“Jason, we will be in violation of Polaris Law, 1267.02 section 5c, which states, ‘All Commercial freighters must record all violations against Polaris Law.’”
“Override Polaris Law, 1267.02 section 5c, Sofia.”
“Under protest, I vehemently disagree with your decision making.”
“You are ordered to comply!” he said brusquely.
“Override accepted,” she bitterly obeyed.
“Thank you…and Sofia…please stop quoting Polaris Law. Now if would be so kind, engage docking procedures.”
“My pleasure, Jason.”
Three red laser dots beamed out from the Chameleon and trained on to Learner’s unsanctioned cargo container. Each laser locked on to target points and the wall-flush cargo container slowly eased out of the loading dock.
“We are in alignment,” Sofia confidently stated.
“Proceed slowly,” Jason replied.
“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP…” The Chameleon echoed equally, and simultaneously as bright orange warning lights flashed linearly around the ship’s exterior Skin. This behavior warned others that they were moving backward.
“POP, POP, POP, POP!” boomed the ship’s coupling device, endorsing a successful linking of the two crafts.
“Sofia, engage Cargo Cloaking.”
“Cloaking complete, Jason.”
“Okay, move us out into the Conveyance Passage, and toward our final destination… Decrease the heads-up display by twenty percent, and darken cab lights.”
The Chameleon and her cargo drifted in near silence across the subterranean hanger. Jason eased back in his chair, and gazed upon the hundreds of docking bays, and cargo runners that were lined perfectly, and equally spaced.
“Fissure Pipe Central’s Processing is trying to access the Chameleon…”
“Inform Fissure Pipe Central of our, Off Location, and request a top speed of five hundred miles per hour.”
“Our top speed has been denied…however, they will allow us a maximum speed of two hundred and sixty-five miles per hour.”
“That almost doubles our travel time…” Jason complained and continued, “Accept Pipe Central’s terms, and calculate the thrust ratio levitation, and calibrate hover pads for positive forced acceleration.”
“We are five by five, and ready to go, Jason.”
“Push us into the Pipe’s postern, Sofia,” Jason commanded, and Sofia complied by floating the Chameleon sideways into the Pipe’s postern, where they then waited for the Pipe System to engage forward kinesis.
The Pipe is an extensive transportation tunnel system, designed for Magnetic Levitation, where vehicles travel at high speeds, using the straightest routes possible. Throughout the Pipe, large Elements focus high levels of Magnetized Pulsation Waves around vehicles. Technically, kinetic energy propels the vehicles at high speeds and these waves carry vehicles to preprogrammed locations.
In order for vehicles to travel the Pipe, they must have propulsion drive systems that incorporate Hover Technology. Hover Technology is similar to Anti-Gravity Technology but remains more consistent with Magnetic Levitation Technology (MAGLEV).
The Pipe gets its energy from Core Displacement Stations deep inside the Earth. The Mega-City, Polaris, incorporates their highly guarded Ring Technology with Core Displacement Technology. However, the majority of the energy generated on Earth, comes from the not so advanced, Core Displacement Technology. Fissure Point Colonist, and the Vril’s Devonian Enclave, both use Core Displacement Technology to power their cities.
“Ask the Pipe what’s taking so long.”
“We are waiting for a priority outbound ship to pass through,” Sofia calmly stated.
Blue glowing hover pads held the Chameleon in a suspended animation. The flash of the outgoing ship screamed by, and rocked them wildly by the displaced air around the Chameleon. Jason asked, “Wow! How fast were they going?”
“I clocked them at four hundred and twenty-eight miles per hour.”
“Did you register any anomalies within that ship?”
“Negative, and what is with all your paranoia, Jason?”
“Never mind, Sofia; can you access the Pipe, and find their destination and cargo?”
“Pipe access denied,” responded Sofia. The Chameleon slowly moved into the Pipe, and she continued, “We are in MAGLEV automation.” And quickly picking up speed in the dark tunnel, the hover pads intensely glowed as the Chameleon smoothly accelerated.
“Sofia, please play Twentieth Century jazz…and let’s try to hail that ship.”
“My pleasure, Jason.”
Sofia played smooth jazz in the darkly lit cockpit. Visuals of the musician’s biography popped up on the heads-up display.
Pipe Central transmitted updated weather information for their manifested destination, along with the plethora of commercials. Also, a gamete of systems information including: cab environment, top speed, estimated time of arrival, off location, and even all Jason’s vitals, all populated the Skin.
“We have a dark-ship in front of us, Jason.”
“Keep me updated to any changes… Sofia, besides the music, please silence all nonessential information, and commercials playing on the Skin,” Jason stated as he reclined in his Captain’s seat, and recounted,
“I hate those fucking advertisements! Who cares about eating nutritional food from recycled refuse? I would never want to live on the Moon of Thereon, or ever vacation in the Kyper belt again; both places are in the disputed sector. I could end up in off world slavery chains. And why would anyone want to change their species designation? Fucking brain washing shit.”
“What are you thinking, Jason?” Sofia asked in a soft and inquiring voice.
“Nothing, Sofia…”
“I can tell by your eye movement and bio-rhythm feedback, that, ‘Nothing,’ is not a true answer.”
“Sofia, you don’t always need to know what I’m thinking,” Jason irritably snapped.
“You just seem a little disgruntled and I want to help.”
“If I tell you, can we just relax in silence, and listen to the music?”
“Yes, Jason.”
“I was thinking about the DNA re-designation advertisements…and why anyone would want to become another species?”
“Changing for a better life, and new beginnings, are two of Mankind’s biggest dreams.” She spoke in a ceremonious tone.
“Thanks for that information, Sofia, but now can we enjoy the music in silence…? And please turn up the volume by twelve percent.”
“Be my pleasure, Jason,” Sofia softly responded.
T
HE
S
WITCH
After exiting Fissure Point Pipe in the dead of the night, the Chameleon raced across the crackled red surface of an alkali endorheic salt lake. Displacing its slippery film coating, the Land-ship’s powerful hover pads created an enormous rooster tail hundreds of feet high; geothermic pressures bubbled up small amounts of hydroxide, generating the slick surface.
The entire dead-sea basin bloomed a bright orangey-red color, giving fuel to the huge sandstorms plaguing the planet; dust sucked up from these types of salt lakes gave the giant anti-cyclonic storm its signature red look.
In some areas of the planet, liquid rivers and lakes existed deep down below the surface. However, they were heavily polluted with metals such as hydroxides, and hexavalent chromium; countless numbers of other heavy metals have destroyed the waters, but hydroxides, and hexavalent chromium dominate the total volume of contaminate.
“Jason, we are nearing the exchange coordinates,” Sofia softly responded.
“Thank you, Sofia.”
“I have a faint signature at the edge of the lake bed.”
“Speak to me…”
“Looks like a partial resonance of a Transport, and traces of its Plutonium C3 cargo.”
“Should I hail them?”
“Not just yet, let’s wait till we get right on them… I don’t want them to know we’re are here yet.”
“Jason, may I suggest once we hit the shoreline, we leave an electronic impression of our direct line of travel, and then flank their position… since they know we are almost here, we can at least take the high ground behind them, giving us some tactical advantage.”
“We’re cloaked, Sofia…how do they know we’re here?”
“There is a 98.9% probability the exchange vessel has been monitoring our travel since entering the salt lake.”
“That’s not possible, Sofia.”
“Jason, our wake is visible from outer space.” Sofia zoomed in on the infrared satellite image showing the Chameleon’s huge rooster tail.
“Wow, look at that trail we are making…good call, Sofia.”
When the cloaked Chameleon finally reached the shoreline, they spoofed any tracking signals by bursting off a false electronic impression; faking their direction of travel. After their wake disappeared from striking dry earth, Jason ordered the ship to make a flanking move. The invisible ship slowly hovered over rocky outcroppings and up the natural incline of the barren terrain. Circling wide around the position of the exchange vehicle, Jason and the Chameleon now looked slightly down on the rear of the crude but heavily armed hover ship.
“Jason, this is the dark-ship that left out before us…should I hail them?” Sofia asked.
“No, let’s wait, and observe them for a while… I want to see what our dark-ship’s reaction is when they think I’ve missed the exchange coordinates.”
Shaped more like a cuttlefish, the Chameleon had the highest level of cloaking technology, and attributes incorporated into every inch of her sophisticated design; and as she hovered in absolute stealthy silence, giving off a zero energy signature, Jason patiently watched the drop ship in absolute suspicion.
“I don’t trust these Vril, scum… Sofia, activate a Spider, and be ready to deploy on our Cargo hatch.”
“Jason, Phase Five Spider Lock, ready to deploy on your Voice Command.”
“Let’s wait until they make a move.”
Moonlight outlined the boxy looking Vrilion Drop-ship but it was not without its own cloaking ability. However, the Chameleon’s counter measures could easily defeat the outdated, and antiquated technology. Everything on the Chameleon was state of the art and nothing could defeat the technology she employed. The Vrilion ship hovered nearly twenty more minutes before giving off a slight energy wave spike, giving Jason advance warning that the ship was about to move.
“Sofia, let’s follow them for a few miles to see if they have any nearby friends…”
“How far back would you like us to follow?” Sofia asked in her softly but monotonous voice.
“Three hundred feet will be fine.”
Cloaked, the Chameleon followed unnoticed over the hard compact surface. And as they headed toward the Devonian Enclave, Sofia could easily detect the Vril ship using the Polaris Satellite information transmitted freely in open bands of communication. This bothered Jason to some degree but the avarice of the deal blinded him of the potential danger. Being spotted by Polaris Security Forces, during the actual cargo exchange, was a real threat. However, the risk verses reward ratio did not outweigh his inquisitive nature; and the transaction would go down, danger or not.
“Sofia, once I deploy the Spider, the Vril might pick up the wave spike…to mask the Spider’s deployment… I want to hail them simultaneously…got it?”
“Yes, I will hail the Vrilion ship concurrently on deployment of the Phase Five Spider Lock.”
“On my command, launch Spider…” A port opened on top of the ship, and Jason continued saying, “Spider, launch!”
The mechanical device popped straight up out of the Chameleon’s head, and legs splaying outward, the Spider grappled on to the cargo container. Like crossing a web, the arachnid-looking machine crept over the surface until reaching the entry hatch. Spindly arm, over spindly arm, the Phase Five Spider Lock imbedded itself across the hinges, locking in the illegal NEPRs.
“Jason, I have the Vril ship in our queue.”
“Put them up on display, please.”
“Thought you’d past right on by us, Jason Bjorn.”
“You know my name, so who are you?” Jason brusquely asked.
“I am Mitchell Thacker, and I’m with the Captain Rengar Falger.”
Sarcastically, Jason fiercely asked, “Captain of what?”
“Captain of the Raven, of course,” Mitchell proudly responded.
“Captain of a hunk of crap,” Jason mumbled under his breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that last transmission,” asked Mitchell.
“Well, Mitchell, you gonna pull that tub over so we can make the switch?”
“I think you hurt Captain Falger’s feelings,” Mitchell playfully remarked.
“That’s impossible, Mitchell Thacker.”
“Why is that?” Mitchell’s tone hinted with slight curiosity.
“The Vril have no feelings!” he echoed with spitting malevolence.
“Ha ha, so true, Jason Bjorn... Mitchell, out!”
And before Mitchell disappeared from the heads-up display, Jason read the near expressionless smile perfectly. He knew Mitchell failed at hiding the contempt he had toward him and his snide remarks. The Vril Ship then circled around, detached the cargo container containing the Plutonium C3, and pulled forward waiting for the Chameleon to de-cloak.
As the Chameleon closed in on the cargo, Jason spoke. “Sofia, full cloak again and do a full spectral display on the Raven… Please enhance the Skin imagery by 20%.”
“Yes, Jason…”
Under infrared spectrum, the Chameleon cockpit’s Skin projected a 180-degree view, enhancing the imagery of the Raven and surrounding barren landscape. Although the full moon hid behind clouds, it nonetheless assisted in lighting the area with great effectiveness.
“Sofia, can you scan an estimated valuation of the Plutonium C3 on board the Raven?” His mind greedily probed the contents.
“There is a 98.9% chance the cargo has a Polaris remuneration valuation of 65 million,” she calculated.
“Son of a bitch, I got screwed on this deal!”
Jason thought before Sofia asked, “Jason, why did you provoke Mitchell Thacker, and Captain Rengar Falger?”
“An angry opponent will make mistakes,” Jason replied.
“So, if your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him?”
“Exactly. You couldn’t have said it any better, Sofia,” Jason responded, and then thought,
“She can seem weird in how she speaks sometimes.”
“I just pulled an ancient quote from my database.”
“Are you reading my mind, Sofia?” Jason dubiously asked.
“I am not programmed to read minds.”
“Are you saying SYNTECH has developed telekinetic thought technology?”
“It seems the SYNTECH Company may have had a breakthrough in Telekinetic Thought Technology. However, all information regarding this technology is classified.”
Slightly distracted over the information Sofia just gave, Jason hesitated before saying, “Detach a hundred feet directly across from them, then we’ll circle around to keep an eye on them.”
“Never turn your back on your opponent, Jason.”
“Soon, you’ll have me convinced you’re an expert strategist if you keep it up, Sofia.”
“It is you that should keep it up more often, if you know what I mean.” Sofia flirted in a sexy tone.
“Smart and horny…what did SYNTECH sell me?”
Jason thought before saying, “Concentrate on the mission, Sofia.”
“Ready for Voice Command to detach cargo container.”
“Sofia, disengage the Chameleon from the Nonentity Cargo Container, and slowly maneuver us to our pickup,” Jason commanded.
The minute the Chameleon detached from the Nonentity Cargo, the container became visible; and immediately on seeing the cargo container full of NERPs, the Vrilion ship raced to make the switch. While on the other hand, the cautious Captain of the Chameleon, slowly stalked around the approaching vessel, never allowing for the only vulnerable spot to be exposed, the rear attachment point.
Jason watched the Vrilion ship race off as the Chameleon’s three red laser dots beamed out and trained on to the cargo container, each locking on to target points. “We are in alignment,” Sofia confidently stated.
“Before we proceed, disengage the warning lights, please,” Jason replied.
“Jason, do you mean disengage from Safe Operations Mode, Backing Procedures?”
“Yes, I want to stay cloaked.” The Chameleon then eased back with no flashing warning lights. Then it rumbled a deep screeching sound, indicating the coupling device did not successfully link.
“There seems to be a small obstruction in the linking pin on the Nonentity Cargo Container.”
“Can you scan the object for me, Sofia?”
“82% possibility it is organic in nature, closely resembling a rock…”
“Pull forward for realignment.” And after the ship moved into realignment, Jason crawled out of the Captain’s chair, and spoke. “OK, open the hatch, Sofia.”
“Jason, don your Exo-skin before exiting the ship,” Sofia motherly ordered.
“We’re in a hurry, I don’t want to be lingering about.”
The airtight gasket on the hatch unsealed and the Chameleon’s exterior entrance, “HISSED,” on opening. Pivoting arms pushed the thick hatch, endangering the ship’s environmentally controlled interior. The hidden stairs slid forward, and Jason instantaneously felt the rush of hot air slam into his face before stepping down into inhospitable landscape.
With a pry bar in his hand, Jason hurried to the rear of the cargo container.
“I don’t see any obstruction, Sofia.” Jason shined his hand lantern on the connection site.
“My sensors indicate there is an obstruction right in the mouth.”
Jason set the hand lantern on the ground, and reached inside the opening, and yelled, “Sofia, it’s a trap…there’s a cloaked device in the mouth!”
“Jason, I detect incoming.”
“Who is it?”
“Like I have to ask,”
Jason thought in hindsight.
“The Raven is cloaked, and is minus three minutes from our location.”
Suddenly, the device uncloaked, and Jason realized it was a defective shape charge; designed to incapacitate the Chameleon, and kill its occupants during linking procedure.
“Protocol 32! I say again, Emergency Protocol 32!” screamed Jason as he was being dragged underneath the Vrilion cargo container; and before passing out from a blow he sustained to his head, he watched Sofia race off, disappearing under-cloak.