Reaching the Rip

[anithias]

Carnus moved through the crowd in Port Yama'ta, inconspicuous among the many humanoids. True, he stood a good 7"1'. But in the wide Spectrum galaxy, that was nothing. There were billions of Enhanced Humans out there. One more wasn't noticeable.

Finally, Carnus navigated his way over to the small, grey-green PT-2500. The Private Transport, model 2500 didn't look like much; Carnus knew that was because it wasn't much. The radiation shielding was wearing down; the side had a dent in it from an asteroid collision. But still, it was his ship, and he would keep it until the end.

Or at least, as long as he could keep it running. Carnus noted a short human in a yellow jumpsuit walking his rounds in port- a docking official. Quickly Carnus approached him. The human backed up, frightened, and Carnus could imagine why- the midget was only three feet tall, while Carnus towered seven feet. Still, the docking official overcame his fear and spoke out in a weedy, high-pitched voice. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

"Yes," Carnus replied in his baritone. "I'm looking to find long-term docking for my ship."

The port official eyed the battered PT, no doubt gaging how much he could resell it for when Carnus was gone. "How long will sir expect to be gone?" the diminutive official asked.

Carnus fixed the short human with a threatening stare. "For as long as need be," he growled. The port official took several steps backwards, which Carnus matched with one step forward. "I expect to find my ship in the same condition I left it in when I return," he said, not breaking eye contact. "I will pay you 500 dinars to retrieve it from shiplock. If I find it is not here, I will hold you accountable for it. Understand?"

The port official gulped. 500 dinars was a cheapening amount for a long-term shiplock. But still, the official didn't want to be squashed by the tall En-Human. "Done," the official squeaked. Carnus bent down to shake the official's hand, officiating the deal, and then went into port.

Carnus started by heading across the docking lot to the commercial sector, where pilots were carefully polishing their already-gleaming charter ships. Carnus considered hiring a slick, fast-looking starship, but decided against it- where he was going required something special. His starship had been unable to make it; even the powerfully-shielded NPP battlecruisers had been unable to withstand the gravitational disruptions for long. One famous instance was when a massive gravitational abnormality occurred, splitting a battlecruiser completely in half. So if Carnus was going to make it, he'd need a very special ship.

Preferably accompanied by a pilot who'd been inside Martin's Rip.

[D109]

Durant on the outside of his bridge with a magna-bucket and washcloth, viciously washing away the graffiti from it’s exterior. Some damn puck little hell had gone and wrote some pissy little racists smut on his freshly painted hull. The ferret was one the war path.
“Sir I’m afraid “called out a tall yellow jump suited dock administrator “that union rules spseiphy that you can not clean your own ship. I must request that you stop and let one of our workers deal with it…” his prissy little voice was cut off by the ferrets shrill squeak
“One of your dock workers did this!”
“I’m afraid that can’t be true, sir!” replied the worker
“Really, well it is! So piss off!”
“I’m afraid I will have to ask you to…”
“If your so damn afraid then shut the hell up!”

[anithias]

Carnus noted a beastiahuman of the ferret variety shrieking at a red-faced dock administrator, who was doing his best to remain calm. The ferret was scrubbing at several rude words magna-painted on his hull. Carnus was saddened to see they were mainly directed against beastiahumans. The human race had a long way to go. Even Enhanced Humans still encountered a fair amount of racism. As for robots, well... let's just say that humans weren't used to the notion of independent thought.

"What's going on here?" Carnus shouted to the squabbling pair. The docking administrator (Carnus decided to think of the annoying little officials as 'jumpsuits' from now on) was the first to answer. "This... this thing... (Carnus noted and disliked the jumpsuit's choice of words) has refused to obey the firm and fair rules of our beloved workers' union, and is verbally insulting my person."

Carnus looked down at the jumpsuit. This one was bigger, so he couldn't be intimidated. Instead he set down his bag, and began to search through its contents, pretending to ignore the official. This simply irritated the jumpsuit further. "Are you even listening to me?" the jumpsuit said indignantly. Carnus looked him over with deliberate speed, as if judging the jumpsuit worthy of attention.

"No," Carnus said, and turned back to his bags. The ploy worked; the docking administrator turned back to his once-enemy and asked indignantly, "Are you just going to stand there while this blaggart insults me?" As amused by the turn of events as he was, Carnus puzzled over how to get rid of the jumpsuit, murder aside.

[D109]

"Are you just going to stand there while this blaggart insults me?"
"Yes" replied the ferret simply, the suit shook his head in an angry fashion
"You'll be hearing from security" he yelled as he walked off.
Durant smiled and jumped off his ship and on to the hanger deck. He turned around and walked toward the man.
"He'll be back... and with help, I've got to get going." said the ferret "that’s for the help."

[anithias]

"That’s for the help." The ferret turned away.

"Wait!" Carnus said. The ferret turned back, puzzled. "I'm looking for a pilot," Carnus explained. "Someone with a fast ship, with good enough shields to withstand time-space waves." Carnus didn't mention his destination- if the ferret hadn't figured it out by now, that was for the better. Most pilots blanched at the very mention of the Rip.

[D109]

The ferret could smell where this was headed.
“Now you look here, the Arrila is a pretty fast ship with ridiculously over powered shields” he said with a smile “but there is no way in hell that you will get me any where near Martins rip. There’s a reason it’s got an R.I.P. at the end, your not getting out of it. Once your in… your in.”
He began to walk back to his ship
“now I can get you close, one million miles, buts that’s as far as I’m willing to go.”

[anithias]

“Now I can get you close, one million miles, buts that’s as far as I’m willing to go.”

Carnus knew this was the best he was going to get. "One million, and an escape pod aimed for the Rip." He suddenly thought of something. He knew it was unlikely Marr would find him, but if he did... "Can the Arrila withstand fire from a battlecruiser?" he asked.

[D109]

Durant just look at him with a smile.
"Intruble with the military much? From a what now?"

[anithias]

Carnus felt sweat run down his brow. "Not anymore than any other E-Human with a record," he said nonchalantly, trying not to give away his fear. He'd led Marr on a wild goose chase for too long. The man must be furious by now, and if Marr was furious... well, all the worse for the two ever meeting.

"Maybe we should go," Carnus said quickly, looking across the port. A group of yellow jumpsuits carrying stun weapons were moving through the hangar, unmistakably security.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jhonas Marr sat in his cabin, pouring over the paper charts. The door was set to OPEN, allowing all passing crewmen a view of their captain reading the 2D maps. Marr smiled privately. In the day and age of 3D holosheets, being able to read a flat map was considered a skill, as much as speaking a long-dead language or knowing calculus. Despite the many contrary predictions, the teaching of advanced mathematics had gradually died out as computers began to do all the math for humans. However, it was still an optional class in the High Military Academy, and Marr had taken the time to learn everything that might be of use to him.

The use of paper was a special touch that he'd started- as not many could read paper anymore, Marr had commissioned a flat map of the Spectrum galaxy. Most of his officers had thought it a showpiece- a rarity, meant to improve his reputation. Marr had quickly proven them wrong. He'd ordered the ship into an asteroid field and cut the power to all holodisplays. Marr had used a sextant to triangulate their exact position, and, using his paper chart as his guide, steered them through the field to their destination. While being a complete waste of time and an unnecessary risk, the maneuver had gotten his point through- Marr was capable of anything. Soon all the captains in the fleet were carrying a paper chart, in hopes of riding Marr's wake.

Rising from his seat, Marr snapped his fingers twice. Instantly, a high-detail map of Spectrum materialized above his desk. Thousands of stars glowed on the map, with tiny, full-colored planets orbiting them. Marr felt a surge of power- now, the galaxy was at his command.

Marr tapped a yellow dot at the edge of the display, and a long chain of planets were suddenly highlighted yellow. Marr's fists clenched as he gazed at the first planet in the chain- Sttalion, the H.M.P.'s secret facility. Every extremist military political party had one- a secret lab, hidden under the surface of a harsh-condition planet. Marr had been lucky- that had been his first assignment. Most captains only were assigned to Sttalion after decades of service. Marr had made it first step.

In his mind's eye, Marr remembered the instance. A small ship, a personal transport, nimbly dodged through Marr's barricade. Fire blazed around it on all sides, yet somehow it escaped. Warning sirens died down as the tiny craft escaped, blazing into the asteroid field orbiting the rocky planet.

The yellow highlights stretched across Spectrum, winding like a snake. Each dot represented a planet where his quarry had been sighted. Each time, he arrived just in time to get a new sighting. Well, that would soon end. Marr carefully analyzed the winding path. His quarry had been either clever, or desperate, crossing back on his path multiple times, but all the time winding steadily downward- until his last sighting was only one million miles from Port Yama'ta.

Marr's heart rate quickened. So, the little pest was headed to port, was he? Marr had long anticipated such a move- from Yama'ta, you could catch a ride to anywhere in the galaxy. Marr knew his quarry did not have enough money for a long ride, however. That meant there were only two possible destinations- Thisbn, or Martin's Rip.

Finally, it made sense. Marr knew about the Einstein's Theory's disappearance, and how his quarry was linked to it. The only trick left was, what path would he take? Would he go to Thisbn and then on to the Rip, or directly to the Rip? Marr knew his opponent to be unpredictable. So he, too, would have to be unpredictable. Closing his eyes, Marr jabbed his finger randomly at a point in the vicinity of the Yama'ta-Thisbn-Rip triangle. Opening his eyes, Marr was surprised to see he'd chosen a spot directly between Yama'ta and the Rip. Marr was not one to believe in luck, but he did believe in the subconscious. And he believed his subconscious had chosen this spot for a reason.

Marr closed the holomap, and strode down the corridor to the bridge. "Officers, set destination for one million miles from the Rip," Marr called out. Instantly the tan-uniformed officers scurried into action. Marr sat back in his command chair, pressing his fingertips together. This time, there would be no escape.

[D109]

OOC: all tests are over!

Durant unholsterd his pistol and fired in to the on comming suits, missing them all. But it caused them to scatter and take cover alowing him to make a run for his ship.
"Come on then! they'll be seeling thois place soon!" he called to the human.

[anithias]

OOC: what do you mean, "All tests are over"?

Quickly Carnus dashed for the ship, unslinging his sniper rifle as he ran. At the ramp he turned back and fired a quick shot into the crowd. To his surprise and grief, a yellow-suited security officer fell, clutching his chest. Quickly Carnus dashed up the ramp, trying to escape before he could watch the human die.

The ferret was already at the controls. "Quick!" Carnus rasped, glancing out the shieldscreen. The security squad was taking position for firing. Carnus knew it wouldn't do much, but it could still cause damage. "Let's get out of here!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Far away, a much larger ship glided through space, propelled by four massive ion engines, each the size of a rotunda. The ship itself was just a little larger in size than Port Yama'ta, making it more like a floating city. Abruptly, the hulking cruiser glowed with blue sparks as it jumped to para-light, the strange state of matter that made cross-galaxy travel possible. When the sparks faded away, all that was left was a few stray ions, which would eventually disappear into a black hole twenty million miles away.

[D109]

OOC: school tests, all 400 of them.

Durant activated the thrusters and bariled the Arrila out of teh hanger just as the doors were beggining to close, ripping a pice of the wing off as it went. The vibration of teh damage rocked the bridge caousing sevril warning lights to go off.
"Don't worry" said teh ferret "we'er reaching the upper atmosphere, well be fine."