All that glitters
Kola took a deep breath before entering the large mess hall which was full of shouting, laughter and the crash of rock on metal as a wrestling contest broke out between two of the occupants. It looked like most of the thirty volunteers from her country, Zarlintar, were present. Some were lining up for the ration dispenser on one wall, a few standing at the tables eating, and the rest egging on the wrestlers, as they grappled with each other in an area that had been cleared of tables.
Kola joined the end of the line. The two talking in front of her did not acknowledge her, just turned to face forward instead of each other, without pausing their conversation. She glanced behind and saw a woman, wearing the motif of the Krenthin clan on her gold sash, join the line behind her, so she turned towards her and smiled.
"Hi, how are you finding the training?" Kola asked.
"Boring," the Krenthin replied, fixing her gaze over Kola's head, which wasn't difficult as Kola only came up to her shoulders.
"I didn't expect that spacewalk emergency drill. Can't believe the technology can simulate weightlessness like that. What did you think of it?" Kola tried again.
"It was fine," came back the reply, and the Krenthin turned to face someone who had slapped her on the back. They started talking about a grudge they had against one of the women wrestling, laughing as she was immobilised in an awkward hold.
Kola sighed and reminded herself that being ignored here was still preferable to the constant ridicule at home from her bigger, stronger sisters.
When she reached the dispenser she pressed her hand on the scanner and her meal ration appeared on a tray in the opening. She took it and walked back out of the mess hall, hearing the cheers of many of the onlookers that meant the downed wrestler had fallen into their species' defensive hibernation mode to preserve her vital organs after being deprived of air.
In the privacy of her cabin Kola put the tray on the table. She took off her own gold sash, decorated with the motif of the Flutlin clan, and unbuckled the dagger she wore on her left forearm. Light though both were, she instantly felt a weight had been lifted. At least alone she did not have to pretend to be a combat-ready Charag.
She ate the perfect replica of the dense, nutritious bread they ate on Char, and when done instructed her implant to launch the next training programme. She was now used to commanding the alien technology that resided in the back of her neck, but the fully immersive training experience was still unsettling. In an instant she was transported to the cockpit of a mining ship as if she were physically there, with all the sights, sounds and sensations, though she knew she was still standing in her cabin.
She had completed all the mandatory training modules by the end of the first day, and had spent the rest of the time working through the more advanced lessons. She had not known what to expect from her asteroid mining assignment, and was surprised at how interesting she found the subject. There were different asteroid types and ores and various mining ship configurations needed to extract the more volatile materials. She was looking forward to trying it out for real.
"Docking procedures complete. Please proceed to the exit." The ship's announcement interrupted her training programme, which automatically ended. Kola blinked her eyes, moved her arms around, and rotated at her waist, adjusting to being back in control of her actual body. After putting back on her sash and dagger, she stepped out into the hallway. There was already a line heading to the exit and she stepped into it, following until she exited into a vast hangar bay.
It was bigger than any building she had seen in her life, filled with ships on the ground and flying in the air, of all shapes and sizes. She continued walking until she was in the group of Zarls that had congregated just beyond the exit. And then she noticed the other two groups exiting their ships on either side of them.
On the left were the volunteers from the nation of Eriglee wearing red sashes, and on the right those from Nelgar wearing blue. Of course, each Charag wore a weapon in addition to her sash, as none would be seen in public unarmed.
A noisy altercation amongst the Erigs got her attention. She could see a young Erig, with a battleaxe in a harness on her back, shouting at and shoving a much older one, who was standing her ground. It looked like the older one had almost lost an arm in battle. There was a terrible scar deeply cut into her right shoulder. She wore a sword on her right hip, but she didn't reach for it.
"What's wrong, Baston? Scared of facing a real warrior?" the younger one taunted.
"When you find one, let me know," the older one replied calmly, using her left hand to push the youngster away with such force that she stepped back three paces.
The younger one let out an angry growl, grabbed her battleaxe, grasped it in both hands and started to run forward. Four other Erigs grabbed her by her arms and shoulders and managed to restrain her, though she struggled to break free.
At that moment several small transport pods landed near the Erigs and a dozen small figures, armour-clad Galaks, rushed out towards them, pointing devices that Kola assumed were weapons.
One of them shouted, "Violence will not be tolerated. This is your only warning!" and the struggle stopped. The angry Erig put her axe back in its harness, and glared at her opponent. "Next time, old girl," she said, and allowed the four who had stopped her to lead her to the other side of the group, out of view of both her opponent and the Galaks.
It still felt strange to Kola that the tiny aliens, the tallest of whom wouldn't even reach her chest, were able to cow the large Charags. The armour hid the Galaks' fragile, fur-covered skin, so different from the thick, rock-like outer surface of her own species. But she knew that the weapons they held were powerful beyond anything the Charags possessed and she was determined to learn everything she could about their technology.
Several more transport pods landed, and a few of the Charags from each group moved towards them as Kola heard "Stand by for your transport pod" via her implant. When four Charags had entered a pod it lifted off and was replaced by an empty one. One of these was highlighted in Kola's view and she heard "Enter your transport pod," so she approached it. These pods had definitely been built for the Charags as there was plenty of room for four of them to sit, two in front and two in the back.
She was the first to reach it so she got in one of the front seats and next to her sat the woman who she had tried to speak to in the mess hall earlier. She smiled and the Krenthin nodded politely. Behind them sat two of the Nelgs who looked warily at the Zarls and did not offer any greetings. After a prompt from the pod's automated system they each buckled their seat harness and were pushed back into their seats as it flew into the air and across the hangar.
"That hot-headed Erig, I bet she's a Granker. They always carry battleaxes, and have the worst tempers," one of the Nelgs said to the other. "My grandmother beat one in a duel, and the clan tried to enter the arena to retaliate! They all ended up before the Justices."
"Must be a kick in the teeth to end up here," her countrywoman replied. "Unless she's planning on breaking up rocks with that axe."
While the Nelgs continued their discussion on the faults of the Granker clan, Kola looked through the pod windows. The hangar contained hundreds of mining and transport ships, plus other vessel types that she didn't recognise, all arranged in rows across the floor. Above those yet more ships were arriving and leaving, through a vast opening at one end. Through it in the distance she could see asteroids, and much further away a planet, one of the large gas ones, but Kola didn't know which. She was unable to comprehend the size of a ship that could contain a hangar this vast.
Their pod landed next to a row of mining ships, and Kola could see more pods landing further along the row on each side of them. They got out and the pod immediately flew up in the air and sped away.
They looked up at the nearest ships looming over them. Each had a small cockpit at the front, an airlock entrance behind that, and then the bulk of the vessel which consisted of the hold and the mining and extraction equipment. Propulsion drive nacelles stuck out on either side and thruster nodes were dotted about the hulls. The ships stood on landing gear and Kola could make out the mining laser and the circle of the retracted collector's edge on the underside of the nearest one. A ladder extended from each ship's airlock to ground level.
They were nowhere near as big as the transport ships they had exited shortly before. Kola knew from her training that these were Level 0 training ships. They were just large enough for the equipment to extract and process low value ore and to store the results of short training runs. During the quick flight across the hangar Kola had seen mining ships that were equipped to mine for days before returning with their haul.
"Put on your suit and enter your assigned ship," her implant instructed, but before she could spot which ship was hers she was distracted by another pod landing close to their group. They watched as the two Erigs involved in the earlier fracas exited, along with two of the armed Galaks who held their weapons at their sides ready. Immediately the battleaxe-wearing Erig strode towards one of the nearby mining ships.
She looked at a suit and helmet laid out next to the ladder and kicked them away. "Larvist of Granker doesn't need protection!" She sped up the ladder, then stood in the airlock opening, looking down at them all.
"Told you," Kola heard one of the Nelgs tell the other smugly, as they headed to their respective ships, "her axe has more sense than she does."
Kola remembered she should be looking for her own ship and spotted the one being highlighted by her implant. As she walked past she heard the older Erig tell the Galaks, "Thank you for the chance. I apologise for the trouble." The Erig headed for the ship next to Kola's, ignored the suit and climbed the ladder, slowly, using her right arm sparingly.
The Granker, Larvist, directed jibes at her every step. "Wait until my clan hears how the mighty Baston can barely climb a ladder. You should have left the sword on Char, it's not like you can use it."
Kola tuned out the taunts and looked at the suit by her ship. She knew it was an optional safety precaution but she wasn't prepared to take any chances. This was her first time in space and she was painfully conscious of how much she didn't know of space flight and mining. She told herself that she didn't care what the others thought, and put her suit on over her sash, which attracted some mockery from Larvist. It felt as if the suit had been tailored for Kola. It fit perfectly and there was even enough give in the sleeves to accommodate her dagger. The suit and helmet automatically sealed up once both were in place.
Climbing the ladder while wearing the suit was not as difficult as she had expected. Its gloves and boots were as flexible as her own hands and feet, and she made it to the airlock without any issues. She hauled herself inside using the handles either side of the opening. Both doors of the airlock chamber were open as the ship was docked. Inside the chamber she noticed three looped lines with attachments at each end to hook onto hoops or handles. One of the lines was hung up next to the door with one end attached to a secure hoop ready for use during a spacewalk. The other two were spares. After her experience of weightlessness during the training, Kola was grateful that all the Galak ships had artificial gravity.
She hit the airlock button and the outer door closed. She could hear the sound of the ladder retracting as she moved through the inner door into a passageway that led to the flight deck on the left, and the cargo hold on the right. She headed left and entered the cockpit which consisted of a pilot seat sized for a Charag, and a suite of controls and screens. Viewports allowed her to see directly in front, above and to the sides.
She sat down and buckled up the safety harness. As she did so the ship came to life, the screens and controls lit up, and she could hear the propulsion drive come online. "Autopilot engaged" sounded on the ship's speakers. It lifted from the ground and flew towards the hangar opening. It was fast enough to push her back slightly into her seat and she was glad not to be responsible for flying given the number of ships moving around the bay. She could see many other Level 0 mining ships also exiting in front of her as her fellow trainees set off for the asteroid field.
When the ship zipped through the opening Kola had the brief impression of an energy field, and then she was in space.
She looked around. Initially she just saw blackness and the ships that were nearby. Then her eyes adjusted and she could see the stars. As she realised that the suns must be behind her, the ship banked to the left and they appeared above her. Binary stars, one yellow, one blue, the colours different and the sizes much smaller than her familiar view of them through the Char atmosphere.
And then she could make out her home planet itself, brown land and blue water under white swirling clouds. Before she could fully process how she felt, seeing her entire world so distant, the ship banked again and reached the vicinity of the asteroid field.
"Autopilot disengaged. Manual flight mode enabled."
The time had finally arrived. Kola took hold of the flight controls, keeping her nerves in check. The flight stick in her right hand controlled direction, and the throttle lever in her left hand the speed. She checked the screen in front that showed the relative position of other ships and asteroids in the vicinity, to ensure all was clear, and tentatively pushed the throttle forward. She felt a little acceleration, but then the speed steadied and she only knew she was moving as the nearest asteroid on her right side very slowly moved back. She sped up and carefully turned left and right, then up and down, getting used to the controls. She bravely pushed the throttle all the way forward and laughed as she was pushed back in the seat and the asteroid whizzed by. She realised she could hear other happy shouts and whoops on the open comms channel, which automatically transmitted to those within a certain range. It felt good to know others were having just as much fun.
After she felt comfortable with the flight controls she looked for the nearest asteroid and started to approach it. But before she travelled far a ship suddenly crossed directly in front of her, so close that the safety systems brought hers to a sudden stop, throwing her against her harness.
"Too slow!" She heard Larvist's taunting voice. "This rock's mine!"
Kola sighed and flew towards a different asteroid. As she approached it, she activated the mining scanner and selected it as the target. The screen showed "nickel-iron deposits" as the scan results. When she got within a hundred metres she stopped the ship and the close-range scanning mode automatically generated a detailed hologram of the rock composition for the visible side. She could see any ore seams to a depth of five metres, and identified a narrow seam that was mostly at surface level, which meant she didn't have to clear any obstructing rock first.
She manoeuvred the ship to twenty metres above the start of the seam and came to a stop, rotating so that the asteroid was under the vessel. Then she switched the controls from flight mode to mining mode. The stick and throttle lever switched to allowing fine control over the ship's movements at low speed. She deployed the collector and brought the ship down so that the collector rim was two metres from the surface. The mining screen in front showed a view of the conical collector protruding from underneath the ship ready to catch the mined gases and funnel them into the ship for processing. Checking that the mining laser was aimed at the start of the visible seam Kola pressed the button to activate the laser, leaving it at the minimum power setting.
The laser instantly vaporised a layer of the ore below and the status screen showed it was being collected successfully. Kola pushed the throttle forward to move the ship slowly in the direction the seam travelled across the surface, watching carefully for rocks to avoid. The aim was to move at a speed that allowed the laser to vaporise the ore efficiently. Not so slow that the laser started vaporising the rock under the ore, which was worthless, and not so fast that you left some of the ore behind. She also had to turn the ship left and right to follow as the seam meandered across the asteroid.
It took Kola many attempts to find the sweet spot, and it was extremely satisfying when she did, though that satisfaction lasted less than ten seconds as the seam then became shallower and she ended up extracting lots of useless rock. While maintaining a good speed, and adjusting to follow the seam, she also had to periodically nudge the ship back down towards the asteroid, as the force of the vaporised gases against the collector gradually pushed the ship away. If it rose too far, then the collector would no longer catch the vapour which would turn to dust and be lost to space. To add to the challenge, as the ship's hold filled with material she noticed that it became slower to respond to the controls and she had to apply more power to change its direction or speed.
Kola had never concentrated so hard and for so long before. Everything but the screens in front of her faded away. She even forgot that she was in space, so focused she was on the direction and depth of the seam and checking her speed and height over the surface.
Eventually she reached the end of the seam and she switched off the laser. She nudged the thrusters to put a little more distance between her ship and the asteroid and brought it to a stop. Then she sat back in the seat and stretched out her arms, shoulders and back. She felt good, she realised, despite the fatigue in her body. She felt like she had accomplished something difficult and worthwhile. Something that required skill. And she knew she could get better at it. That was just her first attempt, and she had deliberately left the laser on its default setting, to get familiar with controlling the ship's movements.
She was already looking forward to having another go, when it occurred to her to see what she had actually collected. She brought up the condenser output screen:
- Iron, 98 tonnes
- Nickel, 8.5 tonnes
- Cobalt, 450 kilograms
- Copper, 42 kilograms
- Gold, 190 grams
- Rock, 78 tonnes
Wow, gold! So precious on Char. Her nation had gold-coloured sashes to signify prosperity, and she had mined almost two hundred grams in only – she checked the mining session details – in only one hour! That hour had gone quickly, but somehow she had also experienced it deeply, in a completely different way to any experience she'd ever had before. Most activities she had endured: the combat training, the classes on maintaining their decrepit technology, meals with her family, always feeling out of place and longing for the time to pass so she could be on her own. But when she was on her own, she would wish she could find a place where she belonged, to find an occupation where she was appreciated. But for that hour mining she hadn't wanted to be anywhere else, or to be anyone else.
She smiled, and for the first time realised that this assignment could be an opportunity for her, and not the punishment intended by her family.
She started to rescan the asteroid, looking for another seam, when someone shouted with anger on the local comms channel.
"Find your own damn asteroid." It sounded like the older Erig with the scar.
"Why, hello, dear Baston. If you want this one, you're going to have to take it." That was definitely Larvist. Kola knew this wouldn't end well, and she checked the local objects screen. She could see two ships that looked so close as to be touching near the surface of the asteroid on the other side of hers.
"No, stop...!" the older Erig started to shout in alarm, and there was a sudden crashing sound, the shriek of tearing metal, an emergency siren, and then silence.
After a few shocked seconds other voices started calling out asking what had happened. Kola switched her ship back into flight mode and started to fly around the asteroid towards where the ships had been. The ship felt sluggish with the weight of the mined materials, and she punched the emergency cargo jettison button, confirming the command via her implant. Immediately the speed increased substantially and she sped around the asteroid looking for the ships. She could see only one, critically damaged, with a large gash on the side of the cockpit exposing it to space, and both nacelles smashed. She approached and saw a Charag, without a protective suit, secured to the seat by the harness, not moving.
She flew as close as she dared, and came to a stop less than five metres away, rotating her ship so her airlock pointed directly at the opening in the other cockpit. She released her harness and quickly stepped through to the airlock, punching the button to close the inner door. As the air was being sucked out of the chamber, she took the line that was already fastened to the airlock hoop, found the hook on the other end of it and attached it to a hoop on her suit. She grabbed one of the spare lines and hit the button for the exterior door. As it opened she positioned herself carefully on the edge, grabbed for a handle on the outside and slowly stepped out. As soon as she exited the ship, the artificial gravity stopped acting on her, and she suddenly became weightless. The change in sensation was so jarring she almost let go of the handle, but she managed to hold on, and she pulled herself onto the hull plating next to the airlock. It took a few attempts, but eventually she was able to crouch onto the side, with her head aimed at the hole in the other ship. She pushed off.
She had been so focused on trying to manoeuvre in zero gravity that it had not even occurred to her what she was about to do, until she was floating across the gap and suddenly all around her was space. Before panic had a chance to rise she was already entering the other craft, and she focused on getting herself to the pilot. Up close she could see it was the older Erig, Baston according to her antagonist, with the injured shoulder. Kola wasn't able to check if she was still alive, so she released the harness and fastened one end of the spare line onto a metal ring on the sword belt that Baston still wore. She connected the other end of the line to her own suit and pushed herself to the edge of the opening, using the line to pull the incapacitated Erig along until she was floating in the opening.
Kola then repeated her previous manoeuvre, getting into a crouch on the side of that ship, with her head pointing to her own airlock, and pushing off. When she reached the airlock Kola grabbed hold of the handles either side and carefully righted herself before stepping in. She felt relief when the heaviness of gravity washed over her, and she hauled on the line tied to Baston, pulling her across the gap and into the airlock. She then hit the airlock button and once the outer door closed the air started to rush back in.
"Remote control activated. Autopilot engaged," the ship announced and Kola braced against the sides of the chamber in surprise as the ship banked and accelerated. She assumed they were heading back to the mothership.
"Trainee Kola, report!" she heard a Galak's voice via her implant. She had not known they could be used for person-to-person communications.
As the air equalised and the inner airlock door automatically opened, Baston started to revive. Relief hit Kola, plus gratitude for the indestructible nature of the Charag physiology.
"The Erig is alive," she replied.
"Acknowledged. We will meet you at the hangar."
Kola helped Baston to a seated position and once she had recovered her faculties the Erig swore angrily. "That blasted Granker, I hope she burns in the deepest lava pit."
"What happened?" Kola asked, unsealing and taking off her helmet.
"That grak-for-brains started mining, but hadn't scanned first. There was a gas pocket under that part of the seam. It exploded, hit the ship and everything went black."
She looked up at Kola, suspiciously. "Who are you and how did I get here?" she demanded, standing up and reaching for her sword. Kola raised her hands to show she held no weapons, introduced herself quickly and explained what she had seen and done.
"You did that? But you're a Zarl, why would you...?" Baston was cut off as the ship landed with a jolt and they each used the walls to steady themselves. They realised they were back in the hangar.
Kola hit the airlock button. Once the outer door opened and the ladder extended she waited for Baston to climb slowly down, and then followed.
In front of the ship waited two armed Galaks next to two transport pods. One scanned Baston with some sort of medical device and said with surprise, "You are lucky. Your hibernation mode protected you from the worst effects. You only need treatment for skin damage. Come with me." It escorted her to one of the pods and they flew off.
As Kola wondered what to do, and whether to ask the remaining Galak, she noticed that all the mining ships used by the trainees were returning through the bay opening. After a few moments the ships of her original group had landed alongside hers. She could see one of the ships was badly damaged on the underside; it had lost its mining laser and collector and had a large chunk missing from the hold. Its airlock door opened and Larvist jumped straight out, landing with a loud metallic clang on the ground.
The waiting Galak approached her. "For operating your ship in a dangerous manner, breaching safety protocols, causing injury and damage to two ships, you are expelled from the training programme. Follow me."
"Only injury? So the old girl survived? How fortunate..." she said sardonically, while looking down at the Galak with disdain. Kola wondered if she would put up a fight, but the sullen Granker got into the pod without any fuss and left with her escort.
The Krenthin and two Nelgs had exited their ships and approached Kola, curious about what had occurred, and she again described what she had seen and done.
"All Charag trainees are to report to their designated quarters." The announcement rang out across the hangar and they looked around at a pod that had landed near them, assuming it was for them. To their surprise Baston got out and walked across to them.
"All good?" Kola asked, smiling.
"Yes, and they fixed my shoulder as well," Baston said as she rotated her right arm in a full circle. The scar was still very visible, but it didn't look as deep as before, and it looked like she had full mobility back.
She squared up to Kola, raised her right forearm to her chest and declared loudly, "Kola of clan Flutlin of Zarlintar, your actions saved my life and I owe you a debt of honour. I, Baston of clan Dorweck of Eriglee, declare that you have a friend in the Dorwecks, if you accept."
Kola stared at her uncomprehendingly; she was completely stunned. A snort of derision from one of the others brought her back to reality and she remembered she was meant to respond. She raised her right forearm across her chest, saying, "I accept," and remembered just in time to brace herself, as Baston stepped forward and bashed her forearm against Kola's in the traditional friendship greeting.
"Right, let's see if the rations here taste as bad as on the other ship!" Baston declared as she turned and strode back to the pod. Kola noticed it was being highlighted by her implant as her assigned transportation.
"A friend from Eriglee, eh? Whatever that's worth," her fellow Zarl said quietly, with disdain, as she walked past Kola.
A friend! Her first ever. It was worth the universe to Kola.