Blood And Profit: Chapter 6

Six weeks later they reached the end of their journey. As they exited the tunnel they were presented with a sight even more breathtaking than the slip. The ring they came out of was just one of over twenty rings stationed around Transit station E3. Just beyond T.S.E.3 was a planet. The number of ships, space stations, satellites and other advanced technology through out the area was incalculable. Both Rusty and Toll's chins sat firmly on the floor.

“Unidentified shuttle, this is Transit Command, please identify yourself, or you will be detained.” The man's voice seemed to come from every possible place on the ship, and it knocked Toll out of his stupor. He flipped a switch to open an unsecured channel.

“This is reclamation pilot Theta five niner. Civilian name, Toll. I have a passenger aboard my shuttle, he goes by Rusty...Where are we?” there was silence for a moment and the response came over the channel this time.

“Rodger that Theta five niner, looks like you're a long, long, long way from home. Dock in Bay two, I'm sure we have just as many questions for you as you do for us.” The man seemed pleasant enough.

“Affirmative, soon as you direct me to bay two I'm as good as docked.” Toll responded. A trail of lights on the Transit Station lit up and crawled around the outside of the hull leading Toll to bay two. He took the ship around the far side of the station and waited where the lights stopped for the bay door to open. Once he had clearance he docked the ship and the doors closed. A red beam of light scanned the entire ship. It was followed by a blue beam of light. Once the blue beam had passed through the entire ship there was a three second pause and the sound of pressure releasing.

“You may exit your ship now gentlemen.” The man informed them. Toll and Rusty stood, stretched and headed for the ship's exit. As they headed for the airlock door Rusty stopped Toll.

“They seem awfully calm about this don't you think?” He whispered. Toll shrugged his shoulders.

“They're human, we're human. It's not like we're invading aliens or something. Why wouldn't they be calm?” He whispered back and headed for the door again, but Rusty stopped him.

“Because we lost contact with them over a hundred years ago and chose as a society to shut off the slip ring. What if we're considered traitors? or worse what if they do think we're invading?” Toll wrenched his sleeve out of Rusty's grip.

“Would you calm down? Everything will be fine!” He said as the docking bay door exploded open and armed soldiers came pouring into the bay. Rusty threw his hands in the air and Toll sheepishly turned to face the four soldiers.

“DON'T MOVE!” The soldiers yelled. A fifth woman stepped into the bay. She wore a crisp gray uniform with a barcode over her left pocket. She smiled at them.

“I do apologize for the theatrics gentlemen but protocol is protocol. Now Toll, Rusty, why don't we head over to one of our debriefing offices and get this mess cleared up so we can make sure everything is as it should be.” her inauthentic smile was pasted on her face with all the skill of a professional predator. Rusty glared at Toll.

“You heard the Lady, Toll. After you.” Toll and Rusty exited the bay under armed guard.

Blood And Profit. Chapter 5

“Cause that'll make it all better.” He groaned as the bay door opened revealing the tow service ship.

The front lights on the ship illuminated the docking bay. Mew's voice came through the communication collar on the suit.

“I swear Saluter, if you take that ship out of the bay the only thing you'll ever fly after tonight is a paper airplane!” Toll glared out the front window at the bay door where he could see Mew's furious face on the other side. He smiled at her and pulled the flight stick back hard. The ship shot backward and narrowly missed the tow shuttle which barely pulled to the side quickly enough to do nothing more than trade some paint.

“Toll please, you gotta reconsider! This has gotten out of hand!” Rusty pleaded as he climbed into the passenger chair and strapped himself in. But it was too late. Toll was locked in. The cruiser made a mad dash for the ring.

“Did you get that ring command console set up?” Toll asked, without taking his eyes off the ring in the distance. Rusty nodded while gripping his seat.

“Yeah, it's ready to go.” He responded, “please don't kill us, please don't kill us, please don't kill us.” he chanted with his eyes shut tight. “Oh man I cannot believe you are seriously doing this!” Toll glanced at the ring console and flipped the activation switch.

The bright lights of the ring establishing a slip tunnel for the first time in over a hundred years caused Rusty to open his eyes. For a split second time slowed down. Toll and Rusty stared at the beautiful effects of the machine in awe as they hurtled toward it in an attempt to beat the flight restrictors racing to get into range. Toll refocused and pushed the engines to their limit.

“We're doing this!” The cruiser dashed through the ring and was gone. The flight restrictors slowed to normal patrol speed and the tow service ship coasted to a complete stop. The Ring lights dimmed and eventually shut off. Space was dark and quiet once again.

The view from inside the tunnel was a different story. Rusty forgot his panic as he watched thousands of stars blur by, putting incalculable distance between him and the only home he knew. “Where are we going?” He asked in awe. Toll was just as moved by the seemingly never ending tunnel pointing eternally toward the terminus line in the far off distance.

“Tell you when we get there.” He commented off handedly. Except for the gentle hum of the ship's engines the compartment went quiet. The light show had completely drawn all the attention either of them had. Finally the immensity of what had just transpired hit Toll. He looked over at his friend with honest regret. “I'm sorry I got you wrapped up in all of this.” He apologized. Rusty laughed in response.

“Do you really think I would have done any of this if some part of me hadn't wanted to.” He asked. Toll smiled.

“I knew you you were as curious as I was! I knew it!” He glared at Rusty and pointed at him knowingly.

“We've been researching the ring on and off since we were little kids Toll. Of course I was curious. Just not curious enough to do...this!” he gestured to the light show going on outside the cruiser windows.

“How long do you think it will take us to get where ever this is taking us?” He asked.

Toll shook his head. “I don't know.”

Blood And Profit: Chapter 4

Mew pressed the access button for the docking bay for the third time. It gave off the “access denied” tone for the third time. Mew slammed her fist on the viewing window several times. “Damn it! Saluter you open this door right now!” Toll appeared on the other side of the viewing window. His hands were full of wires and he was saying something to her but she couldn't hear him through the door. “You rat bastard!” She crushed the speaker button. “What did you do! Put it all back, now!” Toll looked as if he was having an issue keeping the wires and circuit boards in his hands while reaching for the intercom switch. With an exaggerated scramble the circuit boards and wires went flying in every direction. He smiled sheepishly and clicked the intercom button on his side of the door.

“Ok. so, new plan. You put some super glue in the next bay over and open the door. I'll get my suit and grab the glue and fix the boards and we'll have this all figured out in a few hours.” Mew continued to pound her fists on the window, screaming obscenities that Toll thankfully could not hear. He continued much to her frustration “lunch time at the absolute latest.” He kissed his hand pressed it to the window and then dashed back to the cruiser.

He found Rusty laying on his back, elbow deep in the flight console. Surrounded by several by piles of wires, and circuit boards, the sight of which caused Toll to freak immediately.

“No no no no no! Rusty you yourself have told me that all these pieces are required to make the ship go and we need the ship to go...like now!” Toll picked up a circuit board and started looking for a clue as to what its purpose might be.

“YOU need to go Toll.” Rusty responded while tossing another small circuit board on the floor. “I am an unwilling participant in this madness.”, throwing another fist full of wiring out onto the floor. Toll rolled his eyes.

“Unwilling participant eh? So your not enjoying ripping your dad's cruiser up at all right now?” He sat in the pilots chair and flipped the circuit board over in his hands.

“There have been certain...advantages.” There were two flashes inside the console and the cruisers engine roared to life. “Yes! Screw you dad!” Rusty triumphantly climbed out from under the console, dirt, grease, and a smile on his face. Toll practically shook the dirt and grease off him out of sheer excitement.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Rusty shoved Toll away from him and looked around the ship.

“Yeah what ever, now give me your suit helmet so I can get out of here and you can get going.” Not seeing the helmet he looked to Toll for a clue. Toll's smile did not waiver but his eyes betrayed his panic, Rusty felt his stomach sink. He scanned the ship again. “Toll where's the helmet?” Toll sat down in the pilot's seat, flipping switches and buttons, the command stick came loose in preparation for flight.

“In your bunk next to your shoes,” Toll hollered without making eye contact. “lets go!”

“TOLL YOU BASTARD!” Rusty howled as he sat hard on the floor. He dropped his face into his hands and smashed his head into the back of the pilots chair. Toll glanced back quickly and noticed just how hard Rusty was taking this revelation.

“Look at it this way, at least when you tell them I kidnapped you, you won't be lying.”

Blood and Profit: Chapter 3

Toll had slept in the crew and guest quarters of the recycler station more times than he could count. It was most likely the closest thing he had to a home. It was past midnight surface time and the station was quiet. He had been sitting on his bunk for hours going over every aspect of the plan. The worst part about this was the plan could be summed up thusly: 1. Plug ring command console into Rusty's dad's cruiser. 2. Make a run for the ring. 3. If successful, see what was on the other end of the tunnel. Still, he ran through each moment of the process in his mind and then he ran through the plan backwards. The high orbit flight restrictors would not be in range of the ring between three thirty and four am. And so far every part of the plan had worked perfectly. He was awake on time, mostly because he had not slept. He had made his way without incident to the docking bay where Rusty had parked his father's cruiser . He dropped into the pilot seat and initiated engine start. Instead of the intense high performance hum of the engines starting, a video message popped up. It was Rusty's father.

“Rusty! You bring my cruiser back right now! I don't care what time it is! In fact, no! Don't touch anything! I'm having a tow service come get the cruiser and bring it back! You can find your own way home!” The video message went dark and Toll scrambled out of the ship and practically ran to Rusty's bunk.

“Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup!” and vigorous shaking is what Rusty woke up to.

“Toll, what the hell? Aren't you supposed to be gone by now?” Rusty wiped sleep from his eyes and sat up on his elbows.

“That was the plan but your dad has a remote lock on the cruiser engines, which is NOT the plan!” Rusty sat up so fast he hit his head on the bottom of the bunk above him.

“What do you want me to do about it? I told you he would never let me take it.” Rusty tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Toll forced Rusty to roll back over and face him again.

“I need you to come and disable the engine lock so I can go.” Toll smiled a very fake smile.

“And go with you on your stupid adventure that's going to get you five to ten in prison? NO!” Rusty rolled back over again.

“Please Rusty, this is my only chance! You can take my space suit and hop out before I take off, then just tell everyone that I kidnapped you and stole the ship.” Rusty crossed his arms and put a weak pout on his face. His resistance lasted less than ten seconds.

“Fiiiiine.” Rusty surrendered. Toll jumped up with excitement.

“I knew I could count on you!” Rusty nodded and grabbed his shoes. Toll grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the room. “Shoes are useless in zero gravity, come on!” The pair race out of the room.

Back in the cruiser Rusty sat in the passenger seat working through the computer interface. He was in the zone, zooming through screen after screen. Toll waited nervously. His suit communications activated and Mew's sleepy voice came through clear.

“Toll, do I want to know why there's a tow service requesting access to the bay you're in right now?” Toll grabbed at the collar of the suit Rusty was wearing, choking him away from the interface.

“Mew! Nothing to worry about! Total misunderstanding!” He did everything he could think of to stress the calm in his voice, which just made him sound more stressed.

“Yeah, right. I'm coming down there. The automated defense systems are on, don't go anywhere.” The channel went silent and Rusty laughed.

“Great plan man.” his fingers flying over the screen.

“I hate you.” Toll ran out of the ship.

“Where are you going?” Rusty yelled.

“Buy us some time!” Toll yelled back.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 2

Toll had a never ending list of the things he hated about his job. He hated the repetitive task of flying ships from the surface to the high orbit recycling station so they could be torn apart and used to build new ships. He did this for ten hours a day five days a week and hated that he spent three years in flight school to do it. He hated that often the junked ships were on their legitimate last flight, falling apart to the point that it was standard procedure to wear a spacesuit with maneuvering jets in case the ship came apart before it docked at the recycling station. An event that had occurred more than a few times. He hated the suits with their stale air and stiff joints. He hated the time it took to get himself to the station under the power of the maneuvering jets and he hated the fact that he was certified to fly anything and everything that could touch the sky and he had ended up as a junk pilot. The recycling station and the ancient deactivated slip ring came into view as he changed course.

“Mew, it's Toll, lemme in!” He was well within communications range of the station and tormenting Mew was one of the things he loved about his job. The ship didn't have a working communications system so all communication with the planet and the station were done through his suit. Mew's annoyed voice filled his helmet.

“How many times do we have to go over this Saluter. This is an open channel, you have to follow procedure.” That nickname was the number one reason he hated this job. Begrudgingly, he replied back.

“Sky station zero two seven. This is reclamation pilot theta five niner requesting permission to dock in bay zero four. Over.” He edged the ship up to the docking bay door so there was less than three feet of space between the door and the nose of the ship. This infuriated Mew and he knew it.

“Rodger theta five niner. Permission to dock granted. In the future please remain outside the required safety distance when requesting docking clearance.” The door slid up slowly, revealing an empty docking bay which was also an automated disassembly bay. As soon as the door was clear he landed the ancient craft.

“What ever you say dear.” Once the door to the docking bay closed, gravity was restored and oxygen flooded the compartment. Toll took his helmet off and climbed out of the ship. Outside the bay he ran into Rusty. Where Toll was tall and thin with short hair and sharp features, Rusty was shorter rounder and had a trusting face. He was also very, very good with computers.

“Hey Toll, why does Mew call you Saluter?” Rusty also had very little in the way of social tact. Toll smiled and unconsciously led Rusty to the stations dining area.

“long embarrassing story.” In the dining hall, Toll loaded his tray up with every manner of machine printed protein they had. “Did you get it?”

Rusty followed behind with a much smaller assortment on his tray. He grabbed a juice box without looking at it. “Yeah I got it. I think you're crazy though. The authorities are going to catch you before you can reach the ri -” Toll slammed his hand over Rusty's mouth.

“lets just not talk about it here ok?” Rusty nodded and Toll moved his hand. “You sure you don't want to come with me? It's going to be the adventure of a life time.” Rusty followed Toll to a table as far away from other people as possible, and they sat across from each other. Rusty set his satchel on the floor and opened his drink.

“why would I want to go with you?” Rusty looked at the nearest tables and the only one with people at it was quickly emptied as they finished their food. Rusty whispered anyway. “they shut down the ring two hundred years ago for a reason and you have no way of knowing what's on the other side, or if there is anything anymore.” Rusty handed Toll the satchel and went back to his lunch. Toll couldn't keep himself from opening the satchel to look at the control console inside.

“Maybe they did shut it down for a reason. I want to know what that reason is.” He said as he closed the satchel. “Which bay are you docked in?”

Rusty looked like he was having an issue not being sick. “I really wish you could find a different way to get to the ring. That's my dad's cruiser.” He put his fork down sadly as his stomach continued to protest.

“It's all we've got Rusty.” Toll finished his food and stood up. “Look, I appreciate everything you're doing for me. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?” Rusty nodded. He had worked himself up into a nervous sweat and pushed his tray away. “Your loss. I'll be back. I've got to report in.” Rusty nodded. Toll headed out of the hall toward station command.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 1

Historians called the fall of the USSR the end of the “Cold War”; a period of time defined by secret wars and open paranoia between countries that had allied together during the World Wars. The “Quick Sale” was different. Governments around the world found themselves on the wrong side of astronomical debts to privately held companies and, one by one, each and every country sold itself off to pay those debts, slowly ending the reign of civilized government as it had been known for thousands of years. The Quick Sale started with companies in America going around the world and systematically constructing financial situations that would sink country after country and buying each nation out of their land and infrastructures. Once the buy out process started any resistance was violently subdued by the existing governments; which then sold themselves off piecemeal until they were owned in total by The Corporation. In the end Great Britain was the last country to become a privately held corporate asset.

Six hundred years after America had taught the world that slavery was wrong, an American company completed their campaign to convince the world to sell itself into bondage. The Corporate States of America had completed what countless empires before had failed to do. The planet was under their complete control. The board of directors consisted of nine men and women. The nine most powerful people on the planet. But their victory was not complete. The Pacific Free Zone remained a free and autonomous nation. Their freedom was ensured through careful planning and extensive effort. The CSA saw incredible profit in space and turned the full production power of earth toward the stars. But while violent strife pushed technological improvements in many areas, the kind of super computers needed for extensive space travel were purely a peace time pursuit. The kind of coding and hardware that was required was near impossible to produce in the chaotic conditions of revolutions and constant war efforts around the world.

The Pacific Free Zone had spent the resistance years turned inward. With strong borders intact they focused on pure research, aimed at creating the worlds first bio-synthetic machine that was equal parts Squid and computer. The design behind the bio computers was brilliant and sinister in equal measure. The computers needed time to grow naturally. The P.F.Z had a enough tests to prove that the computers became unstable when forced to reach full growth in less than a year. And the PFZ had the only stable growth area that was clean and secure enough to produce usable computers. And so The Corporation and The Pacific Free Zone tolerated each other in order to send mankind into deep space.

That is how mankind went to the stars: in ships that housed squid computers bred to survive in space. The Corporation colonized the moon and Mars in less than a decade. Not long after, the moons of Jupiter and hundreds of space stations filled the empty spaces of our solar system.

The accident became the turning point in the quest for a faster way to traverse the solar system. The accident was the result of a containment breach on an experimental system that folded space. The test folded space around a single atom of hydrogen and when the containment system failed, two square blocks of Chinese real estate were leveled. Once the files had been retrieved, The Corporation realized what had been done and moved all tests out beyond Pluto. That is where the first successful folds were completed. They called it “Slip Tunnel” technology and repurposed Mars to focus on creating slip gates. The gates sustained the folded space which would allow ships to traverse huge distances in almost no time at all. Within five years The Corporation had colony ships taking employees and slip gates in every direction out into the black toward every planet that satellites and probes had returned data on. The human race was ready to settle the galaxy.