From: Jason Self Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 04:11:25 +0000 (-0700) Subject: Add The Aven X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=refs%2Fheads%2Fmaster;p=aven.git Add The Aven --- 8c297a0c4638a905bde799a97c07777b2256fc1c diff --git a/COPYING b/COPYING new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f288702 --- /dev/null +++ b/COPYING @@ -0,0 +1,674 @@ + GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE + Version 3, 29 June 2007 + + Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. + Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies + of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. + + Preamble + + The GNU General Public License is a free, copyleft license for +software and other kinds of works. + + The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed +to take away your freedom to share and change the works. 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If your program is a subroutine library, you +may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with +the library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser General +Public License instead of this License. But first, please read +. diff --git a/aven.txt b/aven.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55089bd --- /dev/null +++ b/aven.txt @@ -0,0 +1,501 @@ +$-- Copyright (C) 2019 Jason Self +$-- SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later + +You can redistribute and/or modify this under the terms of the GNU +General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, +either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later +version. + +> "Space isn't lonely; it's all about perspective. You run a ship long +> enough, and you're bound to collide with something out there in the +> dark." --Captain Isaac Marshal, 1091 kNA. + +Third shift was always a pain as far as Hector was concerned. It was +bad enough to miss out on precious sleep while the rest of the ship +dozed comfortably in their bunks, but what really killed him was how +boring it was. No coordinates to plot, no adjustments to make, no +orders to follow. I can't believe I'm wishing for someone to order me +around, he grumbled to himself mentally. Telltales flickered on the +control station in front of him indicating the ship's status. +Everything was running smoothly, just like it had been yesterday, and +the night before, and the one before that. He leaned back in his chair +and propped a foot up on the console. Napping on watch was strictly +forbidden, but it wasn't like anything was going to happen anyway. + +At least, that's what he was in the middle of telling himself when the +beeping started. A light changed from green to pulsing yellow, and two +more that had been previously unlit now highlighted the contours of +his face with a bright blinking red. The sound of his feet hitting the +floor echoed through the small bridge as he began to manipulate the +controls. Something had set off the proximity alarm. They weren't due +at the trading post for another week, so this was definitely a +problem. Passive sensors couldn't tell him anything he didn't already +know - there was something out there big enough to endanger the ship +and it was statistically likely that they were going to hit it if he +didn't do something. Reaching across the console, his first order of +business was to get a second pair of hands at the controls. And heap +this responsibility on someone else, he thought, cursing his earlier +desire for something to do. "Captain to the bridge. I repeat, captain +to the bridge," his voice echoed through the ship's PA system. To his +credit, his tone sounded much calmer than he felt. + +Cry for help accomplished, he began to frantically flip switches +across the board. Screens lit up as the active lidar scans began +reporting a more detailed picture of the space around the ship. Not an +asteroid or a comet, Hector confirmed. Not a planet, either, which at +least meant they hadn't accidentally drifted off course during his +shift. He couldn't decide if that was a silver lining or not. + +"Status," came a gruff voice from over Hector's left shoulder as he +continued to probe the system. + +He didn't have to look back to recognize who it belonged to. "Unknown +contact, sir, tripped over our passive sensor bubble one minute and +thirty-seven seconds ago. Might be space debris, or a derelict, but +all I know so far is that it's not natural and it's on a collision +course," reported the watchman. + +"Well get us off a collision course, then. We can worry about what it +is after," the captain replied. Grey haired but physically fit enough +to make anyone give second thought to antagonizing him, the man held +an imposing presence. + +"Aye aye, captain. Adjusting course by two degrees, vertical," Hector +acknowledged. Turning left or right would have potentially served the +same purpose, but even small changes in angle would exponentially +increase their travel time to the trading post over a long enough +distance. Better to go above or below whatever this object was and +recalibrate their y-axis accordingly later. + +Another body plopped into the seat at the station to Hector's right; +this one a mess of gangly limbs and thick-rimmed glasses. "Can't leave +you alone for more than a few hours without you getting bored and +putting us in a game of chicken with the nearest planet, can we, +Hector?" taunted the crew member. + +"Shove off, Liz, it's not a planet and I didn't do anything," retorted +Hector. + +Liz, short for Elizabeth - although she would try and convince anyone +she met it was short for Lizard - snorted in amusement at Hector's +exasperation. "Enough of that, you two," reprimanded the captain. +"Hector, you're chair one. Maintain pilot's duties. Liz, chair two, +scanners. Tell me what we're dealing with here." + +A chorus of "Chair one, aye," and "Chair two, aye," met the captain's +orders before the bridge fell into a professional silence. They +weren't a military vessel by any means, but there was a discipline to +the crew that came innate with the hazards of running a salvage ship. +It was dangerous work. People died with little to no warning when care +and attention to detail weren't heeded. Jokes and a lack of formality +were tolerated but, when necessary, the Aven became the tightest run +ship in the sector. + +"Might be another ship, captain," Liz reported after just a few +moments. + +"Distress signal?" + +"Negative, sir. There's no emissions coming off that boat. No beacon, +no communications, nothing. Their engines aren't even lit - that's why +the computer had to take a minute to decide what it even was. The +non-organic shape triggered the funny-business alarms, but whatever's +over there is cold as a rock," she explained. + +Sensing a bonus payday, Hector turned to face the captain. "Sounds +like a salvage opportunity to me, sir," he said, hopefully. "Should I +slow us down?" + +Sitting with his chin resting on one hand like The Thinker made flesh, +the captain didn't reply immediately. Expectant silence filled the +bridge. Finally stirring, he shrugged slightly and said, "Bring our +relative velocity to zero, match course, and give me an estimate on +how much time this is going to add to our delivery date." + +"Aye, aye, sir," Hector replied with a grin. Bending to the task, he +began to manipulate the flight controls. From an outside perspective, +the Aven made a sharp 145 degree turn before flipping backwards and +firing its boosters to apply the brakes. Inside, they felt no shift in +gravity from their seats. "Computer says that - not counting any time +we spend salvaging - re-accelerating and course correcting will add +roughly two days to our trip, sir," the pilot reported as they +completed their maneuver. + +"Hopefully this is worth the delay," the captain mumbled in return. +Neither Hector nor Liz knew if he was speaking to them, or to himself, +so they agreed through their silence as they continued to monitor +their respective stations. + +Time seemed to slow down now that the initial rush of activity had +passed. It would be a couple hours until they came alongside the ghost +ship. Liz had wandered off somewhere, only to return with half a +ration bar between her teeth. "Mith anthn?" she tried to vocalize. + +Not bothering to look up from his console, Hector asked, "What?" + +"I said, did I miss anything?" + +"Nadda. We're still pinging 'em every fifteen minutes or so, but +nobody is picking up. Starting to look like she really is abandoned." + +"Did we ever think she wasn't?" Liz replied. + +"We shouldn't take anything at face value out here," interjected the +captain. "Liz, go wake up Chen and fill him in." Liz looked like she +was about to protest the fact that she'd just sat back down, but +thought better of it. Leaving the cabin, she went to wake the final +member of the salvage ship's crew. Chen was, for lack of a better +term, the muscle. Any operation that put suits outside the airlock had +Chen in the lead. He'd grown up on a heavy gravity world, and while he +wasn't the smartest spacer in the sector, his reaction times and his +considerable strength had saved everyone's life at least once. + +A fresh beep came from Hector's station. Glancing down, he pressed a +few buttons before turning to address the captain, "Sir, the derelict +is in visual range." + +"Shunt it over here, then," the old man replied. Moving a gimbal that +contained a screen towards himself, he waited for the relevant data to +appear on his command station. Numbers began to pour across the +display. Swiping away from the hard data on ship mass and other +minutiae, he brought up a graphic of the ship itself. Stubby and +bulbous, it reminded him of a collection of mushrooms growing off of +some central log structure. There was no obvious front or back, or any +visual place for any kind of thruster or engine. Stranger still was +the color. The nearest star shining light on their little piece of the +galaxy was a yellow dwarf a few hundred million klicks away, and it +bounced off the hull of this ship like an iridescent beetle. After a +moment of additional calculation, the computer suggested a depression +in the hull that was - as accurately as it could guess - a point of +entry. "This thing smells fishy as all hell, but anything this weird +is probably worth a decent chunk of coin, too," the captain thought +out loud. + +Before Hector could discuss the suspicious nature of the vessel +further, Liz and Chen returned. Suited in standard EVA gear, the bulky +white outfit made the small bridge seem even more crowded than it +actually was. "We're ready whenever you are, captain," Liz said. +Grunting in acknowledgement, the old man stood and made his way +towards the back of the ship to find his own suit. Standard procedure +would have one man remain behind to mind the Aven, in this case +Hector, while the rest performed an initial valuation and then got to +looting.Silently happy to be the one left behind, Hector wanted +nothing to do with the strange ship now that he'd had time to study it +more. Humanity knew that they weren't alone in space. Encountering the +unknown wasn't the issue, not exactly. There was just something +unsettling about the design of the ship. Something inherently wrong, +like how certain patterns and colors would awaken an instinctual +wrongness - a genetic memory to ward off dangerous behavior. Stay away +from that poisonous creature, the brain says, you've never seen one +before, but you know it's trouble. + +Liz and Chen wandered back out of the bridge as the moment of truth +drew nearer. "Testing, one, two, can you hear me, Heckler?" Chen's +baritone voice came through the console. + +"Don't call me that," Hector replied, holding down the transmission +button. + +No laughter came through the comms to taunt him, but he knew that Chen +and Liz were having another chuckle at his expense. Being the newest +member of the crew came with the expected downsides, but he couldn't +help acting the way he did. Heckler had stuck as a nickname after his +second ever salvage job, when he constantly tried to warn Chen how +irresponsibly dangerous he was being. The captain would have probably +reigned the behavior in eventually, but it was obvious that he +wouldn't get involved if he didn't need to. Chen wasn't entitled or +inherently rude, but it was easy to lose his respect by over-managing +him. The captain knew that. "Thirty seconds until airlock cycles," +reported the familiar, commanding voice. Speak of the devil. "We won't +be deploying the tunnel or trying to pressurize against their hull. +Too uneven, and we don't even know if their atmosphere plays nice with +ours. Suits will be on tethers until I say otherwise." + +Hector didn't need to reply unless he was asked a specific question or +the computer provided him with data the captain needed to hear, so he +kept the line clear and just listened. Mentally counting down the +seconds, he imagined he could feel the airlock opening as he hit zero. +It would have been entirely in his imagination, of course. Small white +figures emerged from the side of the Aven as he watched on one of the +close-range visual sensor screens. Each suit trailed a braided metal +harness that connected them to the open airlock door. They could +retract themselves manually at any time, or Hector could choose to +pull everyone back with the big red emergency button on his console. +It had been drilled into him over and over that no matter how anxious +he got, he shouldn't touch that button unless he was ready for the +captain to physically obliterate him. So far he'd managed to resist +the urge. + +"Door's locked. Should we try knocking?" Chen asked as they +congregated around the area the computer had decided was an entrance. +Without waiting for an answer, he pulled a small laser welder from his +tool belt and ignited the tip. + +"Careful, if that ship's pressurized, you might blow yourself away +when you put a hole in the hull," Hector reminded him, unable to +resist his need to interject on the quiet comm line. + +A hand waved on the tiny screen, and Hector was pretty sure that Chen +was flipping the camera the bird. "This is why you're a heckler, +Heckler." + +"The door, Chen," the captain's voice overruled any dispute before it +could escalate. Hector stilled in his chair, and Chen went back to +preparing his welder. Once he had the beam tip at a satisfactory +length, he went to work, cutting along a slight depression that could +have been the seal of a door. Or it could have been a fancy engraving +of the ship's name, for all we know, Hector thought to himself. The +Aven had actually been the Scavenger at one point in time, after all - +at least until the paint had worn off the front and back ends of the +label. + +A few tense moments later, and a man-sized hole had opened up on the +side of the foreign craft. If the interior had been pressurized, +they'd either cut into a pocket of empty space between the hull and an +interior hallway, or the pressure was so low that it had simply leaked +out through the cut. One by one the shapes of the three salvage +operators disappeared into the hole, leaving Hector to stare at their +tether cables. "Hallways are empty. Clean, though, almost like they've +been recently maintained. Everything's that same strange rainbow hue +in here," Liz narrated for Hector's sake. "Doors every twenty meters +or so. Slightly smaller than human average. Good thing Chen's head +isn't too full since he's likely to knock it at least a couple times +in here." + +"At least I don't go to school for eight years only to end up on a +salvage ship," Chen retorted. + +"Low blow!" + +Chuckles ensued as the good natured ribbing subsided. Hector was glad +they were having a good time, because he was a ball of nervous +anxiety. After a few moments of radio silence, he began to grow even +more uneasy. "Guys, you still there?" he asked. + +Static crackled for a second before the response came though. "-at the +end of the hall. Going to crack it with the welder and hope the bridge +is on the other side," Chen said through the fuzzy connection. + +"You're breaking up," Hector advised, "Partial copy on your last." + +He was greeted only by more static, with the occasional flare of +volume. This is absolutely the last thing I need, he thought, glancing +at the big red emergency button. They weren't quite in 'worth getting +obliterated over' territory yet, but the urge was definitely rising. +After another two minutes of no contact, he stood from his chair and +began pacing. With the captain's chair and the two console stations +jutting up in the middle of the room, there wasn't much room to work +off his stress. As he lapped the room for the third time, "Hector!" +shouted out over the speakers, followed by garbled white noise. + +Three quick, long strides put him in front of the console. Slamming +his hand down on the transmit button, he asked, "Say again, I repeat, +say again." Looking frantically over his screens while he waited for a +response, movement caught his eye on the visual of the outside of the +ship. Something dark was crawling around on the outside of the other +ship's hull. What the hell…? he thought, moving to try and adjust the +zoom. Before he could refocus the camera, however, one of the tethers +went slack, and his attention was drawn back to the entrance. Someone +slowly drifted out. Maybe they knew about the dark figure too, and +were going to investigate? No… there was something too stiff about the +way they were floating. Then their figure rotated, and Hector saw the +large red blotch on the front of the crisp white suite. "Oh, fu-" + +A loud bang on the Aven's hull interrupted him. Flinching, he glanced +at the door leading towards the back of the ship. His first instinct +was to seal the compartments between him and the airlock. Halfway to +the first set of doors, he realized he was acting out of order in his +panic, and turned back to slam the retracting button on the tethers. +The other two lines hadn't gone slack, and he could only hope that he +was rescuing live people right now and not reeling in corpses. This +was so not part of my contract, he whined to himself as he ran towards +the back of the Aven. Through the galley, crew bunks, and medical, +each room passed like a blur before he arrived at the airlock. +Engineering was on the far side of the hall, but there wasn't anything +he could do to seal that without locking himself in the back of the +ship. Each section was divided by a large bulkhead door. Normally, +these doors would automatically seal in the event of an atmospheric +breach to a part of the ship. Now they would act as buffers between +himself and whatever was out there. + +Yanking hard on a bright yellow handle caused a cacophony of gears and +counterweights to groan momentarily. Each door started to slide shut +slowly at first, then picking up speed to slam closed after a few +seconds. When was the last time these things got serviced? Hector +wondered. His fear was making his reactions sarcastically inane, but +he couldn't help it. How was he supposed to process what was going on +outside? Making his way back through each individual area, he repeated +the routine. Pull the lever, confirm the door seals, move on. + +Once he made it back to the bridge, he went back to the screen showing +him the situation outside. The outside of the other ship's hull was +now covered in dark figures. It almost looked like they were a part of +the iridescent pattern; like black polka spots swarming and coalescing +along with the rainbow hues of the smooth, bulbous exterior. "Screw +this," Hector said out loud, grabbing at the pilot's controls. +Engaging the thrusters while people were still outside on tethers was +a big protocol no-no, but he didn't care at this point. Engines flared +and the ship kicked away from the assumed derelict. "Can anyone hear +me? Are you guys there?" he asked as he flew, hoping that whatever had +been jamming their communications wouldn't affect them any more. + +Only silence replied, and a grim expression set itself on Hector's +face. He could check the airlock camera later. His first priority was +getting the hell out of Dodge. Another bang sounded somewhere against +the hull. Had one of those things managed to jump between the two +ships before he'd escaped? The Aven didn't have any guns on board. +Hyperventilating, Hector decided to try and run a series of sensor +scans on his own ship's hull. There would be some interference from +the overly short range, but he should still get something. Data began +scrolling across his screen. Metal composites, radiation, things that +you'd normally find on the surface of a spaceship. There. Something +organic, carbon-based, unknown origin. Whatever that was, it was +hitchhiking, and he wanted it off. + +"Did you seal these doors, you asshole?" Liz suddenly shouted through +the comm net. + +Nearly jumping out of his seat at the sudden sound, Hector yelped +embarrassingly. Good thing he wasn't transmitting unless he had the +button held down. He cleared his throat, and replied, "You're alive! +Yeah, I sealed them. I don't know what you guys found out there, but I +didn't want one of them getting in here." + +"Well we are out here and we want in," Liz said angrily. + +Hector wanted to snap at her for laying into him when they were +obviously dealing with bigger problems right now. Instead he asked, +"Who's hurt? I saw someone was injured on the video feed before I +pulled you all in." + +Quiet filled the bridge and Hector was afraid that the radio had cut +out again when Liz finally said, "Chen didn't make it. I'm fine. So's +the captain, but he's unconscious. Knocked his head when you yanked us +out." + +Hector took a deep breath. He was prepared to face casualties as a +part of life on a salvage ship, but not like this. Not from a hostile +force. Speaking of hostile forces… "Liz, one of those things is on the +Aven's hull, I'm pretty sure. Close that outer airlock door if you +haven't already. I'll come back and let you farther in soon." + +"Soon better mean 'I'm walking back there now and the only reason I'm +not replying is because I can't stay and press the comms button'," she +replied, a note of fear undercutting her snark and anger. + +Manually unsealing each door took a lot longer than closing them +initially had. Each one struggled to fully open. The one between the +bunk room and the infirmary didn't want to open at all, and Hector had +to scrounge around for something to pry at the gap with. Settling for +a metal tube that had originally acted as a curtain rod to separate +the ship's restroom from the common area, he managed to make a gap +wide enough to slip through. Please, please don't close again, he +prayed as he finished crossing through to the other side. These +bulkheads didn't have portholes, but he could imagine Liz standing on +the other side of the door fidgeting impatiently. He pushed the +emergency lever back up into its cradle and waited. At first nothing +happened, then the servo-mechanisms cranked to life and began to +retract. + +Liz had already moved Chen's body and the captain's unconscious form +from the airlock proper to the small hallway between medical and +engineering. "About time," she said critically. Her helmet was off, +but she was otherwise still dressed in her bulky EVA suit. Same with +the captain. She hadn't bothered to remove Chen's, and Hector decided +that was fine by him. + +"Let's get the captain on the other side of this door, and close it up +again," he said as he moved to position himself by the older man's +legs. Liz took his arms, and together they hobbled him through the +door. More banging echoed through the hull, and Hector crossed his +fingers that this thing didn't have the strength to breach the metal +shell on its own. "What happened over there, anyway? I lost contact +with you guys and the next thing I know Chen's body is floating out in +front of my camera." + +Liz's gaze was unfocused, and when she started to reply it sounded +almost detached. "We started cutting on a door we thought might lead +to the front of the ship, but it was filled with these creatures. We +don't know if it was the bridge, a dormitory, or even a brig, but they +moved fast. Chen was at the front, of course, and one of them stabbed +him with a spear-looking thing. The captain threw a salvaging charge +at the entrance and we started booking it back down the hallway. +Explosion must have taken out at least ten of the suckers, but after +they regrouped they started coming after us on the floor, the walls, +the ceiling…" She stopped talking, staring down at the captain's limp +form. "He started pulling on Chen's tether, trying to get him out from +behind the swarm, but we took a wrong turn and got herded deeper into +the ship, so he gave up. I guess the swarm must have finished carrying +his body the rest of the way out the front door. Then you pulled us +back, right through the pack. It was like a haunted house roller +coaster." + +Hector didn't know what to say. Deciding to focus on what he could do +here and now, he gestured towards the medical exam table in the middle +of the room. "Let's get the cap up on there and make sure he doesn't +have a concussion or anything." Liz nodded wordlessly. He'd need to +keep an eye on her, too. Watch for deeper symptoms of psychological +shock. But right now he needed her help, and maybe giving her +something to do would help distract her. More banging against the +hull. "Liz, I need you to take care of the captain. I'm going to try +and throw our hitchhiker off the ship." + +She nodded again, moving mechanically as she pulled up a diagnostic +screen to check the captain's vitals. Hector quickly walked back +towards the bridge, determined to do whatever he had to to shake their +unwanted guest. Settling into the pilot's seat with a calm smoothness +that concealed the knot in his gut, he began flipping switches to warm +up various thrusters. Salvage ships were built to make minute +adjustments while working around dangerous conditions, and he was +going to abuse that fact now. Putting the Aven through an evasive +course of twists, rolls, and other high-g maneuvers was easy enough to +start. The hard part came when the internal gravity generators +couldn't keep up with the quick and random changes that he was +initiating. He began to feel his body being pulled around as he bucked +the ship like a wild bronco. Inertia strained, and warning lights +began to flicker on as he kept stressing the system. Maneuvering +thrusters burned out when they competed to push the ship in opposite +directions, victims of Hector's inability to precisely keep track of +every switch he was flipping in an effort to move as randomly as +possible. The hull itself began to groan. Another warning light +flickered red; this one telling him that if he kept his antics up, +he'd lose integrity. + +Forced into easing up on his whipping about, he flipped a master +switch. All of the thrusters killed themselves at once, and the ship +settled into calmness. They were probably rotating wildly, but it was +all in one direction and the internal gravity could handle that. No +banging greeted him when he listened intently. Time to run another +scan of the hull. Fingers crossed, he started the process. "Well?" Liz +asked as she appeared behind him. + +"We'll know in a second. How's the captain?" + +"He's going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, but he'll +be fine," she said. Between riding out the gravity dancing, and +working the medical systems, she appeared to have recovered some of +her composure. + +Data once again streamed onto the console screen, and Hector looked +for the telltale organics. Nothing. "We're clear," he breathed a sigh +of relief as he leaned back in his chair. + +"Thank God," Liz said, echoing the gradual relaxation that seemed to +sweep throughout the ship. + +Bending forward to work the console once more, Hector began the +arduous process of resetting their destination. After their impromptu, +erratic, off-course trip, the computer struggled to re-calibrate their +ETA to the trading station. "Might be two weeks instead of one, at +this point," he mused out loud. + +Liz settled into the chair next to him, closing her eyes and propping +her feet on the console. "It could take a month, for all I care, as +long as the trip is nice and boring," she said idly. Amen to that, he +thought, glancing at a blinking light on his console. Labelled +'Transmitting,' it sat next to a looped video recording playing +innocuously on his screen. Bulbous shapes of rainbow sheen stared back +at him, along with bright green text showing a set of coordinates, and +a warning. Hopefully no one else would run afoul of the hostile +species any time soon. Chances were low that the message was even +necessary. Space was a big place, after all. \ No newline at end of file