Mitchell's Revenge
Transport hub, off CX9, outer Karhu System

“Thanks Admiral, we’ll see you in acouple of hours,” the sysadmin said and severed the connection with the Cygnus. She stretched in her seat and gazed outthe window towards the green and brown planet below.

The small settlement of Verdant onCX9 had grown outwards from the edges of the spaceport. Around a thousandpeople now called it their home. Some lived in the settlement, whilst othermore hardy souls lived in the wilderness, sometimes many days trek away.

The terrain provided a militaryskills training ground that was unique in the Karhu system. A military base hadbeen established a few kilometres from Verdant with facilities for severalhundred personnel. The base was currently bustling with crew as they decidedwhat they were going to do whilst on leave.

CX9 was renowned for its wildlife. Huntingexpeditions were always popular. There was also bush walking, wild riverrafting, climbing and other adventure sports available to those who didn’t liketo hunt. A tourism industry of sorts had grown up around these activities,enabling first timers to learn with trained help.

The transport hub that orbited CX9served as a semi-military base for the Karhu system. Four docking bays wereused exclusively by the military. The other four were shared by whoever neededto repair, re-stock, or simply take a break from transporting raw materials andminerals from EQ2 to other systems. Today was just like any other day. Two ofthe military’s deep space reconnaissance vessels were docked for their annualoverhaul. Most of their crew were planet side.

The third ship docked at thetransport hub was a brand new fast freighter belonging to the fledglingKarhunpenti Freight Line. Its’ first consignment had been safely delivered andmost of the crew were taking a break on the planet below. The techs were busychecking the performance indicators after the ships’ first long haul delivery.

The Karhu system military trainingfacility on CX9 had several surface to space ships, two of which were currentlylocated at the spaceport on the surface. The operation was small, but it wasenough to defend the system from pirates and the occasional alien incursion.

Admiral Bokkveld and his crew werelooking forward to a break on CX9. Since their rescue of Mitchell’s Revenge,and the dispatch of the Eridanian warship at the edge of the Karhu system, someof their supplies were running low. It was time to re-arm, re-stock, and givethe crew some time off.

The Cygnus was on its finalapproach to the transport hub. Admiral Bokkveld had just finished confirmationof docking details with the sysadmin when something made him look at theirexternal vid feed of the station. The hair prickled on the back of his neck.

He watched in horror as a Lumberjackclass freighter materialised in the core of the station and promptly exploded. Toxicwaste hurtled into the surrounding space.

“Activate force fields!” the Admiralshouted. “Reverse thrusters! Now!”

The crew on the bridge respondedinstantly. The Cygnus began to back away from the explosion. They watched asdebris from the collision and pieces of the freighter began to spin towardsthem. Three more explosions flickered briefly and died. More debris hurtledaway from the point of impact.

“Anyone know what that freighterwas carrying?” demanded the Admiral.

“I’m picking up high radioactivityfrom the debris,” replied the navigator. “Odds on it was toxic waste.”

“Found it,” said the coms tech. “Theship was the Baux. A heavy hauler owned by Baryon Mining. It was returning tothe Karhu system for an FTL fix at the U.S.E. shipyard off EQ2.”

“You don’t say,” said the Admiralquietly. “I hope that was the last one.”

“What do you mean Admiral?” asked theengineer. “The last one?”

“Never mind that now,” replied theAdmiral. “Warn the base on CX9 that they will experience some toxic fallout. Oncethe worst of it disperses they can get some crews up here to properly disposeof the rest. I’m sorry folks, but we’re going to be stuck on board for a whilelonger. What else can you tell me Ronda?” He turned towards the coms tech.

“Two of our ships were docked atthe station. We’ve lost two deep space reconnaissance vessels. Fortunatelyninety percent of their crew are planet side. The station’s completelydestroyed. And a brand new freighter from the Karhunpenti Line has been totalled.”

“Admiral, I’m getting signs of lifefrom some of the station debris,” said the navigator. “There might be somesurvivors.”

“Stop right here! Our force field should hold. Get a couple ofsalvage crews out there,” said the Admiral. “But be careful of the radiation. Christof,you know what to do.”

Second in command Christof Lak beganto organise his crew. Rescue teams were quickly dispatched in speciallydesigned salvage craft which could hold up to six extra personnel. Thesurvivors would be brought back to the medical team on board the Cyngus forassessment and treatment. Toxic waste skin conditions would be their biggestproblem. Lak instructed the med team to prepare and stand by.

Admiral Bokkveld turned back to hiscontrol board and studied a replay of the vid feed. Universal StarshipEnterprises were in deep trouble. He reflected that the military were luckythat only two of their ships had been docked and that the crew were planet sideat the time. While Lak managed the disaster here, the Admiral decided to talkto Tim.

“Ronda, connect me to Tim Stern atU.S.E. headquarters please,” he asked. He waited while she made the connection.

“It’s not a clear channel Admiral. There’stoo much debris to get a good signal,” she advised as Tim answered the callhimself.

“Admiral,” Tim’s voice soundedstrained through the static. “What the hell just happened?”

“The Baux jumped into the centre ofthe CX9 transport hub. The hub is destroyed. We’ve got rescue teams going outnow. And a toxic waste problem. We’ve lost two military reconnaissance vessels,and a private freighter was docked there as well,” Bokkveld replied.

“The Captain of the Baux is anidiot of the first order!” shouted Tim. “As soon as we learned of the FTL faultwe advised him not to engage the drive. We were expecting them back in anotherweek. The fault was so random that anything could happen.”

“He must have decided he’d ratherbe fast than safe,” replied Bokkveld. “How many more ships are there?”

“Just one,” said Tim. “And it’ssafely docked here with us. We’re repairing the FTL drive now. Lauri’s doingthe forensics before we apply our fix.”

The connection began to crackle. Wastericocheted off the protective force field around the Cygnus. Large pieces ofdebris began to float into view. Lakreported that one of the salvage craft was returning with survivors.

“We’ll talk later,” said Bokkveldas the connection to Tim disintegrated. He smacked the edge of his controlboard in frustration. “I didn’t want to get involved in any of this. It’s amess. Christof, how many survivors have we got so far?”

“Just six Admiral,” he replied. “They’rein pretty bad shape. The med crew are receiving them now.”

Andreus Bokkveld turned back to his controlboard. He watched the vid footage again. The loss of the transport hub wasgoing to make life difficult. The Karhu system would be vulnerable if theycouldn’t re-arm and resupply the ship soon.