Angel One
The room was quiet. Serene. Dark except for dull flickering candlelight throwing red-orange rays of light across the room, creating ponderously long yet indistinct shadows that moved and danced with the flame. Candles were arranged around the edge of the oval shaped room on shelves carefully mounted with candleholders bolted down on the surface, three to a shelf. Another few candles were spread out across the rooms on low flat surfaces designed to be knelt in front of for prayer, meditation, or simply quiet thought. The room was a haven for those with disquieted minds.
One other light broke the serenity of the candlelight. A bright white light erupted from a data pad set in front of the man who knelt with his eyes closed in front of one of the tables. He was the only occupant of the room. The only man who at that moment needed the serenity the chamber could provide. Though his eyes were closed he could sense the change in the light and his brow furrowed at the change. He opened one eye and regarded the data pad for a long moment before closing his eyes again. Several deep breathes were the only outward sign of his struggle to regain what he had attained. Calm.
Deliberately ignoring the pad, with it’s scrolling text and video displays begging him to read the latest system news, Tovar poured himself a cup of tea from the old style teapot on the table beside the single lit candle. He sipped the hot beverage from the white ceramic cup and closed his eyes, feeling the warm liquid trickle down his throat. He finished the cup and poured another, setting it down on the table and picking up the data pad.
He read, sliding his finger over the smooth plasti-glass surface to skim through the dizzying array of content promising a nearly unlimited supply of news. The trials, tribulations, and plain misery of others miraculously digested and repackaged as entertainment. Tovar hated it, never doing more than skimming it for the basics he needed. Who was conducting cargo inspections, which systems had just instituted new bans on goods Tovar was sure to be carrying, or where the latest pirate attacks had been, were all things that required Tovar to comb through the tripe the news networks turned out.
With little searching he found what he was looking for quickly. Today was indeed the day. Merlinius Enterprises was launching their colony ship, after all. There had been setbacks, projects canceled, redesigns, and protests but the mega corporation run by Angus Merlinius had done it and were finally going to launch their ship. At the great expense, and some said hardship, of the tax payers of Leofmael, Angus Merlinius had pushed an entire system of people toward a future for Leofmael that lay outside government space. There, he had told them, they would find autonomy and freedom from the monetary burden of living within the bounds of Cinnhilif governmental control.
It wasn’t a new idea. Many system governments and many private individuals and organizations had set out for the uncontrolled regions of space in recent years. Hundreds of people had left Langlinion IV in the past few months. There was a frontier out there and it had become in fashion to embrace it. For Angus Merlinius though the true motivation was in beating Langlinion to the punch. Both had had their eyes set on a small, mineral rich system quite close to the border of Cinnhilif control. It was outside and yet conveniently close.
Tovar stood, smoothing out his long surcoat and buttoned it up the front. He tossed the pad down onto the table and bent over to extinguish the candle with the pads of his thumb and forefinger.
The door to the chamber snapped open with nothing but a barely audible sound and the calm serenity provided by candlelight was extinguished as the whitish blue light of the station corridor flooded in.
“Sorry to disturb you, Captain Sedrick. I thought you’d be done by...”
Tovar smiled and beckoned his second officer into the chamber, “Don’t worry about it, Fenton. What’s happening?”
Fenton Tillik was a lean and spindly man about three inches taller than Tovar who himself was by no means short. Tovar was thickly built and wore a smartly trimmed jet black goatee. Combined with his equally black hair that , short and close cropped, it gave him a distinctly swashbuckling appearance.
Fenton Tillik by contrast had no hair, having lost it all at some point in his youth. He never explained why and Tovar had long ago stopped asking. Even his eyebrows were missing. Despite the lack of hair though, a trait Tovar had at first found off putting, most people seemed to see Fenton as the normal one. He was an affable easy individual, and an expert negotiator.
The door slid shut as quickly as it opened and Fenton blinked in the sudden dimness, “I hope you’re relaxed.”
Tovar shrugged. “I brought that thing with me,” he said pointing disgustedly at the data pad, “never a good idea to bring it in here.”
Fenton smiled, “Well, this place would crank my tension up. It’s so...quiet.”
Tovar nodded and walked down to a circular rail in the center of the room. Reaching over he waved a hand over the plain black flooring. There was an electric hum and a hiss of escaping air as the airlock, until now concealed unassumingly in the floor, opened. Natural blue light shone upward bathing Tovar in it’s glow.
“I come here for the view.”
Below, spinning slowly was the lovely, blue planet of Langlinion IV, Tovar’s home as well as the home of over eight billion souls accounting for a quarter of the population of the Langlinion system. The capital of the system, Langlinion IV was the most lush planet in the system and fed most of it on its own. The solar center of Langlinion civilization was also mineral rich and fueled one third of the system’s domestic ships and planetary craft.
Fenton stepped down to join his captain at the railing, “plasti-glass?”
Tovar shook his head, “Retaining field. You get a much clearer view that way.”
Fenton shuddered, “I’ve never liked force fields holding my atmosphere in.”
“It’s perfectly safe. You’re in the cargo bay all the time. Same concept.”
Fenton smiled, “Yes, but I don’t have to like it, Captain.”
They both laughed, though the moment faded fast and the humor with it.
“You’ve seen the news then, I assume?” Fenton asked.
Nodding a grim affirmative Tovar walked away from the airlock center of the room, “Yes. They’re launching today.”
“Yes they are.”
“Any movement from home?” Tovar asked gesturing to the planet below.
Fenton nodded, “Not that I can tell, but I’ve been trying to contact Liz all day and she’s not taking my calls.”
“Odd.”
“Yep. She ALWAYS takes my calls,” Fenton said and winked at Tovar.
Tovar missed it, “She damn well should take your calls. After the service we’ve provided the government this entire month. We’ve easily made fifty trips to Leofmael and back carrying god knows what in those unmarked crates, not to mention the urgent supplies and fuel drops to the northern continent.
Fenton shrugged, “Well, maybe it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
“Then maybe Langlinion Central is just upset that Merlinius is going to beat Langlinion to Tranlita.”
Tovar stalked away, toward the door. Fenton followed, “Come on. You can’t really think the government would...”
The exit to the meditation chamber snapped open for Tovar. Tovar stopped, stepped back, and turned to Fenton, “Not the government. Governments don’t do anything. People do things, Fenton.”
“So you really think we’ve just supplied someone’s ability to sabotage Merlinius’s colony ship?”
Tovar nodded, “Remember we all thought those cylindars could have been weapons?”
“The ones to Leofmael III?”
Tovar nodded.
“We were speculating. It was after dinner, and I know I’d drunk a little too much...”
“No. We don’t carry unmarked cargo. That’s always been our rule! I should never have agreed to...”
Fenton grabbed Tovar’s shoulder, “No. Look, Captain...Tovar...we were working for our government. We couldn’t know what we were carrying. We DON’T know what we were carrying!”
Tovar stepped back from his friend, “We should have known.”
He passed through into the corridor and disappeared.
Fenton shook his head in frustrated disagreement. Tovar had taken to worrying for the last week, as their runs to Leofmael had increased to a dizzying number and the insistence of the Langlinion government had grown nearly threatening. Like Tovar, Fenton cared little for governments preferring to put his faith in economics and business. Tovar seemed to put his faith in no one. Fenton dismissed the behavior of Langlinion Central as characteristically odd. Tovar wasn’t sure.
Fenton had argued that thousands of shipments passed from Langlinion to Leofmael everyday...and that perhaps Central’s secrecy and insistence was actually because they were providing secret support to the project. Perhaps Langlinion had decided to ride the coattails of Merlinus Enterprises and Leofmael.
Tovar would hear none of it and instead had decided to brood. Fenton was slowly tiring of it.
The Fire Gryphon sat on the hanger deck of the sprawling Langlinion IV Station. Fourteen other craft sat in varying states of readiness, some having just arrived, others on their way out, and a few simply parked. A couple junkers sat to the rear of the docking bay in utter disrepair, their captain’s long having abandoned them and their crews gone. Dealing with these derelict ships was always a problem for the station.
The Gryphon was a modified refiner ship with most it’s refining capability removed and replaced as cargo space. Still, like most refiners it’s engines burned a bit hotter and glowed a bright orange when under full burn. From a distance, with it’s one great arcing right arm it was said to look like a wounded bird desperately trying to stay aloft with one wing.
It now was a shining picture of cleanliness and beauty. As a gesture to Tovar Sedrick and his crew Langlinion Central had paid for her refurbishment and had replaced her engines with brand new plasma thrusters. Under normal circumstances Tovar would have been itching to take the ship out. Now, however, the excitement was gone. Tovar would rather have purchased them himself.
Fenton was much more enthusiastic about the prospect, “She’s looking great, Captain. Look at her!”
Tovar nodded.
“I can’t wait to get aboard. Has any of the crew gone aboar...”
“No,” Tovar said.
Fenton sighed, “You’ve got to be a little excited.”
“I have to be?”
Fenton stopped, “Ok look. Let’s say we did help our government smack down theirs. This happens!”
Tovar kept walking and said over his shoulder, “I’ve tried my whole life to be no one’s instrument. I work for me. I do what I choose,” he paused turning to glare at Fenton, “and we’re talking about lives here! Women and children.”
Fenton nodded jogged to catch up to Tovar, “True, I know, but I’m saying it’s not your fault. If it wasn’t us it would have been someone else. And don’t forget, if it’s as bad as you say, what would have happened to us if we’d refused?”
Tovar stopped and closed his eyes. Deflated for a moment he sighed deeply.
“Some of our crew, they’ve got families. You could’ve been risking them if you’d refused.”
Tovar nodded, “Maybe you’re right.”
Fenton smiled widely, “And maybe you could have listened when I told ya this same thing three days ago.”
Tovar nodded again, “Fair enough, my friend.”
Fenton headed off at a jog toward the Gryphon and called back, “Let’s see what this kitten’s got!”
Tovar followed, feeling tired and no less uneasy, but Fenton was right. What could he have done different?
Aboard the empty Fire Gryphon, Tovar and Fenton walked the familiar corridors marveling at the lack of dirt. They ran a clean ship, but over time twenty people in one place make a mess that didn’t clean up easily. The crew had not returned from Langlinion IV so the two enjoyed it’s unspoiled cleanliness with relish.
The bridge sparkled. The surfaces were clean, some even replaced.
“My chair!”
Fenton ran to the right hand side of the rectangular command deck and dropped into a plush chair covered in a synthetic fur, “They replaced my chair! Thank the gods of Lang!”
Tovar laughed.
“I’ve been trying to get you to replace that for,” Fenton made as if he would tick the years off on his fingers.
“Well,” Tovar said, “I told you we’d get it done eventually.”
Tovar sat down at his desk which had, as he’d requested remained untouched. The familiarity was important to him.
“Ya know what we should do?” Fenton asked without waiting for a response, “We should head over to Olo! The crew could use a vacation.”
“You mean you could use a vacation,” Tovar said laughing.
“Well, yeah, but I’m thinking of the crew first. Believe me, Captain.”
“Oh I do.”
Fenton leaned back in his new fur lined chair and carefully placed the heels of his polished boots on the console top, “We should have ourselves a good old time like in those old comedy vids.”
“Vids?” Tovar asked.
Fenton rolled his eyes, “You know. The ones where some ship’s crew go to the vacation planet and once down on the surface chaos ensues and they get themselves in trouble.”
Tovar smiled, “Those are the worst vids, Fenton.”
“The worst and the best,” he paused and leaned forward looking at his console, “Here we go. I’m going to prove you wrong, Captain.”
He tapped a series of keys and the forward screen was filled with the sight of Merlinius’s colony ship on it’s launch platform. It’s engine were steaming in readiness and at lay majestically in it’s cradle saving the delicate landing struts for it’s destination landing.
A crowd, easily numbering in the hundreds of thousands stood watching from Leofmael IV’s Space City Square. The colony ship was kilometers in the distance but massive vid screens gave all of the throng a front row seat as the last hatch was shut and the nuclear thrusters angled downward for ascent. An announcer was commentating, but Fenton had faded it down.
Tovar leaned forward listening, “Turn that up, will you?”
The steaming thrusters were now smoking on the verge of spewing fire to give the great vessel the needed thrust that would aid the ascension drive.
We’re just moments away now and let me tell you the excitement it palpable! The colony ship, only recently named, Angel One, has one hundred families from around the system packed up and ready to start new lives on Tranlita. Right now they’re strapped in, some probably praying for a safe liftoff. I don’t think we’ve seen this much excitement on Leofmael IV since the plasma drive trials of nearly a hundred years ago.
But one man has a singular amount riding on the success of this journey. Angus Merlinius has invested a good deal of his personal fortune into this venture. Angel One itself took years to construct and simply keeping the designs and building of it secret reportedly cost millions.
Fenton snorted, “Fat lot of good it did them, if we did in fact carry it’s tech specs to Central on our last run.”
Tovar looked at Fenton, “Weren’t you trying to make me feel better?”
Fenton shrugged, “If I haven’t done so yet, yer hopeless, mate.”
And there we go!
The engines of the colony ship spat fire and the great beast slowly lifted from it’s cradle which groaned audibly as it’s burden was lifted. Ten seconds later the ship was a mere hundred meters off the ground but rising steadily.
Oh my will you look at that? What a sight. What...a...sight!
The ship’s nose, aided by a much smaller pair of nuclear thrusters that extended from an underbelly compartment, angled upward toward the sky and with one blast the colony ship, Angel One, was moving in earnest. The rear thrusters propelled it now faster and faster leaving behind a trail of white smoke and fire.
I’ll bet even with inertial dampening, the citizens of New Leofmael are feeling that! She’ll be out of the atmosphere in no time now. We’ll switch to our cameras on Leofmael IV Station here in moments once we have governmental clearance. And here we go!
The image on the Gryphon’s screen shifted and the colony ship could be seen moving under normal power now. The nuclear thrusters and gone quiet, burning at a lower regular power and the nose mounted pair were angling Angel One around to a heading that would put it on the shortest course for the system boundary where it would make it’s very first jump.
A lovely sight indeed! She’s heading off now and we’re already getting reports from relatives left back on system planets that the people of the colony ship fared well and...yes...amazingly it was a very smooth ride! Smoother than some of those budget transports one person aboard has said. Astounding!
We’ll just watch her from aboard Leofmael IV Station while Angel One powers her beautiful self out, now free of planetary gravity. She’s on her way!
All of us at Leofmael Interplanetary News would like to congratulate Angus Merlinius and his scores of scientists and engineers on their accomplish...
...oh my god.
The Angel One, now small in the center of the view screen seemed to spark. A bright white trail developed behind it etching a white curve in space. The quieted massive nuclear engines ignited again violently spitting fire, this time in spurts, before they exploded in a blinding flash.
The commentator was silent for a long minute in which Fenton and Tovar sat in shock.
...well...my god...it appears that Angel One...are we going off the air...keep going?
...well it appears that Angel One is...still intact. Reports from Merlinius Enterprises are that the ship’s engines detached and...
...and exploded out from the vessel. We don’t know if there are any casualties. Communication with the colony ship is not possible at this time. All that is certain at this moment is that Angel One is in motion and outward bound at great speed.
Fenton looked at Tovar, his face slack and a speechless look of amazement on his face, “It’s...it’s our fault. You were right.”
Tovar looked at his second in command and set his jaw, “No. No it’s not.”
Fenton stood up and pointed at the screen, “But we...we did this.”
Tovar shook his head, “No. But we’ll fix it. Recall the crew.”
He sat down at his desk and began tapping commands into his console. Fenton stood there watching his captain.
“But what can we do?”
Tovar swiped a hand across his panel and the view screen image was replaced with a locality map. On it was a projected course.
Fenton looked at the screen and then back to Tovar.
Tovar smiled, “Looks like we’re going to Olo after all. Get the crew back, Fenton. Now.”
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