Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 2 - Maveen Offer (16 page)

                                                            ***

Colonel Bill Ackerton again looked at the set of classified orders from the Pentagon. He was evaluating the best way to execute them without compromising the continuing need for his forces to protect the United States of America. In his role in the US Strategic Command as a senior technical specialist and senior manager, Bill controlled the changes to the relatively new Minuteman IV missiles that now formed the backbone of US strategic defence forces.

At four locations around the country, members of Bill’s technical team were swapping out the heavier MIRV warheads, and then replacing them with top secret and much lighter space warheads. Bill was certain that discrete and secretive teams in Russia and China were also conducting similar work to several of their own late model ICBM missiles. The other requirement that his team had to address was the avionics of the missiles. The programmers uploaded the revised software to the missile controllers to allow space intercepts, but due to space weapons test ban treaties, the altered missile configuration had never been tested.

Bill knew that this lack of testing was the real source of his concern. He knew that there could be no assurances given on how these altered ICBM missiles would perform. He was sure though, that the added performance of the Minuteman IV missiles gave them an edge over their contemporaries from Russia and China in this untested scenario. Bill had also reviewed the attack of the US 5
^th
fleet on the aliens in the Indian Ocean five days earlier, and was not filled with any confidence. Two team members looked up from their calculations and nodded in agreement, as he voiced the concerns everyone in his team must be considering.

‘We have our orders. We are to prepare to attack a single alien ship at high orbit using our best missiles in an untested manner. The target is mobile, has powerful shielding technology and weapons of their own to defend themselves. I think our chances of success are poor, but we have our orders.’

The colonel privately thought to himself about the level of political ill will this set of orders had caused, so soon after the debacle with the US 5
^th
Fleet. The strain was in ways similar to the friction caused by the abortive right wing coup attempt in 2024. He remembered back to the attempt, when several politicians and senior military figures were imprisoned for their actions, and a greater number forced into early retirement. The coup had been caused by another round of heavy defence cuts, as the US government sought to balance the needs of their social services programs with the necessity to rein in budget deficits. Bill had just entered the US Air Force at that time and he remembered that time of fear and uncertainty vividly. His base had been locked down, and all personnel restricted to the base for the duration of the coup attempt.

Bill was brought back to the present moment as a team member reported his test results.

‘Sir, the light payload enables the missile to avoid orbit staging and remains inside the nominal booster envelope values.’

Bill checked by habit the changes made by the team member, not that he had any real concerns. His satisfaction was evident in his reply.

‘Lieutenant Myers, excellent result with your programming efforts. This is the best we can do so quickly in this scenario. Please ensure the flight profile is loaded and activated in the four missiles.’

Bill then walked out from the strategic command research centre, and when he was out of earshot, he placed a series of urgent phone calls to his own superior officers.

                                                            ***

Captain Narindestat reviewed the sensor data with annoyance. The information clearly indicated that a small Barus research ship was now in high orbit around the planet. The captain though about the likely reasons that the Barus were present and his own ships’ existence on the planet figured large in all the reasons he reviewed.

The captain thought it interesting that the Barus commander made no mention of his ship, or her crew, in her messages to the humans. The recordings of the messages from the Barus commander were played again to the bridge, and he almost had sympathy for the extended apology that Gindane gave to the humans.

Surely the matter could not end there from what little he already knew of the humans. Twice the humans had either attacked or attempted to attack his ship merely from being present on the planet. The captain was sure that the Barus ship would be best advised to stay well away from the humans for the foreseeable future.

Narindestat looked around the bridge as he tried to think this suddenly more complex situation through further. He noted the condition of his crew as they went about their duties, for several now sported the healed glimmer tattoos on their skins. He now looked at his own large tattoo on his left shoulder. Fortunately his own tattoos were still intact, though he had felt ill on occasions over the last few days.

‘The glimmer tattoos, so that is it. If the Barus see a healed tattoo then we are in real trouble.’

The captain whispered urgently to himself, as he issued a series of orders. Fortunately he recalled something his son had quickly mentioned about the general nature and the curiosity impulse of the humans. So perhaps he could use that trait in this scenario.

‘Lieutenant, I want Garendestat and those humans brought onto the bridge as soon as possible. You are too politely, and I stress the politely, obtain the video device off the humans before they walk on the bridge.’

Marenkestat listened carefully as his captain gave specific explanations of his orders, before he walked of the bridge to find his friend. Garendestat had led the humans into the ship through the side corridor from the ramp after a terse order from the captain. A couple of times, the amazed humans would pause and look around at the oval corridors of the Illuria that the crew took for granted. They all paused again at another intersection and Steve, with his naval background, commented again on the inside of the ship.

‘So the fore and aft corridors are shades of grey and they are the largest. The transverse corridors are either in yellow or green shades depending on port or starboard I guess. All with the durable black coated floor that I noticed runs throughout the ship.’

Garendestat responded crisply to Steve even as he attempted to second guess the reasons his father wanted the humans on the bridge.

‘Your guess is accurate. The ship is set out to aid in finding our way around easily, and the advanced titanium alloys are light, durable and strong. We should hurry along now please.’

Within minutes a perplexed Garendestat led the quiet group of four humans up to the bridge doors, and Lieutenant Marenkestat stood waiting for them with two armed crew members. Marenkestat quietly called in Trader to Garendestat.

‘Follow my lead and know we mean no harm to the humans, but there has been an off world development.’

Marenkestat then turned to the humans following Garendestat and spoke in halting English.

‘I have a polite request of you. We cannot allow your video device on our bridge, so if you can leave the device and the carry case with me, then Captain Narindestat would like to see you again.’

Dan wordlessly handed over his video camera as requested, but felt the two full video data cartridges burning a hole in his chest pocket. He followed his companions as they silently entered the large bridge of the Illuria and looked around. An impressive eight metre screen dominated the front wall and several other screens topped expansive control consoles, behind which stood the Trader bridge crew.

Dan considered the earlier strange request, for even if he did not get his video camera back he had enough recordings to support their reporting efforts. The captain looked at them from his command chair as he greeted them with an apology.

‘I am sorry to ask you for your video device, but an off world situation has arisen and I need to show you a set of messages sent to your world this morning.’

The humans watched with amazement as Captain Narindestat replayed the transmissions from the Barus ship. The Trader considered that the humans must be confused, as they had experienced centuries of no interactive with alien races. Now first the Traders and the Maveen arrive together, followed this morning by the Barus.

Steve looked at the recordings with real interest, so the mystery of the source of the pandemic was resolved. He knew that now the whole world had learnt of the truth it possibly did not bode well for this new race, the Barus, in any dealing they might attempt with humans. Steve turned to the captain and asked.

‘Is this the off world issue that lead to our video camera being seized? And if so we need it back at some stage for our reporting efforts.’

Captain Narindestat looked at Steve for a moment as he replied.

‘Steve I am truly sorry but we will have to insist that the device stays with us until we leave the planet, upon which it will be returned to you intact. Now what do you see anything different about me compared to the rest of the crew on the bridge?’

Steve ignored the question as he laboured the point with the Trader captain, who for his part remained calm.

‘Captain, we need to present you and your crew in a positive light to our authorities to prevent a possible military strike. The video camera would have aided our efforts considerably, and I cannot see how the camera can be a problem at this stage.’

Samantha had been following the exchange between the two males. She now looked around the bridge at the Trader crew and the captain with the eyes of a medical officer and human female of sharp intellect.

‘Captain, you are the only Trader present who has their glimmer tattoo intact. I assume this has some significance with the Barus ship orbiting our world?’

The captain gave the human female a grateful look mixed with approval as he answered.

‘Unfortunately you are correct Samantha. The Barus are a vassal race, and have to report or resolve complex issues relating to strict galactic edicts governing actions of both vassal and independent races in the galaxy. Now we have already infringed strict edicts by our being on your world due to the haven status it is under. However if we were to leave soon we should escape severe and lethal penalties by merely fleeing to deep space.’

Samantha was confused in part by the answer and her questioning reply indicated this was the case.

‘I cannot see how your presence on this planet is less severe than the lack of glimmer tattoos on most of your crew?’

Steve observed with interest the reaction of the bridge crew, as they had seemed to tense about the mention of galactic edicts, as Captain Narindestat answered Samantha.

‘The glimmer tattoos perform several roles in our civilisation over the many tens of thousands of years we have worn them. The main role of the tattoos is as a contraceptive device. The tattoos are filled with symbiotic glowing bacteria that restrict our otherwise robust breeding cycle, and they are also indicators of social standing and rank. Another role for them is to control our species aggression, and it is an auxiliary product of the contraceptive properties of the tattoo.’

Steve noticed that several of the Trader crew were uncomfortable with the captain’s forthright discussion on Trader biology, even to the extent that two female Traders quietly left the bridge of the ship. Rebecca was quick on the uptake as well and stated her own questions.

‘So the losses of your tattoos, possibly due to our own diseases killing your symbiotic bacteria, are an infringement as far as these Barus are concerned? So this may lead to conflict between the two of you?’

Captain Narindestat sighed in both resignation and agreement as he replied.

‘We would be classed as rogue and hunted down. The Barus ship would immediately leave to summon large numbers of fighting ships. I am concerned that they would even attack your planet as well.’

Steve though about this matter for a moment, the stakes were getting high and he was now very concerned. Dan pulled the two full video data cartridges from his pocket and passed them over to Steve, who motioned the other three to talk with him over on one corner of the bridge control deck. Garendestat walked over to his father and the two Traders conversed quietly for a few minutes. Rebecca quietly voiced a comment to Steve about the day’s recordings in exasperation.

‘I can see the problem we face clearly, but we have so much recorded information of them now. It is not as if they have a cultural aversion to being recorded or anything.’

Dan thought for a moment, and gave his fiancée a hug before he stated.

‘But no one could say otherwise if they did have such an aversion.’

Steve could see the seeds of a solution and he led the humans back to the waiting Traders He now gave the two full data cartridges to Garendestat.

‘Please place these cartridges with the rest of the camera equipment for our collection later. We have an idea for you to consider based in part on a human premise or cultural observance.’

The Traders on the bridge listened closely to what Steve had to say, and huge grins came to them as they quickly understood what the humans were suggesting.

                                                            ***

Gindane looked over the new information coming into her console with professional interest, even if her time on the bridge had progressed to several intense hours. She was loath to break high orbit and spiral down to low orbit based on her limited understanding of human military potential. In high orbit they had longer to react to any threats that might eventuate and Gindane was under no illusions as to how the humans might react to her earlier announcements. Fortunately they had managed to get some visual data of the Trader ship from high orbit before the sun set over the site.

The Trader ship appeared to be undergoing both repairs and refuelling from what Gindane could establish. The shapes of the sneak ships and three smaller ships had then been identified, and she had to stifle a start of outrage.