Riss Series 3: The Riss Survival (12 page)

"Thank you, Garrett. Nadya, I'm afraid to have dinner with you. You seem to attract killers like the stars attract us." She gave me a hug and waved me to a chair. "Fortunately, you have nine lives. We used the information you gave us, and I think we've identified the man, actually an organization, who bribed the sailors. We could prosecute the man but that would put the organization on alert and we'd lose them. So…"

"So, they will continue to try to destroy the Treaty, but SAS security has promised they will stop it before it starts." I couldn't stop a snort as Thalia sent me an image of a large cat with a shirt with SAS Security written on it chasing a hundred little rats. The problem was the cat wasn't catching anything. When I told Zann, she laughed.

"My feelings too. Changing subjects, I understand the Riss cruiser will be called Mnemosyne. I'd love to see it when it's finished."

"You’re in luck. A certain Admiral will be given a special tour tomorrow. Her hull is finished and work will now begin on the inside."

* * *

I stood inside the third, upper tier, of the
Mnemosyne
frozen in awe. The third tier was a two-story open space of two hundred thousand square meters, filled with trees, boulders, water, grass, and windows in the ceiling.

Thalia's sigh of pleasure felt warm and comforting.

"It's like being outdoors!" Oana Ja'Dalle said, her head swiveling from right, to ceiling, to the left, and back.

"Sa'Arkadi, you've taken my dreams and turned them into reality. It's beautiful."

"But if it's breached, the entire area will be open to space."

"It won't matter during a battle, because everyone will be at their stations. In combat, this tier acts as a buffer to the second tier where the Bridge, and other critical functions reside. Normally, it's a rest area for the Riss, who have lived their entire life outdoors under the stars."

"Danu and I are impressed, Nadya. It's truly a Riss cruiser. I can't wait to see it functional. When?"

I looked to Da'Maass. He stood looking at the ceiling for a minute, then smiled.

"It depends on our dybbuk. We've been working on the internal components for six months. If they meet… Captain Reese's approval, we may be able to have it ready for a trial run in six to eight months. Many of the components are already in production."

"Nadya, I want you to keep me informed. We may delay the next replacement run for a month or two if you expect to have a prototype ready. Admiral Plimson deserves to be the first to see a Riss cruiser. He's put a lot on the line letting you build it."

We descended to the second tier, which was composed of three rings. The rings weren't configured yet, but I explained the outer ring would eventually hold engines, weapons, sensors, missile and laser banks, workout areas, and maintenance bays. The next inner ring was reserved for the medical facilities, supplies, parts, missiles, and dining areas. The innermost ring would hold the Bridge and system computers.

When we finished the tour of the lower ring, Byer and Seng approached Zann and me.

"Captain Reese, excuse us, but Seng and I were wondering if you plan on having humans on board? We see areas designated for fighters and humans on tiers one and two but understand this is still a draft," Byer said. Zann turned her gaze on me, as if I had the answer.

"Partly it will depend upon the SAS and whether they will allow pilots and Scorpions to be assigned to Riss ships. And whether they will allow the units to be designated as Riss qualified."

"What do you mean, Captain?" Seng asked.

"There will continue to be the Lavetts of the world—people who hate the Riss or feel they are an abomination. Therefore, we can't have a random selection of people and replacements. The Riss need to be able to approve each individual, and in a sense, designate him or her Riss qualified. Much like the process of identifying those individuals qualified to be Scorpions or Shark pilots."

"Interesting. But knowing the problems you and the others have had, I fully understand. Personally, I hope the SAS allow it. I know the Scorpions love sailing with you." When Byer and Seng wandered off, Ni'Shay approached with Da'Maass.

"I'm old and thought myself past sailing on a warship, but I think I'd like this one. I don’t believe the SAS understand what you're building here. I believe they think you are building a smaller version of one of our Light cruisers. It's a hundred meter smaller than their typical Light cruiser, but judging by what I see here, I wouldn't be surprise if it isn't a nasty ship to fight." He was chuckling quietly as he walked off. While he was talking, Thalia gave Danu an idea of what the
Mnemosyne
would look like when functional.

"Yes, a very nasty ship to fight. I will talk with Admiral Plimson about the idea of attaching SAS units to the Riss cruisers. An interesting concept and consistent with the idea of the Riss being allies of the SAS."

 Zann departed two days later.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Trial run

The months flew by as the work of outfitting the Mnemosyne moved into high gear. I spent a considerable amount time visiting Alesd where the Bridge and missile electronics were being designed, manufactured, and tested. It was a lot easier to have an idea than to make it into a working component. Most of the problems came in creating the algorithms for the three missiles and control panels.

I had enough Riss now on Freeland to provide help at each of the manufacturing plants, installation on the Mnemosyne, and algorithms at Alesd. At least half the time, I took Pavao and Alena along. Including everyone in the design had proved beneficial.

Pavao sipped her kaffa as she, Alena and I relaxed in the Captain's … my newly furnished conference room on the Mnemosyne. "I had lots of doubts and misconceptions when you started the Riss cruiser. I thought a small raider-type cruiser using their technology. I never imagined a unique design. And that pales next to the innovations on the Mnemosyne. It's a next generation cruiser. If the tests prove successful, I wouldn't want to take her on with a Heavy." A satisfied look appeared on her face. "The best part is I got to participate in the design and production."

"I feel the same way. Being a Riss-human in the beginning was a living nightmare. Everyone thinking I was some kind of dumb animal to be abused or an abomination to be gotten rid of. The worse part, I had no one to turn to for support," Alena said. "If it hadn’t been for my love of Ma'at and Nadya, I would have quit and returned to Saipha. I feel like I've gone from space hell to space heaven ever since Admiral Plimson accepted Nadya's Riss Proposal."

"Well, Nadya, when do we show off the Mnemosyne?"

"Da'Maass hopes it will be fully equipped and ready for trials in two months, just about the time the replacements are due. I'd like to delay their arrival by two months to give us time to iron out any problems. That way whoever is coming will see a functional cruiser."

"How are we going to test the Mnemosyne? You’re not shooting missiles at the Bobcat," she laughed but looked serious.

"No. I thought we'd restore the Asp enough to make it space worthy and use it as a test opponent." I held up my hand when Pavao frowned. "Under the watchful eyes of Scorpions."

"What about the Mnemosyne's defensive systems?"

"I thought we give them twenty missiles." Again, I stopped her with my hand. "Without the warheads, Nance. I'd like your approval on the tests and to keep Corbitt in the loop."

"That's wise. Restoring the Asp will be very controversial. I think I'd disapprove if you hadn't included me on every step of the Mnemosyne's design and construction. Now you've got me hooked. I want to see it operational as much as you do."

* * *

Corbitt, Da'Maass, Ni'Shay, and Pavao walked onto the Bridge of the Mnemosyne and took their seats. In the design, I had incorporated positions were seats could be installed temporarily. At the time, I knew I'd have to accommodate my security detail and guests, like today. I took the Captain's chair officially for the first time. My eyes misted as I looked around the Bridge—a Riss Bridge manned by Riss.

I felt the pride in Thalia's thought.

Mnemosyne
.> I sent to Alena who would be my XO when the Mnemosyne became fully operational.

** Permission to detach
Mnemosyne
.** r-Galene voice box sent to the station controller.

"You're cleared,
Mnemosyne
."

I decided Alena would translate our SV conversations onto an overhead monitor for our guests, otherwise they wouldn't know what was happening since there would be no verbal communication.

Unlike normal communications on the Bridge, name or positions weren't required preceding an order. Each Riss knew to whom the message was directed by the images within the SV, and who sent it--in this case, from me to r-Laima at Helm. Shortly afterward, the ship began slowly moving away from the station. I waited, until we were a hundred kilometers away.

<,Helm. Half speed on engines one, three, five, seven, and ten,>

Asp
.>

After approaching the
Asp
for twenty minutes, I concluded we had not been detected.

Asp
has not responded. Half speed all engines. Activate sensors.> I sat waiting for the
Asp
to respond.

<
Asp
has launched two missiles.> Alena pointed to the overhead radar monitor, which showed the two incoming missiles and then the ECM monitor.

Alena pointed to the overhead monitors as each panel switched its function and as missiles were fired or detected as incoming.

The test went on for over an hour. Finally, I called a halt. The Mnemosyne had scored three hits out of five. The
Asp
had scored zero out of ten, even after we had intentionally signaled our position.

"Well, how do you like being on a Riss Cruiser?" I said, breaking the peaceful silence. Ni’Shay’s mouth opened and closed for a moment, as he seemed to be trying to find the right words.

"It was like being among the space gods. Except for the monitor, I wouldn't have known a battle was occurring with the
Asp
. I thank you for allowing me on the Mnemosyne."

"You’re welcome, elder Ni'Shay. You should be proud. The people of Freeland built it."

"I agree with Ni'Shay. The Riss and the Mnemosyne are awesome. Are you ready to invite the Admiral to Freeland?" Pavao asked.

"Not yet. The Dragonflies and Demons need further work. They failed to make the necessary adjustment in two instances. And although I stimulated the failure of the Radar panel, the ECM console failed on r-Asdis's panel when they switched. It served as a great demonstration of how the redundancy worked, but it failed and shouldn't have. I want the Admiral to see a working product, so any decision he makes is based on what works not what maybe works or could be made to work."

Pavao was excited and wanted to announce the results right away, and I sensed a little concern I didn’t want to share.

"Pavao, you have access to all the specs and the Riss have already shared Symath with the SAS. The Riss have no secrets from the military, but I want to confine it to Admiral Plimson and let him decide who else should know."

"The clans know," she said.

“The clans have the hardware specifications but they’re of little value without the algorithms. And even the algorithms are of little value unless you understand Symath. That could take a lifetime to learn without Riss help."

"Yes, I'm excited and cautious, but you're right. Plus I'd like to consider how we can convert the Bobcat," She laughed. "You know that's the next step."

"I agree. I think you and Corbitt should do a review of the Mnemosyne's features and determine which are applicable to a Hunter and which to a Light cruiser. Then prepare a plan documenting what would have to be done to implement them on each ship. You can make that part of the show-and-tell we give Admiral Plimson."