June was annoyed.
-
June was annoyed. The pervasive, low hum of the space station seemed to have seeped into her bones and brain and made her fingertips tingle. She could not wait to leave this archaic rustbucket behind, and to that end she pushed her way through the crowded docking floor with more vigor than required.
Past the popular liners and freighters, the crowd thinned, and June's stress monitor dropped to yellow. As she followed her nav-line towards the smaller docks, the ships grew more varied and the crowd rougher.
"Hey! You! Cheap fare!" A bearded person waved and thumped their fist on the hull of a rickety freighter, which seemed to be made of more welds than panels. June made the universal gesture of refusal, which was answered with the universal response for self-love, and quickened her steps.
She had to catch her breath when she finally found the end of the nav-line. What she could see of the ship in front of her looked martial in form but was decorated with artful graffiti; even the name of the ship was painted in beautiful, curved letters: TORI.
She was interrupted by a comms ping from the ship: «Ah, ya made it.»
A bulkhead released with a heavy thud and swung open, and a person walked down the gangway. They were smaller than June, but maybe twice as wide, with short, salt and pepper hair and a matching, neatly trimmed beard, dressed in formal, brown clothes, reminiscent of a uniform.
"Welcome aboard the Tori, June. I am captain Konrad." The captain said and extended a hand.
1/X
June followed Captain Konrad into the spaceship. As soon as they had entered, the bulkhead closed again with a soft hiss and a satisfying clunk, and the ever-present hum of the space station subsided. June let out a sigh of relief and felt her cramped neck relax, just a little. There was still so much to worry about. Then she realized that it was not just the hum, but the feeds as well. Her connex tried to ramp up transmit power briefly, then gave up.
The corridors were much tighter than June had imagined. The only ships she had ever been on had been corporate, all shiny, spacious, and soulless. The TORI felt different, not tight and shabby but lived-in and cozy, where things that were used had polished handles and the walls were decorated with more graffiti.
The captain led her into a room with a big table where someone was already waiting for them. A small person with long, iridescent hair, wearing oversized, baggy clothes covered in patches and logos June could not recognize. A stark contrast to the tidy captain. As soon as they entered, June got an introductory feed packet from Marga, who sat up and stopped biting her nails.
"So how does this work, exactly?" June sat down and set her backpack on the table. "I give you the data, and you let me join the cooperative?"
"Something like that." Captain Konrad smiled. "We'll take you to co-op space either way. If you can stay there or on the Tori, is up to you. For now, Marga would really like to see the data; you were pretty stingy with details."
"Here goes nothing." June sighed and emptied the backpack onto the table, producing dozens of paper notebooks. Another load off her shoulders. Literally.
Marga's eyes bulged.
"Paper?!?"
2/X
-
June followed Captain Konrad into the spaceship. As soon as they had entered, the bulkhead closed again with a soft hiss and a satisfying clunk, and the ever-present hum of the space station subsided. June let out a sigh of relief and felt her cramped neck relax, just a little. There was still so much to worry about. Then she realized that it was not just the hum, but the feeds as well. Her connex tried to ramp up transmit power briefly, then gave up.
The corridors were much tighter than June had imagined. The only ships she had ever been on had been corporate, all shiny, spacious, and soulless. The TORI felt different, not tight and shabby but lived-in and cozy, where things that were used had polished handles and the walls were decorated with more graffiti.
The captain led her into a room with a big table where someone was already waiting for them. A small person with long, iridescent hair, wearing oversized, baggy clothes covered in patches and logos June could not recognize. A stark contrast to the tidy captain. As soon as they entered, June got an introductory feed packet from Marga, who sat up and stopped biting her nails.
"So how does this work, exactly?" June sat down and set her backpack on the table. "I give you the data, and you let me join the cooperative?"
"Something like that." Captain Konrad smiled. "We'll take you to co-op space either way. If you can stay there or on the Tori, is up to you. For now, Marga would really like to see the data; you were pretty stingy with details."
"Here goes nothing." June sighed and emptied the backpack onto the table, producing dozens of paper notebooks. Another load off her shoulders. Literally.
Marga's eyes bulged.
"Paper?!?"
2/X
June sat next to Marga at the big table in what seemed to be the ship's common area. She had sorted the notebooks chronologically and recognized the glint in Marga's eyes as she leafed through the notebooks, indicating that she was recording what she saw. Captain Konrad was watching them with an unreadable, but not unfriendly face.
"Please don't digitize this." June laid a hand on Marga's shoulder. "If this leaks I'm dead."
"Don't worry." Marga gestured around the room. "This part of the ship is caged and gapped, we're on a private node."
June was surprised when a feed for a workspace opened for a shared database with the transcribed entries. In her old lab no one would have done that without payment, orders, or a subpoena.
"Yeah, that's above my paygrade." Captain Konrad stood up and headed for the door, then looked at Marga. "You let me know." Marga nodded absent-mindedly.
June checked the data and was surprised how much of it was already processed and annotated.
"You are very fast." She looked at Marga, whose eyes had the unmistakable glaze of someone deep in a feed. "And very thorough."
"Got a little help." Marga smirked without looking at June. "Explain this to me."
Tables and plots popped up on June's feed and the two of them spent the next hours pouring over the data, until Marga finally closed the workspace and looked at June with big eyes.
"Well I'll be damned."
3/X
-
June sat next to Marga at the big table in what seemed to be the ship's common area. She had sorted the notebooks chronologically and recognized the glint in Marga's eyes as she leafed through the notebooks, indicating that she was recording what she saw. Captain Konrad was watching them with an unreadable, but not unfriendly face.
"Please don't digitize this." June laid a hand on Marga's shoulder. "If this leaks I'm dead."
"Don't worry." Marga gestured around the room. "This part of the ship is caged and gapped, we're on a private node."
June was surprised when a feed for a workspace opened for a shared database with the transcribed entries. In her old lab no one would have done that without payment, orders, or a subpoena.
"Yeah, that's above my paygrade." Captain Konrad stood up and headed for the door, then looked at Marga. "You let me know." Marga nodded absent-mindedly.
June checked the data and was surprised how much of it was already processed and annotated.
"You are very fast." She looked at Marga, whose eyes had the unmistakable glaze of someone deep in a feed. "And very thorough."
"Got a little help." Marga smirked without looking at June. "Explain this to me."
Tables and plots popped up on June's feed and the two of them spent the next hours pouring over the data, until Marga finally closed the workspace and looked at June with big eyes.
"Well I'll be damned."
3/X
The rest of the crew had joined June and Marga in the meeting room, and together they were looking at a big screen showing a star chart with a destination marker. Although she found it interesting that they were not using a feed instead, June was not paying the screen much attention; she was much more interested in the three new people she had not met before.
Bjorn, apparently the second in command, wore the same brown, not-quite-uniform, as the captain. With his clean shaven face and tidy haircut he looked much more like he belonged on a spaceship than the others. He had asked lots and lots of questions. Good questions to build a mental picture, while accepting her expertise. June liked that.
Then there was the one called 'Rip'. They were bald, tall, and massive – a mountain of a person – but had come wearing an apron and bearing fresh cookies of excellent quality. Their genuine smile, when June had praised the treats, stood in stark contrast to the crooked nose and scars all over their rugged face.
The last person staying in the background and observing with a stoic face was Ada. Her long, black hair was bundled in a ponytail and her simple, but elegant clothes matched her demeanor. When June asked what she did on the ship, she had said: "They get in trouble and I patch them back together, and in return, they keep me out of trouble."
"Listen up." Captain Konrad's voice pulled everyone's attention. "Marga still wants to cross-check details, but it looks like June has actually found a new fold-gate."
Attention silence turned into stunned silence. June remembered the first time she had accepted that what she had found was not an artifact in the data or a mistake and smiled.
He tapped the marker on the screen. "And it is sublight reachable." A series of waypoints appeared on the display. His face grew stern. "This does not leave the ship."
Ada was now standing next to June, staring at the display with a smirk.
"So you come bearing trouble."
4/X
-
The rest of the crew had joined June and Marga in the meeting room, and together they were looking at a big screen showing a star chart with a destination marker. Although she found it interesting that they were not using a feed instead, June was not paying the screen much attention; she was much more interested in the three new people she had not met before.
Bjorn, apparently the second in command, wore the same brown, not-quite-uniform, as the captain. With his clean shaven face and tidy haircut he looked much more like he belonged on a spaceship than the others. He had asked lots and lots of questions. Good questions to build a mental picture, while accepting her expertise. June liked that.
Then there was the one called 'Rip'. They were bald, tall, and massive – a mountain of a person – but had come wearing an apron and bearing fresh cookies of excellent quality. Their genuine smile, when June had praised the treats, stood in stark contrast to the crooked nose and scars all over their rugged face.
The last person staying in the background and observing with a stoic face was Ada. Her long, black hair was bundled in a ponytail and her simple, but elegant clothes matched her demeanor. When June asked what she did on the ship, she had said: "They get in trouble and I patch them back together, and in return, they keep me out of trouble."
"Listen up." Captain Konrad's voice pulled everyone's attention. "Marga still wants to cross-check details, but it looks like June has actually found a new fold-gate."
Attention silence turned into stunned silence. June remembered the first time she had accepted that what she had found was not an artifact in the data or a mistake and smiled.
He tapped the marker on the screen. "And it is sublight reachable." A series of waypoints appeared on the display. His face grew stern. "This does not leave the ship."
Ada was now standing next to June, staring at the display with a smirk.
"So you come bearing trouble."
4/X
June watched the shared feed as Marga put the finishing touches on the data. Cleanups, annotations, and references appeared all over the place with extraordinary speed. Unease started churning in her stomach, and a cold, calculating part in her head began going over her contingency plan.
"I thought we were on an island node?" June leaned forward and studied Marga's face while she sent out stealth probes to scan the perimeter of the feed.
"We are." Marga kept staring into infinity. "But we do have a powerful neural subsystem." She blinked and looked June in the eyes with a gentle sadness. "We don't lie to you. If we need what you have, we take it."
June's probes were terminated.
"I want to send these queries out on the global. Can you check if they're vague enough?" A series of documents appeared on the feed, and Marga stood and stretched. "I'll get us some drinks." She took the last cookie and left.
The unease in June's stomach was replaced by something else. A deep loneliness.
5/X
-
June watched the shared feed as Marga put the finishing touches on the data. Cleanups, annotations, and references appeared all over the place with extraordinary speed. Unease started churning in her stomach, and a cold, calculating part in her head began going over her contingency plan.
"I thought we were on an island node?" June leaned forward and studied Marga's face while she sent out stealth probes to scan the perimeter of the feed.
"We are." Marga kept staring into infinity. "But we do have a powerful neural subsystem." She blinked and looked June in the eyes with a gentle sadness. "We don't lie to you. If we need what you have, we take it."
June's probes were terminated.
"I want to send these queries out on the global. Can you check if they're vague enough?" A series of documents appeared on the feed, and Marga stood and stretched. "I'll get us some drinks." She took the last cookie and left.
The unease in June's stomach was replaced by something else. A deep loneliness.
5/X
Captain Konrad was studying the projected route to the new gate while slowly shaking his head and grumbling dissatisfied.
"Who made this?" He looked at June.
"Uh, me." June blushed. "I couldn't really go to nav control and ask for a route. What's wrong with it? I had to kinda learn starnav on the fly."
"It's technically fine." The captain rotated the view on the screen and zoomed in on a slightly blurry part close to the beginning. "It'll take a couple months, if all goes right." The projected path went right through the unsharp blob. "You know what this means?" He pointed at the aberration.
"It said unreliable sensor readings." June sighed. "It's not, is it?"
"It might be, but if we look at the surroundings, it looks like a very good place to play hide and seek from." Captain Konrad looked at Rip. "Far enough to make it impractical to attack, close enough to work as a base." He highlighted some darker spots. "Asteroids to mine."
"Pirates?" June's eyes widened.
"Maybe." The captain connected to the screen, and several alternative routes appeared. "Or some con hiding a secret." The routes shifted, and some vanished again. "Or something else." Only a handful of routes remained. "Taking a detour would add weeks." He looked at Bjorn. "We'll add 'finding out what that is' to the list."
"Oh, I have something else for the list then." June said. "I'm loanbound; I cannot leave the station."
Captain Konrad groaned.
6/X
-
R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
-
Captain Konrad was studying the projected route to the new gate while slowly shaking his head and grumbling dissatisfied.
"Who made this?" He looked at June.
"Uh, me." June blushed. "I couldn't really go to nav control and ask for a route. What's wrong with it? I had to kinda learn starnav on the fly."
"It's technically fine." The captain rotated the view on the screen and zoomed in on a slightly blurry part close to the beginning. "It'll take a couple months, if all goes right." The projected path went right through the unsharp blob. "You know what this means?" He pointed at the aberration.
"It said unreliable sensor readings." June sighed. "It's not, is it?"
"It might be, but if we look at the surroundings, it looks like a very good place to play hide and seek from." Captain Konrad looked at Rip. "Far enough to make it impractical to attack, close enough to work as a base." He highlighted some darker spots. "Asteroids to mine."
"Pirates?" June's eyes widened.
"Maybe." The captain connected to the screen, and several alternative routes appeared. "Or some con hiding a secret." The routes shifted, and some vanished again. "Or something else." Only a handful of routes remained. "Taking a detour would add weeks." He looked at Bjorn. "We'll add 'finding out what that is' to the list."
"Oh, I have something else for the list then." June said. "I'm loanbound; I cannot leave the station."
Captain Konrad groaned.
6/X
"So, how much do you owe?" Bjorn asked and paled when he received June's latest statement. "How? Did you buy a planet?" He gasped.
"Some of it is inherited; my parents weren't good at playing the corpo game." June shrugged. "But I used most of it for my clandestine operation." She nodded towards the star map on the screen. "You can't hide anything from the corps, but you can disguise and distort it enough to pass for something else."
"So someone there might piece this together as well?" Captain Konrad looked concerned.
"There's a slight possibility." June said while chewing her lip. "I did my best to hide it in legitimate deep space research and made sure to produce enough output so I wouldn't draw attention and get more funds." She looked at the notebooks. "The most interesting stuff is only in those, but they have all the underlying data."
"So they must not get suspicious when you leave." Bjorn nervously thumped his fingers on the table. "We'd have to buy you out."
June nodded. "Only way out of a corps is via cash or corpse."
7/X
-
"So, how much do you owe?" Bjorn asked and paled when he received June's latest statement. "How? Did you buy a planet?" He gasped.
"Some of it is inherited; my parents weren't good at playing the corpo game." June shrugged. "But I used most of it for my clandestine operation." She nodded towards the star map on the screen. "You can't hide anything from the corps, but you can disguise and distort it enough to pass for something else."
"So someone there might piece this together as well?" Captain Konrad looked concerned.
"There's a slight possibility." June said while chewing her lip. "I did my best to hide it in legitimate deep space research and made sure to produce enough output so I wouldn't draw attention and get more funds." She looked at the notebooks. "The most interesting stuff is only in those, but they have all the underlying data."
"So they must not get suspicious when you leave." Bjorn nervously thumped his fingers on the table. "We'd have to buy you out."
June nodded. "Only way out of a corps is via cash or corpse."
7/X
@asmw and now I am hooked to this Sci-Fi
No cats? I'm surprised, not a cat person myself so much, but I was expecting a ship cat somewhere
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@asmw and now I am hooked to this Sci-Fi
No cats? I'm surprised, not a cat person myself so much, but I was expecting a ship cat somewhere@Garonenur There's still time
-
"So, how much do you owe?" Bjorn asked and paled when he received June's latest statement. "How? Did you buy a planet?" He gasped.
"Some of it is inherited; my parents weren't good at playing the corpo game." June shrugged. "But I used most of it for my clandestine operation." She nodded towards the star map on the screen. "You can't hide anything from the corps, but you can disguise and distort it enough to pass for something else."
"So someone there might piece this together as well?" Captain Konrad looked concerned.
"There's a slight possibility." June said while chewing her lip. "I did my best to hide it in legitimate deep space research and made sure to produce enough output so I wouldn't draw attention and get more funds." She looked at the notebooks. "The most interesting stuff is only in those, but they have all the underlying data."
"So they must not get suspicious when you leave." Bjorn nervously thumped his fingers on the table. "We'd have to buy you out."
June nodded. "Only way out of a corps is via cash or corpse."
7/X
It took hours until June, and the crew of the Tori could finally find some rest. It was obvious that each and every one of them was tired beyond reason, but no one stopped talking until Captain Konrad put his foot down and sent the crew to their cabins.
June was now lying on a cot in a tiny spare room and trying to sleep, but her eyes were burning and her head was still buzzing. They were the first people she had shown her discovery, but revealing the secret had not provided the relief she had hoped for. What if they told someone else? What if she had made a mistake and there was nothing? What if they all died in a pirate ambush?
She tried to concentrate on her breathing and refocus.
Seven gates. That was a fact she had learned in kindergarten. They trace a route following the galaxies spiral, and the second gate is closest to Sol. She tried to remember the nursery rhyme but could not find it in the chaos left by the day. Humanity had worked for decades until they had gotten the Sol gate to open, but soon after that, any interference was forbidden. No experiments on the gates were allowed; they were 'vital infrastructure'.
June realized she was grinding her teeth in frustration. The greatest alien artifacts ever found, held hostage by politics and money, were reduced to an all-too convenient interstellar highway. The new gate belonged to her and she was planning on interfering.
She sighed and checked the levels on her dispensers: they were running on fumes. It had to suffice for now. She sent the command and felt her body relax. 'I shouldn't use them so much.' were her last thoughts before her consciousness drowned in black.
8/X
-
It took hours until June, and the crew of the Tori could finally find some rest. It was obvious that each and every one of them was tired beyond reason, but no one stopped talking until Captain Konrad put his foot down and sent the crew to their cabins.
June was now lying on a cot in a tiny spare room and trying to sleep, but her eyes were burning and her head was still buzzing. They were the first people she had shown her discovery, but revealing the secret had not provided the relief she had hoped for. What if they told someone else? What if she had made a mistake and there was nothing? What if they all died in a pirate ambush?
She tried to concentrate on her breathing and refocus.
Seven gates. That was a fact she had learned in kindergarten. They trace a route following the galaxies spiral, and the second gate is closest to Sol. She tried to remember the nursery rhyme but could not find it in the chaos left by the day. Humanity had worked for decades until they had gotten the Sol gate to open, but soon after that, any interference was forbidden. No experiments on the gates were allowed; they were 'vital infrastructure'.
June realized she was grinding her teeth in frustration. The greatest alien artifacts ever found, held hostage by politics and money, were reduced to an all-too convenient interstellar highway. The new gate belonged to her and she was planning on interfering.
She sighed and checked the levels on her dispensers: they were running on fumes. It had to suffice for now. She sent the command and felt her body relax. 'I shouldn't use them so much.' were her last thoughts before her consciousness drowned in black.
8/X
For the next couple of days, June was fascinated by the speed with which things developed. For all the rag-tag impression the Tori and her crew made at first glance, they were very effective at getting things done, and despite the importance of the situation, there was a lightness in the way they worked together.
When Rip came back to the Tori with a black eye, a sour mood, and confirmation that there was indeed a colony of freedom fighters – as they liked to call themselves – on the flight path, Ada handed them a bag of frozen peas and declared the need for 'team-building exercises', which consisted of laughter, food, drinks, and a board game which pitted the crew against an A.I. and was aptly called 'Cooperative'.
Marga could dive in the feeds for hours, unmoving and rarely blinking, which would regularly prompt one of the others to coax her out of her cabin – usually with a hot beverage – and go for a walk and talk. All June had ever gotten when she had vanished in her work for the corporation were report requests and health penalty warnings.
Captain Konrad and Bjorn were gone so much, she barely saw them, but every time they returned, she could see their faces light up a little. June tried to remember the last time she felt joy for a place, for a home, and found only child memories, faded and unsharp.
The daily reports felt like a get-together with friends, albeit very well informed friends with connections in all kinds of savory and unsavory places, both digital and physical.
Project 'Gatekeeper' was well on its way.
9/X
-
For the next couple of days, June was fascinated by the speed with which things developed. For all the rag-tag impression the Tori and her crew made at first glance, they were very effective at getting things done, and despite the importance of the situation, there was a lightness in the way they worked together.
When Rip came back to the Tori with a black eye, a sour mood, and confirmation that there was indeed a colony of freedom fighters – as they liked to call themselves – on the flight path, Ada handed them a bag of frozen peas and declared the need for 'team-building exercises', which consisted of laughter, food, drinks, and a board game which pitted the crew against an A.I. and was aptly called 'Cooperative'.
Marga could dive in the feeds for hours, unmoving and rarely blinking, which would regularly prompt one of the others to coax her out of her cabin – usually with a hot beverage – and go for a walk and talk. All June had ever gotten when she had vanished in her work for the corporation were report requests and health penalty warnings.
Captain Konrad and Bjorn were gone so much, she barely saw them, but every time they returned, she could see their faces light up a little. June tried to remember the last time she felt joy for a place, for a home, and found only child memories, faded and unsharp.
The daily reports felt like a get-together with friends, albeit very well informed friends with connections in all kinds of savory and unsavory places, both digital and physical.
Project 'Gatekeeper' was well on its way.
9/X
After another night with too little sleep, June and the crew of the Tori were assembled at the breakfast table (which was also the dinner, meeting, and board game table). Spending some of the meals together seemed important to them, which seemed alien to June, who had spent most of the meals in her life alone while reading through feeds, and she had turned out fine.
"'Project Gatekeeper' is a stupid name." Marga was nursing a bowl of soggy cereal with a pensive face.
"It's my gate; I found it and I'll keep it." June shrugged, then corrected herself. "OUR gate." She bit into her toast with jam, the fifth that morning, one for each available flavor. Apparently Rip was quite fond of making preserves. "What's your idea then?"
Rip had returned with an armful of coffee mugs and passed them around. "How about 'Project Gateaux'?" They accepted the communal groans with a bow.
"Always with the food puns!" Bjorn eyed the jars of jam. "I mean. Not that I'm complaining. You're just so... jam-packed with them." A short and awkward silence fell over the table.
Captain Konrad yawned into his hand and took a hearty sip of coffee. "I say we keep it; it's stuck in my head now anyways. Apropos: Emergency movie night tonight."
Marga groaned. "Noooo! Not another one of those boring, non-interactive, 2D snoozefests."
June looked confused. "Emergency? Movie?"
"Oh you'll see." Bjorn grinned. This time he got his groans. "What are we watching?"
"It's an all-time classic." The captain smiled. "Ghostbusters."
10/X
