A Bite From Life
A "Midnight Star"/"Sonic the Hedgehog" story by Jesse Shearer
Star Trek related material and resemblances copyright Paramount.
Sonic the Hedgehog material, characters, et cetera copyright Sega of America, DIC entertainment, Archie Comics, and their respective creators.
Babylon Five resemblances copyright Warner Brothers.
Solar Jetman video game resemblances copyright Rare Co.
To begin with...
The temporal factor for this story is approximately six months after the "official" launch of the Terran Alliance Starship (TAS) Midnight Star, the prototype for the Bismarck Class starship commanded by one of it's co-designers, Captain Shamus J. O'Reiley. These six months had been tough for the captain, and that was aside from the problems brought by all the fame and wealth his fame had brought him. He could have handled that if the researchers that had studied his ship for the better part of three years hadn't come close to disassembling his ship and then done a lousy job of putting it back together. On top of that, Shamus found that he was missing his Mobian friends. Perhaps this is what some of them called...
A Bite from Life
While he was thinking about all of this, Shamus was at a science station on the bridge, helping a young ensign understand how to use the ship's databanks, and noticing how his own eyes were going bad. But then, that was only natural for humans in their early sixties, and it didn't help the situation any that the researchers had replaced the original monitors with the smaller ones standard to TAS ships.
"Does that help any?" Shamus asked his trainee.
"Yes sir, it does," she said. "Thank you, sir."
"Glad I could help," acknowledged Shamus, who then turned to see his friend and first officer Jim Keating enter the bridge.
"Engineering reports that the dilithium matrix has destabilized again," Keating informed his friend. "I had them get going on fixing it."
"Thank you," Shamus told his friend. "I'm going to my office to have a word with the head of fleet operations about this. You have the bridge, friend."
"Right," Keating responded as his friend headed through a door just to the right of the bridge's transporter stage, the room's main feature.
Just after the door closed, Shamus took a deep breath though his nose and let it out quickly. After doing so, he went to the replicator and ordered a hot cup of herbal tea and went across the room to his desk. Just as he sat down, a crew member on the bridge let him know that the Terran fleet's operations commander was in fact calling him.
"In my office," Shamus said. A few seconds later, the small upright screen came on, showing the back of a large office chair that quickly turned around to reveal a familiar face.
"Captain O'Reiley? Admiral Jenov here, the slightly younger man said. "Just checking in on you and your ship. How are things going?"
"A wee bit worse than usual, sir," Shamus responded. "The dilithium matrix has destabilized for the third time in as many weeks; my crew isn't well trained; and most of the screens are too small to use."
"We'll look into the crew and dilithium problems you've been having, Mr. O'Reiley," Jenov said. "In the meantime, I suggest that you have your vision checked and corrected if necessary."
"With all due respect, sir," Shamus began, "I don't even have the proper bleedin' equipment for that on this ship."
"That most certainly is a problem, Mr. O'Reiley," the admiral said, looking almost shocked. "If the condition of your ship is half as bad as you say it is, you should report to the nearest starbase. In your case that would be Starbase 132. I'll let the station commander know you're on your way."
"Thank you, sir," Shamus said.
"And while you're having your eyes checked, see what else you can have taken care of," Jenov said.
"Yes, sir," Shamus again responded, and then closed the channel. He then went to the bridge and ordered the helmsman to set course for Starbase 132 at the highest speed possible, about one quarter impulse.
"So Admiral Jenov is actually sending us to the best place in the Alliance to get fixed up. I never thought it would happen," Keating commented as soon as they were on their way.
"You're right, Jim. This sure is something," said Shamus. "I get the feeling that there's some sort of catch, though. I wonder what Jenov's up to?"
"Perhaps it's not just the admiral, sir," remarked the ensign Shamus had helped earlier. "I've monitored some strange messages lately."
"Really?" asked Shamus. "What kind of messages were they?"
"The latest is that three other new ships have been having the same kinds of problems we've been having, sir," the ensign reported.
"Interesting," commented Keating. "We'll have to check it out when we get to Starbase 132."
"That we will," said Shamus. "Ensign, what's your name?"
"Elveron, sir," the young woman responded.
"Ensign Elveron, I'm assigning you to check out those messages you just told me about," Shamus told her. "But find out as much as you can before we get there and report to me. When we get to the station, I'll assign help."
"Yes, sir," Elveron said.
Within a matter of hours, the ship and crew had arrived at the station, and, to the best of the captain's knowledge, the repairs had begun; as had Elveron's investigation. Within two hours, she was filling Shamus in on the goings-on within the Terran Alliance and the Extrastellar Fleet.
"My informants had stranger news than the messages from the other ships, sir," Elveron told her captain. "Most of the people on the work crews said that the Star is the first job anyone's had in three weeks, just before all the messages about the fleet's disrepair began. Everyone is willing to work."
"That's interesting," Shamus responded. "If they're all so ready to work, the crews should have been able to finish the needed work twice by now. Last time I checked, they had barely started."
"That's not all, sir," the young Gemnian told Shamus. "Our supplies are stored in a cargo bay right next to where we docked, and they haven't been onloaded to the ship yet."
"I'm going to the station commander's office to have a word with him about this. Keep up the good work, ensign," Shamus told Elveron, as he headed for the center of the station.
"Yes sir," responded Elveron.
Within a matter of minutes, Shamus had reached the station manager's office. The station manager had a lot to say when Shamus asked him about the delays with his ship.
"I'm sure you do find the delays distressing, captain," he said. "It's only fair that you be filled in now. Headquarters knows all about the past fifteen years of your history, Mr. O'Reiley, and they've shared it with key personnel, one of which I am. The information was brought to light primarily by your destruction of the Starship Bishop."
"How's that?" asked Shamus.
"As I'm sure you had anticipated at the time, just before the ship's drive core breached, a downed ship beacon was launched," the station manager told Shamus. "Without that beacon, we would never have known about your having survived the Kelvetican War for so long. Nor would we have discovered a planet called Mobius. A month later, when the first shuttle landed, the landing party was accepted with open arms. Thanks to you, of course. Also, thanks to your carelessness in violating Rule One of the Alliance Code, the inhabitants had built a Post Light-capable starship who's core would have breached and destroyed the entire planet the second they tried to bring it on-line."
"Look, commander, I know these people. In the ten years I lived with them, they proved to be a very intelligent race," Shamus explained. "I know it was sloppy work for me to leave so much technical data around for them to find. But what I saw of the Mobian population is that it was only a few years from PL technology anyway, if they hadn't been in a war. And, whether or not it shows, I tried to minimize my impact on them in every way I could. But that still doesn't explain the delays."
"I'll be frank and make it brief," the station commander said. "The delays are in preparation for the arrival of a Gemnian ambassador to the planet Mobius. You are to transport her there, and when you arrive, your assignment will change to Terran ambassador to the same planet for the period of one year."
"Who ordered that?" asked Shamus.
"I did," said a familiar voice from behind the captain, who turned around, half startled.
"Sally? How did you get here?" Shamus stuttered.
"A transport ship designed by Rotor and build by your Alliance people. And I think you should know that I go by 'Your Majesty in public now. Nice to see you again, by the way, Shamus," she said.
It's nice to see you again, too, Your Majesty," Shamus said, politely. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you arrive at your choice for Terran ambassador?"
"I know you, Shamus," Sally answered. "You had one of the few believable diplomatic records, and the only one I really trusted. You'll have to tell me about Belram sometime."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, I'm sure you'll enjoy that story," Shamus responded.
"In the meantime, I'm going to wait for the Gemnian ambassador and escort her to your ship. You'd better get back there and oversee the work, captain. Dismissed," Sally said.
When Shamus arrived on the bridge of the Midnight Star, Keating new almost immediately that there was bad news.
"What's the word from the station?" asked Keating. "It can't be good."
"It's not," said Shamus. "Remember that planet Illusion and I found you in orbit of? It seems I've been chosen the Terran ambassador to that world. And to make matters worse, we'll be taking the Gemnian ambassador and presumably the Mobian royalty, too."
"The Gemnians I understand in space, but the Mobians? What's with that?" asked Keating.
"It seems they found the original designs for this ship and modified them somehow," explained Shamus, "and now the Alliance has helped them actually build it. If they used pre-Bismarck Class technology and the hyperspace corrections I included with the designs, there's a large potential for big trouble."
"How so?" asked Keating.
"I'll need Illusion and direct access to the engineering computer to do a halfway decent job of explaining," answered Shamus. "I'll explain on the way."
"OK," said Keating, who then signaled the operations officer to handle the bridge until the two higher-ranking officers returned. Along the way to the main engine room, Shamus explained that the Midnight Star had some problems with unstable particles, the most major of which was cronotons, in it's original design, and as such, needed an anticronoton particle emitter as a correction, which absolutely had to be replaced whenever it was removed. This meant that if the new ship from Mobius had been built with pre-Bismarck technology and had the corrections for the Midnight Star incorporated, anything could have been seriously altered, perhaps beyond repair.
"So the drive core emits high levels of cronoton particles?" asked Keating. "I see how that could cause problems."
"That's why we installed an anticronoton device and made absolutely sure it got replaced every time it got removed," explained Shamus. "Here's Illusion now. He'll be able to help us get more information."
"What kind of information do you need, captain?" asked Illusion.
"I have a feeling we'll be needing the schematics, specs, and original designs for this ship," Shamus told the hologram.
"I'll do a compilation file for you when we're done here," said Illusion, "but that'll be awhile. By the way, what seems odd about you guys asking me for that information?"
"Our old Mobian friends are here, I've been selected as the Terran ambassador to their world, and they've built their own ship," explained Shamus.
"Here? As on this ship?" asked Illusion.
"On the station, actually," answered Keating. "The suspicion is that their ship was build from parts build before the Terran fleet was upgraded."
"What's worse," said Shamus, "they might have used the cronoton balancing correction we use to keep ourselves going."
"If that's so, noone knows what kind of damage to time and space may have occurred," said Illusion. "Did you meet anyone from Mobius yet, and did they seem different?"
"I ran into Sally in the station manager's office. She did seem more aggressive. But," noted Shamus, "that could be because they've won their war and they've never failed to succeed in their dealings to this point."
"Bridge to Captain O'Reiley," the operations officer called over the communications system a second later. "Gemnian Ambassador T'Lem and Mobian Princess Sally are here, and are requesting to meet with you immediately."
"On my way," responded Shamus, as he and Keating departed from engineering. When they reached the bridge, the ambassador and the princess were waiting at either side of the lift door.
"We need to talk, Mr. O'Reiley," Sally told him as he stepped out of the lift.
"In deed we do, Your Majesty," Shamus responded. "Jim, you have the bridge. Ambassador, Your Highness, my office is right this way." Just as they reached the doors to the captain's office, the communications officer informed them that there was an incoming hail from the transport ship "Knothole."
"Your ship?" Shamus asked Sally.
"That's right," she responded.
"On screen," ordered Shamus. Sonic the Hedgehog's face appeared on the viewscreen, along with several other former Knothole Village dwellers.
"The crew's getting restless, Sal. When does something happen?" the hedgehog asked.
"Soon," answered Sally. "Just give me a chance to work."
"They're certainly free to beam over here," offered Shamus. "That is, if Your Majesty has no objections."
"After our meeting, captain. In fact, there's someone I was going to recommend you have over anyhow," Sally told him.
"As you wish," both Sonic and Shamus responded in near unison, just before the channel with the Mobian ship closed. The captain and his two superiors then proceeded to his office for their meeting.
"May I offer you anything to drink?" asked Shamus.
"No, thank you," responded T'Lem
"None for me," Sally told him. "Let's get our business out of the way first."
"You do know what the duties of an ambassador for the Terran Alliance are, don't you, captain?" asked T'Lem.
"I do, Madam Ambassador," Shamus responded.
"Detail them," she requested.
"In this case," began Shamus, "it is the duty of all Alliance ambassadors assigned to a world to not only represent their home worlds and the Alliance; but also to help the inhabitants of any world wishing to join understand the benefits and the consequences of joining the Alliance."
"That is correct," T'Lem assured the captain. "Now, unless either Princess Sally or yourself has an objection, I would advise that we begin our journey to Mobius as soon as possible."
"I have some crew members aboard my ship that wish to visit the captain," Sally explained. "It might be awhile before we get going."
"As you wish," said the ambassador, who then left the captain's office and asked Keating to show her to her quarters.
"Shamus, I have a question about my ship," Sally said after the door to the office had closed.
"Ask away," Shamus responded.
"We're having some trouble with high levels of anticronotons being emitted. What can we do about it?" she asked.
"Well, Sally, all I can recommend is that you have the whole drive system dismantled and reconfigured immediately, especially if the problem is what I think it is," Shamus explained.
"What do you think the problem is?" asked Sally.
"I think your ship has been build with parts built for use before this ship had been studied enough for the upgrades to be recommended and implemented," the captain explained. "Therefore, there's no need for the anticronoton device that was worked into the drive system. If the problem is looked at now, there's a chance that no damage will have been done."
"I'll consider it," Sally told her old friend. "In the meantime, there are some people on my ship that would like to see you."
"No point in making them wait any longer," Shamus commented. "Contact your ship and have them prepare for transport."
"Take the nearest transporter, sir," ordered Sally, as they headed for the bridge. When both had stepped up to the bridge transporter control, Sally called the Knothole and had the first group get ready for transport. Once the captain saw the party setup, he explained that he couldn't beam them all in at once as a matter of the transporter being just short of the needed power to do the job.
"How can this be remedied?" asked Sally.
"Have eight of them stand in a ring," Shamus told her. "That way I'll have an extra ten percent of the system's capacity to work with."
"You heard him," Sally told the first group over the still-open communications channel.
"Shoulda made the thing two percent stronger," mumbled Shamus.
"What was that?" asked Sally.
"Just thinking that I should have taken Illusion's advice and used a different plan when we redesigned the ship, Your Majesty" Shamus responded. "It would have made the transporters just strong enough to get all of them at once. But, anyway, it looks like they're ready. Energizing."
When the transport cycle completed, Shamus saw Antione, Bunnie, Rotor, and Saphire "Speed" McSpike standing on the transporter stage, along with an aide for each. After the initial shock and the hellos, Sally reminded her captain friend that he had one person yet to bring aboard.
"Oh yes, that's right," said Shamus. "This should be interesting."
"Energize," ordered Sally.
Shamus quickly complied, and was pleasantly surprised to see the center pad activate and Dulcy Dragon materialize on it. After having greeted the last of his old friends from Mobius and explaining the transporter, he offered the whole group a tour of the ship, to which they quickly agreed.
"First off," began Shamus, "since we're on the bridge, what better place to start? You're probably all familiar with the transporter system by now. There are five standard personnel transporters on the ship, along with three escape transport systems per deck on each of the twenty decks and numerous cargo transporters in each cargo bay, one of which we'll see later. Off to the right is my office, communications, mission operations and the tactical station. Here on the left are the science and engineering stations. Up front are ship's operations and the helm. As most of my officers are taking a few hours of leave, the stations are currently being filled by lower-ranking crew members."
"Is your first officer on board?" asked Speed.
"As a matter of fact, he is," answered Shamus. "That's him in the center seat. Would you like to meet him?"
"His name will do for now," answered Sally.
"Captain James Keating," Keating responded when he realized that he was being asked about. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do."
"You know, Jim, I just thought of something," said Shamus. "If there's going to be a tour, I'd better tell each individual department. Could you tell them about the uniforms?"
"Certainly, certainly," answered Keating, as Shamus went to tell the departments that there would be some tours coming through. "First, the main colors. Light green, like what Shamus and I have, indicates command rank. There's also orange for operations and security, like what the fill-ins are wearing; yellow for medical officers; and light blue for organizational officers, which are primarily seen on member or prospective member planets and space stations.
"The trim color indicates actual rank or position on ships, stations, and planets. The red, like on Shamus's uniform indicates the ship or station's commanding officer, usually an admiral, but more often a captain. Purple signifies second in command and commander; white is lieutenant commander; dark green for lieutenant; and beige for ensign. The black is just a filler color," concluded Keating.
"But why all the uniforms, Mr. Keating?" asked Dulcy.
"It's the formality," explained Keating. "A technicality for greeting and transporting dignitaries. Usually, transport an cargo ships like the Midnight Star have less formal dress codes."
"But how do you tell one another apart?" asked one of the aides.
"From what the captain tells me, pretty much the same way you used to," Keating answered. "Shamus and I know the department heads by name, they know their crewpeople the same way."
"It is nice to be knowing this, sir, but we should be seeing the rest of the ship, also," Antione let the group know.
"Good point," said Keating. "Shamus, you ready over there?"
"Yes I am," answered Shamus. "If you'll all follow us, next stop: the mess hall."
As they moved towards the door, Shamus noticed the look on Dulcy's face and remembered she was claustrophobic.
"Oh, that's right," said Shamus. "Dulcy doesn't like tight spaces. I do apologize. I completely forgot."
"That's alright. I understand," she answered.
"I think I've got a solution for this," Shamus said. "How long do you think you could handle it in a lift if it were just the two of us?"
"Not long," Dulcy answered, "but longer than if there were a big group with us."
"OK, this should work," said Shamus. "Jim, you give the princess and the others their walking tour. I'll take Dulcy and give her a hologramatic tour in holodeck six."
"We're on our way," Keating told his bunch. "Next stop the mess hall."
As Keating's group left, Shamus took a moment to explain the transporter controls to Dulcy. When he finished, the large group was well ahead of them, so the captain and his friend headed out for the holodeck. On the way down, Shamus tried to comfort his nervous friend and had little success until he decided to let her in on a little secret.
"Actually, I can understand how you must feel," said Shamus. "I'm a touch acrophobic."
"Acrophobic? What's that?" asked Dulcy.
"Fear of heights. That's why I usually try to avoid windows during flights over a planetary surface or when in orbit of something," explained Shamus. "I'd be grateful if you'd keep this from the others, at least for the time being."
"Gladly," she responded.
A moment later, the lift's doors opened and the two friends stepped into the hall and walked a few meters to the doors of the nearest holodeck, where Shamus called up the next best thing to an actual tour of the ship. When they entered, a simulation of the bridge was running, complete with representations of all the officers, including Shamus and Keating.
"I thought that all your officers except for Commander Keating were off the ship," remarked Dulcy.
"They are," Shamus said.
"Then, how is this possible?" the dragon asked.
"Computer, freeze program," ordered Shamus. When he did, almost all movement on the bridge stopped instantly.
"Oh, I see," said Dulcy. "They're all holograms, like Illusion."
"Exactly," said Shamus. "When we're done with the tour, perhaps you'd like to visit with our holographic friend."
"That would be nice," she said. "But first, could you tell me the names of your officers?"
"Most certainly," the captain began. "At security and tactical is Tactical Chief Maxive, from Lemonite; my science officer is Lieutenant Emery Joseph, from Earth; at ship's operations is Lieutenant Commander Maxive, also of Lemonite; at the helm is Ensign Deblos, of Zandor Prime. The chief engineer, head chef, and chief medical officer are in their respective departments."
As the holotour continued, the friends passed from the bridge to the mess hall, then to Medbay and engineering, where they met the head chef, ship's surgeon, and chief engineer. When the holodeck session concluded, they proceded to return to the bridge via the same lift they had come down on. About halfway to the bridge, Shamus noticed that his friend looked like she was about to pass out.
"Think you can make it?" the human asked.
"I'm getting really dizzy, Shamus," Dulcy responded as she reached out to balance herself with one arm and put the other to her forehead.
"We're just about there," Shamus told her. A second later, the dragon fell unconscious. Shamus immediately stopped the lift and let the medical bay know what was going on. The staff person he got ahoy of said that he would contact the doctor if the captain would bring his friend to Medbay. Half an hour later, the doctor was giving Shamus her report.
"It would appear that your friend simply passed out from stresses related to a phobia of some sort," the doctor told him. "Is she claustrophobic?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Shamus answered. "Has been the whole time I've known her. But I've seen you give me that look, doctor. We've got trouble coming down the line, don't we?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the doctor responded. "It's no surprise that your friend in there has a radically different genetic structure than most other life forms we deal with in the Alliance. The surprising thing is that she appears to be a product of genetic engineering. And to make matters worse, it looks like the Kelveticans are somehow responsible."
"What?" asked Shamus. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," the doctor responded. "But most of the life forms native to her planet haven't been studied too heavily, primarily due to their verified sentience. It is entirely possible for this just to be natural for the Mobian dragon."
"You're right, doctor," said Shamus. "It's a possibility, and a disturbing one at that."
"At any rate, she came to a few minutes after you got her here. I'd recommend letting her rest for the time being," the doctor informed Shamus.
"We'll follow it," he said. "I'll go inform the Knothole."
"That won't be necessary, captain," Sally told them as she stepped into Medbay.
"How long have you been out there?" asked Shamus.
"I just got here," she answered. "We had just finished the tour of your ship when the person you left in charge of the bridge informed us of this incident. And I would encourage you to try to remember that this isn't like the last time we worked together."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," said Shamus. "It's just that Doctor Greene here has informed me that there may be a remote possibility that the Kelvetican Empire may be involved in recent events somehow."
"How so?" asked the princess.
"Let me explain, Your Highness," Greene began. "It's standard procedure to do a genetic scan of all patients to search for a possible viral infection. Miss Dragon's genetic structure closely resembles that of most known Kelvetican biomechaical devices. But, as I explained to the captain, there's also a good chance that what I found occurs naturally in Mobian dragons. Because we know so little about your various peoples, it's hard to say for sure."
As Greene concluded, Dulcy came in, looking as though she had just barely recovered enough to walk. The dragon looked at the threesome and then drew a breath, as if she was preparing to speak.
"I'm ready to go now, Ma," Dulcy said, half directing it at the doctor.
"She seems alright, at least as compared to the observations I made last time I was on Mobius," said Shamus. "Doctor?"
"We can safely beam her back to the Knothole at this point," the doctor said, "but I'd like to keep her here for further observation. That is, if Your Highness has no objections."
"No objections, but I'd better get back to my ship," Sally said. "We're expected at Mobius in a few hours."
"Which means that we'd both better get going, Your Majesty," said Shamus. "There's a transporter room just before the direct lift to the bridge. I can beam you out from there, if you'd like."
"Please," she said. The captain and the princess proceeded to the transporter room where Shamus beamed her back to the Knothole and then proceeded to the bridge to recall his senior staff from Starbase 132 for departure to Mobius as both the escort ship to the Royal Mobian Ship Knothole and the official transport ship of Gemnian Ambassador T'Lem. The first few hours proceeded uneventfully. But four hours out, things began to go seriously wrong.
"Captain, two Kelvetican warships are approaching from vector 70 marks 4 and 6," Tactical Chief Movram reported. "Standard battle formation."
"Ops, inform the Knothole and then tell Starbase 132 that we need backup and we need it NOW!" ordered Shamus.
"Aye, sir," responded Maxive.
"Tactical, arm all weapons and prepare to fire," ordered Shamus.
The End of "A Bite From Life"
To be continued in "A bit of Bobbery," also by Jesse Shearer.
A "Midnight Star"/"Sonic the Hedgehog" story by Jesse Shearer
Star Trek related material and resemblances copyright Paramount.
Sonic the Hedgehog material, characters, et cetera copyright Sega of America, DIC entertainment, Archie Comics, and their respective creators.
Babylon Five resemblances copyright Warner Brothers.
Solar Jetman video game resemblances copyright Rare Co.
To begin with...
The temporal factor for this story is approximately six months after the "official" launch of the Terran Alliance Starship (TAS) Midnight Star, the prototype for the Bismarck Class starship commanded by one of it's co-designers, Captain Shamus J. O'Reiley. These six months had been tough for the captain, and that was aside from the problems brought by all the fame and wealth his fame had brought him. He could have handled that if the researchers that had studied his ship for the better part of three years hadn't come close to disassembling his ship and then done a lousy job of putting it back together. On top of that, Shamus found that he was missing his Mobian friends. Perhaps this is what some of them called...
A Bite from Life
While he was thinking about all of this, Shamus was at a science station on the bridge, helping a young ensign understand how to use the ship's databanks, and noticing how his own eyes were going bad. But then, that was only natural for humans in their early sixties, and it didn't help the situation any that the researchers had replaced the original monitors with the smaller ones standard to TAS ships.
"Does that help any?" Shamus asked his trainee.
"Yes sir, it does," she said. "Thank you, sir."
"Glad I could help," acknowledged Shamus, who then turned to see his friend and first officer Jim Keating enter the bridge.
"Engineering reports that the dilithium matrix has destabilized again," Keating informed his friend. "I had them get going on fixing it."
"Thank you," Shamus told his friend. "I'm going to my office to have a word with the head of fleet operations about this. You have the bridge, friend."
"Right," Keating responded as his friend headed through a door just to the right of the bridge's transporter stage, the room's main feature.
Just after the door closed, Shamus took a deep breath though his nose and let it out quickly. After doing so, he went to the replicator and ordered a hot cup of herbal tea and went across the room to his desk. Just as he sat down, a crew member on the bridge let him know that the Terran fleet's operations commander was in fact calling him.
"In my office," Shamus said. A few seconds later, the small upright screen came on, showing the back of a large office chair that quickly turned around to reveal a familiar face.
"Captain O'Reiley? Admiral Jenov here, the slightly younger man said. "Just checking in on you and your ship. How are things going?"
"A wee bit worse than usual, sir," Shamus responded. "The dilithium matrix has destabilized for the third time in as many weeks; my crew isn't well trained; and most of the screens are too small to use."
"We'll look into the crew and dilithium problems you've been having, Mr. O'Reiley," Jenov said. "In the meantime, I suggest that you have your vision checked and corrected if necessary."
"With all due respect, sir," Shamus began, "I don't even have the proper bleedin' equipment for that on this ship."
"That most certainly is a problem, Mr. O'Reiley," the admiral said, looking almost shocked. "If the condition of your ship is half as bad as you say it is, you should report to the nearest starbase. In your case that would be Starbase 132. I'll let the station commander know you're on your way."
"Thank you, sir," Shamus said.
"And while you're having your eyes checked, see what else you can have taken care of," Jenov said.
"Yes, sir," Shamus again responded, and then closed the channel. He then went to the bridge and ordered the helmsman to set course for Starbase 132 at the highest speed possible, about one quarter impulse.
"So Admiral Jenov is actually sending us to the best place in the Alliance to get fixed up. I never thought it would happen," Keating commented as soon as they were on their way.
"You're right, Jim. This sure is something," said Shamus. "I get the feeling that there's some sort of catch, though. I wonder what Jenov's up to?"
"Perhaps it's not just the admiral, sir," remarked the ensign Shamus had helped earlier. "I've monitored some strange messages lately."
"Really?" asked Shamus. "What kind of messages were they?"
"The latest is that three other new ships have been having the same kinds of problems we've been having, sir," the ensign reported.
"Interesting," commented Keating. "We'll have to check it out when we get to Starbase 132."
"That we will," said Shamus. "Ensign, what's your name?"
"Elveron, sir," the young woman responded.
"Ensign Elveron, I'm assigning you to check out those messages you just told me about," Shamus told her. "But find out as much as you can before we get there and report to me. When we get to the station, I'll assign help."
"Yes, sir," Elveron said.
Within a matter of hours, the ship and crew had arrived at the station, and, to the best of the captain's knowledge, the repairs had begun; as had Elveron's investigation. Within two hours, she was filling Shamus in on the goings-on within the Terran Alliance and the Extrastellar Fleet.
"My informants had stranger news than the messages from the other ships, sir," Elveron told her captain. "Most of the people on the work crews said that the Star is the first job anyone's had in three weeks, just before all the messages about the fleet's disrepair began. Everyone is willing to work."
"That's interesting," Shamus responded. "If they're all so ready to work, the crews should have been able to finish the needed work twice by now. Last time I checked, they had barely started."
"That's not all, sir," the young Gemnian told Shamus. "Our supplies are stored in a cargo bay right next to where we docked, and they haven't been onloaded to the ship yet."
"I'm going to the station commander's office to have a word with him about this. Keep up the good work, ensign," Shamus told Elveron, as he headed for the center of the station.
"Yes sir," responded Elveron.
Within a matter of minutes, Shamus had reached the station manager's office. The station manager had a lot to say when Shamus asked him about the delays with his ship.
"I'm sure you do find the delays distressing, captain," he said. "It's only fair that you be filled in now. Headquarters knows all about the past fifteen years of your history, Mr. O'Reiley, and they've shared it with key personnel, one of which I am. The information was brought to light primarily by your destruction of the Starship Bishop."
"How's that?" asked Shamus.
"As I'm sure you had anticipated at the time, just before the ship's drive core breached, a downed ship beacon was launched," the station manager told Shamus. "Without that beacon, we would never have known about your having survived the Kelvetican War for so long. Nor would we have discovered a planet called Mobius. A month later, when the first shuttle landed, the landing party was accepted with open arms. Thanks to you, of course. Also, thanks to your carelessness in violating Rule One of the Alliance Code, the inhabitants had built a Post Light-capable starship who's core would have breached and destroyed the entire planet the second they tried to bring it on-line."
"Look, commander, I know these people. In the ten years I lived with them, they proved to be a very intelligent race," Shamus explained. "I know it was sloppy work for me to leave so much technical data around for them to find. But what I saw of the Mobian population is that it was only a few years from PL technology anyway, if they hadn't been in a war. And, whether or not it shows, I tried to minimize my impact on them in every way I could. But that still doesn't explain the delays."
"I'll be frank and make it brief," the station commander said. "The delays are in preparation for the arrival of a Gemnian ambassador to the planet Mobius. You are to transport her there, and when you arrive, your assignment will change to Terran ambassador to the same planet for the period of one year."
"Who ordered that?" asked Shamus.
"I did," said a familiar voice from behind the captain, who turned around, half startled.
"Sally? How did you get here?" Shamus stuttered.
"A transport ship designed by Rotor and build by your Alliance people. And I think you should know that I go by 'Your Majesty in public now. Nice to see you again, by the way, Shamus," she said.
It's nice to see you again, too, Your Majesty," Shamus said, politely. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you arrive at your choice for Terran ambassador?"
"I know you, Shamus," Sally answered. "You had one of the few believable diplomatic records, and the only one I really trusted. You'll have to tell me about Belram sometime."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, I'm sure you'll enjoy that story," Shamus responded.
"In the meantime, I'm going to wait for the Gemnian ambassador and escort her to your ship. You'd better get back there and oversee the work, captain. Dismissed," Sally said.
When Shamus arrived on the bridge of the Midnight Star, Keating new almost immediately that there was bad news.
"What's the word from the station?" asked Keating. "It can't be good."
"It's not," said Shamus. "Remember that planet Illusion and I found you in orbit of? It seems I've been chosen the Terran ambassador to that world. And to make matters worse, we'll be taking the Gemnian ambassador and presumably the Mobian royalty, too."
"The Gemnians I understand in space, but the Mobians? What's with that?" asked Keating.
"It seems they found the original designs for this ship and modified them somehow," explained Shamus, "and now the Alliance has helped them actually build it. If they used pre-Bismarck Class technology and the hyperspace corrections I included with the designs, there's a large potential for big trouble."
"How so?" asked Keating.
"I'll need Illusion and direct access to the engineering computer to do a halfway decent job of explaining," answered Shamus. "I'll explain on the way."
"OK," said Keating, who then signaled the operations officer to handle the bridge until the two higher-ranking officers returned. Along the way to the main engine room, Shamus explained that the Midnight Star had some problems with unstable particles, the most major of which was cronotons, in it's original design, and as such, needed an anticronoton particle emitter as a correction, which absolutely had to be replaced whenever it was removed. This meant that if the new ship from Mobius had been built with pre-Bismarck technology and had the corrections for the Midnight Star incorporated, anything could have been seriously altered, perhaps beyond repair.
"So the drive core emits high levels of cronoton particles?" asked Keating. "I see how that could cause problems."
"That's why we installed an anticronoton device and made absolutely sure it got replaced every time it got removed," explained Shamus. "Here's Illusion now. He'll be able to help us get more information."
"What kind of information do you need, captain?" asked Illusion.
"I have a feeling we'll be needing the schematics, specs, and original designs for this ship," Shamus told the hologram.
"I'll do a compilation file for you when we're done here," said Illusion, "but that'll be awhile. By the way, what seems odd about you guys asking me for that information?"
"Our old Mobian friends are here, I've been selected as the Terran ambassador to their world, and they've built their own ship," explained Shamus.
"Here? As on this ship?" asked Illusion.
"On the station, actually," answered Keating. "The suspicion is that their ship was build from parts build before the Terran fleet was upgraded."
"What's worse," said Shamus, "they might have used the cronoton balancing correction we use to keep ourselves going."
"If that's so, noone knows what kind of damage to time and space may have occurred," said Illusion. "Did you meet anyone from Mobius yet, and did they seem different?"
"I ran into Sally in the station manager's office. She did seem more aggressive. But," noted Shamus, "that could be because they've won their war and they've never failed to succeed in their dealings to this point."
"Bridge to Captain O'Reiley," the operations officer called over the communications system a second later. "Gemnian Ambassador T'Lem and Mobian Princess Sally are here, and are requesting to meet with you immediately."
"On my way," responded Shamus, as he and Keating departed from engineering. When they reached the bridge, the ambassador and the princess were waiting at either side of the lift door.
"We need to talk, Mr. O'Reiley," Sally told him as he stepped out of the lift.
"In deed we do, Your Majesty," Shamus responded. "Jim, you have the bridge. Ambassador, Your Highness, my office is right this way." Just as they reached the doors to the captain's office, the communications officer informed them that there was an incoming hail from the transport ship "Knothole."
"Your ship?" Shamus asked Sally.
"That's right," she responded.
"On screen," ordered Shamus. Sonic the Hedgehog's face appeared on the viewscreen, along with several other former Knothole Village dwellers.
"The crew's getting restless, Sal. When does something happen?" the hedgehog asked.
"Soon," answered Sally. "Just give me a chance to work."
"They're certainly free to beam over here," offered Shamus. "That is, if Your Majesty has no objections."
"After our meeting, captain. In fact, there's someone I was going to recommend you have over anyhow," Sally told him.
"As you wish," both Sonic and Shamus responded in near unison, just before the channel with the Mobian ship closed. The captain and his two superiors then proceeded to his office for their meeting.
"May I offer you anything to drink?" asked Shamus.
"No, thank you," responded T'Lem
"None for me," Sally told him. "Let's get our business out of the way first."
"You do know what the duties of an ambassador for the Terran Alliance are, don't you, captain?" asked T'Lem.
"I do, Madam Ambassador," Shamus responded.
"Detail them," she requested.
"In this case," began Shamus, "it is the duty of all Alliance ambassadors assigned to a world to not only represent their home worlds and the Alliance; but also to help the inhabitants of any world wishing to join understand the benefits and the consequences of joining the Alliance."
"That is correct," T'Lem assured the captain. "Now, unless either Princess Sally or yourself has an objection, I would advise that we begin our journey to Mobius as soon as possible."
"I have some crew members aboard my ship that wish to visit the captain," Sally explained. "It might be awhile before we get going."
"As you wish," said the ambassador, who then left the captain's office and asked Keating to show her to her quarters.
"Shamus, I have a question about my ship," Sally said after the door to the office had closed.
"Ask away," Shamus responded.
"We're having some trouble with high levels of anticronotons being emitted. What can we do about it?" she asked.
"Well, Sally, all I can recommend is that you have the whole drive system dismantled and reconfigured immediately, especially if the problem is what I think it is," Shamus explained.
"What do you think the problem is?" asked Sally.
"I think your ship has been build with parts built for use before this ship had been studied enough for the upgrades to be recommended and implemented," the captain explained. "Therefore, there's no need for the anticronoton device that was worked into the drive system. If the problem is looked at now, there's a chance that no damage will have been done."
"I'll consider it," Sally told her old friend. "In the meantime, there are some people on my ship that would like to see you."
"No point in making them wait any longer," Shamus commented. "Contact your ship and have them prepare for transport."
"Take the nearest transporter, sir," ordered Sally, as they headed for the bridge. When both had stepped up to the bridge transporter control, Sally called the Knothole and had the first group get ready for transport. Once the captain saw the party setup, he explained that he couldn't beam them all in at once as a matter of the transporter being just short of the needed power to do the job.
"How can this be remedied?" asked Sally.
"Have eight of them stand in a ring," Shamus told her. "That way I'll have an extra ten percent of the system's capacity to work with."
"You heard him," Sally told the first group over the still-open communications channel.
"Shoulda made the thing two percent stronger," mumbled Shamus.
"What was that?" asked Sally.
"Just thinking that I should have taken Illusion's advice and used a different plan when we redesigned the ship, Your Majesty" Shamus responded. "It would have made the transporters just strong enough to get all of them at once. But, anyway, it looks like they're ready. Energizing."
When the transport cycle completed, Shamus saw Antione, Bunnie, Rotor, and Saphire "Speed" McSpike standing on the transporter stage, along with an aide for each. After the initial shock and the hellos, Sally reminded her captain friend that he had one person yet to bring aboard.
"Oh yes, that's right," said Shamus. "This should be interesting."
"Energize," ordered Sally.
Shamus quickly complied, and was pleasantly surprised to see the center pad activate and Dulcy Dragon materialize on it. After having greeted the last of his old friends from Mobius and explaining the transporter, he offered the whole group a tour of the ship, to which they quickly agreed.
"First off," began Shamus, "since we're on the bridge, what better place to start? You're probably all familiar with the transporter system by now. There are five standard personnel transporters on the ship, along with three escape transport systems per deck on each of the twenty decks and numerous cargo transporters in each cargo bay, one of which we'll see later. Off to the right is my office, communications, mission operations and the tactical station. Here on the left are the science and engineering stations. Up front are ship's operations and the helm. As most of my officers are taking a few hours of leave, the stations are currently being filled by lower-ranking crew members."
"Is your first officer on board?" asked Speed.
"As a matter of fact, he is," answered Shamus. "That's him in the center seat. Would you like to meet him?"
"His name will do for now," answered Sally.
"Captain James Keating," Keating responded when he realized that he was being asked about. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do."
"You know, Jim, I just thought of something," said Shamus. "If there's going to be a tour, I'd better tell each individual department. Could you tell them about the uniforms?"
"Certainly, certainly," answered Keating, as Shamus went to tell the departments that there would be some tours coming through. "First, the main colors. Light green, like what Shamus and I have, indicates command rank. There's also orange for operations and security, like what the fill-ins are wearing; yellow for medical officers; and light blue for organizational officers, which are primarily seen on member or prospective member planets and space stations.
"The trim color indicates actual rank or position on ships, stations, and planets. The red, like on Shamus's uniform indicates the ship or station's commanding officer, usually an admiral, but more often a captain. Purple signifies second in command and commander; white is lieutenant commander; dark green for lieutenant; and beige for ensign. The black is just a filler color," concluded Keating.
"But why all the uniforms, Mr. Keating?" asked Dulcy.
"It's the formality," explained Keating. "A technicality for greeting and transporting dignitaries. Usually, transport an cargo ships like the Midnight Star have less formal dress codes."
"But how do you tell one another apart?" asked one of the aides.
"From what the captain tells me, pretty much the same way you used to," Keating answered. "Shamus and I know the department heads by name, they know their crewpeople the same way."
"It is nice to be knowing this, sir, but we should be seeing the rest of the ship, also," Antione let the group know.
"Good point," said Keating. "Shamus, you ready over there?"
"Yes I am," answered Shamus. "If you'll all follow us, next stop: the mess hall."
As they moved towards the door, Shamus noticed the look on Dulcy's face and remembered she was claustrophobic.
"Oh, that's right," said Shamus. "Dulcy doesn't like tight spaces. I do apologize. I completely forgot."
"That's alright. I understand," she answered.
"I think I've got a solution for this," Shamus said. "How long do you think you could handle it in a lift if it were just the two of us?"
"Not long," Dulcy answered, "but longer than if there were a big group with us."
"OK, this should work," said Shamus. "Jim, you give the princess and the others their walking tour. I'll take Dulcy and give her a hologramatic tour in holodeck six."
"We're on our way," Keating told his bunch. "Next stop the mess hall."
As Keating's group left, Shamus took a moment to explain the transporter controls to Dulcy. When he finished, the large group was well ahead of them, so the captain and his friend headed out for the holodeck. On the way down, Shamus tried to comfort his nervous friend and had little success until he decided to let her in on a little secret.
"Actually, I can understand how you must feel," said Shamus. "I'm a touch acrophobic."
"Acrophobic? What's that?" asked Dulcy.
"Fear of heights. That's why I usually try to avoid windows during flights over a planetary surface or when in orbit of something," explained Shamus. "I'd be grateful if you'd keep this from the others, at least for the time being."
"Gladly," she responded.
A moment later, the lift's doors opened and the two friends stepped into the hall and walked a few meters to the doors of the nearest holodeck, where Shamus called up the next best thing to an actual tour of the ship. When they entered, a simulation of the bridge was running, complete with representations of all the officers, including Shamus and Keating.
"I thought that all your officers except for Commander Keating were off the ship," remarked Dulcy.
"They are," Shamus said.
"Then, how is this possible?" the dragon asked.
"Computer, freeze program," ordered Shamus. When he did, almost all movement on the bridge stopped instantly.
"Oh, I see," said Dulcy. "They're all holograms, like Illusion."
"Exactly," said Shamus. "When we're done with the tour, perhaps you'd like to visit with our holographic friend."
"That would be nice," she said. "But first, could you tell me the names of your officers?"
"Most certainly," the captain began. "At security and tactical is Tactical Chief Maxive, from Lemonite; my science officer is Lieutenant Emery Joseph, from Earth; at ship's operations is Lieutenant Commander Maxive, also of Lemonite; at the helm is Ensign Deblos, of Zandor Prime. The chief engineer, head chef, and chief medical officer are in their respective departments."
As the holotour continued, the friends passed from the bridge to the mess hall, then to Medbay and engineering, where they met the head chef, ship's surgeon, and chief engineer. When the holodeck session concluded, they proceded to return to the bridge via the same lift they had come down on. About halfway to the bridge, Shamus noticed that his friend looked like she was about to pass out.
"Think you can make it?" the human asked.
"I'm getting really dizzy, Shamus," Dulcy responded as she reached out to balance herself with one arm and put the other to her forehead.
"We're just about there," Shamus told her. A second later, the dragon fell unconscious. Shamus immediately stopped the lift and let the medical bay know what was going on. The staff person he got ahoy of said that he would contact the doctor if the captain would bring his friend to Medbay. Half an hour later, the doctor was giving Shamus her report.
"It would appear that your friend simply passed out from stresses related to a phobia of some sort," the doctor told him. "Is she claustrophobic?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Shamus answered. "Has been the whole time I've known her. But I've seen you give me that look, doctor. We've got trouble coming down the line, don't we?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the doctor responded. "It's no surprise that your friend in there has a radically different genetic structure than most other life forms we deal with in the Alliance. The surprising thing is that she appears to be a product of genetic engineering. And to make matters worse, it looks like the Kelveticans are somehow responsible."
"What?" asked Shamus. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," the doctor responded. "But most of the life forms native to her planet haven't been studied too heavily, primarily due to their verified sentience. It is entirely possible for this just to be natural for the Mobian dragon."
"You're right, doctor," said Shamus. "It's a possibility, and a disturbing one at that."
"At any rate, she came to a few minutes after you got her here. I'd recommend letting her rest for the time being," the doctor informed Shamus.
"We'll follow it," he said. "I'll go inform the Knothole."
"That won't be necessary, captain," Sally told them as she stepped into Medbay.
"How long have you been out there?" asked Shamus.
"I just got here," she answered. "We had just finished the tour of your ship when the person you left in charge of the bridge informed us of this incident. And I would encourage you to try to remember that this isn't like the last time we worked together."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," said Shamus. "It's just that Doctor Greene here has informed me that there may be a remote possibility that the Kelvetican Empire may be involved in recent events somehow."
"How so?" asked the princess.
"Let me explain, Your Highness," Greene began. "It's standard procedure to do a genetic scan of all patients to search for a possible viral infection. Miss Dragon's genetic structure closely resembles that of most known Kelvetican biomechaical devices. But, as I explained to the captain, there's also a good chance that what I found occurs naturally in Mobian dragons. Because we know so little about your various peoples, it's hard to say for sure."
As Greene concluded, Dulcy came in, looking as though she had just barely recovered enough to walk. The dragon looked at the threesome and then drew a breath, as if she was preparing to speak.
"I'm ready to go now, Ma," Dulcy said, half directing it at the doctor.
"She seems alright, at least as compared to the observations I made last time I was on Mobius," said Shamus. "Doctor?"
"We can safely beam her back to the Knothole at this point," the doctor said, "but I'd like to keep her here for further observation. That is, if Your Highness has no objections."
"No objections, but I'd better get back to my ship," Sally said. "We're expected at Mobius in a few hours."
"Which means that we'd both better get going, Your Majesty," said Shamus. "There's a transporter room just before the direct lift to the bridge. I can beam you out from there, if you'd like."
"Please," she said. The captain and the princess proceeded to the transporter room where Shamus beamed her back to the Knothole and then proceeded to the bridge to recall his senior staff from Starbase 132 for departure to Mobius as both the escort ship to the Royal Mobian Ship Knothole and the official transport ship of Gemnian Ambassador T'Lem. The first few hours proceeded uneventfully. But four hours out, things began to go seriously wrong.
"Captain, two Kelvetican warships are approaching from vector 70 marks 4 and 6," Tactical Chief Movram reported. "Standard battle formation."
"Ops, inform the Knothole and then tell Starbase 132 that we need backup and we need it NOW!" ordered Shamus.
"Aye, sir," responded Maxive.
"Tactical, arm all weapons and prepare to fire," ordered Shamus.
The End of "A Bite From Life"
To be continued in "A bit of Bobbery," also by Jesse Shearer.