* * *
Stepping out of the lift, Celix began walking to the control center door. Taking a deep breath, he let it out as he punched his code into the keypad and waited for the door to open.
Brinks’ Edge main control center was huge. The control center had been removed from a ship named Fist in Face when translated literally. The entire species that had created Fist in Face, the cryeis, was obsessed with geometric shapes. This obsession was apparent in the shape of the room which was comprised of two identical geometric shapes called a ‘Pentagonal Cupola’, a bowl-like concave shape. The bottom is five sides and connects to the rim which has ten sides. This produces five square sections, connecting all of the pentagon’s sides to the outer decagon, with a triangular section filling the spaces between.
The room was an open space large enough to encompass a lavish cargo-hold on most medium cruisers. In the center of the room, a pentagonal platform was suspended via a group of five posts from above and below. Below the platform, a pentagonal cupola dipped downward, with its rim beginning at the edge of the hull. An identical cupola rose upward into the ship, sharing the same rim as the downward cupola.
The lower cupola’s framework held thick glass panes in place, allowing a line-of-sight view into space, while the upper cupola’s panes held video screens instead. All of the screens could be changed to show any information the crew wanted, but they defaulted to a display of space from the opposite side of the craft.
A reinforced glass floor in the platform allowed the crew an unobstructed view to the lower cupola. Various consoles and displays ringed the edge of the platform and a metal catwalk, taken from a Ule ship, served as a bridge between the platform and the doorway to rest of the ship.
Celix walked quickly across the catwalk to the platform; he was extremely late for the staff meeting. Looking ahead to the circular meeting table in the center of the platform, he saw that everyone except Selarr had already arrived.
Boron Nicks, Rice Cardigan and Ristana Pelose were sitting at the table, listening to Captain Samuel Brinks, who was talking and gesturing at a hologram which floated over the meeting table. The hologram showed a scale representation of their destination, the planet Fluorené, and the defensive field of mines encompassing it.“...doomed,” was all Celix could hear, as the Captain finished talking.
“Why don’t we just blast ‘em all?” Boron suggested in a joking manner, although he was actually quite serious. “Then just fly right up and deliver the package.” Boron was a human box-baby, genetically manipulated to be less intelligent and more muscular than average. He wasn’t the only one though, the varieties of box-babies numbered about 150 and spanned many species, all genetically manipulated in some fashion.
Everyone laughed at his suggestion.
Taking a seat around the table, Celix said, “I’m quite sure that the PGC would not be happy with that bill. Not to mention the Fluorené government.” This caused a resurgence of laughter.
On the outer ring of consoles, a beep sounded but was drowned out by the laughter. It was accompanied by a flash from a blue indicator light but both went unnoticed.
Captain Brinks stood next to his chair, like he always did at meetings. He wore black pants and a form-fitting grey shirt. He straightened his dark red hat and scratched his brown beard, patiently waiting for the laughter to die off.
“Once Selarr’s program calculates a safe path through the minefield, we will proceed; I want to be in the minefield before the night cycle begins.” Looking at Celix for the first time, Brinks saw his wet hair and damp uniform and giving him an odd look before continuing. “Having the computer pilot the ship along that path was a good idea, Celix; it will require split-second timing.”
“Always glad to be of assistance, Captain.” Celix feigned a bow in his chair.
Covered head to toe in short, silver fur, Rice Cardigan always made sure it was tidy and well-groomed. She was disgusted by Celix today. With wet hair and an unkempt face, he was atrocious. Shuddering, she broke her gaze and began studying the simulation again.
Brinks noticed Rice studying the hologram intently and knew there was a reason. “What have we missed, Cardigan?”
Rice didn’t answer Brinks right away. She reversed the simulation and started it again, studying it with the same intensity as before. Everyone else studied it too, trying in vain to see what she had spotted.
Rice was a riznol and unlike other riznols she was patient, quiet and logical. When the first colony ships arrived from Earth centuries ago, riznols became fascinated with domesticated cats, never having seen something which so closely resembled them. Oddly, over the centuries, they had come to mimic their feline counterpart’s cantankerous attitudes. Rice didn’t care to be around her species and hated cats. She had found that a ship was the perfect place to be, since riznols dislike space travel. That didn’t mean Rice Cardigan liked space travel, but it did mean she was able to tolerate it.
Finally satisfied, she replied. “There is a small opening, in which this set of mines,” she stood and pointed to a mine group, “are spaced farther away from each other than the rest; see how the mines flow around the space as they move about?” She entered some commands into the console embedded into the table in front of her and a line appeared in the hologram, traveling through the mines straight to the planet. “If you watch closely, after the opening closes, there’s a ‘bubble’ where the mines flow around and it moves into the minefield, traveling straight to the inside to where the planet is.” Sitting back down, she added, “The opening exists only for a short time.”
“Rice, play it again, please.” Ristana spoke for the first time
She reversed it and played it again. The group waited, watching closely to see what she had shown them. The ever-shifting array of mines seemed random, without a pattern.
There it was, a larger separation between the mines, right on the edge of the minefield. The opening lasted only a second. As they watched, a bubble of space free of mines traveled through to the inside.
Celix looked confused. “Why would they purchase an impenetrable minefield with a front door?”
“I don’t know.” Boron had never understood rhetorical questions. “I would not order a minefield from the company that set this one up.”
Ristana smiled at Boron. “Neither would I.”
“What speed’s the sim playing?” Brinks asked.
“The simulation is playing at ten times real.” Rice answered.
“Okay, so it’s only a ten second window.” The captain took a deep breath, “Rice, see if there have been any more of these ‘bubbles.’ If there have, calculate when the next one might occur.” He looked at Celix. “Go find out why Selarr wasn’t here and have her let me know how the calculations are coming. Everyone else, back to your duties. Dismissed.” As they stood to leave the table. “Oh, and Celix, ask her to patch the inter-ship communication link again so it’s working before we enter the minefield.”
Celix left and Boron decided to follow. Rice moved to a console and began typing instructions into the computer. Captain Brinks studied the simulation still.
“There,” Rice said, “I’ve instructed the computer to locate any other patterns matching what we found. It shouldn't take long.” She swiveled her chair around to face the captain, but a blinking light caught her eye and she grabbed the console, stopping the spin. Looking at a display, she was surprised by what she saw, “There was an in-bound jumpgate connection established.”
This interested Brinks. “When?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Locate the ship. If it’s Flourené, we’ll need a better spot to hide.”
Moving to another console, Rice entered some commands. “The only evidence of another ship is when it first emerged from the gate--” She stopped short. “It was a slivership, Captain.”
Not wasting a second, Samuel Brinks ran to the pilot station. “We’re exposed to the jumpgate, I’m sure they had no problem spotting us.” He
jumped into the seat and turned to look at Rice. “We need to hide; no one uses sliverships to be neighborly.”
He began flipping switches, starting the engine. But the engines didn’t green-light, meaning they weren’t working properly. Brinks slammed a fist on the console, but the lights stayed off. “Selarr, what have you done this time?” He said to no one.
“Um, Captain?” The voice was next to his ear.
Filled with adrenaline, the captain reflexively jumped into the air, startled. He whipped around to see Voslari hovering behind the chair.“Vos!” She was trying to hold in a laugh.
“I’m sorry.” She composed her face. “The engine won’t work for a while; Selarr said that she’s got crews cleaning the coolant tubes.”
Sagging back into the chair, Sam sighed. “After this job, Selarr will fix the intercom system permanently. Then there will be no excuse for not informing me of debilitating procedures.”
“That will be quite an undertaking, Captain,” Rice said, ”there are many alien technologies that need to work in concert; problems will always arise. I’m surprised it works as well as it does.”
“I know the issues. I’ll buy a wireless system if I have to!” He slammed his fist on the console again in frustration. “Vos, please go tell Selarr that we need to have the engine working in ten minutes.” Voslari raised her eyebrows at the short time-span. “And tell her we will need those calculations soon too. She’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“Oh, the calculations...they failed. I was just talking with her when the computer said they couldn’t be completed.”
“Great. Okay, hopefully plan B works...Please go now, tell her to get us moving.”
“Aye, Captain.” Voslari whizzed away, angling up, taking a straight shot to the room Selarr was in.
Captain Brinks removed his hat and ran his fingers through his short brown hair. “Rice? Some days...”
“Yes, Captain.”