Shepherd's Crook: Omegaverse: Volume 2 (15 page)

He made another note, placed it next to the first he’d written.

“Make sure to collect these minerals,” Phani said, indicating the new note. “They are being requested by the terraformation process on our planet. We need to provide them in abundance to hasten the process.”

“Yes, Phani babu,” said Rahul, not understanding anything except that he was to be on the lookout for the listed resources.

Phani returned his view to the new computer; the software installation process was nearly complete. Then he noticed a new email message indicated. Not in his normal personal account, but within one of the three folders he had created to receive the three unconditional favors he had given Taipan at the beginning of their relationship. Phani’s pulse quickened as he reached to open the folder, to see what was being requested of him.

Excited, he opened the email and read it. It contained only one line. Only five words. Only five words that would allow him to fulfill part of his debt to Taipan.

He read through them three times in the time it took to take a breath - ‘Accept it as a gift’.

Phani joined Rahul in mining, the two ships making quick work of stripping this section of the asteroid belt clean of valuable resources, but he was distracted.

What did Taipan mean by
accept it as a gift
? Accept what? He didn’t want to ask, didn’t want to seem as though he didn’t understand. What is some sort of American custom that he didn’t know about? Is this something that anyone in that country would have understood?

He tried to put it from his mind, but couldn’t. He reached for his cigarette pack and lighter when there was a knock on the door; he got up, pulling a smoke from the pack and putting it behind his ear. He dropped the pack back onto the table, and walked through his new apartment to the front door, opening it.

A delivery.

He signed for the package, acknowledging receipt, then took it into the office, setting it down on the floor. Rahul continued mining, seemingly unaware. Phani opened the box, and instantly understood what Taipan had meant. What the gift was.

Phani reached to the desk, to the new computer, and signed out of his Omegaverse account. Then he turned back to the box and pulled out his gift.

An Omegaverse virtual helmet.

Phani pulled off the helmet, amazed. He understood now why some players could become addicted to the game, addicted to the environment. Even the mundane act of mining - if mining in an asteroid belt could be thought of as mundane - had been an invigorating, captivating experience. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

He understood, now, what Taipan’s email meant. What the favor was. He was to accept this gift without thought of debt. He moved to his older, but newer, computer and sat next to Rahul at the table. Phani began writing a note of thanks to Taipan, wording it as one would to an equal. To a partner. He smiled. He’d gladly accept the gift. He was sure, he said, that the gift would benefit them both, equally. He sent the email, then deleted the account. One of the three favors had been returned. Gladly.

He began making calculations, taking notes, based on this new situation. Based on the amount of resources he could now farm daily, he foresaw not only an increase in his personal wealth, but he saw how the added resources, added to the Shepherd’s Cross terraformation, could decrease the time it took to make the planet ready for a colony. Perhaps, if he worked hard, by as much as half. Within six months, he could not only have a small mining fleet at his disposal, he could own ten percent of a new, thriving colony. He couldn’t begin to imagine what that would mean for him.

He looked to his new window, to his new view on Pune; it tracked with his new outlook, his new prosperity. Even the year’s monsoon was coming to an end - the day was sunny, without the constant pounding of rain that threatened to drown the country; but also brought with it new life. New opportunity.

He looked to Rahul, happily piloting his new craft into the mining fields of the asteroid belt after another load dropped off into the Shepherd Moon. He looked to the computer, freshly purchased, in front of him. He looked to the helmet. He had three computers now. Triple the amount he’d had only a few days ago. Three computers for himself and Rahul.

“Rahul,” he said “Do you know of anyone who’d like a job?”

Chapter 25

Duncan watched as Shannon sat on his couch, wearing his new VR helmet. She sat perfectly still, not even moving her hands as she navigated through the Omegaverse. It was eerie, he thought. She was seeing herself as part of a perfectly realistic environment; but looked like she was a statue. For all Duncan knew, she was currently running through a field, experiencing the sights, the smells, touching the plants, hearing the animals - everything just as though she was actually there.

“Do you want to try?” he asked, looking to his left, at Anna.

She shook her head, rose and moved toward the kitchen.

“No thanks,” she said, happily, “this universe confuses me enough without having to worry about a virtual one.” She laughed.

Duncan had arrived home after work to find Anna and Shannon waiting at his door, with an armload of groceries. They had arrived, they said, to fix him dinner.

That was the kind of friends they were.

He looked at Anna, busy stirring sauce, buttering a loaf and boiling water for pasta. They had, for the last hour, been putting together an Italian feast. Duncan popped a marinated mushroom into his mouth, enjoying the garlic and herb flavors.

“Have you decided to leave us yet?” joked Anna. She splashed some wine into the simmering sauce, and topped off their glasses.

“To begin life as an online entity?” answered Duncan. “Only if you’ll come with me,” he smiled.

“But,” he continued, sipping the Chianti, “with that new helmet it really does feel real. I imagine that if they come up with a way to eat and drink, the wine will be just as good as this.”

“Their cooking will never,” countered Anna, “be able to match mine. Mince up some garlic for the bread, please.”

Duncan entered the control room of the Shepherd’s Crook. Shepherd’s Crook Station, he corrected himself. Soon, this would be just a facility for the colony he was opening on the gas giant it orbited. The colony, and thus the planet, would also share the name.

Once the second colony opened on Shepherd’s Cross, Duncan would be in yet another unique position in the game; two colonies in one system allowed the owner to name the entire star system - assuming it hadn’t yet been named inside or outside of the game.

“I’ve got about a year to think of a name for the star,” he muttered. “That’s plenty of time to come up with something that has nothing to do with shepherds.” He smiled, inwardly.

He sat in the control room chair, nodding to Clive as he did. Bear curled into a contented ball in front of the chair, his head resting on Duncan’s left foot. The dog was as big as some medium sized adult dogs even as a puppy; by this time next year, he’d probably weigh over fifty kilograms and stand as tall as Duncan’s hips.

Duncan looked out into the stars. A swarm of at least half a dozen Delta class destroyers surrounding a Grizzly class battle cruiser made their way past. As they reached the L5 point, they jumped. He wondered where they were off to. Soon, they’d be able to base themselves here, at the station; once he made it public - in about five minutes. He hoped they’d enjoy the base - enjoyed it so much that they’d join his faction. There were already many factions within the Omegaverse, vying for control of the stars, but none had a space station of their own. A colony of their own; soon enough to be two colonies of their own.

Duncan’s faction would, from its formation, be one of the most powerful in the universe. That alone would attract members - he worried that it would attract the wrong kind. It was vital that he establish the group’s direction from the beginning. To make it clear that they were as much interested in developing as destroying. That they were perfectly happy to live with and work with other factions in peace; to work together to build up human space and protect it from alien incursion.

He looked to the controls for the colony; the floating city now tied irrevocably to the station. As soon as he changed the pair to public from private, they would be revealed to the universe. As much as he’d read about what that meant for them, he was still almost totally unsure of what would happen. What it would mean for himself and his friends.

He thought to Shannon, recently returned home after their dinner with Anna. He thought of her enthusiasm for the new reality she’d experienced; how reluctant she’d seemed to leave the new, overwhelming adventure she’d had to return to the real world. She made him promise to try to do everything he could to get her on the beta test list for the new helmet.

If Shannon’s reaction to the new helmet - which matched his own - was universal, the release of it to the mass market could conceivably see the Omegaverse grow into a space occupied by a worldwide audience measured in the hundreds of millions. Duncan felt like he was, truly, part of the beginning of something huge. That he was also in the position, thanks to his amazing good fortune, to take advantage of that. That good fortune, he realized, was not only counted in the luck he’d had in the game - finding the rail-gun, then the cowl, then the station - but in his friends, their invaluable advice, and in meeting Phani. As a business partner and, he hoped, a friend, he saw limitless possibilities.

“Clive,” he said, “please make the station and colony public. It’s time to see about the full potential of Shepherd’s Crook.”

meta 5

it is working.

soon, it will be time to reveal ourselves.

soon

but not now.

Epilog

Eric West walked onto the bridge of the Grizzly class battle cruiser, The Last Ronin. It was a huge room, befitting the size of the behemoth it commanded. The entire bridge of his Delta class destroyer, the HMS Westy, could have fit into the area behind the captain’s chair. The bridge was currently empty, except for one AI, in a black ensign’s uniform, standing to the left of the captain’s console. Eric looked to the forward view - the screen as large in this massive room as a movie theater screen. He saw a planet, rotating slowly in the distance. The third planet of the system, he knew. The planet newly named Shepherd’s Cross.

“This way, sir” said the ensign, walking toward a doorway in the back of the bridge. Eric followed and went through into a long, narrow room, dominated at the center by a beautiful, dark cherry wood conference table. The room was darkly wood panelled, with Napoleonic era naval prints lining the walls. Eric nodded approvingly.

Around the table sat, in high, leather chairs, nine officers. At the head of the table, at the other end of the room from Eric, sat Kato. He stood.

“Welcome to the Inner Lizards, Eric,” began Kato, spreading his arms expansively. A chorus of hello’s came from around the table. Eric nodded, smiling.

“Sit, please,” continued Kato, taking his own advice at the seat behind him.

Eric pulled out the chair and sat, at the foot of the table. On the table in front of him were a stack of skill certifications. He scanned through them - Pilot XV, Weapons Station XV, Sensor XV - all warship skill certificates, all the highest level. There must be a thousand dollars American worth of paper in front of him. He looked questioningly at Kato, who just smiled and nodded. They were for Eric.

Along either side he saw faces looking at him, friendly. He scanned through several names, on plaques in front of each; Krusher, BuckTard, RevDoc - and three too far away to read. Closest to him, on either side, the nameplates read ‘Zasteva, 12th Ronin’ and ‘Mage, 23rd Ronin’. His two opponents in the running fight from the shepherd moon to the jump point.

“Hello again,” said Eric, smiling broadly. They smiled.

“We do have one slight administrative problem, however,” said Kato, “as you’ll have noticed, the fleet has a certain homogeneity when it comes to names.”

“I see where you’re going,” said Eric. “What numbers are available.”

“Most are still open,” said Kato, “but we’re limiting the range to one through forty-seven.”

“I’m familiar with the story of the forty-seven ronin,” grinned Eric. He also knew that the 13th Ronin was the fleet’s clipper ship - the one Eric had sunk - and that the 12th and 23rd were taken by the captains to his left and right. He looked down either side of the table, reading through what he could.

“Is 1st Ronin available?” he asked.

“It is,” Kato said, “and I like the way you think.”

Eric had his XO change the name of the ship, and he changed his in-game nickname to Westy. To keep it alive.

Kato clapped, “Good, good! Eric’s a fine name, but we like to keep it a bit more informal. Hell,” he said waving an arm past his captains, “I don’t even know the real name of half of these guys here!” He laughed.

“Now, to business,” Kato said, turning in his chair. The wall in the rear of the room changed to a viewscreen, showing the same planetary view that Eric had seen from the bridge.

“This is Shepherd’s Cross, the third planet from the star in this un-named system. Someone has just begun terraforming the planet.”

Eric coughed, heads turned to face him.

“His name is Taipan,” began Eric. “He has some weird fetish for shepherds. His ship, a clipper, is named the Shepherd Moon. He’s a thief and a pirate.” Eric realized what he was saying, how it must look to the men around the table; the men who’d recently been hunting him for piracy. “They were
his
cargo ships I was attacking. His shipments I hijacked,” he continued quickly, flushing in embarrassment. “I didn’t even keep them. I couldn’t. No cargo hold; I dropped them into space. I just did it to get back at him.”