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child of Thor
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Thorsons luck part one:
Pilot Childov Thorson had never been the recipient of good luck except in odd really important cases. For example, when he was going through his navy basic training he had been the only survivor of a nasty accident.
This had been due entirely to him catching a rare case of food poisoning from his ration pack. He’d been locked inside the toilet cubicle when the crash had taken place, and by some fluke chance this had been the only place anyone would have survived the crash.
So he had been given the nickname “Lucky”, which was kind of ironic as many people could lay testament too. Thorson’s luck often came out of him being in an unlucky situation.
Today had been no exception. He’d ended up on Mars, the first time in his life he’d been to the Sol system. Olympus Village seemed so full of history and culture he’d found he had lost himself in its winding back streets, they had whole neighbourhoods that were thousands of years old – it was amazing!
Still the whole reason he’d come here was to find that double-dealing no good ex partner of his that had dumped him on Merlin and took of with his ship and cargo.
Thorson hadn’t enjoyed the two-week journey he’d had to make on the cargo ship that had been the only one to give him a lift. Doubly so as that ship was full of the stench of its cargo, the rare Merlin Pilchard, probably the most stinky fish in the universe.
Still Thorson took all such happenings with a stoic resignation – stuff happened to him all the time, and smelling of fish was one of his lighter burdens.
But he was really lost now and most people he tried to approach to ask directions, well….they smelled him first and hurried off.
He’d been logged onto some kind of info booth, trawling its menus for some kind of lead or directions for a good half hour or so; and then something interesting caught his eye. It was the words Galactica Falcon.
Last edited by child of Thor on 18-08-2005 at 21:44
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child of Thor
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Part two:
Trauma can last a long time, and some people are better at dealing with it than others. Admiral William Saunders cast another worried glance over to the silent and hunched figure that sat unmoving in the co-pilots seat.
It had been two months ago that his young partner had come into his charge in such tragic circumstances. Even now he was finding it difficult to talk about the murders; such a conversation always ended very one sided with him fumbling for words that he hoped would ease the others pain.
That in part was why he had decided to bring them to Mars and Olympus village. William Saunders knew of an excellent psychiatrist here, one that had worked wonders with Commander Jameson after the war. Still William had kind of kept this a secret, making out they were going to Mars to meet an old friend; which was only part lie he kept telling himself.
The flight from New Rossyth had been mostly uneventful, something William Saunders hoped would continue; flying around in the stolen Galactica Falcon wasn’t helping him give up on the ezzy-tabs he’d noticed.
They would have to do something about the ships identity as soon as possible. That meant dealing in the murky and illegal world of ship re-tagging. Still since he had been forced to take the Galactica Falcon in the first place he had known this would come up at some point.
It also wasn’t a prospect that was helping him relax; he’d always found it difficult to work with the rougher denizens of the galaxy, even during wartime.
On their way to Mars William took them through the asteroid belt, hoping the diversion would buck up his gloomy passenger. He’d come in a bit too close as it turned out, his navigation skills being slightly rusty. The diversion had worked as they both had their hands full trying to avoid getting a hull breach!
As they left the outer rim of the belt and set the course for Mars, William had deployed a remote camera to catch the moment for posterity. Just under 9 AU to go, and then hopefully his passenger could start the process of healing their scars; he owed it to Jameson.
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Last edited by child of Thor on 18-08-2005 at 21:45
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child of Thor
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Part three:
Childov Thorson had eventually found his way back to the starport of Olympus Village. He’d then found a place to watch the Tiercel freighter Galactica Falcon. She looked like a normal freighter as far as he could tell; nothing gave away the secrets she held within her hull.
The only activity he’d seen was the movements of two of its crewmembers, the older one Thorson recognised as Admiral Saunders. He’d been head of the research and development department on New Rossyth; it was interesting that he was involved in its disappearance. And interesting that in the last five hours no other crew had left or entered the freighter, maybe they were ordered to stay and guard the valuable ship?
Childov had known Admiral Saunders when he’d been working for the Navy as a pilot-tech in New Rossyth, they had never met personally, but part of his job had been involved with the R+D section; he’d known a little of the secret project the Admiral had been working on.
While stumbling across the information that the ship was here, Thorson had also found out it was berthed for the week; so hopefully that gave him time to make a plan. With such a lucky chance happening he would be a fool not to act on the opportunity, but what to do exactly?
Getting his old ship back would be very useful, it was docked over at Quenisset and he’d been planning to take the inter-rail across mars since his lift hadn’t been willing to drop him of there. Then with a ship at his disposal again, he would be in a better position to react to the unfolding situation. He wasn’t concerned about his partner; old Jethro was a terminal drunk; and probably already spending all his money in the local taverns while brooding over his actions. Childov would let him be, that was the worst punishment you could give to a loser like Jethro, he would eventually destroy his own life.
Happy that the Galactica falcon wasn’t going anywhere soon, Childov hailed a Johnny cab and requested the inane robot driver take him to the inter-rail station and book him a place on the next hypertrain to Quenisset. The journey would take forty minutes.
****************
For William Saunders the week on Mars passed quickly and uneventfully enough. He’d spoken with Doctor Richards at length and after the seven days was up could see the progress that had been made.
“Come back when you have time”, Richards had said, “There are still some techniques I can use to speed up and help a full recovery”.
William had promised they would.
Now as they approached Brenan High orbital station in the CD-37º15492 system, William hoped the contact they had been given would turn out to be genuine and not an undercover police officer. Time was against them, they needed a new identity for the Galactica Falcon; in the back of his mind he felt it was only a matter of time before someone recognised the ship. Treason was a charge best avoided.
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Last edited by child of Thor on 18-08-2005 at 22:41
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child of Thor
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Part four:
Anne Mathews your still beautiful, she told herself as she put on her makeup for the day. Her hazel eyes and auburn-blonde hair set the frame for her attractive face. Lips pouting she applied the neon blue lip-gloss that was the latest fashion. She was still single, but at 49 that was not unusual for a professional.
Still her profession did often get in the way of any aspiring suitors, once they knew what she did for a living. It wouldn’t be so bad if she was in another more interesting system, well that’s what she kept telling herself.
Sure she could always take a trip planet side to New Caledonia, it was quite a pretty planet too; just a shame about the one-dimensional characters that inhabited it. If they weren’t falling over themselves to buy her drinks with tongues lolling, then they were boring her to tears with talk about the coming harvest; the eternal curse of the worldly city girl in an agricultural outpost.
Make up done, she checked everything was in order. Her coming job sounded very interesting, a welcome diversion from the normal jokers and small time con men she usually dealt with. Going back to the mirror she started going over her routine again, practise makes perfect her mother had always told her; mothers were often right.
***************
Childov cursed loudly, the hydro-spanner had left a large welt on his head where it had fallen and the cramped space he was working in was giving him neck ache.
The darn fool Jethro had installed a new security system to his ship, and bodged the job too. It hadn’t stopped Childov from getting access to his ship, the Mary-Sue; an older model of Constrictor, and flying to Olympus Village; but it had caused a malfunction in the main computer on route.
He had been right about Jethro, he had found him unconscious in a corner of a bar called ‘flightfoogles’; he’d left a quick note for him, and the credits to cover his last wages due. It was bad luck for a ships captain to not pay his crew, even a back stabbing idiot one like Jethro.
Still Jethro was the last thing on his mind as he started to remove the memory units that had become corrupted. Luckily he’d still had his captains locker’s contents to fall back on, so he’d had the money he needed to pay for the replacement parts he was trying to fit. He’d smiled ruefully at the new scratch marks on the safes hatchway, Jethro had not been the first to fail to try and force it open.
As he worked he went over the plan he had decided to follow. Between his repair work he had kept an eye on the Galactica Falcon, following Admiral Saunders on a few occasions and learning his next destination; Brenan High orbiter. He’d overheard the Admiral talking to a seedy looking individual, and had to choke back the laugh when he heard whom they'd advised the Admiral to contact.
Still he would have to get there first, the Mary Sue would be no match through hyperspace, and these repairs were almost done. As the last memory unit clicked into place he was relived to see the correct green lights come back on.
A few minutes later and he was leaving Mars behind, the navicomp set for Brenan High in the CD-37º15492 system. He never had subscribed to the theory that the Constrictor class needed two crewmen to fly it. One capable crew was uncomfortable, but entirely possible.
Last edited by child of Thor on 19-08-2005 at 02:51
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child of Thor
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Part Five:
There are a few lucky people that seem to get into each other from the outset. Maybe it’s just a flash of a really genuine smile, or a spark exchanged in a glance. It happens far too rarely in this cold empty universe.
William Saunders was going through a strange mix of such emotions as he watched the approach to Denver High with some trepadition. He was fighting the sidewise glances he kept wanting to give their new passenger. She seemed calm enough, no outward signs of impending crisis. Still she was a policewomen, or more accurately had been a policewomen. And maybe he was making the biggest mistake of his life.
It had been a strange meeting on Brenan High, and it hadn’t been until after the kiss that she had told him who she really was, and that he’d been set up. He ruefully admitted that she had put up a good act on the bulletin link – he really had no clue she was a cop. Still that spark thing had happened, for the second time in his life, and a nasty situation seemed to resolve itself. Her name was Anne Matthews and she wanted to go with them, help them disappear for real. She was fed up being alone in a dead end job and had fallen for William. These thoughts, replays of those conversations they had shared, kept going over and over in Williams mind. Was she for real? Was it just part of an elaborate sting operation? His instincts said no, but he just couldn’t know for sure. He would just have to let events pan out for better or worse.
******************
Childov was confused now. He hadn’t been expecting the undercover cop to travel onboard the Galactica Falcon, and least of all to Denver High in the Lalande 25372 system. He knew that a guy named Gus operated from there, a guy who could get you a good counterfit ship ID. Whatever strangeness was afoot he needed to follow the Galactica Falcon if he was going to get a chance to enact his plan. Attached to the side of a bulk cruiser he monitored silently the approach of the Galactica Falcon.
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Snotty
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Too true. but persevere,it was just a ring ofpirates surrounding the inhabited universe when I passed through. Hard as hell, to be sure, and sadly all too random at times (or maybe I never grew to understand it)
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child of Thor
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In the Galactica falcon space is much safer(probably too safe in hindsight).
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child of Thor
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Part six:
The first sign that something bad was going down were the arrival of 6 unmarked, but decidedly police-looking, Viper MkII’s. That coupled with the station announcement that due to an outbreak of a nasty virus all ships were requested to stay docked and in quarantine. That put Childov in an awkward position, granted not as awkward as Admiral Saunders and the Galactica Falcons crew, but this all just complicated things and Childov hated complications.
Attached to the side of the hull of the gigantic bulk cruiser, his Constrictor, the Mary-Sue, blended perfectly and un-detectably into his surroundings. That would have to change now.
***********
Inside the ‘FurryFeline’ wine-bar Anne Matthews felt her stomach wrench as the announcement went out, and the accusation in the glance William shot at her could have killed.
“It wasn’t me!” she mouthed in all honesty.
Their contact, a ‘Mr.Gus’, didn’t look too happy either, but kept his composure as he scanned the room around the back exit.
“This way if you don’t want to get caught”, he nodded towards the toilets, “But let’s not look too suspicious ok? We probably have a few minutes before the police will be here, come on.”
************
Six to one are not great odds; still the Mary-Sue had a few useful ‘levellers’ for situations such as these.
As she drifted free from her vantage point she angled straight for the centre of the nearest few Vipers and as they realised she was there, dropped her special energy bombs, all three zooming in towards each Vipers hull. Everything happened in the space of three seconds and then he was accelerating away from the blast debris, keeping the hull of his craft inside the outer envelope of the explosion effectively hiding his craft from scanner view. His shields would recover later.
Three to one is better, but not great.
As the explosion died and the remaining three Vipers realised what had happened, Childov’s threat indicators started to light up. They had a missile lock on him, and he knew those missiles would ignore his ECM, time for some g’s.
As the first screamed by the Mary-Sue, he pushed down hard on the stick, bringing her below Denver High and flying as close to the space station as he dared. The second missile was close, only 200 meters behind, impact immanent. This time he pulled her up at a hard diagonal and dumped as much speed as he could by flipping the Mary-Sue through 180 degrees, facing the oncoming missile, and using full power to counter his previous forward momentum. The second missile, aiming for where it expected him to be, overshot and started its long curved re-tracking manoeuvre.
Now Childov was facing his attackers and his 1mw beam cut devastatingly into the hull of the nearest, a spectacular detonation probably meant he had hit the fuel tanks.
Two to one was nearly there, but he had that feeling that he might have just used all his luck up. More missiles appeared on his scanner.
*******************
The Galactica Falcon sat in its dock unmolested, everything had been happening so fast and then there was a reported attack on the space station. With alarm sirens blaring and chaos in the dock, William Saunders and his party were able to slip onboard the Tiercel freighter and using the cover of the swarms of police vipers that were responding to the attack outside, slip out without permission.
“Where the hell are we going now?” His young pilot asked.
William was setting the course as he spoke, “I think we need to put some distance between our visitor's here”. He had a friend he’d been meaning to catch up with.
****************
The Mary-Sue was still playing chicken with missiles and as the swarms of police began to spill out of Denver high Childov was very relieved to see the familiar shape of the Galactica Falcon shoot out from the space station. Seconds later she disappeared in an orange ball of energy.
He ran his Hyperspace cloud analyser over the remnants, got his targets destination and punched the co-ords into his navi-comp. He might get there a week later, but it was the best he could do. He wasn’t about to loose that ship now.
Last edited by child of Thor on 31-08-2005 at 22:03
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child of Thor
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Part Seven:
Taylor’s colony in Tau Ceti was a wonderful planet, especially in the summer seasons. The zoological gardens of Haynes landing boasting the rare site of the only surviving native species, a curious long necked monkey called, rather unimaginatively; the Ceti-monkey.
It had been the first life outside our own solar system that mankind had encountered. Sadly mans progress put paid to any future the Ceti-monkey may have had, long necked or not.
William Saunders reflected on such things as he and his companions sipped light Altairan cocktails while taking in the sights of the gardens. It was a welcome respite from the last few weeks.
The Major of Haynes landing, an old school friend of Williams; was having as much fun as his guests. He really loved the gardens and the animals, and was very proud of the accomplishments he and a few forward thinking of the colonies populace had managed to achieve.
“So Tom, how many years have you been Mayor here?” William asked, “And why the shift from zootleg musician?”
Tom beamed back at William, “Well I was going to ask you the same thing, what’s an Admiral doing flying around in a trade ship with an odd mix of crew? But figured you’d tell me when you wanted”.
William tried to suppress his laugh, “Well maybe we’ll get around to that later, still I must say we all appreciate the time you’ve given us, and are you sure the ship is ok parked outside of the starport?”
Tom smiled and pointed to his badge of office, then ushered them on to the next enclosure.
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01-08-2005 15:40
I might try it with my hexed ship - its not as large as the Imp Explorer(which looks kinda cool in a star trek way), but i might have enough space for fuel scoops etc? It might be easier to handle when scimming a sun or gas giant(did you try the gas giant thing? - i think it is meant to be safer than sun scimming).
high gravity suns!!!! lol space is weird and scary. now you've made me scared.......do i really want my unique ship sucked into a sun(reminds me of a bit in the Hitch Hickers Guide books - where Marvin was being typicaly himself facing the same prospect 
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well you know that rare alien art piece that is now on display in Betahydra(i think? its one of the closest Federation planets to Imperial space?).......well i kinda had my dirty hands in that one, heard that a warrant had gone out for my arrest. Still once i've got my hands on the Galactica Falcon i'll be feeling pretty safe 
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