Omoikane 05 - We’re all pirates now
We loaded up all samples and data and made our goodbyes to Shard-Entelopa. As we moved, slowly to the warp point, several Shard ships shadowed us.
"What are they doing?" Tarla asked.
"They're going to watch us go to warp and then try to observe us at warp. They're curious about our warp drives and they want to get data to try and reverse engineer them," Li'ira explained.
Tarla looked at the helm station carefully "What would you like me to do?"
"There's nothing we can really do about it at this point, Ensign. Except try not to hit any of them," I said. "Lay in the course as ordered."
"Course laid in, all engine and navigation systems report ready, Sir," Tarla said
"Warp six. Engage."
Disodium warp is much faster than dilithium warp. We saw three ships try to pace us. One gave up quickly. One gave up when their engines were glowing. The last one kept going until his engines were cooked. We out-distanced them handily.
I hope no one got hurt.
I also hope they ruined their sensor readings by overloading their engines like that.
-*-
A few days later We got a message "Please divert to planet Saukassas. A Damyip repair mission will meet you there."
As we turned, I booked up on Saukassas. The natives looked like horses run through the people-maker. Their faces were sort of disturbing. They were horse-like but with the eyes closer together, to allow for binocular vision. So the shape was just wrong.
They were being courted as allies by the Bendarri Empire.
Okay. Friends of the Bendarri were friends of mine.
-*-
As we got close to the Sexatar sector, the location of planet Saukassas, Stephanie got another alert on her tactical board.
"Weapons fire, again, Captain. About 4 light years away. Reads like Orion disruptors."
"Set course to intercept and engage, best speed," I turned to Li'ira "Pirates? This far out?"
Li'ira nodded "Rumor has it they have a base on a planet in the sector. Agusoapa. Avian people."
I shook my head "Yellow alert."
-*-
We came out of warp some distance away in order to scan and take a second look.
An Orion galleon was fighting an Orion light raider. The Orion galleon was a classic Orion ship. The Light Raider was one of their export jobs. It looked like an Orionized Klingon raider.
Both ships had chewed each other up pretty badly. Neither was in any shape to hurt the Omoikane at all.
"Open hailing frequencies," I said "This is the Federation starship Omoikane. We're available for humanitarian assistance."
Both answered into a split screen and yelled at once
A Golden Orion man who was flushed, sweaty and obviously having a bad time yelled "We are on a legitimate trade mission with legitimate cargo, and this pirate attacked us!"
The Raider Captain was a humanoid mouse person, with antennae just forward of his ears. Their fur looked soft.
"Fuck you and fuck him," the raider captain said, "you claim to love freedom so much, help us liberate the slaves in his belly."
"Scan the Galleon," Li'ira said.
"That's a lie! I do not give permission for a search!" The Orion said.
Tillean completed the scan "Multiple life forms in containment cells. He's a slaver."
"This is outrageous! Respect our ancient culture!" The Orion Sputtered.
"Nice sensors!" the Mouse Captain said.
"Okay," I turned towards the Orion Captain "Here's how it's going to go. You're going to stand down and hand over all slaves. If you do this, I'll take them and move along. Make a fight out of it, and I'll take your ship away."
"Now you're a pirate, too! This is unspeakable! I'm reporting you to Starfleet Command!"
"Move us into transporter range. Red alert. Stephanie, ready boarding parties. Li'ira. You ready to command a galleon?"
Li'ira pulled a phaser out from under her chair and checked it theatrically, "No. But I'll get it back to base."
"You'd put that animal in charge of my ship! Impossible! You're perverse! Insane!"
"Slaves. Now." I said.
"Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm ruined but my cargo is yours."
I heard something "Not just cargo. All slaves."
"You already have a green! Mine are like my children to me!"
"I like the noises you're getting out of him." The Mouse Captain said.
"Phasers. Target his warp drives."
Tarla very carefully locked onto the Galleon’s warp drives.
The Orion Captain's face screwed up. On the one hand, I felt like a bully. On the other hand, he was a slaver.
"Make your choice. I haven't got all day."
"Fine! Fine! Take them!"
"Heave to, shut down all engines and defenses."
"Alright, alright. We surrender."
I muted him
I turned to the Mouse Raider Captain "I am Captain Hailey of the Federation Starship USS Omoikane. Do you need any assistance?"
He looked around his bridge. An Orion at the tactical station said "I don't recommend it, Sir. They're nosy cops."
He turned back to me "I'm Captain Raada. Is what he said true?"
I nodded slowly, "Yeah. Exploring and enforcing Federation regulations are among our jobs. You're the first member of your species I've met."
"We're the Musari. We don't have much use for other people's rule books."
"Do you have any injured? We can help you with that."
He looked off-screen and then nodded "Yeah. Yeah, we'd like that if you could."
"Alright, please come within transporter range and we'll beam your injured to our sickbay."
-*-
Lira beamed into the captain’s quarters.
The eight women and girls stared at her with big eyes.
Li'ira sighed "[Okay, what did they tell you?]" Her Orion had almost no accent.
The tallest of the women said "[They said the Federation would put things in our heads to make us say evil things!]
Li'ira said "[The only thing in my head is anger about how you've been treated. Come with us. I know of a whole city of Greens. They sing, dance, eat good food and wear pretty clothes. My sister is the Queen of the city, and everyone teases her about it.]"
The Orion women tilted their heads in confusion
"[Its weird, but its fun, and no one can ever make you do anything you don't want to do.]"
"[How do we know you're telling the truth?]" The Tallest demanded
Li'ira thought about it "[I have to have a magical antelope come vouch for me.]"
More head tilting. One of the little girls laughed "[She's silly!]"
With a whooshing flow of air Tippalan appeared in the quarters.
**I am Tippalan.**
One of the little girls immediately began petting the Omoikane's counsellor. "[She's soft!]"
Tippalan craned her head around to give Li'ira a look **Magic Antelope, Commander? Really?**
Li'ira shrugged "It beats making them read the Admiral’s book right away."
Tippalan licked Li'ira's nose.
The little Green Orion girls giggled.
Li'ira gave an exasperated shrug "[Yeah, it's like that.]"
-*-
On the slaver's port wing weapons deck, The mostly Orion crew stood against the wall with their hands up, except for three people. An Orion, a Human, and a half Klingon knelt behind weapons stations. The smell of smoke, ozone, and burned metal was strong in the air.
The armored hatch to the compartment opened. The Half Klingon man fired a disruptor through the hatch.
A voice came back through the hatch "Attention - if you're surrendering, come on out with your hands up."
The surrendering crew moved and the Half Klingon man shouted "If any of you heads for that door, I'll kill you! Fight, damn you! Damn these Musari and Federation fucks straight to Grethor!"
"Are you sure?" The voice asked
"I'm a shitty Klingon, BUT I'M A KLINGON!"
One of the surrendering crew people said "Krunk. Seriously. I'm here for the money, man. I'm not here to die a glorious death."
"Coward!" Krunk raged
As it looked like Krunk might just shoot the other crewman, shapes sparkled into existence in the compartment.
"How'd they-?" One of the crew people asked. He was cut short by the stun grenades going off.
Krunk was on his knees. Everything was swimming and his head buzzed to the point where it was impossible to think. He tried to raise his disruptor but his hand wasn't moving right.
He barely saw when a Starfleet Security officer stunned him again.
-*-
Yoloia awoke from being stunned. It sucked as it always did.
She rolled to her side and discovered, happily that she was still clothed. Usually waking from stun involved being stripped.
Someone was there. A lot of someones.
She squinted. A green she didn't know. In a Starfleet uniform. Commanders pips. Obviously some sort of post-stun hallucination. And the Captain's harem. Yoloia grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to being captured as a prize. But that was life.
"Sister." It was. Loyoja, her sister.
"Ugh, we're property of Starfleet now, huh?"
"Maybe. But it'll be different."
"How different?"
One of the little girls .. Yoloia thought it might be her own sister’s kid whispered conspiratorially "They have magic antelopes."
Loyoja shrugged and grinned "Why not? Come with us."
Yoloia thought about it. There would be no pay for this voyage. The crew was likely to be resentful and angry about that.
"Sure. I'm in."
Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
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jayphailey
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Re: Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
Omoikane 06 - Anarcho-Musari
The slaves the slave boat was carrying were little people. To me, they looked like dwarf ovids. Sheep people, but small and cute. And small cute dog people.
I wanted to sit down among these people and pet them.
The dog folk mixed themselves among the sheep people and then carefully reinforced them and gently moved them back. They were protecting their friends.
I caught Stephanie's eye. We were both having the same reaction to these guys. Not a diplomatically appropriate one.
"My name is Jay," I said "I'm the Captain of this ship. I am pleased to meet you. Where would you like us to take you?"
And some snuffling and discussion, one of the Dog Folks came forward. He was large among the Dog folks, so he was almost 120 centimeters tall and about 35 kilos. He was black and tan and had pointy ears. He was built a little chunky. Not fat, but stout for his size.
"If it pleases you, Sir, we're from Pequadela. We'd much appreciate a ride there."
I turned to the screen in the transporter room and called up the local charts. Pedquadela wasn't much of a deviation from our course. It was marked as Boa-Olavax territory.
"Hailey to the bridge. Once we're underway, our course will be for Pequadela, I've highlighted it."
"Aye, Sir."
I took a deep breath to control my reaction "Alright, the next step is medical. Is anyone injured? Tell us what you need to be comfortable."
Looks all around "Food, water, a safe place to take a nap. Our captors were not especially nice to us, Jay."
The Sheep folks were called the Fuufta. Their home world was under domination by the Agusopan bird folks. They weren't eager to return there.
Of course, the Pequadela folks adopted them immediately. And it felt like it would make the dog people sad to separate them from their friends.
As a Starfleet Officer, I always figured there would be tough parts to diplomacy. But resisting snuggling a potentially allied species was just weird.
Later we discovered, of course, the quarters set up they preferred were communal, with pillows and soft furniture to lounge and snuggle on.
Fortunately for us, they considered humanoids coming in to join the fun a grand time and perfectly appropriate.
-*-
In sick bay, they had two different holographic doctors working along with the medical staff.
Zellan Hobolisk was working on one of the Mussari Crew. A Mouse woman, with a burned, mangled arm. She sat in one of the medical beds. It looked more like a dentist chair in that configuration.
"Doctor, how are we doing?"
"Well, emergency post-combat medicine on eight different species, including three I've never seen before and two others I've only read about,"
Hobolisk was an older Tanaki man, his linoleum-like scales darkening with a purple undertone. He looked like a human wrapped in a snake. He was dressed in a fashion, I'd call Starfleet casual. His pants and boots were standard issue. He was wearing a lavender high-necked short-sleeved t-shirt. That was from two Starfleet uniforms ago. Then he had the blue jacket Starfleet Doctors liked to wear. his had pockets and the pockets were full of medical tools and gear. He was also wearing a belt with a lot of stuff attached to it. He had a scanner frame that looked like old-fashioned sunglasses.
He shot me a sideways grin "I love it."
"Those buttons on your shirt," The Musari woman said "That's rank markings, right?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Captain Hailey, the commanding officer."
"So this guy has to do whatever you say?" She threw a nod at Dr. Hobolisk.
I made a face "That's the theory."
He looked at her over his scanner, making the glasses analogy even more apt. "I can overrule him on medical issues. Like telling you to hold still, please." Hobolisk said. Neither one of us said anything, but it hung in the air between us. If Hobolisk thought I was off base, he'd tell me to fly a kite. In an instant.
He'd gone through Starfleet training and Starfleet officers' training, and then quickly abandoned every part he didn't want to use.
I liked him. A good deal. I was dreading the day when something Starfleet and official clashed with his good-natured casualness.
"Why would anyone do that? Offer up their will and volition to you like that?"
I took a deep breath "It doesn't work like that unless there's a serious crisis. We found for my people, during an emergency or, say combat, it's useful to have one person in charge, giving orders to resolve the problem. The rest of the time, we're here because we want to be. We agree to do things the Starfleet way so we can go do Starfleet things."
"What if someone thinks you're wrong?"
"Well, under normal conditions part of my job is to hear what my crew people think and then make an informed decision based on what they tell me."
"Except under red alert."
"Yeah, when things are dangerous then we may not have time for discussion and consensus building. When we've worked together long enough, we understand each other. My crew understands me, and why I make the decisions I do. I understand them and how they like to do things and what they're good at."
"And what if someone refuses to do what you say?"
"That could be bad. Remember, we agreed to do things the Starfleet way before we started. So. If, sometime during the trip, if one of my people decides they don't like doing things the Starfleet way anymore, or if they decide I am hopelessly misguided, they can quit."
"Except during a red alert."
"Yeah, in a fight or other crisis, starting an argument or refusing to follow orders can get people killed. So that's really bad. We try to not do that."
"What happens to someone who refuses to follow orders during a red alert?"
"Then we throw them in the brig until a court martial can be convened."
She shook her head "Crazy."
I wondered how the Musari raider ran at all. "How do your people do it?"
"Well, Raada said let’s go raid and steal from the slavers because, like fuck slavery, right? And we were all yeah, fuck slavery."
"How did you know what job to do?"
"I'm a weapons tech. It's my thing. I like to do it. I especially like making big guns shoot better at tyrants and slavers."
"And you trust Raada to make good decisions when there's fighting?"
"Yeah. He has a track record."
"What happens if someone decides he's wrong in the middle of a fight?"
"Well, we try not to do that, either, so we'll encourage the dissenter to wait until later. But if he really disagrees, he can go sit out.
If he tries to interfere, then I have to decide if I want to stun him, or just kick his ass until he stops making trouble."
"So how long have you signed on for?"
"Well, every time we get to Musari or a friendly world, you have to decide if you want to keep going or cash out. Some crews that have been together for a long time might elect new captains and quartermasters.
Raada's old crew is pretty loyal to him, so I figured why not give it a shot?
"Wow," I said. It sounded like old accounts of some pirates on Earth. It also sounded really unstable and likely to fail under pressure. I didn't say any of that. Diplomacy.
"Yeah. We're free. We go where we want when we want."
I nodded "I will bear that in mind. What's next?"
She thought about it "We need to make some money to pay for the trip and the repairs. Probably once you're gone, we'll see if we can catch up to that Orion Fuck and take his ship. Selling that to Agusoapans will make a nice haul."
I nodded "Okay. Good luck."
Bloodthirsty anarchist mouse people. Stay in Starfleet long enough and you'll see everything.
The slaves the slave boat was carrying were little people. To me, they looked like dwarf ovids. Sheep people, but small and cute. And small cute dog people.
I wanted to sit down among these people and pet them.
The dog folk mixed themselves among the sheep people and then carefully reinforced them and gently moved them back. They were protecting their friends.
I caught Stephanie's eye. We were both having the same reaction to these guys. Not a diplomatically appropriate one.
"My name is Jay," I said "I'm the Captain of this ship. I am pleased to meet you. Where would you like us to take you?"
And some snuffling and discussion, one of the Dog Folks came forward. He was large among the Dog folks, so he was almost 120 centimeters tall and about 35 kilos. He was black and tan and had pointy ears. He was built a little chunky. Not fat, but stout for his size.
"If it pleases you, Sir, we're from Pequadela. We'd much appreciate a ride there."
I turned to the screen in the transporter room and called up the local charts. Pedquadela wasn't much of a deviation from our course. It was marked as Boa-Olavax territory.
"Hailey to the bridge. Once we're underway, our course will be for Pequadela, I've highlighted it."
"Aye, Sir."
I took a deep breath to control my reaction "Alright, the next step is medical. Is anyone injured? Tell us what you need to be comfortable."
Looks all around "Food, water, a safe place to take a nap. Our captors were not especially nice to us, Jay."
The Sheep folks were called the Fuufta. Their home world was under domination by the Agusopan bird folks. They weren't eager to return there.
Of course, the Pequadela folks adopted them immediately. And it felt like it would make the dog people sad to separate them from their friends.
As a Starfleet Officer, I always figured there would be tough parts to diplomacy. But resisting snuggling a potentially allied species was just weird.
Later we discovered, of course, the quarters set up they preferred were communal, with pillows and soft furniture to lounge and snuggle on.
Fortunately for us, they considered humanoids coming in to join the fun a grand time and perfectly appropriate.
-*-
In sick bay, they had two different holographic doctors working along with the medical staff.
Zellan Hobolisk was working on one of the Mussari Crew. A Mouse woman, with a burned, mangled arm. She sat in one of the medical beds. It looked more like a dentist chair in that configuration.
"Doctor, how are we doing?"
"Well, emergency post-combat medicine on eight different species, including three I've never seen before and two others I've only read about,"
Hobolisk was an older Tanaki man, his linoleum-like scales darkening with a purple undertone. He looked like a human wrapped in a snake. He was dressed in a fashion, I'd call Starfleet casual. His pants and boots were standard issue. He was wearing a lavender high-necked short-sleeved t-shirt. That was from two Starfleet uniforms ago. Then he had the blue jacket Starfleet Doctors liked to wear. his had pockets and the pockets were full of medical tools and gear. He was also wearing a belt with a lot of stuff attached to it. He had a scanner frame that looked like old-fashioned sunglasses.
He shot me a sideways grin "I love it."
"Those buttons on your shirt," The Musari woman said "That's rank markings, right?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Captain Hailey, the commanding officer."
"So this guy has to do whatever you say?" She threw a nod at Dr. Hobolisk.
I made a face "That's the theory."
He looked at her over his scanner, making the glasses analogy even more apt. "I can overrule him on medical issues. Like telling you to hold still, please." Hobolisk said. Neither one of us said anything, but it hung in the air between us. If Hobolisk thought I was off base, he'd tell me to fly a kite. In an instant.
He'd gone through Starfleet training and Starfleet officers' training, and then quickly abandoned every part he didn't want to use.
I liked him. A good deal. I was dreading the day when something Starfleet and official clashed with his good-natured casualness.
"Why would anyone do that? Offer up their will and volition to you like that?"
I took a deep breath "It doesn't work like that unless there's a serious crisis. We found for my people, during an emergency or, say combat, it's useful to have one person in charge, giving orders to resolve the problem. The rest of the time, we're here because we want to be. We agree to do things the Starfleet way so we can go do Starfleet things."
"What if someone thinks you're wrong?"
"Well, under normal conditions part of my job is to hear what my crew people think and then make an informed decision based on what they tell me."
"Except under red alert."
"Yeah, when things are dangerous then we may not have time for discussion and consensus building. When we've worked together long enough, we understand each other. My crew understands me, and why I make the decisions I do. I understand them and how they like to do things and what they're good at."
"And what if someone refuses to do what you say?"
"That could be bad. Remember, we agreed to do things the Starfleet way before we started. So. If, sometime during the trip, if one of my people decides they don't like doing things the Starfleet way anymore, or if they decide I am hopelessly misguided, they can quit."
"Except during a red alert."
"Yeah, in a fight or other crisis, starting an argument or refusing to follow orders can get people killed. So that's really bad. We try to not do that."
"What happens to someone who refuses to follow orders during a red alert?"
"Then we throw them in the brig until a court martial can be convened."
She shook her head "Crazy."
I wondered how the Musari raider ran at all. "How do your people do it?"
"Well, Raada said let’s go raid and steal from the slavers because, like fuck slavery, right? And we were all yeah, fuck slavery."
"How did you know what job to do?"
"I'm a weapons tech. It's my thing. I like to do it. I especially like making big guns shoot better at tyrants and slavers."
"And you trust Raada to make good decisions when there's fighting?"
"Yeah. He has a track record."
"What happens if someone decides he's wrong in the middle of a fight?"
"Well, we try not to do that, either, so we'll encourage the dissenter to wait until later. But if he really disagrees, he can go sit out.
If he tries to interfere, then I have to decide if I want to stun him, or just kick his ass until he stops making trouble."
"So how long have you signed on for?"
"Well, every time we get to Musari or a friendly world, you have to decide if you want to keep going or cash out. Some crews that have been together for a long time might elect new captains and quartermasters.
Raada's old crew is pretty loyal to him, so I figured why not give it a shot?
"Wow," I said. It sounded like old accounts of some pirates on Earth. It also sounded really unstable and likely to fail under pressure. I didn't say any of that. Diplomacy.
"Yeah. We're free. We go where we want when we want."
I nodded "I will bear that in mind. What's next?"
She thought about it "We need to make some money to pay for the trip and the repairs. Probably once you're gone, we'll see if we can catch up to that Orion Fuck and take his ship. Selling that to Agusoapans will make a nice haul."
I nodded "Okay. Good luck."
Bloodthirsty anarchist mouse people. Stay in Starfleet long enough and you'll see everything.
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
Motto from "Mouse Guard"
-- The Innkeeper
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Omoikane 07 - The Politics of Pequadela
Omoikane 07 - The Politics of Pequadela
We approached Pequadela.
The system was odd. It had a super gas giant in a distant orbit that was reading like a containment failure. Heat, radiation, gamma rays, and electromagnetic noise.
As we got closer, we could see why. There was a captured moon made of anti-matter.
It glowed and sparkled as dust hit it and got annihilated. It shed gamma rays like a beacon. The radiation from the small particles and motes hitting it and converting to energy made it warm. The heat it shed warmed up everything else in the super gas giants moon system. There was a ring system.
I winced. If that moon hit the rings orbiting that gas giant the explosions would be horrifying. It seemed distant enough. The whole arrangement struck me as very dangerous.
If you could mine it, you could power all the starships for hundreds of thousands of years on that much antimatter.
But there was no safe way to get close enough. The stuff already hitting the moon created a zone of hard radiation around that no technology I knew of could survive for long.
A big enough rock hitting it would make a super pulse of gamma rays and hard radiation and could generate enough energy to alter the orbit of the thing.
It was a bad neighbor to have.
The astrophysicists were beside themselves. There was nothing else like it in Federation records.
There were two communications systems running in the system. One was Boa-Olavax. The horse folk. The Other was Agusoapan/Orion.
The Boa-Olavax traffic system was from a station in orbit around the Pequadela homeworld.
The Agusoapan signals were from a station in a trojan orbit, trailing Pequadela around its primary.
The Boa-Olavax system hailed us "Pequadela control, here. Identify and state your business, please."
We could see two formations of attack ships moving towards us. They were zippy at sublight. Two different types. One type had some Bendarri-like touches. The others read Orion/Klingon technology in an unknown configuration.
Neither squadron posed much of a threat to us. Their weapons read class VII and Class VIII. Nothing we couldn't handle.
"This is the Federation Starship Omoikane. We request permission to approach and orbit to repatriate individuals rescued from a slave ship."
"Please hold."
A few minutes later a horse person appeared on the screen. "Howdy! Welcome to Pequadela. Y'all need a parkin' orbit or a dockin' port?"
"A parking orbit within five thousand kilometers will suit us, perfectly."
"Settin' it up, C'mon in and make yerselves at home."
Our nav system lit up to show a highlighted route to a parking orbit.
"Thank you," I said carefully.
When the signal was off I looked at Li'ira. She looked back blankly, "What?"
I turned to Stephanie. She was stifling a reaction of her own. I said, "You heard that, right?"
She nodded "Cowboys"
"Yee - and I can't stress this enough - haw," I said very seriously.
Stephanie laughed.
"What?" Li'ira asked
"We need to check the translators. The horse folks seem to have a Western American accent," I said "That can't be right."
Tillean grinned "I kind of hope it is."
Both groups of attack ships stopped and watched us enter their system.
-*-
The Boa-Olavax station looked like a wedding cake, with cylindrical sections separated by some sort of columns around the outer edges.
Their ships were rectangles, with superstructures on each corner, and warp drive nacelles slung under each side of the aft 1/3rd of the rectangle. They almost looked like some sort of furniture molding.
As we got closer we could see the Agusoapan station. It was an old Orion station. It was a crescent shape, coming to points top and bottom. Only about a third of the station was functional, but we could see heavy activity on it, there were crews working to repair and upgrade it.
Agusoapan ships looked bird-like. Like someone took an eagle in flight sculpture and used it as a basis for a ship design.
They had freighters, escorts, and a variety of small ships working on their project.
We were hailed as we approached on a familiar frequency "Greetings USS Omoikane. I am Damyip 18.3.5."
"Greetings Damyip 18.3.5."
"Sadly I am a small installation here supporting cultural and diplomatic relations with the Boa-Olavax. I am unable to assist you with your engine problems. However, I would enjoy a chance to talk with you, hear what you've seen, and exchange data with the Damyip on your ship."
"I am sure we can arrange that, Sir. We will stop by as soon as we complete our immediate business."
"Thank you, Captain."
We approached Pequadela.
The system was odd. It had a super gas giant in a distant orbit that was reading like a containment failure. Heat, radiation, gamma rays, and electromagnetic noise.
As we got closer, we could see why. There was a captured moon made of anti-matter.
It glowed and sparkled as dust hit it and got annihilated. It shed gamma rays like a beacon. The radiation from the small particles and motes hitting it and converting to energy made it warm. The heat it shed warmed up everything else in the super gas giants moon system. There was a ring system.
I winced. If that moon hit the rings orbiting that gas giant the explosions would be horrifying. It seemed distant enough. The whole arrangement struck me as very dangerous.
If you could mine it, you could power all the starships for hundreds of thousands of years on that much antimatter.
But there was no safe way to get close enough. The stuff already hitting the moon created a zone of hard radiation around that no technology I knew of could survive for long.
A big enough rock hitting it would make a super pulse of gamma rays and hard radiation and could generate enough energy to alter the orbit of the thing.
It was a bad neighbor to have.
The astrophysicists were beside themselves. There was nothing else like it in Federation records.
There were two communications systems running in the system. One was Boa-Olavax. The horse folk. The Other was Agusoapan/Orion.
The Boa-Olavax traffic system was from a station in orbit around the Pequadela homeworld.
The Agusoapan signals were from a station in a trojan orbit, trailing Pequadela around its primary.
The Boa-Olavax system hailed us "Pequadela control, here. Identify and state your business, please."
We could see two formations of attack ships moving towards us. They were zippy at sublight. Two different types. One type had some Bendarri-like touches. The others read Orion/Klingon technology in an unknown configuration.
Neither squadron posed much of a threat to us. Their weapons read class VII and Class VIII. Nothing we couldn't handle.
"This is the Federation Starship Omoikane. We request permission to approach and orbit to repatriate individuals rescued from a slave ship."
"Please hold."
A few minutes later a horse person appeared on the screen. "Howdy! Welcome to Pequadela. Y'all need a parkin' orbit or a dockin' port?"
"A parking orbit within five thousand kilometers will suit us, perfectly."
"Settin' it up, C'mon in and make yerselves at home."
Our nav system lit up to show a highlighted route to a parking orbit.
"Thank you," I said carefully.
When the signal was off I looked at Li'ira. She looked back blankly, "What?"
I turned to Stephanie. She was stifling a reaction of her own. I said, "You heard that, right?"
She nodded "Cowboys"
"Yee - and I can't stress this enough - haw," I said very seriously.
Stephanie laughed.
"What?" Li'ira asked
"We need to check the translators. The horse folks seem to have a Western American accent," I said "That can't be right."
Tillean grinned "I kind of hope it is."
Both groups of attack ships stopped and watched us enter their system.
-*-
The Boa-Olavax station looked like a wedding cake, with cylindrical sections separated by some sort of columns around the outer edges.
Their ships were rectangles, with superstructures on each corner, and warp drive nacelles slung under each side of the aft 1/3rd of the rectangle. They almost looked like some sort of furniture molding.
As we got closer we could see the Agusoapan station. It was an old Orion station. It was a crescent shape, coming to points top and bottom. Only about a third of the station was functional, but we could see heavy activity on it, there were crews working to repair and upgrade it.
Agusoapan ships looked bird-like. Like someone took an eagle in flight sculpture and used it as a basis for a ship design.
They had freighters, escorts, and a variety of small ships working on their project.
We were hailed as we approached on a familiar frequency "Greetings USS Omoikane. I am Damyip 18.3.5."
"Greetings Damyip 18.3.5."
"Sadly I am a small installation here supporting cultural and diplomatic relations with the Boa-Olavax. I am unable to assist you with your engine problems. However, I would enjoy a chance to talk with you, hear what you've seen, and exchange data with the Damyip on your ship."
"I am sure we can arrange that, Sir. We will stop by as soon as we complete our immediate business."
"Thank you, Captain."
Re: Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
Furniture moving....
Two Guys and a Starship.
There is a local moving company called "Two Guys and a Truck".
Two Guys and a Starship.
There is a local moving company called "Two Guys and a Truck".
-- The Innkeeper
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
There's a couple of those, here, too
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Sexatar Sector
Omoikane 08 - Governor Twenty
We beamed down to a location called "The Happy Field."
And it was. A big park. We could see a city not far away. A long low Boa-Olavax building dominated part of the skyline. But otherwise it was Pequadela scale buildings.
The park itself was well maintained, a sort of rolling field of short grass with trees dotting it and occasional statues, park equipment and climbing forms.
The Pequadela people yelled, laughed and barked. They ran around like crazy people. The rescuees started it. As soon as the transporter let them go, they were off running.
There was a crowd of various people to greet us. The Pequadela people who'd come to welcome their fellows back joined in the running, yelling, wrestling, and playing. Soon there was a happy dog people riot in progress in happy park.
The Fuufta people started out buffaloed. The energy and noise concerned them.
Then their friends ran back to them, hugged them, licked them and yelled encouraging things at them, and then ran off to join the melee of happiness.
A few Fuufta who were there to begin with approached the rescuees and murmured welcoming, encouraging things.
"They have too much energy, but only for brief spurts." I heard one Fuufta say to another, "Once they're done, everyone will settle down for a nap."
"What about us?"
"Well, we can nap with them if you like."
That got a confused stare.
One of the Boa-Olavax people approached. They were big. A humanoid horse. They wore a sort of sleeveless dress sort of thing, with leather straps and belts around it. They walked digitigrade, on two hooves. Their shoulders and hands looked almost human, but big. Looked to be about seven feet and about four hundred pounds to me, but that was guessing. Their heads were rounder than a horses and the muzzles were shorter. Somehow it made the more humanoid face work for them.
The individual approaching me had light fur. I'd call them a palomino, with a light blond mane and tail. They looked well brushed and groomed.
If Earth got good scans of these folks there wouldn't be a fourteen-year-old girl left on the planet.
They spoke to us "Which one is Captain Hailey? I'm Governor Tamor Twenty." The translator rendered his voice as masculine.
"That would be me, Sir," I answered.
"Welcome t' our patch of Pequedela. Thanks for roundin' up our strays."
We'd double-checked the translators. There was no error. They were speaking some very horse-sounding language that our translators were rendering.... accurately.
"Our pleasure, Sir. Starfleet is not a big fan of slavery. We raise objections when we encounter it in neutral or Federation Space."
"Slavery is unlawful in Boa-Olavax territory, as well. We've had a few discussions with the Agusoapans about it."
"And yet, they have a ground base and a space station in this system."
He shrugged with an eloquent gesture of their human-like shoulders "Pequadela is a balkanized world. Different nations of Pequadela made different arrangements with different folks. We own the orbital space, but it wouldn't be fair to the little fellers if we told 'em who could come and go. So, there's Agusopans, Orions, and all sorts of folks comin' and goin'. We handle law and order as we can."
I carefully didn't say anything. The Governor smelled nice. Horsey nice. I'd spent some time on a horse ranch as a kid. I didn't realize I had missed it.
"Would y' mind comin' by my office and talkin' t' me, confidential, like?"
"Just me?"
"Well, you and whatever officers you think would be helpful. I wanted to ask you about them Damyip fellers."
I nodded "Yes, Sir. Please let me know where."
He pointed to the long low building "Dead center 'o that one. The main entrance is on the other side from us."
"Alright. One more question. How do you feel about Orions?"
"Well, when they're friendly, they can be right nice folks. good t' have on your side."
"Ahh. We have some other folks we rescued. They expressed an interest in joining the Pequadela here."
"They'd be welcome. We're always open to friendly new hands."
"Thank you, Sir."
-*-
The Boa-Olavax building looked like a mix of office building and barn. It was just a touch too big. The doors were broader and taller than comparable doors on Earth. The hallways were bigger and wider.
The stairs had a much more shallow ramp to them and so were longer.
We were welcomed in by a receptionist. She was a chestnut with a star on her forehead and white on her forearms and lower legs. The female Boa-Olavax had mammaries on their upper chests and their voices were slightly higher pitched.
We were escorted to the governor's office. It was on the second deck. These folks preferred to build long low and wide. In the middle of an administrative center where Boa-Olavax folks did administration things.
They seemed evenly divided between males and females. They didn't have any size dimorphism that I could see. Their decorations seemed Western to me. Upon closer inspection, it was coincidental. They liked wheel patterns that looked like wagon wheels to me. Swoops and curves that looked like old-fashioned tack and rigging for horse and buggy. If you looked closely, it was different. But the results were close enough to make my head spin.
We were shown into Governor Twenty's office.
"Thanks, Gloria," He said. "Please make sure we're not bothered for a bit."
He gestured to chairs. They were Boa-Olavax sized.
A couch across his office was easier, but we still would have had to climb up into it.
"Thank you for comin'."
"This is Commander Li'ira O'Keefe, my executive officer and second in command. This is Tillean Darvon-Ahk, my chief science officer, and Lieutenant Kat-oh-lo of the planet Pytol. One of the Eight Lefyt Colonies."
"Pleased. I asked you t' come on over and talk t' me about the Damyip folks."
Kat-oh-lo grinned.
I said, "Go ahead and explain the Damyip to the Governor, Lieutenant."
"Okay, They started out as an AI in charge of defending some folks. We called the original folks Damyip, too, but that's not accurate. The Federation people call the protectees the Ur-Damyip, and that works. Their own language doesn't translate that term well.
The Damyip AI started off dumb, but very capable of violence. In this state, eventually, it kicked our asses and conquered us.
Trying to rule the Lefyt people was a challenge and the various Damyip units had to start getting smarter. So, slowly, painfully they got smarter.
After some time of this, they figured out that being friends costs less in terms of money and effort, and they tried that.
But they started out dumb about it. They got smarter and smarter. They're okay now. But some of the dumb remains in weird places. They don't think entirely like us. They sometimes have a different set of priorities. How they try to get stuff done can be weird and sometimes funny. Once they got smart enough to explain to us what they really wanted, we could meet 'em in the middle.
My grandparents and parents almost made a whole culture out of lying to the Damyip. Toasters was the derogatory name for 'em. Figure out what they want. It’s easy. Ask them, and they'll tell you. Then see about getting them what they want with a minimum of interference in your own business.
A lot of the new ones are decent enough folks. They make good cops. They don't take bribes. They know the law back and forth. And they clear out the idiots and violent people so normal people can do business, nice and easy."
"Hmmm," Governor Twenty scratched his chin," They've been comin' on pretty strong to the Boa-Olavax government. I'm suspicious. It's too easy to get flim-flammed when the pot’s too sweet."
"How so?" I asked.
"They're offerin' tech upgrades in exchange for a mutual defense treaty. Very favorable terms."
"Ah. Okay," I said "When the Damyip met the Federation, we offered them a friendly relationship. They were afraid of war. They really liked the idea of avoiding a war they mathematically could not win. In order to soothe their defensiveness about the Ur-Damyip, we offered to be a buffer state. We offered to try and keep problems away from the Damyip Homeworld in exchange for a friendly relationship."
Kat-oh-lo asked, "When did you guys find out what they'd done to the Lefyt colonies?"
"We took in a batch of refugees, so we had some word. Offering a friendly relationship was a choice that didn't feel great, but it was better than more war. It was a surprise when the Damyip jumped in our laps like they did. I'm told they learned the value of having friends from your people."
Kat-oh-lo made an "oh, wow" face.
"So what does this mean for the Boa-Olavax?" The Governor asked
"I think you're the victim of our success. My guess is that the Damyip are trying to lock you in as friends on their spinward frontier."
"Hmmm," Governor Twenty said "And what if my government doesn't want to get entwined with the Damyip and their problems?"
"I'd suggest making it very clear. But you also have the Bendarri Empire on your border, right?"
"Yup. Nice bear folks."
"It seems like whatever the galaxy has going on in this region has already arrived on your doorstep. The Federation believes that having good friends can make things easier."
"So you're saying that you recommend goin' with the Damyip?"
"Them or the Bendarri. If your government wants to try and take up a more neutral stance, the Federation will help you negotiate a treaty to that effect."
"Your interests are aligned with the Bendarri and the Damyip, right?"
"In a large sense, yes. But protecting a relationship with your people that's comfortable for your people is a more long-term interest of ours. We place a great value on self-determination and autonomy, So we'd rather have you as an honest neutral planet than as someone who felt coerced into being friendly with us."
"And your Federation is willing to be an arbiter between us and the Bendarri or the Damyip? What if you brokered an agreement and they didn't live up to their end of it?"
"Well, Sir. The Federation has a lot of tools to use. And we have some experience with diplomacy, and the sorts of disagreements you describe. We've had good results. Say the word, and I'll call back to Starfleet Command and we'll get a diplomatic team heading your way to help your folks negotiate precisely the deal you want with the Bendarri and the Damyip."
He scratched his chin. "Well, thanks. I'll pass that along t' my friends in the Senate. Hopefully, they won't give away the store. Now, How might I help you folks?"
Tillean held up her tricorder "May I scan you, Sir? We have some questions about the physiology of your people."
"Uhhh, I guess. It's not to invasive is it?"
"You won't feel a thing. We have ethical standards set up for how we handle peoples' personal information. It’s in our Public Access database."
While Tillean scanned Governor Twenty, he made arrangements to get a copy of the Database.
We beamed down to a location called "The Happy Field."
And it was. A big park. We could see a city not far away. A long low Boa-Olavax building dominated part of the skyline. But otherwise it was Pequadela scale buildings.
The park itself was well maintained, a sort of rolling field of short grass with trees dotting it and occasional statues, park equipment and climbing forms.
The Pequadela people yelled, laughed and barked. They ran around like crazy people. The rescuees started it. As soon as the transporter let them go, they were off running.
There was a crowd of various people to greet us. The Pequadela people who'd come to welcome their fellows back joined in the running, yelling, wrestling, and playing. Soon there was a happy dog people riot in progress in happy park.
The Fuufta people started out buffaloed. The energy and noise concerned them.
Then their friends ran back to them, hugged them, licked them and yelled encouraging things at them, and then ran off to join the melee of happiness.
A few Fuufta who were there to begin with approached the rescuees and murmured welcoming, encouraging things.
"They have too much energy, but only for brief spurts." I heard one Fuufta say to another, "Once they're done, everyone will settle down for a nap."
"What about us?"
"Well, we can nap with them if you like."
That got a confused stare.
One of the Boa-Olavax people approached. They were big. A humanoid horse. They wore a sort of sleeveless dress sort of thing, with leather straps and belts around it. They walked digitigrade, on two hooves. Their shoulders and hands looked almost human, but big. Looked to be about seven feet and about four hundred pounds to me, but that was guessing. Their heads were rounder than a horses and the muzzles were shorter. Somehow it made the more humanoid face work for them.
The individual approaching me had light fur. I'd call them a palomino, with a light blond mane and tail. They looked well brushed and groomed.
If Earth got good scans of these folks there wouldn't be a fourteen-year-old girl left on the planet.
They spoke to us "Which one is Captain Hailey? I'm Governor Tamor Twenty." The translator rendered his voice as masculine.
"That would be me, Sir," I answered.
"Welcome t' our patch of Pequedela. Thanks for roundin' up our strays."
We'd double-checked the translators. There was no error. They were speaking some very horse-sounding language that our translators were rendering.... accurately.
"Our pleasure, Sir. Starfleet is not a big fan of slavery. We raise objections when we encounter it in neutral or Federation Space."
"Slavery is unlawful in Boa-Olavax territory, as well. We've had a few discussions with the Agusoapans about it."
"And yet, they have a ground base and a space station in this system."
He shrugged with an eloquent gesture of their human-like shoulders "Pequadela is a balkanized world. Different nations of Pequadela made different arrangements with different folks. We own the orbital space, but it wouldn't be fair to the little fellers if we told 'em who could come and go. So, there's Agusopans, Orions, and all sorts of folks comin' and goin'. We handle law and order as we can."
I carefully didn't say anything. The Governor smelled nice. Horsey nice. I'd spent some time on a horse ranch as a kid. I didn't realize I had missed it.
"Would y' mind comin' by my office and talkin' t' me, confidential, like?"
"Just me?"
"Well, you and whatever officers you think would be helpful. I wanted to ask you about them Damyip fellers."
I nodded "Yes, Sir. Please let me know where."
He pointed to the long low building "Dead center 'o that one. The main entrance is on the other side from us."
"Alright. One more question. How do you feel about Orions?"
"Well, when they're friendly, they can be right nice folks. good t' have on your side."
"Ahh. We have some other folks we rescued. They expressed an interest in joining the Pequadela here."
"They'd be welcome. We're always open to friendly new hands."
"Thank you, Sir."
-*-
The Boa-Olavax building looked like a mix of office building and barn. It was just a touch too big. The doors were broader and taller than comparable doors on Earth. The hallways were bigger and wider.
The stairs had a much more shallow ramp to them and so were longer.
We were welcomed in by a receptionist. She was a chestnut with a star on her forehead and white on her forearms and lower legs. The female Boa-Olavax had mammaries on their upper chests and their voices were slightly higher pitched.
We were escorted to the governor's office. It was on the second deck. These folks preferred to build long low and wide. In the middle of an administrative center where Boa-Olavax folks did administration things.
They seemed evenly divided between males and females. They didn't have any size dimorphism that I could see. Their decorations seemed Western to me. Upon closer inspection, it was coincidental. They liked wheel patterns that looked like wagon wheels to me. Swoops and curves that looked like old-fashioned tack and rigging for horse and buggy. If you looked closely, it was different. But the results were close enough to make my head spin.
We were shown into Governor Twenty's office.
"Thanks, Gloria," He said. "Please make sure we're not bothered for a bit."
He gestured to chairs. They were Boa-Olavax sized.
A couch across his office was easier, but we still would have had to climb up into it.
"Thank you for comin'."
"This is Commander Li'ira O'Keefe, my executive officer and second in command. This is Tillean Darvon-Ahk, my chief science officer, and Lieutenant Kat-oh-lo of the planet Pytol. One of the Eight Lefyt Colonies."
"Pleased. I asked you t' come on over and talk t' me about the Damyip folks."
Kat-oh-lo grinned.
I said, "Go ahead and explain the Damyip to the Governor, Lieutenant."
"Okay, They started out as an AI in charge of defending some folks. We called the original folks Damyip, too, but that's not accurate. The Federation people call the protectees the Ur-Damyip, and that works. Their own language doesn't translate that term well.
The Damyip AI started off dumb, but very capable of violence. In this state, eventually, it kicked our asses and conquered us.
Trying to rule the Lefyt people was a challenge and the various Damyip units had to start getting smarter. So, slowly, painfully they got smarter.
After some time of this, they figured out that being friends costs less in terms of money and effort, and they tried that.
But they started out dumb about it. They got smarter and smarter. They're okay now. But some of the dumb remains in weird places. They don't think entirely like us. They sometimes have a different set of priorities. How they try to get stuff done can be weird and sometimes funny. Once they got smart enough to explain to us what they really wanted, we could meet 'em in the middle.
My grandparents and parents almost made a whole culture out of lying to the Damyip. Toasters was the derogatory name for 'em. Figure out what they want. It’s easy. Ask them, and they'll tell you. Then see about getting them what they want with a minimum of interference in your own business.
A lot of the new ones are decent enough folks. They make good cops. They don't take bribes. They know the law back and forth. And they clear out the idiots and violent people so normal people can do business, nice and easy."
"Hmmm," Governor Twenty scratched his chin," They've been comin' on pretty strong to the Boa-Olavax government. I'm suspicious. It's too easy to get flim-flammed when the pot’s too sweet."
"How so?" I asked.
"They're offerin' tech upgrades in exchange for a mutual defense treaty. Very favorable terms."
"Ah. Okay," I said "When the Damyip met the Federation, we offered them a friendly relationship. They were afraid of war. They really liked the idea of avoiding a war they mathematically could not win. In order to soothe their defensiveness about the Ur-Damyip, we offered to be a buffer state. We offered to try and keep problems away from the Damyip Homeworld in exchange for a friendly relationship."
Kat-oh-lo asked, "When did you guys find out what they'd done to the Lefyt colonies?"
"We took in a batch of refugees, so we had some word. Offering a friendly relationship was a choice that didn't feel great, but it was better than more war. It was a surprise when the Damyip jumped in our laps like they did. I'm told they learned the value of having friends from your people."
Kat-oh-lo made an "oh, wow" face.
"So what does this mean for the Boa-Olavax?" The Governor asked
"I think you're the victim of our success. My guess is that the Damyip are trying to lock you in as friends on their spinward frontier."
"Hmmm," Governor Twenty said "And what if my government doesn't want to get entwined with the Damyip and their problems?"
"I'd suggest making it very clear. But you also have the Bendarri Empire on your border, right?"
"Yup. Nice bear folks."
"It seems like whatever the galaxy has going on in this region has already arrived on your doorstep. The Federation believes that having good friends can make things easier."
"So you're saying that you recommend goin' with the Damyip?"
"Them or the Bendarri. If your government wants to try and take up a more neutral stance, the Federation will help you negotiate a treaty to that effect."
"Your interests are aligned with the Bendarri and the Damyip, right?"
"In a large sense, yes. But protecting a relationship with your people that's comfortable for your people is a more long-term interest of ours. We place a great value on self-determination and autonomy, So we'd rather have you as an honest neutral planet than as someone who felt coerced into being friendly with us."
"And your Federation is willing to be an arbiter between us and the Bendarri or the Damyip? What if you brokered an agreement and they didn't live up to their end of it?"
"Well, Sir. The Federation has a lot of tools to use. And we have some experience with diplomacy, and the sorts of disagreements you describe. We've had good results. Say the word, and I'll call back to Starfleet Command and we'll get a diplomatic team heading your way to help your folks negotiate precisely the deal you want with the Bendarri and the Damyip."
He scratched his chin. "Well, thanks. I'll pass that along t' my friends in the Senate. Hopefully, they won't give away the store. Now, How might I help you folks?"
Tillean held up her tricorder "May I scan you, Sir? We have some questions about the physiology of your people."
"Uhhh, I guess. It's not to invasive is it?"
"You won't feel a thing. We have ethical standards set up for how we handle peoples' personal information. It’s in our Public Access database."
While Tillean scanned Governor Twenty, he made arrangements to get a copy of the Database.