Distant Stars Ch1-8

 

Prologue 

Gattlin looked down at his card. The cards were slim with sophisticated electronics displaying the card values. He held the Emperor, The states man, a 2 of Troopers, An  5 of Scientist, An 1 10 of Bandits, and Benevolence. The values of his cards were 10, 10, 2, -5, and 1. With his values he held Eight in total. He was below the value of 21 that he needed by Terran standard rules. 

Gattlin looked at the other gambler at the table. It had started with a number of player but many had fallen out as their credits ran out but this on had hung on. He was young and wore the clothing more common on an opulent planet in the core of the empire. Not a run down outlaw station on the rim. Gattlin watched the sweat run down the man’s brow and the twitching of his eye telling of his nervousness. Gattlin smiled and went for a bluff he typed into a small display showing the large amount of credits he had already won in the game and raised the already considerable bet on the table. His opponent gulped and Gattlin knew that their game was coming to an end. The man had already lost a lot on other hands and he wondered if he would fold or not. Then the man did something unexpected and placed all the meager funds he had left and then he pulled out a small device. “I don’t have enough to cover the rest but will you accept this” he said turning the device on and Gattlin saw it was a ship registration and manifest. From the data scrolling down the screen Gattlin saw it was a personal yacht carrying a number of medical and scientific devices. Gattlin nodded and in a gruff voice “Accepted”. A droid standing near the table “Bet Accepted, please choose a card to discard”. Gattlin placed his Omicron 5 in the randomizer and then pulled the card out with his new value. He looked at it and smiled as he looked at the other player.

The droid turned to the other player and he laid down his cards. “The heir, An 5 of troopers, A 5 of Bandits, The Lady, and Calamity. 10, 5, -5, 10, -1. Your total is 19. The droid turned and looked a Gattlin who smiled and laid down his cards. “The emperor, The States Man, 2 of Troopers, Benevolence and the fool. Fools Gambit 2, 1, and the fool. You have achieved 21 and are the winner.  A crowd that had gathered around the table cheered as Gattlin smiled and he began to check his accounts as the credits flowed in. “Well the captain should be pleased. Now to find the others” he said to himself and looked over at the other man. He had collapsed on the table at the loss and it seemed like he was having a panic attack. Gattlin sighed and moved over to the man “Are you okay?”. The man looked up at Gattlin “No, I just lost everything and now they are going to find me”. Gattlin watched him “Who?”. The man shivered “Mutagen they have been hounding me for days since I left them. Now they will find and kill me”. Gattlin nodded “Okay, come with me” and he pulled the man out of his seat. Gatlin was strong even though it did not look like it and he lifted the man over his shoulders as they moved out of the casino and into the greater station. He moved down the dark station halls towards the rendezvous point and then he saw the others. Avi, Marion, and Dexter. Avi looked at Gattlin “What is this?” he asked his voice synthesized though a voice coder in his mask. Gattlin grinned “I found this guy in the casino and I even go us a new ship along with a small fortune”. Avi sighed deeply “Fine, I hope your explanation satisfies the Captain. We will go back to the ship. You go find your new ship and meet us at the Nomad”

Gattlin checked the ship registration and moved quickly to where it was berthed. He took the other man with him and they quickly found the berth. The ship was sleek and polished and when Gattlin entered he saw a lot of scientific material in the ship. He even saw a medical capsule like those used by the genetic engineers. Gattlin put the other man down as he started up the ship and got departure authorization. He sat at the controls and moved the sleek yacht out into the traffic in the space surrounding the station. He logged in his departure coordinates and moved the ship into position. The station was situated  near a barren world in a system largely uncharted by the human empire or any of its factions. As the ship moved out of the range of any nearby gravity masses the wormhole generators hummed and a window opened before the yacht swallowed it up.

Gattlin turned to the other Man “Well now we will be there for about an hour. So you can tell me who you are and why Mutagen is hunting you”. The other man looked at him “My name is Yamori. I am or was a genetic scientist with Mutagen. They are hunting me because I left after I began to question their ethics and I took him with me” Yamori pointed at the capsule and Gattlin rose, turning on a small display on the capsule and he saw a boy. The boy looked like he was in a deep sleep within the capsule. Gattlin looked at Yamori “Who is he?”. Yamori looked anxious “He is a genetically engineered human. He was grown as part of a secret project by Omicron. I took him along with as much data as I could gather when I left”. Gattlin nodded and returned to the controls. “We should be there soon and the Captain will decide what to do about this. 

Gattlin brought the ship out of the wormhole and Yamori got a good look at their destination. I was empty space and then he saw it a large station that rose in three blocky tiers to a command tower. Across the lower tiers domes rose up and on upper tiers were large flat spaces were other large and mid size ships were berthed and across the station weapon stations rose. Then Yamori gasped as he saw the large engines situated on the sides and underneath the station. Yamori looked at Gattlin with shock “What is this?”. Gattlin laughed “That is the terran colony ship Nomad” he said “My home and it could be yours and the boys too if you can convince the captain”. Yamori looked at the capsule wondering about his and the boys future as the yacht landed on a berth and large clamps secured the ship. 

Chapter 1

The world was darkness and silence for he did not know how long but the silence was breaking. Voices he began to hear voices he did not recognize as his mind began to wake. He began to distinguish between the different voices. “Well MD, what have we learned about the boy” said a strong steady voice.  A voice that sounded mechanical like it was coming from a vocabulator "Captain the boy shows signs of enhanced muscle growth, cellular activity, nerve responses and enhancements of the brain. These signs indicate basic genetic modifications”. Another voice spoke, this one gruffer “Yes we know that. He was made by Mutagen. Is there anything else that you have discovered”. The mechanical voice responded “Actually there is unlike other Metahumans the boy lacks any specialty enhancements and is genetically stable”. The boy heard several gasps “Does that mean that the boy could breed?” asked the steady voice. “Yes captain, He could father a line of enhanced humans or he could be cloned in large numbers. The fact that he seems to be a blank slate means he could be given cybernetics or more enhancements to make him a versatile and powerful weapon. Especially in the hands of the Omicron Group or one of the other factions”. “What should we do with him, Captain?” asked the gruff voice. “What do you mean Gattlin? We take care of him. He is a boy not a weapon or a tool for some megalomaniac to exploit. For the time being he can remain here when he wakes up then you will look after him” steady voice said. The boy heard the gruff voice begin to splutter “What about Yamori”.  “Yamori is employed here in medical now and cannot watch over him and after all you got yourself involved and brought him to us”. The boy heard footsteps coming closer and felt a warm hand on his skin. “Yes Captain, he is so young but I will do my best to look after him”. The boy felt the hand withdraw and heard the footsteps move away. “MD let us know when he fully wakes” steady voice said. “Yes Captain” said MD with his mechanical voice. Then the boy felt himself sink into unconsciousness again. 

The boy came back again some time later and he opened his eyes. He eyes were a silver grey and they roamed around the strange room. It was bright and sterile white with a dark wall display. He recognized the readings as brainwaves and heartbeat as well as other vitals. The boy was wondering where this place was when a shining humanoid droid entered the room. “Ahh you are awake” the droid said in a familiar mechanical voice “I am MD101”. The boy watch the droid go to the display and pressed a button near the display  “Captain the boy is awake” the droid said and a window appeared on the display showing a stern faced man with silver hair. “We will be down to the infirmary in a moment” The man said “make sure the boy is comfortable”. The droid looked at the displayed readings and turned back to the boy “Do you need anything?” he asked the boy. The boy shook his head as the droid moved around checking the various monitoring equipment and two men entered the room. The stern faced man was tall and lean, and he was dressed in an elaborate outfit with various metals on display. The other man was medium height and was stocky in build he had an expressive face and seemed happy to see the boy. The captain looked at he boy “I am Captain Ander, do you have a name my boy?” The boy shook his head and he spoke in a soft voice “I was called J34O98S545H67”. The other man smiled “I think we can shorten that to Josh do you prefer that?”. Josh nodded and the man smiled again “I am Gattin and I will look after you Josh. When your ready we can figure that out but for now rest here and recover your strength. Josh smiled at him thinking Gattlin was nice. Captain Anders nodded “Very good, I would like to speak to you Josh about what you know about Omicron, Mutagen, or anything else but that can wait until you are ready. I have duties to take care of before the nomad relocates. I will leave you to Gattlin and MD”. Captain Anders saluted and moved quickly out of the infirmary. 

Gattlin smiled and took grab a seat moving closer and sitting down. “I am glad to meet you Josh. Lets get to know each other”. 

Chapter 2

Josh looked up at Gattlin and wondered. Gattlin's face was open and kind, something that Josh was not used to. Gattlin smiles “Don’t worry. I will start things off. I am a Metahuman like you. I was created as a special operations soldier by Biogensis. I was part of a squad of others that were created just like me. We were bought by a distant world's government and deployed to root out that government's enemies. Gattlin's expression filled with sadness and pain “I and my brothers killed a lot of people for that government. Some were evil and deserved to die but many more were not deserving. Then one day we were sent to destroy a rebel base for that world's government. We went to the base and slaughtered everyone present” Gattlin’s face became sadder and angry “Then it happened as we finished off the rebels we found ourselves surrounded by the full might of the world's military. They were ordered to destroy us after we had dealt with the last of the government's enemies. They rained death and destruction on us. I would not have survived if one of my brothers had not pushed me into the ruins of a partially destroyed building. The ruins shielded me from the worst of the destruction but I was knock out when a piece of rubble fell on my head. When I woke up I was buried under rubble and by the time I dug myself out my brothers were dead. I wandered the ruins for a time looking for each of my brothers. I found all but one among the ruins and I never found him. Though I learned later that the politicians that had given us our final orders were hunted and killed by an unknown assassin.Later I met some crew members from the Nomad and then met Captain Anders. What is your story Josh” Gattlin’s eyes had teared up when talking about his brothers but had cleared by the time he looked at Josh again.

Josh swallowed as he looked at Gattlin “I was created 8 years ago by Mutagen”. Gattlin looked stunned at Josh “8 years they did not use any accelerated aging”. Josh shook his head “I overheard a scientist once. He said that accelerated aging would cause unnecessary mutations and genetic instability”. Gattlin nodded and Josh continued “ I grew up mostly in my medical capsule in a deep sleep. I was woken up once a year for them to perform tests. When I was awake I listened and gathered some things about myself and when I was sleeping they used hypnosis programming to teach me. Some of the scientists were nice but they did not last long in their post often disappearing when I woke up again. One of the nice scientists when I was four reprogrammed my hypnosis and taught me morals and emotions. After that I understood that what they had been teaching me was bad and I became afraid of many of them. Especially one who they called the administrator. They said he came from Omicron to oversee my development and anytime he was near me I could see something dark and twisted in him” Josh began to shutter at the thought of the administrator and his voice trembled “Anytime that the administrator was around he said I was going to be the perfect tool and the last time I slept he said I was going to be taken to a new facility to begin my new training. I was alone and afraid of what they were going to do to me next”. Josh began to tear up and he closed his eyes. Then Josh felt Gattlin’s arms wrap around him “It is okay kid, your safe and not alone anymore”.

Josh felt his tears subside and he looked up a Gattlin. Gattlin smiled and ruffled Josh’s hair and then the lights changed flashing with yellow warnings and the displays showed an alert of all hands to stations. Then a display went dark and was replaced by the face of Captain Anders. His face was hard “Gattlin we have company several wormhole gates appeared and several ships of at least cruiser class have appeared”. Gattlin looked at the display “Have they hailed us Captain do we know who they are”. Captain Anders shook his head “Still getting identifications and no hail yet but I suspect that it has to do with Josh and Yamori. I have got you and Yamori patched into this communication so that we can get an Idea of who we are dealing with”. A commotion was caused and the Captain's attention was directed towards the commotion. “Sir we are receiving a hail on an all band frequency” said a voice from off screen. The Captain nodded “Very well, put it through”

Chapter 3

The display shifted with a new window joining the captain and a face appeared. It was thin and tight with sneering features. Josh felt his blood run cold at the face because he recognized it. Captain Anders spoke “This is Captain Anders of the Nomad. Identify yourself”. The face sneered “I am Administrator Farsight from Omicron and you have something of our Captain”. Captain Anders smiled as though Farsight had made a joke “What could the Nomad have that belongs to Omicron?”. Farsight’s eyes flashed and he smirked “Don’t play with me captain, I have already been to Telcron station. I have taken the security video’s and gotten confirmation that a star yacht bearing material stolen from us as well as a traitor named Yamori was seen leaving with a member claiming to come from your ship. We followed the outbound course and picked up Omicron transponder signals. Now where is the traitor and what he stole”. Captain Anders smiled again “I will admit that we have the man Yamori onboard and if you want to speak with him we can arrange a meeting under supervision. I will not however hand him over to you and we have nothing that belongs to Omicron onboard”. Farsight snarled “You lie”. Captain Anders' face went hard but his voice remained calm “I do not lie. If you have been to Telcron station then you know that Yamori bet his ship and everything onboard and lost to a member of my crew”. Farsight snarled again, his voice rising “What does that have to do with anything?”. Captain Anders smirked “Everything, Telcron is in outlaw territory and its own laws mean that anything bet no matter if it is stolen belongs to the winner. Nothing that belongs to you is onboard. If you want to take your complaint to Imperial authorities they will only tell you the same thing”. 

Administrator Farsight's face had gone red and he seemed to be struggling with his rage “If you refuse to hand over what is ours. Then I will take it”. Farsight’s voice had become soft and dangerous and Josh began to tremble for he knew the danger of that tone “I will give you 5 minutes to reconsider and then I will give the order to destroy you”. The screen went gray signaling the connection had been muted. Captain Anders' face became more intent “Do we have an Identification on the ships?” he asked someone off screen. “Yes sir” a voice from an unseen person on the bridge said “We have identified that the three largest cruisers are from Omicron. The frigates around them are signalling they are part of the goldstar mercenary fleet. Captain Anders nodded “Give the signal to prep all weapon systems  and put the engines and sheilds on standby”. Another window appeared on the display and showed a view of the outside of the ship. Josh saw dozens of ships moving around the ship and then he saw hatches opening along an axis moving down the length of the ship. From the hatches large weapons platforms rose up and he also saw multiple weapons set on the surface begin to move. 

Farsight’s screen returned to normal “Well what is your answer?”. Captain Anders smiled showing teeth “Afraid we have to refuse Farsight. Cut the transmission”. The window cut on a the Administrators rage filled face and Captain Anders began to shout out orders "Shields up, detail railgun batteries 1-5 to target the cruisers and the other weapons to focus on targets of opportunity. Tell the engines to begin moving at all half speed and prepare coordinates for a wormhole jump. Josh felt the ship begin to hum and he watched the display as the weapons began to fire bright flashes began to appear as bolts of destructive power began to fly out between the Nomad and the other fleets.The display flashed as destructive power smashed into the Nomads shields. When the feed cleared he saw the large guns forward of the ship firing nonstop into a group of large ships not far away. He saw one of the ships drifting large rents torn into the sides of the ship. The others shields were flickering under the onslaught. The other ships were under fire from other guns and Josh watched as the ship moved slowly past the fleet and suddenly the hums became more insistent. Captain Anders was looking at something off screen “Sir we have coordinates locked”. The Captain nodded “Engage the wormhole”. Josh saw the wormhole form on the display and the ship moved quickly into it leaving Administrator Farsight and the Omicron force behind. 

Chapter 4

The Nomad raced through the strange star fields of the wormhole and Josh watched the display as Captain Anders spoke again “Comms get me a trace of the Omicron transponder we are short on time”. Josh felt Gattlin’s hand on him as he saw Captain Anders looking at places off the screen and a voice spoke “Sir we have found the transponder on the medical capsule we took. The tech team cannot remove or turn off the transponder”. Captain Anders nodded “Have the techs move the medical capsule to the launch bay. When we exit the wormhole, have them launch the capsule into space”. A series of confirmation met Anders' request and he looked at the display. “Okay what is this and who is Farsight?” Captain Anders asked. 

Yamori’s face appeared in a display from another part of the ship “Farsight is the Omicron Administrator in charge of the Metahuman project that created Josh. I did not see much of him when I was working with Omicron but I heard many rumors about his arrogance and cruelty. He was known for making people who defied him work the slave jobs or worse just had them killed outright and he was known to be worse to the test subjects. They were not even human to him and he enjoyed destroying them just for not living up to his expectations and designs”. Josh shivered again and Gattlin looked at him “Farsight is a monster” he said in a soft voice “I would hear his voice when I was awake. He told me that I was going to be the ultimate weapon for them. I think that he had scientists that were kind to me executed.  Before I fell asleep last time he told me that he was personally going to oversee the next stage of my training”. Gattlin’s hand tightened and Josh saw sympathy in his face. Captain Anders nodded his face hard with anger “You're safe now Josh. We won’t let him near you again”. 

A voice spoke from off screen “Captain we are coming out of the wormhole”. Anders nodded “prepare to jettison the medical capsule and make sure the weapon systems are hot. They will be coming up behind us before too long”. The ship hummed again as the wormhole generators intensified and they returned to real space. Josh heard a series of activity from the displays of the bridge “Sir the capsule is away” said a voice. “Sir we have incoming contacts” said another voice. “That was fast” Captain Anders said. “Raise the shields and arm the hypervelocity rail cannon. If Farsight wants to chase us then let's show him our most dangerous weapons. How long until we can create another wormhole?”. A voice came from somewhere offscreen “It will take 30 minutes for the generators to cool down Sir”.  Captain Anders nodded as outside displays reappeared showing ships appearing through wormholes and approaching the Nomad. Suddenly a display window appeared showing the sneering face of Administrator Farsight again “You thought you could escape Anders?”. Captain Anders smiled “It was worth a try”. Farsight sneered more “I am still willing to show you some mercy if you give me what is ours immediately. I will just sell your entire crew as slaves or if you keep defying me I will kill you”. Captain Anders looked at him with a dead stare “If you want what is yours we have jettisoned it. I am sure your crews have identified where the transponder is coming from”. Farsight smiled “Yes we can see it. Very good Captain your seeing sense”. Farsight began issuing orders to a ship to go to the signal source and retrieve the capsule. Captain Anders smiled “Not so much. Tactical detail a rail gun team to target the transponder and destroy it now”. Farsight’s eyes widened with horror as the confirmation came in  and a rail gun moved into position and a high explosive bolt flew out and the capsule was destroyed in the explosion. A tense silence fell across the comms as the Nomad waited for Administrator Farsight’s response. 

Chapter 5

Farsight face went cold and flat “I am going to destroy your ship and personally make you watch the deaths of your crew. Then I am going to destroy you slowly Anders”. Captain Anders smiled hard “Your free to try but the Nomad is much more powerful than you could possibly imagine and we will not die without a fight”. Farsighs window disappeared and Josh heard commotion on the bridge “Sir the enemy fleet is forming up. The smaller frigates are forming into a screen with the cruisers near the center of the screens. They are moving into weapons range three formations trying divide our weapons. No fighter launches yet”. 

Josh saw Captain Anders accessing the situation “Aim the cannon at the heart of the nearest formation and fire. Lets give them a show”. Displays from outside the ship showed  a large gun situated on the side of the ship on the first tier begin to move and point towards an approaching group of ships. The light went red and ship shook as  the display showed the gun fire a burning lance and it raced out and slammed into the heart of the formation of ships. The display darkened as an explosion expanded in the heart of the formation. The display cleared and the lights went back to normal and Josh saw the formation in shambles. The cruiser was blasted with large sections of its hull incinerated and its shield gone. The frigates were scorched and several were listing as they lost power and propulsion. From the bridge display Josh heard a commotion “Direct hit Captain, The cruiser is dead and several of the frigates have been crippled. The other formation are coming faster and we have confirmation of fighters launching”. Captain Anders nodded "Tactical feed the rail guns target data for the other formations. Power up the point defense energy system. How long until the we can open a wormhole?”. A voice from another part of the bridge “10 minutes sir”.

Josh watched the displays and saw rail guns firing towards the formations of approaching ships and he saw the explosions as shell struck shields and armor. The formations quickly moved close enough to begin returning fire against the Nomad and the ship shook as the shield took the brunt of the enemy fire. Josh saw flights of enemy fighters try to get close to the Nomad and strike but anytime they move close beams of energy would emerge from spires that rise across the surface of the Nomad. The beams would lash out disabling or destroying enemy fighters. Josh saw Captain Anders on the bridge watching the battle and a voice somewhere on the bridge said “Sir shields are taking a beating. We have shield power is at 60 percent”. Captain Anders did not seem concerned “How much longer on the wormhole?”. “5 Minutes sir” said the voice. Captain Anders nodded “channel extra power into the shields and get the coordinate calculation for the wormhole generator”. 

The fire between ships intensified and Josh saw the shield begin to flicker as shells got close enough to strike the hull and the ship shook. The commotion of the bridge grew "confirmed hull strikes. Just glancing strikes so far” a voice said.. “Sir the generator is ready and the calculations are complete” said another voice. “Get us out of here” Captain Anders said. The rail guns intensified fire as the Nomad moved and the wormhole appeared. The guns went still as the Nomad entered the flickering and strange starfields of the wormhole. 

Captain Anders smiled as he looked at the display “We should be safe now. We are heading towards a Nomad fleet's safe point. Gattlin I will leave you to care for Josh and Josh I will see you later”. The displays went dark and Josh looked at Gattlin “What happens now?”. Gattlin smiled at him “We will ask MD if they think your ready to leave and then I will show you your new home. How does that sound Josh”. Josh smiled and nodded “That sounds great”.

Chapter 6

Gattlin signaled for MD to come and when the droid puttered in he began reading the various displays on Josh’s health. Gattlin watched the droid as it moved “Well MD is he good to go”. The droid turned “Yes sir, Josh is as healthy as he will ever be. If there is any change in his condition then please come back”. Gattlin smiled and looked at Josh as MD began to disconnect the monitor equipment. Josh smiled “Where are we going to go now” he looked down at the white clothing that had been given to him “I could use some new cloths”. Gattin laughed “Then lets go tour the Nomad and we can start in the commercial and recreational area”.

Gattlin led Josh through a short maze of rooms with medical and Lab equipment. Gattlin saw Josh looking around “This is the lab level Josh. Here the scientist and medics of the Nomad work and they create medicines and research cloning and genetic engineering”. Josh looked at Gattlin with fear in his eyes “Like Mutagen?”. Gattlin did not smile and shook his head “No not like Mutagen. Here we research and make use of genetic engineering to help those of our people on this ship who are Metahuman or otherwise”. Josh nodded the look of fear still not entirely gone. They left the maze and Josh saw a group of elevators standing at the end of a corridor. Gattlin led them to elevator and the doors open for them. Josh saw a number of button lining the wall. Gattlin smiled and began pointing out the buttons  “The elevator can go to almost any area on the ship This bottom row is for those areas on the engineering level. The next row up is for areas on the residential level. The row above that is for the weapons platforms. The row above goes into the first tier and will bring you into areas on the hanger level. The row above that one is the second tier and laboratory and medical level where we are now. The final tier and level is the command level”.

“Lets get started on the Residential level Josh” Gattlin said and he hit a button for the residential level and Josh gasped as the elevator went down and emerged into a large open area. It revealed a series of open domed area that were full of parks and commercial areas and Josh saw people moving around the open areas for a window. Gattlin led Josh out when the elevator came to stop and showed him the open park area. He pointed out were corridors to cabins were spaced out across the open dome. He also said that all the domes had such parks and commercial areas. Gattlin took Josh to a clothing store in the dome and he bought Josh some casual clothing. The began showing him around the park showing him multiple plants and animals that were in the dome.

Then they move down into the engineering area and Josh saw the engines and power production areas as well as a large fabrication area that could create the shells for the guns as well as a number of tools useful to the Nomad. Then Gattlin showed Josh the advance wormhole generator. In the forward sections of the ship was the massive generator that created exotic particles and directed them to rip holes in space in front of the ship. The power generators for all of this was created by a small contained star that generated almost infinite energy for the ship and the engines were huge ion sunlight engines. 

After the engineering section Gattin took Josh to see the large rail guns in the weapons area. The rail guns were a rare XS Model rail gun that was capable of shooting a variety of specialty shells including high explosives and special energy model shells. He also learned about the multispectrum energy emitters that created the point defense energy system and could be focused in the powerful multispectrum energy beam.

Then they traveled up to the next level and Josh saw the variety of ships that were found in the giant hangers or moored out on the upper part of the tier. Among the ships were several flights of fighters and bombers as well as a variety of frigates and yachts. The hanger level was also a place were large amount of material was stored after being brought onboard and then distributed to the rest of the ship.

Then Gattlin took Josh up to the command level and Josh got his first view of the bridge. He saw the communications and Tactical areas as well as displays showing power and other utility distributions. Then Josh saw captain Anders sitting in his command chair and Captain Anders looked over at him and he smiled “How are you Josh are you enjoying the tour?”

Chapter 7

Josh nodded his head “Yes, I am”. Captain Anders smiled “Has Gattlin introduced you to anyone yet or just shown you around”. Josh smiled timidly “Just showed me around so far”. Captain Anders smiled “Well the duty hours will be over  soon. So Gattlin can introduce you to some people”. Josh smiled and looked around the bridge and Captain Ander watched him “You like the bridge”. Josh nodded a look of amazement on his face. Captain Anders smiled and rose motioning Josh to join him “let me show you around”. Captain Anders led him over to a alcove filled with tactical equipment and weapons monitors and a hard looking man watching the displays “This is our tactical and weapons section and this is Telcore our tactical officer. Telcore nodded, not smiling or making any sign.

Then captain Anders led them to an area of the bridge filled with communications equipment with a smile woman sitting before them. “This is communications and Shara is our chief communication officer”. The woman smiled and extended her hand “Welcome aboard Josh”. Josh shook her hand and smiled wide “Thank you”. Captain Anders smiled and Led Josh to another section.

This section was full of scanning equipment and Josh could see the displays showing scans from inside the ship as well as the surrounding space and a man lounging in front of the displays. “This is our scanning section and our scanning officer that keeps the ships interior and exterior safe and this is Kant our scanning officer” Captain Anders said and Kant smiled at Josh “how are you doing Josh?” Kant asked. Josh smiled “I am doing good”. Kant nodded “Good” and he turned back to his displays. 

 Then Captain Anders led Josh to a section full of power distribution and other monitors.and a young man was watching the displays intently “This is our life support and power distribution section and this is Jace he is our officer in charge of the life support”. The man did not acknowledge them he was so intent on the displays. Captain Anders smiled “Don’t mind him. He is in the zone”. Josh smiled as he followed Captain Anders.

There was a chime from overhead and Gattlin and Captain Anders looked up “That is the chime for change of duty. Gattlin can take you to get some food Josh and he can introduce you to some more people. I will see you later Josh” He extended a hand to Josh and Josh shook his hand and smile. Then Josh followed Gattlin from the bridge and they returned to the elevator. Gattlin smiled “Did you enjoy seeing the bridge Josh”. Josh smiled “Yes, I enjoyed seeing the bridge and the rest of the ship”. Gattlin looked at him “Well lets get you some food kid”. They went down the elevator and returned to the residential level. Then they went out and Josh saw many people moving into around the residential park and through restaurants and stores as they got off duty and began their leisure time. Gattlin led Josh into a restaurant area and ordered some food for them and then he led Josh to a table and the sat down and began to eat. Then a synthesized voice came from behind Gattlin “Well Gatlin are you going to ask us to join you are we going to have to encroach on your cozy little family moment”. Gattlin smiled and then turned to the owner of the voice “Okay Avi please join us”

Chapter 8

Josh saw three people the one that Gattlin had called Avi was in the middle he was thin and he wore dark clothing and a dark mask that covered his face from where only his eyes were visible. His eyes were also interesting. One was blue and natural, the other had a red coloration that looked like he had an ocular implant. The others were a beautiful woman in form hugging clothing and another man. He was large and powerfully built with the look of a mechanic.

The group sat down with Josh and Gattlin. Josh noticed the red eye of Avi scanning him. “So this is the kid that we have been hearing about” Avi said as he looked at Gattlin. Gattlin nodded “Yes he is. Josh this is Avi he is the captain of the frigate White Star. His friends are Marion and Dexter they are crew members on his frigate”. Avi let out an electronic sound that sounded like a snort “You failed to mention that you also served on the White Star Gattlin. I suppose that you will not return now that you have a ship of your own”. Gattlin Smiled “We will see, I have to have the yacht refitted before it can be useful to Nomad”. 

Josh looked at them confused “What are you talking about?” he asked. The others looked at Josh and several smiled “Nomad is more than the name of this colony ship. It is also the name of our collective fleet” said Marion as she looked at Josh “We have many ships in the fleet including small single man fighters and larger cruisers and battleships. Some like the frigate and yachts can dock on the Nomad. The larger ships have to remain distant and will operate independently unless Captain Anders calls for an assembly of the entire Nomad fleet”. Josh nodded still looking confused “Why is there a fleet?”.

Gattlin smiled “We are a mercenary group by and large Josh. The fleet started as a few ships we would travel the galaxy looking for contracts like transporting goods, providing security, or just fighting on a variety of worlds. The Nomad fleet would also pick up people on the worlds we went to, Metahumans, Clones, wanderers, Orphans, and anyone else who sought to escape and travel the galaxy. It was several years ago that Captain Anders the leader of the Nomad fleet, came across a derelict Terran Colony ship. This ship is considered Archeotech because the man who designed it a millennia ago when Terra began its space expansion disappeared and all his data disappeared with him. Captain Anders began to investigate the Nomad and discovered how to operate it and made it the flagship of the Nomad Fleet” he said. 

Avi syenthized voice spoke “This ship is huge and there are still many things that we do not know about it but since Captain Anders discovered the Nomad we have discovered quite a lot about the lost technology and there is no other ship like it. All the others that were known to have existed were confirmed destroyed centuries ago”.

Josh nodded “So you still keep the fleet and use the Nomad as a flag ship”. Gattlin smiled “Yes, the fleet still wanders the galaxy seeking new people as well as seeking a variety of mercenary work. You will get to see some of the other ships before too long I think. It seems to me that with Omicron’s recent skirmish they will still be hunting us”. They fell into silence and ate as Josh looked around the open dome and saw the wooded area at the heart of the dome “Why do the woods grow like that in the middle of the dome?”. Marion smiled “climate control and specially shield growth plots let the trees grow as much and as fast as they want. We can even place animals there and they will thrive. There are other domes that have different climates on board the colony. Some places are used exclusively as farms growing food, others for environmental training. This is one of the more pleasant domes used for harvesting wood that the colony needs. We do not know how to change the climate but we can use them on the normal settings”. 

Josh looked at her “why cant you change the climates?”. Marion looked at him “We can’t access the deep functions of the ship. They are lock by an ancient Artificial Intelligence system and we have not figured out the passwords to unlock the functions. We have figured out how to bypass many systems but they are only bypasses”. Josh nodded and finished eating. Gattlin looked at him and rose “Well with our food finished let me show you to where to the cabin Josh”. Josh nodded and waved goodbye to Avi and the others. Gattlin led Josh to a corridor off the dome and down a corridor to a cabin door. The door opened with a hiss and Josh saw a central room with a large display screen and some comfortable furniture. Gattlin led Josh through the suite and showed him the room with the refresher, a small kitchen, as well as some bedroom. “You can have this bedroom if you like we can decorate it later” Gattin said as he led Josh into a bedroom. “What are we going to do tomorrow” Josh asked sat in the bed and began to settle in. “We shall see, there is always something to do on this ship” Gattlin said as he turned to let Josh rest. Josh saw him go and began to explore his room finding a refresher chamber and a closet though it was empty. Josh turned and lay in the bed as the room lights dimmed and he began to drift off to sleep.