An entire spread to have some homemade chicken sandwiches along with all the fixings.

As they all sat down, Alan couldn’t help but notice that Nick seemed a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation. He remained quiet, odd for him. Hoping to start a conversation Alan offered a bit of information.

“So Shelley, Adrian here is actually spec’ing out to be a pilot.” Alan offered.

“That’s great Adrian.” Shelley offered, having opened a package of cookies. “Have you ever flown before?”

“Yes, I'm already an amature pilot. I nearly have my private pilot’s license. I still have to do my solo flights though.” Adrian responded politely.

“I’ve been working on my pilots license too.” Shelley added. “I still have a lot of hours to go.”

“Yeah it can take a lot of time.” Adrian responded.

“And money.” Nick grumbled.

“That too!” Adrian heartily agreed.

Shelley didn’t know exactly how to respond to that. It was clear from the tour before that Alan hadn’t exactly told his friends about her background. But she did manage to laugh along with them as she exchanged stories about her close calls, the oddities of instructors, and what they hoped to fly someday. Both Adrian and Shelley seemed very excited at the prospect of flying spacecraft.

Alan was glad the two of them were getting along. Nick on the other hand seemed silent, uncomfortable with the situation. Alan figured Nick would be all right though as he was able to put away three sandwiches all on his own. A good sign if nothing else.

After their lunch, Alan offered to take Shelley back on tour.

“I think I’ve seen enough Alan. I wouldn’t mind going back out, but I think we should spend a little time going over a few details of the contract. What do you say?”

Alan nodded, sighing in relief, it wasn’t a sure bet she would want to stay, but her words were hopeful. Adrian and Nick both stepped outside. Adrian giving Alan a covert wink, before he left out of sight.

“Your friends seem nice Alan.” She started off, “Well, except, I think I may have done something to irritate Nick.”

“You noticed that, huh?” Alan said apologetically, “He’ll come around.”

“It actually was quite nice. I can tell they don’t know much about me. I don’t think people who know about me ever actually show when they’re annoyed at me.” She genuinely smiled.

“Well, if I had to bet, he’d likely show he was annoyed with you even if he did know about your family.” Alan offered, “It's what I like about him. You know where you stand.”

She nodded, before continuing. “Honestly, I don’t know how you even found this planet. Do you even know what you have here? This place is a researcher's paradise. Most of the ships I’ve found are obviously older models. But there seems to be a good mix of Planetary and Interstellar ship models from what I’ve seen, and that doesn’t even include what might even be buried here!”

Then she sighed. “Look, this place is amazing. But I’ll be honest it's going to take a lot of resources to move my people here. The 72 hour move window is closing, and I’ve got researchers all over Cosmos trying to get their hands on just a fraction of what you have here. But, I’m really concerned about the risks of this planet. There’s no infrastructure, there are definitely monsters, and who knows what else. I don't even know if this planet falls into another empire's territory. I might be able to spare a few guys here, but I need to know more.”

Alan nodded thoughtfully. It was clear she was thinking about the whole picture. It's not like she had the kind of knowledge that he did, nor had the experience either. Thinking carefully on his position, he offered a few thoughts. “Well, in regards to your last thought, I don’t think this place is owned by anyone.”

“How do you know that?”

“Cosmos has allowed me to make a claim over all the territory we saw today. You are looking at the legal owner of this part of the Kragga Waste Sea.” He smiled. “And I don’t think Cosmos would have allowed it otherwise.”

She thought through that for a minute, before Alan continued. “To your second point. There are monsters. I think that is more of a benefit than a curse actually. Where there are monsters, there is nyamisium crystal. In fact, if this place gets too well known, then it might actually lead to too many people visiting just for hunting purposes.”

“All right I concede your 2 points. Though, I am still a little wary of monsters suddenly attacking us. What about infrastructure?”

Alan had thought about that, and had already come up with a solution. “I can promise that you will have a housing center and research facility, just say the word. I’ve recently come into some nano technology which can make it happen.” He let that sink in before continuing. “Look, I don’t have the manpower yet to manage this claim. So I am looking for people who can help me get started.”

She smirked at him, “And why should I sign on with you as the landlord? I’m pretty sure that I could easily invade your territory and take it as my own. And if not me, someone else.” She said it half-jokingly, but did bring up a good point.

Alan teased back, “Well, if you want your only source of earth based VE to dry up I guess you could do that. And as far as someone else, I’m hoping that by working together, and starting up slowly we can dissuade others from taking what's ours.

At the thought of losing the contract for VE, along with the fact that she wasn’t prone to such unscrupulous acts, she had to admit it was a good deal. Something her father wouldn’t disagree to at least. She looked up at him and was about to speak until she heard the sound of …

Ra-ta-ta Ra-ta-ta

Gunfire coming from outside The Brick.