Once Upon The Stars (Updated 08-22-04)

[CNCRaymond]

I also enjoyed it. I look forward to the next chapter.

[pathfinder]

Yes, Atrocities, some of us did read it Good read it was, yes

[The FryeR K]

issa goooda
es ist gut

eh its ok

[mlmbd]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
BUMP, Did any one read this?

Just did. Excellent, as always. Had not been on the forums all weekend!

mlmbd

[Atrocities]

Part XIV Talk is cheep and I have an expensive ear.

It had stopped snowing and Trax was able to move undetected to the landing area in a relatively short amount of time. He could see the search teams moving in his direction and worked rapidly to attach an explosive to the under belly of the Sky Chariot. He would destroy the Chariot the in the event that the bodies were discovered. He attached a motion trigger to the surface of the Optical Masking Net –or OMN- that was hiding the two dead bodies and slowly moved away. The detonator would trigger the explosive device if the OMN were moved. Since the dead men were unlikely to move, the likelihood of the detonator going off accidentally was remote. But in the event he was otherwise occupied and unable to trigger the device himself, then the motion sensor would. Destroying the Sky Chariot was the only way to dispose of the bodies and or those who discovered them without leaving a trace of the OMN.

Trax’s mission was to evaluate the situation, gather intelligence, destroy the alien ship, and terminate any who discovered harmful information regarding the ship and its origins. He was prepared to terminate every living sole at this site to accomplish his mission regardless of his own safety. He had enough micro taterium explosives (MTE) with him to reduce a five-mile radius to smoldering ash, or in this case ice cold sludge. But for now, he would return to the Operations tent and continue to monitor the Humans.

“I can not believe that Prime Minister Delzoro would ever pardon some one like Wilhelm.” Said Bill Ramzies as he and Tom sat at a table in the mess tent drinking hot lacto berry juice.
“Believe me when I heard about it I just about shot the messenger.” Replied Tom as he sipped from his cup.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because the messenger was none other than Robert Benton.”
“Oh.” Replied Ramzies. “That must have been tough?” Said Ramzies in more of a statement than a question but Tom went ahead and treated it as a question.
“It was more than tough. That bastard was pardoned and then took my old job.”
“You’re joking?” Ramzies said in shock. “You have got to be joking me?”
“No joke. Killian pardoned that bastard the day before he died and appointed him to the Space Exploration Division (SED) as the new Director of the Space Engineering and Planetary Colonization (SEPC) program following its reactivation.”
Ramzies shook his head slowly. “The Last time I heard from you was when you took that job. I was sorry to hear about the program being shut down.”
“I was to.” Replied Tom somberly.
“Who would have thought that you and I would be reunited in one of the coldest places on the planet? Sitting here, drinking hot lacto berry juice discussing a sadistic bastard like Carl Wilhelm who by some sick twist of fait is also here with us.” Ramzies motioned his right arm around in an arc. “Life’s little ironies.”
“Life is what it is Bill.”
“Yes indeed it is. Here you are, a General for crying out loud.” Ramzies offered his glass in a toast.
“And you a Doctor in gravimetric technology.” Replied Tom with a broad smile.
“Cheers.” The two men said then tapped their cups together.

Richard Hess entered the tent and about the same time as Dr. Mentor and Carl Wilhelm. He made his way over toward Tom and came to attention.
“General.” He said officially.
Tom looked up at him and stared blankly.
“What is it Richard?”
“I am sorry to bother you General, but Captain O’Connor needs you back at the Operations and Command tent.” Replied Richard.
Tom gave Richard a puzzled look then smiled at his friend Bill Ramzies as they began to stand.
“Looks like we will have to catch up later Bill.” Commented Tom politely. “Duty calls.”
“Indeed, I look forward to hearing how they drug you out of retirement and why they made you a General, General.” Said Ramzies. The two men shook hands and Tom followed Richard out of the tent. Bill sat back down and drank the rest of his drink alone.

Trax moved as swiftly as he could toward the Operations tent and planted a series of listening devices along the ten and the adjacent communications and command tent. Once he had completed his task he returned to the Operations tent and waited for the chance to enter. He really did not need to wait for someone to open the door, he could slip in by melding, but that took an enormous amount of energy and he was already running low due to the fact that he had his environmental suite internal temperature set to maximum to fight off the severe cold. One weakness the Alorians had, and he too by genetics, was a low tolerance to cold. He would replace the power pack once he had identified a secure and safe location. For the time being, he would stand, wait, and listen.

“So tell me Doctor, do you have any idea of how your research will improve the quality of life on Pandora?” Asked Carl as he and Doctor Mentor took a seat. Doctor Mentor had gotten himself a cup of hot lacto berry juice and was holding the cup openly between his hands.
“I know that it will allow us to explore for more resources under the ice without the risks that historically limited the development of this region in the past. Other than that I have not really considered it.”
“Ah a modest man.” Commented Carl. “You truly have no idea what it is you have invented do you?”
“I don’t follow you?”
“He is talking about weapons Doctor.” Commented Bill Ramzies from the other table. “He wants to develop your technology into a weapon Doctor Mentor.” Bill could not stand to listen to Carl’s fake generosity and mock humility any longer. Carl was playing Mentor for a fool, and it angered him greatly. He stood and walked over to their table and sat down.
“Tell him Colonel, tell the good Doctor here about what you do with weapons. Tell him about Pennington.”
Carl responded as calmly as he could. How dare he bring that up. “Tell him what?” Carl’s eyes said more then he had, he was daring Bill to answer. Bill was a smart man and knew instantly that Carl was not about to discuss the subject but would welcome the chance to tell the Secret Investigation Division that Bill had. Bill pondered for a second what would happen if he did discuss it. More than likely Carl would notify the SID and both he and Doctor Mentor would undoubtedly be classified as security risks and sent to the Gulag for the remainder of their lives. It was a better choice to change the subject and never mention Pennington again while in Carl’s presence.

“Tell him about how you want to use his technology to make weapons.”
“Bill, perhaps this is not-“ Started Doctor Mentor but he was cut off by Carl. Carl had had enough of Bill Ramzies. He disliked the mans attitude immensely and honestly just wanted to knock that smug self informed look right off of his face but reserved himself to a more professional course of action.
“It is alright Doctor Mentor, it would be better if the air was cleared before we continue our talk.”
Doctor Mentor nodded slightly and leaned back in his chair. This should be interesting he thought to himself as he folded his arms.”
“Yes by all means, lets clear the air shall we.” Commented Ramzies sarcastically.
“I am sure that General Christopher has informed you that I was pardoned by the Late Prime Minister himself?”
“He has.”
“And that I was appointed as Director of the Space Engineering and Planetary Colonization program?”
“He mentioned it.”
“Then you can understand my interest in Doctor Mentors technology?”
Bill crossed his arms, cocked his head slightly and sighed. It didn’t really matter what Carl said, Bill knew it would be a lie, but what the hell he thought. “Enlighten us but remember, talk is cheap and I have an expensive ear.”

Carl looked at Bill Ramzies with little more concern than one would give a bug just prior to squashing it. Carl could care less what he thought of him, he was here to talk to Doctor Mentor, and it was only Doctor Mentor that Carl cared about.
“Doctor Mentor, your gravimetric technology works by generating a new gravity field which defies the natural gravity within a specific area of ice thus allowing the attached scanner to accurately read the ice density and other finer characteristics; correct?”
“It is far more complicated than that, but yes, basically that is correct.” Replied Doctor Mentor politely.
“Your device by itself is more than capable of generating a rather large gravity field on lets say a scale of one to ten thousandth its size?”
Mentor did the math in his head before responding. “That is essential correct.”
“In other words, the technology that you have engineered, developed, and successfully tested could theoretically generate an artificial gravity field large enough and powerful enough to scan an area of ice equal to that of a Tempest Class Sky Carrier?”
“If we are talking mass, then yes, easily.” Replied Mentor. He was curious now, and started to understand where Carl was going. As he did, his expression began to change.
“And if that area were self contained and gravimetric device moved would the field generated by it move with it?” Carl asked.
“Yes, assuming what I think you are saying, yes, if placed on a ship such as a Sky Carrier, it would move with the ship.”
“Would it be theoretically possible to use your gravimetric device to generate a new gravity field, lets say for sake of argument, an artificial gravity field around the ship thereby allowing it to remain air born without the use of repulsers?”
Both Mentor and Ramzies sat forward abruptly. The smug look on Ramzies face was completely gone now replaced by one of seriousness as he considered this possibility.
“My God.” He uttered out loud more to himself than to the others. Carl was not lying, for he really was here on official SED business, and not here to kill them all. Bills disbelief wore on his face like a bad poker players expression at having received useless cards. This was oddly enough very gratifying for Carl as he examined their responses.
Carl observed that Doctor Mentor was looking at him with an astonished expression on his face. Obviously the Doctor had not considered all of the possibilities for his new technology.
And indeed it was true, Doctor Mentor had not considered the many possibilities for gravimetric technology. It was just now beginning to occurred to him that he had already invented not one, but several new forms of technology with a single invention.
“My god, with some refinement just one Gravimetric Device could easily provide equal too or more than enough lift for something as large as a Sky Carrier.” Ramzie finished saying in an astonished tone of voice as he looked from Carl over to Doctor Mentor.
“With standard lift thrusters and propulsion systems, a ship could stay air borne indefinitely.” Said Doctor Mentor as he continued to think of the possibilities. “Why this has never occurred to me before I don’t know.” He looked at Carl again and shook his head slightly. “The possibilities.”
“The size benefit alone would be astronomical. Your Gravimetric Device would entirely replace the need for repulser generators thus freeing up more than a third of a ships internal mass for other uses.” Ramzies commented.
“That is not all it could do. Think larger gentlemen.” Said Carl with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. “Think about the practical application of artificial gravity alone.”
Mentor looked absolutely mesmerized as new thoughts began to explode and grow in his mind. The possibilities were beyond any that even he could have conceived of.
“Space exploration.” He said so softly that he wasn’t even sure if he had spoken it aloud.
“Space exploration is only the beginning Doctor.” Commented Carl with utter conviction. “Only the beginning.”

[ May 03, 2003, 09:18: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[Ruatha]

As usual - > Goodie!

[Erax]

Excellent! I'm sure none of us readers have any idea how this will turn out. I can hardly wait for the next part!

[The FryeR K]

I like... I like...

this keeps getting better and better...

[Raging Deadstar]

Great chapter atrocities, though now i have to change My story and edit the chapters with the assasin in, you beat me to it!

Oh well, great title though! I like the idea of this trax guy not being totally unbeatable and having certain problems and constraints facing him, it makes the character sooo much better

Great Work!

[Atrocities]

Thanks, RD, but don't alter your story because of me. It is reasonable to believe that we all will at one point or another follow many of the same ideas as we all come up with our stories. Besides, who the hell is going to read what we have posted aside from those of us here at this forum?

And if you like Trax just wait.

[ May 04, 2003, 12:10: Message edited by: Atrocities ]