Faux Realm Ch. 10

Lucian awoke feeling refreshed.

Ericha's arms and legs held him in a loving embrace as they slept through the night. They spent the night away healing their aching bodies after they consumed the day in arduous training. Ericha for one even in her mid-30's still did not feel the need to rest, but every one of Lucian's muscles were screaming in pain.

He started staring at his wife and lover. She was so cute while she was on his chest drooling in her dreams. He smiled. Lucian bent his neck as much as he could and gave her a loving kiss. Ericha started to stir, but she did not wake.

He spent several divine moments caressing her flaming red hair while watching her beautiful face sleeping.

He carefully extracted himself from the bed. Currently they slept on board their new refurnished ship, on top of their new bed as he watched the sleeping faces of Liza and Lin. His sister apparently took a fancy to Liza and had a somewhat similar experience to his own. Working out made their untrained bodies brake down degrading their muscles and tendons in an effort of to rebuild them stronger for their bodies.

The ship was rebuilt to accommodate their new living space, two levels or decks for you science buffs, were available for their personal use. Medical was moved to first deck and hangar bays were made to accommodate their new plan for making money.

Registration went uneventful. While he was interrupted last time by people who needed his help, mainly Keeg and his family, this time he only had to name the ship and for whatever reason state its purpose. Star Republic law dictated that ship needed to have purpose when traversing the vast areas of space, otherwise patrols would classify it as a Pirate vessel and engage it without concern for what was inside. That alone made Lucian's fear heighten as he wondered what Pirates were truly like.

He was sure what he wanted to do, 'sail' the stars and explore every crevice it had to offer, as there was something romantic about sailing into the unknown. But for some reason you needed money, for food and fuel, trivial things that Lucian thought could do without, but further prompting from his wives told him that it was essential for their survival. He HAD to bend to their will and eventually, reluctantly, after much talking, they decided that the best course for them, as they were now, was to mine some precious materials, minerals, gems and whatnot and sell them for profit. Maybe some scavenging here and there, but for start they were going to roll up their sleeves and grab a pickaxe.

He needed to name the ship on the spot so he named it 'One For All'. Other ship names, much to Lucian's dismay, were taken. Names like 'The Wrecker', 'Humiliator' and 'Mine Catcher' were taken. Being the most logical solution at the time he was happy to see that everyone was on board with his naming scheme.

Everyone breathed a giant sigh of relief after they heard what other names he provided.

So currently 'One For All' was flying through space on their way to mine some precious gems from asteroid belts around a gas giant.

After asking around and with some help by the clerks, he managed to find a 'Task Wall' where various jobs were placed for those that needed work, as they were working either in their ships or around Grimova, the stations operations were certainly nothing like those on Earths. Gems were apparently in high demand due to its wide use. Weapons, medicine, and various other engineering projects.

Giant wide 12 foot 3D screen was standing out in the open while people flocked, picking whatever jobs interested them. Some races looked like they were botean, some came from much further away. Lucian thought, with a smile, that everyone was getting their fair share of work done in an attempt to provide for themselves or their families. He remembered Keeg was trying to do the same for his own.

He was standing on the bridge, he started to move his shoulders as they were aching from previous training; Lucian had to give the engineers credit as they did marvelous work on the interior of the old bridge, it still was the same old oval space with minor differences, in the middle of the room there was now a giant tri dimensional crystal screen that was surrounded by 5 consoles. He still had to wonder what some of them were doing for the ship. Captain's chair was now moved back almost to the wall as it provided undisturbed view around the room.

Lucian had to marvel how they changed the center of the attention from the captain's chair, to now their new strategic crystalline screen. As he was moving towards captain's chair, Lucian saw they even added a small staircase, for what reason they did that he did not know, but they made the new area look quite refined in its look.

Lucian sat on captain's chair, one of the rare occasions that he would get to relish in this position. He was highly reluctant to take away the captain's seat from Ericha who deserved it, in every way possible. Even just imagining it was something that he could not do, he thought about it long and hard, coming to this conclusion was pretty easy since there were many things he needed to learn about the 'world' around him.

Holding his warm cup between his fingers he observed the room in its entirety. Everything was visible from this view point, slightly raised from other positions, two clear doors on either side of the room were visible. One leading to their large bedroom, the previous captain's quarters were destroyed and in its place new ones was constructed. The office where he found the bits and pieces of other creatures was no more. Now only a distant and unpleasant memory. Making their bedroom much larger and accommodating a bed twice as large.

The other door led to the hallway and the rest of the ship, said hallway could be used as a buffer of sorts, as Ericha explained. In case of a breach and boarding parties. The room could be cordoned off and used as buffer before enemy could be repelled. Lucian had to think off long and hard about how this could be useful, but he had to see it action.

The warm coffee like drink was warming him up, he was still unsure what its name was, but he enjoyed the slight buzz that followed when he drank it. He sat viewing the map after he pushed few buttons on the chair's arm, that the engineers showed him, he used his memory to bring a 3D picture of surrounding systems, a map of the sector appeared, while they were moving in Underspace.

The drink was delicious. But the map took his worries away. For some reason it was therapeutic. He even might get some TV shows from his home if they were inclined to go in that direction, after all nothing is better than watching a good show while drinking your coffee. Or its substitute.

"Underspace, overspace. What was the name they told me?" Lucian silently said.

Expecting for someone to answer his question he waited with baited breath, but nothing happened. He was slightly concerned about several inconsistencies about the map since one or two systems were blacked out, there was a dark space where two of the systems were supposed to be, unsure what that was he made sure to take a mental note of the incident and report to Ericha when they talked.

Soon after the map returned to normal. Leaving Lucian wondering what that really was. A space anomaly? Maybe, he never saw one in the first place. After everything that has happened, the books he had read, he never once managed to start reading a guide on space.

An image of 'Hitchhikers Guide to space' appeared in front of his eyes, something he often remembered fondly. As Lucian grew up, his father sometime during that time introduced that book to him, it changed the outlook on what truly was funny.

Space is vast, Lucian did thought several times, whenever he would look at this map and zoom out he would feel more and more insignificant. No amount of comedic relief could replace the real dangers that lurked in its darkness. Leaving him uneasy about the possibilities that were creeping out there he managed to rest those thoughts away for another time.

"I thought that was MY seat." A voice said over his thoughts.

He smiled recognizing Ericha's voice, seeing her strutting from their bedroom his smile grew wider as he said, "Of course it is my love."

It took her few seconds to traverse the podium, but when she arrived, she planted a quick peck on the lips which reminded him where he was. He stood up, but she was faster, her hand already on his chest gently pushing him down. She tapped her fingers for several moments on her chin and then sat on his lap. She proceeded to slowly kiss him while rubbing her butt on his budding erection.

"I would LOVE to continue this, but I need to show you something." Lucian said.

Moving the sector map back to where he saw the anomaly, moments passed in silence while he found the picture he was worried about. Meanwhile the two systems in question remained undisturbed. There was nothing about them to say that they just went through some curious anomaly. He silently wondered if there were any people out there and if so, were they all right.

"So I was looking at the sector map. To pass the time." Lucian started saying.

"And these two systems, suddenly went black. I just wanted to know if that was normal." He was watching her expression.

He proceeded to point out the two related systems, one of them very close to their current location and the other just beyond the first one. They were moving towards the closer one using their Drive. The systems names were bunch of numbers which he understood, often barren systems, those that had no habitable planets were relegated to have bunch of numbers for easier distinction. Star Republic had curious rules regarding such methods. But apparently it was easier to separate those.

She rose walking slowly towards the 3D map, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, the dark spots were pretty different from other stuff on there." Lucian pointed out.

As the sector map was in 3D it was not detailed and colors weren't vivid. It showed where some of the colonies, Nav Markers and Remote Space stations were. Other than that it was up to ship's crew to gather more data for their map, and furthermore it alone could be used to trade and barter in some extreme situations. The map was precious. As it contained detailed information on where every ship went, what they did and what they encountered. The map was the ships' life.

The map was given to them by Luca with a message saying 'Fun travels', but as they took off to the stars to Lucian's dismay it was not complete, on which Ericha started laughing and explained the entire situation.

So, the map was precious commodity of the ship and this one was going to explore every nook of the galaxy.

Ericha spent several minutes probing and checking consoles, after which she turned to Lucian deep in thought. He walked up to her and asked, "Is everything all right?"

"I need to recheck my findings, but from this I think we're being followed." She had a dark expression on her face.

"How can you be sure?" Lucian asked.

"You found the first glitch. Or their unintentional blunder. They probably meant to cloak an area, but messed something up and started emitting while our sensors picked up on it." She said.

Considering his limited knowledge from movies and TV show's about clocking ships he asked, "I might sound stupid here, but can you elaborate more about the cloaking. I thought you could only make a ship vanish."

"You are absolutely right, but they probably used the wrong emitters and sent a subspace ping that, again, our sensors picked up. On two separate occasions no less. First here -" she pointed to the systems that was furthest away, "and again here." Now her hand and finger hovered over the closest system to their ship.

'One For All' was still making rounds through subspace. On their way to the relevant system. "They are probably using that cloaking system to set up traps." She said.

"To elaborate more on this cloaking technology, it uses enormous amounts of energy and is generally at its best when you're using it to shroud an important strategic point. A base or a large area." She explained.

"Can it be used to cloak ships?" Lucian asked.

She pondered for a moment, "I guess, but the ship would use enormous amounts of energy to maintain stable field. It would not be able to maintain a stable Drive."

"What should we do then? Prepare for combat?" Lucian asked, he was somewhat reluctant to test his new fighting skills.

"Yes." Was her answer.

She saw him looking at the map in fear, "Relax we have plenty of armament. The only thing we should fear is if they board us. Alarm everyone and prepare them for the worst." Ericha said.

As Lucian started walking to wake Liza and his sister he stopped and started wondering, "You said that the technology is using a lot of energy."

"No. I said enormous amounts of energy." She corrected.

"Right. Enormous. Who would have such capability to use it in a remote world that's not really important to Star Republic?" He questioned.

"After all we are just using it to traverse the space."

He moved to face Ericha, her mind was reeling at this information.

"I'm a nobody. I at least know that. I'm here on this ship that can travel vast distances that, well to be frank, my mind previously thought impossible."

"Saying that I can't imagine what would take to cloak an entire area or a base that, using your terms, uses a large amount of energy. I'm wondering if that was actually a blunder." He said.

His voice became grim, "Maybe this was an invitation." He simply stated.

She lost all color on her face. Ericha looked like she got punched in the face, "I haven't even thought about that possibility. What is wrong with me?"

"It's ok I was just speaking what's on my mind." Lucian tried to calm her down.

She shook her head, "No, you do not understand. We received reports about incidents where Pirates used this method. They would lure ships and destroy them or enslave their occupants."

She looked sad when recounting the grim nature of the attacks, "They would destroy everything, but they got greedy. And we found this pattern time and again on slaves that we rescued."

"Then there is your theory, what if we're actually being tracked." Lucian said.

"Yes, it was a theory. But your idea sounds much more plausible. And with our collected data we know they did this multiple times." She answered.

"Should we stop our progress?" Lucian asked.

"Hell no!" She yelled.

She grinned, "Now that you reminded me I know what can be done. This ship is as strong as they come."

"Go and wake Liza and Lin, I'll need to tell them about my, our, plan. If you do not mind go and warn our passengers. They need to know." Ericha said.

Lucian ran out the room and back into his, their shared bedroom. Entering he heard them sleeping and snoring. Moving closer he shook both women and with soft voice woke them from their sleep.

"What's wrong?" Liza rose and asked in worried tone.

She still had tense and aching muscles. Lucian could see that she moved slowly, careful not to jar the affected areas, "Ericha wants to talk to both of you. It's best if she explains. Love ya."

He ran out the bedroom and out on the other side of the bridge. He then managed to reach crew quarters in record time. Explaining everything to their passengers, Momoa, Tigga, Keeg and even his wife, whose name Lucian did not know, managed to offer their help while the kids sat quietly in their own room playing.

"Better keep the kids safe. Our rooms are safer for them. I'll take them there. You get weapons and prepare in case we get boarded." Lucian warned his friends.

Momoa rose his bulky frame. Towering over everyone. "Is everything all right?" He asked, clearly worried.

"Yeah we might have a problem, we're heading into a possible, no, and quite probable trap set by someone." Lucian said.

Four people worriedly looked at one another. "And why do we want to do that?" Momoa asked.

Lucian thought for few moments and figured honest is best policy in this moment, he told them about Erichas and his plan, making sure they understood the importance of such a task.

"I'm in as well." Momoa said.

Keeg, his wife and even Tigga were a bit reluctant, Lucian saw their reluctance and quietly said, "You are not obligated to do anything you do not want to, but you will defend yourself and this ship."

They quietly nodded. They were afraid, so Lucian tried to quiet their fears, "I'm afraid just as you are, but swallow that fear and focus on defending what's most important to your lives."

He managed to see the worried looks Keeg's wife was giving everyone, she was in a much better state than what he saw in front of the registration office. Now she looked alive. He knelt on his knew, "I'm Lucian, I forgot your name missus."

"I never said it." She had a defiant expression on her face.

After a while Lucian started fearing he might never hear it so he had to ask, "Mind telling me?"

"Emgi." Was her only answer.

"Nice to meet you Emgi. I hope we can provide some safe comfort for you and your family." Lucian extended his arm which she took.

He expressed his deepest desires. Lucian's hands then peeled off and he started to direct them on tasks what they are supposed to do.

"Listen as we approach closer we might get boarded. If we do I want you to go to bridge and lock every door behind you." He said.

"Ericha apparently has a plan." He explained.

Crew in front of him nodded. Everyone's feelings were in a mess. Not too long ago Momoa and Tigga were practically slaves not knowing their future. They were given back their freedom and tools to combat in case they were in that position again.

Keeg and Emgi looked different. From a meek, malnourished woman she almost transcended her old weak form and now was a completely different being.

Lucian left them to their planning. They became fast friends amongst four people; they seemed to just click together.

Lucian went back, smiling and giggling kids in tow. He just hoped everything would be all right.

While he left the kids in the room he smacked his forehead with his palm, "I forgot about that."

The women on the bridge worriedly stared at him watching him giggle while he took out his Pad.

***

Captain Yim Haell sat in his chair looking at the strategic placement of his troops on the map. Reluctantly agreeing to this old method of attracting moths to a flame, when in reality he wanted to tear that bastard with his bare hands.

"Cloaking device has been deployed." Amon said.

Yim interlaced his fingers, "What of their route?" He said.

"Unchanged, they should arrive in the system in 25 minutes at their current speed." His navigator said.

"Start loading our weapons." Yim barked another order.

His ship was bigger and better equipped than the one they were going against. It did not help that it was previously in his brothers hands, after all Yim gave it to him, managing to hold his temper, Yim started to grin at what awaited the tiny vessel. Yim's freighter class vessel was refurnished to be top notch battle ship. The tiny frigate did receive some upgrades, Yim saw to it, but only to their cargo holds. If filled to capacity it could easily hold up to 2000 people. And every inch of that space was used as they robed people of their goods and quite often themselves.

"This is going to be fun." Yim started smiling.

"Men. On this job we will have a little bit of fun." He opened his ships coms channels and broadcasted his words to his ship's 13 decks.

"Take whatever you want. Leave nothing unturned. As soon as their ship drops to Normal space we will start by hooking them in place, then boarding their vessel. Get your combat gear ready." He barked.