Ep.#5 - "Rise of the Corinari" (16 page)

“I think you’re right,” Jessica agreed.

“Were those there last time?” Nathan asked.

“Hell no,” Jessica insisted. “I was standing on the back ramp of the shuttle looking out as we flew in. I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed a pair of massive doors.”

“Many of the asteroids had pressurized interiors, as did this one. This is one of the reasons we originally chose this asteroid, as it would greatly facilitate repairing the exterior of our spacecraft. But the doors themselves, along with many other components, were taken by the original occupants. It took some time to obtain all the panels to make the doors themselves, but we never had the manpower to install them.”

“Apparently Jalea has,” Nathan commented.

“Yes,” Tug observed, “she can be quite resourceful.”

They watched as the ship passed the inner threshold of the entrance tunnel, passing into the main central chamber. The interior of the asteroid was big enough to hold at least two ships the size of the Aurora if parked carefully.

“Captain, we’re receiving docking instructions from Karuzara Port Control,” Loki announced. “They want us to take up station on the starboard side of the main docking platform, as close in as we can put her.”

“Very well, Mister Sheehan,” Nathan answered. “You got this?” Nathan asked Josh.

“I got it, Captain. No worries.”

Josh slowly maneuvered the Aurora into the main chamber, dropping her down toward the main docking platform that ran across the bottom half of the main chamber. Stopping all forward momentum, he continued drifting downward until he lined her up with the retractable mooring arms that the Karuzari technicians had recently installed.

Nathan was immediately reminded of the hydraulic mooring arms back at the Orbital Assembly Platform above the Earth, where the Aurora had been constructed. Her sister ship, the Celestia, was also being assembled there. She had been at least six months behind the Aurora in her build cycle. Nathan wondered if they had tried to pick up the pace of her build since the Aurora had disappeared. For the first time, he found himself wondering how his parents were doing. He wondered if they knew what had happened. His father undoubtedly knew something. At the very least, he knew that his son’s ship was missing and presumed lost. But did his mother know? It wouldn’t be unlike his father to hide such knowledge from her until he knew for sure what had happened. That had always been his style, making decisions for others as if they couldn’t make decisions for themselves.

“We’re in position,” Josh announced.

“Mooring arms are extending,” Loki added.

A moment later, there was a muffled thud and a mild vibration as the mooring clamps attached themselves to the Aurora’s hard-points on the outside of her hull.

“We have capture,” Loki announced.

“Kill all maneuvering systems, power down all flight controls, and signal engineering to bring the reactors down to minimal levels until further notice,” Nathan instructed.

“Yes, sir,” Josh answered.

“Comms, notify all hands; we are safely docked at Karuzara.”

“Yes, Captain,” Naralena answered.

“Lieutenant Commander, let’s set up a security detail for the port boarding hatch. Everything and everyone gets checked both coming and going. No exceptions.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nathan looked at Tug. “Just playing it safe, for both our sakes,” he assured him.

“A wise precaution, Captain,” Tug responded.

“Finally, some time off,” Josh exclaimed.

“Not so fast, Mister Hayes,” Nathan warned. “You two get cleaned up and get some chow. Then report to the simulator for training.”

“But Captain, we already know how to fly the ship,” Josh objected.

“Not well enough to train new flight teams. Until Commander Taylor returns to active duty, you guys are going to be training officers. So you need to work your way through every simulation program in the database. And believe me, there are a lot of them, and they are not easy. In fact, some of them will make you cry. So I suggest you get to it.”

“Yes, sir,” Josh agreed sheepishly, heading for the exit with Loki hot on his heels.

Jessica watched them exit then turned back toward Nathan. “Some of them will make you cry? Really?” she said sarcastically.

“Too strong?” Nathan asked, remembering when Captain Roberts had said much the same.

* * *

Nathan, Tug, and Vladimir made their way through the tube that led from the Aurora’s port boarding hatch to the Karuzara spaceport’s docking platform. The platform was nothing more than a long, wide, single-story box that stuck out from the inside wall of the asteroid about fifty meters. Telescopic mooring arms with electrically actuated clamps reached out from the docking platform and were connected to the Aurora to hold her in place. The boarding tube was also telescopic and used inflatable seals to create an airtight inner chamber once the tube was fully extended and locked onto the side of the ship. Vladimir himself had helped modify the mating skirt on the boarding tube to seal up properly against the Aurora during their last stay inside what was then a secret rebel hideout deep within the Darvano system. Now, however, it was the sovereign territory of the newly formed Karuzari government of which Tug was the leader.

The four of them exited the boarding tube, followed by Sergeant Weatherly and the captain’s security detail. As they walked out into the main docking hangar, they found Jalea and another man coming toward them. All around there were numerous technicians, some Karuzari and some Corinairans, all scurrying about doing their jobs as they prepared to begin their work on the Aurora.

“Jalea, a pleasure to see you again,” Nathan greeted.

“Captain, Lieutenant Commander, sir,” Jalea greeted. “May I present Mister Tonken,” she said, gesturing to the man standing to her right. “He is the dock foreman. He is on loan to us from the Corinairans. He is quite experienced in spacecraft repairs and will be supervising the Corinairan technicians who will be working on the exterior of your ship. I thought Lieutenant Commander Kamenetskiy would like to meet him.”

“Yes, of course,” Vladimir said. “It is an honor, sir.”

“The honor is all mine,” Mister Tonken insisted. “Please, allow me to show you our facilities,” he offered.

“Captain?”

“Enjoy yourself, Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan insisted. He turned and looked at Jessica. She instantly gestured for two men from their security detail to follow Vladimir and Mister Tonken, after which Sergeant Weatherly radioed for two more troops to join their team from inside the Aurora in order to bring them back up to strength.

Jalea cast a suspicious look toward Jessica, which the Lieutenant Commander returned with a wry smile.

Nathan noticed the tension. “On my orders, all senior staff are to be escorted by armed security personnel when away from the ship,” Nathan explained.

“A wise precaution,” Jalea noted. “Did you also order everyone to wear side arms?” she added, taking note of the weapons worn on the hips of all of the Aurora’s officers.

“My idea,” Jessica stated.

“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, “and there was far less resistance to that one.”

Jalea turned and started slowly toward the far end of the docking platform, headed for the doors that led into the main facility attached to the walls of the asteroid itself. “I have received your mission report, Captain. It was most impressive.”

“Tug did all the work,” Nathan insisted. “We just kept putting him in front of the drone so he could do it.”

“Nevertheless, heading deep into Takaran space carried its own risks.”

“I thought there were only a dozen or so Karuzari on Corinair,” Jessica said. “There’s got to be at least fifty people on this dock alone.”

“Yes. Most of them are on loan from Corinair. However I am happy to report that our own numbers have doubled in the last day and a half. Since word of the new Karuzari government was released, more members have come out of hiding. Some have been in hiding for years, from what I understand.”

“Have these people been properly vetted?” Jessica asked.

“Of course,” Jalea defended. “As much so as any of the Corinairans that are working here.”

“Then I guess the Corinairans are making good on their promise of support,” Nathan observed.

“Yes, in fact we have already received enough materials, equipment, and manpower to repair the structural damage and the hole in the bow of your ship, Captain.”

“I’m sure that will make Vladimir quite happy,” Nathan observed.

“And what of the Yamaro?” Tug inquired.

“The Corinairans have agreed to move the Yamaro into a nearby hollowed-out asteroid. It does not have the existing facilities inside as this one did, but it is big enough to hold the Yamaro. They have proposed that the Yamaro herself remain mostly intact to act as the inner shell, rather than tear her completely apart.”

“Makes sense,” Nathan agreed. “She still has working power plants, life support, crew accommodations, and a functioning flight deck.”

“It would be easier to use the Yamaro’s fabricators in their current environment, as it could take weeks to remove them and set them up elsewhere.”

“Another advantage to their plan is that the inside of the asteroid still has a considerable amount of raw materials. Therefore, the additional structures and components needed to complete the conversion can be manufactured in situ, thus accelerating the process.”

“Being in close proximity to Karuzara will make it easier to apply weapons and technology stripped from the Yamaro to the Aurora and other Corinairan spacecraft,” Tug added.

“It all sounds like a reasonable plan,” Nathan agreed. “Do they have a way to tow the Yamaro to this asteroid?”

“They are moving two cargo haulers in from one of the outer worlds now,” Jalea advised. “They should be ready to start the towing process in a day or two.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ve got things under control here,” Nathan decided. “Where are we headed now?”

“I thought I would show you around the complex until it is time for our departure.”

“Departure?” Nathan asked. “Departure to where?”

“Back to Corinair, Captain,” Jalea told him. “You and Tug have a treaty to sign.”

* * *

The lobby of the largest building left standing had been decorated as lavishly as possible considering the stress the rebuilding of Aitkenna had placed on the city’s available resources. There had been some controversy over the ceremony itself, as some felt the pomp and circumstance was inappropriate considering the many thousands of citizens still living in squalor in the hastily assembled survivor camps. In the end, it was decided that the ceremony would serve to inspire hope in the hearts and minds of the displaced citizens of not only Aitkenna, but the entire planet of Corinair, as well as the other minor worlds in the Darvano system.

With the help of Chief Montrose and a few Corinairan tailors, Nathan and Cameron had managed to put together something that resembled dress uniforms. Although their attire for the occasion would not have met fleet standards, it was sufficiently impressive for the evening’s events.

Tug and Jalea had also put together uniforms of a sort befitting the minimalistic ways of the Karuzari. Since they were now officially a nation, their entire adult population of fifty-seven men and women also comprised their military. The Corinairans had provided them with standard black uniform pants and shirts, to which the Karuzari had added stark white tunics to be worn as a simple dress uniform. As leaders of the new Karuzari nation, Tug and Jalea had added simple red baldrics hanging from their left shoulders down to the opposite hip where they fastened to their gun belts.

The Corinari officers in attendance were, of course, far more impressive in their understated black dress uniforms. Rather than the subdued gray trim and piping used on their basic duty wear, their dress wear used dazzling gold trim and piping, as well as bright red sashes around their waists that held ceremonial swords at their hips. By all accounts the appearance of the Corinari greatly belittled that of the Karuzari and of the two representatives of Earth, but the ceremony was more for the benefit of the previously oppressed people of Corinair than it was for their two new allies.

Despite his objections, Sergeant Weatherly had also been given a dress uniform similar to those worn by Nathan and Cameron. As the other four members of the captain’s security detail were Corinari troops on loan to the Aurora, they wore the same dress uniforms as their Corinari brethren, the only difference being the fleet comm-sets hanging on their left ears as well as the heavier armaments they carried.

As they entered the decorated lobby, Nathan saw that Jessica would have been pleased by the security measures in place. They had undergone full retinal and ID checks upon entering, and there were armed Corinari guards positioned at every exit. In addition, he had noticed Corinari snipers on the mezzanine above and pairs of guards patrolling the crowd itself.

Getting past the main security checkpoint carrying weapons had been the difficult part, and in the end everyone except for their security detail had been forced to give up their side arms. Surprisingly, Nathan found himself feeling quite vulnerable without his sidearm, despite the fact that a few weeks ago he would’ve argued against carrying it at all. He shuddered at the thought of Jessica being ordered to give up her sidearm. It undoubtedly would have been an ugly scene.

The cavernous lobby appeared to be quite crowded, despite the fact that only a few hundred people had been allowed to attend. In addition, there were digi-cams set up at several key locations in order to broadcast the event to not only those watching through the system-wide communications network, but also for the thousands more gathered in the streets outside who were watching the ceremony via massive viewing screens erected on the sides of buildings. Those thousands outside, and the millions viewing online, all hoped to be part of a moment in history. It was an auspicious moment for the people of the Darvano system. Nathan only hoped it would eventually be considered as such by the people of Earth, as well.