Chapter One

2508,

One month after the Aegis VII incident

Shockspace

Shockspace is often mistaken for being an empty void of nothingness when in reality, it is filled with a light blue vortex. Though many didn't take notice of bluish hue as many ships used blast shields to cover any glass. The Dauntless, a Hephaestus class engineering vessel slightly smaller than a planet cracker, hurtled through shockspace. A legacy vessel, she was 38 years old and showing that age. She was a kilometre in length, 900 meters in width and 400 meters in height. Shaped like a giant rectangle with a tapered bow, she had various jagged edges as well as a central semi-circle like area beneath the engines which housed gravity tethers. Dotted around the ship were Asteroid Defence Cannons, simple rail guns driven by computer targeting to destroy any oncoming projectiles. As the ship was deep into a shockspace jump, it was largely quiet with only a skeleton crew being around to keep an eye the ship's progress. Jason Mason rubbed his neck wearily as he stood slowly, stretching his back out. He glanced at his small cot where his girlfriend Kate Mera lay. She was still fast asleep, snoring lightly. Jason was a class 3 engineer whose speciality was big ships like the Dauntless. He'd been contracted by the ship's captain to generally keep the vessel together with a shoe string budget. Jason rarely outstayed his welcome on ships but the Dauntless had something about her that made it hard to leave. Jason was rather tall, standing at six feet with a scattered muscle and a husky build. His long tussled brown hair was contrasted by his striking blue eyes. He looked at his appearance in the mirror and decided to keep the modest beard he'd been growing. He'd been awake long enough to change into his engineering overalls, stained with grease and oil. Once he got down to the engineering deck, he'd change into his engineering RIG. He heard Kate stirring and glanced back. Kate was of average height with short brunette hair and brown eyes. She was slender but toned with more visible muscle than Jason. She worked on the medical deck as the senior medical officer. She was wearing a short white t-shirt with panties. Kate and Jason had been together for nearly nine years and were completely inseparable. Though they'd had postings on different ships, they never drifted apart. The Dauntless was the first time they'd been paired together, and it had been a wonderful posting. Despite the Dauntless' age, wear and tear, she was a good ship. The people were nice, and the community was that of a family. Everyone knew each other's name and were always accepting of new members. As chief engineer, Jason was responsible for the entire deck and the engineers. Despite the task at first seeming daunting, most of the jobs were simple. However, the latest expedition had Jason on edge. It was no secret something had happened on Aegis VII but what exactly happened was harder to ascertain. There were no survivors but instead there were rumours, all of which sounded horrifying. It was either a terrorist attack, a mining job gone south or, the weirdest option to Jason, an alien attack. Now, the Dauntless Captain James Anders had decided to run a salvage operation, planning a colossal 26-hour shockpoint jump to the remains of Aegis VII. Jason's concerns had fallen on deaf ears, something that annoyed him. He continued to frown as he heard Kate stir from her sleep.

She blinked away sleep as she lazily glanced up at Jason. "Honey, what are you doing? We're still," she glanced at her watch and almost jumped out of bed. "Shit, 20 minutes till shock out. Oh crap, I've got to be at med bay in five minutes." She noticed her boyfriend's continued annoyance and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, are you alright?"

Jason shook his head, dismissing her concerns. "I'm fine, just, I don't know tired."

She glided over towards him and wrapped her arms around his broad torso, her voice taking on a seductive tone. "Why? Didn't you get enough sleep?" She said with a slight giggle.

Jason chuckled. "You're such a bad influence."

She smiled sweetly. "Guilty." She paused. "C'mon, Jace, whatever it is, we'll be fine. The Captain said the salvage op would be fifteen hours max."

Jace scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Not if you take the extra ten hours to recharge the shockpoint drive, if we can even do that now. That thing's so old, I'm surprised we lasted four hours. The techs and I can keep it running but it's got two, maybe three jumps left tops. If we get stranded here, it'll take a month or longer to get back to the nearest weigh station."

Kate squeezed him softly, speaking in a soft soothing tone. "That's why this op will hit pay dirt. If the yield is what was reported, we'll be able to repair the drive and refit the entire ship."

"Ship should be sold for scrap." He muttered under his breath, too quietly for Kate to hear. He turned and kissed her, lingering for a few moments before breaking away. "As much as I wouldn't mind delaying your return to medbay, I need to find Alex and head to the bridge. Captain will probably want a report."

Kate kissed him again before disappearing into the bathroom. Jason consulted his RIG and downloaded the latest ship report. His frown slowly turned into a full-blown scowl as he began cursing under his breath. He stormed out of his cabin and headed down the narrow corridor towards the nearby tram station. He side stepped the odd person, keeping his head down as he pondered the op. He still had a mountain of questions, but he shut them down. He needed to be focused in order to keep his fellow crew mates out of danger and get them home safely. A sudden loud voice caught him off guard.

"Jace, what's going on, man?" Alex Danton was near enough a mountain of a man, standing at six feet five with hands that could crush boulders. He had deep blue eyes with shaggy blonde hair and a messy beard. He wore the same grimy overalls as Jason, but they were about six sizes bigger than Jason's. "Are we heading to the bridge? I've been up for hours, man, couldn't sleep."

Jason and Alex had been friends ever since they'd met in high school. Jason was a stupid kid who got himself into fights he knew he couldn't win whereas Alex was quietly confident and rarely spoke up. The two were complete polar opposites but they looked after each other like brothers should. Jason often felt grateful for Alex and his family since they were like a surrogate family for him. Jason's home situation was always messed up while Alex had a near perfect upbringing with loving parents. They'd gone to the same college, joined the army engineers and took similar jobs. They were considered a package deal, both working as a team on their vessels. Alex's aversion to sleep was something he'd had all of his life, but it didn't seem to bother him. It was exacerbated during shockpoint jumps with Alex swearing that travelling at faster than light speeds meant sleep was useless. Regardless, it never affected his ability to work.

Jason nodded. "Yeah, did you see the report?"

Alex smiled grimly. "Downloaded it a few minutes ago. Shit's fucked." He said eloquently.

A soft beeping got Jason's attention as he glanced down at his RIG. "Oh, Jeez, this is the last thing we need now." His RIG had a timer indicating the time left in shockspace and it had finally run down to zero. The crew had begun to wake up with many of them flooding the corridor and heading to the tram station. He had to warn them the deceleration. "Okay people, Senior Engineer Mason here, we're about to decelerate from shockspace. Grab something, hold tight and try not to throw up."

Crew mates rather hesitantly grabbed anything they could, bulkheads, each other or even simply dropped to the ground. Jason himself held onto a nearby handhold while Alex simply braced himself.

A deep electronic male voice announced loudly. "Attention, deceleration from shockspace imminent."

There was a torrential groan of metal as the Dauntless careered out of shockspace. People fell over all throughout the ship as the deceleration forcefully pulled the ship to starboard. Despite his own advice, Jason had been thrown to the ground with Alex trying to hold in his laughter.

"Bro, how many shockpoint jumps have you been in and you still fall down." He said finally giving way to laughter.

"Asshole."

Dauntless bridge

Of the many sections of the Dauntless, the bridge was one of the largest and newest with a fresh paint job. It had large view screens and diamond hard windows to keep bridge personnel appraised with any changes during a voyage. There were console stations littered around the bridge forming a protective semi-circle for the captain's station. In the centre of the bridge, behind the captain's station was an elevator to three floors, the central ADS nest; the captain's nest; and the bridge itself. The bridge was considered the most presentable areas of the ship, often used to convince prospective business owners of the Dauntless's capabilities. Captain James Anders was a tall, proud man with a well-muscled build for his age. He had a full head of blonde but greying hair and black eyes. He wore a form fitting uniform with the Dauntless crest, a pair of silver lightning bolts grasped by a blue hawk, on his chest. Anders was a career sailor having worked first in the navy with the EDF and finally in the private sector with the CEC. Most of his life had been spent aboard ships and he had a strong affinity for the rigours of space travel. Despite first serving in the military, the simplicity of mining had long been something of a second love. The transition from military to civilian life had been a welcome one with he being ready to foster a homely community aboard his ship. But as Captain he had a duty to make sure everyone aboard his ship was happy and content. The last few months had been tough on all the crew and Anders was desperate to remedy their worries. This job seemed like the step in the right direction. He addressed the first officer in a loud baritone voice.

"Mr Porter, report?"

From the nearest console station, a young man of average height with a slender build stood. He had nearly white blonde hair with pale blue eyes. Arnold Porter was a quiet unassuming man but someone who was more than capable of holding his position. He had nearly machine-like focus with laser guided efficiency. He had Captain Anders's implicit support for being completely frank when the need arose. He adjusted his glasses, compiling holographic information from his RIG. "We have successfully decelerated from shockspace. Reports have come in from all decks saying, apart from a few bumps and bruises, the crew is fine. We've arrived around three ahead of schedule despite the initial delay."

Anders nodded, as he regarded the windows, focusing on space outside. He wanted to put off the next part, but he knew he needed to hear it. "And the shockpoint drive?"

Porter's face darkened as he glanced back to his screen for a moment before he spoke. "The reports are still coming in but it's harder to ascertain. The stress fractures already present in the ship's superstructure appeared to have worsened from the long jump and the shockpoint drive itself has overheated. The full 26-hour jump back to Rigel V will irrevocably damage shockpoint drive and may tear the ship in half. I believe seven-hour increments will be better, reducing the effects of the stress fractures."

"Well, then you're a moron." A voice called out.

Anders recognised the voice of his chief engineer, a light smile crossing his face as he glanced in his direction. Jason was striding towards the Captain's station. "Chief Engineer Mason, Second Engineer Denton good to see you."

Alex broke out into a hurried pace to keep up with his friend but quickly raised his hand to get the Captain's attention. "Yo Cap, whatever happens next, I'd like to say I love working on this ship and you're the best captain I've ever had."

"Thanks for the backup, asshat." Jason muttered.

Porter blocked Jason's path. "Mr Mason, you haven't been cleared for the bridge yet. Please submit yourself to the security station." He said.

Jason pushed past the first officer. "Piss off, Markerhead, I don't have time for your bullshit." He said in a harsh tone, showing his distaste for Unitology. Jason wasn't particularly religious himself and he had nothing against those that were but Unitologists were a cult that manipulated idiots and made money off the poor. He had no time for them.

"Mr Mason, calm yourself and deliver your report." Anders said, striking a cool clam tone but letting his disappointment with Mason's continued tone show.

"With all due respect sir, you messed up. That's my report and the ship's report condensed into one." He paused to add weight to his words. "I told you before we left that, in my considerable professional opinion, the shockpoint drive was half dead and this heavy jump would advance that. We've damn near torn the ship in half and don't even get me started on the recharge."

Anders smiled and clasped Jason on the shoulder. "That's why I've got you, son, the best engineer in the universe." He nodded. "Do what you can."

Jason's eyes widened; he was dumbstruck. "James, the shockpoint drive is near death. It will not get us home in one piece. Ask the stuck-up prick over there." He said, pointing at Porter who returned the remark with a sneer.

Porter continued to scowl but sighed defeatedly as he glanced at Anders. "Mason's logic, such as it is, is sound. The shockpoint drive is damaged and the continuous jump has overheated it. However," Anders paused.

"Oh, this'll be good." Mason muttered.

"We know the SCAF used to conduct small time repair jobs on their shockpoint drives by overloading the core. While shockpoint drives have come a long way since then, the principles are still the same. If we can overload the shockpoint drive, and contain the output, we should be able to produce enough power to jump back to Rigel VII."

"A botch job." Mason said as he folded his arms, clearly unenthused with the idea. "You want me to repair the shock point drive with duct tape and glue?"

"Don't be absurd!" Porter said, clearly missing or perhaps ignoring Mason's sarcastic comment. "By cooling the drive first, the overcharge's damage should be prevented. The jump will be rough, but we will survive."

Anders glanced over at Mason and raised an eyebrow. "Is it doable?"

Mason was silent as if in protest, so Alex spoke, first clearing his throat. "If our calcs are on point," he paused and muttered the next part. "And the first officer isn't a nut case, it is possible. The only problem I foresee is the length of the jump. But with Jace's patience and guidance, we should be fine."

Jason finally conceded the point. "It's doable." He grumbled. "We'll have to pull double shifts but as long as it gets us out of here, I'll be happy."

Anders nodded and smiled as he looked forward. "Now I'll fill you in on the mission." He activated the central console and showed a hologram of the remains of Aegis VII. "Aegis VII was scheduled to be Planet cracked a month ago by the famed Ishimura."

"Think Clarke was aboard?" Alex asked Jason in a hushed tone.

Jason shook his head. "Nah, Clarke's back on earth."

Anders continued. "Before leaving, the Ishimura reported Aegis VII to be a goldmine of resources that Earth, and the colonies need. However, after the cataclysmic event a month prior, the planet remains a broken husk of its former self, but our preliminary scans show it's salvageable." He paused, activating his own RIG and adding holographic markers to the diagram. "Our plan is to restart the planet crack using our gravity tethers. We'll pull up a section of the planet and start bringing the resources up. If we get this done, it'll be a heavy pay day, enough to set us all for life. And to fix this old wreck of a ship."

"Captain, permission to speak freely?" Jason asked, rubbing his face wearily.

"Granted."

"Are you out of your damn mind?!" Jason raised his voice enough to catch the attention of the bridge crew. He addressed Porter. "Did you do some voodoo Unitologist bullshit to making him fucking nuts?!"

"I don't do voodoo." Porter said in a flat tone.

Anders' face grew dark. "Watch your tone, Engineer Mason."

Jason persisted. "No, I've been calm but now you've gone off the deep end. Sir, this ship is a standard mining vessel, capable of mining asteroids with relative ease. That's what it's built in mind with. Planet Crackers are literally built to withstand the force of tearing a planet apart. For God's sake, it's in the damned name. The Dauntless has none of that as will literally tear itself apart from holding the weight."

"That's not strictly true." Porter said.

"Oh, here we go." Jason muttered.

"If we divert the necessary power to the tethers then, Altman Willing, we'll be able to support the mass for 15 hours. Meanwhile, the wonderful Mason can prepare the shockpoint drive for the jump back. Two birds, one stone." He said consulting the holographic diagram.

"Two birds one stone my ass." Jason sneered. "It's suicide."

It was at times like this that Alex wished he could bite his tongue, but it was for time for he to play peacemaker. "Look, Captain, with all due respect, this idea is shitty but it's doable." He began glancing at Jason. "If the gravity tether techs can pull double shifts on the coolant banks while we work on the shockpoint drive, then maybe, maybe we can keep the ship afloat and get us all back home safe." He could feel Jason's frown, but he was sure of his own assessment.

"Well Mr Mason, do you agree with Mr Denton's assessment?" Anders asked, glancing at the frowning Jason.

Jason rubbed his face wearily. "This entire thing is stupid beyond belief but its doable." He growled. "I'll inform the engineers."

Anders regained his warm smile and nodded. "Very well, Mr Porter?" He said, glancing back at his first officer. "Call down to gravity tether control and tell them to begin the hoist." He faced Jason and Alex. "Gentlemen, you're dismissed. Godspeed."