Unseen Eye: Hidden Objective.
10 Feb 2022Orwell Vandeman
Continued from last log and Off-StationAfter the girls left the room, Orwell encouraged Dorn to continue.
“So she, er Captain Mercy I mean, was shunted in to a platoon that the empire seems to use as a dumping ground for the troublemakers your honour” explained Dorn.
“What lead you to that unusually insightful conclusion young man” questioned Orwell, wondering if he had underestimated the deductive reasoning of the nervous keyboard activist.
“The Thunder Hands, the platoon the Mercy woman was put in, took recruits from all wings of the Imperial military. A notable amount of the transfers had prior criminal records and disciplinary actions taken against them once they were in service. Also, the mortality rate was very high .. High Seeker”
Orwell nodded in agreement with Dorns’ evaluation “And just what did these Thunder Hands do that was so very limiting to their life span I wonder? Has your digital investigation granted you that much insight to pass on?”
“Yes your honour. They piloted robotic suits designed to cut entry points in ships. They were usually tasked with covert personnel or data retrieval. As you can imagine, if that went wrong, the breaching suit pilot didn’t stand much of a chance High Seeker”
Orwell stood up and adjusted the suits' cooling unit. This news was a little worrying, and that made his body temperature raise.
“Thank you Dorn, exemplary work as usual. Your efforts will not be overlooked by me, and the Unseen Eye has observed everything you have done in our name. Truly you will be amongst the first to feel the warmth of the eyes gaze once the beacon is bright. You may leave now Seeker Dorn”
That explained why the woman was so good at cutting out the hull, she used to do it stealthy, and under combat conditions, so working from the inside must have been easy. Also, she had survived a job that was typically suicide, so she must have good combat awareness. That could make getting her out the way difficult if she became problematic. Well, it didn’t matter how tough she used to be all those years ago, she was a liner pilot now, and all her rusty abilities would be of no use if she was poisoned, spaced or ambushed.
There was no use worrying about that now, the power was only going to be active for another hour before the work on reconnecting the detachable piece of hull would beguine, requiring another stretch without power. Orwell sat down at his personal terminal and raised the professor on the secured long range coms. Quavering static accompanied a man’s voice after a few seconds.
“Orwell? I’m so glad you called. Have you secured a ship capable of delivering the Catalyst Chamber to the surface?”
Like many enthusiastic intellectuals, the professor got straight to the point, forgetting the usual pleasantries of conversation.
“And a fine day to you professor. I a-poll-oh-giiiise for the looong interval between correspondence with your learned self, but yes, I have indeed acquired a ship, and pilot with the necessary facilities for the challenging task of chamber delivery. Whats’ more Professor, we are not too many light-years away from you as we speak. I would estimate a week or less before we can finally test your crystallisation process”
“A week? Chirped the professor incredulously “But what about the seeding gold surface distribution. I haven’t finished investigating the feasibility of robotic operations on the surface…”
If Orwell let the man continue, he would talk himself out of even trying to prove his theory over the most minor of details.
“Clam yourself my esteemed friend; I have with me an army of drones capable of withstanding, and braving the unreasonable elements of that moon long enough to move the monoliths to the desired locals. To forestall your next enquiry, professor, yes I have brought two extra seeding monoliths for small scale test runs”
“Mr Orwell I can’t thank you enough for believing in my work. I am convinced your investment will pay off .. .. considerably more than a ten thousand-fold. With proper atmospheric seeding using the Catalyst Chamber as a sort of chemical pilot light, hundreds of square miles of the surface could produce a sustained crystallisation effect on any exposed gold. Given how much gold dust is in the atmosphere, that’s.. ..
Orwell politely listened to the scientist as he bombarded him with facts and figures. About the many advancements the professor could foresee in micro-processors and the possibilities of brain-like matrixes created with an inexhaustible supply of crystallised gold, so on and so on. All Orwell could see in his minds’ eye was fields of Sothis grade crystalline gold being bulldozed into cargo containers, and them containers being sold in nearby Colonia as if it had been shipped there from the bubble.
Occasionally a bulldozer would unearth the bones of a Seeker, but Orwells’ conscience, and that of the people working for him, would be soothed with stacks and stacks of credits.