Frozen Soul, and other works: Chapter 182

(Conference Room 3, Black Star Company Station Mollen’s Rest, Star’s Reach orbit)

Conference Room 3 was a nice, private affair, designed for no more than six people to sit at the table, if you put one at either end. This was not used for conferences with lots of important people who all wanted everyone to know how important they were. This was a room for getting shit done. Anyone who was using this room valued getting to the heart of the matter, and probably had authority to make actual decisions.

They also valued the discretion which Black Star rigorously enforced when renting this conference room out for private meetings. The room was bug free, and there was a dedicated tech team ensuring that no one listened in on the meetings inside. Of course, the tech team heard everything, but they were well paid for their silence, unless those in the room broke The Rules.

The Rules were a simple set of guidelines to be used for transactions on the station. They were mostly common-sense items, such as the one about how you could conduct arms deals on the station, but the goods needed to be stored and transferred off the station, to prevent any ‘accidents’. The same with hazardous materials and the like. There were also the rules about paying the required transaction fees to Black Star for facilitating neutral ground, and so on. The Rules also stated that security and medical would be called even to private meetings if there was cause. Essentially, unless you proved a danger to yourself, others, the station, or Black Star itself, your business was your business, so long as you paid your fees.

That may sound simple, but having a place like that, where ships could openly travel through the Gateway and instantly connect with syndicates from across the galaxy without customs or other unpleasantness was a rarity in the game universe. Most system or interstellar governments didn’t care for smuggling and the syndicates. In Star’s Reach, so long as they played nice and followed The Rules, then everything was fine.

I didn’t like playing political games, which is why I didn’t try and do the silly one-upsmanship games of making someone wait to show how busy I was. I simply got to the conference room early, and used the time I was waiting to keep going through the paperwork. Fortunately, Raven kept me apprised of the delegation’s location and estimated time of arrival. She spoils me, really, being so efficient.

The door opened, admitting two Gauz to the room, a male and female. I had always thought of the Gauz as ‘space dwarves’, and the name fit, to a point. They were a heavy gravity world species, which made them short, stocky, and built like a truck. Fortunately, that is where the similarities ended, since the females didn’t have beards, or any of that silliness.

Raven and I rose, and nodded politely to the two, shaking hands as the door closed behind them. As we sat, the female Gauz spoke first. “Thank you for your time, Mister Mollen. I am Sector Administrator Yutreda Woldmane, and this is Captain Girgoir Beryldelver of the CNV Cormac’s Hammer.”

I nodded politely to the two Gauz, and said, “I am Mirikon Mollen, as you know. If this is a business meeting, Mister will suffice. I also go by Admiral or Captain, depending on what is involved. We can talk about social situations later.” I winked roguishly at the Administrator. I had a reputation to uphold, and the playboy reputation made people overlook things, more often than not, which gave me an advantage. Motioning to my side, I said, “And this is Raven, my trusted companion. She will be taking notes and supplying figures for this meeting.”

I paused, and then said, “So, you came a long way from the Consortium, Administrator Woldmane. Now that introductions have been made, why don’t you tell me what it is you came for? I can’t imagine someone with your responsibilities came all this way just for fun, so there must be some business you wished to conduct, and you did not wish to use subordinates for it, yes?”

The Sector Administrator took a deep breath, clearly trying to get her thoughts together. I guess I threw her a bit by cutting to the chase. She looked at me, and said, “As you may know, I am the Sector Administrator for the Grathdan Sector. That sector contains the Coldana System, and surrounds the Shadowgate system.”

I nodded to show my understanding, and allowed her to continue. “As you no doubt are aware, there is an increase in raider activity throughout known space in recent fiscal quarters, which requires a certain level of fleet presence to keep those activities to manageable levels. Normally, this duty is discharged by the members of the Consortium Navy.”

“At present, there is no uptick in raider activity in the Grathdan Sector as a whole greater than the average for other sectors of the Consortium. However, the area around the Coldana System has become like a black hole, with no ships being able to enter or leave the system. Further, communications have been cut off to the system, leaving us unaware of the conditions of the system, or the fleet base stationed there. No one has been able to discover the cause of this interruption.”

I leaned back in my chair, considering the options. “I am aware of the situation in the Grathdan Sector. The Nomad communication networks to the Coldana System have not been impacted like regular networks.” I had to grin as both gauz’s eyes got wide at that mention.

They mastered themselves quickly, however, and the Administrator almost managed to keep the excitement out of her voice when she spoke. “R-really? We have had reports of this Nomad communication network, but have not been able to determine the reach of it, or how it is produced. You say that you have been able to get reports from Coldana?”

I nodded, and said, “It is not something you will be able to replicate, I am afraid. The communication network is a portion of the bridging technology that allows us to project ourselves into this world. So, the network is only as complete as the distribution of Nomads. I can, however, confirm that there is at least one Nomad on Coldana Prime at this moment.”

The Captain leaned forward now, and asked, “Can you give us any details on what is happening in the system? We’ve been cut off for just over two weeks, now, and there’s been no word in or out of the system. The Fleet Base there is one of our primary defense outposts.”

I tapped a finger to my chin, considering, before saying, “Well, as a sign of good faith, I will say that Coldana still stands, for the time being. The last reports indicate that no one knows what is going on there. Even the local syndicates are worried, now, indicating that this is more than simple piracy.”

Administrator Woldmane sighed, and said, “That is welcome news, as grim as it is.” She took a breath, and continued, “Well, since you know the situation, I can get straight to the point, it seems. The Consortium Navy intends to gather a relief force to punch their way through to Coldana, and find out the exact situation there. Depending what they find, they may try to eliminate the threat, or assist in the evacuation of the planet. However, gathering this relief force in a time frame that will allow them to come to Coldana’s aid will strip the sector bare of the ships and crews that serve as the backbone of our antipiracy measures.”

“If the pirates and raiders are allowed to gain a solid foothold while the Grathdan Sector Fleet is occupied relieving Coldana, then it will be an incredibly expensive effort to remove them from the equation at a later date. Given the cost-benefit analysis of the sector, an increase in the level of raider activity is not acceptable to long term goals. To that end, I’ve been authorized to hire mercenary ships to patrol the sector until replacements can be called up from the rest of the Consortium Navy.”

Ah, so they didn’t want Black Star to go diving in and taking on whatever had them stumped, but for us to sit on the local pirates and free up their ships to play hardball. That was a nice, simple contract, that I knew my people could handle, without too much trouble. And, given how desperate they were, I could charge a reasonable rate. Though not too much, since that would make them consider other options. Sure, it was tempting to try and bleed them dry, but that would just create bad blood, and would make it more difficult to get future deals.

“I believe we can come to an arrangement on this matter, yes. The Black Star Navy functions under the Unified Mercenary Force Accords, and they always apply those standards to suspected pirates and smugglers in their area of operations. If you would like to purchase a contract for the Black Stars to engage in an antipiracy effort while your ships are otherwise engaged, I believe you’ll find our rates quite reasonable given the current situation. Raven will provide you with a list of our offered services and price rates based on scale of involvement. If there is a financial issue causing the rates to be problematic, we are willing to be reasonable and talk about alternative payment plans.”

(Main Bridge, CNV Cormac’s Hammer, approaching Star’s Reach Gateway)

Five hours later, Captain Beryldelver breathed out a sigh from his command chair. Looking over to where Administrator Woldmane was sitting, he said, “I am honestly surprised that the negotiations happened so quickly. Most mercenary groups try to bluff and bluster more.”

Woldmane shook her head. “That is because they know that they might have a service we need, but we are in the superior bargaining position. Unfortunately, none of that applies to Black Star. Given the reports Intelligence has on the man’s temperament, going with the straightforward approach gave the best likely outcome for us. Fortunately, that proved to be true, as CEO Mollen did not try to get nearly the concessions he might have tried for. The prices he offered were above the normal rates for mercenary work of this type, but not exorbitantly so. Our sources inside the Confederacy have confirmed that he is willing to charge reasonable rates for services, but those rates increase dramatically if you get on his bad side.”

Beryldelver sighed softly, and said, “I still dislike the idea of hiring mercenaries for this. I know we can’t leave the spacelanes uncovered for the pirates, and that we need to get the relief force moving as soon as possible. It is a distasteful thing all the same, especially since it was an outside mercenary group we had to go to, instead of a Consortium-based group.”

“I understand your concerns, and the Admiral agreed to have an observer stationed with his main forces to act as a liaison and help allay fears of his forces getting undue influence in the region. That is already better than we could have hoped for, under the circumstances. The information he offered us based on the Nomad communication networks and Black Star’s own intelligence means that we, at least, have a better idea of what we’ll be sending the relief force in against.”

“True enough. I would much rather go up against the X’thari than the Shadowgaters. At least the X’thari are a somewhat known factor. It seems not even the Nomads have managed to find out what is going on around Shadowgate.”

“Indeed. Having a possible piece of the puzzle makes this situation much less unnerving.” The Administrator sighed. “How soon until we are ready to transfer?”

“The Admiral said that his ships would be ready for departure by the time we made the Gateway, but other than the launch of the Starlight Raven which is trailing us, there are no other ships on the screens. If you like, I could hail the Star—what the hell?” The cause of the Captain’s distress was immediately obvious, as, all at once, forty ships dropped their cloaking systems, coming on sensors for the Cormac’s Hammer to identify. They ranged in size from what looked like small attack craft to a fleet carrier! And there was even a marine assault ship in the mix? Captain Beryldelver was stunned, but he did notice the Starlight Raven moving to dock with what his sensors were telling him was a battleship! How did mercenaries get a battleship?

From the communication console, the young comm officer said, “Incoming text transmission from the BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, sir. Admiral Mollen gives his regards, and reports that the First Group, Black Star Navy, and First Group, Black Star Marine Corps, are ready to deploy as contracted. He respectfully asks that we lead through the Gateway, to prevent misunderstandings on the other side.”

The Captain shook his head. “Gee, I wonder what kind of ‘misunderstanding’ that fleet coming through the Gateway might cause?” He took a breath, and then said, “Acknowledge the transmission. Dial the Gateway. And be sure to send a list of ships traveling through to the other side so that the guard platforms don’t get trigger happy!”

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Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
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Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4

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