In the shadow of the wings
24 Dec 2019User72696
It was like always a very cold morning in our station, it's actually a rock, but it does the trick they said.The main goal was to start exploring, see the unseen .
But once we've landed here for a short break, the crew got a hand on the system intell and kinda forced me to stay here.
600 trips we made, from the station to one of the hotspots and back, mining like there was nothing else.
It came to me that my ship wasn't build for this, and with mixed emotions i sold her to a pilot who was waiting to go back home.
His story was very interesting but he didn't went into detail why he was here .
My chief engineering was thinking about the stories of the lost souls in space, explorers who never came back.
Why didn't they came back? What struck them so hard that they vanished from the living?
Was this pilot a mercenary? Was he an explorer who "vanished" and tried to go back home?
Too many questions, and I was not going to dig for the answers.
A ship he wanted and a ship he got.
My highly adored adder was being traded for a handful of Void Opals.
Even while we were taking the bins and pushing them aside the anger of leaving me and the crew sang from the Adder's engines.
Not even waiting for the green light my ship vanished , leaving me behind with high value cargo and no ship, for now that is.
Before i made the trade I did summon Provence to the Omega mining station. A couple of days we had to relax and just enjoy the time of being free.
It was amazing when you spend some time in a station like this one how many different kind of pilots you meet.
Explorers, miners, long distance cargo haulers, you see them all , right here.
"I'm looking for Judge Raven" an older guy yelled thru the lounge area.
"Present" I replied.
"O7 Commander, I was ordered to inform you that your vessel has arrived, we have parked in at #25."
Even with no rush to get to the ship, the walk only lasted 10 minutes to reach the Provence, an old Lakon Type 9.
It was in my family for a very long time, it was a miracle that she still was able to fly.
The crew started to put all the mining equipment on it while i went to the restock officer and requested 500 limpets.
According to his schedule we needed to wait an hour to get our limpets, that was ok for me as the mining fever was here like never before.
The smell of grease, the dark cargo bay always had a great impact on me, good place to sit and think.
And thinking i needed to do , We left Macabs as an explorer, landed here , what would be just a short stop.
Look at us now, adder gone, T9 here and still making everything ready to go mining.
I leaned back against one of the bulks. hoping that I would come up with a better plan.
"I knew i would find you here" Elvira said," you're dad was here all the time, debating over what to do.
I looked at her and smiled. "yeah , this place has some ..."
"Oh stop " she said , cutting me off was one of her things when she was worried or angry, or when she needed to say something.
"Follow me " she said," time is getting short".
Once in her quarters she gave me an old chip, looked like one of those old drives where the former generation of pilots save their data on.
"tonight" she said" tonight you will see the truth, behind the First aid kit on the bridge is a small chrome panel , open it and insert this drive".
I looked at her and even before i could say something she placed her hand on my chest and pushed me out of the door.
Something must be important enough for her to react like this.
1 AM, Provence is still at #25 , waiting to be released from the landingpad, and the only heartbeat you hear thru her vaines are my footsteps, rushing thru the ship to the bridge.
I did find the panel , weird , never have seen it, it was not hidden but not in the open either.
Time to insert the chip, let's see what's on it.
"Potential requires exploration. Science is a constant. By evolving, we gain strength. We are being called to explore the galaxy itself as an interface between choice and guidance while the political stratosphere is approaching a tipping point. In our flowering, we are guided. Our goal is to plant the seeds of choice rather than dogma."
This was the voice of an high ranked officer, you could tell .
"But today Commander, this call for exploration has come to an end, today you recieved this message and it's time to reveal the truth."
I was not sure what was going on and turned up the volume.
"The Raven's Scouts were formed in the system of Cai in 3301 as an exploratory group with an aim to discover new and habitable worlds far beyond the frontier. The faction headquarters are situated on Raven's Landing; an orbital station supported and sustained by the abundant agricultural exports drawn from the surface of Xyile, an earth like planet of which many of the Ravens are native.
Despite an initial reluctance to expand their influence beyond their own borders, Federal incursions into Cai and its neighbouring systems forced the Raven's Scouts into a major change of policy. The change of policy requires of the security officers to locate and inform the Overseers. The Leaders children will be called back home."
"Overseer, we need you to return to Cai."
Did he just called me Overseer? Me?
I unplugged the chip and turned around to get spooked by the crew , standing in line, with weird uniforms on.
" we took the liberty to plot the course to Cai Sir, all systems are good to go, engines are warmed up and ready for launch".
"Wait a minute, what's going on here" i asked.
" you are going home Sir, time to take your place as Leader of the Raven's Scouts."
I went to my quarters to find a dark grey uniform laying on my bed, ready for me , with a raven on the shoulder as our squadron logo.
Well , i don't know what to say , but the truth will be in Cai .
I need to know to be able to understand.
I pressed on the intercom and gave the orders to fly "home"
to be continued ....