Mitchell's Revenge

“Thanks Admiral, we’ll see you in a couple of hours,” the sysadmin said and severed the connection with the Cygnus. She stretched in her seat and gazed out the window towards the green and brown planet below.

The small settlement of Verdant on CX9 had grown outwards from the edges of the spaceport. Around a thousand people now called it their home. Some lived in the settlement, whilst other more hardy souls lived in the wilderness, sometimes many days trek away.

The terrain provided a military skills training ground that was unique in the Karhu system. A military base had been established a few kilometres from Verdant with facilities for several hundred personnel. The base was currently bustling with crew as they decided what they were going to do whilst on leave.

CX9 was renowned for its wildlife. Hunting expeditions were always popular. There was also bush walking, wild river rafting, climbing and other adventure sports available to those who didn’t like to hunt. A tourism industry of sorts had grown up around these activities, enabling first timers to learn with trained help.

The transport hub that orbited CX9 served as a semi-military base for the Karhu system. Four docking bays were used exclusively by the military. The other four were shared by whoever needed to repair, re-stock, or simply take a break from transporting raw materials and minerals from EQ2 to other systems. Today was just like any other day. Two of the military’s deep space reconnaissance vessels were docked for their annual overhaul. Most of their crew were planet side.

The third ship docked at the transport hub was a brand new fast freighter belonging to the fledgling Karhunpenti Freight Line. Its’ first consignment had been safely delivered and most of the crew were taking a break on the planet below. The techs were busy checking the performance indicators after the ships’ first long haul delivery.

The Karhu system military training facility on CX9 had several surface to space ships, two of which were currently located at the spaceport on the surface. The operation was small, but it was enough to defend the system from pirates and the occasional alien incursion.

Admiral Bokkveld and his crew were looking forward to a break on CX9. Since their rescue of Mitchell’s Revenge, and the dispatch of the Eridanian warship at the edge of the Karhu system, some of their supplies were running low. It was time to re-arm, re-stock, and give the crew some time off.

The Cygnus was on its final approach to the transport hub. Admiral Bokkveld had just finished confirmation of docking details with the sysadmin when something made him look at their external vid feed of the station. The hair prickled on the back of his neck.

He watched in horror as a Lumberjack class freighter materialised in the core of the station and promptly exploded. Toxic waste hurtled into the surrounding space.

“Activate force fields!” the Admiral shouted. “Reverse thrusters! Now!”

The crew on the bridge responded instantly. The Cygnus began to back away from the explosion. They watched as debris from the collision and pieces of the freighter began to spin towards them. Three more explosions flickered briefly and died. More debris hurtled away from the point of impact.

“Anyone know what that freighter was carrying?” demanded the Admiral.

“I’m picking up high radioactivity from the debris,” replied the navigator. “Odds on it was toxic waste.”

“Found it,” said the coms tech. “The ship was the Baux. A heavy hauler owned by Baryon Mining. It was returning to the Karhu system for an FTL fix at the U.S.E. shipyard off EQ2.”

“You don’t say,” said the Admiral quietly. “I hope that was the last one.”

“What do you mean Admiral?” asked the engineer. “The last one?”

“Never mind that now,” replied the Admiral. “Warn the base on CX9 that they will experience some toxic fallout. Once the worst of it disperses they can get some crews up here to properly dispose of the rest. I’m sorry folks, but we’re going to be stuck on board for a while longer. What else can you tell me Ronda?” He turned towards the coms tech.

“Two of our ships were docked at the station. We’ve lost two deep space reconnaissance vessels. Fortunately ninety percent of their crew are planet side. The station’s completely destroyed. And a brand new freighter from the Karhunpenti Line has been totalled.”

“Admiral, I’m getting signs of life from some of the station debris,” said the navigator. “There might be some survivors.”

“Stop right here! Our force field should hold. Get a couple of salvage crews out there,” said the Admiral. “But be careful of the radiation. Christof, you know what to do.”

Second in command Christof Lak began to organise his crew. Rescue teams were quickly dispatched in specially designed salvage craft which could hold up to six extra personnel. The survivors would be brought back to the medical team on board the Cyngus for assessment and treatment. Toxic waste skin conditions would be their biggest problem. Lak instructed the med team to prepare and stand by.

Admiral Bokkveld turned back to his control board and studied a replay of the vid feed. Universal Starship Enterprises were in deep trouble. He reflected that the military were lucky that only two of their ships had been docked and that the crew were planet side at the time. While Lak managed the disaster here, the Admiral decided to talk to Tim.

“Ronda, connect me to Tim Stern at U.S.E. headquarters please,” he asked. He waited while she made the connection.

“It’s not a clear channel Admiral. There’s too much debris to get a good signal,” she advised as Tim answered the call himself.

“Admiral,” Tim’s voice sounded strained through the static. “What the hell just happened?”

“The Baux jumped into the centre of the CX9 transport hub. The hub is destroyed. We’ve got rescue teams going out now. And a toxic waste problem. We’ve lost two military reconnaissance vessels, and a private freighter was docked there as well,” Bokkveld replied.

“The Captain of the Baux is an idiot of the first order!” shouted Tim. “As soon as we learned of the FTL fault we advised him not to engage the drive. We were expecting them back in another week. The fault was so random that anything could happen.”

“He must have decided he’d rather be fast than safe,” replied Bokkveld. “How many more ships are there?”

“Just one,” said Tim. “And it’s safely docked here with us. We’re repairing the FTL drive now. Lauri’s doing the forensics before we apply our fix.”

The connection began to crackle. Waste ricocheted off the protective force field around the Cygnus. Large pieces of debris began to float into view. Lak reported that one of the salvage craft was returning with survivors.

“We’ll talk later,” said Bokkveld as the connection to Tim disintegrated. He smacked the edge of his control board in frustration. “I didn’t want to get involved in any of this. It’s a mess. Christof, how many survivors have we got so far?”

“Just six Admiral,” he replied. “They’re in pretty bad shape. The med crew are receiving them now.”

Andreus Bokkveld turned back to his control board. He watched the vid footage again. The loss of the transport hub was going to make life difficult. The Karhu system would be vulnerable if they couldn’t re-arm and resupply the ship soon.