jeriendhal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jeriendhal) wrote2010-08-23 08:20 pm
jeriendhal) wrote2010-08-23 08:20 pm
Fic: Altered Trajectory (cont.)
Back in the grove again, hurrah!
It was almost another fortnight before they left the galapados' homeworld again. They Gene Mage was laid out in state in a vast domed temple made of marble, large enough it seemed to be able to hold all of the planet's inhabitants. At the funeral ceremony Gisko gave a repeat of his initial speech in the Gene Mage's chambers, with more lengthy, repetitive and flowery wording. The essentials were the same though. Remember always their god, protect the ferin, and otherwise carry on as usual.
Rufus and Hazel had attended in the capacity of the Vulpine government's diplomatic representatives, Lance doing the same for the Human Federation. Terinu and Matthew were there as well, staying close to Ari, Rachael and Mark. Rufus had to wonder what the trio of old humans would do now, that their master had moved on. Would they return to their homeworld? Or did they consider this place their home now, more familiar to them than the vastly changed Earth?
Administrator Gisko and his wife met them on the tarmac of the spaceport as they were making the final preparations for returning to Vulpine Prime. They were going to take a more direct route than the roundabout path the Admiral had used, wary of potential trackers that might have followed them back here, which should cut their transit time toScarlet Claw to only four days.
“We wish you the best of luck when you give your report to the Council of Farm Lords,” Gisko told them. “As a gesture of goodwill between our peoples, I also give you these signed assurances of our friendship.” He passed over a sealed datachip.
“Thank you, Administator,” Rufus told him.
“We also offer one more item that should appeal to your Council's baser instincts,” Admiral Gisko added, handing over another chip. “The data on this chip contains the scientific principles behind our tractor/pressor beam technology. Should the Farm Lords Council agree to a treaty of mutual protection, we are prepared to offer blueprints and working copies of our units to study and replicate.”
“Oh, that should get a few tails wagging,” Hazel observed, as Rufus placed both chips carefully in the breast pocket of his spacesuit.
“Thank you very much, to both of you,” he told them. “I hope that you will receive a more formal delegation from my government in the near future. For now however, farewell.”
“Safe travels,” Administrator Gisko said.
Rufus pulled himself up into the cockpit behind Hazel and strapped in, while a galapagos tech pulled the boarding ladder away. Then she powered up the engines and engaged the ventral thrusters, pulling up and away from the planet at a relatively sedate three G's. Rufus kept his eyes steady on his instruments and ignored the twisting of his stomach. Breakfast had been milk toast, and he decided to chalk it up as a triumph that everything stayed in place as Hazel configured the ship for the transit to superluminal.
“Transition successful,” she reported, as the stars began to crawl past the windscreen in the distorted view from faster than light travel. After completing some routine housekeeping tasks she asked, “So what do you figure is going to happen when we return home?”
“Well, this will all go in front of the ministers of External Affairs and Intelligence. Then they'll bring it before a closed session of the Farm Lords Council to debate. Then they'll have to figure out whether to open formal relations with the Galapagos, separately from the GSA, never mind a defense pact.”
“And if they do?”
He thought for a moment, “I've been thinking about that the past couple of weeks. I'd say that depends on if the humans can keep a lid on things. If it goes public, that means the Creo will be getting involved. I know on a good day their guilds can't agree on which direction the Galactic Center is, but if they can be convinced the Dominion has risen again in a more benign form, they might be persuaded to support friendly contact.”
“The only way the humans can keep things from going public now is to kill us and destroy the Galapagos Dominion. Which I wouldn't put past them at this point. What I want to know if what if the Farm Lords can't get a plurality of the guilds to go along with it. What then?”
Rufus grunted, “We might be starting the GSA's first civil war.”
“Well,” Hazel said after a moment, “you can't say you don't know how to make a vixen's life interesting.”
* * *
Five days of transit brought them to the rendezvous point where the Scarlet Claw awaited them. Technically speaking they could have flown all the way from the Dominion to Vulpine Prime, but that would have meant spending nearly a fortnight in their spacesuits, a possibility that Rufus was unwilling to consider.
Hazel whistled softly as Red Vixen's ship came into view on the White Knight's long range cameras. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Ru?”
“She's taken heavy hits to her engineering section and the portside cannon array,” Rufus noted, looking at the data projections from the other sensors. “There's no power being fed at all to the superluminal drive, not even a station-keeping feed. She's seen a serious action recently.”
“Great. So much for a nice, comfy trip home,” Hazel groused. She switched over to the external comms. “White Knight to Scarlet Claw, come in Scarlet Claw, are you receiving us?”
After what seemed like an agonizingly long wait, voice replied from the pirate galleon, Scarlet Claw to White Knight, we are receiving you. Standby for the Red Vixen.
A moment later Lady Softpaw appeared on their viewscreens, in her guise as the scantily clad Red Vixen. She looked much the worse for wear, her left arm in a sling and one eye swollen, as if she'd personally fought in a boarding action sans armor. “This is the Red Vixen,” she greeted, her voice serious, lacking none of her pirate persona's more usual ironic levity. “Hello Lord Ru Ofanious, Lt. Swiftfoot. I'm very glad to see you've returned. Was your mission successful?”
“Very much so,” Rufus told her. “I dare say we've had more luck than you have recently. What happened to your ship?”
“We ran into a Human Federation cruiser that was hunting pirates on our way back from dropping off Lt. Flashpaw at Newspring. Our bad luck. We escaped and managed to limp here, but we're got a lot of repairs ahead of us before we'll be operational again.” She waved her good hand dismissively. “Still, even if I can't transport you home, I can at least offer you a chance for a shower and a decent watch's sleep in a comfortable bed.”
“That would be very much appreciated,” Rufus told her. “We'll be aboard shortly.”
Hazel guided the White Knight into the landing bay, and Rufus hopped down to the deck along with her as soon as it was pressurized, skimming out of his spacesuit and stuffing it into the fighter's cramped storage bay and sealing the lock shut.
Lady Softpaw came out to meet them as they finished changing, flanked by a pair of guards. Her face looked strained. “Hello Lord Ru Ofanius, Miss Swiftfoot. I'm sorry my hospitality is not what it could be.”
“That's all right,” he said. “Is your husband on the bridge?”
“He was... He was injured in the battle.” Well, that certainly explained the strain on her face. She continued, “He will be... he'll recover though. The important thing is your contact with the Galapagos. Did you speak to them?”
Rufus nodded. “Yes. We spoke to Administrator Gisko and met with the Varn Gene Mage. He's gone now, dead from the strain of trying to recreate his ferin. We have a tentative agreement for friendly communications at minimum. They wish an alliance of defense, but that is for the Council of Farm Lords to decide.”
“I see. Did you travel directly from their world to the rendezvous point?”
“Yes. It was small risk but I didn't want to waste anymore time.”
She bit down on her lip. “So you have the navigation data in your onboard computer?”
“Why's that important?” Hazel asked sharply.
“It's everything to me,” Lady Softpaw replied. She nodded once and her guards unslung their rifles to point them at Hazel and Rufus, before either of them could unbuckle and draw their pistols. “Please, don't make this anymore difficult than it needs to be,” she begged.
“Here now! What's this about?” Rufus demanded, raising his hands along with Hazel.
“Isn't it obvious?” Hazel asked. “She's sold us out.”
“Not be choice,” Softpaw said, her ears and tail drawn back in shame. “We did get attacked by a Federation cruiser, but it wasn't a pirate hunter. It was under the command of Commander Blake, the human officer you'd spoken about.”
“You were defeated?” Rufus asked.
“They have my husband,” she said. “Forgive me, milord. I had no choice.” She gestured to the guards again. “Take them to separate cells in the brig. I must go to the bridge and make a call.”
TBC
It was almost another fortnight before they left the galapados' homeworld again. They Gene Mage was laid out in state in a vast domed temple made of marble, large enough it seemed to be able to hold all of the planet's inhabitants. At the funeral ceremony Gisko gave a repeat of his initial speech in the Gene Mage's chambers, with more lengthy, repetitive and flowery wording. The essentials were the same though. Remember always their god, protect the ferin, and otherwise carry on as usual.
Rufus and Hazel had attended in the capacity of the Vulpine government's diplomatic representatives, Lance doing the same for the Human Federation. Terinu and Matthew were there as well, staying close to Ari, Rachael and Mark. Rufus had to wonder what the trio of old humans would do now, that their master had moved on. Would they return to their homeworld? Or did they consider this place their home now, more familiar to them than the vastly changed Earth?
Administrator Gisko and his wife met them on the tarmac of the spaceport as they were making the final preparations for returning to Vulpine Prime. They were going to take a more direct route than the roundabout path the Admiral had used, wary of potential trackers that might have followed them back here, which should cut their transit time toScarlet Claw to only four days.
“We wish you the best of luck when you give your report to the Council of Farm Lords,” Gisko told them. “As a gesture of goodwill between our peoples, I also give you these signed assurances of our friendship.” He passed over a sealed datachip.
“Thank you, Administator,” Rufus told him.
“We also offer one more item that should appeal to your Council's baser instincts,” Admiral Gisko added, handing over another chip. “The data on this chip contains the scientific principles behind our tractor/pressor beam technology. Should the Farm Lords Council agree to a treaty of mutual protection, we are prepared to offer blueprints and working copies of our units to study and replicate.”
“Oh, that should get a few tails wagging,” Hazel observed, as Rufus placed both chips carefully in the breast pocket of his spacesuit.
“Thank you very much, to both of you,” he told them. “I hope that you will receive a more formal delegation from my government in the near future. For now however, farewell.”
“Safe travels,” Administrator Gisko said.
Rufus pulled himself up into the cockpit behind Hazel and strapped in, while a galapagos tech pulled the boarding ladder away. Then she powered up the engines and engaged the ventral thrusters, pulling up and away from the planet at a relatively sedate three G's. Rufus kept his eyes steady on his instruments and ignored the twisting of his stomach. Breakfast had been milk toast, and he decided to chalk it up as a triumph that everything stayed in place as Hazel configured the ship for the transit to superluminal.
“Transition successful,” she reported, as the stars began to crawl past the windscreen in the distorted view from faster than light travel. After completing some routine housekeeping tasks she asked, “So what do you figure is going to happen when we return home?”
“Well, this will all go in front of the ministers of External Affairs and Intelligence. Then they'll bring it before a closed session of the Farm Lords Council to debate. Then they'll have to figure out whether to open formal relations with the Galapagos, separately from the GSA, never mind a defense pact.”
“And if they do?”
He thought for a moment, “I've been thinking about that the past couple of weeks. I'd say that depends on if the humans can keep a lid on things. If it goes public, that means the Creo will be getting involved. I know on a good day their guilds can't agree on which direction the Galactic Center is, but if they can be convinced the Dominion has risen again in a more benign form, they might be persuaded to support friendly contact.”
“The only way the humans can keep things from going public now is to kill us and destroy the Galapagos Dominion. Which I wouldn't put past them at this point. What I want to know if what if the Farm Lords can't get a plurality of the guilds to go along with it. What then?”
Rufus grunted, “We might be starting the GSA's first civil war.”
“Well,” Hazel said after a moment, “you can't say you don't know how to make a vixen's life interesting.”
* * *
Five days of transit brought them to the rendezvous point where the Scarlet Claw awaited them. Technically speaking they could have flown all the way from the Dominion to Vulpine Prime, but that would have meant spending nearly a fortnight in their spacesuits, a possibility that Rufus was unwilling to consider.
Hazel whistled softly as Red Vixen's ship came into view on the White Knight's long range cameras. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Ru?”
“She's taken heavy hits to her engineering section and the portside cannon array,” Rufus noted, looking at the data projections from the other sensors. “There's no power being fed at all to the superluminal drive, not even a station-keeping feed. She's seen a serious action recently.”
“Great. So much for a nice, comfy trip home,” Hazel groused. She switched over to the external comms. “White Knight to Scarlet Claw, come in Scarlet Claw, are you receiving us?”
After what seemed like an agonizingly long wait, voice replied from the pirate galleon, Scarlet Claw to White Knight, we are receiving you. Standby for the Red Vixen.
A moment later Lady Softpaw appeared on their viewscreens, in her guise as the scantily clad Red Vixen. She looked much the worse for wear, her left arm in a sling and one eye swollen, as if she'd personally fought in a boarding action sans armor. “This is the Red Vixen,” she greeted, her voice serious, lacking none of her pirate persona's more usual ironic levity. “Hello Lord Ru Ofanious, Lt. Swiftfoot. I'm very glad to see you've returned. Was your mission successful?”
“Very much so,” Rufus told her. “I dare say we've had more luck than you have recently. What happened to your ship?”
“We ran into a Human Federation cruiser that was hunting pirates on our way back from dropping off Lt. Flashpaw at Newspring. Our bad luck. We escaped and managed to limp here, but we're got a lot of repairs ahead of us before we'll be operational again.” She waved her good hand dismissively. “Still, even if I can't transport you home, I can at least offer you a chance for a shower and a decent watch's sleep in a comfortable bed.”
“That would be very much appreciated,” Rufus told her. “We'll be aboard shortly.”
Hazel guided the White Knight into the landing bay, and Rufus hopped down to the deck along with her as soon as it was pressurized, skimming out of his spacesuit and stuffing it into the fighter's cramped storage bay and sealing the lock shut.
Lady Softpaw came out to meet them as they finished changing, flanked by a pair of guards. Her face looked strained. “Hello Lord Ru Ofanius, Miss Swiftfoot. I'm sorry my hospitality is not what it could be.”
“That's all right,” he said. “Is your husband on the bridge?”
“He was... He was injured in the battle.” Well, that certainly explained the strain on her face. She continued, “He will be... he'll recover though. The important thing is your contact with the Galapagos. Did you speak to them?”
Rufus nodded. “Yes. We spoke to Administrator Gisko and met with the Varn Gene Mage. He's gone now, dead from the strain of trying to recreate his ferin. We have a tentative agreement for friendly communications at minimum. They wish an alliance of defense, but that is for the Council of Farm Lords to decide.”
“I see. Did you travel directly from their world to the rendezvous point?”
“Yes. It was small risk but I didn't want to waste anymore time.”
She bit down on her lip. “So you have the navigation data in your onboard computer?”
“Why's that important?” Hazel asked sharply.
“It's everything to me,” Lady Softpaw replied. She nodded once and her guards unslung their rifles to point them at Hazel and Rufus, before either of them could unbuckle and draw their pistols. “Please, don't make this anymore difficult than it needs to be,” she begged.
“Here now! What's this about?” Rufus demanded, raising his hands along with Hazel.
“Isn't it obvious?” Hazel asked. “She's sold us out.”
“Not be choice,” Softpaw said, her ears and tail drawn back in shame. “We did get attacked by a Federation cruiser, but it wasn't a pirate hunter. It was under the command of Commander Blake, the human officer you'd spoken about.”
“You were defeated?” Rufus asked.
“They have my husband,” she said. “Forgive me, milord. I had no choice.” She gestured to the guards again. “Take them to separate cells in the brig. I must go to the bridge and make a call.”
TBC
no subject
*bounces* :D
*reads*
Nice ceremony...
I believe Ari, Rachael and Mark are staying with the galapados because earth seems to be a bit hostile with the blokes erm Blakes running around like crazy...
Well, Rufus should have taken at least a short detour before coming here...
Aww ... poor Melika and Rolas...
I just hope they will not find the data chips...
I believe next comes the piece you had already written with the torture of Rufus by Leeza...
...and I hope that Gisko will be on his watch...
mjkj
PS: Typos spotted:
- "They Gene Mage was laid out..." should read "The Gene Mage..."
- "After what seemed like an agonizingly long wait, voice replied..." should read "...wait, a voice replied..."
- "We escaped and managed to limp here, but we're got a lot of..." should read "We escaped and managed to limp here, but we've got a lot of..."
- "Not be choice..." should read "Not by choice..."
I am sure I missed some - but cannot find them at the moment.