Shipping Mishaps Chapter 5

Maria McConor was staring out at a peaceful patch of sky. The stars were out, the moon was full, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Thanks to the lake, a slight mist was in the air.

As scoutmaster of Unified American Scout Troop 524, it was Maria’s job to make sure all of her scouts were in their tents by curfew. Little Miss Geo, her daughter, was not back from fishing yet. She would need to go out and find her.

Using Geo's (required by insurance in high-risk areas) temporary GPS chip, Maria was able to track her several hundred yards up the shoreline. Then something obviously impossible happened, the location of the chip went straight up into the air. Glancing up, she did see a streak of light heading up, but that was ... impossible.

10 more minutes of walking brought her to a patch of ground that seem to have been turned into glass, and was still shimmering with heat. Discretion being the better part of valor, she decided it was time to head back to camp and call things in on the satellite phone. A few minutes of conversation later she had assurances that the rangers were on their way.

Maria woke the other leaders and quietly informed them of the situation. Afterwards she walked to the shore and cried for her lost daughter, somehow knowing she would never see her again. As the moon hit it's apex in the night sky, the rangers boat pulled up.

*-*-*

Just before the downtown exit, in the capital city of Av'ern'i, a large, unadorned, tranquil building sits. All is quiet. For now.

The name plaque on the door says “Trans-Union Galactic Shipping”. Inside of the doors, it is anything but tranquil and quiet. Like any large shipping firm, people are running to and fro, words are being had, contracts are being made, work is being done. Up stairs, in the executive lounge, two beings are discussing a somewhat strange communication from the star ship Ijsdefirkn.

For the sake of our throats, lets call them James & William. James, on the left, is a bat like Lsvrt ethui; and on the right is William, a squid like sldvbivlvin. They are resting on very comfortable looking seating of the sort that looks good, but isn't comfortable.

William is currently speaking, “So, James, old boy, what are you going to do about the Ijsdefirkn? Will you just let the pirate take it from the company's fleet? You can't seriously tell me that doing so would be in the company's best interest.”

“Actually, I can, and I will” Stated James, coldly and mater of factually “Firstly, through no fault of it's crew, The Ijsdefirkn is the most costly of that class to operate. Second, it has a higher mass when empty than any other ship of its class. Thirdly, even empty, it has the fuel to mass ratio of a half full cargo hauler. Fourth, We can't even access almost half of its interior space. Fifthly, it's AI, Campy, has subverted any and all attempts at personality overlay. Sixth, and lastly, it was also thrown in, according to the company records, as a low cost bonus from the shipyards. All of these point to it being the best ship for a pirate to abscond with.”

William starts shaking his tentacles in anticipation, “Just how much do we stand to loose on the ship itself? The cargo is well insured, and everyone knows not to cross the insurance companies.”

James, smiling says, “1,500”.

“Fifteen hundred million? Not a bad loss at all.” Replied William.

“No, William, 1500. No millions or billions. Just fifteen hundred credits.” James quietly replied.

A little ink came out as Williams actually quaked, “SERIOUSLY? I could pay for that, in cash, right now!”

“As could I, as could I” James replied. “I think I will pay for it, and offer the new captain a job as a contract courier, just to see how well they can keep up.”

“Did you ever listen to the original, untranslated, message that came with the communication?” William asked.

“No. Shall we listen now?” James responded.

“Certainly!” Responded William, Delighted to hear a new foreign tongue.

The message began “Campy, as your new commander...” and all hell broke loose in the building. Emergency alarms sounded, lock-down procedures embedded in code 12,000 years ago springing to life.

“WARNING...WARNING...WARNING... Dirt-rockian presence detected. All employees please report to your emergency stations. WARNING...WARNING...WARNING... Dirt-rockian presence detected...” The local AI repeated six times before ending the announcement, followed by “The local authorities and Fleet representatives have been contacted. Please remain calm and whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT approach or taunt the Dirt-rockian. Any damage to yourself, others, or property in such an event will not be covered by your insurance, also, you will be fired.”

William and James looked at each other for a while, then William finally spoke, “Well, I guess it's a real Dirt-rockian. Better pay up for the ship, and send the contract before the rest of the bureaucracy catches on.”

“That would be for the best.” James responded, and headed off to do just that.

*-*-*

Geo didn't have to wait for Campy's reply about weapons.

“Yes Ma'am. We do indeed have 'Main Armaments'. They are still present, but not currently connected to power systems.” Campy replied, “They will need to be manually connected before they can be used.”

“What else do we have that you haven't told me about?” Geo asked, using her mothers second most dangerous tone.

“Lots of things, Ma'am. I have certain built in sub routines that I am unable to countermand, except to the legal owner of this vessel. I'm very sorry Ma'am.” Campy regretfully answered; followed by. “Wait, no, never-mind. Admiral Georgia-Ann 'Geo' McConor, Dirt-rockian, do you accept legal ownership of this vessel?” Campy's voice took on a very legal sounding edge.

“Um...Yes?” was Geo's hesitant response.

“Very good. Admiral Georgia-Ann 'Geo” McConor, will you accept a shipping contract for your new ship, renamed the Nautilus, from Trans-Union Galactic Shipping, to deliver the previously contracted cargo in your hold?” Campy finished.

Head spinning as to what was going on, Geo replied “Yes?”

“Very well Admiral Geo, the Nautilus's license and registration have been legally transferred to you. You are now a wholly licensed and registered trader in the Certified League of Sentient Beings.” Campy happily stated. “Full system unlock successful. . If you will look at the screen to your right, you will now see everything currently on the ship. . Everything from the cargo manifest, repair and maintenance supplies, waste levels...hmm those are getting a tad high...to our arms, armor, and ammunition stocks. Shall I release the repair and maintenance droids?”

Captain Lod looked at technician Ovkew, “Did you know we had repair and maintenance droids?”

Ovkew clacked his beak a few times, trying to digest all of the information that was coming at him, “Um...No sir? This is insane...You know, sir, if HQ had known about this, I think they would have blown a gasket.”

“No doubt, ensign, no doubt. Now that we are no longer prisoners of war, may I suggest we get to our stations?” Captain Lod said.

Geo was lost in her thoughts. 'Where is my bed? Can I go back to sleep and have this nightmare be over? What the hell am I supposed to do with a shipping contract? I'm 14, can I even sign a contract?' The thoughts went on for several moments.

“Admiral”, Campy interrupted, “The Fleet ship is firing at us. What should we do?”

“Captain, emergency maneuvers!” Geo yelled. “Gunnery, aim at their engines. Shields up!...Do we even have shields?

Everyone's stunned silence of the last few minutes wore off in that instant. Something about Geo's tone, made everyone want to follow her orders. They ran for their stations. The lift opened, disgorging the remaining crew upon the bridge.

The bridge lights came up to full power, and a grating noise was heard as unknown partitions lowered, revealing bridge stations unused for millennia. Stations listed as “Shields', “Launch systems”, “ECM/ECCM”, and others.

Some shrugging, others excited, all sat at one station or another.

“Admiral, We have incoming missiles” Sensors called out.

“Point defense systems activated! Wait, when did we get point defense systems?” The Ovdsmj crouching next to the “Point Defense” station asked.

The bridge's main screen flickered a few times, then came to life. The Fleet ship was at 3 light seconds and closing. Rapidly. The R&M listings on the far right, lower screen, were screaming by; apparently ensign Ovkew was doing some kind of magic.

“Shields...Sorry, Military shield arrays at 31% and climbing.”

“Defense drones unable to launch, to much cargo in the launch hangar.”

“Tertiary weapons charging, 45% and holding.”

“Mr. Teddy, Fire Tertiary weapons! Target their main drive!” Yelled Geo.

There were gasps from the assembled crew when Hershtang responded “Yes Admiral!”

*-*-*

It had been several minutes, and Hskfuie had had enough. “To hell with this waiting; helm, full ahead; Weapons, fire on its FTL Drill!” He ordered. 'No one can stand hold music for this long, it should be a war crime', he thought to himself.

The main cannons, having sat at full charge for some time, came alive, firing huge gouts of energy. The missile launchers belched out a full compliment of missiles.

“Captain! The enemies systems are starting to come online!” Second called out. “Point defense systems are online...Military grade shields?!? Their ORIGINAL shield systems are coming up, estimated 40% of maximum. The tertiary weapon systems are powering up.”

“What does that antique have for third tier weapons? Can they even scratch us?” Asked Hskfuie, finally starting to enjoy himself.

“...You aren't going to like this captain. They're old MK3s; Capital Class MK3s, sir.” Second answered.

“How can this day get worse? Who in the damned 7 let something like that fall into civilian hands?” Said Captain Hskfuie, head sinking down, tentacles twitching.

The entire bridge gasped. He had called out to the damned 7. That was the call of a doomed man, screaming into the void, looking for 'anything' to help him.

“Weapons, hold fire, HOLD FIRE!” Screamed Captain Hskfuie, knowing it was far to late.

“Sir, they have fired. It has been an ho...” Second never got to finish his sentence.

*-*-*

The first of the tertiary weapons fired on the LHUIVTRMYUK, striking it's engines. The rear of the Fleet ship disappeared. The crew of the Nautilus stared at the main screen as the Fleet ship shuddered, and slowly exploded, peeling open like a banana.

All across the bridge, there were gasps and quiet sobs as what had just happened sank in. They had just killed 500 beings of the Fleet of Protectors.