Acts of Forgiveness in Faraway Places: Faraway Places Trilogy, Book 3

By Rick Talbot

The galaxy is on the verge of war. A new devastating weapon has thrown the forces of Earth into chaos. Factions from Mars, Earth, Planet Fabulous, Luyten's World, and even rogue colonies, all vie for dominance. Amidst this tumult, Imperatrix Shauna Lone reigns supreme over her new Empire. She must decide if she will combine her forces with Mars,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chainreads
• Release date: Mar 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9780988137165

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Major Locations in the story

Archivist’s Note

This document was created in part from notes provided by Stellar Corp Archivist Ashley Chung. For readers without Stellar Corp security clearance, a limited declassified collection of notes is viewable at the following address: www.ricktalbot.com/wiki/

1

Aboard Horatio Station

Fire engulfed the atmosphere of Uranus. Waves of blue flame spread across the giant planet, as if it were a marshmallow blackening from end to end in a campfire. An ancient ship, which was more than seven kilometers long, unleashed pulse after pulse of energy at the blue world. The flames grew with each burst.

WHERE IS THE KIN? RETURN THE KIN.

Wayland, what channel is that coming in on? Commander Tajiki asked.

Standard radio waves. Umm, across a range of channels. Radiation levels are going up.

WHERE IS THE KIN? RETURN THE KIN.

What is it saying? Can you turn down the volume a little?

Where is the kin? Return the kin.

That’s better. How high are the radiation levels?

One second…. Here they are, Wayland said.

A graph appeared on the bridge's main screen, showing real-time output from the radiation detectors.

Wayland, that doesn’t look too dangerous, does it?

I don’t think so. I’ll send the data to Doctor Poisson for his opinion.

Where is the kin? Return the kin.

It’s still going. Should we respond? Wayland asked.

I, uhh, Captains, what do you think? Any idea what it’s talking about? Lauressa asked. She turned to Captain Bach and Captain Thomas, who stood beside her.

We don’t know what it’s saying, and who knows how it will react to us if we do talk to it. It could attack us next! We can't defend ourselves against weapons with power of that magnitude, Captain Thomas said.

Hmmm, the Commander said.

Commander, this is Doctor Poisson. I’ve been analyzing the radiation. We’re safe at this distance. But the colonies – Adriana, Lucetta, and Bona – are closer than we are, and that difference in distance puts the colonists in danger.

What can we do?

It looks like most of the radiation is being produced by the firestorms in the atmosphere of Uranus. If you can somehow stop the cause of the firestorms, hopefully they’ll subside sooner rather than later.

Thank you, Doctor. Captains, I think the decision has been made for us. Wayland, can you transmit on the same radio frequencies as that ship?

Yes, that’s not a problem.

Okay, do it.

One second… ready.

Uhh, hello. My name is Lauressa Tajiki, aboard the Stellar Corp vessel Horatio Station. Umm, can we talk?

Where is the kin?

Another pulse of energy crashed into Uranus, stoking the fires further.

Umm, I don’t know where the kin is. Please stop attacking the planet. There are people living on the moons, and they’ll be hurt if you continue.

A new pulse of energy hit Uranus.

What are people? Where is the kin?

We are people. We’re living beings. Your energy can hurt us.

Captain Thomas leaned in to Lauressa, and whispered, You’re giving it an advantage.

The ship turned away from Uranus and began to head toward the station.

Commander, we’re being bathed in energy. Interesting, none of it is dangerous, Wayland said.

Some sort of active sensor? Captain Bach asked.

Maybe.

Kin will not hurt kin. Kin will stop. Where is the kin?

Thank you. I don’t know where the kin is.

Kin find the kin.

Do you think they mean the other gigantic ship? Captain Bach asked in a whisper.

The other one? she replied quietly.

It’s not the same ship. They look very similar, but they are not identical. The patterns of lines on the hull are slightly different.

So there’s two of them.

Yes.

Are you asking about a ship just like yours? Commander Tajiki asked.

Yes. Where is the kin?

I’m sorry I don’t know where the kin is, but it’s not here. We saw it leave.

Where.

I’m sorry, I don’t know.

Kin find the kin.

The hull of the ship began to glow.

Oh, great. It was a pleasure serving with you, Captain Thomas said. Captain Bach smirked and shook his head.

The ship grew brighter. Captain Thomas took a step backwards. The ship blinked out in a flash of light.

It’s gone! It flashed away! Captain Thomas said.

You thought it was going to fire on us, Lauressa said.

It seemed like the obvious conclusion.

Do you think everything has to end in a firefight?

That’s the way of the universe.

Sometimes the universe can surprise you – don’t look so disappointed.

I’m not disappointed! I’m…, he said. Captain Thomas realized that his arms were crossed and he was frowning energetically. I should get back to my ship. Who knows what we have to deal with next.

Captain Thomas left the bridge in a hurry.

He’s a negative nelly, Captain Bach said.

What’s a negative nelly? Wayland asked.

It’s an, umm, you know, I’m not sure. It’s an old saying I picked up.

A sad horse?

"Could be. Does that even make sense? ‘He’s a sad horse.’"

Sad, sad horse, Wayland said.

Alright, you two. I’m heading down to the infirmary to review with Doctor Poisson. We might need to help people on the colonies.

Okay. I’ll get back to the Applegate. I’m sure the crew is a little disturbed by what just happened. We’ll stand by in case you need us for anything.

Thank you, Jeremy.

* * *

What about that one, Smitty said. He pointed at a flashing red icon on the screen. The icon was superimposed on a diagram of the Applegate. It indicated a problem in a small compartment near the rear of the ship.

That’s just a problem with the washroom, John Dvorak said.

The washroom?

Toilet won’t clean itself. Disturbing but not a priority. Although, if we can pick up a few spare parts while we’re at the station, maybe we can get it working again. It’s the little things, you know?

Hmmm. That’s the only red icon. Good work, Smitty said.

Pretty good.  But look at the sea of yellow around the outer hull.

All the places that we’ve done repairs.

According to the computers, the repairs are not as durable as the original.

Did we do a poor job? Or maybe Wang’s shipwright Hayley Fry isn’t as good as we were told? Smitty asked.

No, the repairs are sound. It’s the materials that we had to work with. The metals we used for the repairs are not as rugged as the synthetic materials that the ship was originally built with. Wartime budget gave this ship wartime durability.

Do I need to be concerned?

Not right now. The only risk I see is that if we’re in a firefight and those metals take a hit, well, they’ll disintegrate a lot quicker than the original hull.

Got it. Why didn’t we look at all of this sooner?

We did, down in engineering, weren’t you there? Maybe not. I think between all the flying around and all the vacations to Planet Fabulous, maybe we forgot to review the engineering systems status report with you.

Communication is important, but at the same time I trust you, so that if something is really important you’ll –

General Quarters! Jerry Mulligan yelled through the ship’s intercom.

What the hell! Let’s go, Smitty said. They ran from the conference room onto the bridge. What’s going on, Jerry?

Smitty, uh, look! Jerry said. He pointed at the screen. A large cylindrical object moved across the orbit of Uranus.  Energy pulsed and seethed across the surface of the vessel. It lit up and a beam of energy shot toward the planet. The first blast struck, the atmosphere ignited, and a sea of churning, dancing blue flame spread out in all directions from the impact site.

Holy fucking hell! Smitty yelled.

The sensors are going crazy – we’re picking up by-products of fission radiation from the atmosphere.

Is the atmosphere of Uranus experiencing some kind of a nuclear explosion?

It looks like it.

That’s not right. Throw up the graphs, Dvorak said. Jerry Mulligan put the sensor readouts on the main screen. Shit, you’re right.

The cylindrical ship fired again, and the blue firestorm grew larger.

Wow! The radiation level just jumped!

Are we in danger? Smitty asked. John Dvorak studied the chart and did some math in his head.

We’re not in immediate danger. But we don't want this to keep up. I'd be more concerned about anyone closer, like our friends on Adriana colony.

There are radio wave audio transmissions coming from that ship, Jerry Mulligan said.

Let's take a listen, Smitty said. He played the radio transmissions on the speakers.

WHERE IS THE KIN? RETURN THE KIN.

What the hell!

Uhh, hello. My name is Lauressa Tajiki, aboard the Stellar Corp vessel Horatio Station. Umm, can we talk?

Where is the kin?

They're talking. Okay let's see where it goes.

They listened as Commander Tajiki spoke with the ship. Then, the giant vessel began to turn toward Horatio Station.

Here it comes! Jerry Mulligan said.

That's it! I'm bringing the weapons online. Stand by, Smitty said.

You really think we can take that thing? It just roasted the atmosphere of Uranus, John Dvorak said.

We need to be ready. Okay, weapons are online. Stand by.  They're still talking.

Kin will not hurt kin. Kin will stop. Where is the kin?

Thank you. I don’t know where the kin is.

Kin find the kin.

There was silence for a few seconds.

The ship is within firing range, Jerry Mulligan said.

Wait.

The radio conversation between Horatio Station and the ship continued as the alien ship moved closer.

Are you asking about a ship just like yours?

Yes. Where is the kin?

I’m sorry I don’t know where the kin is, but it’s not here. We saw it leave.

Where.

I’m sorry, I don’t know.

Kin find the kin.

The cylindrical ship began to glow.

Fission radiation is spiking, Jerry Mulligan said.

Show them our sides and fire!

Yes, sir.

The ship spun to face its adversary. A dozen high-velocity projectiles flew from ports along the side of the Applegate. The projectiles sped toward their glowing target.

Impact in two, one.

The ship vanished in a flash of light and the projectiles sped harmlessly by.

I guess they weren't firing on that station, John Dvorak said.

That's a good thing, Smitty said. He sat down and slumped back in the chair. Where are the projectiles headed?

They're on course to impact Uranus in a few minutes. Nothing in the way.

Good.

* * *

We've got four-thousand RadPacks in stock, Doctor Poisson said.

That's all? Hopefully the colonies weren't too badly affected by the radiation, Lauressa said.

Umm, RadPacks? Ashley asked.

Anti-radiation treatment packets. Each one has a measured dose of the basic drugs that are effective at treating radiation sickness, the Doctor said.

Oh, so iodine and white-blood cell stimulating factors?

Right, along with platelet stimulating factors, treatments to protect intestinal wall lining and nervous system cells, and cannabinoids to treat appetite and nausea. Nothing very high-tech.

Okay, so with only four-thousand packs, we'll need to ration them, Lauressa said.

Has anyone called for help yet? the Doctor asked.

No, but it's just a matter of time.

Maybe so. I'm not sure how much we can really help though. Treating a few thousand people is a drop in the bucket.

Do the colonies have their own supplies?

The hospitals should have some – let's hope they've got a good stockpile. Lauressa, depending on the situation on the ground, we could be looking at merely easing suffering.

Lauressa sat on the Doctor's couch and leaned back to let her head sink into the soft rear cushion.

I know.

Ashley sat on the couch beside Lauressa. She leaned back, copying Lauressa’s posture. It was very comfortable. She looked at Lauressa and noticed that there was the faintest – almost non-existent – smile on her lips. But it didn't look like a happy smile. Instead, it looked like a mixture of tension and resignation, like someone girding themselves for a punch in the stomach.

Commander, the three colonies on Titania are requesting assistance, Wayland said.

Here we go. Doctor, would you hit the intercom for me?

Doctor Poisson activated the intercom.

Hi Wayland, Lauressa is here with me in the infirmary.

Hi Doctor.

Wayland, Lauressa said loudly from the couch. We're down here in the infirmary. We're getting things ready. What's the situation down there?

Their shields couldn't block all of the radiation, and they're suffering both medical issues as well as failures of their electrical systems due to the ionizing radiation. They're asking for medical supplies, and assistance with treatment. They're asking about the possibility of transporting the most vulnerable people off the colonies.

Let's get to work, Lauressa said. She lay motionless for a moment. She pushed herself up off the couch. I was so comfortable for a few seconds.

2

In a Classroom, Adriana Colony

Okay kids, this next lesson is a bit of a review of geometry. I know some of you weren't here for this, so if you need any extra help, just ask me.

Miss Tapenade drew a square on the screen. She wrote the number ten beside one of the sides of the square.

This square is ten centimeters on each side. How do we calculate the area of this square?

It's one-hundred square centimeters, Bailey said.

How did you come to that conclusion?

Well, it's a square that's ten centimeters long. So, it's ten centimeters times ten centimeters.

Quite true. Any two-dimensional area is measured in square centimeters, or square meters, and so on. But what happens when you have a circle? How would you measure it?

If it was a circle it would be one-hundred circle centimeters, Shep said. The other kids in the class laughed and hooted.

That's funny, Miss Tapenade said. Actually, the measurement is still in square centimeters, but a circle doesn't have any straight lines that you can easily measure. Luckily for us there's a formula that we can use to help us calculate the surface area of the circle. Does anybody remember the formula?

Pi multiplied by the radius, squared, a kid said from the back of the room.

Very good. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its radius, and one of the easiest ways to calculate it is –

Miss, what's that? one of the kids asked as she stared out the window.

What's what?

In Uranus.

Miss Tapenade went to the window and looked up. The planet above them hung silently as usual, but its atmosphere was in turmoil. Tendrils of blue flame arced and reached up from the planet. White-hot flares of energy burst out into space.

Stand back from the Windows, Miss Tapenade said. She went back to her desk and opened a drawer. She pressed a button and metal shutters descended over the windows. Stay here.

I wonder where she's going? Balraj asked.

Miss Tapenade came back into the room a few seconds later.

Kids, the school is locked down. I don't know how to say this, but there's some sort of fire on Uranus. We're safe for now, but we might have to go into the radiation shelter below the school.

What's that?

Oh, you see, Balraj, when this school was built – a long time ago – there was a war and the people were afraid that nuclear weapons would be used. So lots of buildings have radiation shelters built deep below ground, to provide protection in an emergency.

Is there radiation now?

Yes, but the colony dome and the building's walls are protecting us for now. So don't worry, we're okay. Let's resume our lesson. What were we talking about?

Pi.

Oh yes, pi. Pi is a wonderful number. The ratio of the circumference to the radius of a circle is not an integer. In fact, it's not even a simple fraction. That's because we're talking about a circle, which is perfectly round so that it has no actual straight edges on it. We simply can't divide the length of a perfect curve against the straight line of the radius and hope to come out with something that is exact. So if you try to represent Pi as a written number, it has infinite decimal places, with each decimal place taking us closer to a perfect circle, but never completely perfect. An easy way to calculate Pi is to divide 355 by 113. That gives us Pi accurate to six decimal places. Can someone do that division and write the answer on the board for me?

I can do it, Balraj said. He walked to the front of the room and drew the numbers on the digital board. He began to divide the numbers. Some of the pixels on the board began to move. Uh, what's happening?

Balraj stepped back and watched as the pixels on the board randomly turned on or off, or moved across the board in a random direction. Another teacher came into the room. His face was flush and his eyes were wide.

Miss Tapenade, it's time for us to move to the radiation shelter.

Thank you Mister Frank. Right away, kids. Follow me.

They walked down the hall. Some of the classes were empty, but some had kids who were also filing into the hall. They passed an astro-weather project that was up on the wall. A screen displayed a live image of Uranus, as seen from a camera on the school's roof.

Hey Bailey, check out the screen, Shep said as they walked past it. They stopped to take a quick look. The flames on Uranus seemed to be larger than they had been a few minutes earlier.

It's gotten worse. What's that glow? Is that the dome?

Yeah, I think it is. Why would it be glowing?

Shep shrugged. Miss Tapenade came over to them and physically pushed Bailey and Shep back into the moving throng of kids.

Okay everyone, into the gymnasium.

Is that everyone? Mister Frank asked. He was counting the children, pointing at them one by one.

I'll take a quick look, Miss Tapenade said. She ran from the gymnasium and returned thirty seconds later. I think that's everyone.

I counted everyone too. Okay, let's go.

Mister Frank unlocked a door that they had never seen opened before. He stepped through and turned on the lights, then waved everyone in.

Okay kids, follow Mister Frank. Through the doors and down the stairs. Quickly, but be careful.

Miss Tapenade sent the last of the children through the doors. Then she walked in and closed the doors behind her, locking them from the inside.

Are we going to be okay? Balraj asked. He stood beside Miss Tapenade. A long flight of stairs ran down in front of them. The teacher smiled kindly and patted his shoulder.

We're going to be fine. Let's go downstairs to sit with the rest of the children.

They walked down the stairs together. Loosely slung strings of lights ran along the walls and cast everything in a stark light that made the stairs seem to descend forever. For a brief moment, Balraj imagined himself walking down the stairs toward sublevel zero on a Labian ship. He gasped and put his hand over his mouth. He staggered and Miss Tapenade took his arm.

It's okay, Balraj. We're safe.

Balraj nodded, and together they walked down the stairs until they emerged into a large room. The room was immense. Beds and desks ran along the walls, and above them hung more of the loosely slung lights.  Washrooms were on either side of the room, with a kitchen situated at the far end.

Wow.

Hey Balraj! Isn't this awesome! Shep yelled from the top bunk of one of the beds. He waved and Balraj went over to him.

Okay kids, stay calm. We're safe down here.

Mister Frank, how do you know?

This room is buried deep enough, and it's lined with enough lead to provide protection from radiation caused by nuclear weaponry. So whatever is causing the radiation that's coming from Uranus, it can't reach us here.

What are we going to do down here?

Well, we've got plenty of food, water, and blankets. We're going to hang out and have a party. Does that sound fun?

Oh, Mister Frank, Miss Tapenade said, I've found some games in this chest over here.

Excellent! Now it's a party! Can I get a volunteer to go to the kitchen and get some snacks for everyone?

Bailey raised her hand.

Okay, Bailey. Thanks.

Bailey headed to the far end of the long room.

Me and Balraj will go too, Shep said. Hey Bailey, wait for us, he said as he ran after her, dragging Balraj with him.

Bailey was already half-way to the kitchen by the time they caught up. The voices of the teachers and other students were starting to sound far away now, and the shape of the large room filled their ears with more and more echoes the closer they got to the kitchen. The kitchen counter was finished with a polished brass surface, the large refrigerator was a grimy industrial white-gray, and cupboards lined the entire back wall. A sink sat in the middle of the counter.

Think there's water?

I don't know. But here's a cup, Bailey said. She pulled a cup from the first cupboard she opened, and handed it to Shep. Shep turned the tap. The pipe bubbled and churned for a few seconds, and then brownish water filled up the cup.

Eww, gross, Shep said. He poured the water down the drain. They could hear the water drop straight to the floor. Shep opened a door below the sink and saw that the drain pipe wasn't connected to anything. Water from the tap was running clear now, but Shep shut it off.