Astra Pt. 01

She chuckled, "The core is fueled by hydrogen. We are currently orbiting Jupiter and have filled 9 of 12 storage tanks. Tanks 1-6 will make you rich. Those contain Metallic Hydrogen. You also should have 1 of helium when it finishes. The others will be hydrogen."

He smiled, "I have to build it without your aid in order to be able to sell this technology?"

She nodded, "Correct. Highly unlikely but that is correct."

He asked, "Can I get some clothes now?"

She laughed and grabbed him a sporty looking charcoal grey uniform. He went to the computer and looked at the ship schematics, "220 meters long, 160 meters wide on the engine pylon. An elongated oval with three engines on each half of the oval. The docking port is on the bottom of the ship?"

She nodded, "Because of how wide the ship is. Gravity can be shut off in the cargo bay if needed to alleviate the moving of cargo issues. An isolation sleeve will extend from the docking ring to the cargo holds. The cargo holds also have exterior doors that can be opened for larger cargo. Just so you know, reading the manuals for the engineering equipment you need is recommended and does not count for assistance.

The reason they did that was if you are going to invent something, then you should know how you invented it. That power core is not destined to come out for another 84 years, but it is older than the ones you were using. Garadine Systems (GS) did not make this core so it is not one you would have worked on in your era.

The company that built it released this core and was purchased by GS shortly thereafter. It never had any market share due to the cost. They never released the core for production beyond a couple of prototypes. They never capitalized upon the technology. It was deemed cost prohibited according to the official board meeting notes.

In actuality, we know it was because it would not break down often enough to need parts. Hence why it was chosen for this project. Reliable and something you have no exposure to make the challenge a true challenge. You could become the new inventor. Most of the technology is state of the art for the time period you came from with a few exceptions.

Armors, weapons, sensors, and shields. Those are all 29th-century technology. Medical faculties are all state of the art into the 30th-century in order to keep you and your ladies in the best of health. Most of these systems, if any, you could not create without my assistance.

They are set to be repaired by an automation unit when needed as the materials you would need to create them do not exist in this era and any supplies of those are stored outside of areas safe for humans. Attempts to enter those areas will force me to cause the ship to self-destruct. They are appropriately marked as sealed and restricted areas."

He smiled, "What about the hull plating?"

She giggled at him and smiled, "That is special. The inner hull that was built is a titanium-based alloy built in the early 28th century. It is the strongest Titanium alloy known to man. It is twice as strong as the armor on your former destroyer or any ship of this era.

Again, you do not have the material to exactly replace it. I could also mention the formula for the metal as well but the elements needed are not found in this Solar system. You can replace it with an inferior metal if needed. The outer hull is a different story.

The outer hull is a living space organism that is covering our ship. It is 5 times stronger than the plating underneath. If, as we suspect with the DNA modification, you gain Psionic telepathy. Then you can speak with the alien. A psionic got the creature known as Meltora to agree to cover the ship.

It lives on the space particles and the emissions put out from the ship. If it takes too much damage it will leave. Those particles can even pass through our hard shields. Command hopes that by the time the Tau Ceti mission comes about the lead colony ship could be covered when Metltora divides, they are asexual and fragmentation is how they reproduce."

He shook his head, "You expect I will become psionic and what are hard shields? What is this about my hand, it looks normal?"

She smiled, "You have two sets of shields but only one type of shield can be active at a time. You have hard shields that block in both directions and is very durable. I will not go into the science behind them for obvious reasons and they are 29th-century technology. You obviously cannot fire through those but it makes it more resilient and will let you simply plow through small meteors or asteroids without slowing.

They are on by default to prevent boarding actions. Then you have your standard shield Revision 184. They are running on Revision 12 at best during this era on the newest battleships. Revision 36 existed on your Destroyer. Revisions number reflects the overall strength of the technology. Your shields were just over 3 times more effective than shields of this era.

Shields on this ship are 18 times more effective than shields in this era. This ship's shuttle's shields are revision 32 by comparison and it does not have hard shields. Something you could work with without my assistance. Weapons are on a similar scale based upon effectiveness vs the shields.

Weapons of this era are revision 10 to 15 and can put a hurt-on shield of this era, dropping them in just a few shots. Weapons on this ship are significantly more powerful than what you worked on during your era while comparable to weapons you have worked with previously.

You could damage or destroy any human ship of this era currently. Especially larger vs small ships because of the power consumption. The deck is stacked against you completing the engineering challenge without me or the blueprints."

Jack laughed, "No faith in me?"

She shook her head, "It took teams of humans years to do each revision. Often forgoing idea choices for less optimal solutions. In the 30th century, automated researchers broke that mold and revisions flowed freely and quickly with the fall of Terra. Things humans could not do as a collective. Let alone as an individual. Not in human nature."

Jack nodded, "I will just have to prove you wrong. Constantly!"

She shrugged, "The Drakor are psionic beings. You have a Drakor hand attached and Drakor DNA has infused into your system. If you peeled off the dermis from the top of your hand you would see your true hand.

That bracelet you are wearing will fix the dermis and has a tracker embedded. Something they want me to spread is your DNA. It is highly possible you have gained psionic abilities. Would you like to test that theory on psionics?"

He chuckled, "I never heard of these Drakor. How do we test that? I will look at my hand later if this 'test' works."

Astra walked to the lift which activated automatically. She went up to deck 3. Jack followed and looked at the simplicity of this lift system. The lift consisted of 2 separate bands wide enough for 2-3 people with a handle.

They were spaced out far enough for the next person or persons to grab the next one. While the second lift rotated down. Both appeared to be on some type of conveyor belt system that activated when someone approaches the lift. A middle access tube that could be used was sealed.

That was a 'no gravity area' with rungs on the wall for people to propel themselves up or down. Reserved for emergencies or maintenance as there was just the one tube, based upon the sign on the hatch.

She took Jack to the armory and opened a drawer. Inside were two black cylinders. Rounded on one end and flat at the other. Each was roughly 32 centimeters long. The inscriptions on each of them were different and foreign.

"We at first thought these were laser sword like the ones we used but without the metal conductor blade. We were wrong." She activated a viewscreen showing two opponents fighting with a sword. The human went up to block a shot headed for his neck. The humanoid in black came down on the blade. The blue-colored sword blade passed through the block and yet was solid enough to decapitate the human.

She looked at him, "They wear a personal hard shield belt we suspect. We have not been able to activate one, reproduce it in any fashion, and it is not on this ship. The belt allowed for the hands to exist outside of the hard shield or because of their psionic abilities, they can pass through the shields.

The face is we do not know for certain. They have been a devastating opponent. These two are part of only a handful of their weapons we have managed to capture. One is a red blade, while the other is a blue blade. The blue blade we suspect is used by their high guard or royal guards, we are not sure which.

Red blades are used by the charge in and kill them types. Hold your right hand above the two blades and think of which of the two blades that best describes you and try to pull it to your hand. This is how the ritual was described to us by an Orlian trader who had witnessed the ritual. Yes, that is telekinesis as well."

Jack reached down and pulled back the dermis from the top of his hand. What he saw shocked the hell out of him. The skin was an underlying translucent black. The limb did not seem to have ordinary veins or nerves. They all appeared to run and extend through the bone if you could call it that. Exiting into a hand that was more cartilage than bones through the wrist.

It bent, shaped, and grasped as his old hand would. He could feel it and for some reason it accepted him. The hand was alive or sentient, he was sure of it. Jack did not know how to prove it. He held his hand above the two weapons and focused on the hand instead of the weapon to have it grasp a psi-sword appropriate to him.

For several minutes nothing happened and then they saw movement from both blades. The just wiggled at first. Jack tried to pour all his will into his hand and the two blades crashed together and became one. He strained under the load as he felt it drawing the will from him. He crashed to his knees. Then the two cylinders went and rested back in the drawer after separating. He worked to catch his breath. He then reached in and grabbed the first one and thought about the sword. The sword activated and it was a dark violet light.

Astra gasped, as he deactivated and tried the other and it showed the same. The inscriptions or the blades were identical. They translated into, 'The Even Hands of Justice.' He believed he understood the purpose behind the ritual now. Jack looked at her, "The red is for aggression and the blue is for defense and guarding. I do both in equal measure. From my sword training to my martial arts. A balance. I would be rare among them if any existed."

Astra stepped back a few steps as the violet light that permeated Jack's eyes dimmed down and disappeared, even upon the mechanical eye.

She stared at him, "Your eyes projected a purple glow to them."

Jack nodded, "It did not adversely affect my vision from what I could tell. The lights still looked the same. I guess we got our answer. The blades returned some of the energy they used to me."

The skin regenerator sprayed on a new layer of dermis over the section he had taken off.

*I am Meltora and I sensed your presence. You are young and have great potential. You could lead a much longer life than you expect. That would depend on how much you give of yourself to the Drakor. Unusual for you to be psionic at this stage. This is a good sign. *

Jack thought back, *Nice to meet you Meltora. What can you tell me of the Drakor and why must I give them anything? Why is this unusual? *

Meltora chuckled in my mind, *It runs through your system and consumed a hand already. They are an ancient race and not all of them are born. Some of them start off as you do. Coming from another race. Some remain hybrids and live for centuries. You are already on that course.

But you have not made a choice yet which is why the psionics now is interesting. They are not evil per se. They are often misunderstood; they have their way of doing things and they are not very flexible in dealing with outsiders.

If you can approach them mentally, as equals, then they might be open and accept you or kill you if you do it wrong. You are weakening and will need to rest. Your selection of a weapon was a wonder to feel.

A unique experience for me to reflect upon. I feel we will have an interesting time together. You can speak to me later when you have recovered. At your leisure. I will be here listening to everything and everyone on board. I can only speak with those who have psionic talent. Though I can read the minds of those in proximity. Surface thoughts generally, my species only get invasive if we find there is a true greater purpose to it.*

He picked up the first one and hung it from his belt, "I would like a pistol as well, access to engineering manuals for all of the tools in the engineering bay. Have them set to display in my quarters. Move the second to medical for now. I may want to analyze it more."

Astra nodded, "Deck 2, Forward. The door at the end. I will return to the Power core room on deck 7 aft, is the upper section of engineering." Jack went up while Astra went down.

---

Astra delivered the sword to deck 4 and then went to deck 7. She opened the maintenance hatch and floated up 2 decks, her sensors detected an abnormality on the way down. A pair of unmarked hatches. She entered her access code and went inside. She closed the hatch and looked around. "Why do we have a hidden deck?"

She walked over and found a particle collider taking up the aft section of the ship. The two power cores that would connect to it had been removed. A message popped up and she saw the image of a man in a captain's uniform. To her eyes, she could tell it was a mal-bot and likely her superior. She had no memory of him.

He nodded to her, "We are not communicating to you through time. This was a contingency message. Do not show Jack this level. Let him discover it on his own and in his own time. He could do wondrous things with the equipment on this deck if he chooses to embrace it. Else incredibly destructive things.

There was no record of Jack Travus in 2433. It does not say if he got in with a colony ship headed for Tau Ceti or not. Anything he does with these tools he may do with as he wishes.

We will see what he can do when the time arrives and see if it changes humanity's future. Your programming is set to help him avoid potential pitfalls. You have your orders. Proceed no further on this level, until Jack questions you about it."

She bowed to the message and then remembered it was a recording. She walked back out and closed the hatch. She traveled back to deck 7. This ship has 9 decks instead of 8 and the blueprints were wrong.

---

Jack went to his room and went to sleep. He heard a happy melodic toon in his head and realized it must have come from Meltora. He woke up several hours later starving. He called out, "Astra can you hear me?"

She replied, "I do not typically monitor the Captains Quarters. As I thought you might have questions, I left it open."

Jack sighed and nodded, "Where can I get some food on this ship?"

She chuckled, "I forgot about your dietary requirements. The seat in front of the window lifts and you can find packages of standard rations. They are from my era but are not a threat to this era. You have an officers Mess and Galley over to your left when you leave your cabin.

It can be a meeting room with displays all around. It has a table to seat 26 comfortably at a time and a full-size kitchen with a substantial pantry. Deck 3 is all crew or passenger space. It has two Mess areas connected to one large Galley. The pantry is enormous. Same for deck 5 only smaller. The problem you have is you have not hired a cook or stocked any pantries. Enjoy your standard ration."

Jack walked over and lifted it up and saw stacks of foil packed rations. He grabbed one and closed the lid. He then grabbed a glass of water from a dispenser as he apparently had no coffee either. He begrudgingly sat at the table and opened the package. He could only laugh. "This is your standard ration? A pair of Pink Snowball cakes?"

Astra laughed back at him, "Yes, over the years when they found they could not get people to stop eating junk food they incorporated healthy supplements into the food. For example, those Snowball cakes have a creamy center that has been packed with vitamins, healthy protein, and minerals.

You get your daily allotment of them from just one package, let alone 3 during the day you will have to consume to maintain your weight. Do not eat more than one package at a time. Else I will send you straight to the gym. Core Computer Doctor's orders Captain."

He shook his head and ate the coconut covered confectionary. He chuckled between bites and thought, 'It tasted good and was healthy for you. Wow, what the future holds.'

He heard in his mind from Meltora, *The future holds death. That is why I agreed to go on this mission. Question everything and double-check anything you are given or told. See what they fail to say or show you. *

He pulled up the view screen and reviewed all the tools available to him and how to operate them. Some were similar to what he had used before, a few were nice new toys. He loved this Series 5604 Internal Scanner. He moved on to the diagram of the ship to locate everything. He noticed something was off. He checked each section and everything looked right.

That was until he looked at the total height of the ship. Then he looked at the diagrams of the ship examining the width of the hull on each deck. The external dimensions did not match the internal. He smiled to himself, "There is a hidden area on this ship. I think it is time to go and explore."

He grabbed a quick shower and his morning wood was out. He went to grab hold and he got shocked. He sighed, "Damn it."

He activated the shower and it was a blistering sonic show. Felt like it ripped the skin right off him. When it stopped, he saw his right hand fully exposed for the first time. He grabbed it with his left hand and got a warm feeling. A wanting feeling.

Like the hand and arm wanted to tell him something. He exited the shower and dried off and sat on the toilet with his hand in his lap on top of a towel. He looked at the arm. "Are you wanting to change me? I won't move you wiggle your thumb if you do." A few seconds later the thumb wiggled.

He asked, "All of me or parts of me? Will my abilities get more powerful because of it? If part of me wiggle your pinky. If all of me make a fist. If more powerful scratch your palm with your fingers." The hand made all 3 jesters. "Make a fist if you are trying to say all of me or part of me is my choice. This the choice Meltora mentioned?"

The hand immediately clenched into a fist. He looked at the hand, "If I encounter one of the Drakor are you going to protect me if it comes to violence or are you loyal to the Drakor? Make a fist if you would serve me first in any encounter." The hand paused and then quickly made a fist.

He sighed, "I will consider it. I need to find a better way for us to communicate. Do you have a method? Make a fist if you do." The hand went into a fist and held it tight. He purposefully opened his hand and looked at it, "I will think on this more first."

He got up, dressed, and pressed the crystal for the dermal regenerator. It covered his hand in new skin and he armed himself. He walked towards the lifts and opened the access panel between them. Being an engineer, he knew these kinds of shafts did not hide things well.

He looked at the lid and it was marked with a number 2 on it. Jack floated up just to deck this area and only found panel 1. He floated down panel after panel until he got to deck '6.' The panels had no number. This should have been 1 of the 2 largest decks on the original schematics. He knew this deck was significantly larger because of what was missing on the blueprints.