A Galaxy Unknown 10: Azula Carver (33 page)

"It takes time to rebuild a knowledgeable staff with people you can trust."

"You're not kidding. Want a job?"

Christa grinned and said, "Sorry, I have more than enough on my plate right now. So how goes the vetting and hiring work?"

"I've only filled three minister positions so far. My intelligence people always seem to find some reason for recommending I reject candidates I thought would work out. Mostly it's because of business dealings with off-worlders."

"If you ever need me to run a check on some off-worlder, I can ask SCI to look through their files and see if they have reputed ties to a certain large crime organization we both know of."

"Thanks, but I wish it was that simple. The usual claim is that the individual is suspected of taking a bribe or bribes from legitimate companies trying to gain a foothold in Dakistee commercial and industrial circles. It might be as innocent as 'buying' an introduction, but it's not allowed for any government official to profit from such an act, and I have to pass on anyone who has done it."

"I see."

"Anything new on the sterility work being performed by the GA labs?"

"Nothing new. They continue to work on it though. It has the highest priority."

"I keep hoping to hear good news every day. I'm afraid that if you don't find a cure, I won't be reelected. And I still have so much I want to do for my people and my planet."

"Your people love and respect you. They understand the cure isn't going to be developed overnight. Your own people worked on it for decades before the scientists passed away from old age and there was no one to replace them."

"But I promised them I'd find a cure. That's why I was so willing to deal with TGP. I know you and your sisters have special healing powers because of what the Raiders did to your sister Jenetta. I thought we needed the science only they had developed. I really never believed you would survive after you were shot that time."

"No one was more surprised than me, but I'm happy the doctors were able to pull me through. Uh, Madu, there is one thing you could do to improve your chances of success."

"No, don't say it. I refuse to work with the Nordakians."

"You can be so pig-headed," Christa said, her voice showing her frustration.

"What's that?"

"An Earth expression. A pig was a domesticated farm animal people used to eat for food when it matured. Animal rights activists eventually succeeded in having laws passed to protect them from slaughter. I understand it's almost impossible to even see a pig anymore, except in a very few zoos. It's kind of funny, actually. The animal rights activists protected the pig by ensuring that the species has become almost extinct. Billions were never born and never had a chance to experience an existence, even if it was a short one."

"And you think I'm a pig? Or have a head like pig?"

"No, not at all," Christa said with a chuckle. "It's just an expression that means— stubborn."

"Okay, I can live with that. I
am
stubborn at times. I'm also occasionally unyielding and uncompromising."

"The latter two are not good qualities in a politician but can be wonderful qualities in a friend. And I prefer to use the term—dependable. I'm glad to call you my friend, Madu. I just wish, for the sake of your countrymen, you'd relent on the matter of the Nordakians."

~     ~     ~

Since the technology had already been developed, modifying a CPS-14 to perform as the targeting ship in a pairing with an SDB wasn't a difficult task. The small ship wouldn't carry bombs itself, except as a supply of replacements for its companion SDB. It could carry up to eight of the half-sized cargo containers beneath its hull, but two would always be used for its own defensive and offensive weapons.

In tests with dummy bombs, the CPS-14 worked as well as the lead SDB it would replace. Once the computer was properly calibrated and linked to the SDB with the bombs, every dropped bomb landed within fifteen meters of its target location. It had previously been decided that this accuracy was more than adequate to destroy any Denubbewa warship or mothership.

Initially, the CPS-14— now designated as a CPS-15— would travel alongside its SDB mate. But eventually all SDBs would have a cradle beneath their hull and the CPS-15 would have a new access hatch installed in the sail area of the ship. The CPS-15 crew could remain aboard the SDB until an enemy ship was sighted.

When enough CPS-15s were available, the SDB fleet would effectively be doubled. Searching all of a GA region spanning millions of cubic light-years of space for ships even the size of the Denubbewa motherships was a challenge, so having twice as many bombing teams looking for Denubbewa and being able to destroy them when found might give Space Command the edge it needed to combat the threat from outside GA borders.

Delighted with the results of the SDB bomb tests, the AB immediately issued orders to produce as many CPS-15s as possible, as quickly as possible. All CPS-14s presently attached to the Second Fleet would be modified with the targeting software and link hardware so they could function as targeting ships.

~ October 21
^st
, 2289 ~

It took weeks for Space Command to tow the three incomplete Denubbewa motherships to the Crondezzo system and park them near a frozen planet on the edge of the system where they would be held firmly in the grip of its gravity. Scientists and engineers anxious to get their first real look at an intact mothership had been camped out in the Hayworth, a troop transport ship, counting the days until the convoy arrived. The open hulls had already arrived at the foundry at Lorense-Six and were being recycled and used for the construction of new Space Command ships. The pieces of the destroyed mothership had also been towed to Lorense-Six. Engineers would check it for bodies before adding it to the scrap pile that eventually found its way into a blast furnace.

The first task for the waiting engineers was to prepare a survey of the mothership. They would precisely map every deck to the best of their abilities, with bots following closely behind, creating video images of every meter of the surveyed areas to assist scientists developing theories about the possible purposes of the various sections and equipment. Each day the scientists would collect to review the latest imagery and survey diagrams, and argue about the supposed functions of the equipment. They were anxious to get their hands on the actual equipment but wouldn't be allowed into any section of the mothership until the initial survey of that section was complete.

During the survey work, engineers discovered that the ships were divided into ten self-sustaining sections. Each section had its own fusion reactor for providing power and life support. They also discovered that construction in eight of the sections in the ship that was most complete had reached a point where they could be sealed. So a decision was made to fire up one of the fusion reactors to see if they could establish an atmosphere inside the section. Having gravity and atmo would help the analysis work progress at a much faster pace.

The best engineers spent several days studying the reactor and its control systems before attempting anything. When they felt they understood the systems and the flows, they decided the time had come to attempt a start. To the surprise and delight of everyone, the reactor fired up on the first try. It took awhile and a lot of minute adjustments to get it functioning smoothly at the level they desired because the controls were so different from what they were used to, but eventually it was humming along like fusion reactors everywhere.

While the laws of physics were the same everywhere— for the most part— computers consoles, control systems, and device interfaces were as different among alien cultures as physiology. The section chosen to have power and life support first was selected because the functions of that section seemed to be the most innocuous. Of course, since nobody really knew what they were doing, it was impossible to determine what was innocuous with any degree of certainty. But they felt they had to start somewhere. Only the most knowledgeable and cautious of the scientists were given positions of leadership among the various teams, but that didn't stop mistakes from being made.

One of the more serious of the early mistakes occurred when a brilliant, eager-beaver scientist named Ernest Grassdokker— who would never be considered for a leadership position because of his disdain for adhering to proper safety protocols— engaged a console he believed controlled overhead lighting in a hold, only to have the hold seal and start to depressurize, endangering the eighteen scientists and engineers present. Fortunately, his comrades were able to reverse the process before anyone died. After that, everyone was required to carry an emergency face mask with a rebreather cartridge at all times.

Despite the unavoidable blunders, the investigation teams began to assemble valuable information and see patterns in the way the Denubbewa technology worked, was used, and, most importantly, how it was controlled.

~     ~     ~

"Your Grace, a ship is entering orbit," Captain Pwuhvasqu said when Jenetta picked up the phone. "So far they've failed to identify themselves. How would you like us to proceed?"

"Space Command or the Nordakian Home Guard would have notified us before they even entered orbit, so it's most likely either a refugee ship or a trader unfamiliar with our protocols. I'm betting on the refugee ship possibility. We've been expecting the tsunami of ships headed this way to begin arriving. Don't fire on it unless they attack us first. Let's wait and see what they do. If they send down a shuttle, we'll allow it to land where the last four Clidepp refugee ships were sent. If we don't hear anything from them and they don't send down a shuttle, I'll send my barge up after a bit of time. Alert your forces that they may be needed to handle refugees on short notice, but don't assemble them yet."

"Yes, Your Grace. We'll just wait and see, but I'll put my forces on alert to a possible situation."

Since the first Clidepp refugees had arrived, the size of Captain Pwuhvasqu's security force had been quintupled. Prior to that, his forces had only consisted of some two hundred regulars and a few enforcement agents in each village to handle minor disputes and such. Crime normally came from want and from people who had too much free time on their hands. The system on Obotymot was designed to keep people from going hungry, but it required them to work if they were physically able. If they had no desire to become farmers, they could be used in infrastructure maintenance, such as laying new irrigation pipes or repairing the irrigation system when there was a rupture. They could also be used to help with dam repair, to perform street cleaning in the villages, or any other activity required in support of a population.

Having to work to earn their way gave them a pride not found in welfare situations where the person received money with no requirement to do anything to earn it. It also kept the workers out of trouble because when they were working, they couldn't be robbing houses or enjoying illegal recreational pharmaceuticals all day. If able-bodied people refused to work, they were offered a free ticket off the planet to a world other than Nordakia, if anyone would accept them. They also lost their rights of citizenship and could never return. Their only other option was to go hungry. Those people eventually turned to crime and were quickly caught and incarcerated at the furthest recesses of the peninsula for increasingly longer terms as they became repeat offenders. The justice penalties were stiff for those not considered capable of living among honest and decent people.

Since prisoners were always required to perform very menial and often difficult labor, jail wasn't something anyone aspired to on Obotymot. They wouldn't get to sit on their brains all day while getting fed and sheltered unless they were sent to the prison colony on Saquer Major for committing a seriously violent crime. Convicts sent to Saquer Major were there for life. There was no parole from that colony. As a result of the criminal justice policies on Obotymot and Nordakia, which the populace fully supported while some off-worlders decried as being too harsh, there was very little crime on the two planets and almost no violent crime except for acts of passion.

~

An hour later, a shuttle left the orbiting ship and descended towards the surface. When it became clear that its course would take it over the palace, Captain Pwuhvasqu ordered that two laser cannon bursts be fired across its bow. It quickly changed direction and climbed back up to Obotymot's mesosphere, where the pilot of the shuttle miraculously found his voice.

"Obotymot military, why are you shooting at us?" the pilot screamed into the microphone.

"If we were shooting
at
you," Captain Pwuhvasqu said, "your ship would now be destroyed. We fired across your bow because you refused to answer our hails and because you were headed towards the royal palace. What's your name?"

"I'm Okarrost Nedeffal, the pilot of this ship. I was headed towards the shuttle pad there, not the palace itself."

"You didn't have permission to land on the palace pad."

"Then I'm requesting it now."

"Denied."

"What? Why?"

"Because Her Grace is not expecting any important dignitaries from the Clidepp Empire. Did you make arrangements for a state visit?"

"I'm carrying refugee representatives, not state dignitaries."

"Then I'll give you the coordinates where you may land without being fired upon. Do not attempt to land anywhere else. This is not Yolongus and our airspace is closely guarded against possible attacks on our Azula and her family."

"I have no intention of attacking your Azula. We're here to negotiate with her."

"Proceed to the coordinates I'm sending and someone will arrive to speak with you. Stay in the immediate vicinity of your shuttle."

"We don't want to talk with
somebody
. We want to talk with Azula Carver."

"Denied."

"Why?"

"You don't come to a distant planet and demand to speak to the highest member of the nobility. Would you have gone to the capital on Yolongus and demanded to speak with Gustallo Plelillo?"