Ringship Discretion Read online

  He said "Great, Helen. Thank you."

  She asked "So what's going on?"

  The captain said "Well, we are on our way to Uranus and...Amelia, what about those ships?"

  The four new ships, correction, the THREE new ships....I think one of them must have been destroyed! They are only 300 kilometers away now, but they will be receding from us fast as we accelerate away."

  Attie said "Let's deploy my scope." About a minute later his scope emerged from the hull and turned to aim at the new mystery ships. Their image appeared on the display. The image got better as they watched while the images were statistically improved.

  Amelia said "Wow, that's way better detail than we had with the other ships!"

  Attie pushed a control button "Yeah, they're a hell of a lot closer. Look. That's the Oorter flag. They're Oorter ships. How the, or when did they get the capability to build their own capital ships?!"

  Amelia pointed to the image "Look, that one obviously has been destroyed and look at that one sparkle!"

  Attie looked closer " They must be here to protect the Io Station, but those Big Sis ships are pounding them."

  Amelia spoke up "Well, not anymore. The Big Sis ship that was after us is showing up as multiple objects now."

  Attie looked. "Crap! Then who's hitting the remaining ships?" Attie thought for a second "It has to be the high speed Big Sis ships. They've already passed us, right? And are receding away fast, but those are big ships and bigger targets. Maybe they can hit them."

  Attie sat back in his chair "Its happening again. But, so fast!"

  Amelia looked at him seriously. "What Attie? What's happening?"

  Attie looked over at her. "When we fought the Blue Balls for freedom from Earth, the big three corps who took the freedom we fought so hard over, were really worried about the same thing happening to them from those that went out to the edges of the Solar System. They put up all these blockades to try to stop smuggling to the outer worlds to stop the build up of power. I always knew it was inevitable, but so quick!? I hope this isn't the start of another massive war." He shook his head. "It never ends."

  Amelia touched Attie's face. "There isn't anything you could have done. We still have each other, all of us, a family. What more could you ask for than this?"

  He sighed "Damn, I feel helpless sometimes." Then he sat up. "Let's take a closer at one of those plates and see if we can't figure out what the hell is so damn special that the entire solar system is willing to go to war over them."

  The captain walked over to the crate that contained the 3 remaining plates and pulled one out. Doc walked in and the captain looked up at him and asked "Can you bring me the transcript of what that Duane guy was thinking?" Doc nodded and walked off. Amelia came up behind Attie and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. "What do you think?"

  She took the plate from him and looked closely at it. "Let's go into the galley and put some more light on it."

  As they walked into the galley, AJ was sitting there eating a sandwich. "Hey. Is that one of the drive plates?"

  The captain said "Yeah. Sure is. We are going to try to figure out what it does, besides the normal grav plate function." The captain lifted the plate up onto the table. "AJ, can you move your dish?" AJ quickly grabbed his dish and set it on the counter. He turned back around and leaned over the new grav plate while taking a big bite of the sandwich. A bit of pickle fell out and onto the plate.

  Amelia scolded "AJ!"

  He quickly wiped the pickle bit off. "Sorry, I'll just stand back here and watch."

  The captain looked at him, nodded with a bit of a smile and then looked back at the plate. "What are these wing-let looking things on the side?"

  Amelia said "Not sure, but you can see they have small actuator motors here and here. They are on tiny worm drives, probably for very precise movements."

  Attie looked at the motor and then more closely at the wing-lets. "They look like they are just smaller versions of the main plate. Why would you want to have smaller grav drive plates at an angle from the bigger one? Faster maneuvering?"

  Doc walked in with the brain scanner and said "Here you are Captain. I sorted out the information into sections. Oorters, locations, his personal life, information specific to this smuggle, codes..." Attie interrupted "Great Doc. Let me see that. Where is the information related to this cargo? Do you have that?"

  Doc pointed to the screen and pushed a few buttons "There, that's everything we picked up about this smuggle that I could tell."

  The captain read through it. "There is a hell of lot here."

  Doc agreed "Yes, but the device has a neural interface, so you can sort through it with your own mind. I'm not really sure how to use it, but I know it can be done."

  The captain said "Yeah, we used to have something similar back in the war, albeit much more primitive. I think you pull these leads out and place them on your forehead like so. Then you click the data playback function like so....hmm....this is interesting. There are two options. I wonder what this one does."

  Everyone at the table jumped. After a few seconds, Amelia said "I can see the information. Doc and AJ said "Me too."

  The captain stood there for a second sorting through information. "So can we all search the information at the same time?"

  Amelia said compassionately "I can see his wife and daughter."

  AJ, with bit of awe in his voice "I can feel and smell his ship."

  Doc started to speak, but the captain interrupted "OK, so we can all access the information simultaneously. Wow...How cool is that!? Well, back to the task at hand. Everyone think about his mission. What does he know about the cargo?"

  Amelia spoke "It's some kind of warp field generator, and he thinks its stable!"

  Attie looked up at her and thought to the same information she was accessing. "Holy crap! If that's true, that would change everything." He looked at the plate "My god, if this plate can really do that, then we have the most powerful piece of tech in the Solar stem. No wonder everyone and their brother is after us."

  Doc cocked his head and said "I don't understand."

  AJ said "Me neither."

  The captain looked up at Doc and then AJ. He sat down. "OK, what caused the FFBB war?"

  AJ eagerly said "Cause Blue Balls wanted to control everyone"

  The captain looked at him. "Well yes, but why did they lose control in the first place?". AJ shrugged. The captain continued, "Because when the grav plate was invented 50 years ago, it made it cheap and safe to leave the Earth and go anywhere. Going into space was no longer only the realm of countries and huge corporations. Earth started to loose control because as people moved outward they asked "What jurisdiction or right do those on Earth have to tell me what to do?". Earth simply lost its power because people weren't dependent on it anymore. They didn't need Earth's help or approval to survive and profit. The countries of Earth felt threatened and they did not want to give up their power."

  Doc spoke up "But what does that have to do with this?"

  The captain looked at the doc and pointed to the plate. "If this is true stable warp drive, than it's the invention of the grav plate all over again. It won't be long before people leave the Solar System and the three big corps and Big Sis lose their power. The Oorters want this tech, because even if they equipped only 10 ships with it, they could literally wipe out the Big Sis fleet." It's like the difference between piston powered aircraft and jets, but a 1000 times worse. With stable warp drive, they could literally pop into space adjacent to their target without warning.

  Doc sat down and touched the plate in amazement. "Whoa..so what do we do? What should we do?"

  The captain looked at Amelia. "Well, that is the question, isn't it?"

  Amelia ran her hand down the plate. "Well, we need to study this thing. See if we can figure out how it works."

  Attie stood up. "Listen! Once we figure out how this tech works, we need to let all mankind know about it, otherwise the Oorters wi
ll just become our new masters."

  Amelia agreed and asked "Well, then should we change course?"

  Attie put his arms up. "And go where? The whole Solar System wants us and it's shoot to kill. I think our only choice is to go to the Oorters. They at least won't shoot on site. And who knows, maybe we can actually get paid!."

  Amelia raised her voice. "Attie! We are talking about the future of mankind here!"

  Attie nodded. "Yes, but we certainly can make a profit while saving it! Seriously though, I say we try and figure this thing out. Turn it over to the Oorters, hopefully getting paid and not dead in the process, and then secretly release the information to the Internet. We will actually need the Oorters to protect us, and a little decimation of Big Sis forces wouldn't be all that bad. We just have to get the information out before they have absolute power."

  Amelia rhetorically asked "But Attie, where did the tech come from? Obviously the Oorters didn't invent it, so it must be someone on Earth?"

  Attie thought for a minute. "Hmmm..If Earth had this tech, they could take the whole Solar System back, but if they have it, why haven't they used it?"

  Doc raised his finger. "Maybe they don't have enough ships equipped yet. Maybe these are the prototypes?"

  Attie said "Hmmm..well this is all speculation. We need to get facts. I am going to assign everyone a task to that end. Amelia, you and I are going to tear this thing down and find out how it works. AJ, I want you to monitor public broadcasts and give me a daily report of any mention of us or the battles that have been going on. Doc, for now, you and Helen try to get any sensor data you can on ships positions and trajectories around the solar system, but especially around Jupiter and the direction we are heading. When Ben gets done cleaning himself and the suits, I want him to take an inventory of everything we have. Weapons, food, spare parts...everything. OK? Good..Everyone get to it."

  Two days later, Amelia announced over the intercom "Everyone want to see us pass Ganymede? It's the last planetary body we're are going to see for more than a month." Within a few minutes everyone was up on the bridge looking out the main window. Ganymede, with its giant brownish gray patches, both dark and light, filled half of the window. Its bright white impact craters glowed and stood out. The captain spoke up. "I never get tired of looking out the window at the unending beauty of the universe. Sometimes, I think the whole reason I do this is just so I can see things like this.

  Amelia whispered. "It's gorgeous Attie. So huge! And it looks so peaceful and eternal."

  The captain pointed "Look at those rills and the way they criss cross the surface, must be thousands of kilometers long." They all continued to watch as Ganymede slid across the window until it began to recede away.

  After about 30 minutes, the captain spoke up. "Well, while I have everyone here, give me a status update."

  Ben said "I have almost completed the inventory. I should be able to give it to you this afternoon."

  The captain nodded "Excellent."

  Helen spoke up next. "Well, we have plotted as best as we could where all the ships are in the Jovian system. We also have plots of many ships back Earth's way, but we can't see any in front of us."

  Amelia said "I am sure the grav plates are making it hard to see ships behind us and the way those Oorter ships just appeared 500 kilometers from us, without us knowing ahead of time, that's a little worrisome. If there are more of their ships in front of us, we may not be able to detect them."

  The captain spoke. "Yes, that is a little disconcerting, but at least with these plates on board, they won't just blast us out of the sky. Assuming they know we are carrying them." He paused to think about what he just said and continued. "Amelia and I will have a look at the charts in a minute. AJ. What about you?"

  AJ handed him a computer tablet. "Look at this news story from this morning! It's say terrorist plot to assassinate Senator William Romina was thwarted, but some of the terrorists got away to the outer solar system."

  The captain's expression changed to disbelief. "Whoa...I assume they are referring to us." He started to read through the article. "Look here. Says, they dispatched Secret Service and other law enforcement to capture the terrorists....us."

  AJ pointed. "And look at the broadcast. Push this here."

  The captain pushed play. "Senator Romina: Yes, some of the terrorists were killed before they got away. But they were not alone and we are actively pursuing their remaining cohorts. They will be brought to justice."

  A reporter asks "Senator, what about reports of Solar System Independence Security Forces losing ships in the asteroid belt?"

  The senator's response: "Like I said, these are dangerous terrorists and those ships were lost fighting them. We are working with SSIS Forces to resolve this..."

  The captain pushed pause and with anger in his voice, said "What a bunch of horse shit!" He handed the tablet back to AJ. "I've heard enough of that crap! Anything about Io station or the Oorters?"

  AJ shook his head. "No, nothing."

  The captain nodded slightly. "OK...thanks AJ. Keep monitoring. Alright Helen, Doc, let's see those ship charts. Can you put it up on the main screen?"

  Helen tapped a few times on her tablet and a large map appeared on the view-screen. "Here we have the wreckage from the two Oorter ships that were in the fight with the Big Sis ships. These multiple specks are what's left of the destroyed Big Sis ship that slowed to intercept us. Over here are the Big Sis ships that flew by, while going after the BB ship. As you can see.." She pointed to a patch of small dots. "There are many radar reflections behind them. I am assuming that one of those ships was destroyed as well. As for the BB ship, the lead Big Sis ship is still pinging it with its radar, so its fairly easy to see, even though it's really far away now. I plotted its trajectory, and it should come to near a full stop relative to Jupiter by tomorrow."

  The captain said "Interesting. I bet that BB ship will alter course and come after us again, so keep an eye on it and let me know if it does. You said you had plots of ships further in? Oh wait, what happened to the remaining Oorter ships?"

  Helen shrugged "I don't know. I can't find any trace of them. Just the wreckage. I suppose they could be hiding behind Io. We would never see them in that case. As for the inner solar system, I have been picking up gamma ray bursts and massive amounts of radar, from fighting I assume, and look at this. She touched her tablet and on the screen appeared a graphic depicting dozens of red, yellow and gray dots. "These red dots are Big Sis patrol ships, the yellow might be BB or other classes of Big Sis ships, I can't tell. The gray ones are just freighters or civilian traffic."

  The captain studied the display "Look how they are all massing towards Jupiter. These yellow ones. I've seen formations like that before.

  Ben nodded and said "Carrier group."

  The captain looked closer. "Jesus...It looks like they are gearing up for a full scale war."

  Ben said "They might be planning an incursion into the outer solar system."

  Amelia asked with concern, "What do we do?"

  Attie said "There isn't much we can do, except run silent and hope no one catches up with us before we reach Uranus."

  The captain looked at Helen and Doc. "So no one is following us?"

  Helen scrolled the map. "Nothing Captain. As far as I can tell. Every ship that was chasing us has either been destroyed or is still slowing down from overshooting us."

  Attie looked at Amelia. "Can you estimate how long it would take the BB ship to turn and catch up with us?"

  Amelia said. "Sure, but give me some time to build a simulation."

  The captain looked at the screen once more. "Well, at least it looks like we are safe for the time being. I'm hungry. Anyone else hungry? Let's eat."

  As they broke and turned to walk to the galley Ben asked "Where?! You guys have your 'science experiment' all over the galley table."

  CHAPTER 7: The Flight to Uranus

  No matter how deep in the heavens above,

&nbs
p; out in the black, I have found love.

  as long as I am with you,

  I will never be blue.

  Over the next few days, Amelia and the captain continued to occupy the galley and study the new grav drive plate. Attie motioned to Amelia. "Tilt it a little more." Amelia complied and Attie took the picture.

  AJ walked in and saw what they were doing. "Why are you taking pictures Captain?"

  The captain peaked over the camera. "So we can identify these components. Everything we have photographed and run searches on, in our on-board archive, has come up with standard parts. Some don't have labels or number, but the computer has still been able to identify them for the most part. We don't really understand how this new warp drive plate works, but what's amazing is that it appears to just use off the shelf parts, although the parts are used in weird ways, like these flexible fins on the sides. They are made from standard grav drive plate material, but we think they sense the gravitational field instead of creating it."

  Amelia pointed to a component in the center. "This emits entangled particles. We assume so there is no time delay between components? Really, we are just guessing here."

  The captain spoke while looking at Amelia "We think they are using these plates to detect or automatically adjust for the fluctuations in the gravitational field. The ones that usually rip warp ships apart, but how exactly it works beats me. However, if it really works, it's genius."

  AJ looked closer. "Why? Because they have been trying to do it for so long?"

  The captain looked back at AJ. "Well that, and the fact that they have built this out of standard parts. This means that anyone could build one of these, given the specs."

  AJ cocked his head and thought. "Then why do we need to take it all the way to them? Why didn't they just transmit the specs?"

  The captain sat down. "Hmmm..that is a good question."

  Amelia suggested "Maybe they didn't want the plans to be intercepted, since Big Sis monitors and tries to block all communication with the outer solar system."

  Attie looked at her. "Well, what's more likely. Them intercepting us or a transmission?"