Running With Argentine Read online

  This is a big reason why space travel is so incomprehensible to most people. It also helps demonstrate why Sami’s skill was so valuable.

  It wasn’t just the accuracy of her trajectories; it was the amount of time that was saved by not having to constantly drop out of Dreamspace to recalculate.

  How much time does it typically take to travel from one point in space to another? It depends upon what path the ship takes and how many stops it needs to make to readjust its course. Therefore, two ships with equal engines might take significantly different travel times to reach the same destination – depending upon the skill of the astrogator.

  Most people think that when a ship breaks planetary orbit it simply flies off in the direction it wants to go. That, however, is never the case.

  Spaceships don’t travel from planet to planet; they travel from the orbit of one star to the orbit of another star.

  Once a ship breaks planetary orbit it is still orbiting the star. Instead of trying to power itself up the steep side of the star’s gravity well it is much more efficient to simply increase its orbital speed until the centrifugal force pushes it up and out from the dimple.

  So when traveling in space a ship breaks the orbit of one star and travels its circuitous route to the orbit of another star.

  If someone was watching the marble on the flat surface again, that person would see it moving just fast enough at the edge of one depression to keep it from falling in and then, when wanting to break orbit, adding just enough speed to break out of the depression and careen off in a precalculated direction.

  The arrival at the destination star would be very similar.

  The marble would arrive at the edge of a dimple with just enough speed to be caught by the depression and maintaining just enough thrust to continue circling that depression. Once a ship is orbiting a star system it can reduce its speed at a rate calculated to let it “fall” to a lower orbit that intersects with its planetary destination. At that point the process is repeated so that the ship can arrive at the correct angle and velocity to be captured by the planet’s gravity and establish orbit.

  Of course this is all an oversimplification.

  Ships traveling between stars have actually slipped out of our space-time continuum and are traveling through what most people call Dreamspace. It’s actually one of the universes nearest to ours in this multiverse existence everyone lives in (or so the theory goes). The rules of physics are different there and the speed of light, fortunately, is a couple of orders of magnitude higher.

  Dreamspace is totally removed from everything in this universe except for gravity. Gravity is the one force that tends to bleed over from one universe into the next.

  Conversely, there are things in the other universe, or Dreamspace, that don’t exist in this universe. And the gravity of those masses can bleed over into this one.

  This is what we typically call dark matter.

  Way back when, at the dawn of mankind’s technological achievements, physicists discovered there wasn’t enough mass in this universe. Indeed, they calculated that 87% of it was missing.

  They knew this because the galaxies couldn’t possibly rotate the way they do with so little mass accounted for. But when they looked for it they couldn’t find it.

  It couldn’t be seen and it couldn’t be measured. It couldn’t be observed in any way whatsoever other than by the gravity it produced - and its gravity was there. At the time, other universes and Dreamspace were only a theory and the mystery of dark matter evaded humanity for centuries.

  The point is, a modern-day astrogator needs to be able to calculate courses utilizing the gravity wells of objects both in our universe and others.

  Computers can obviously aid in this process but there is a certain instinct, a human intuition if you will, that has been found to make all the difference in success or failure. Very few human beings have this skill and the very best of them claim they can somehow visualize the gravity wells they’re plotting their courses around.

  Astrogators are typically bald or, at least, keep their hair short. This is because when they are anywhere in or around their ships it is a good bet they will be wearing their dreamcaps. This is a yarmulke-like interface with the ship’s astrogational computers.

  Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, astrogators tended to be anything but well-rounded. There was an element of autistic savantness about them at the best of times, and when their minds were expanded through their dreamcaps, they could get downright spooky.

  To make it worse, most astrogators enhanced their mental expansion with drugs.

  As a matter of fact, the number one reason for an astrogator retiring was burnout… literally burning their brains out with pharmaceuticals.

  The less scrupulous element of mankind could make a fortune by providing those expensive drugs to astrogators in return for their services.

  At any rate, being a skilled astrogator, especially one that eschews drugs like Sami, is an asset worth almost as much as the cost of a small ship itself.

  ΔΔΔ

  Sami was fast walking her way down the corridor when the General Quarters alarm went off. It was loud and startling enough to make her almost miss a step, but she caught herself and broke into a controlled trot.

  When she entered the bridge she immediately knew something was wrong; this wasn’t just another drill.

  Captain Kerry was sitting rigidly on his bench and it looked like all the blood had drained from his face.

  Political Officer Bloomington stood staring at the Captain’s screen. Not that it was displaying anything unusual; it was the same asteroid field that they’d been drifting along with for half a day now.

  It wasn’t until she took her seat at the astrogation station that she realized the problem.

  “Captain, fourteen ships have entered the system. Best guess is that they are Viennese and some of her allies.”

  “Really? I’m so glad you noticed that. Maybe I should sound the General Quarters alarm?” he said sarcastically.

  “Mister Parker, what I need from you is a better analysis of their intentions. It would also be helpful to know if they realize we’re here.”

  It wasn’t unusual that the Captain would be asking her for that type of information. Because of the nature of astrogation her station controlled the best sensors on the ship.

  What was unusual is that he would address any crewmember by the title of Mister. It was typically considered an insult and was something that, in his pettiness, he reserved just for her.

  “Aye aye sir,” she replied unphased. She was used to being the target of the Captain’s displeasure and honestly didn’t spend much time worrying about things she couldn’t control.

  “There’s no way to know for sure, but my best guess is that they have not detected us,” she continued. “We probably appear to them like just another drifting rock. As long as we don’t power up our drive we’ll probably remain invisible to them.”

  First officer Argentine walked up to her with a half-smile on his face. Without realizing it when Sami had changed clothes she had gotten some of the still wet ink on her fingers. That might account for the blue smudge that covered the left side of her face.

  “Have you decided to tattoo yourself blue?” Argentine quietly asked.

  Quickly crossing her arms across her chest Sami’s eyes opened large in horror. “How did you know?” she whispered back.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Behind the Scenes

  An Obscure Uninhabited

  Star System

  Security Officer Lieutenant José Stark also served as the ship’s Weapons Officer.

  As such, his General Quarters station was on the bridge. He was ready to power up the ship’s weapons at a moment’s notice but was smart enough not to do so. It was probably a good idea to reduce their energy emissions in every way possible.

  The lieutenant was a hard man and he knew it. He accepted that about himself and never give a secon
d thought to trying to change. He’d grown up hard, having to fight for everything in his life. Whether it was food to stay alive or an education for a better future, he’d earned everything he’d ever acquired.

  His superiors had seen that toughness and thought him a natural for security work.

  In the People’s Republic security work meant that you served as the private army of the political commissars.

  Not that this bothered him; it was an unfair world and you grabbed what you could out of it. Still, there was a lust for violence in many of his peers that he didn’t share. He wouldn’t shy away from it – never that – but he certainly wasn’t averse to using brains rather than brawn. It was that intelligence that had allowed him to also excel as a weapons officer.

  Those duties were keeping him focused on the enemy ships, but the Security Officer’s side of his duties had him concerned about something different.

  The People’s Republic was crumbling faster than anyone knew.

  As a security officer he had access to back channels communications. He knew that not only planetary systems were going dark; the rumor was that some entire fleets that had been reported lost had actually defected. It was a known fact that individual ships had bugged out here or there.

  He had always been unwaveringly loyal to his immediate superior, Political Officer Ernest J. Bloomington. He had never once in his entire career done a single thing that could be considered disloyal. He reported everything to his boss but wasn’t surprised at the man’s stoicism and lack of alarm. Political ideologues can be blinded by their beliefs and Political Officer Bloomington believed that the People’s Republic was indestructible.

  His loyalty to Bloomington wasn’t anything unusual. It was loyalty and control of power like this that kept the political commissars in power. The ships’ crews knew this, of course. That’s why disobedience was so uncommon in the fleet. It’s also why the recent reports had him concerned.

  ΔΔΔ

  Argentine was kicked back in his cabin. Chief West occupied another chair and they were both quietly contemplating the situation.

  It had been two days now and the Pelican was still lying doggo in the asteroid field. The enemy fleet was still in the system and the only excitement had been caused by two additional ships that had joined it.

  “How long is this going to last?” the chief asked while sitting anxiously on the edge of his seat.

  “It’ll take as long as it takes,” responded Argentine. “We have no idea what that fleet is doing here or where it’s headed. Until the situation changes there’s not much for us to do.”

  The chief mumbled something… He was obviously distracted.

  “How are your resource collections going?” Argentine asked. “Do we have enough of what we need yet?”

  “More or less,” he said distractedly. And then, in a stronger voice, “The extraction team knows at the first sign of recall to drop their equipment and immediately head back to the ship.”

  As quarrelsome as the chief could be, Argentine knew him to be an officer that took good care of his people. God help anyone that pissed him off and was from another department, but he took good care of his own.

  In the silence that followed, Argentine found his mind wandering to a favorite daydream…

  Somewhere in his childhood past, after his father had left but before his mother had died, he’d seen a holovid that was still a vivid memory. He couldn’t remember the plot or even the name of the production, but what had stayed with him was the life the main character had eventually built for himself.

  On a small remote moon, he had built a cabin in the wooded mountains close to a small lake. Argentine couldn’t remember if he was totally alone or not (at that age, women weren’t very much on his mind), but he absolutely knew that the guy was insulated from the world.

  His own private refuge hidden away from the insanity of the universe.

  Argentine wanted that.

  The one thought that had kept him going when the full force of the disillusionment with the People’s Republic had set in, was the thought of building that cabin. It was a promise he had made to himself. It was a promise he recommitted himself to every time some new insanity that was beyond his control crept into his life…

  He just hoped the Vilanese fleet didn’t prematurely end that dream.

  Just then there was a knock on the cabin’s door.

  He shared a glance with the Chief and electronically opened it. Argentine hid his shock well. The chief, not so much.

  Security Officer José Stark walked into the cabin.

  ΔΔΔ

  “What can we do for you, Lieutenant Stark?” Argentine said once they were all seated.

  “I’ve come to discuss your plans,” he said.

  “Our plans for what?” asked the chief.

  The lieutenant just stared at the two men and then finally said, “You said it yourself Chief, something’s got to give. I want to know what you plan to do when that something starts giving.”

  Argentine was startled. “Do you have our cabins bugged?” he asked.

  “Of course,” came the reply. “I’m security. I know everything that goes on in this ship.”

  “We’ve done nothing treasonous,” the chief blurted out. “Anything we’ve said was just in jest. We are loyal servants of the Republic…” His voice faded out as he realized the lieutenant was shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid you don’t understand,” he said. “There’s something I need to tell you and then we need to have a conversation.”

  Argentine could tell that the chief was just as confused as he was but they didn’t really have any choice, did they? If the security officer wanted to talk, then they’d talk.

  Seeing that he had their attention the lieutenant continued, “Political Officer Bloomington has made a decision. He has decided that we must get the word out about the Vilanese ships. He wants the Captain to make a run for it.”

  “That’s suicide!” Chief West exclaimed. “There’s no way they wouldn’t catch us.”

  “Actually they give us a 2% chance.”

  “And the Captain will go along with this?” Argentine asked.

  “What do you think?” the lieutenant responded.

  “Holy mother!” the chief exclaimed as he leaned back in his chair.

  “When is this going to happen?” Argentine persisted.

  “The Captain convinced him to recover the extraction team and its equipment first. I expect him to be calling us to General Quarters in a couple of hours.”

  After another few moments of silence Argentine asked the obvious question…

  “Why are you telling us this?”

  “Because there’s something else you don’t know,” he said. “There may not be any Republic left to warn. At the last two message drops there were no ship’s communications for the Captain.”

  “That can’t be right! I’ve had messages from the Fleet Paymaster’s Office!”

  “Yes, I know… I’m the one that forged them.”

  “The fleet always puts out communications, even if it’s just a confirmation of standing orders. There should’ve been something waiting for us,” Argentine spoke his thoughts out loud.

  “Exactly,” said the Lieutenant. “In a couple of hours we’re going to be ordered to commit suicide on the 2% chance that we can warn a Republic that probably doesn’t exist anymore.

  “I’m not thinking it’s necessarily a good day to die. How about you?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Cabal

  An Obscure Uninhabited

  Star System

  Argentine was still having trouble getting his mind wrapped around the idea that Lieutenant José Stark was an ally, or at least not an enemy… perhaps an ally of mutual convenience?

  “Lieutenant, are you trying to tell us that you and your security team would back us if we refused orders?” he asked.

  “Oh hell no!” he responded. “We’ll have to do something about my squad, but I�
�ll back you – and that’s all you need.”

  To say that this was an easy conversation would be misleading. In the People’s Republic the commissar’s security teams were always looked upon with distrust. In all the time that he’d known him Argentine had never had any reason to suspect that Lieutenant José Stark was anything but totally loyal to the People’s Republic.