Making the Grade (Omnia Online Series Book 2) (7 page)

As Drake looked, he observed a lighter making a landing, it would soon be offloading goods imported from distant worlds.

Then he thought of the press coverage dropping one of those space going ships would cause if it landed at its Denver counterpart.  The thought made him smile…

Then he thought of all the Secrets Samantha seemed to be hiding and his smile went away.  Just how long would it be, before a space going freighter did land in Denver, and what would it mean for Earth?

So far whoever was in charge of Intelecom was doing right by Drake.  He was getting physical, skills, and scientific training; so maybe Samantha was telling the truth when she said that the people behind this had good intentions?  Drake certainly hoped so, he didn’t see much choice but to see where things were heading, in the meantime, he would enjoy the ride and keep his eyes open.

After a moment Fiona asked, “Why are you just standing there smiling.”

“Just thinking of things I need to do, little bird.” He said without even considering if his words would be taken as a racial slur.  He was starting to think of Fiona as
‘the young girl,’
not
‘the young avian girl’
so it seemed natural to use one of the terms he used when talking to one of his young cousins.

Fiona looked confused for a moment, then just stepped up to the where the side of the ship was opening to form a hatch and stairs.

Drake then boarded his little ship; he had the opposite feeling from when he left. Instead of the sudden lightness, he felt fifty kilograms heavier, and Fiona gave out a surprised exclamation before falling to the deck.

“Oh, shit, sorry Fiona I forgot that we’ve been running the gravity heavy as part of my training.” said Drake, as he helped Fiona up and into a chair, the one at the engineer’s station nearest the hatch.

“Samantha please reduce the ship’s gravity back down to planetary standard.” Drake requested.  He immediately felt lighter.

“Are you ok?” Drake asked Fiona.

She didn’t look damaged to Drake, and after a second to check herself over, she said that she was fine.

Drake then gave Fiona a short tour of the ship.  Very short since he requested Samantha lock down engineering and the cockpit access and give Fiona access only to the living area of the small ship.  He pointed out the mess, auto-galley, the head, and the cabin.  He then told her that she could take one of the bunks in the cabin for the night, and he would take one of the crew berths off the ships passageway.

Drake was now glad he hadn’t made it around to clearing out the food storage of those selections reserved for Karurian’s.  Since the last owners included one Karurian in their number, he had food Fiona could eat.

Drake had eaten very few meals outside his virtual home, and it took him much longer to make a selection then it did Fiona.

They sat down and ate their dinner together.

After the meal, Drake told Fiona that she should make herself at home, but he was not to be disturbed until morning.  But she was welcome to use the engineering station holo-display and terminal, with the warning that Samantha would be keeping an eye on her, so please stay out of trouble.

After that, Drake locked himself in one of the berths and exited Omnia. He left with the thought that his next few days had just become a lot more complicated.

***

When he left the Omnia game room in his virtual home, he thought of someone else he needed to communicate with.

“Samantha, can you connect me to Gordon?  Ask him ‘
How is the Elf Hood?
’”

Gordon: Do you mean how am I doing as an Elf, or how is the ‘hood’ where I’m hanging out?  Or are you calling me a hood, like Robin Hood?

Kevin:  Can’t it be all the above?  I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks, still hanging out with the Rangers?

Gordon:  Still work with them sometimes, they can be a weird group, though.  They claim that if you spend enough time in the woods, you can start to ‘feel the trees’ which I find strange enough not to want to spend too much time with the loons.  I joined that Guild you mentioned and have been picking up a few odd jobs. So I’m doing much better now.

Kevin:  Did you sell your Arcania account like I suggested?

Gordon: Yes, but didn’t get near as much as you got.  But I dropped back to working part-time at the dealership.

Kevin:  I hope that doesn’t cause you to lose your job.

Gordon:  No, my sales are actually up.  Ariel, my A.I., fixed my phone and tells me when a seller is serious about making a purchase, by doing a voice stress test on my clients.  Between that and how fit I am since using the pod, I seem to have a far easier time selling cars these days.  So my boss loves me.  He wants me to take on more prime hours, but the other agents are acting a bit bent already, so I passed.  The sales agents seem to think I’m somehow taking something from them, whenever I manage a sale.

Kevin: Well, you said they were assholes, so don’t let them get to you.  Are you planning on heading my way then?  I looked up Gepinapaxia, and you're about two-thirds of the way to the other side of the Imperium from Hassan.

Gordon: Why not come pick me up in that ship you were bragging up a couple weeks ago.  Or have you lost it playing poker, cause I know how bad you suck at cards, you're like a walking stack of tells.

Kevin:  No, I still have the ship; I just have to finish learning to fly it.  I wish I could just hop in the cockpit and go, but the Imperium actually makes you get a license or risk getting your ship confiscated, which would suck. So I’m working on getting a license and trying to figure out how to stock the ship with what it needs.  I still haven’t even named the ship yet…

Gordon: You could call it Kevin’s Flying Phallus.

Kevin: Yeah sure joke, haha.  I thought about calling it Dream Chaser since we’re in a kind of dream, but then I thought about it.  That name sounded like something that should be painted with scenes of rainbows and butterflies.  No, I think the first time I fly the ship, I’ll know what to name it… So how about it, want to come out here and join me, I could use someone to watch my back.

Gordon:  Don’t know bro, traveling that far sounds expensive.  I’ll think about it and get back in touch.

Kevin: Ok, think about it, but also think about how much fun it would be to take that ship of mine out and kick some ass.  If you need a few credits to make the trip just ask.  Ok?

Gordon: I’ll get back to you. Later man.

Kevin: Yeah, later, Gordon.

“Well, better get back to work.  Samantha, what’s tonight’s training schedule?” asked Kevin.

That night's training mostly focused on space flight.

Kevin recalled the previous six weeks.

Samantha had taken Kevin through a lot of pilot training.  He started with learning to fly a shuttle, like the ones that flew up to the space station.  His pre-flight training included learning all the safety equipment, how to load and balance the craft and how to plan his route.

Next, he learned take off, landing and docking procedures.

The type of shuttle Samantha selected as Kevin’s virtual training craft had flight systems very similar to those in the cockpit of his new spaceship, without the systems needed to take the ship into hyperspace.  So Kevin spent the previous few weeks getting a feel for how to pilot a small craft between the space station and the spaceport.

With the use of antigravity, it didn’t take much thrust to lift a shuttle up into orbit.  When Kevin discovered this, he started to wonder if making a perpetual motion machine was possible.  But Samantha assured him that the antigravity coils still used a lot of power as they worked to counter Hassan’s gravity, it was just that they were a lot more efficient than rockets, since they used electricity and created almost no heat.

Kevin also had to get used to the effects of zero-gravity while learning to fly.  Apparently, most small shuttles didn’t carry extra energy cells for luxuries like artificial gravity for the short flight’s they typically engaged in.  Space stations and starships had space for their own fusion plants, but most shuttles relied on superconductive power cells to supply their power, as a cheaper and lighter way to provide the energy they needed for the short voyages they made.

As a former engineering student, Kevin couldn’t help but ask questions about how the shuttle worked.  And for the most part, the systems were something any well-trained engineer would understand; the thrusters were simply plasma-ion thrusters.  They took in water, separated out the oxygen, for use in life support, and then superheated the hydrogen.   After turning the hydrogen into plasma, it was then channeled out the thrusters as a focused stream of ions.

Powerful engines like those on the Zenon 12 just required a lot more power to run than those on a shuttle.  This is why a lot of spaceships had fusion power plants. 

Only ships using safe and dependable routes between stations, where the savings in mass could add to the ships earnings, could afford to go without their own power plant.  There were freighters, designed just to travel between space stations that could get by only using power cells, but any ship trading out in the less settled parts of space couldn’t rely on always having a convenient place to recharge. 

This was why ships like the Zenon 12 had their own plants, but paid for this freedom in higher expenses.  The extra weight, reduced space, and higher capital cost of owning fusion plant, were the trade off any ship capable of venturing into the less settled regions of space had to pay.

Kevin returned his focus to his training.

This Saturday night Samantha finally decided to let Kevin practice flying the Zenon 12. 

Kevin thought,
‘This will be fun,’
his heartbeat sped up a little at the thought.  He had owned the ship for just over six weeks, and this was the first time he would get a feel for how it
flew
.

“Great, I’ve been looking forward to seeing how the Zenon 12 handles compared to the shuttles we’ve been practicing with.” said Kevin.

“You're almost ready to take your in-system flight exam, and then you can start working on your hyperspace license,” she said. “For this training session, you’re at the spaceport, in Vastal City.  Take off from there, make one orbit and dock with the Hassan Space Station.  Once you’re finished you’ll just undock and return.” said Samantha.

For the rest of the night, Kevin ran through simulations with Samantha and the Zenon.  After making the first simulated flight, he had a name for his ship, High Jinx.  The name came to Kevin when he felt just how quick and maneuverable the ship was at high g acceleration.  So his mind combined the ships playfulness with its high G’s.

That night when while taking a bath before bed, Samantha reminded him of an earlier promise he made, by showing him just how bad a witch she could be.

It was Sunday morning, and Kevin would usually wake up and start his morning routine.  He would have breakfast with Samantha and then go to the training room to perform his morning stretches and some meditation, and then begin his exercises.

But this Sunday was different; he had a promise to keep.

“Samantha, you were going to gather more information about the Narack poaching?” asked Kevin.

“Yes, Kevin, the more time I spent researching the question, the larger the problem appeared.  To start off, the ranchers that are complaining about poaching are people who have settled down south of the city.  Since the only registered settlements on Hassan are all on this continent, they’re mostly clustered within a thousand kilometers of the City of Vastal.”

“The problem the ranchers are complaining of seems to be more widespread; there have been many animals and people disappearing in the southern edges of development here on Hassan.  I’m not sure why the problem has gone unnoticed, the ranchers themselves have sent out a couple of their own people to find out what is causing the problem, and a few of those people have also disappeared.  When they complained to the Colonial Planetary Governor, they weren’t given any help, just offered to allow any mercenary they hired from the Guild the temporary position of a marshal while investigating the disappearances.” said Samantha.

“Why hasn’t the Governor’s office sent out the militia, to find out what’s going on?” asked Kevin.

“I’ve tried to get more information and haven’t been able to determine why yet,” answered Samantha. “There are rumors of some political trouble between the Colonel of the militia and the government, but I can’t find anything stronger than rumors about why.”

“Yet, it’s my estimate, given the scope of the problems down south that this assignment is harder than a Grade E assignment should be.  I’ve informed the Guild of my assessment.  They’re considering raising the level of the mission, but they’re reluctant to do so since they already agreed to take it on at the E Grade ranking.  We would need to prove the job is harder to get them to make a change.” said Samantha.

“Hmm, I wonder what is going on here.  Do you have any idea why people and animals are going missing?  Have there been any reports by any witnesses?  How about anything that links the disappearances together?” asked Kevin.

“I could find no reports of kidnappings, or demands for ransom, which means there are none, or there’s a cover up for some reason. I haven’t been able to find any links, except that the further south the location, the more likely the settlement is to have reported missing people or animals.”

“I take it, that if I accept the mission, I can’t later change my mind?” he asked.

“You may, but it would harm both your trust rating and your relationship with the Guild,” Samantha answered.

“How about if I take the mission, and it turns out to be more difficult then they rated it as.  Can I then get more money are at least more recognition for completing the assignment?”

“No, and yes.  I highly doubt that the Guild would dip into its own coffers to pay you any extra.  The ranchers aren’t likely to have any more money to add to the pot, considering that they’re taking losses on both losing the animals and having to pay for help.  But, if the task is considerably harder then they ranked it, you can at least expect the Guild to recognize the level of difficulty in your grade rating.  Their reputation is on the line on both ends of the deal, they have to represent both the ranchers and you fairly or lose some standing, there are after all other Guilds out there.” replied Samantha.

“Oh?  I hadn’t heard of any other guilds,” said Kevin.

“It’s a big galaxy, the Freelancers and Hunters Guild is the largest, most prestigious, and best represented in this area of the Imperium, but they’re not the only Guild.  There are even bounty hunters and mercenaries that are members of more than one guild, but they still dues to both guilds.  So they have to pay twice.” replied Samantha.

“Well, it’s good to know that I have options.” said Kevin.

“Let’s try another line of inquiry.  Are there satellite images of the areas south that might show some reason why people are going missing down there?” asked Kevin.

“This planet has just over two million inhabitants, and they’re all on this side of the globe.  Outside the optics on the space station, there has been little demand for additional satellites.  The space station serves both as a weather station and as a communications satellite for this hemisphere.  This was part of the reason we were cut off when we crashed… I mean, I landed the escape pod two months ago.  I didn’t have enough com-power to reach the space station or the city.” said Samantha. 

“You know it still bothers me that I can’t read those memory files, of what happened during your escape from the freighter.  I’m sure that I could have landed an escape pod without crashing it.”

“Yeah, you landed it, right into the ground.  I’m sure glad I have such a qualified teacher to train me in flight mechanics.” Kevin knew she couldn’t remember the escape from the freighter a few months in the past.  It was part of a legal settlement that those records be sealed away, even from her.  But he knew that if the escape pod hadn’t run out of fuel in the last moments of landing, that she would have made a good landing.  He just couldn’t tell her any of the details.

“You know I like to tease you Sam, but there really wasn’t anything you could do to make a safer landing.  But you know those records are sealed as part of the settlement, so don’t worry about it, ok?” said Kevin.

“I try, but it’s like an itch I can’t scratch,” she said.

“Well, any time you want your back scratched, you can just come to me, love,” Kevin replied.

“So is there any other way we can get more information other than just to go down and scout it out ourselves, and risk getting in over our, or rather my ears?” asked Kevin.

“Well, I should point out that Fiona’s town is included in the area were all the disappearances have occurred, and her mother is one of the people on my list of missing.  So it does look like we’re going down there to check out at least part of the problem,” said Samantha.

“We could also try asking an information broker.  An answer would cost us some credits, and it might not help,” Samantha continued.

Kevin thought about their dwindling bank balance, and how little this mission might pay.  Maybe there was another way to make the mission pay more.

“Samantha, if I take on a mercenary mission, do I get to keep any gear I turn up?  Like what if I find and recover some of the missing bodies, I imagine their belongings are returned to their families, right?” asked Kevin.

“Mercenary work follows closer to the old rules of warfare than bounty hunting.  And if you take on a marshal’s position, however temporary, you’re even more limited in your conduct.  For instance, as a mercenary, you’d be expected to give an enemy a chance to surrender, if possible without harming your mission, but as a marshal, you’d be supposed to do your best to take any suspect into custody, even if it could hurt your mission.”

“The benefit’s to being considered a marshal are more in the respect and access it would give you to information.  There may be information only available to a law officer that would help with this assignment, and that might be what the governor’s office had in mind when they allowed the ranchers to hire someone on as a temporary marshal,” said Samantha. “Yet the drawbacks are many as well.  At least as a marshal you wouldn’t be tied down by all the legal loops your police on Earth have to go through to solve a crime.  You just have to be able to prove that you were reasonable in your conduct later, or you could be charged with a crime yourself.”

“For someone with your lack of knowledge of the local laws, I would avoid taking on the position of a temporary marshal.  It would be a better fit for a retired police officer than for someone so new to the Imperium.”

Remembering the last time he faced a judge here on Hassan, Kevin tended to agree with Samantha’s assessment.

“If I took the assignment, could I avoid the marshal’s position?”

“Yes, the position was an add-on, as an option for the job, not a requirement.  The Guild prefers to allow their mercenaries to choose how they hang themselves, if they made it a mandate, it could come back to trouble them later.  This way they can say it was your choice.” replied Samantha.

“How much do you think it would cost to get worthwhile information out of an… information broker?”  Kevin couldn’t help but think spy, rat, hacker, and thief when he thought of what an information broker really was.  To him, it seemed at least as dirty a trade as killing for a living. 

‘
Which is perhaps what I do now?
’ he thought,
‘Maybe I shouldn’t cast stones in my new glass house, hey?
’

“Since the information we’re looking for might involve the governor or the colonel of the militia?  And still not have anything to do with whatever is actually happening in the south? My guess is useful information could cost us everything we have in the bank.  Is it worth it?” asked Samantha.

“That’s always the question when you’re asked to leap before you look.  No, let’s hold off on spending more money until after I first go down and see if we can find anything out about Fiona’s mother’s disappearance.” Kevin instructed Samantha.

“As you wish, Kevin.” she replied.

“What else do we need to discuss?” asked Kevin.

“Yes, there are a few things still to cover.  First, your meditation skill is getting very close to the Advanced Beginner level, so I’ve loaded a new meditation skill book for you,” replied Samantha.  “Second, do you want me to have someone paint the Zenon 12 with its new name, and third we should talk about Sarah and if she would be the best person to seek out for your experiments,” said Samantha.

“Let’s start with the ship then. No, I don’t know if I want it so easily identified visually.  And definitely not until we have some more money in the bank.  Is there a requirement to paint the name on the ship?” asked Kevin.

“No,” responded Samantha, “but if the name is to be official, we should change the ships ID beacon. That will cost a couple hundred credits since it must be done by an official Imperial Registrar.  There should be an office of the Registrar of Ships in any major space station, but I’mnot sure if the Hassan Space Station has one.  Let me check… yes, there’s a small offic
e
of the Imperial Registrar on the Hassan Space Station.”

“I still want to wait until we have a few extra credits since we’re running so close to finding the bottom of our bank account.” said Kevin.

“As for Sarah, I have been rethinking my idea.  Do you think the Colorado School of Mines has all of the equipment needed to run Kinzigur’s experiments?  And if we want to distance ourselves from the research, maybe we should be looking at schools or labs that have all the tools needed to run the experiments.” asked Kevin.

“Since you asked I looked into the matter, your alma-mater has most if not all the equipment necessary to set up the experiment.  But I agree that a little more distance, and not involving someone who lives at the same address as you, might be a good idea.  What are your thoughts for whom to go to then?” asked Samantha.

“I don’t know if there are many Professors who would want to run some experiments sent to them anonymously through e-mail.  And if you’re right about the importance of the theory and research, it wouldn’t be a good idea for it to go only to someone here in the United States.”  Kevin paused for a moment in thought.

“Samantha, could you send it to multiple universities around the world, and maintain our anonymity at the same time?” asked Kevin.

“Yes. It’s easy enough to set up third party mail drops on the internet.  I wouldn’t have to hack or lie to distance us from the data.” replied Samantha.

“Ok, then find me three labs or universities here in the US, one in Germany, England, Russia, China, Japan, and India, heck add in Australia too, even though I don’t think they have a real space program.  Find places that can run the whole set of experiments.  Be sure that they know that the information has been shared widely; let’s see if a little competition might get someone moving.  Then we can just wait and watch the internet for any news on the Kinzigur experiments.  I would like to have been there in person to see the results, but the importance is in the verification right?” said Kevin. “And we can run our own tests in the training room, like you suggested, with confirmation coming from those outside sources.”

“I’ll get working on the research and set up the mail drop now.  Do you want me to notify you when it’s done?” asked Samantha.

“No, just let me know the moment there’s anything published on the internet or in a magazine on the experiments.” said Kevin.

“Well, time to get back into Omnia and back to Fiona.  One last item, can you suggest something from the auto-galley that I might actually like for breakfast?” asked Kevin as he headed into the Omnia game room.