All That Glitters Ch. 11

"The vessel on your right is our base vessel XLP-11073, 'La Vierge'," he said to the chief.

"My French is rusty, but doesn't that mean 'The Virgin'," Sprawl asked.

"Yes. She is never meant to be sold. She is our research vessel. Well, one of two. The second vessel is a more recent upgrade and has the new FTL engine modifications that Dr. Aruna made for it. She is XLP-11074 'The Dutchman'.

"The Dutchman has just completed a circumnavigation of human space. With a radius of 150 light years, that means a trip of 942.48 light years. Fifty years ago, a navy ship did the same trip. That ship had a leap of thirty-two light years and had brand new Marilon generators. It took the ship 196.26 hours or just over eight days to make the trip.

"The Dutchman has a sixty light year leap capacity and has no issues with the need to rest every six or seven bounds. It took the Dutchman just shy of sixteen hours to make the same journey. She has just returned from the trip and is being examined now for any ill effects," Martin finished.

Sprawl was shocked. The strategic implications were immediately apparent to him.

"Damn. FAdm. Thenton needs to know about this!" He told the younger Pallanders.

"Is he not at Folden Naval Base?" Martin asked. Sprawl nodded to him. "Well that is only a forty-three light year leap from here," he confidently told the chief.

"Ya, straight through the Norane Nebula. Ships can't travel through there," the chief reminded Martin.

The Norane Nebula was an anomaly in space that didn't allow for the formation of a jump point creating a dead space in which ships were forced to travel at sub-light speeds. If a ship stopped in the nebula, it couldn't jump out unless it found neutral space in the nebula where a jump point could be formed. The nebula being roughly thirty-five light years across, that meant no ship could cross it safely. Meaning ships had to go around it adding to the length of travel.

"No...ships cannot stop in the nebula, but they can certainly travel through it," Martin returned. La Vierge can do a forty-five light year bound and The Dutchman can do sixty. We can do a straight line from here to the Karen system," he finished.

Martin spoke quickly to one of the workers then nodded to him.

"We will have to take La Vierge, as the Dutchman is still going through the post trip technical inspection," Martin said. He snapped his comp and spoke briefly into it in French so fast that Sprawl was unable to keep up.

"If we leave now, we can be back in time for supper. But you will have to come with to introduce us to the admiral," Martin said with a smile.

Hell ya, the Master Chief wanted to see the look on Thenton's face! He nodded to Martin.

Martin spoke quickly in French again into his comp and waited for a moment while things happened in the bay.

Just before they were ready to board, François Pallanders arrived. "My father is the better choice to join you on this trip as he can negotiate directly should the need arise," Martin said and left the bay with a handful of the techs.

David and François entered the ship and moved to the bridge. The ship's captain stepped aside and allowed Mr. Pallanders, who was a certified captain, to take the captain's chair. He took the Ex O's chair and the chief sat in a guest chair hastily fixed to the deck.

The ship came alive and imagery came up on the view screen showing the inside of the bay where workers were quickly leaving. Air was sucked from the bay, and the large bay doors opened.

The little ship lifted off and slid silently backwards out of the bay. She turned and headed 'up' out of the gravity well until she was clear. Sprawl listened as the Nav Tech worked out the plot for the jump. He sent the information to the captain's station. François looked at the plot data with the ship's captain and gave it a nod, forwarding it to the pilot. The pilot opened the FTL vanes and watched carefully as they moved outwards to full extension.

Green lights came up on his board and he put the image of the vanes up on a section of the view screen, confirming visually the status of the vanes as they locked into place. He then opened switches that engaged the FTL engines.

Power flowed into and through the FTL vanes and space around the little vessel began to warp. La Vierge snapped out of existence and reappeared a moment later, forty-three light years from where she had been now in high orbit above the planet Hanover, in the Karen system.

As the ship moved into the gravity well, she angled toward the Folden Naval Orbital Station.

"Comms, please contact the orbital base and request permission to use the Senior Officers Shuttle Port at The Citadel, we'll do the contact through the Master Chief," Pallanders instructed.

The Master Chief contacted the orbital station and asked for a link to FAdm Thenton's office.

"Office of the Sector Commander, Captain Fillertan speaking," said a bored voice a minute later.

"Captain, this is Master Chief David Sprawl," the chief started, and engaged his comp to push his ID through. "I'm on special assignment for the admiral and would like to speak to him for a moment if he is free," he finished.

"One moment, Master Chief," the reply came back, then shortly Thenton's voice was heard.

"Chief? Where the hell are you?" Thenton demanded with anger in his voice.

"Sir, the task you set me had some rather interesting surprises involved in it. I'm sitting in one not far from the orbital base.

"We are requesting the use of the Senior Officers Shuttle Port at Citadel in order for you to inspect our little surprise. Trust me, sir, this is one you will want to see," he finished.

"Alright, Master Chief. I've instructed Capt. Fillertan to arrange for that, how soon can you make planetfall?" he asked.

The pilot spoke up immediately. "We can be on the ground twenty-five minutes after they give us permission to land," he told them. The Chief passed on the information.

"Very good Master Chief, but your ass is on the line if this surprise doesn't turn my crank!" Thenton growled, then cut the connection.

A few minutes later, they received permission to descend and the pilot turned the vessel toward the plot line established by nav. As the vessel passed the orbital platform, something detached and followed in their wake.

"Combat Drop Shuttle has detached from the platform and is following us down," the Nav Tech reported. The pilot turned and smiled at the tech then prepared to ride the craft down to planetfall.

The vessel soon encountered the buffeting of the upper atmosphere, jumping a little as she grasped for lift in the ultra-thin air. The pilot engaged the wings and did a quick check of responses before the air became dense enough to affect their flight line. Everything was good.

The pilot let the vessel descend into the atmosphere until he detected lift and then suddenly flattened out the trajectory into a wide spiral. The little combat shuttle couldn't match the move and its gravity repulsors were showing red underneath her.

Most modern shuttles rode down to the surface using gravity repulsors to slow or halt their descent. Planets had many restrictions for entering their airspace, not all of them were the same and pilots had to have local knowledge or use landing port information data purchased from the local authority.

One of the restrictions that was consistent with almost all landing procedures on virtually all planets, was the need to mitigate the effects of sonic booms. Despite the growth in flight dynamics science over the last four hundred years, sonic booms were one of the things that could not be completely eradicated.

The effects of natural physics, sonic booms could only be stretched or distorted so much before natural law reclaimed itself from the distortions that science attempted to impose on it. As a direct result, vessels entering the atmosphere of any planet had to slow to a specific speed before being low enough in the atmosphere to allow for the sonic cone to touch ground allowing the sonic boom to be heard.

Shuttles did this by using repulsors to slow them by a specific point in their atmospheric flights, usually just before hitting the minimum limit of the overpressure wave, referred to as the N wave due to its characteristic shape, the minimal distance being the point just above where the wave could first impact the ground. Shuttles basically did a controlled fall until the computer, or an experienced pilot, kicked in the gravity repulsors.

A shuttle could brake higher in orbit, but doing so cost power, as the shuttle then had to ride the repulsors down to the ground using power all the way down.

The advantage La Vierge had was its wings and tail, it could fly similar to an aircraft in flight. While the wings did not give it much lift, the high speed of the vessel as it entered atmosphere more than made up for the smaller lift factor, giving the tiny ship an added bonus that shuttles, and even other planetfall capable space vessels, lacked. The ship would not have to use gravity repulsors until it was ready to land.

Because of her more controlled descent, her internal grav-plates were far better capable of keeping personnel comfortable on the ship. Pallanders had made good use of Dr. Aruna's modifications for the ship, but its use of old technology was what made the ship class so capable. All totalled, the ship was simply far more efficient in her use of power and distinctive capabilities than any other ship available.

La Vierge's pilot relented and tipped the vessel over into a steep dive, moving toward the shuttle. He did two, barrel rolls around the tiny vessel before allowing the ship to fall underneath the shuttle, returning to her previous steep descent pattern. He laughed and said something in French which brought out laughter from the bridge crew.

The chief looked to Mr. Pallanders. "He says the ship is fun to fly!"

The chief snorted a laugh in response. "Maybe for us, but those poor suckers in that combat shuttle are probably losing their lunches right now," he told François, who grinned evilly in return.

The pilot did a large loop-de-loop which brought the vessel back up above the shuttle, then came down over the shuttle once again. He rolled around the shuttle a few more times and then flattened out into a more comfortable spiral.

Comfortable for La Vierge, but the shuttle had to let go and descend to the Citadel, her anti-grav drives being designed principally to get her down onto and up off a planet but not to loiter in atmosphere. As the shuttle's power consumption climbed due to the pressures on her drives, she simply couldn't linger with La Vierge.

Pallanders snapped something to the pilot and the ship stabilized into a large, fixed spiral. The chief looked to François.

"I told him to keep to a predictable descent now that we have lost our escort. We don't need the Citadel to fire on us," he informed the chief with a smile. Sprawl heartily agreed.

A few minutes later, the vessel leveled out for landing at the Senior Officers Shuttle Port. The chief could see someone from the combat shuttle making their way toward the vessel, probably to give them a piece of his/her mind.

That was shortcut when FAdm. Thenton came up to the vessel almost immediately after the grounding pole touched the vessel to zap away the large built-up static charge from the hull.

The hatch was opened, and Master Chief David Sprawl stepped down onto Citadel and gave Thenton a snappy salute.

"Hello, boss," he said with a grin.

"Shit! Were you doing barrel rolls around the drop shuttle," Thenton sputtered.

"That's not the only surprise, sir. We came directly here, straight across the Norane Nebula. The ship has a forty-five light year leap capacity, and we've been less than an hour in flight," Sprawl said with a goofy grin.

"We also have a new generator they call a Marilon/Aruna generator. The ship is capable of making jumps every hour. You're going to want to meet François, the owner of Pallanders Shipyards. He has a lot to explain to you, sir," Sprawl finished.

François looked out from the hatch. "Good day, admiral. Would you like to come aboard?" he asked.

Thenton turned to his aide. "Capt. Fillertan, please get a hold of RAdm. Denst of Navy Procurement and tell her that her presence is requested and required by me, here. She needs to see this little ship." He then turned his eyes onto the Marine Lieutenant who had stormed up to the vessel and stopped abruptly at Thenton's arrival.

"You will wait for RAdm. Denst and give her a accurate description of what just occurred, is that clear?" The Lieutenant sagely nodded his head and snapped a salute to Thenton who then disappeared into the vessel.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Celia Corden, as she was once again known, stepped into Conference Room One and came up short at the people in the room. She recognized the Navy's JAG, Adm. James Hannison, and the Chief of Naval Intelligence, Adm. Rallond Heist, but it was the other two that brought her up short.

Sitting at the end of the table was none other than Director of Operations Liramor-23, Fiona Marsh, and her aide, Henadi Noor, two people she recognized immediately from the imagery she had been given, but the two women sitting at the table did not look anything like their recorded images, as they were dressed in the full navy regalia of a Commodore and Commander! If she needed anything more to assuage the doubt she held about Senator Andjuran, that sight was all that was required.

"Ah, Ms. Corden, as we have been dictated to call you," Adm. Heist began, "welcome to Liramor-23. I trust you are enjoying they view," he said with derision pointing out the plasteel windows.

The carcasses of the pirate ships were clearly visible in the view, dispelling any doubt in her mind about the stories of the Battle of Liramor-23. She could make out the flares of light indicating men with plasma torches cutting the vessels apart.

"Interesting office view, sir," she replied.

"Indeed, and not just for myself." Heist continued. "I only got here a little over two weeks ago and will be leaving soon to return to my real office on Terra. While I might like the view, the real owners of this office want those vessels to go away. Thus, the people out there working to dismantle our little pirate fleet," he finished.

"Now, as to why you are here." Heist said, sharpening the tone of his voice. "We understand that your original purpose is not what we want, but you can be of great use to Navy Intelligence, the JAG, IPPF Intelligence, the IPPF Anti-pirate Division, and Liramor-23, all in one shot. Does that sound like something that could be of interested to you Ms. Corden?" he finished.

"Very much, sir. That, and keeping my career moving ahead, versus dying at this time and place," she answered honestly. Heist nodded his approval.

"We understand that you gave a synopsis of previous operations you conducted for our erstwhile senator to the Liramor Prime IPPF Division Commander. I believe that she requested you to pass that information to this group as well?" Adm. Hannison asked her.

"Yes, sir," Corden replied. "Chief Superintendent Sanger requested that I fill you and Adm. Heist in with the details of those notes, as I remember them. She didn't think it prudent to request a transcript from Division Six, in case there was someone there who might note the request from Liramor Prime and become suspicious."

"Please proceed." Hannison ordered.

Corden briefed the group for thirty minutes, finishing with the orders she had received for her current efforts on Liramor-23.

"Well, that is interesting," Heist stated after the brief. "The people that you were gathering intelligence on are all people who have been working at one time or another with anti-pirate law enforcement. That Andjuran has a list with those names on it is not good news, nor the fact that your undercover work on these names was not forwarded by Division Six. That suggests a double agent in the works."

"But why is Andjuran interested in Cmdre. Marsh and Cdr. Noor?" Hannison asked.

"Several reasons probably," Heist generalized. "First, Fiona stopped the pirate attack and broke the fleet. His contacts probably aren't too happy about that. Second, his attitude when he arrived here and found a woman in charge is enlightening. Third, the presence of the aliens, and the future implications of such a presence. Last, the presence of Cdr. Noor, by his own admission, an apostate member of his own church."

"I am a free citizen of the Union now, sir, and a Commander in the navy," Cdr. Noor said immediately. "He cannot have me arrested anywhere but on Anuura, and even there, it would not be looked on with favor as most of the planet does not follow Andanii. The church only has a few million followers on a planet of four billion."

"But it is obvious by his orders, that he wants to make a statement of you, Henadi," Fiona chimed in. She turned to the JAG.

"Sir, your recommendations?" she asked of Adm. Hannison.

"We go ahead with the plan," Hannison stated. "Rallond, you have my support and the blessings of my office."

"Understood, James," Heist acknowledged. "Do you want to be kept apprised of the particulars?"

"No, I do not want anyone to say that our office had prior knowledge or be able to show possible conflict of interest should this come to a trail where the JAG gets involved. That we are aware of it on the periphery is all that I will allow. Handle it as a Naval Intelligence Operation in support of the IPPF Anti-pirate Division," Hannison stated flatly, then stood and left the room.

Heist signalled and a man in a brown jumpsuit that Corden hadn't seen on entering the room, stood up and approached the table.

"Ms. Corden, this is Fayad Ouihya, a Runner on this platform, and a member of the Church of Andanii. He was the runner who originally assisted Senator Andjuran and his team while they were on this platform. He has made an impression on the senator and we are going to make use of that by providing him with a ready-made spy on Liramor-23.

"You have three days to prep Fayad for his roll as he will return to Liramor Prime on the cargo vessel that brought you here. He will then take a shuttle to Terra for a well deserved 'vacation' in which he will hopefully make contact with Andjuran. We'll let the senator recruit our spy into his fold," Heist said with a smile.

"Holy shit, sir! Three fucking days to make a civilian a spy? My God, you don't really want me to save my career, do you, sir?" Corden responded.

"Normally, I would send you with him as his handler, Corden. But you are needed here to finish the task the senator set you," Heist told her with an evil smile.

Corden looked at the others in the room. There didn't seem to be any sympathy for her in any of those faces, even Fayad's!

Pallanders Estates, Liramor Prime, Liramor System

"My God, François, you'll turn me into a fat bureaucrat if we keep this up," RAdm. Mary Denst, Chief of Naval Procurement for Sector Forty-Two said with a sweet smile on her lips as she swirled the glass of pleasant tasting after diner wine she was savouring. Diner had been excellent, the wines delicious, and the information that François had given her worth the trip to Liramor Prime.

But it was the method of that trip that had her convinced that FAdm Thenton was onto something when he asked her to return on La Vierge to Liramor Prime. The fact that the ship had the leap capacity to jump from one side of the Norane Nebula to the other and then make planetfall. The entire trip had taken just over an hour! That was unheard of speed!

François had taken her on an inspection of the Pallanders Orbital Platform and all the new tech that was coming out of Dr. Aruna's lab at Larimore Holdings. The new M/A generators, improved FTL engines, improved sub-light engines, improved pulse generators for the pulse cannon, improved electrical generation drawn from the new M/A generators, and more.