Briefing Room, VPSF Staging Yard
Alcor Junction, Mizar Alcor, Nemesis
0900 VST, February 11, 2481
Heat waves rose from the flat, tan colored desert plain of Mizar Alcor, causing everything to be distorted as if in a surrealistic fantasy world. The giant star, Altinac, hung low in the western sky, its brilliant red light casting a maroon tint over the landscape and everything in it. Several large pink clouds slowly drifted from the eastern coast of Mizar Alcor westward, towards the huge area of low pressure created by massive amounts of heated air rising high into the atmosphere at the giant continent's searing interior. The thin, bluish crescent of Mizar Alcor's largest moon, Lahm, was just beginning to rise over the distant mountains on the eastern horizon, thin whisps of white clouds just visible on its surface.
Pahlms stood looking out the giant windows of the briefing room, watching the activity in the rail yard below. A set of five DME-FA1 locomotives had just pulled into the yard and were being coupled to the consist of 250 freight cars they would be pulling to the ore terminal on the Mizar Plateau. The locomotives were each painted in the standard Ventura, Phoenix & Santa Fe Phoenixchrome livery of a red base coat with yellow lettering and a flat black top. The VPSF was one of the few freight-hauling railroads that still painted their equipment with an ornate logo, which in the case of the VPSF was known simply as “The Chief” logo.
Shortly after his arrival on the planet he completed some in-processing and received his IDs, badges, and sleeping accommodations for the night. Pahlms turned around as soon as he heard the sound of heavy-booted footsteps approaching behind him on the metal floor. A man, looking no younger than his early 40's, wearing the black military-style uniform of the VPSF Security Division walked towards him, staring straight into Pahlms's eyes as if trying to intimidate him.
As soon as the man reached Pahlms he extended his arm, “Howdy, I'm Yetsukah Megut, director of security for the Bone Gulch Express line. You must be Pahlms.”
Pahlms reached out and shook Yetsukah's hand, “Yep, that'd be me. Transferred here from the Industry's mining operations on Tiv'on.”
“Ahhh, a greenhorn”, Yetsukah smirked.
“Excuse me”, Pahlms squinted at the remark.
“Tiv'on, a planet well within regularly patrolled space.”
“Yes, and?”
“Nemesis. Things are very different here. Altinac is located on the edge of Republic space, the Stagecoach sector, about as far from Earth as a person can get. The Heavy Industries purchased the whole solar system about a year ago. That, along with frontier status of the sector means the CRDJE rarely patrols out here even though it's federal space. Well, the system falls under Imperial jurisdiction. However, that is not the point.”
Territorial boundaries, as well as a complex and sometimes confusing system of jurisdictions, were strictly obesrved within the CRDJE. Towns and cities gave way to counties and states, which in turn composed republics and continents. Planets and star systems were organized into larger groups called sectors. Imperial jurisdiction meant that a noble owned and was responsible for an area, in this case the entire star system.
“Yes, I read all that in the files during the trip here”, Pahlms answered.
Yetsukah pointed at the thick glass window, outside towards a large planetary defense emplacement on the edge of the staging yard, “We on our own out here. There are countless pirate groups and upstart governments beyond the edge of the frontier. We have a ball of rock very rich in minerals and petrochemicals. See where this is going?”
“Yes, I saw that well before now.”
“Good, let's get you to your living quarters and your 'mav, then we will be visiting our control center and the crews of the pair of trains you'll be escorting.”
Pahlms grabbed the handles of his bag and picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder as he grabbed his other bag with his free hand, then followed Yetsukah out of the briefing room.
“You'll be working eight days straight and have three off. It takes a little over two days for the trip to the mining area, about one to load the train, and about two days to return here. However, since we operate solo in our 'mavs, you'll be stopping halfway to rest for the night then pick up escort for the next train. Once you get to the mining area, you'll sleep for the night and leave with the train you departed from here escorting”, Yetsukah spoke as they moved down the utilitarian white halls of the bunker which the staging yard's control center was housed in.
As they came into an exterior hall, the large windows allowed Pahlms to see a single-story building sprawling out from the bunker, the maroon sky reflected in its windows, “Over there is the building the living quarters are located in. They're roomy, not too bad honestly. You'll be staying in one that faces west, which is a plus.”
They moved on towards the living quarters. The hallways within the facility were organized in an efficient manner with corridors arranged in a grid pattern. The floorplan of each floor was as identical to a standard as possible. If a person learned the general arrangement of one facility within the company they could easily navigate others, even in other star systems.
Arriving at his quarters, Harold set his bags down on the floor near the foot of the bed. The room was quite nice and decently sized. He estimated it was about 650 square feet, including the bathroom and kitchenette.
"This is better than the rooms we had on Tiv'on," he said looking the room over.
"The entire facility is basically brand new, less than a year old. You know that the Rupertsens are pretty nitpicky about cleanliness and order. Here with this expensive new facility they're even worse", Yetsukah responded leaning his shoulder on the door frame.
"Oh I know the nitpickiness. My first assignment after I hired on with the company was the oilfields in the Nordstrand Sea on Aseir."
Yetsukah suddenly took interest and leaned forward slightly, “How did a newly knighted young fella such as yourself end up being given one of the best assignments in the company?”
“The reason doesn't really matter much, the point is their daughter decided to pay one of the platforms a surprise visit. So, if their teenage kid was that nitpicky I can only imagine how she got that way.”
“At least tell me one thing,” Yetsukah said as he leaned back to ensure nobody was in the hallway, “What did she smell like and did meeting her in person make you want to....”
Harold cut Yetsukah off, “That's a bit immature for a man in his 50s don't you think?”
“Whoa, easy there kid. Did I hit a nerve,” Yetsukah jeered before continuing on in a tone mocking the Hochadel, “I am but a humble man from humble beginnings. I've not yet been considered noble enough to meet those of the higher aristocracy, save for the reichsgraf charged with the administration and protection of this humble star system; and his reichsritteren placed in charge of each planet within.”
Unlike most feudal systems in the galaxy, the Empire used a complex and sometimes unclear method of ranking its nobility. The Hochadel were nobles whose titles were hereditary rather than purely a courtesy or positional requirement. Nobility who had a non-heridetary title were referred to as 'Niederer Adel', as their noble titles were granted to them for a limited time by Hochadel. Nobility was also further divided into Uradel and Briefadel. Uradel, or ancient nobility, were considered to be Hochadel whose date of ennoblement was before 1200, or Niederer Adel with an ennoblement date prior to 2150.
Ignoring the mockery Harold responded, “She doesn't smell like anything. And while incredibly hot, no I didn't want to have relations with her.”
“Ahhhh, not interested in the ladies,” Yetsukah scratched his chin, “Thats perfectly ok. Different strokes for different folks.”
“You've no idea do you,” Harold said as he squinted ever so slightly, “She's a thing. A machine. Her aerospace surgeon, um, Ulrich is too. The entire crew she flies with as well. That's why she has no smell. Would you want to have sex with a toaster?”
“Young ones will believe anything,” Yetsukah said trying to keep his laughter under control, “They tell you that nonsense to keep you in line. Anyway, I've had enough laughter for one day. Let's get back to your tour.”
Yetsukah stood up, "Don't get caught lounging around on duty if there's as much as a scuff on the floor tiles or on your helmet. They'll get you for it."
"Yes, I know. It's all a bit anal."
"Well they are paying for it all. Just want to keep their property in good condition. Anyway, let's get over to the control center."
Both men navigated the maze of corridors and stairs until they ended up in another large building.
"This isn't the simplest route, but it's the shortest," Yetsukah said as they walked."
They showed their IDs to the guards stationed at the building's entrance and were allowed through the entry control point. Swiping their badges through several more doors, they finally arrived in the cavernous nerve center for the entire star system.
The control center was split into three large rooms by glass walls running from back to front. On the left was combat control while on the right was rail control, with extraction control between the two. All three rooms had an array of large screens at their front and holoprojectors near the center of each. Displayed on the numerous screens of combat control were maps of the solar system, the flightspace around various planets and moons within the system, and current ground operations on those planets and moons. The holoprojector in combat control displayed a realistic three-dimensional model of the entire solar system, which floated across the whole room, and included the position and status of every unit in space.
Yetsukah pointed towards a thin but wide screen just to the right of the room's center screen, “That is a security map of the Bone Gulch Express route. As you can see, the route extends westward and ends up at the ore terminal about 5,000 miles from here.”
Harold gestured with his head toward a large gas giant on the outer fringes of the system, "that craft is a bit far from home."
"Yes. Gas harvester. Arrived on-planet yesterday. That's about two-point-five billion miles out."
Harold was introduced to the controllers in combat control who would be directing him when he was out on missions. After about half an hour of introductions and general conversation the pair left the control center and headed to the ground level of the building then towards the rail yard.
Yetsukah opened the door for Pahlms as the two walked, the searing dry air hitting Pahlms in the face as if he just entered a bone-dry bastu with temperature control set too high. The sound of diesel locomotives filled the staging yard and Pahlms could feel the low frequency glub-glub droning in his chest.
He was taken by surprise when the locomotive Yetsukah was leading the two men towards suddenly throttled up to maximum, sending plumes of thick black diesel smoke several hundred feet into the air. The almost deafening hiss of air being gulped into the engine made the diesel sound like a turbine, while the metallic glub sound of each individual piston stroke faded into a chorus of mechanical perfection worthy of being classed with the best of supercars.
“This is one of the trains in the pair you'll be assigned to”, Yetsukah yelled over the noise of the locomotive, “I'll be introducing you to the crews when they're finished with their checks.”
Just as the first locomotive in the set had throttled back to idle, the second one throttled to maximum. After several minutes, the crew had finished testing the fifth locomotive then immediately throttled all five to maximum. Even though Pahlms knew he was standing on solid ground, he felt as if it was throbbing beneath his feet in response to the power being tested before him.
More introductions followed, this time between Harold and the locomotive crews. After a short tour of the machines, the crews said they needed to finish up their checks.
Yetsukah motioned for Pahlms to follow him, “Alright, let's get to the 'mav hangar so you can get your 'mav and personal equipment squared away before you bed down for the night.”
Pahlms followed Yetsukah back into the control bunker and up several flights of stairs to a roomy area with benches mounted on the back wall.
“This is the waiting area for the control bunker end of the complex's transport magrail. The hangar is about three miles south of here, near the aerospace terminal.”
Pahlms looked out the window; the room was situated so he had a perfect view of almost the entire complex. To the north he could see five large white objects resembling giant golf balls and more objects of similar shape and varying sizes, along with dozens of antennae. To the east was a sprawling petroleum refinery, near which Pahlms counted at least three dozen large storage tanks. Pahlms could just see the huge globe shaped dropcraft in the distance at the aerospace terminal to the south.
Pahlms followed the multiple pipelines which ran next to the magrail track from the distant aerospace terminal back to the refinery, “That'd make for a bad day.”
“What's that”, Yetsukah asked.
Pahlms nodded towards the aerospace terminal, “Having one of those go up loaded with fuel and petrochemicals.”
“Ah, it's happened before. Wasn't pretty. I'm sure you've seen military dropcraft go critical, but when one as big as those goes up loaded full of volatile chemicals, it's quite a sight”, Yetsukah responded.
“It was about two thousand feet up right after lift-off, and a full load of LPG. Catastrophic failure in an engine caused the rest to go. Killed everyone on board, obviously, and the explosion itself all but took out a few hangars. However, most of the damage was caused by flaming dropcraft debris raining down on the aerospace terminal.”
“Yeah, well I'd rather be in a 'mav getting shot to bits than some dropcraft. At least in the 'mav I have options”, Pahlms nodded towards the dropcraft, “In one of those cans you die, or if you're lucky, you ride it down and might live. Submarines, aircraft, and aerospace craft. The three worst places I can think of to be if things go south.”
“Agreed. But those guys can't get enough of 'em.”
Pahlms snickered, “You've got to be crazy to want to do that for a living.”
“They say we're the crazy ones to enjoy going into a ground battle getting shot at”, Yetsukah responded.
Just as Yetsukah finished speaking, the magrail silently slid into the terminal and the pair boarded it for the mav hangars.