Chapter 2: Commence!ffice ffice" />>>
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The Apocalypse slid to a halt. It didn’t decelerate out of subspace, but stayed put. All of the major experiments occurred in subspace, not just because of the fact that it was incredibly hard to find anything there, also the cloaking devices made it practically impossible to find The Baron’s Starfleet, but also because of the high thaumic field. The experiment this time, however, was quite medical.
The Baron had told Jazz, Spaz and Lori to report to the medical facility (floor 8) for “performance enhancing”. They didn’t quite know what that entailed but under The Baron’s command you didn’t tend to ask questions. There was something distinctly wrong about him, like something had happened to him that shouldn’t have.
As they arrived they were told to lie down on some hover stretchers and the meds would do the rest. It came as a surprise, though, when the sleep gas administration masks came down.
It all went dark…
Lori was the first to come to. She ached all over, and when she attempted to sit up a sharp spur of pain shot up her body. She winced and lay down again.
‘You impress me’ said a familiar deep voice. ‘You know, a lesser person would have passed out back then’
‘Ugh… Baron?’
‘Mmm-Hmm?’
‘What do you mean…? Lesser?’
Some groans came from the other beds.
‘Ah, you’re all here then. I can begin filling you in with the events, then?’
‘Ow…’ said Jazz ‘I feel like I was hit by a wrecking-ball’
‘Don’t try to move’ said a doctor robot ‘not until the painkillers are given’
‘Basically’ began The Baron ‘these “enhancers” are muscle and bone growth accelerators, brain superconductor strips and Stratium* bone plating.’
Needles came up out of the medi-beds and injected painkillers.
‘You can get up now’ said the robot that hovered back into its hatch. The trio got up, all stiff, like when you have a really long car journey and you get out at the end.
‘You’ll be quite sore for a few days, but it’s like having a brace or something; it’ll pass’
Jazz mused if my muscles are better, why do I feel so limp?
The problem with accelerated muscle growth is that they’ve not had a day’s work, so they don’t have much strength in them, but that would come to them after the daily workouts to follow.
A very nice smell came down the corridor, which caused them all to look around for a table; they were very, very hungry. The Baron pressed a button on a wall panel and used the holopanel to make a table and round stools to come up out of the floor. A Calliopid (which resembles a very large praying mantis, but all bronze coloured) rolled in a tray with large bundles of newspaper that were steaming a bit. It placed them on the table and walked out again, without saying anything. Also, on the tray were 3 pills, and 3 pewter tankards of milk, but 4 bundles of newspaper. The Baron sat first, and placed the 3 other bundles, the milk tankards and pills around the other places around the table. The Jackrabbits looked a little surprised, but sat down and unwrapped the newspaper bundles.
‘Fish and chips’ said The Baron. ‘You like cod?’
‘Erm… I don’t know’ said Jazz, and Lori was sniffing it suspiciously.
‘Salt and vinegar?’ she asked
The Baron laughed a little, which was always unnerving, it was like ‘he he heh ha ha haa.’ It was quite chilling, if led could laugh, that would be the noise it would make.
‘It goes very well together; I can’t believe that you’ve not had fish and chips before.’
‘We’ve had chips’ said Spaz
‘But not fish like this’ said Lori, inspecting the crispy yellow stuff on the outside with a fork ‘what is this anyway?’
‘Batter, it’s very nice.’ Replied The Baron, whose faceplate slid inwards slightly and folded inside, exposing his mouth. He then ate 5 chips at once. ‘Eat.’ He said ‘and don’t forget the pills, you need to replenish lost nutrients’
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A long discussion later, (not about food) the three was walking down the corridor, which are about 15 meters wide and very high, on account of the superconducting transfer rings and carrier sled tracks overhead, and from time to time a humming and loud shoomshoomshoomshoomshoom, as energy is diverted from the main core to systems where it’s needed, and The Baron had disappeared to where he needed to go, which is normally level 13 in the main tower, which included the bridge, on level 30 and The Baron’s quarters, on level 70. Level 13 is an enigma. You can get to it normally, in the elevator, it’s not removed from the panels, but only a few people have access to the level, on account of the strong viral code#.
The Baron had met with General Valkyr, the leader of the Vekeis, on level 13. And unlocked the door. They walked inside and the door closed and locked automatically. The structure of the level was different, as the floor emitted a blue light, and the corridor was rounded in the walls, as opposed to at perfect right angles, and is studded with display cases (shielded) full of strange artefacts, from The Dark Times, the first era after the creation of the universe, many strange things occurred then, and many of them had survived in subspace. Including the Halcidites, in a stricken energy craft.
‘So… what have our men discovered?’ asked The Baron
‘Sir… I don’t quite know how to say this…we think it may be alive’
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‘So, Lori, what do you think of the place?’ asked Jazz
‘It’s all right; I suppose, the Arboretum’s nice, food’s good, too.’
‘Yeah, but don’t you feel sort of… out of place here?’
‘I wouldn’t know, we’ve never been in one place too long, you see’
‘It’s great.’ Spaz piped up ‘there’s a load to do’
‘You miss her, don’t you’ said Lori to Jazz.
He hung his head.
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*Stratium is the blue-gray metal that makes up the vast portion of the superstructure on The Baron’s Starfleet ships, and is 40% stronger than Titanium-Carbon alloy
#Viral Codes- certain security lockdown codes which ‘mutate’, so they cannot be cracked. They figure strongly in ship security, so people can’t pilfer the technology.
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Man cannot create an earthworm,
Yet he creates Gods by the hundred!
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