By Jerry "Clapso" Avissato
EN-101 Fall 1999
Professer Cythia Vallenti
PROLOGUE
Having taken our first baby steps into space at the end of the 20th century, humans set about colonizing the rest of the galaxy by the end of the 21st. By the beginning of the 22nd century, human colonies are scattered all over. The lifeblood of these colonies is trade. The deep space traders boost between the green, green hills of Earth and the colonies. Unfortunately where ever Humans go thieves and cheats follow. In an effort to protect the space lanes from these "Raiders" the Deep Space Corps was formed.
It was found that small, fast ships were best at patrolling the outer reaches. The main problem with this strategy was the demands placed on crew people cooped up in cramped quarters for months, or even years, at a time. It was decided that "Tank Ships" with only one crew member whose body was protected in a womb like tank and whose mind was freed from the boredom by a direct mind/computer link would be a better way to patrol.
Although there are many stories of heroism attributed to the "Tank Pilots" the story of Spar "Gandalf" Jones is legendary even among the "Tankers" themselves. When asked how he survived the events you are about to read, Tank Pilot Jones replied "It was just another day at the office."
The hum of the ship, like the touch of a lover, sends shivers down my spine. It has been an uneventful tour for this scout ship and its crew of one. My body floats in a tank of nutrient fluid at the very center of the ship. My only real connection to the outside world comes through a jack implanted in my skull. It may sound strange but that's the way it is. I volunteered for the Deep Space Corps and I knew what I would have to sacrifice. It's not as bad as it sounds. I exist removed from the body in the tank. My virtual self is how I experience the world. I can "be" anything I like. Right now, I'm sitting in the command chair of a "Buck Rogers" spaceship. I could easily be sitting at the wheel of a 1965 Thunderbird or in a Paris Cafe. It's totally up to me what shape my world takes.
The sensor system of the ship provides me with sights, smells, sounds, flavors, and even tactile inputs. The star-less void I'm presently flying through feels like palm stroked velvet, smells of autumn grapes hanging on the vine, tastes of some long forgotten vintage Chambertine, looks as if painted by Pollack, and sounds like some impossible symphony written by Mozart. The metallic smell of a singularity interrupts my thoughts. The sound of its massive gravity well a sirens song, tempting me towards oblivion. Black Holes are nothing to trifle with!
Here Kitty, I say/think/command, in answer a calico cat jumps onto my lap. I scratch it behind the ear, invoking a small "window" which is my tactical display. I stroke the soft fur of the cats back until it purrs. A navigation solution is super imposed on the tactical display, which floats at eye level a few inches from my face. I scratch the cat under its chin. The ship responds by firing its engines to move away from the event horizon. The cat rubs its cheek against my arm, then jumps off my lap and pads out of view. I could use any kind of symbol in place of the cat in my Nav-Program. I just find the cat a pleasant reminder of my former "normal" life.
I decide to take a nap. Just as I'm about to drift off to sleep, the smell of carrion on a hot dessert breeze jolts me awake. The Calico Cat appears, hissing and arching its back. I stand, and as I do so, my body undergoes a metamorphosis. I grow taller and thinner. My hair becomes long and gray, and my face sports a braided silver beard. A pair of pointy ears completes the image of an Elven Mage. I hold my left hand palm up and a silver cord with a talisman dangles from each curled finger. I reach out with my right hand and a carved wooden staff with a glowing orb headpiece appears as I close my fist about it.
I tilt the headpiece toward the cat. A blue beam erupts from the orb and strikes the cat. The cat changes into a tiger. The tiger growls.
"Yes Kitty, it does smell like raiders" I answer the growl. I hold the staff over my head and parallel to the floor. The head piece glows blue. The bulkhead of the ship recedes until suddenly I'm standing on the back of a winged dragon. The dragon screeches.
"No Drac, I haven't forgotten the shields!" I sigh at the dragon's reminder.
I move the staff in such a way as to cause the headpiece to move in circles. The orb glows purple and a purple sphere surrounds us. I touch the headpiece to an eye shaped talisman. Hundreds of multi-colored sprites fan out from the epicenter of the eye.
I wait what seems like an eternity. Just as I'm starting to hope this is just another random drill, the eye talisman glows red. The tactical display changes to a new view. On it, I see two groups of five goblins.
"How about it Kitty?"
The tiger bares its teeth. A tactical overlay appears in the window.
"I was afraid of that, looks like the raider ships have seen us!"
I touch the headpiece to a sword shaped crystal talisman. The dragon throws back its head and lets out a blood-curdling roar. Its eyes glow a deep crimson. Acrid smoke flares from its nostrils. It flaps its wings and we move in a speedy intercept course toward the first group of goblins.
As we come into firing range, I brandish the staff. Thunderheads form in a gray swirl over my head. I smell ozone from the clouds that mixes with the burning brimstone smoke coming from the dragon. The dragon lets loose a steady stream of fire from its mouth. Three of the goblins explode into flame. I point the headpiece at the other two goblins. Massive bolts of silver lightning drops out of the clouds and coalesce around the headpiece. Two streams of lightning shoot off the headpiece striking the remaining two goblins. Both are split in half by the strike.
The other five goblins are just off our left flank and are in firing range. The dragon doesn't skip a beat. It extends its left wing while folding its right wing. This puts us into a cork screw spin, down and to the right. Several large stones go spinning past us. Those goblins couldn't hit a red giant with a base fiddle! The goblins adjust their course to follow. The dragon folds up its wings and sends us into a steep power dive with the goblins in hot pursuit. The dragon suddenly dips its head and fully extends its wings. Just as we enter an inside loop, a volley of stones slams into our shields.
"Ouch, that dropped our shield density to 65%!"
As we come out of the loop, the goblins are right in front of us! Lightning coalesces around the headpiece and fires at the goblins. One is destroyed. The dragon spits a column of flame and one goblin is fried. The remaining three kick in their jets and put some distance between us.
Just as the dragon increases speed to pursue, the eye talisman flashes and hums. I touch the headpiece to the eye. I glance at the window just as it changes to a different sprite view.
"UH-OH! This is turning into a bad day!"
The tiger growls.
"Yes Kitty, I can see it's a raider heavy cruiser!" Before I can say another word the dragon reverses our course and speeds up to "run like hell" velocity. I glance at the window and see the very large multi-towered castle that is now chasing us.
"Any suggestions?"
The tiger licks its paw and the dragon yawns.
"Thanks a lot, you're both very helpful!"
I touch the headpiece to a talisman shaped like a winged boot.
A small winged, silver ball floats in front of me.
"You rang?" says the ball.
"Yes Hermes, send all of today's daily log files to central command."
"Protocol dictates I wait until a full ships day passes between transmissions."
"Blast protocol Hermes, we may not live until the end of the day!"
"Are you ordering me to override security protocol 23 dash 15?"
"Yes Hermes, OVERRIDE!"
"Shall I include the sensor readings from that singularity we passed earlier?"
"Yes include the...hey wait a sec! You're a genius Hermes!"
"Kitty, give me a tactical showing the cruiser and the singularity in relation to us."
The window shows the ordered view.
"Drac, set course for the fastest possible intercept of the Black Hole."
The dragon responds by changing course.
"Hermes, transmit the sensor data of the singularity to all remaining sprites."
"That would violate security protocol..."
"Hermes, override ALL security protocols!"
"Please give password verification for general override."
"Hermes, general override password 'one ring to bind them' execute."
"Password accepted, data transfer to sprites complete."
"Kitty, gimme the weapon stores subfile on screen."
A small subscreen superimposes itself in the lower left-hand corner of the tactical screen. I scroll through the stores list until I find ten 20 megaton thermonuclear warheads.
"Drac, arm and load all ten nukes."
The dragon screeches.
"Yes I know they will hardly scratch the cruisers shields. I just wanna keep em busy for a while."
I look at the screen and see the Castle is almost within firing range.
"Drac, Launch all nukes!"
On the screen I see a steady stream of pearls eject from my ship. The castle veers to avoid each one just as it explodes.
"Drac, keep us just out of firing range and on course for the event horizon."
"Hermes order all sprites to stand by to transmit the recorded sensor data of the singularity."
The last nuke goes off and the castle increases its pursuit speed just as I had hoped.
"MEOW!"
"Don't worry Kitty we won't be here when the ship enters the Black Hole."
"Hermes, order the sprites to transmit NOW!"
"I would love to see the look on that cruiser captains face about now. He's seeing hundreds of Black Holes."
I watch the screen and as I expected, the cruiser captain has chosen to continue on course at full speed.
"Prepare to abandon ship!"
The tiger turns into a calico cat. The dragon turns into an iguana. I drop the staff and talismans and sit on the floor. The cat and iguana jump onto my lap. The flying ball scoots into my breast pocket.
"Gee I hope this works!"
"Abandon ship!"
From the center of the ship, the tank that holds my body ejects itself out into space. Its emergency thrusters burn white-hot sending it quickly away from the Black Hole. I see my ship one last time before it disappears into the Black Hole.
"Well, it looks like we escaped. I hope the cruiser doesn't fair as well!"
I look at the screen and see the castle trying to slow down, but it's too late! The castle passes over the event horizon and is captured by the singularities gravitational field. It tries in vain to increase its thrust but falters and gets sucked into the hole.
"YEEHAAA! It worked!"
"Hermes, begin transmitting the emergency location beacon."
"Kitty, keep an eye out for any other raider ships."
The cat just lies on my lap and purrs.
"How about a picnic?"
The darkness around me recedes and I'm suddenly sitting under an Oak Tree on the shore of a lake. It's a bright sunny day and I'm holding the bamboo end of a fishing pole, the string end of which is dipped into the lake. The calico cat romps about chasing butterflies. The iguana slinks around searching out tasty bugs. Hermes just floats above my head awaiting a transmission from a rescue ship. He's all business that Hermes.
Report 254-5/7892 Galaxy Central Command HQ April 22, 2235ce
Scout ship "Beowulf" has been reported lost in action. Tank pilot Spar "Gandalf" Jones successfully ejected and a search for his tankpod is currently under way. A full Battle Group is boosting to Beowulf's last recorded coordinates in an attempt to clean up the area of raiders. According to the last transmission from "Hermes", the Beowulf's commprogram, pilot Spar successfully destroyed a raider heavy cruiser. If this is confirmed, consideration of an increase in rank as well as possible decoration should be afforded above mentioned pilot.
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