All That Glitters Ch. 16

"Fifty millimeter rounds will do some serious damage if concentrated, and the fire control systems will allow you to do that. Her fire control is fed off the ship's external sensors, making this little turret quite formidable," François finished.

"Congratulations Fiona," he said, giving her a small bow.

"Well, shit!" Thenton growled. "How come I never get a first?" he asked testily to chuckles from the other admirals.

Classrooms, Mike Level, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Professor Zilina Smeldt was looking over the classroom space that had been allocated to her. It was her first time ever off Terra, and here she was over 100 light years from earth on a mining platform.

She, and the other tutors, had just finished a week of intense safety and emergency certification training necessary to live on an active mining platform. Not that she was likely to need what she had learned, however, if the professors had failed their certification, they would have been shipped back to Malton University. Safety was a serious byword on Liramor-23.

Fiona Marsh had wanted twelve tutors, she had gotten eight. Most of the professors who had made the trip were romantics at heart, and the adventure of living on a mining platform in the depths of space was the kind of adventure they were looking for. But, the reality of living on a space station was not the romantic adventure many had thought.

Their quarters were spartan in comparison to what they had back at Malton University. There was no water for showers, just sonic showers. The 'shops' on the platform contained basic needs, and very little else. If you wanted something, you had to pay to get it shipped in. One trick the miners had already taught them was to have someone purchase your shopping and ship it to you through the mail. Much cheaper, though it took a little longer as mail runs from Liramor Prime were only conducted once a month.

The food, conversely, was quite good. There were several gyms but of course, no pool. Despite the ability to fabricate a lot of their basic requirements, water was relatively scarce on the platform and, despite knowing better, she didn't want to think about just how 'fresh' the water actually was.

The one thing she did not lack, was students. That had surprised her until she learned that one of the greatest threats to miners was boredom. There was little to do on the platform but work, eat, and sleep. Now that they had a functioning campus to Malton University, the miners were taking advantage of it. It helped with the boredom. The miners had even made up a sign: Liramor-23 Campus, Malton University.

Zilina would be giving her first lectures at BA level this afternoon and repeating it during 'evening' hours for those who were currently on shift. However, her biggest duty would be as a guide for dissertations at all levels. She was actually looking forward to that.

Interplanetary News Services HQ, Terra

Capt. Sema Langen, commanding Special Operations Group Three, IPPF, and Special Agent Marcel Stevens, her computer specialist, had arrived at Interplanetary News for a special meeting. She had originally planned to brush off the request, but something in the wording made her decide to attend.

She was ushered into a small room with several people working computers and several others she recognized as senior officials of Interplanetary News.

There was Jack Mannen, a senior producer, Heidi Herkströter, Director in charge of Criminal News Stories and someone Sema knew well, James Pwrel, Director in charge of Politics, Anne Divin, Director in charge of Computer Stories, and two others she recognized as senior management, but didn't immediately recall the names.

"Capt. Langen, welcome to Interplanetary News Service HQ. I'm Jack Mannen, Senior Producer for this station, and all of Terra. We asked you to come because we have a hit on a story that will likely be involving IPPF, and we though you'd like to be in on it earlier rather than later," Jack finished.

"That's very kind of you, Jack," Sema responded. "So, what is the subject of this story?"

"Inevitably, it is about Senator Wasim Andjuran," Jack informed her, "but it is what he has been up to that you should be made aware of.

"We have a source that has indicated to us that Andjuran has more than a passing interest in the criminal underworld. The source is implicating that Andjuran has links to several criminal syndicates, including interplanetary pirate syndicates.

"Here's the kicker, according to our source, a previous senator was passing special shipping information to the pirate syndicate and setting a rather large retirement fund up for himself. Apparently, Andjuran discovered this, killed the senator, and stole his nest egg which became the initial source of Andjuran's wealth while in the Senate.

"He took over supplying information to the pirate syndicate, increasing the yield significantly, and as a result increased his own hidden bank accounts. By the way, we have a line on some of those bank accounts and can trace transactions from them. They are, however, numbered accounts, and we cannot directly verify that Andjuran owns them. However, more evidence is coming our way. Banking laws as they are, the IPPF should be able to determine ownership of those accounts.

"Our inquiries have indicated that our senator is a very bad boy who gets what he wants through intimidation, bribery, and blackmail and has been doing business in this fashion for many years starting back on his lovely home planet of Anuura.

"For the chief cleric of the prominent Church of Andanii on Anuura, our man has broken virtually every rule in the holy book of his church, and of other churches as well.

"Do you know who Fiona Marsh is?" Jack asked Sema, apparently out of the blue.

"Yes, I've seen the news clips. She's the hero of the Battle of Liramor-23." Sema admitted.

"Correct," Jack returned. "It seems that Andjuran has taken a personal disliking to the woman, and her aide-de-camp, one Henadi Noor, a former member of the Church of Andanii, whom he has declared Apostate, meaning she has become a target of the church.

"We believe that Andjuran asked the pirates to attack Liramor-23, but the platform stumbled onto a pirate stakeout that in turn led them to when the pirates would attack. They set up to be ready for them and destroyed fourteen vessels with only a few injuries to workers on Liramor-23. A stunning victory, which may have put Andjuran's life on the line with the pirates. That's why he hates Ms. Marsh.

"A little over a day ago, there was an assassination attempt on Fiona Marsh and Henadi Noor on Liramor Prime, only it wasn't Henadi Noor, but another aide that the assassins tried to hit, not knowing. There is apparently a C150,000 contract out on both Ms. Marsh and Ms. Noor.

"Marsh and Noor are close friends with Annette Liramor, prominent member of the Liramor Holdings, and Liea Samson, business partner to Raymond Clark. Those two always have serious security around them so, when the attempt took place in a dance club, one of the assassins was killed. The assassins were using Tilanate."

"Gods, that stuff just never wants to go away!" Sema commented.

"So it would seem," Jack admitted. "The personal security forces of Liea Samson and Annette Liramor, interrogated the assassins and found out they had been hired through the Dark Web, so we decided to look for ourselves here on Terra."

"We found that the same contract exists here," Anne Divin stated, taking over the brief, "and likely on other worlds too. We are checking into that.

"What's more, there are a number of other contracts that you might want to be aware of. They include members of the IPPF." And here she pulled up several names include Jane Higgins, Director of Division Six, Sema's own name, and a few others including two previous names that were used by Carolyn Justine.

"At first, it appeared that the offers had come from off-world to be placed on the Dark Web, but we found that is for appearance. The URL indicated it came from Hollander's World, but when we looked at the IP address, the server was local. The original IP address is fixed to the URL, no matter how many times it circles the web. All non-Terran URL's are uploaded into the WWW via one of two servers dedicated to the Interplanetary Web Matrix Display. They should be the IP addresses fixed to all extraplanetary URLs. A good computer geek might be able to modify a URL, but you cannot change the original IP address.

These messages were in fact contracts made here on Terra. They come from an account registered to the Church of Andanii. Guess who has access to that account?

"Then we looked into the funding of the offer. It took us around the globe several times, but came back right here in our own backyard, to a bank account of certain little known church. Want to guess which one?" Ms. Divin asked Sema.

"This is what you would call a circular argument," Jack stepped in. "It only makes sense when it gets back to the beginning and goes round once more. In this case the beginning, and the end, are tied to one person.

"We have no absolute proof of this, only innuendo and suspicion. However, one name keeps popping up all the time and links to the Church of Andanii keep dropping in as well. We are working to clarify if both are directly involved. So far, the answer is yes.

"From what we can tell, if a Chief Cleric leaves the home planet for any length of time, he must give up the title of Chief Cleric. However, our senator does not seem to have done that. He appears to be running the church from Terra. At least, church fiscal and banking here on Terra. Lots of money, but there is only one little catch. There is only one temple to Andanii on Terra, the one willed to the church by the late Mr. Johal. That temple was originally built for himself, but he freely opened the temple to people staying at the nearby Denders Resort, a popular resort destination to vacationers from Anuura, to come and pray.

"There are perhaps a couple of dozen permanent or semi-permanent residents of Terra that are known to be members of the Church of Andanii. Then there are the occasional guests. That is too small a population base for the funds that the church's banking holds. The question becomes, where is the money coming from?

"Side note, the little temple is absolutely beautiful. Johal gave the opportunity to one former member of the church to make contrition for past behavior. That person apparently put their soul into the temple and turned it into what it now is. Want to guess who that person was?" Jack asked her rhetorically. "Right, non-other than Henadi Noor. I don't think Andjuran knows that, or if he does, he is ignoring that act of contrition," Jack finished.

"Talk about coming full circle," Agent Stevens noted.

"Damn, it's such a small universe," Sema conceded.

Malihan Shuttle Port, Green's World, Harn System, Twenty Light Years from Terra

Heyya sat reading in the lounge as she waited to be called for her shuttle. Her eyes were still red from the crying she had done that morning as she said her final good-byes to her friends Sean Murphy, Ayesha Seito, and Anaya.

Now, all cried out, she sat quietly wondering what her future would bring and where she would be going after her Liramor-23 contract ended.

A very good looking woman who was vaguely familiar entered the lounge and then walked toward her.

"Dr. Heyya?" she asked.

"I am," Heyya confirmed as she stood, still thrilled to be recognized as 'doctor'.

"I am Annette Liramor, Director of Operations for Liramor Holdings. I happened to be on Green's World on business so was asked to pick you up.

"Oh, that's why you are familiar," Heyya said with a smile. "You took Sean and I to Liramor Prime from Liramor-23, although I only got to meet you briefly."

"Congratulations on achieving your medical degree," Annette replied, shaking her hand. "I was surprised when they said your name, not sure if it was the same person or not," Annette admitted.

"Is this your kit?" Annette asked of the one jump bag Heyya carried.

"Yes, being on a mining platform, you learn to pack light," Heyya smiled. "So, are we going back on Liramor One?" she asked.

"Oh, no," Annette grinned, "I have a new ship now."

They walked around the port to an exit and Annette guided them out to a strange looking ship sitting on its landing struts.

"Meet 'The Princess'," Annette said with the heartfelt smile of a new mother for her baby.

Heyya grinned at her and then took a moment to look at the little ship. It was small, maybe twenty meters in length. She had four sub-light engines aft that seemed almost to be an add on to the otherwise streamlined ship.

She was sleek for a space vessel, with two wings and a vertical tail. The hatch in front was open and a costumes agent was waiting for them. He checked Heyya's bag, stamped their passports, and wished them a good day.

They moved to the second level to the VIP multi-room. Heyya was impressed. Despite her small size, there was plenty of room inside. They strapped in and waited for clearance to lift.

"How long to Liramor Prime?" Heyya asked of Annette.

"Oh, we're not going to Liramor Prime," Annette told her with a smile. "The Princess is a very capable ship, and we are going direct to Liramor-23."

"Direct?" Heyya asked confused. "How long will that take?"

"Green's World is at a tangent to the Piscium system from Terra, so the direct line of sight is 116 light years," Annette explained. "It will take us two jumps with a one hour layover between jumps."

"You haven't been following the news?" Annette asked seeing the look of shock on Heyya's face.

"Studying for the boards and then doing internship doesn't leave a lot of time to watch the news or entertainment channels," Heyya admitted.

"Oh, you're in for a treat!" Annette said as she called up some of the latest articles for Heyya to see.

The Valour, Test Circuit, Liramor System

Abigail Moore, captain of The Valour, was slowly bringing the ship up to speed. She sat in the captain's chair on the captain's balcony, slightly above the Ops well. On each side of her was one empty chair designated for the owner and her aide-de-camp. They were currently in the VIP multi-function room with all the other captains from the Piscium Defence Force, watching via the holo-monitor so as not to impede the The Valour's captain.

The ship was currently at fifty percent light and quickly moving through her test runs.

"Pilot?" she asked of her subordinate.

"Ma'am, we have a lot more power then we used to," Hans deRuedon told her with a smile playing over his lips. "The ship is accelerating at maybe forty percent better than she did before. We're going to max out the sub-light engines and still have power to spare."

"Bring us up slowly in five percent increments until we hit light torque. Let me know when we hit each increment," Abigail ordered.

"Aye, ma'am," he acknowledged and called out each increment as he eased the thrusters forward. The ship slipped through the numbers smoothly until they hit eight-five percent light. They got a little rumble through the hull. "Now at eighty-five percent light," he told the captain. "We have just experienced a mild light torque effect."

As sub-light vessels approached the speed of light, they went through a shift often referred to as 'light torque', where the build up of forces against acceleration meant the ship had to suddenly and significantly increase the amount of power it was using to continue accelerating. The closer the ship got to light speed, the more significant the light torque became. This sometimes manifested itself in a push back against the vessel, which was often felt as a 'rumble' through the ships hull.

"Acknowledged," Abigail remarked. "How significant is the torque response, pilot?" she asked.

"It's always been smoother in this vessel, ma'am. We still have fifty-five percent power available. Shit, with that much power, we might be able to crack 'C' without using the FTL drive," the pilot said, referring to the universal constant or light speed.

"Nav Tech?" the captain asked.

"Nothing major ma'am. We are running far smoother than before the upgrade. Our top speed before was eighty-eight percent light, Nav comp says we can easily exceed that," he told her with a big grin.

"ChEng, can you confirm this is light torque and not engine harmonics?" Abigail asked of her Chief Engineer through the ship's internal comms.

"Not engine harmonics, Captain, this is definitely light torque," the ChEng came back from the engine room.

"Very well, give us another five percent speed, Pilot," Abigail ordered.

"Ma'am, I'm showing my speed at ninety percent C, ma'am, no significant increase in torque pushback," the Pilot informed her.

"Let it run there for three minutes before we increase another five percent," a cautious captain informed them.

They ran for the allocated three minutes and the pilot pushed the ship a little harder, gaining another five percent light.

"Ninety-five percent light, ma'am. We have a little more resistance but nothing beyond our capabilities to control. We still have thirty percent power reserves available," he told her with a touch of awe in his voice.

"Let her run again, but this time for five minutes. I want to see what kind of strain we put on the hull and engines," Abigail ordered.

After five minutes, the Pilot checked his engines. "We are still within normal engine temperatures, ma'am," he told his boss. "Shall we take her up a little?"

"ChEng, your comments?" she asked.

"We're looking good, Captain. We can push her some more," the ChEng returned.

"Push her, Hans," Abigail ordered.

The pilot pushed the accelerator forward and the ship responded to the extra power.

"Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine percent light, we still have twenty percent power available. Shall we push her to the stops, boss?" he asked of the captain.

"Let's see what she will do, Hans," the captain acknowledged.

Hans pushed the accelerator all the way forward and the little ship jumped into another gear. The ship smoothly transitioned through light.

"We have come through C, boss, and are still accelerating. We are now at C.10, with fifteen percent power to maximum draw," he told the boss.

"Acceleration is smooth, but slower above C," the Nav tech told her.

"C.20 and accelerating," Hans informed her.

"ChEng, how do the systems look from your point of view?" Abigail asked.

"The engines are warm but not approaching the max temperatures. We can probably keep accelerating until we run out of extra power," the ChEng replied.

"C.24, we are still accelerating, but at a much, much slower speed," the Pilot informed her. "We might be able to hit C.30 but getting there will take another ten to fifteen or more minutes."

"Good enough," Abigail conceded. "Let's see if we can open the FTL vanes at this speed."

Hans activated the switches controlling the FTL vanes and flipped them open. The vanes opened smoothly despite the speed.

"We are showing no extra strain on the vanes running above C, in fact, we show less strain than between ninety-five and ninety-nine percent light," Hans informed the bridge, and all the curious throughout the ship.

"Nav, is the comp giving you solutions at this speed?" the captain asked.

"Aye, ma'am. I have the base solution for a five year leap set, the comp is smoothly updating as we go," he informed the captain, sending it to her station for confirmation.

Abigail was surprised to find the Nav solution was fairly basic despite the speed.