Beer and Rum
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:13 am
The Space Pirate Roberts gazed across the open expanse of space. Stars twinkled in all directions, and the galactic core shone bright off to starboard. But in the distance ahead he waited for a sight he hadn't seen in years.
"Approaching coordinates, ETA 1 minute."
"Captain, nothing at the coordinates on scanners."
"Helmsman, decelerate, bring us down to 10% of cruising speed," Roberts commanded, "We don't want to overshoot."
"Aye Captain. Braking to 10%. New ETA 5 minutes."
Roberts drew his periscope from his long coat, and tried to make out any kind of shape in the emptiness that lay ahead. But all he could see were stars. However, it had to be here. This WAS the place. And yet, he saw nothing. His pursed lips curved into a slight frown.
"One minute to target," the helmsman reported.
"I still don't see anything captain," the science officer added. "I don't even see any gravitational distortion."
"Brighton, scan for anomalies in the vaccum fluctuations near the target coordinates. Wallace, full stop 20000 meters before the coordinates, if it's there we don't want to run into it."
The Rowdy Reveler slowed and stopped, the eyes of all crew were either fixated on the monitors or the forward viewports. Each man wanted to be the first to say they saw it, but all that greeted their eyes was empty space. Doubt danced around the minds of the crew; had Roberts led them astray?
Science officer Jax Brighton broke the silence, "Sir, the effect is small but noticeable. There is a region ahead of us, about 27 cubic kilometers, where there are no particle-antiparticle pairs."
"That's it!" Roberts flexed his arms and pounded his right fist into his left palm, sounding a loud clap that echoed off the hard adamantite walls of the bridge. "It's here! Prepare the boarding shuttle. Output the vacuum-fluctuation data to the nav of the shuttle. That cloak is the best I've ever seen, but it isn't perfect! Glory shall be ours today!"
Throughout the ship the crew buzzed about as drones in a beehive, preparing the the landing party. Ten men plus Roberts would board the shuttle, the other six would stay aboard the Reveler. Roberts gave final instructions to the bridge before heading down to the shuttle bay. "Orbit the anomaly, but do not sail through it, come around on the opposite side of it and then hold position. Once there we will launch the shuttle."
"Aye Captain."
The Rowdy Reveler came about on the other side of the anomaly. Still nothing greeted the eyes of the crew, for all anyone could tell they were circling nothing, but Roberts knew it was there. Down in the hangar Roberts had the crew affix a flare launcher under the nose of the shuttle. "Equip the tips of half of these flares with magnets, the other half shall receive bakelite capsules. We're going to find out what sticks. Get three men in EVA suits on board and equip them with drills and laser cutters. We probably can't find the entrance, we'll need to cut our way in. Mount one of the accessory pods with an aluminum powder sprayer and an electrode. Replace the other pod with a laser cannon. All men not in suits, grab your boarding gear and weapons, we don't know what we're going to find in here."
A few minutes later the shuttle was on its way towards the anomaly. As they approached they slowed to a crawl.
"Okay, spray this area with the flares."
"Aye!"
The navigator began to fire the flares, but in less than a second they shot back towards the ship, exploding off the forward viewport, startling everyone aboard.
"Full Stop!!" Roberts yelled out as he jumped over to the controls and yanked the inertial dampener lever before the startled navigator could react. "We're right upon it, you got too close to the anomaly. Reverse 10 metres and then spray it with the aluminum powder."
A static spray of aluminum burst forth from the port accessory pod, before impacting an invisible structure and adhering to it. "Modulate the pitch and yaw, get this spray all over the place, we want to be able to see it, the cloak be damned." The navigator complied, pitching and turning so that the spray hit a larger and larger area. Before their eyes the shape of a giant wall began to emerge. There were some very clean lines that cris-crossed around, indented into the wall, but overall it appeared to be quite smooth. The tank stuttered and then choked as the powder was exhausted. "Well, that will have to do. You three, get out there and get to work, I want us inside in an hour."
TBC
"Approaching coordinates, ETA 1 minute."
"Captain, nothing at the coordinates on scanners."
"Helmsman, decelerate, bring us down to 10% of cruising speed," Roberts commanded, "We don't want to overshoot."
"Aye Captain. Braking to 10%. New ETA 5 minutes."
Roberts drew his periscope from his long coat, and tried to make out any kind of shape in the emptiness that lay ahead. But all he could see were stars. However, it had to be here. This WAS the place. And yet, he saw nothing. His pursed lips curved into a slight frown.
"One minute to target," the helmsman reported.
"I still don't see anything captain," the science officer added. "I don't even see any gravitational distortion."
"Brighton, scan for anomalies in the vaccum fluctuations near the target coordinates. Wallace, full stop 20000 meters before the coordinates, if it's there we don't want to run into it."
The Rowdy Reveler slowed and stopped, the eyes of all crew were either fixated on the monitors or the forward viewports. Each man wanted to be the first to say they saw it, but all that greeted their eyes was empty space. Doubt danced around the minds of the crew; had Roberts led them astray?
Science officer Jax Brighton broke the silence, "Sir, the effect is small but noticeable. There is a region ahead of us, about 27 cubic kilometers, where there are no particle-antiparticle pairs."
"That's it!" Roberts flexed his arms and pounded his right fist into his left palm, sounding a loud clap that echoed off the hard adamantite walls of the bridge. "It's here! Prepare the boarding shuttle. Output the vacuum-fluctuation data to the nav of the shuttle. That cloak is the best I've ever seen, but it isn't perfect! Glory shall be ours today!"
Throughout the ship the crew buzzed about as drones in a beehive, preparing the the landing party. Ten men plus Roberts would board the shuttle, the other six would stay aboard the Reveler. Roberts gave final instructions to the bridge before heading down to the shuttle bay. "Orbit the anomaly, but do not sail through it, come around on the opposite side of it and then hold position. Once there we will launch the shuttle."
"Aye Captain."
The Rowdy Reveler came about on the other side of the anomaly. Still nothing greeted the eyes of the crew, for all anyone could tell they were circling nothing, but Roberts knew it was there. Down in the hangar Roberts had the crew affix a flare launcher under the nose of the shuttle. "Equip the tips of half of these flares with magnets, the other half shall receive bakelite capsules. We're going to find out what sticks. Get three men in EVA suits on board and equip them with drills and laser cutters. We probably can't find the entrance, we'll need to cut our way in. Mount one of the accessory pods with an aluminum powder sprayer and an electrode. Replace the other pod with a laser cannon. All men not in suits, grab your boarding gear and weapons, we don't know what we're going to find in here."
A few minutes later the shuttle was on its way towards the anomaly. As they approached they slowed to a crawl.
"Okay, spray this area with the flares."
"Aye!"
The navigator began to fire the flares, but in less than a second they shot back towards the ship, exploding off the forward viewport, startling everyone aboard.
"Full Stop!!" Roberts yelled out as he jumped over to the controls and yanked the inertial dampener lever before the startled navigator could react. "We're right upon it, you got too close to the anomaly. Reverse 10 metres and then spray it with the aluminum powder."
A static spray of aluminum burst forth from the port accessory pod, before impacting an invisible structure and adhering to it. "Modulate the pitch and yaw, get this spray all over the place, we want to be able to see it, the cloak be damned." The navigator complied, pitching and turning so that the spray hit a larger and larger area. Before their eyes the shape of a giant wall began to emerge. There were some very clean lines that cris-crossed around, indented into the wall, but overall it appeared to be quite smooth. The tank stuttered and then choked as the powder was exhausted. "Well, that will have to do. You three, get out there and get to work, I want us inside in an hour."
TBC