New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“Captain, we are receiving an emergency alert!” Shomari Eboh called out.  “The Rising Star Colony around Cyphon B are saying that they are under attack by pirates!”

Brooks leaned forward sharply in his seat.  “How far away is Cyphon?”

“It’s a three-hour transit, Captain,” Ji-min Bin called.  “Primary coil is mostly charged.  We can jump in thirty-five minutes.”

“Urle, did you hear this?” Brooks asked, his message broadcasting out to his Executive Officer.

“Aye, Captain,” Urle replied.  “We’re about to lift off from the surface.  We can rendezvous in eighteen minutes.”

“Good.  I’d rather have you aboard.”

Urle was slow to reply.  “We need to do more for these people before we finish this, Captain.”

Brooks wasn’t expecting that, but took the words seriously.  “Understood, Urle.  Let’s talk about that more en route.”

“Yes, sir.  Lifting off in less than 60 seconds, out for now.”

The call ended, and Brooks began to issue other orders.  There were still supply pods readying for deployment.

“I want those that can be ready to go in our window prioritized, forget the rest – we’ll hold onto them for now.”

“Estimating we can drop two more in that window,” Sulp messaged.  “But if you give me ten more minutes, I can do four.”

“We can’t keep a colony under attack waiting,” Brooks replied, ending the call.  “Get me the colony.”

Chairwoman Addo appeared.  Her image was far stronger than it had been before, he was pleased to see.

“Chairwoman, we have just received word from the colony on Cyphon B that they are under attack.  We will be going to their aid once my executive officer is aboard and our zerodrive is ready.”

Tension lines tightened around her eyes.  “Will you be returning, Craton?  There are still many supplies we need, and Commander Urle said that he was going to bring down more engineers.”

“We will do so as we can,” Brooks replied.  “But it will be a few days at the least, and I don’t know how many more supplies we can drop.  We don’t know what shape the Rising Star colony will be in.”

Addo looked aggrieved.  “Captain, our people are facing hunger-“

“We will not let you starve.  We have two more pods we will be dropping before we go.”

He messaged Sulp; prioritize food.

Sulp messaged him back immediately, accepting the order and yet creatively telling him off.

“I suppose that is all we can get,” Addo replied shortly.  “But I do not think our power system will hold in its present state for more than a day.  We will be mostly back in the dark before long.”

“I wish I could do more,” Brooks told her.  “But we had no chance to pick up additional supplies before leaving, so we are giving from just what we carried.  I promise you we will return when we can, however, and that other relief ships are coming.”

The woman nodded sharply, her eyes cold.  “Colony out,” she said, cutting the transmission.

The doors to the command center opened, and Jaya entered.  She was blinking blearily.

“I understand we are going into action,” she said, adjusting her uniform cuff.

“The colony on Cyphon IV is under attack.  We’re leaving once the zerodrive is charged,” Brooks told her.  “But you should be getting more sleep, you’ve only been off-duty for two hours.”

“I will be fine,” she replied.  Brooks continued to stare at her.

She saluted.  “I formally request permission to return to duty, Captain, given the serious nature of what awaits us.”

Brooks nodded slowly.  “Granted.  But then you’ll take two days off to catch up on your sleep.”

“Aye, Captain,” she replied.  Her face was professional enough to give away little, but he knew she was not pleased with that.

“We’re going to need Apollonia Nor present on the bridge when we get there,” Brooks added.  “I understand she’s in a study session with Sgt. Kiseleva.  Will you go inform her?”

“Yes, Captain,” Jaya replied.

Brooks turned to look back towards the main screen, the colony world below hidden behind images showing the work going on to prepare them for the dive.

---

< Ep 10 Part 11 | Ep 10 Part 13 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

A horrible gasping filled the air, as abused and battered lungs struggled to operate at full capacity.

Kade realized that the sound was coming from him.

Adrenaline was surging through his body, and for a few moments he had no idea where he was or why he felt like he’d been hit by an asteroid.

Something shoved him onto his back and he looked up into dim, greenish lighting as the ugliest face he’d ever seen loomed over him.

He’d never seen a Greggan up close before, nor from this angle.  Or in person, ever, until they had kidnapped him from his home.

It had two sets of small, beady eyes, a wide maw filled with needle-like teeth, and ugly, bumpy skin.  There was no appreciable neck, its space suit going just under its lower jaw.

“He is alive, Captain, like I said!  We did not kill him.”

The barking of the Greggan above him spattered him with a fine mist of liquid that smelled like a rancid pond.  He coughed, covering his face and rolling onto his side.  As he tried to curl into a fetal ball, more hands grabbed him, pulling him to his feet.

The Greggan who had just sprayed him with spittle stepped forward.  “You see, Captain?  He is alive!”

The being the Greggan addressed was another of his kind, sitting on a large, raised chair.  It was covered in crude metal hooks, grafted poorly over its surface, from which hung dozens of objects that glittered and clinked into each other.

Trophies, he thought immediately.  The tokens of victory a pirate would see value in even beyond their practical use or trade value.

The Greggan seated upon the chair was over two meters tall, bigger and even more bulky than the others.  It regarded them with cold, pitiless eyes.

“Kill it,” it grunted.

White-hot terror flooded Kade’s mind, his body tensing, but the grip of the two Greggans holding him was far too powerful even for adrenaline to break.

The Greggan ahead of him let out a cry just before a gun fired, blasting greenish ichor across the room.  It fell, twitching and making a strangely cat-like meowling before several more shots silenced it.

Two drones began to drag the corpse away, and Kade waited for his death to be next.

“Bring him closer,” the big Captain said.

Kade was dragged closer to the being.  The smell of rancid water increased.

The Captain was far more disturbing up close.  Even without knowledge of Greggan biology, he could tell that it was scarred and unhealthy, a monstrosity of a creature.

Strips of skin had been gouged from the sides of its face, still dangling like paper.  Dark ichor had congealed in the wounds, glittering in the scant light.

The two sets of eyes on the Captain fixated on him.  The pupils were small, the greenish glow in the room making the paler parts of its eyes look the same sickly green.

The Captain’s lower teeth protruded, in some places even piercing through its upper lip, and between them dripped rivulets of a paler fluid.

Kade could not formulate words, wondering if his own death was nigh.

“You are a writer,” the Captain grunted, the translation of its language cruder than the last one, like it spoke a rare dialect.

“A . . . a writer?” Kade asked.

“Answer or be thrown to the Dark!” one of the guards holding him snapped, shaking him bodily.

“Y-yes!  I’m a writer!” he managed.

Why the hell did that matter?  He was not a good writer, he just wrote short stories that he posted on the colonynet, none of them were great art, he’d never even tried to do that-

“You will do,” the Captain gargled, making a gesture with its flipper-like appendage.

Kade felt the guards holding his arms let go, and he dropped like a rock, just barely catching himself before he smacked face-first into the deck.

Kade had no idea what was going on.  How would he do?  Did the man want some shitty fan-fiction?  He wasn’t sure what else he could offer.

Looking up, he saw that the room around them was large and circular.  The Command Center of a ship, he slowly realized.

A great amount of activity was taking place ahead of them, dozens of other Greggans hurrying around consoles, croaking and grunting to each other excitedly.

He heard the Captain bellow again, looking up to see that his throat had distended like a frog’s, producing a loud rumbling croak.  It made him shiver, but he had no idea the significance.

No one seemed to be paying any attention to him at this point, and he slowly brought himself up to a sitting position, pulling his knees up to his chest.  A Greggan passed by him, and he leaned away, but it did not even look at him.

Dark, had it just been a day since he’d skipped out on work to head to The Landing Strip for a drink?  He should have at least been writing, and he told himself he would when he was there, but he’d really just gone there to ogle the dancers.

Then the sirens warning of the pirate raid, and he’d run to the nearest shelter.

The wrong shelter.  When the pirates had broken in, they’d herded them all out with drones.  A few who tried to make some kind of stand were shot out of hand.  Or even those who just talked too much.

The pirates wanted obedience.  That was it.

After they’d brought them aboard the cargo shuttle, it had felt like hours before they’d lifted off, being brought into this ship.  The acceleration of liftoff had knocked a lot of them out, even killed one old woman.

He only vaguely recalled being dragged into a crowded cargo room with the others.  Mostly government officials, but then he’d passed out . . .

And then he’d woken up here, with the Captain.

The Greggans began to croak together towards the Captain, a strange chorus, their own throat sacks expanding.  The Captain stood, his backward-curved legs hefting his bulk up slowly, and he raised his arms.

“Open shutters,” he bellowed.

Kade did not understand the significance until the first crack appeared between the two great metal plates.

From the moment he saw the light that seeped through, he knew that he was seeing zerospace.

Fear made him look away, hiding his head.  Curiosity prompted him to look back.

He’d always heard that people went mad looking into zerospace.  Scientists said that there was nothing to see.  Stories told said that there were demons, monsters, spirits, the future or the past, or something even more confusing than all of those visible in it.

He’d seen the low-quality vids that purported to be the view.

But as he gazed for the first time into zerospace, he knew that none of the stories had been right.

His jaw opened, staring in rapt attention at the sight out beyond the windows.

He could not describe how it looked, or how it made him feel.  Words, for once in his life, felt impotent, their descriptive ability useless.  It was not like anything he had ever seen; the colors impossibly vivid, in tones he had never seen, shapes he had never thought could exist that seemed to fold and move and reform without moving, existing in planes and dimensions beyond the ones he had known his entire life.

No, they were not shapes, just . . .

Transcendence, he thought, as he felt stinging tears begin to flow down his face.

---

< Ep 10 Part 10 | Ep 10 Part 12 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“So Greggans are those frog guys, right?” Apollonia asked.

Two minutes ago Captain Brooks had sent out a message to the command officers – and her, apparently – stating that they have a very likely idea of the pirates’ species.

They were aliens she had heard of, but knew very little about.  They were big, ugly, and mean, if the crappy serials she’d watched were any indication.

Y’s image shifted, and he looked to her.  “I have heard the comparison of Greggans to frogs or toads, but I admit I do not see it.  I have heard them sometimes described as “Lophiiformoids”, and it is somewhat apt, though they lack the lure of Earthly anglerfish and do not live lives anything like those animals-“

“Show me?” Apollonia asked.

“Nor,” Y chided, “You are perfectly capable of searching up images yourself.”

“You’re just so much better at it,” she replied, smiling.  “I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an image of a real one.  In the shit I used to watch they were a hundred percent faked.  Sometimes in cartoons they’d even be kinda cute, like mudskippers or something.”

Y paused again.  “I find it curious how you know more obscure Earth animals better than more common ones,” he noted.  “But I shall indulge you.  These are official images of the Greggan species that I keep on-record.  We have a large amount of data on their biology, though not nearly as much as we do for member species of the Sapient Union-“

“Don’t a lot of them live in Union space, though?” Apollonia asked.  The images appeared, and she studied them.  They were slightly more prosaic than the ones she’d seen in her old shows; less monstrous and more plausible.  But they were much closer to the hideous monsters than the cute mudskippers.

“There are groups of them, yes, but they do not have any centralized government.  As such we can only negotiate with individual bands.  They have become a Present Species, but not a Member Species.  This means they have full rights as citizens, of course, and they gain special rights to help protect their culture, but they cannot engage in major diplomacy and are considered specific citizens of the species whose territory they have settled in.”

“Oh,” Apollonia said distractedly, flipping through the three-dimensional images more.  “Wait, why aren’t they united?  And why are there so many kinds?  Are these just like . . . races?  Sub-species?”

So far she’d seen what seemed to be half a dozen different forms, varying hugely in size and specific shape.  They looked related, but not the same species.

“Your first question is a historical one,” Y replied.  “You see, the Greggan homeworld was destroyed in a war with the Aeena.  All of their colonies followed.  Greggans, therefore, are a diaspora people without a world.”

“Dark!” Apollonia goggled.  “Why did the Aeena do that?”

“We are unsure,” Y admitted.  “The Greggans say that it was a purely xenophobic attack, while the Aeena claim that they were attacked first and acted defensively.  Given that the Aeena have tried to exterminate other species and had an extreme technological advantage, I am inclined to believe the Greggan version of events.”

“Why haven’t the survivors settled a new world?” she asked.

“One cause of the defeat of the Greggans was the internal contradictions within their society.  To understand that, it ties into answering your second question,” Y explained.   “You see, Greggans have an interesting mode of reproduction-“

“Ew, no, I don’t want to hear about frogfish sex!” Apollonia said quickly.

“Do not worry,” Y replied, sounding amused.  “It is all extremely Nor-friendly.  I am simply saying that the Greggans have three separate sexes . . .  Oh, you know what?  I have a file here that will be far quicker to read than to have me explain it!”

A link appeared, and Apollonia considered a moment before clicking it.

File: Greggan Biology and Culture 101

As she finished it, she heard Y speak.

“Ah, and there!  My paperwork is finished.  I am now off-duty.”

“Nice,” Apollonia replied, her voice dry as she closed the file.  “I’m still on-duty.  I think I’ll be on-duty until we catch the pirates.”  She paused.  “Does you being off mean you’ll be going?”

“Of course not,” Y replied.  “Speaking to you is not a duty, Nor.  I was, strictly speaking, goofing off by talking to you  while I was on-duty.  However, our conversation did not affect my ability to perform my duties, and I feel confident you will not tell on me.”

Apollonia thought for a second that one of the lights that represented an eye winked off for a second, and she blinked, unsure.

“I’d say let’s go do something,” she said, feeling a sudden loneliness.  “But I can’t even leave the damn bridge area.  It’s like I’m a prisoner.”

“You are simply on-duty,” Y replied earnestly.

“I’m just sitting here,” she replied, her voice surly, rubbing the side of her head.  It had felt like she’d been hearing some annoying hum ever since they’d arrived here.

“Which is, in fact, your duty.  Many people have more involved jobs, it is true, but yours is invaluable.  Cerebral Readers such as yourself seem to provide a passive defense against the Reality Break Shadow effects of Leviathans – and other tenkionic matter or krahteon radiation.”

“I know,” she replied.  “But don’t I get time off?”

“Not during this time, no.  You are on duty,” Y answered, again not meanly.

“I guess I’m at least raking in the cash,” she said, caught off-guard by the bitterness in her own words.

The image of him paused, his head tilting in a thoughtful way.

“From the perspective of many your position would appear a simple and easy one, Nor.  You do clock more time of labor than most, though it is simply by being.  But I know that this view of the ease of your life does not reflect the reality.  You are uneasy sitting and doing nothing; despite your self-deprecating jokes about your own laziness, in your home system every moment of your time was spent in a struggle to simply meet the basic needs of life.  It is told in not just your person but your very genes; your stress levels are constantly elevated, your cells and body ready to react to a sudden change and threat that is not going to materialize here.  Yet you cannot simply stop these things by knowing that.  You are fighting a battle you cannot stop, and it wears on you – physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

Apollonia’s heart was beating in her chest at Y’s words.  He had seen through her with ease, seen deeper into her than she had ever even put into thought.  Her hands shook slightly, and her mouth felt dry.  She was not sure what to say.

“But you do your duty despite that,” Y continued.  “And we are all grateful for it.  My central processor is actually not far from your location, which means you are keeping me safe with your presence.  I am being quite honest when I say; I am grateful for your protection.”

Apollonia looked down, feeling ashamed now of her tantrum.  The fact that Y was a hyper-intelligent AI always seemed just a cool part of him; but it was unnerving to see how he could read her so easily.

Yet she did feel better to think that he was grateful to her.  Maybe he was just lying, but she believed that he was being honest.  His gratitude meant it was a reciprocal street, not just . . . her being the AI’s pet monkey.

Yet some of her frustration remained.

“I am glad about that, Y, I really am.  I do want to help – you and the others.  Being seen as valuable instead of a dead weight is great, but . . . I just wish my helping was more than just sitting around.  Like I could do something actively, you know?”

Y was slow to respond.  “I understand.  That time will come, however.  You are still studying for your officer candidacy test, are you not?”

“Yeah,” she replied.  “I dunno how much I’m really learning.  Kiseleva stopped having me do that ball-chasing game and has me doing a mix of exercises and reading.  But honestly?  I think she views me as too weak to be of much use . . .”

“It is best to play to your strengths,” Y said.  “So if she has you studying, then I suspect she believes you will excel more in that regard than at the physical tasks.”

“I feel like I suck at this too, not gonna lie,” she admitted.  “But . . . like going back to what you said earlier, I have to wonder; when will I actually get better?  When will my body and cells or whatever say ‘oh wait, we don’t have to be hypervigilant all the time’?  When can I feel like I actually belong in a place that doesn’t hate me?”

The words came pouring out, against her better judgment.

Y was quiet for a few moments.  “I always attempt to be honest, Nor, but I admit; I do not know.  Sometimes what the human body learns it can never unlearn.  It is a spectacular machine of evolution, capable of adapting to new environments.  But once it has been dedicated along a path, it is not always so easy to change its course.”

“So, never,” she said.

“You will change with time.  I cannot say how; but you will always be Apollonia Nor,” Y said.  “Whatever you become, that is what you are.  The quest for self-improvement is an ancient human struggle; yet perhaps at times, the best step forward is acceptance of your own qualities.  To see those you cannot change for strengths or at least to accept them.  As much as I can cure, I cannot change people – nor would I want to.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 9 | Ep 10 Part 11 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

Cenz’s presentation appearing in Brooks’s HUD was a complex chart of chemicals and interactions that was hard to parse.

“I know that this may not be very clear, my apologies,” Cenz began.

Brooks wondered if his confusion had been showing.

“I can summarize the data, however,” Cenz continued.  “As you know, many carbon-based species use amino acids of some type; humans use only twenty, even though there are tens of thousands of possible permutations.  The colony’s food chemical storage contained base materials to build those proteins, in various stages of completion.  Yet our pirates did not take every kind of chemical available; they in fact avoided certain complete chemicals and took other incomplete portions.  When I saw this, I knew it could be a clue.

“Even though the process is very involved, I modeled what sorts of foods for known species could be made with the chemicals that were taken.  As a result, I feel that I can say that our pirates are Greggans.”

Brooks continued to look over the data, trying to parse it, though such in-depth biochemistry was somewhat beyond him.  He did see the patterns eventually, slowly seeing just what his science officer was explaining.

“You’re saying that what they stole was only useful for making food Greggans can eat?” Brooks ventured.

“That is correct, Captain!  Certain amino acids that humans use are indigestible or toxic to Greggans, and those chemicals were avoided.  If they had been, say, Dessei or Fesha, they would have stolen a slightly different assortment of chemicals.”

Cenz hesitated, the face on his screen turning thoughtful.  “Admittedly, the colony did not have every chemical that would be required to produce Greggan foodstuff.  However, even with those missing pieces I feel very confident that my conclusions are correct.”

Brooks continued to study the information, the clarity slowly coming through the complexity.

“So no other known species would take this same assortment?” Brooks asked.

“No, Captain.  Not unless they were intentionally attempting to fool us.  Which I doubt, as they had to use surface-lifting rockets to get these goods into orbit.  They paid dearly in resources for every kilogram they took.”

Brooks considered that.  “You’ve done good work, but this raises another question; with the thought of how much it cost them in resources and single-use boosters to steal this; why did they take the uranium?”

Brooks brought up a list of the goods stolen from the colony, skipping past the food chemicals to the end.  “Uranium is extremely dense, and has only specialized uses.  Why would they want it?”

He had an idea, to be honest.  But he was hoping that Cenz might have a different thought to allay his concerns.

“To be honest, Captain,” Cenz admitted.  “I can think of no likely reason except for weapons.”

Brooks contained the curse that came to his lips.  Fission weapons had only niche applications in most space warfare; a heavy payload would make a plasma ball only a few hundred kilometers across, which was miniscule in space.  Useful, at times, for intercepting groups of drones or missiles, but beyond that . . .

They were good at causing massive destruction on a planetary surface.  Like where colonies existed.

“They also took some equipment for refining that uranium,” Brooks noted.  “How good a weapon could they make?”

Cenz was quiet a moment, contemplating his answer.  “From the quality of equipment, they could achieve sufficient purity to create fission weapons.  However, unless they have further equipment, I do not think they could produce anything of an extremely high grade.  I expect weapons in a low megaton-range, rather than gigaton.  At least, if they are concerned with fitting the warhead into any kind of standard missile.”

“Still enough to wipe out a colony,” Brooks said.

Cenz did not seem to have words for that, and his electronic face shifted rapidly through a gamut of emotions.

Brooks pressed a button on his desk.  “Dr. Y,” he began.  “Prepare for the possibility of mass radiation poisoning and thermal radiation damage.”

Y’s reply was prompt.  “I quite understand, Captain.  I will make the preparations.”

Ending the call, Brooks looked back to Cenz.  “This may escalate, and quickly.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 8 | Ep 10 Part 10 >

Sorry for the lack of new art, I’ve been running non-stop and haven’t had time to make anything.

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“The computer system was not a complete loss,” Urle said.  “My deeper scans found some data that was salvageable in some of the backups, though I have to admit the damage here was bad.”

“Does the equipment show signs of tenkionic disruption?” Brooks asked.

“Negative.  We don’t see any signs of that sort of corruption, Captain,” Urle replied.

The image was still somewhat grainy from bad data rate, but stronger than the earlier one, Brooks could see.  Urle seemed distracted at times, and in the background behind him Brooks could see people moving by.

“Honestly, this looks more like a software attack than anything else.  I checked very carefully for signs of alteration in the hardware, which we’d expect if there was some kind of tenkionic attack.  But I didn’t find any.”

“A software attack,” Jaya repeated.  “Did the pirates upload some sort of virus to get the system to delete itself?”

“That would be my guess,” Urle said.  He paused a second, his head tilting as if he was looking at something beyond him.  “But I haven’t looked over the entire system.  It’s possible a deeper scan will find something novel – tenkionic matter is often unpredictable.”

“Still, it’s rather good to not see those signs,” Brooks said.  Jaya glanced at him but said nothing.

“What data were you able to retrieve?” he continued.

“A few more scans of the pirate ships as they came in, nothing too amazing.  It might help add to our understanding of their capabilities, though.  The juiciest thing I found was this, though it’s still not very exciting.”

A brief, damaged piece of video played.  It was a shaky view, as if recorded by an individual’s system as he hid and peered between buildings.

Two bulky humanoids were walking, heavy drones swarming above and around them.

The two walked slowly, their suits dark, appearing armored, and fully enclosing their bodies.

It was only seven seconds long before the view abruptly turned and fled.

“Someone was unlucky enough to be caught outside and got a look at some of the attackers.  It seems a few did come down to the surface, after all.”

“Maybe not unlucky,” Jaya said.  “Perhaps brave.”

“Perhaps so,” Urle replied.  “But the person who recorded it dumped their recent data to a server and hasn’t been seen since.  The colonists are fearing the worst.”

A person’s life for a few seconds of grainy footage, Brooks thought.

“We’ll get to analyzing this data, see if we can find something that cracks this open in there,” Brooks said.

“I sure hope so, Captain,” Urle replied.  “With your permission, I’d like to stay down here a few more hours and see what else I can do for the colony.”

“Granted,” Brooks said.  “Do what good you can.  I’ll get Sulp on preparing a few more drops of supplies in the meantime.”

---

As the call ended, Urle could see the group behind him preparing to move in.

The colonists had been eyeing him for several minutes, and it hadn’t taken complex behavioral analysis algorithms to see that they were both angry and prepared to take that anger out on him.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to face them.

“Can I help you?” he asked cordially to the group.

There were six of them, two women and four men.  A few looked less certain than others, but the stress signals poured off them.

“Now you ask,” one man spat.  Urle decided he was one of the leaders and turned slightly to face him better.

“I was on a call.  I’m ready to go help more, though,” Urle told the man.

“Where the hell were you when we were getting attacked?” one of the women said.  She was tall, her dark hair short like a spacer, her voice quavering slightly.

“You left us here to get massacred!” a man said, his emotions clearly roiled by the woman’s outburst.

Urle knew it was not, truly, an indictment against him, but against the policies the Union had put in place about these colonies.

Ever since Terris, colonization of new systems had been stopped and the newer colonies restricted in supplies.

No one had known what had caused the Leviathan to attack Terris.  But it had been a fast-growing colony near the fringe of settled space, and many found it easy to think that reckless expansionism had awoken a sleeping giant.

“I’m sorry you were left vulnerable,” Urle said calmly.  “It never should have happened.  But we’re here now, and-“

“You being here won’t bring back our families!” the woman said again, tears bursting from her eyes.

“Jeciza . . .” the other woman said, trying to comfort her.

“Why did it have to take an attack before you people would listen to us, huh?  We’ve been out here for seven years just asking for the assistance we were promised, stuck and helpless!”

Urle bit his lip against pointing out that they had been offered transport back into Union space; but that was almost certainly another sore point, given that many had taken that up and stripped these fringe colonies of population they desperately needed.

“We don’t know what the pirates have done with the captives,” Urle said, still calm but now with some firmness.  “Most likely they want to ransom them back.  And I promise you, we will do everything we can to help return them unharmed.”

But his words only seemed to raise more ire.

“Fuck you!” a man cried, flinging something at him.

Ducking it easily, Urle took a step back, adopting a defensive stance.  The last thing he wanted to do was fight these people, and yet-

“What can a fucking machine know about what we’re going through?” another man said.  “You traded in your fucking soul when you-“

Urle saw Addo step out, saw the weapon in her arms – but when she raised it, she only fired into the ground.

The sound made the mob jump.  Urle looked to her calmly.

“That’s enough,” the Chairwoman said.  “Gen, Hiyo – what the hell are you doing?  This man is here to help us and you’re blaming him for a policy beyond his control.”

“He’s one of them!” the leading man spat.  “We all know why they keep us weak, so we’re easy to control!  And with these attacks they’re only going to use it as an excuse to press down harder!”

Another man yelled.  “They probably did the attacks themselves to-“

“Quiet!” Addo yelled.  “Gen, Hiyo – that’s enough of your conspiracies.  Disperse, now!  I won’t listen to any more of this garbage, and I do not want to hear you’ve been harassing the other Union officers!”

One of the women, the one who had seemed unsure about this whole thing, took Hiyo’s arm, pulling him.  “Come on,” she hissed.  “Let’s go!”

The man glared at Urle a moment, then turned sharply, taking the woman’s hand as she left.

The rest of the group began to disperse, but Gen lingered the longest, looking between Urle and Addo.

“I can see whose side you’re on now,” he spat, finally turning and walking away.

“I’m very sorry that happened,” Addo said, approaching Urle and holstering her sidearm.

While she had broken up the situation, Urle thought, he did not really think she had solved it; her words and actions would only be fuel to the fire.

“Is that view widespread?” he asked.

“Somewhat.  I would not say it’s a majority of people, but just a few loudmouths,” Addo replied.

Despite her actions, Urle could tell she was wary of him still, but he did not know if it was because of her seeming distrust of transhumans or because she agreed on some level with that group.

“And where do you stand on it?” he asked.  It was very straightforward, but he was prepared to study her reaction more than her words.

She surprised him, though; “I am outspoken in being against those people,” she said.  “It’s why I was quick to take control after the previous leadership of the colony were taken by the pirates.”

“Wait,” Urle said.  “The kidnapped people were the rest of the leadership?”

“Yes,” she said.  “They were having a session when the pirates showed, so naturally they went into the same bunker.  There wasn’t time for anything else.”

The fact that they hadn’t mentioned this yet . . .  Urle found himself with a bad taste in his mouth.  “And you weren’t there?”

“No, I was not an elected official at that time,” she said.  “Yet I knew if I waited, people like Gen would take this as a chance to take control – and I have no idea what they would do.  They see traitors and spies everywhere.”

“Spies for the pirates?” Urle asked.

“No,” she replied.  “For the Union.”

Urle was quiet a moment, rocked.  “I had no idea things were this bad . . .”

“Like I said before,” Addo said.  “It was only a few people.  They’re just loud, and I fear potentially violent.  To be honest, since the Union has restricted shipments out here, we’ve been trading with independent merchants quite often.  They often bring their own mass culture and news.  Quite a few people listen – and take it seriously.”

So it was outside sources spreading these ideas, Urle thought.

He’d known there was resentment, but honestly – this was worse than he expected.

“I’d like to ask,” Addo continued.  “That you keep this off the record.”

He could detect a note of nervousness in her voice as she spoke.

“I don’t want these men getting detained or . . . harassed or anything like that,” she added, seeming to have steeled herself to say the words.

“I have to tell my Captain that the situation is getting serious here,” he said, speaking carefully.  “But I will not reveal anyone’s identities.  Is that all right?”

Addo did not look happy, but nodded.  “So long as it doesn’t come back on them, I suppose.”

“You still seem unhappy with me,” Urle added.

“Honestly?” she asked.  “When we saw your ship arrive . . . we were hoping for a full relief.  Dozens of pods of supplies and hundreds of engineers.”

She gestured towards the door and beyond.  “The help that you and Commander Cutter are giving is appreciated.  But in the face of what has become of our lives, it feels so, so small, Commander Urle.  I know you are doing what you can, but we feel more alone than ever.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 7 | Ep 10 Part 9 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“As you can see, Executive Commander, the pirates hit the colony hard.”

Urle took in the devastation of Presna colony grimly, the destruction so much worse than it had looked from orbit.

The damage was precise, almost surgical.  Every major routing junction for the power grid had been hit, utterly breaking the system.  It would take weeks to restore.

Other key equipment had been taken or destroyed that would set back even attempts to repair the power grid.  Heavy lifting machines disabled by cutting or fusing critical components, even key tools had been taken, and the raw materials to fabricate more.

On the one hand it seemed like it was designed to hurt, but many of those things taken would be just as invaluable to a nomadic pirate fleet as they would be to the colonists.

And their critical damage would, under most circumstances, keep the colony from being able to call for help in a timely fashion.  It had delayed the colonists, but a heroic effort by many of their own engineers had enabled them to cobble together enough equipment to make a distress call – likely sooner than the pirates expected.

That could prove critical, he thought, though the sheer level of technical skill shown in the attack worried him.

And nowhere did he see the sort of unprofessional acts of vandalism he’d expect from a buccaneer force.  There was no graffiti, no breaking or theft of personal property, and – aside from the people kidnapped, no one had been assaulted in any way.

“Take me to see the bunker they broke into,” Urle said.

Chairwoman Addo nodded and led him on.  “It’s a few blocks away, not far.”

As they strode through the colony, he saw Cutter leading his team of other Bicet engineers in helping the colonists in their work.  Heavy loader drones trundled after them.

Everywhere, the colonists were working without complaint.  It was cold here by human standards.  He did not feel it, but even the Bicet had donned downy bodysuits.

The colonists had to be hungry, too.  They’d been rationing their supplies, and only with the Craton‘s arrival would any be going to bed with a full stomach.

But none of the workers complained.  Men and women sang as they worked, an old song.

It is we who built these towers
We will build them up again
No more will we cower
With the dawn sun flies the wren

Addo stopped.  “I’ve got that full list of what was taken, if you’d like it now.”

“Yes, send it,” Urle said.

He began to peruse the file as they continued on.

A lot of foodstock chemicals – very specific ones, he noted.  He marked that as important.  Equipment, all of which seemed reasonable for pirates to take.  Nothing too concerning there.

But then he saw the uranium ore and refining equipment.

“You mine uranium here?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s one of our more valuable resources,” Addo told him.  “A large reason we decided to colonize this world.  The geology of it is rather interesting and resulted in a larger amount being near the surface than one would expect.”

The geology behind it was interesting, yes, but right now he could only focus on the details.

Quite a lot of what had been taken was already heavily refined.

Despite fusion being the most widely-used form of power generation in space, there were still a lot of niche uses for heavy elements.

Not least of all weapons.

“This is the secure bunker,” Addo said, stopping and pointing.

Urle put the list away to take a look.

The entrance was sunken and reinforced, but it looked as if heavy drilling lasers had been used to cut through it.

“They burned through a few laser drills trying to get in,” Addo said.  “Unfortunately, we did have to remove them, we didn’t want that kind of thing just laying around.  But if you want to inspect them we can get them out.”

“Was there anything unique about them?” Urle asked, still looking at the bunker.

“No.  They were all our equipment – and they left no DNA or anything behind on them, though even if they had left some traces the overheating would have destroyed it.”

“I’ll get Cutter to look at them later, it’s not a priority, then,” Urle said.

He stepped closer to the door, scanning with every sensor he had.  He extended several mechanical arms containing even more sensors, and in his rear-view cameras he saw Addo retract slightly.

Looking into the logs, he saw that there was very little incidence of transhumanism on Presna.  He did not know why, but it didn’t really matter.

“If my alterations disturb you, I assure you I won’t be here for long,” Urle told her, curious how she’d respond.

“I’m just not very used to them is all,” Addo replied, still seeming unnerved.  “I mean no offense.”

“None taken,” Urle said, though he wasn’t sure if she meant it.

Stepping down into the bunker, he swept his scanners all over.

Biological traces were prevalent in here, but outside – nothing.  Not even as much as there should be from dragging the inhabitants out.  Hell, there should be something from just the other colonists stepping in.

Stepping back out, he scanned in new ranges, finding a residue.

“They cleaned up a lot,” he noted.  “Even debrided the first few atoms of the surfaces here to remove any traces.”

He fell silent, and Addo finally spoke.  “But why do that?”

“They didn’t want us to know who they were,” Urle said.  “Trying to cover their tracks.  Which suggests that some of the actual pirates were down here.  If they’d left even a single skin flake or hair, we’d be able to sequence it . . .”

Withdrawing his sensors, he looked back up to Addo.  “Let me see your computer systems.  Maybe we can find something – anything left in there.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 6 | Ep 10 Part 8 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“We are in orbit above Presna II, Captain,” Ji-min Bin called.

The blue and green world loomed in their view, just rising above the centerline of the command deck.

Brooks was quiet a moment as he studied the world.

Presna was only 0.98 Earth’s mass, a little smaller and denser, which made the surface gravity just 1.04 times that of Earth.  A tiny difference.

The records indicated that the life on the planet was still simple; a single species of microscopic life similar to Earthly cyanobacteria grew across much of the world’s shallow, watery areas.

There were notably unique qualities, but physics were the same here as on Earth; and so under similar conditions, life itself was similar.

He wondered how, in billions of years it might look.  Would it get the chance, or would the presence of Presna colony forever alter the world’s evolutionary trajectory?

His officers were awaiting orders, though, and he put that thought aside.

“Deploy defense drones and send probes to check out the remains of the colony’s orbital defense systems – see if we can learn anything.”

“Captain,” Eboh called.  “We’re receiving a signal from the surface.  It is the Acting Chairwoman of the Presna Colony.”

“Put her through,” Brooks said.

A box appeared on the screen in front of them; an image of a woman in it.  The resolution was low, pixelated from the low data rate.

“Greetings Captain Brooks!” the woman said, her voice slightly fuzzy.  “We send greetings and thanks for your quick arrival.”

“We are glad to render what assistance we can,” Brooks told her.  “We have seven drop pods with emergency supplies ready to go, once we get landing coordinates from you.”

“We’ll send you that data, Captain,” the woman said, relief flooding her voice.  “It’s been a week since their attack and we still haven’t restored most of our power grid.  What the pirates didn’t steal they wrecked.”

“Presumably to keep you from calling for help in a timely fashion,” Urle said.

“We’ve got a lot of cold people,” the woman continued.  “Please prioritize thermal suits and power grid materials.  Long-term we’re going to need a lot more food production supplies; the pirates took most of our reserves of raw chemicals for algae farming.”

Cenz spoke.  “Madam Chairwoman, do you have a list of what specific chemicals you need?  We can begin synthesizing more of them immediately.”

“Of course, and our thanks again,” the woman said.

“I’d like to send down a team to assist with the engineering and also to view the damage personally,” Brooks said.  “If that is all right with you.”

“Yes, Captain, we’d appreciate a few more skilled hands down here.  I will make sure your officers get access to all the data we have, though I’m afraid we have very little in that regard.”

Brooks saw a pop-up in his HUD that the landing coordinates for the drop pods had been received.

“We will be sending the supplies presently,” Brooks told her.  “And we will speak again before the Craton departs the system.  Farewell for now.”

The transmission ended and Brooks turned.

“Urle, I’d like you to lead the surface party.  Get a good look around and determine how much of the colony’s damage was planned and just what they took.  I think that there may be clues in the specific chemical supplies they targeted.”

“I agree, Captain,” Cenz said.  “From the list the Chairwoman sent, it seems that they were very selective.”

“This all seems very well-organized,” Jaya noted.  “Most piracy is an act of desperation, not a well-conceived scheme.”

“I agree,” Brooks said.  “But for now all we can do is try and learn more.  Cutter, you will lead a team of engineers to go with you to aid the colony’s repair efforts.  The shuttle is getting prepped, so have them all ready to go in ten minutes.”

“Yes, Captain,” Urle replied, rising.

“Already selected preferred team,” Cutter hissed, scuttling from his seat after Urle.  “Contacting now.”

Apollonia started to rise as well, first excitedly, then hesitant.  “Captain Brooks, I’d like to go, too!”

Brooks looked at her, his expression slightly curious.  “Permission denied,” he told her.

Apollonia pulled a shocked face, still rising a moment before pausing.  “Really?  But I’ve never been on another planet before!  Besides Earth.  I just want to see one while I can!”

Jaya’s head turned, staring at her.

Apollonia suddenly felt her knees go weak.  She had just questioned the Captain’s order in front of the entire bridge crew.  She felt, imagined, that everyone was now looking at her judgmentally.

“We need you on the ship,” Brooks said calmly yet firmly.  There was a note of warning in his voice, not to question an order in that way again.

Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she sat back down.

Jaya turned back to her console, not saying a word.

“Begin releasing the drop pods,” Brooks ordered.  “And after that, we’ll see what we can do to leave this colony some defenses after we leave.  We don’t want to leave them vulnerable to another attack.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 5 | Ep 10 Part 7 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

The chrono said they were still three hours out from Presna.

A handful of the reports he’d asked for had come in, from Cutter and Cenz who had both said in so many words that they just did not have enough information yet to speculate who might be behind the piracy.

Which was about as much as he had expected.  They did not have enough information here, but he did not like going in blind.

It just seemed too easy.  He could imagine how some desperate spacers might view a single isolated attack as something they might get away with.  But these pirates were fools if they thought they could turn Sapient Union colonies into a hunting ground.

Certainly there were plenty of fools in the universe, but they had to know there would be a response, quickly, and that it would be hard.

So they were idiots or they did have something that made them this confident.  Both options added a lot of complications, because at least with the competent you could reasonably predict what they might do.

Looking to his console, he brought it up and started a search.

“Find all files related to the Star Hunter,” he said.

The computer brought up the files.  “Sort by those discussing the confirmed capabilities of the relic technology in his possession.”

The computer took a long time before displaying a list of files.

“Closest matches to request shown.”

Brooks perused the list, frowning.

These did not look like what he had asked for, but he scanned through them for the relevant information.

Yes, the Star Hunter had possessed some kind of relic technology, he’d won numerous victories, been able to move his ships in and out of zerospace more quickly than normal.

“But how much faster?” he asked.

“No data found.”

Brooks closed that file and checked the next.

“According to Dessei legends, the Star Hunter possessed relic technology . . .” Brooks mumbled, reading it.  “. . . which supposedly granted him unexplainable abilities.”

Taking a deep breath, he looked into the next file.

“. . . Popular culture has claimed a variety of abilities from the relic technology, including superhuman strength, the ability to survive in the vacuum, control quantum entanglement to allow himself to teleport, to control the minds of others . . . but there is no evidence that these are based in fact.”

Brooks sat back.  “So what is based in fact?” he asked the computer.

The computer was silent again for a long time.

“Computer, answer the question,” Brooks ordered.

“No answers found,” it told him.

“Nonsense,” he said.  “There have to be Union files on this.  Check classified files.”

“No answers found,” it repeated.

“Not found, or am I denied access?” Brooks asked.

The computer made an error sound, and that was answer enough.  It couldn’t even tell him . . . so he was denied access to the data.

But just because someone wanted to hide that data didn’t mean they could hide everything about their involvement.  He perused into the metadata of the ship’s archives – they were updated at regular intervals automatically, or when required for a mission.

He saw that the data had been altered when they’d gotten their orders.  He could not say if things had been added, removed, or just changed, but he looked at the access code of the data connections during the last update.

Most were normal; civilian channels, astronavigation channels, science channels, command channels . . .

Then there was the Research Bureau.

Looking into other categories that might fall under their purview, he saw no updates or changes.

So.  It was Director Freeman.

The man hated him and Brooks could entirely see why he’d involve himself in this.  Relic technology would come under his purview, and he’d have the power to share or deny access to data.

But why hide it?

The last time Brooks had thought the man had been acting out of simple spite, it had turned out to be for a far more pragmatic purpose.  As emotionally volatile as Freeman was, he was not a fool.

Now he had a lot more to think on.

---

< Ep 10 Part 4 | Ep 10 Part 6 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

“Captain,” Pirra said, saluting.  “Might I have a word?”

Most of the room had emptied, but Brooks saw Kai glance over.  She did not indicate anything on her face, and Brooks looked back to Pirra.

“Go ahead,” he said.

“Captain, I know that the story of the Star Hunter is viewed largely as legend,” she began.  “But I advise that you take the story seriously.”

Brooks was rather caught off-guard by Pirra’s words.  He knew that Dessei placed great emphasis on the Star Hunter legends, even teaching sweeping details of that war in their voidfleet academies.

But many of the stories they told were . . . fantastical to say the least.

“Which aspects do you mean specifically?” Brooks asked.

Pirra seemed to squirm slightly.

“I mean the elements that seem to defy physics and neo-physics, Captain.”

“Such as?”

Brooks was not so much trying to make his Lt. Commander uncomfortable, as to understand just what she was trying to tell him.

Her discomfort grew to a head, but she stopped fidgeting and met his eyes, speaking strongly.  “Such as the techniques he used in battles such as at Lahhua and Ghonno,” she said.  “Moving his fleet in ways that have been deemed . . . impossible.  Disappearing and reappearing.  The way his ship avoided all conventional attacks and his weapons were able to bypass normal defenses and strike vulnerable points even inside ships.”

Brooks was unsure what to say to that.

He had wondered if these were the sorts of things she had meant.  The stories were often told by spacers, embellished and enhanced over the thousands of years since the actual event.

They were not things that he took seriously.  Spacers also told stories of starmaids and black holes that somehow caused men to want to fly into them to be wrecked in their accretion disks.

“I cannot say I place much stock in those legends,” he told her.  “But I appreciate your candor, Lt. Commander.  However, I do not want you to overly-concern yourself with ancient stories.  We’ve encountered Leviathans and other forms of tenkionic matter that show strange properties we don’t fully understand.  In no case were they able to do the things that are attributed to the Star Hunter.”

“Sir,” Pirra insisted.  “This isn’t just about the Star Hunter’s relic technology potentially being tenkionic.  This is about real tactical scenarios we may face if these new pirates truly have their hands on a piece of relic technology!”

“Yes, I understand that,” Brooks said, his voice turning a little chilly.  “Notably, this is outside of your field of expertise, Lt. Commander.  Let me worry about ship actions, while you worry about preparing for a potential boarding action.”

In her large, alien eyes it was easy to see the defiance – even moreso in her crest that made it clear she was ready to argue this even harder.  But the warning look in his own eye made her quiet herself.

“Yes, sir,” she said neutrally.

Brooks nodded his chin for her to go, and she turned on her heel.

He felt as Apollonia moved closer.  Her presence was always noticeable when he paid attention, the strange aura that was almost but not quite discomforting.

“She seems real spooked,” Apollonia noted.

“Her people take the legend of the Star Hunter very seriously,” Brooks said.  “To them, it’s history, not just a story.”

“Yeah, like . . . literally.  I’ve seen a lot of pulp shit that has him in it, and from what I’ve learned he had so many lovers that I don’t know how he even had time to pirate anything,” Apollonia said.

“Don’t mock it,” Brooks chided.  “I had to draw a line, but Pirra is a valuable part of the crew.”

Apollonia seemed surprised by the rebuke.  “All right,” she said, her voice now as unhappily neutral as Pirra’s had been.  “But may I ask you some questions about something else that’s not a part of my assignment?”

“Go ahead,” Brooks said, gathering up a few things from a desk.  “And walk with me.”

She followed him towards the door.

“I’m just wondering why we’re going after these pirates.  I mean . . . the Craton is kind of a big deal, isn’t it?  We’re the only ship in our class-“

“There are other cratonic vessels,” Brooks corrected her.  “The Craton was only the first of them in the Union.  We have two sister ships and there are ten total cratonic vessels across the entire Sapient Union.”

“Still, ten?  Out of millions of ships capable of chasing pirates?  Surely we have more important things to do . . .”

“We’re protecting Union citizens,” Brooks replied.

“Yeah, and I’m not saying that’s not important.  But I’m just surprised it’s considered important enough to send us.”

“There’s a bit more to it than just hunting pirates,” Brooks admitted.  “Are you aware of the moratorium on colonization?”

Apollonia was not actually sure what moratorium meant.  “Remind me,” she said.

“Ever since Terris,” Brooks explained, and Apollonia wondered if he did not realize her ignorance, “the Union has stopped all colonization of new systems.  It’s not simply a cooling of policy, but officially we do not allow it.  One of the effects of this has been that colonies that had just been founded tend to feel rather exposed.  After all, they expected to soon be parts of a bustling area of space with many other colonized systems that would be growing together economically and in population.  With all the limitations, supply runs are likewise restricted to a degree, which makes their conditions even harder.”

“So . . .” Apollonia ventured, “This is about making them feel better?”

“More like acknowledged at all,” Brooks replied.  “Many have lodged complaints that they feel practically abandoned.  I can’t agree with that assessment-“

“Can’t like you’re not allowed to by higher-ups?” Apollonia asked.

Brooks laughed.  “No, I mean they are still being supplied and evacuation has always been on the table for them.  But they certainly have had their plans destroyed by these changes, and they’re not happy about it.  Sending the Craton shows that command is taking their safety very seriously.

“Beyond that, the possibility – however slight – that these pirates do have relic technology compels a strong reaction from us.  The Dessei and Sepht take these possibilities very seriously, and we are duty-bound to treat it with equal gravity.”

Apollonia thought about it.  “And what if they do have relic technology, and they really can do the crazy things that Pirra was worried about?  We’re a city as well as a ship,” she asked.

Brooks frowned.  “We all join this ship knowing her duties,” he told her.

Apollonia considered that seriously, her stomach squirming.

She didn’t like the feeling she had about all of this.

---

< Ep 10 Part 3 | Ep 10 Part 5 >

New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!

---

Captain’s Log:

Three colonies have been attacked by an unknown group of ships on the fringe of human-occupied space.

The Craton is being re-routed from a fleet exercise in the Chonus system to investigate and reassure other colonies in the region that they will be defended.

The identities of these pirates are still in question.  Their ships appear to be a mix of common cargo carriers modified with aftermarket weapons systems.  Information is still sparse, but command has little reason to believe they pose any serious threat to a ship of the Craton‘s capabilities.

If the pirates agree to that assessment, it is likely that they will avoid any engagement, and we will be chasing ghosts for the next few weeks until patrol frigates are able to reach the area to secure it more fully.

In the meantime, we will be making every attempt to learn the identity of these pirates, as no member of their crew has yet to be seen by a colonist or captured on data.

There are disquieting aspects to this all beyond the obvious, however.  The pirates have been able to evade the defenses of each colony they have approached, in ways we cannot fully explain yet.  As always, rumors are spreading; is there something more serious going on here?

I hope they are just simple pirates.  There’s always the possibility that this has to do with recent tensions with the Glorians or Fesha or even Hev – but already there are other ideas circulating, drawing parallels to ancient stories and relic technology.

It’s not uncommon for pirates to try and draw that mystique around themselves, and no matter how many times it proves untrue, the stories always rise.

Let’s hope for something mundane.

---

“What sensor data the colonies have captured suggests the pirates have between three and five vessels,” Brooks explained to the assembled group.

It was not simply his command staff present at his briefing, but also some of the under-commanders – as well as Apollonia Nor.

She looked as uncomfortable as he felt about her presence.  It was not that he minded someone who was more akin to a civilian than an officer being here, but the knowledge of what he might have to task her to do.

“However,” he continued, dragging his eyes across the whole room.  “The surviving readings are sketchy, and we suspect that the pirates have been modifying some of their ships between attacks to disguise their true numbers.”

He brought up an image of a large, bulky ship – it was no monster, being only a kilometer and a half long, but it was strongly built.

“This is the largest ship that has been sighted, and we believe it to be their flagship.  This one they do not bother to disguise, and we have given it the designation of PV-1.  It is simply a bulk carrier, a modified Evergreen-class hauler constructed by Holdur Conglomerate.  As you can see, it allows them a lot of cargo room, though some of that space carries weapons, we believe seventeen private military-grade fast-launch missile systems.”

“Do they have any confirmed point-defense cannons?” Jaya asked.

“We do not know,” Brooks replied.  “No colony has had a chance to test their defenses, but we will assume so.”

“Evergreen-class,” Ham sulp noted.  “I know that kind of ship well.  They’re pretty sturdy – I’d say pretty much designed for pirating work, their internal bracing really lets them fit in a lot of weapons systems.”

“True,” Cutter hissed.  “Advertisements for vessel hailed it as being a capable escort with modifications.”

“Union intelligence believes that Holdur frequently sells them to pirates,” Brooks confirmed.

“Um,” Apollonia spoke.  “Has anyone considered that this could this be some retaliation for what happened recently on Gohhi . . . ?”

Eyes went to her, and hers grew wider.  She shrank back a little.  “Just a thought,” she added.

“Not a bad one,” Brooks said.  “But this particular vessel has been out in the wild for some time.”

“I know in the initial reports from the colonies we didn’t have a good idea of what they’d been taking,” Urle said.  “Do we have a better idea now?”

“Yes,” Brooks confirmed, his eyes unfocusing as he looked into his HUD.  “We’re still waiting for the third colony to get us a list.  From the first two colonies they took a great deal of equipment, tech, and raw materials that were likely for the maintenance of their ships, as well as chemicals used for food production.”

He focused back on the assembly.  “Unfortunately, they also took hostages – fifty from the first and fifty-two from the second.”

“Have they made any demands?” Jaya asked.

“None yet,” Brooks said.  “There is a lot of apprehension about this, so we are not spreading word of it yet.”

“They’re kidnapping people?” Apollonia said, speaking up again.  “That’s crazy.  I mean, even just attacking Union colonies is crazy.  Don’t they expect retaliation . . . ?”

“I agree,” Jaya said.  “It is very rare for even our distant colonies to face piracy issues outside of single niche events.  They must know we will come for them.”

“That is a concern,” Brooks admitted.  “There is one more detail that we have learned just in the last hour that warrants serious consideration.  While the original copies were lost when the computers at each colony were corrupted, we were able to piece this together.”

A message began to play.  It was only audio, and the sound was strange – clearly an artificial voice that did not sound quite right.

“Colonial residents, you will surrender immediately.

Your defenses cannot stand against us.  We possess relic technology far beyond your understanding that will wave away any and all attempts to resist.  You cannot withstand it, and to try to do so will bring only death to you and your children.

Do not throw your lives away needlessly.  Move to your emergency bunkers and stay within them.  Any seen outside will be assumed defiant and shot.  Attempt no resistance, stay in your bunkers, and you will not be harmed.

So speaks the Dire and Feared Captain Tarsota.”

The voice ended.

A silence lingered, however.

“Do they really have relic technology?” Pirra finally asked.

“We do not know,” Brooks admitted.  “It is a common claim made by those trying to invoke some aspect of the legend of the Star Hunter, but usually it is just a claim.”

“The Star Hunter is not a legend, Captain,” Pirra said.  “The whole story is true.”

Brooks watched Pirra, listening, but did not reply.

Jaya spoke.  “Yet at each colony their computers were completely destroyed, and the colonies reported heavy corruption in them,” she said.  “That is consistent with the effects of tenkionic disruption on artificial intelligence.”

“All of these points have been made at Union headquarters,” Brooks said.  “Due to the seriousness of anything related to relic technology, this is no longer simply a humanity issue – the entire Union has been informed, and we are to take every precaution.”

He looked to Apollonia.  “This is why I’ve brought you in for this briefing, Ms. Nor.  Cerebral Readers can protect from krahteonic and tenkionic corruption to a degree.  For the duration of this mission, you will be staying in special quarters near the command deck.”

“Oh,” Apollonia said, looking once more on the spot.  “Wonderful,” she added, unsure what else she could say to that.

“What I want the rest of you to do,” he continued, “is to go over the data we have.  Build me scenarios of the likely capabilities of their ships, plans to knock them out, plans for boarding – any scenario we may encounter.  And try to figure out who or what they are – the name Tarsota sounds human, but we are not sure if the pirates actually are due to the strange sound qualities of the message, which we feel are not due to corruption.”

“It does sound like they’re trying to just pass themselves off as human, though,” Urle noted.

“Exactly.  If we can figure out who they are, we may have a better idea of what we may face.  Now, we are ten hours out from Presna colony.  I want your preliminary reports by then.  Dismissed.”

---

< Ep 10 Part 2 | Ep 10 Part 4 >