Chapter 11: A Day in the Life of the Asteroid Field Part 1

A day had passed. The following morning was relatively active on the ship, at least on the bridge. The Lifen was stationary. Its nose was pointed toward the massive line of floating asteroids. The conga line of rocks was slowly moving to the left as it naturally drifted in perpetual orbit around the star.

“Status on loading bay door?” Javier asked. He stood staring down at the console in front of him.

“I got it working, sir,” Engineer Obasi remarked. He sat strapped in on the engineering console. The Oshunian man was focused on resolving a maintenance issue.

“Good,” the XO remarked. “Hopefully, that’s the only hang-up in this munitions test.”

“We’ll pass this up to Chief Amelia and resolve it. Decompression complete. Forward bay doors are opening.”

Javier looked at the schematic of the Lifen. The main lander’s forward doors had opened up, exposing the bay into the vacuum of space. The air had already been removed, and the operating crew on the lower levels were already in their space suits.

The XO turned his head toward Nir’vina, who was standing not far to his left. Her fingertips rapidly tapped each other as if she was eagerly anticipating this upcoming event.

“For a little while,” Javier remarked at the orange Shal’rein. “Almost had a delay in this.”

“Heh ... heh...,” Nir’vina chuckled in her raspy voice. “Explosions cannot be held back...”

“Bridge, Loading Bay,” petty officer Ramirez called out from the intercom to Javier’s station. “Loading bay door is fully open. EMP Warhead is primed and ready for launch.”

“Confirmed,” Patterson said in the station to the right of Javier. “Checkers green. You want me to hit the switch on this, or you want to have the honors on this, Ramirez?”

“I’ll do it,” Ramirez said. “I want to see this thing fly straight out and into space, sir.”

“Alright,” Patterson said. The officer turned to look at Javier. “Mizu and the shuttle are clear of the detonation point. It’s on you, sir. Ready to fire on your command.”

The Lifen lander was like a giant rectangular box in space. Its bow door and forward bay had been established as a makeshift launcher. Javier wasn’t going to delay it any longer.

“Fire,” Javier ordered.

“Launching!” Ramirez complied. There was a two-second delay. A faint sound could be heard coming from the comms. A set of deployable arms in the bay released the torpedo as its rear engine activated. Free from its confines, the guided munition took flight. In a few split seconds, it flew forward and gained speed, the bright blue flame burning from its thruster. Its destination was toward the asteroid field ahead.

“Torpedo away,” Ramirez stated.

There was a light beeping sound as multiple camera angles showed the live warhead being flung out of the Lifen’s bay. A beeping sound could be heard from the bridge as it first started in a rapid pulsing rhythm, but it occurred in less and less frequency.

“Status good,” Patterson reported. “Torpedo will reach the asteroid field in 20 seconds. Detonation point in 50 seconds ... mark.”

“We’re safe to close the doors,” Ramirez said.

“Close the loading doors and repressurize the loading bay,” Javier ordered.

“Aye, sir.”

The XO looked at Obasi. “The doors cooperating with us, Petty Officer?”

There was a short delay. “Aye, sir,” Obasi replied. “It’s moving.”

“Good. At this rate, For a minute, I was wondering if we were going to have to fly ass backward because our nose was completely opened to space.”

Javier could see that the loading bay doors were closing.

“Well, Nir’vina,” Javier turned to look at her. “First time the Lifen has ever launched a live warhead out of a storage bay. Let’s see how good you are with UHN weaponry.”

Nir’vina was clearly anticipating this event. Even if her reputation was on the line, Javier had to admit that she did a good job. The torpedo itself almost looked like an exact replica of an EMP-guided missile. Looking at the live feed from the massive main bridge displays, the flying torpedo continued in a straightforward path. The blue flaming dot from its engines had almost vanished from view until the camera attempted to zoom in on it. It had reached into the outer boundary of the asteroid field. By now, the rocky debris would start to become a threat to the missile as it continued to fly at blazing speeds.

“Detonation in t-minus,” Patterson said. “Seven seconds ... five, four, three, two, one...”

There was a large blue flash that erupted near one of the large rocks in the floating debris field. The explosion was large enough that it sent a shockwave in all directions. In less than a few seconds, the wave of energy dispersed into nothingness.

“Yes! Yes!” Nir’vina exclaimed. She stomped her magnetic-wrapped feet a few times on the deck. “Ergh!” She gave a big toothy grin before giving a big sigh of relief.

“Torpedo reached detonation point, missing it by two meters,” Ramirez said. “Five-hundred-meter radius. Explosion rated at...”

“0.23 Petajoules,” Nir’vina said. “Although...,” she tapped her snout. “That looked like a 0.21.”

“0.221.”

“Hmmm, still needed a little more explosives...”

“Mizu to Lifen,” Mizu’s voice could be heard on the intercom at Javier’s station. “I saw a little bit of that from my tail camera. I got it all recorded for Nir’vina to enjoy.”

“Heh ... heh...,” Nir’vina remarked.

“Not bad,” Javier said, smiling at her. “Well done, team. Stand down from drill stations and resume normal watch. Patterson, you have the con.”

“Aye,” Patterson replied. He undid the straps to his chair and stood up. The XO stepped away as Nir’vina turned around. For a moment, her finned tail was almost wagging.

“I’ll head down and make the adjustments on the others...,” the Shal’rein said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

“Alright,” Javier said. Patterson walked over to take the XO’s command console. Nir’vina was the first to leave the bridge. As Javier was about to do the same, he saw the uniformed red-haired Amelia. She had a tablet on hand and wasn’t far behind Obasi.

“Amelia,” Javier addressed her. “My doors need fixing.”

“I got the report, sir,” Amelia replied with a sigh. “Actually, it’s one of the things that I wanted to bring up with you. Can we have a word in private?”

The ship’s chief engineer was experienced and professional but still humane regarding how she performed on duty. Javier gestured to her away from the bridge and toward the small adjacent room. They headed over to it, but Javier kept the door open.

“What is it?” Javier asked.

“It’s these recon missions, sir,” Amelia explained as she handed the tablet to the XO. “Every time the shuttles return from their little merry-go-round in the asteroid field, my engineers are having to clean and fix the divots that are being pummeled into it. There’s a reason why the Stealth Cruisers don’t fly into these debris fields. The carbon fiber tritanium can take some punishment, but not to this scale. I’ve had to replace the frontal plates twice so far, and I only have so much of these left.”

“It’s worse than you expected?” Javier looked at the tablet and read the reports.

“Yeah ... I’m not condemning the pilots on this, but my teams are having to work extra hard, and it’s starting to take time away from other duties like our main door. That alloy doesn’t exactly come cheap either.”

“Yeah, but this is the Captain’s order.” The XO tapped the tablet in his hand, knowing that the report of damages on the stealth shuttles was mounting.

“Four days, and we run out of replacement plates. Then, the shuttles will have to be grounded regardless of whether the CO wants it or not. I’ve sent the report to your tablet. I’m sorry, but it’s the reality of this situation.”

“It’s alright. I’ll notify the Captain about the issues. Is that all?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’m heading down to see her right now. I’ll bring your concerns to her. Thank you, Amelia.”

It was ten minutes later. The feel of the artificial gravity induced on Javier’s body felt nice again. He saw a pair of female crewmembers that were talking to one another. One of the women greeted the XO almost by name. He nodded his head and smiled at them before he passed them by. It didn’t take long before he reached his room. He interfaced with the panel and waited for a few seconds.

The entrance slid open to reveal a partially dark room. Javier could see that Shira was busy talking with another person. The man stepped inside before the door closed, sealing him in darkness. The lit display showed her shark-like face and dark purple hair. When the man walked around the table, he could see a rather unique figure on the two-way communication display. He was careful not to show attention to himself and interrupt the conversation that was taking place.

For a second, Javier was taken off guard. Shira was sitting down by her table. All eight tips of her fingers were pressed together as she remained composed. She was communicating to a figure that Javier had only seen on the UWAN networks due to her fame or even, perhaps, infamy. The cat-like android was robotic but sentient. She had long black hair and feline features on her face and body. In many ways, to Javier, she would almost appear as some highly modified ‘companion bot,’ but there was far more to her story than most people would ever dream of learning about. Controlling that robot was one of the most advanced artificial intelligence systems to ever exist. She was apparently sitting in the living room of her home. Her white-lit frame rested against the couch in comfort.

“I wanted to call on your current progress, Minerva,” Shira calmly greeted her. “What is the status of the Velx’pli?”

“I am quite surprised you called sooner than expected,” the female robotic voice echoed in the room.

“My schedules always change. I meant no offense in interrupting you if you were busy with something else.”

Javier was intrigued for a moment. Minerva spoke articulately, much like a computer, but her tone and voice had inflections to sound human instead of some emotionless machine. If anything, there were actually more emotional inflexions than Shira had.

“I was currently spending time with my husband,” Minerva continued. “However, I understand that your query needs to be answered. As you are aware, my matrix is not compatible with Itrean algorithms. However, I’m currently enhancing my system to be able to translate and configure to the new line of coding.”

“I’m quite sure that if the recent tilons, tablets, and augmented ligaments can cross interface with UWA and T’rintar equipment, then you should be able to complete your objective in the time specified.”

“There is no doubt that it will be accomplished. However, please note that the Velx’pli is designed to operate with far more resource-intensive Itrean hardware and software. My matrix has to translate, create, and encode new programming in order for it to work. Every Itrean safeguard and countermeasure has to be considered. This will include what will hinder it from interfacing with the systems that it was designed to operate with. No doubt, Itrean computer defenses have been changed and altered since this device of yours has been recovered.”

The Velx’pli ... Javier remembered the whole series of events that occurred several months ago when they found the lost Alara’jal colony. Shira was after something important and managed to acquire it. Yet, the very first action she took was to transfer it to Dr. Ericson and Minerva for study. He didn’t entirely know what the device was, but he knew it was somehow important, so important that it warranted the lives of many to get it. At times, he even wondered if the true purpose was to find this rare device instead of the Alara’jal. Perhaps it was to everyone’s benefit that both goals were achieved simultaneously. Whatever this artifact was, it required the most advanced artificial intelligence to interact with it to work, and even that was a challenge in itself.

“And Dr. Ericson?” Shira asked.

“He is the one enhancing my matrix to accommodate Itrean encoding,” Minerva stated. “However, this has never been done before. My husband did not consider alien software and hardware compatibility when he created me.”

“But, you were designed to evolve,” Javier interjected. He walked into view of the display so that Minerva could see him stand beside the sitting Shal’rein captain.

“Minerva,” Shira stated. “I would like for you to meet my XO, Javier.”

Her feline eyes momentarily glowed blue for a moment. “Understood. Hello, Javier.”

“A pleasure to talk to the famous AI,” Javier remarked. “Your reputation is well known, even if some of it has gotten swept under the rug by the Itrean conflict.”

“I see less issue in it,” Minerva stated. “Even after my intervention on Mars, the fewer individuals interacting with me, the more beneficial it has proven. It allows me to raise my daughter and be with my husband in less hostile environments. It is proven that children properly raised both by loving parents results in the more likely chance of the offspring becoming successful into adulthood.”

“I can understand that.”

“However, to return to your earlier comment, yes, I am designed to evolve and expand my capabilities. The Velx’pli is the most sophisticated system I have yet to configure.”

“Knowing UHN Intelligence, they wouldn’t even be able to put a dent in it compared to you.”

Minerva gave a confused look on her face. “I do not see the point of damaging such a piece of rare equipment.”

“That wasn’t what I meant, sorry. I was referring to expertise with working with this artifact.”

“Ah, yes.”

There was a sound of a baby crying that was away from the camera angle. Minerva’s attention focused away from the display.

“I will need to tend to my baby,” Minerva stated before she looked at the display. “Please give me and my husband the allotted time necessary to complete my objective, Shira. You will have what you wish to acquire.”

“And I will also provide further intel on the highest level Itrean security subroutines,” Shira told her. “It will further speed up your progress. However, I would not ask to act in haste to complete what I requested. It is, as you said, every possibility must be considered as to how Itrean defense subroutines would behave with the Velx’pli.”

The unseen baby’s crying was becoming louder and more intense. Minerva’s focus was veering away from the display.

“Very well,” Minerva said. “I will await that data as we continue our progress. Take care, Shira and Javier.”

“Good luck,” Javier replied.

Shira gave a light nod as the Shal’rein captain pressed the button to end the communication. The display shifted to a menu system, leaving the CO to her thoughts for a short moment. Then, she turned around and activated a musical rhythm that Javier had been used to hearing if one would even call it that. It was the electromagnetic radiation being given off by celestial phenomena and converted into sound. She pulled out her tin box and was preparing to light a cigarette.

“First time getting a chance to speak to her,” Javier remarked.

“You had spoken to Dr Ericson before,” Shira asked him. “Did you not get a chance to talk to Minerva?”

“Nah. This time, it’s flipped. Ericson wasn’t there, but this time it was Minerva.” He gave a serious look at his wife. “Are you going to finally tell me what this artifact of yours does and what’s so important about it?”

“In good time,” she used her laser lighter to ignite the tip of a small cigarette. “Minerva and Ericson must be able to complete their work first if the artifact is indeed truly salvageable. Until then, it’s best to wait. I don’t wish to get anybody else’s hopes up.”

“Right ... I’m being left out of the loop again, aren’t I?”

“You are not being ‘left out of the loop,’” Shira said as she took a deep whiff of the cigarette smoke. “The knowledge of this artifact is one that cannot leave this room too easily. Even the planet Eutera may not be enough to prevent Itrean spies from learning about it. However, I trust your current greatest minds to contain its secret and work on it. It may very well determine the outcome of the entire war.”

Javier sighed. “Well, when you say it with such severity...” He shook his head and pulled out his tablet before turning it on. “We had a nice light show out there. Nir’vina almost looked like she ... hmmm ... let’s just say I wouldn’t sound professional if I confirmed the obvious.”

Shira took a drag of her cigarette. “I already monitored it all from here,” she said before blowing the smoke from her nostrils. “Indeed, she knows what needs to be improved before we further commence in future operations.”

The XO handed the tablet to her. “I got a complaint from our engineers ... a good one. The shuttles are getting banged up out there. The asteroid field density is simply too much for the metal alloys to withstand. We got only a few more days of flight time before the shuttles can no longer fly.”

Shira looked at the tablet for a moment, reading the data on it. “What would you suggest?”

“Stop sending our pilots out there,” Javier remarked. “It’s taxing on them, and having to fly 12 hours per watch is simply too much. You’re expecting their autonavs to anticipate the fact that Mizu and Dean are almost falling asleep, eat, and shit out there before smashing into a rock by accident.”

The CO remained neutral. “And the fact that extending our sensor ranges has proven to map out the regions far better than any UHN vessel so far?” Shira asked. “You are not considering the positive results.”

“I’m just concerned about our pilots. Mizu and Dean aren’t meant to be thrown away like that. Those shuttles are vital assets, too. I don’t want to see them get destroyed.”

“Indeed, Mizu and Dean’s expertise are warranted. But the shuttles? Would you prefer that they sat in the hangar bay gathering dust instead of being used?” She turned her body to get a better look at him, causing her tail to flop to the floor. “Tell me, Javier. Why am I committing to such a ‘brazen act’ by having them do this?”

“I don’t know.”

“You have the answer to this question. The UHN commits to an action continuously and never improves upon it. Do you know the flight paths of every warship that patrols this sector of the field?”

“Yeah, it’s an oval pattern. They can’t fly into the debris field, or it would lead to damaging their ships.”

“It is a predictable pattern, one of complacency, and the pirates can easily predict it. I’ve studied the UHN approach to how they have handled these rogues, and it is sloppy at best. Of course, the Itreans aren’t as always adequate in handling their own rogues, either, but I would expect more from the humans in how they performed.”

“Yeah, but how else are they supposed to handle it?” The XO pointed at the live feed display of the asteroids in the distance. “We can’t fly into that.”

“Yes, we have. On our own accounts, we took a transport and flew through it at maximum acceleration to fight our pursuers. The shuttles have also withstood the damage far better than expected.”

“Better than expected? They’ll be grounded due to the lack of alloy.”

“And, yet, they were still able to fly into it for that considerable amount of time,” she explained. “Yet, you also have civilian ships that are more than able to handle the density of the fields. Yes, there are incidents, but the negligible casualties far outweigh the amount of resource and profit gathering achieved in these regions. It has been proven quite well that the Novans are using the asteroids to their benefit, but they also lack the ability to track the UHN stealth cruisers. When they venture too far out of the field in hopes of attacking a civilian ship, the stealth ships easily pick them off. It is the only few known victories achieved by them.” She took another drag of her cigarette.

“But it’s already been made obvious that the alloy is hard to make or replace.”

“What is it that you think that I’m trying to do?” Shira questioned him. “Understand that I don’t disagree with you, but it is important that you understand this line of thinking.”

“Because it’s what the UHN thinks, too, right?”

“Exactly,” she blew smoke from her nostrils. “The UHN can argue that it is limited in resources, but it’s an inadequate excuse. They have the resources necessary to eliminate these pirates long before I was ever born. Does the UHN have probes? Yes, but do they use them in this field? They would argue that the asteroids would destroy those probes. Yet, civilian ships are armored to withstand the field.”

“But the UHN doesn’t build armored probes...,” Javier remarked.

“Indeed...,” she took another drag of her cigarette. “They refuse to build them. Instead, they send the warships in their elliptical patterns. It is ultimately pointless. They instead let us take care of their problems for them, much like the Jian Seng, another event which should have never happened in the first place, but it did because the Shal’rein scout Adjunct was simply observing your patrols’ easily predictable patterns.”

“Yeah...”

“For Dean and Mizu, they are qualified to fly those ships. The statement in their actions is one that the UHN may adhere to. More effort is needed to find the whereabouts of these pirates so that safety can be assured to the civilian sectors. However, I can acknowledge that our resources are more finite than expected. So, I will return to the original question I had before. With this new line of thinking. What would you suggest?”

Javier was originally inclined to outright state that the shuttles shouldn’t be used, but Shira had a point that she had to make. Her suggestions were that of efficiency. Mistakes could be made, as any leader could acknowledge, but Javier always knew that Shira was guiding him to make intelligent decisions. She could easily override him, but that wasn’t what she always did. This was their ship and their decisions to make. He made a decision that would appease all sides.

“We cut down their flight times,” Javier answered. “Eight hours per pilot instead of twelve. When both shuttles are brought in, they can be properly serviced.”

“Hmmm ... It will create a gap in our sensor extensions...” Shira blew smoke from her nostrils before tapping the ashes into her ashtray.

“No, but it’s using what we got. Dean, Mizu, and the engineers will have more downtime to relax and get some sleep. Maintenance can be more properly handled by our engineers. It will also extend the service life of the shuttles and be out longer than using them up within a few days.”

Shira gave the mildest inflection of a smile on her face. “I agree,” she said.

“I know that Mizu has been wanting this extra time off. He’s been doing those game nights of his with some of the crew. I don’t know what they call it ... that tabletop game of his, but it’s been a good distraction for his friends.”

“Another reason to incorporate this decision as long as it doesn’t interfere with the ship’s duties.”

“Heh...,” Javier smiled a little bit as he crossed his arms. “I’m just amazed how much this crew is starting to become like a family to us. The personalities that are coming across. Nir’vina is certainly an interesting character, that is for sure.”

“You seemed unsure of her when she first came aboard.”

“But, she’s certainly proving her capabilities. I’ve never seen someone actually have the expertise to create warheads on our ship. She’s giving us extra firepower that I didn’t think this ship ever had. And, Bransen...” Javier shook his head. “My stomach has never been happier until now. I think the crew is starting to enjoy their breaks more now that the food has gotten better.”

“And Girsha’lar?”

Javier remained quiet. He didn’t notice that Shira had returned to look at her display. The man’s silence had said it all. She wasn’t going to push the matter any more than it had to be. Instead, she changed topics.

“Are you alright?” she asked him.

“Yeah, just a little preoccupied,” he commented. “You got shot at in Valradena.”

“You already know that I’m undamaged.”

“You got shot in your stomach.”

Shira slowly doused her cigarette. Javier could see the freshly patched tail fin where one of the bullets hit her. The captain gestured for him to step toward her. He remained quiet as she pulled on the small Velcro lining in the center of the uniform. She took his hand and guided it to her stomach. There, he could feel the warmth of her smooth gray skin. The palm rested upon the very slight protrusion of her growing pregnancy.

“Does that answer your question?” she quietly asked him.

The man kneeled down so he could be as close as possible to her. There was a source of strength that seemed to flow from her ever-growing pregnancy. Even if the birth of their child would still be almost ten months away, the man felt a sense of calm and ease. Shira’s face looked down at him for a moment, almost like a caring mother, even if she was focused on other things. The odd converted sounds of the solar system seemed to radiate in the room. Javier would look up at her and see both her eye and eye patch on the other. It was the woman that he fell in love with.

Javier’s hand began to naturally shift upward, heading toward the woman’s breast before a beeping sound came from the main display on the table. The man sighed as he pulled his hand away.

“Looks like the Admiral has finally responded,” Shira remarked as she looked at the screen. Javier stood up and straightened his uniform slightly while standing close to Shira.

“Alright,” Javier commented before he stood ready. Shira waited a few seconds before she reached over and tapped the button to initiate the call.

When she did, the screen changed to show Thiago sitting behind his desk. The admiral was in his stateroom. On his desk was a large cup, most likely some brew of coffee that he was drinking that was still steaming into the air. Shira relaxed onto her chair and pressed her fingers together.

“Hello, Captain Shira,” Thiago addressed her. “And hello Javier. I was delayed in contacting you.”

“Your timing was good,” Shira replied. “Have you read the report that I submitted to you?”

Thiago gave a hard smile and nodded his head. “I did. Excellent job in apprehending a known suspect on Valradena. I know that was no easy task, but you did it, regardless. Have you been able to confirm that it is Kaze Torrin?”

“Yes,” Shira explained. “An updated report from my Doctor will be submitted to you. Torrin was brought to our medical and given a full examination. When he escaped from Oshun’s penal colony, his body was greatly altered to give himself a new alias. Unfortunately, for the real Bautista, his fate will never be truly known.”

“A whole smuggling ring for Itrean children...,” Thiago shook his head. “Who would have thought that the Paloran star system had been reduced to this?”

“Have you managed to inform the T’rintar clan of this, Admiral?” Javier asked.

“I have, and it’s currently on the news as well. It doesn’t look like the T’rintar clan is going to try to reclaim those kids either, at least from what we’ve seen so far. Ambassador Ifra and Ambassador Kane are trying to voice their opinions on this abhorrent event to the T’rintar ruling classes about this course of action, but it looks like it’s falling on deaf ears.”

“It is as expected, Admiral,” Shira stated.

“We did receive the kids this morning, though. Kaique personally arranged their transportation. They will be processed, questioned, and taken care of. There’s already a statement this morning from New Olympia that they would be willing to adopt them.”

“That’s good to hear, Admiral,” Javier said with a nod. “We at least managed to do something good out here.”

“Yes...,” the admiral picked up his cup and drank some of his coffee. “Excuse me, I’ve had to be up for most of the night. Preparations can be hard work for us people at the top.”

“Especially the ones that are trying to make a difference, sir.” The XO said with an affirmative smile.

“Looks like you managed to do a lot on Valradena, Shira. You and Stone. I received a complaint from the civilian leadership about what you did.”

“Nothing too serious, right?”

“Let’s just say I wouldn’t need another cup of Cebravis’s best coffee blends for it.” He sat his cup back down. “Returning to the matter at hand. You called me, Captain, because you want to know what to do with your new prisoner.”

“Yes,” Shira explained. “Torrin is currently incarcerated under my ship’s brig. The information he may contain will be invaluable to us. However, I want to ensure what it is that you want.”

The admiral lifted his hands a little bit. “I’ll leave it in your hands on what you do with him. All I ask is that we receive him in a couple of weeks so he can face justice ... after the Lifen completes its patrol mission.”

There was a very slight pause while Javier glanced over to Shira. There was that same slight inflection from her rounded snout. It was what she wanted to hear.