Virtual Threat by Michael Sweeney

The small craft sped through the void of space. Brilliant flares lit up the the eternal night. Energy beams flashed, licking out hungrily. The knobby merchant vessel swerved from side to side. Occasionally, an energy bolt would collide with the craft and the darkness would explode into light.

The pursuing ship was a massive green goliath, compared to the David sized merchant vessel. Sleeker in its design, tongues of explosive energy leapt from its directive cannons.

Propulsive forces spewed out the back end of the small craft. With each successive shot from the attacker, the driving fury paled. Its generators crippled, the merchant ships shields were slowly failing. As the ships speed decreased, the accuracy of the attackers increased. Shots rained down on the falling prey. Shield generators overloaded, adding more light to the rainbow of brilliance. The small craft spun on its axis, hiding its wound. Engines dying, the merchant craft gave a final burst of speed. More destructive force beams caressed the small crafts shields. Suddenly uncontrolled explosions erupted from the propulsion section of the merchant craft. The undirected frenzy of destruction billowed outward.

The demolition was soon brought under control by the vacuum of space. However, large gaping holes were evident in the rear hull. The engines had died. However, this did not make taking the small craft any easier for the green attacker. The large ship cut its engines and began breaking maneuvers. It brought itself to the same velocity as the small ship. Red tractor beams reached out and grabbed hold of the small craft. It slowly pulled the merchant craft toward the green giant.

The two ships were still traveling at extreme speeds. Any mistakes could send the small craft tumbling away, necessitating another chase, wasting precious fuel. Or more seriously, it could under compensate and ram into the small ship, destroying both. It was a delicate operation. A second beam latched onto the small craft. It slowly worked the ship in toward the belly of the goliath. Large hanger doors slid open exposing the insides. Light flooded out with wisps of fugitive gases.
As the tractor beams pulled the ship inside, it passed through the force field, holding back most of the precious atmosphere.

There was barely enough room for the craft in the hanger bay. The small ship's hull ground against the hanger walls. Screaming metal rang throughout the hanger. The hanger doors slid back into place and the merchant craft was released from the tractor control. Jammed into a tight box the craft made small groaning and squealing noises. Finally resting on the hanger doors, the craft fell silent.

Pierce knew he had failed. It had been a simple journey from success to failure. He squeezed the plasma rifle in his hands. The cold metal of the weapon cooled his sweaty palms. He stood by the emergency escape hatch and silently shivered. The environment suit hung loosely on his sagging body.

His muscles trembled. His mind raced.

Pierce figured that his captures would not take his imposition lightly. They would most likely terminate him. The captain of this large vessel wouldreceive the small craft and its cargo as a token of thanks from his government. Like pirate booty, space crafts were quite valuable. Especially ones you don't have to build or buy.

A sound from the other side of the hatch alerted him of the outsiders actions. He could here the roar of the laser cutters as they sliced through the titanium hinges. It was soon followed by the cry of bending metal and crashing as the outer bulkhead fell away. Abruptly sparks flew out from the electronics panel next to him. Pierce shielded his eyes from the glare. A zapping noise cut through the air.

The smell of ozone stung Pierce's nostrils. He was surprised by the display. Slowly his shock was replaced by smiling understanding. The emergency force field had jumped to life. This protected the inner bulkhead against such attacks. However, Pierce was sure it would not last against any further assault. It would either drain its batteries or short circuit.

Pierce donned the helmet and gloves to his environment suit and stood ready. Placing his helmet against the hull, he could just almost hear the enemy jabbering in its foreign tongue. He could also here the frying of circuits under extreme stress. Soon the burden would overload them.

Without warning, the circuits suddenly exploded. Flames erupted at Pierce's back. He jumped forward and spun around. Simultaneously, the inner bulkhead fell away and the dark ship was bathed in bright light. Blinded, Pierce pulled the trigger of the plasma rifle. It jumped to life in his arms, gouging a large hole in the ceiling. He quickly steadied the rifle and tensed his finger.

A blue beam hissed from the hatchway and struck his leg. Pierce felt his leg turn to rubber as he fell to the ground. Another shot struck him in the chest. Inky blackness settled around Pierce as he fell unconscience.

"And then they just released me. That's all I know."

"The two other men in the room were quite sullen."

Though constantly trying to put Pierce at ease, they only increased his anxiety. He glanced quickly back and forth between the two men. The large man was sitting in a chair, not looking too comfortable. He had a pleasant bearing and smiled frequently, as he was now. The other was tall and stood to the back of the room. The tall one was gruff and military in tone.

Pierce squirmed slightly in his seat. It was suddenly quite hot in the small room. While it wasn't an interrogation, he was still under pressure. So, after trespassing in Martian space and trying to elude a Martian patrol ship, they simply let you go? the taller one asked sarcastically. Pierce nodded. The sitting one glanced at his standing colleague. I don't think this person can be of much more help to us, Admiral. Better leave him be. he said. The tall one stalked over from the corner and stood before Pierce. Pierce flinched reflexively.

"While you were being questioned by the Martian captain, did you notice anything strange? Any mentions of higher authorities?" the tall one questioned. Pierce shook his head.

"No, sir. They just grilled me about the trespassing. he nervously glanced at the sitting one. They didn't say nothin' about anythin' else."

The tall man paced back to his corner. The sitting man stood and smiled. He motioned for Pierce to stand as well. Pierce stood fidgeting with his shirt.

"I'm am glad you were able to report this to us, Captain Pierce. We are thankful for your information." said the large man. Pierce calmed slightly.

"Then what I had to say is useful?" Pierce asked timidly. The large man smiled again.

"Of course, any information is helpful." He motioned toward the door. "Now just you go to the nearest club and have a lay down. Maybe clock out and see a genedoc."Pierce stared at the large man.

The man frowned. "You do have a club membership, I assume."

Pierce nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm a member of the Red Dragon Club." The large man sighed inwardly.

"Well, you just stop by the secretary on the way out and she'll fix you up with a couple of credits on us. How about that?" he gave a wide grin.

Pierce smiled in return. He was relieved. The whole reason he had even bother to file the report was to try and cop some credits. He was running dry. He turned and exited, whistling.

With the merchanter gone, the tall brooding man turned. "You know he was just giving us the act. Right?"

The large man sighed. "Hurato, the man just lost his ship. I think we can be slightly generous."

The Admiral glowered for a second and slowly cooled down."Do you really think he was telling the truth?"

Minister Coolidge sat in his seat, facing the closed door. "I believe so, he had nothing to gain from lying."

Admiral Hurato rubbed his cheek slightly, also staring at the closed door. "Then things are looking very strange."

The Minister turned slowly in his chair and looked at his colleague. "Yes, indeed. This is the third such case in as many days. The Solace system is hardly a ideal location for a military build up. It's more a short cut to the Ganges Cluster for these ragged merchanters." he glanced idly at his hands. "And until recently it was just that. But now, it seems the Martian government is taking an interest in it's remotest fringe sectors."

The Admiral still pondered on the closed door."It makes no sense. The Solace system borders on our Hirest System. An equally worthless chunk of space. It doesn't even have any tactical advantage."

The Minister ordered to computer to display a map of the Hirest System and Martian border. The wall display lit up and the various stars shone in the slightly darkened room. The Admiral leaned against the opposite wall and studied the hologram. It showed the Hirest System in red and the Martian border sector in green. The border ran vertically on the hologram. The Minister instructed the computer to highlight the defense installations in the Hirest System. Three yellow, evenly spaced, dots appeared along the red border. Small script scrolled next to each dot. "It would be easy to take though. Look, its scarcely defended." The Admiral furrowed his brow. With reason, the Hirest System borders two unfriendly nations. Unfriendly with each other especially. he ordered the computer to scroll the image down. A second border along the top shone in blue.

"The Alliance and the Martian's hate each other. When ever there's a war, they usually try to go through that sector. Historically speaking, its not really Union territory. We just sort of claimed it after the last war. It had some borite mining operations in it. They've long since panned out. Do you think that the Martians could be readying another war with the Alliance?" The Minister queried.

"Not with the skirmishes in the Delrio Sector, being so recent." The Admiral was referring to the minor battle in the Fer'y System, part of the Delrio Sector. It was a wide expanse on the other side of the Martian/Union border. The battle had been between two Union patrol ships, and an impromptu Martian attack force. It was still being speculated what the Martians had gained from that exchange. With two destroyed ships and another crippled, they had lucked out. The Union ships were also heavily damaged, though replaceable.

If the Martians were to attack from this angle, it would certainly hamper trade with the Alliance. he instructed the computer to overlay the trade routes through the sector. They appeared in order of most use, varying in color from popular, in orange, to infrequent, in dashed pink. Several other unofficial routes were not displayed.

"The Martians wouldn't instigate full scale war just to block trade. That's insane." the Minister gave a skeptical look at the Admiral. The Admiral noted it. "Even the Martians aren't that crazy. Its more likely that they just want to harass the merchanters running through the area." The Admiral gave a stiff upper lip. "As long as they don't enter Union space, it doesn't really matter."

"As much as I'd like to agree, Admiral, I am still worried by this development. It shows of a strong leadership. the Minister rubbed his forehead. We do not need any strong Martian Emperors trying to take over the galaxy."

Pierce had made his way through the Red Dragon Inn 78, the local branch member of the Red Dragon Club. The lady at the desk had informed him of the local shuttle services and given him a schedule. He was looking at this now as he made his way to his room. The credits the secretary had given him had been just enough for a nights stay and a ticket to Inika System. Hopefully, his credit would be good there. Losing his ship was one thing, but the loans he had out made his credit dip below the line.

He glanced up from the flight schedule and discovered he'd arrived at his room. He entered the access key and walked into the room. It was pretty bare, with only a bed and a televiewer. He immediately rested his body on the bed and ordered the lights off.

In the sudden darkness, he commanded his wetware to offline. A sign appeared in front of him. It displayed his current situation and options.

He chose the Sleep option and felt a tingling sensation in his skull. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he was looking out into the dark again. He ordered on the light and blinked fiercely. The room he looked out on was not the room he had just been in. Pierce reached up and removed the wetware interface helmet.

Coming off line from the Game always made Pierce sad. He was losing precious time being here in the real world. He wished that he didn't have to go off-line at all. There were some who had managed to rig their set ups for that kind of run. Staying on-line for days at a time. Sleeping inside the Game itself. Of course there were dangers to that. The mind gradually lost its ability to distinguish between the two worlds, reality and the ethernet.

Cyber-pychosis, as it was called. Very unpleasant. Some had to undergo weeks of counseling. Even more dangerous were the occasional bugs that popped up in the system itself. It had originally been a secret military program. Experiments in tricking the mind into believing it was somewhere it wasn't. Doing things it wasn't. Electro-magnetic suggestions subliminally controlled what the mind perceived. This fooled the mind most effectively. After the military lost most of its funding, it changed gears, from special training equipment, to intense cyberspace games. They took the virtual out of virtual reality.

To anyone who lost control, it was reality. Though rare, bugs were the most feared problems with cyberspace. In one incident, the game stopped translating the computer language and started dumping into the users brain. The users mind was washed away by computer gibberish. Very frightening. Less dangerous, though irritating bugs included coming across bug outs. Places where the Game stopped and the user was in the Operating System itself.

Pierce ambled into his kitchen and made a sandwich. He wasn't particular on the ingredients and it certainly wasn't health food. Stuffing the sandwich into his mouth, he hurried out into the street. He made his way to the nearest Medical Facility. He met no one on the street. The nearest Medical was Number Twenty-Seven. It was a quick brisk walk and he was there. The front of the small en clove displayed the number of the station and the affiliated genedocs.

Pierce went to the reception desk and took a number. There were only a few others, so he was soon called. The genedoc who was available came out and bid Pierce into his patient room.

The room was white and clean. Pierce sat on the table in the middle of the room.

"Well, Mr. Pierce, I'm Doctor Jameson. If you would please remove your shirt and answer these brief questions." the genedoc began.

Pierce complied readily to his tests and questions. The final brain cavity scan seemed to take forever. When it was all over the doctor spoke to him. "That's it. From these scans it looks like you haven't suffered anything dangerous. The ether feedback was minor. However, there is some residual shock leftover. I would advise you not go on line for a few hours. Other than that you're fine." the doctor smiled. "Though I must emphasize, this could just have well been serious. There is no way for a recipient of cerebral shot to judge its severity."

" Then I can go?"

"Of course. As a matter of fact I'll be joining you."

Pierce smiled weakly. He did not mind real world civility, but he was in a bit of a hurry. "Actually, I do have to get back. I kind of left myself in a pickle."

The doctor frowned. "Not thinking of on-lining so soon, are we?"

Pierce gave a look of mock shock. "Never, just pressed for time." The doctor smiled again.

"So how are things on the ether? I haven't been on-line in two days."

Pierce looked at the doctor suspiciously. He seemed harmless enough. Though, that was often the best cover. Pierce chided himself for being so paranoid. Nothing he knew wasn't readily available on the Game gossipnets.

So he told the doctor more or less what was happening. The Doctor laughed at the mention of a possible Martian attack. The two men walked out of the building. It seemed that the doctor lived in the same direction as Pierce. On the way Pierce related his incident and run in with the Martians.

When Pierce took his leave, he felt better. He had not realized how anxious he had been. He felt very good, in fact he felt like going on-line and getting in touch with his pals for a little adventure.

He hoped the doctor had gotten as much out of the brief conversation as he had.

Jameson walked quickly back down the passage way. The underground nature of the city made access to all places an easy thing. Though, it was still a good walk from one place to the other.

To be sure the direction he was now hurriedly heading was not the one he had just taken with the man, Pierce. It had been a necessary lie, to say he lived in the same direction.

Jameson frowned as he rounded a corner. The information Pierce had related to him was a revelation.

War with the Martians!

Jameson came to his townhouse and quickly let himself in. He made his way across the small house. He made his way to the study, via the kitchen. In the study Jameson chewed a hastily prepared sandwich and began setting up his Game equipment.

The equipment he was using was one of the new direct line interfaces. He sat in his comfortable lounger and plugged the cord into the hide-away receptacle at the back of his neck. There was a slight tingling and the Game options board appeared in front of his eyes. He on-lined and felt his mind projected into the ether.

The room he had rented in the Red Dragon Inn Number Forty Two had been a little high priced. However, the price was made up by the fact that it had a News Net Exchange Viewer installed. Jameson called up the service and scanned the video headlines.

There were a few tidbits here and there about some merchanters getting hustled along the Union/Martian border. There was even a cover story on the incident in the Delsio Sector. Jameson watched with interest. While he personally had no interest in that sector, it might foretell of larger things.

Jameson left the Red Dragon Inn and hastened to the docking ring. His ship, the Dublin Pride, was docked for repairs and was to get underway within the hour. That left barely any time for thinking over empirical politics. The first officer, Ramis, met Jameson at the main hatch. Ramis gave the status of ship and welcomed the Captain aboard.

Arriving at the bridge Jameson was exhausted. He sat back for a moment and reviewed the last day. He now knew that the Martians were massing troops in a deserted, remote system for no known reason. He also knew that they had made a try at another out of the way system earlier. These facts muddled in his mind.

The whole thing could of been chalked up to Martian stupidity. The Martians were notoriously bad strategists. They would fight tooth and nail for a system and then give it up with out a fight. Very strange. It was a wonder that they weren't wiped out. It seemed that whenever it came to the knockout count they always managed to rebound just enough. However, Jameson felt this was not the reason. Else, why would Minister Coolidge and Admiral Hurato, of the Union High Council, be interested in the report of some fringe merchanter? It didn't add up.

The only thing that it did add up to was that the Union Council suspected the Martians were up to something. And if the Council was worried then Jameson felt justified in his worry. While he didn't do business in the Delsio system, he did do business with the Alliance.