My apologies about how long this took! I hit some major writer's block as I finished up the New Year, New Character challenge, and on how to ensure there was action in this. I also added Sharrukin's Palace to the blogroll. It's the blog of Jon F. Ziegler, author of Rim of Fire.
093-1120
100-1120
Seven days and four hours after they jump out from Loki/Sol to Dismal, the Boxing Kangaroo reemerges from jump space after an uneventful week. Somehow, the combination of in-ship drills, training features, and entertainment nights, kept the crew from becoming unhappy. Even the junior personnel, barely out of their training weren't that unhappy.
When sensor cleared, it became clear the system name of “Dismal” was appropriate. A few hundred thousand people running after small petrochemical and mineral deposits, on a world with little water and a thin atmosphere. The resources were there, but not in amounts that made sense for a major colonization effort. The local government didn’t even have local orbital police, just a few hundred officers to enforce what law there was on this small world. At three parsecs from the nearest Solomani world, there was no reason to even try and defend it, the thinking went. Beaming some messages down to the port, the Kangaroo flew in to low orbit, approximately 400 km from the surface of the world. Entering in to brief communications, including their mission, they fell into the routine of patrol duty.
106-1120
At about 2000,
well into the evening watch, GM2 Chishan was watching the primary radar scope,
when an unknown ship entered the system, jumping it at 60,000 km out. He sends
the standard challenge, “Unknown ship, this is Imperial Patrol 234. State your
name and intention. 234 out,” before calling for the Captain.
The
response is almost instantly, “234, this is Corporate Yacht Lustrous
Ambition, inbound from Inferno. Corporate mission from LSP. Sending over
our papers now. Ambition out,” as Brickley stepped into the Bridge.
“Captain on
deck!” Spacehand Apprentice Owen shouted.
“Carry on.
So, a corporate yacht. Anything yet?” Brickley replied.
“Just
getting it now, sir,” Chishan replied. “Lustrous Ambition, we have
received your transmission. You are cleared to enter orbit, once there, await
permission for landing. 234 out.”
“We copy
all, 234. Just not expecting any Navy boys around here. Ambition over.”
Brickley starts by examining the
papers. The registration checked out for an LSP owned Safari Ship, and it
seemed they were here to make a sales call on a minor customer. Unusual, but it
happens. He forwarded it to the downport, and recommended they approve the
landing. The Lustrous Ambition took orbit, and stayed in orbit until the
Starport Warden was ready to deal with them.
The
following watch, with Hassan and his section on watch and the Lustrous Ambition
still in orbit, another ship jumps in. At 100,000 km, it’s even farther
out, almost half a light-second. Nodding at Castillo to get Brickley again,
Hassan starts with the challenge, “Unknown ship, this is Imperial Patrol 234.
State your name and intention. 234 out.”
“Heartbreak
Hill, this is Imperial Patrol 234. Can you maneuver? Stand by for further
instructions. 234 out.”
“234, Heartbreak
Hill, we can maneuver, but not well. We suffered a computer failure while
in jump from Lyoness to Tlaoc. The only thing we’ve got is about half a gee of
maneuver from the ship, life support, and I’m talking to you on the launch’s
radio. Heartbreak Hill out.”
Brickely
arrives on the bridge, his suit barely even on, and he’s still fastening it.
“OOD, report,” he flatly commands, still waking up.
“Wait one,”
Hassan acknowledges the command, and then returns to talking to the wrecked
courier. “Heartbreak Hill, we copy your last message. You are to maintain present course and we
will meet you in your current orbit and get you into a high orbit for
investigation. Maintain a guard on this frequency. 234 out.” He then turned to
Brickley to report, “Sir, we’ve got an assumed Sollie Fleet Courier, and that’s
what they’re squawking as well. So far, they’re story holds up…”
“Heartbreak
Hill copies, 234. Out.”
“As I was
saying sir, I’m planning to bring us out of our low orbit, and help them get in
to a high orbit. They’re claiming a misjump and computer damage. We can take
them to Hades with us when we get there in a few weeks, or drop them off here.”
“The
rendezvous makes sense. Get everyone to general quarters, and we’ll go from
there.” Brickley said as he finished getting his suit on and sat in his chair.
Keying his internal announcing microphone and alarm controls, “All hands to
stations to provide assistance to a distressed ship,” and the crew piled out of
their berthing, ready to go.
Afari leads
the Marines in reconfiguring the bunkroom to take personnel, from the current
arrangement as a recreation room, as the ships moved to rendezvous, as the Boxing
Kangaroo to tow the damaged Heartbreak Hill. As the ships moved
closer, BM3 Zabiyah made sure the Kangaroo would be positioned to moved
the damaged courier into a very high orbit. Lt. Brickley was making decisions
for how to prepare for the personnel. Calling up what information available for
Solomani Couriers, he thought around seven personnel would be expected. Maybe a
few more, maybe less.
|
Pilot |
|
|
Flight Engineer |
Marine 1st Class Franke |
|
Salvage Lead |
MM1 Brand |
|
Salvage |
SA Owen, SR Castillo |
|
Boat Security |
Marine Binici |
|
Medical |
Marine Yap |
|
Ship Security Lead |
He called the people named to the bridge, and turned to face aft for briefing. “Corporal, your fire team is running the boat. Get them onboard, separated, offer treatment, and don’t let them touch anything. ANY OF THEM could be SolSec,” broken by a pause to take a drink, “Brand, take Hall and go onboard to rig for a tow. Ensure any drives are shut down, and complete the rig. If you can, take a look for anything interesting. Sergeant, run our guests to the bunk room, and make sure they’re comfortable. Once they’re aboard, treat them as guests, but limited to the bunk room. Any questions?”
The group
looks at him, and shake their heads no. “In that case, stand by to drop the Joey
and provide aid.”
“Aye, sir!”
was the group response. Brickley turned his next task, where to put the guests
while they waited. He started by directing a call to the port, and with chance
they’d heard the prior conversation. The only resident ship was an old Type A2
where the J-drive had been shot years ago, and was now fuel barge. Dismal was
one of those worlds that was in the Imperium mostly by astrography, rather than
economy. Just as well, the ship had to stay in orbit, as he wasn’t sure if
there was anything on world worthwhile for them.
“Heartbreak
Hill¸ this is Navy Patrol 234. Cut your thrust, and prepare to take on tow.
We’re sending our boat over to take off personnel and send over a salvage team.
Report number of survivors. Over,” Hassan radioed the crippled courier.
A different
voice answered, “Navy 234, we copy boat is coming over and your instruction to
cut thrust. I have six, correction, seven survivors onboard. I say again, I
have seven survivors. Heartbreak Hill, over.”
“Hill, this
is Navy 234. Seven survivors. State assistance needed and injured personnel,
over,” and Hassan turned to Brickley, “We’ve got their skipper on. We’ll need
to prep space for seven personnel, sir.”
“Understood,
OOD. Continue on the recovery operation. We’ll limit power in this case to 1 g,
get them into a permanent orbit,” Brickley replied.
“Navy 234,
this is Heartbreak Hill, I require removal of all personnel, have no
injured personnel. My damage is a destroyed computer, and failure of clamps on
the launch. I request your boat take us on at the forward end of our hold deck,
over,” was the reply from the wrecked ship
“We copy
boat at forward end of the hold deck for launch, Navy 234, over.” Hassan
replied, and turned to Brickley, “Can we send the Joey over to them now?”
“Release
the boat, and away the salvage party,” Brickley commanded.
Switching
to a different, encrypted channel, as well as the direct link to the Joey,
Hassan spoke “Joey, Boxing Kangaroo, you are go for mission. Mate your
airlock to your cargo hatch. On open channel, we are Navy 234. Kangaroo
over.”
“Boxing
Kangaroo, boat away! Will mate airlock on their cargo hatch. Joey out.”
The boat fell away from the Patrol Cruiser, and maintained a safe distance
before Afari lit off his drive. The Joey mated to the forward cargo hatch
with its portside airlock, and Marine Binici stood by to cycle the airlock, and
allow Brand to enter, with the two junior ratings. As this went on, the Boxing
Kangaroo took position 100 kilometers to the stern of the Heartbreak
Hill, ready to push the stricken vessel into the appropriate orbit.
Brand
examined the hatch, and noted that it showed the normal gravity direction,
which was aligned, and that it still held atmosphere on the far side. This was
a good sign, at least initially. She gave a thumbs-up to Marine Binici, who
relayed it to the flight deck. Brand started by connecting the equalizer, and
plugged into an intercom. Afari keyed his radio, “Heartbreak Hill, this
is Joey. I am docked to your cargo hatch, and awaiting personnel. Our
salvage team is standing by to check on your ship status, for our message
outbound.”
“Joey,
Heartbreak Hill. I read you loud and clear. We will transfer over our crew
except for our pilot and engineer, over. Do you have anyone at the hatch? Over”
“Heartbreak
Hill, my salvage team lead is there. She’s ready to open the hatch, and
bring your atmosphere to normal. What are you running on? Joey over.”
“Joey,
Hill, we’re running T-norm, over.”
Of course,
they’re running Terran Normal atmosphere, they’re Sollies! Afari
thought, and shook his head before replying. “Hill, we are as well.
Stand by to open your hatch when we hit it three times. Joey over.” He
passed the word back to Brand, who removed a 46 cm adjustable wrench from her vacc
suit tool harness, and CLANG CLANG CLANG on the hull plating that made up the
cargo hatch.
The
internal dogs on the man passage on the hatch opened, and the scent of poorly
recycled atmosphere came in, and then a middle aged Solomani man. “Permission
to come aboard?” he asked as he stumbled to his feet, feeling the artificial
gravity.
“Name and
identification?” was Marine Binici’s response, gauss rifle slung to his strong
side.
“Cebrail Strnad, here’s my Confederation Passport,” drawn from a shirt pocket, “I’m a
member of the Solomani Party on a fact-finding tour before next year’s
Congress. My crew was provided from the Solomani Navy Reserve, and all well
trained.”
“Right. One
at a time, come into the cabin, and take a couch,” Binici spoke, in the fashion
of a man who is very afraid of making a mistake. “Marine Yap will assist in you
have any problems in here,” as he returned to the airlock.
Brand had
gone into the zero-g section, and was meeting with the master of the Heartbreak
Hill. A professional woman, slightly shorter, but more solidly built, she
introduced herself as Riika Manz, and retired from the Confederation Navy, but
an old friend of Mr. Strnad’s. She and her engineer would help Brand, Owen, and
Castillo rigging a push into a graveyard. While this conference went on, the
navigator, each gunner, and the medic came aboard the ship’s boat, and was
seated in separate couches. This surprising mixed crew managed to rig cables on
the damaged courier in a reasonable amount of time.
“Petty
Officer, thank you for helping salvage this ship. It’s not much compared to the
old Stalingrad class cruiser I commanded, but the Hill’s a nice
ship,” Manz spoke with Brand, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ride her in.
Captain’s prerogative, and all that.” The two Imperial Spacers had gone back to
the Joey, as well as the Solomani engineer.
“Ma’am, I
think the skipper would agree. Out here in the black, we’re all together. Give
me a few, and I’ll ask,” Brand replied as she shifted her radio to contact the Boxing
Kangaroo. “Captain, this is the Cheng. I’ve got a question from their
Captain.”
“Cheng, go
ahead,” was Brickley’s curt reply.
“She wants
to ride this in to the parking orbit, and leave from there.”
“Cheng, let
her do it, but take some pictures first, and you’ll go with. Old tradition but
I’m still not trusting them.”
“Aye-aye,
Captain,” turning her suit radio to communicate with the Manz, “Ma’am, we’ll
let you ride her in to orbit, but I’m coming with. For legal reasons, I need to
take pictures for the Admiralty Court.”
“What, yes,
that makes sense, and thank you,” was Manz’s response. They spoke with the boat
crew, and shut the hatch at the cargo bay, allowing the Joey to return to the Boxing
Kangaroo. The two of them went through, and it did look like something had
caused the ship’s computer to explode, as well as feedback into a regulator in
the jump drive, inducing a misjump.
Afari was
sitting on his flight deck in the boat, comfortably flying the return course.
The party left on the wrecked ship would help rig the tow. The salvage team and
ship’s crew were aboard, and they were ready to get back to the Boxing
Kangaroo. The rest of his fireteam was ensuring the passengers were
settled, and there were no ill effects from the week in microgravity. The
steward/medic had brough over some information regarding the health status of
all members of the team, and Marine Yap reviewed it, finding no problems. The Joey
returned to the Boxing Kangaroo, and docked without incident.
Sergeant Valdez began processing the survivors aboard the patrol cruiser. The
Marines aboard were keeping them under guard, and with strict orders not to let
the survivors speak unless answering questions about health and information
about their incident. Sublieutenant Hassan came down to start preliminary
inquiries about what happened aboard the ill-fated Heartbreak Hill. Brickely
returned to the bridge to plan for him and the Boatswain to push the ships
together.
Brand and
Manz went through the wreckage, and the Imperial Petty Officer took pictures of
the damaged computer, and entered the engine room with the Solomani officer. The
cursory examination of the drives revealed they were in fairly good shape, but
the interface modules to the computer on the jump, maneuver, and powerplant were
slagged. Whatever destroyed the computer, it was quite powerful, in providing
enough feedback to take out those lines. Brand’s investigation revealed nothing
more about the destruction of the computer, only that it was enough to hide it
from the anyone short of a trained investigator. A common tech, not as much.
That concluded, the two women suited up for the required EVA. Going into space,
they noted the Kangaroo having shifted to the stern, and taking up position
to nudge the damaged courier into the right orbit.
Brickley
and Zabiyah were sitting on the bridge, preparing to use the Kangroo’s
drives to nudge the damaged courier into a graveyard orbit, and then to drop the survivors off. Working together, they plot the course, and come up with
the exact piloting needed, in a matter of minutes. “Won’t even have to eyeball
it sir, this’ll get it moving to the right orbit, and we can get back down in to
low system orbit,” Zabiyah commented on the completed plot.
Down in the
bunk room, Hassan found himself in an argument with an irritated Solomani dignitary.
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS, I WANT TO GET BACK TO THE CONFEDERATION!”
Strnad bellowed at the experienced officer.
“ALL
SHIPWRECKS MUST BE THROUGHLY INVESTIGATED, AND THIS INCLUDES THE CREW AND
PASSENGERS!” Hassan counted, just as loudly. “I don’t know what the regulations
are in your so-called Confederation, but here, I will take statements, and they
will be forwarded to the Admiralty Court. Your transportation back to your port
of origin will be arranged as well.”
“You
half-breed occupier,” Strnad speaks in reply, noting Hassan’s obvious Core
accent, compared to the Rim Anglic the rest of the crew spoke with. “I will
give you nothing, more than what’s in my passport, as will my crew.”
“In that
case, I’ll be recommending that we treat you as prisoners, and hold you until
the diplomats come up with a solution. You can’t be preparing to break the
truce, but are you giving information to a deep cover agent?”
“And what
of your engineer and my captain? Will your captain believe you when we get their
information?” Strnad’s response was calm and collected, obviously used to
ignoring crude threats.
“Fine,
fine, we’ll just have some basic testimony, so the insurers can hash it out.
You know, credits make the galaxy go round.”
“Of course, Sublieutenant. As we said initially, we were jumping from Lyoness to Tlaloc with plans for Smade’s Planet, to refuel, and then to New Greenpernt. I was there to speak with various Party organizations and support candidates for the Congress…” Strand trailed off, giving a long story, short on details relevant to the incident, but providing background information.
Seeing their leader give answers, the rest of the survivors, under the watchful eyes of the Marines, asked him for material to write a statement and then explain it.
Brickley went
to his chair on the bridge, and got Brand on the radio, a private channel,
using. “Are you read for us to play tug?”
“We are. The skipper of this little boat gave me the full tour. It looks like something went off in the computer, and slagged the controllers for the drives. I can’t say much else, but they’ll need a full survey team,” Brand replied.
“So, they’re telling the truth?” Brickley asked, considering his options.
“Yessir.
Standing by to shift orbit. Then we’ll MMU over to the Kangaroo.”
“Copy.” Shifting
his attention, Brickley picked up the 1MC microphone, and announced to the
ship. “Set general quarters, as we move the wreck into a graveyard orbit. All
survivors to stay in the bunkroom, and prepare to don escape bubbles.” Sergeant
Valdez’s team stayed behind in the bunkroom, and insured the escape bubbles
were passed out to the six in there. The two junior engineers went to the
engineering space, and the gunners stood by. GM2 Chishan had them ready, if any
damage control was required. BM3 Zabiyah stayed in his right-hand pilot seat,
ready to make the precision controls required. Cutting his thrust down to micro-gravities,
he got the Boxing Kangaroo’s aircraft like prow up against the tall
aerofin of the Heartbreak Hill, well clear of the cruiser’s wings. The two
figures on the hull of the stricken courier went boarded the cruiser. Manz
found herself sitting in the bunk room, and giving a written statement under
Valdez’s watchful eye, as Brand went to the engine room, and prepared for the precision
adjustments required.
A steady
hand, eyes on the display, and two throttle taps. The damaged Heartbreak Hill
began on her trip to a graveyard orbit, as the Boxing Kangaroo
separated. The secured from General Quarters, to land the next morning. Unhappily,
the Solomani were confined to the bunkroom the entire time.
