Biggs O’Rourke Hilsfar
Human; 48 Standard Years
He was from Restoration on Arth. Aptly named, it was one of the first cities to emerge from the dark ages. Or crawl, rather, out of the dark ages. The Hilsfar family cherished the law for the reclaimed civilization that it preserved. Biggs came from a long line of cops, and more recently, prosecutors. When Biggs decided not to follow one of these two paths, he didn't abandon the ability to use knowledge and insight in powerful conjunction. It got him into Mllershl University, though just barely, and when they found Noah 2 he fought like a mad dog for a ship. Biggs had received one of the last ships of the original batch. ISS Ulster Bobby hadn't knocked out the crystal planet, but it had run critical interference when another ship made a break for the rod device. Biggs' steel desk on the bridge? Harrison's.
Deep Space, The Dead Zone
Thrynn Frigate Kryssthoggr
The Axe Constellation was finally far enough away that it could be seen in its entirety. It had taken a great effort to get Kryssthoggr secretly into open space and therefore a commensurate number of deals with other Thrynn commanders. A few of the deals were for intelligence missions and excavations on the other side of Meridian 200. The Kryssthoggr was traveling upspin, having left a system in the Axe Constellation. Though that particular mission had been for a rival command, Captain Hthssbr was disappointed to find that somebody had been there before. There had been books and maps, but no technological devices. She was too young to really remember it, but there was an 18 month period twenty years ago when the ships from Arth had overturned nearly every stone in their effort to halt the flares. She supposed the obsession had carried them to the Dead Zone. So be it. The deal had been honored. Captain Hthssbr averted her gaze from the star field and returned to the bridge. There were more pressing matters to attend.
Captain SshT'k, the Krsyssthoggr's master, was at the navigator's station. He made a point of showing no visible reaction to Hthssbr's arrival on the bridge. Beyond that, he gave her no thought. "There it isss again, on the reverb sssenssor," said Hrsh, the duty navigator. A faint ghost appeared on the three dimensional tracker only to vanish a moment later. "The sssignal iss configured neither asss a messsage nor asss a sssignal entirely compatible with normal ssspatial parameterss." The usual diagnostics and reroutes had already been ordered and executed. Still, over the next two hours it had appeared four more times, once in duplicate. This was the fifth such incidence.
"Ssshields to maximum," ordered Captain SshT'k. Thrynn command was more than a 'simple' matter of proficiency and judgment. It involved concerns of status and legitimacy. In tactical terms, the decision was sound. There was enough energy; no humans were around to take offense, so Kryssthoggr was running on cheap Endurium. More importantly, the signal ghosts demanded vigilance and therefore the shields. This situation, which limited Captain SshT'k in his options, allowed the executive officer even more room to maneuver. To the older Thrynn on the bridge, her body language was clearly one of utter contempt at SshT'k's caution.
The chess match continued for six more hours. Captain SshT'k selected his next move. "What isss our posssition, Captain Hthssbr?" The explicit use of her name in a routine information request was a pointed attack. By way of counter attack, she again paused before acknowledging the order.
In that span of time, the proximity klaxons burst into life and warning lights bathed the red-lit bridge with rolling yellow beams. The normally subdued section officers issued a flurry of commands to system operators. Lights flashed on a universe of control panels and status displays. The deck officer shouted over the confusion, "SSsiir, off the Ssstarboard bow!" SshT'k and Hthssbr snapped around to look. An oval object dropped from superphotonic suspension and appeared a mere three kilometers away from the Kryssthoggr. A web of antennae and surface conduits on the object were powering up to a brilliant orange glow. Captain SshT'k's first thought was Hthssbr. This was an error.
----------
Next: "Elements of Events"
Blah blah blah--blah'b blah blah....
"Hilsfar & Company: Because Shatner's Dog Don't Hunt"