These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

EVE Fiction

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
 

P&P Fiction Contest - "The Hunt"
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Tom Hawkins
Space Environmental Protection Agency
#1 - 2015-11-08 05:53:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Tom Hawkins
“The Hunt” By Tom Hawkins

The man was dark skinned, robed in a brown cloak. He stood in front of the terminal, watching the ships race through space. He wondered how they were there, in his domain.


His pulse was racing, mind on edge as he fled, through belts and through stargates – system to system he jumped. He knew he was better, but this was the game, was it not? Run, don't get caught, and win the game. His Rifter was running smoothly, it's engines glowing in the coldness of space. He saw his pursuers light up in local now and then, he knew that they were gaining.


The two Executioners behind him pushed their ships to the max, thrusters straining to catch the slippery Rifter. Their ships had been built specifically to chase down the fast raider frigates of the Minmatar Republic, to chase and to kill. But the goal here was not death, merely to capture.



The Rifter pilot warped to a belt, and maneuvered through the debris of the asteroids. Reaching the other side, he waited until the two Amarrian frigates had landed. He sat there deathly patient. When they were in the middle of the field, he warped off to the next gate.



The pilots in the Executioners quickly found themselves stuck on the asteroids as they tried to align to pursue. They lost precious moments as they skirted around the asteroids, and then warped after their goal.



“Cheater!” One of the Amarrian pilots screamed at the Rifter captain. The Minmatar pilot just laughed.


The dark man continued to watch this chase through The Bleak Lands, two golden dots chasing the red one. A woman walked up to the terminal, also dressed in brown, but with a silver plate over her shoulder. “Idmei, who are these three?”



“I do not know, nor do I know how they have access to our system. The Society Integrated Space Immersion is for capsuleers only, for testing and training, and yet here these miscreants are, playing about like children.”



The woman leaned closer to the terminal, watching the dots zip to and fro. They were nearing the Minmatar border, and soon the red dot would cross over. “Maybe they are children?”

Idmei turned to look at his chief advisor. “Placx, how could children have acess to the SISI?”

She bowed her head. “I do not know, but whomever they are, are they not doing what we designed it to do? Flying ships inside of our SISI of real space?”



Idmei huffed a sigh, and turned back to the terminal. “Yes, possibly, but they are not registered as capsuleers, and that is what worries me. How do they have access, children or not, to our system?”


The Rifter pilot sighed a breath of relief as the message that his docking request had been accepted to the Minmatar station. Once the ship was snugly inside, he removed his helmet, bounced out of his seat and started dancing in front of his siblings. “I win, I win, you two are sucky Slavers! Woo!”

Arcarin and Ineil took off their helmets and glared at him, they knew that Rogal was the best 'Slaver Hunt' player in the family. He would always get the catch when he was the slaver, and he would always get away as the slave. It just wasn't fair - except when mother played, Rogal could never beat mother.



“Do you two losers want to play again?” Rogal smirked at his brother and sister.

Ineil was just yonger than Rogal himself, and Arcarin was the youngest, the only girl in the family, well, besides mom that is. She stretched her arms out over her head, “No, no I don't want to play again, can't we go blow up some pirates in belts, that's fun!”



Ineil rolled his eyes, “As much fun as mining.” He too stood up and walked around the room. Wires from the terminal ran haphazardly under their feet and to the helmets that they were wearing when playing the game. “How about we take a break, mom should be home soon, and we don't want to be on here without her knowing!”



Rogal nodded. “Yeah... I guess. I still beat you two though!” They put everything away, and then ran into the living quarters. They started up a holoreel, fast forwarded it a couple hours in, and then sat on the couch. About twenty minutes later, they heard the door open, and footsteps enter into the quarters. 



“Hi mom!” All three said in chorus.



“Hi you rascals, have you been good today?” The sibling's mother, Oyena, was short but fit, as befitting an engineer on a station. She had to crawl into tight spaces several times a day to keep everything running smoothly. Her oil stained overalls told of countless hours of messy repairs, and the tears in the fabric told of the hazards she faced weekly. She smiled brightly at her children, all young, but all brilliant.



Rogal ran up and gave her a hug as he said. “Nothing much, we've just been watching movies for a few hours now.

”

Oyena's eyes sparkled a little. “Oh really?” She grabbed Rogal's face and turned his cheek towards her. She traced around the depression marks left by the helmet on his skin. “What are these little marks then, hm?” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and swatted him on the rear. “I know that it's a lot of fun, but don't get on my system unless I'm here, okay?”

Rogal blushed and kicked his feet together. “Yes'm.” He mumbled.



After dinner, Oyena tucked all three into bed. “We'll see about playing a game tomorrow when I have a little more time off work.” She kissed all three on the forehead, and went to dim the lights in the room. “Goodnight, and don't let the Fedos bite. Sleep sweet, my precious ones.” After the lights were dimmed, she shut the door, and went into the room with her system.
Tom Hawkins
Space Environmental Protection Agency
#2 - 2015-11-08 05:57:27 UTC  |  Edited by: Tom Hawkins
She picked up the largest helmet, and put it on. She launched her system and logged in using the credentials she had obtained all those months ago. She boarded her virtual interceptor, and began her search once again, station to station, system to system. Looking for any news, any signs that she needed, so desperately needed. She couldn't let herself sob, for fear of waking the children, but the tears came out from underneath her helmet. Where are you darling... Where? The hours rolled on, until she knew she had to try and sleep.

She logged off of the system, took off her helmet and wiped her face. She didn't hear Rogal sneak back into his bed from where he had been watching her, tears running down his face as well. That night, both he and his mother wept silently into their pillows.




The next morning, she hugged and kissed each of her children. “Now, be good, and stay off the system, especially today! Okay?”



“Yes mother!” All three children replied.



Oyena looked directly at Rogal. “Stay off, okay?” She said it with a smile, but it was a little stern.

Rogal looked down at his feet and muttered “Yes'm.”

His mother bent down and gave him an extra squeeze. “Take care of your brother and sister, okay? I'll see you after work, and we'll play a game.” She rose, grabbed her work bag and headed out the door. “I love you!” The children waited until they heard the door locks engage, and then walked into the quarters.



Arcarin jumped on the couch, and loaded up a holoreel on the history of the Caldari – Gallente war. Ineil leaned over the back and watched along side her.



Rogal looked at them both with his head tilted to the side. “C'mon now, why watch a holoreel when we can go play it?”



“Mom told us to really stay off of it today Rogal, maybe we should.” Arcarin had looked over at him, she was kicking her feet out and swinging them from the couch. “She doesn't give us that talk before she leaves unless she really means it. So, let's not, yeah?”

Ineil looked at the holoreel, and then at Rogal. “Bro, I wish we could, but Ar is right, we shouldn't.”



Rogal glared at the other two, and then started walking towards the room. “Fine, if you two don't want to... Fine! But I’m going to.”

The others looked at each other, sighed, and then settled on the couch. “He's going to get in trouble Ineil... And momma doesn't like to punish us...”



I know Ar, but it'll only be him, not us.”

Rogal closed the door, and placed the helmet on his head. “Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. What do they know? I've got to practice, I've got to be able to help.” He entered into his Rifter frigate, and undocked from the system. There seemed to be a lot more people on today than usual. A message popped up in front of his eyes.



*Welcome to Test Day, pilot! We are going to move you to the test system, and would like your feedback on the changes we would like to install into the overview for capsuleer pilots. Please state your name!”

*

Rogal panicked slightly, he had never been asked for his name before in the program. He knew that other pilots were in the same program, but his mother told him to never interact with them. But this was the program asking for his name, right? Not another pilot...



“R-Rogal Gamuere.”

*Error, please speak clearly when stating your name, no entry for Rarogal Gamuere found in the database.*



“Rogal Gamuere!” He spoke louder than he had intended, and winced at the sound of his own voice. He raised the helmet to look at the door which had opened.



“Rogal, what are you doing in here?” Ineil had his head inside the door to the room. “You're not talking to another pilot are you?” His face looked very concerned.



“No, I am not talking to another pilot, now go away!” Rogal yelled at Ineil. Ineil shut the door, and Rogal lowered the helmet over his eyes once again.

A message showed on the screen.



*Error, no pilot found.* It was quickly replaced with a new message. *Welcome, Rogal Gamuere, thank you for your participation in our mass testing!*

Rogal smiled underneath his helmet, now he really felt like a pilot!


Idmei stared at the name, and the override that he had issued to it. He could allow the program to register a new name not tied to a capsuleer, it was the first solid lead they had. “Run down this Rogal Gamuere, find out who he is, and then we can get to the bottom of this mess. We can't have random people joining in the SISI, and I have to know how these people are in the program.”

“Yes, Idmei, I’m on it.” Placx began the search for the name. “It will take several hours to search through trillions of people.” She watched the lines whir by, thousands upon millions of names, each a person in this galaxy, each one with a story. She didn't know how many had been born, or had died even during the time since she started the search. Yet this Rogal person was still logged into the SISI, so at least she knew that he wasn't dead yet.



The test moved on, capsuleers fought and blew up. Idmei made sure that the Rifter frigate piloted by Rogal was never targeted by the spawned AI being used for target practice. The test concluded three hours later, with capsuleers giving their feedback and logging off of the SISI to go back to their real exploits throughout the cluster.



“I've tracked down some possibilities, Idmei. There are four Rogal Gamuere names not on a planet. We can assume that they have access to capsuleer technology somehow. The first Rogal is age 42, works in an asteroid mining operation in the Lonetrek Region. The second is marked as missing, possibly abducted in a Sansha raid. The third is a child, age 12, living in Marosier, CreoDron Factory. The forth is an officer on a freighter, currently on a route between Amarr and Dodixie.”
Tom Hawkins
Space Environmental Protection Agency
#3 - 2015-11-08 06:03:16 UTC  |  Edited by: Tom Hawkins
Idmei walked over to Placx's terminal and mulled over the names. “I doubt that it is the miner, and we don't have a way to track down the Sansha... Though that is a really worrying thought if the Sansha are involved in this.” He removed the miner and the abducted names from the screen. “That leaves this child and the officer. Is the freighter captain a capsuleer?”



Placx opened the details on the officer's dossier. “Yes, and a rich one at that, she has been making trade runs for some years now, her wallet shows multiple transactions in the billions.”



“Send a team to intercept the officer when they reach Amarr, hold him for questioning. It could be that somehow, he's using his captain's credentials to gain access, which is strictly prohibited, but it still doesn’t explain the multiple unregistered pilots. Now, what about the boy?”



Placx minimized the screen for the officer, and expanded the boy's information. “He is the son of a Industrial pilot, Aloriel Gamuere, non-capsuleer. Marked as missing after his ship was destroyed by high-sec pirates. Possibly survived using an escape pod, however unknown.”



“And the rest of his family?”



“Two siblings, Ineil and Arcarin, ages 10 and 8 respectively. Mother is Oyena Gamuere, Station mechanic, age 32... Oh...” Placx took a short intake of breath. “Poor little ones.”



“What is it Placx?”



“She...” Placx inhaled. “She's listed as deceased, mechanical incident as of an hour ago.”


The knock on the quarter's door was slow and heavy. Ineil ran up and opened the screen that showed outside the door. The figure outside was a lithe man, Ineil recognized him as his mother's boss. Another figure was standing beside him, a woman dressed in a suit, and she didn't look like a kind lady. “Hi Mog, what do you need, shouldn't you be working with mom?”



“Just... let me in Ineil, it's important.” Mog looked like he had a ton of construction blocks on his shoulders.



“Rogaaal!” Ineil ran off for his brother. He skidded into the room and snatched the helmet off Rogal's head. 



“Hey! What are you doin'?” Rogal had stood up and balled his fist up, he was in the middle of destroying a pirate, and having too much fun doing so.



“Rogal! Mog and a scary lady are at the door, and they both want in, they said it's important!”



Rogal's face clouded over. “A scary lady?” He could only think of one scary lady, he had never seen her, but he had heard stories. When station kids were taken away, because... because... “No! Don't let them in.” His eyes started to mist over and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

“Ineil? Rogal? Mog's head came through the door. He was holding Arcarin by the hand. “I'm sorry Rogal, I had to come in.”



Rogal looked at him, and started to sob. “I-I don't want to see you... I kn-know what this means.” He was gasping for air, and he just couldn't do it.



Arcarin and Ineil started to cry too, though they didn't know why. “Rogal? What's wrong?” Arcarin's small, innocent and sad face, tears running down her cheeks was all Rogal could see in that moment. How much she looked like mom.

The lady had slipped into the room, staying quiet and looking at the children. Hers was a rough job, and though she had built quite the wall around herself, it still broke her heart at this moment, every time, this moment. “I'm sorry children, you are going to have to come with us for now.” She took Ineil's hand. “Rogal, you too, please.”



Rogal looked at her through red-rimmed eyes. “How?” He said it through a strained throat. 

“Not now Rogal, not now.” She motioned to Mog, and Mog picked up Arcarin in his arm. He put his arm around Rogal.



“C'mon mate, it's time to go.” They all walked out of the quarters, and Mog locked the door behind him. “We'll be moving all your stuff up to some new quarters soon, but for now, you'll be staying with Ms. Cineru.”


The next morning, everyone that knew Oyena was gathered around the dock in the station. “We shall all miss Oyena Gamuere, her smile lit up our days, and her love for her family kindled a kindness among our people.” Mog was making his way through the last of the funeral, speaking in front of the engineering crew, and the three kids. Death wasn't unknown to anyone aboard a station, but it always left its mark.


Rogal sobbed, and he held his siblings during the whole service. No one tried to quiet them in their grief, and everyone's heart was broken for the children.


Her space casket was sealed, and loaded into a shuttle. From there, the pilot would jettison the casket into the sun. A fitting cremation for a person who lived and died in space. Rogal watched as the shuttle cargo bay closed. His heart filled with a fire, and he ran up to Mog. “Mog, I have to go. I have to see my mother off.” 



Mog looked a little dumbfounded, but then nodded his head. “It's not up to me mate, but I'll try to talk with the pilot and get you on. It'd be fitting, and I will watch your siblings for now along with Ms. Cineru.”



Mog and Rogal caught the pilot as he was going over his checklist before undocking. He listened to their request and cast a doubtful eye down at Rogal. “Well, I can't say that I haven't taken younger than you, but not anyone that wasn't with an older person. Can you hold yourself together?”



Rogal lifted his chin, tear stained as it was. “Yes, I can hold myself together, I've flown in space you know.”
Tom Hawkins
Space Environmental Protection Agency
#4 - 2015-11-08 06:07:46 UTC
The shuttle pilot raised an eyebrow and then smiled softly. “I'm sure lad, come on then. Let's see that your mom gets a proper farewell.”



Rogal climbed into the shuttle, turning around he waved at his siblings and Mog. They stood together in a group. Arcarin holding tightly to Mog's leg, and Ineil with his arm around Arcarin. “They're so young, and so am I… I promise that I'll take care of them mother… I promise.” He turned around, and stepped into the shuttle. The door shut as he sat down and began to buckle himself in.


“Not quite lad, this strap goes here and this one here. I thought you said you've flown in space before?” The pilot deftly buckled Rogal in correctly, and then proceeded to lock himself in place. “Okay, you ready?”



Rogal nodded sharply. He couldn't actually remember being in real space, he was told that he had been, but it had been a long time ago. 



The pilot flipped on his communications terminal. “Control, this is the shuttle 'Celestial Way', ready to undock with your permission.”

“Permission granted 'Celestial Way', fly safe.” The lights around the dock dimmed, another set of lights guiding the way to the undock lit up along the docking bay floor.

“

Alright lad, hold on, 'cause here we go!” The pilot punched in commands, guiding the shuttle gently out of the bay. Rogal met the familiar sight of open space in front of him, but he never had met the feeling of weightlessness as the shuttle left the station. “Don't barf lad, we're going into warp.” Rogal's stomach lurched as the shuttle dropped into warp, he saw the sun grow from a small orb to a gigantic sphere, glowing and throwing off plasma. “We're still about a month away from the sun if we were to fly there on just the main engines. It'll take about that long for your mother to get there boy.”



Rogal's throat choked up as he thought of his mother being burnt up to nothing – he started sobbing into his hands as he thought about life without her. He didn't know what was going to happen, to him, to Arcarin, to Ineil. The shuttle pilot let him cry, and prepared the casket for jettison. He tapped Rogal on the shoulder when he was done. “Lad, I'll let you do the honors if you want.” He gestured towards a button that was lit up. “Press that and let your mom go to her rest.”



Rogal eyed the button, he loathed to press it, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. Wiping his eyes and taking a breath, he leaned over and stabbed the button with his finger. *Jettison successful* The computer's voice chimed out in the cabin. *Casket has engaged booster rocket* The pilot turned the shuttle around, the windows dimming the glare of the sun. They could see the thruster, burning for a moment before it was lost in the brightness of the sun. 



“There she goes lad. I'm sure she’s right proud of you.” The pilot squeezed Rogal's shoulder. “It's time to head back lad, thank you for being my co-pilot.

”

Rogal looked up and gave him a sad smile. “Thank you for letting me come.” His stomach lurched again as the shuttle entered warp, and returned to normal when they dropped out in front of the station.

“This is the 'Celestial Way', requesting permission to dock.”

“'Celestial Way', your request is conditionally permitted.”

The pilot looked confused. “Conditionally? What is the condition?”



“You are required to dock in bay C 26, please go there directly.” The communication from the station command shut off, and the pilot just shook his head while mumbling something intelligible. He made his way over to bay C 26, and landed the shuttle there.



“Odd, this is a rather unused portion of the station...” He unstrapped himself and did the same for Rogal. “Maybe someone has something planned for you lad. I'll get off with you.”



They waited for the shuttle door to open and the stairs to extend. They both walked down the stairs and saw several people dressed in brown clothing, one was a dark man standing in front. He waited for them to get a little closer, and then spoke to the pilot. “Captain Tului, your presence is not required here, only mister Rogal, you are to take the 'Celestial Way' back to your original bay.

”

Captain Tului put his hand around Rogal. “May I inquire as to your intentions for the boy? His mother just passed away, and I don't necessarily intend to leave him without knowing what is going on.”



I am Idmei Sver, of the Society of Conscious Thought, and you will leave the boy here with me, we will take care of him.” Idmei moved forward, and handed Tului a data chip. “Read this once you reach your original bay, take what you want from it, but never speak of this meeting. Now, leave.”



Captain Tului glared at Idmei, looked down at Rogal and then knelt. “Rogal, I think you'll be okay, the Society are good people, at least that I heard of. I don't know what they want with you, but, just remember your mom, okay? Fly safe lad.” He squeezed Rogal, then stood up, nodded towards Idmei, and then walked off to his 'Celestial Way'.

“Rogal, come with us.” Idmei turned and started walking away, but Rogal just stood and watched the shuttle lift off, and fly out of sight to another section of the station. “Rogal.” Idmei had stopped and turned around, waiting as well for the shuttle to slip out of view.

“What do you want with me?” Who am I to you?” Rogal had turned towards the dark man, and planted his feet there on the bay floor. “You're from some corporation, and I'm nothing to you.”



“Oh, but that is where you are wrong, Mr. Gamuere, we have questions, and we think you have answers.” Idmei walked over to Rogal. “Your name came up in our program yesterday, yet you are no capsuleer, how?”



“Wait, what program?” Rogal became panicked, this must be why mom said to never talk to anyone, the program wasn't hers, but someone else's.

Tom Hawkins
Space Environmental Protection Agency
#5 - 2015-11-08 06:10:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Tom Hawkins
“It may have just seemed like a flight simulator to you, but it is what we call SISI, a very powerful integrated training program for capsuleers only, and yet you and your siblings have been flying around in it with no implants. I must know how.” Idmei grabbed Rogal's arm. “You will show us where and how.”



Rogal could merely nod at the man, Idmei seemed more than upset, and Rogal didn't understand why.



When they stood in front of Rogal's old quarters, Rogal opened it up for them to go inside. He led them to the room where his mother had built the system, where his mother spent countless nights crying in the dark.


He showed them how he got into his rifter, how the helmets worked. One of Idmei's men unplugged a helmet and wired it to a device that he held in his hand. Several minutes went by before he spoke up.



“Sir, it seems that this device has been wired into a jump clone, an old one at that. I'm not sure if it was ever activated by the original capsuleer. It seems that the devices here can read the inputs from SISI that are transmuted through the clone's implants, and also read the wearer's thoughts, sending them out through the clone and into SISI. It's quite the marvel sir, we've not seen anything like it.”



Idmei seemed incredulous. “But how is one clone allowing for multiple instances of pilots?”



“I… I don't know sir. Much of this is beyond me right now.” The assistant unplugged the wires from his device, and pocketed it once more. “We'll have to spend weeks, if not months examining the technology.”



Idmei nodded, a look of concentrated thought on his mind. “Rogal, do you have any idea why your mother built such a thing, or even how? Did she tell you anything?”



Rogal was still thinking about the device being wired into a clone, the thought that he had been using a living thing as a controller was upsetting him a little. “What was that sir?”



“Do you remember anything that your mother said about this? Why and how?”

“Not much sir, I just remember her being on the device during sleeping hours and crying, I don't know what she was doing.” Rogal felt tears coming on again. “She built it several months after Dad went missing.”



Idmei sat on the chair, and rubbed his eyes. “It's possible she was using it to try and find your father, hunt down any information that might have been stored when we renewed the server information. SISI has the capability of storing mass amounts of data, from ship locations to individual reports in stations. Whoever your mother was, she was more than a mere engineer.”



Rogal tilted his head and looked an Idmei. “What do you mean, whoever she was?”



Idmei gave a faint smile. “After you gave us your name yesterday,” Rogal blushed at that. “we ran a search for your name. We saw that your mother had been reported as being in a fatal accident, but she also lacked many details in her history, as if her past was wiped and simply rewritten. We don't know why, or for what purpose, it is a mystery.”

Rogal sat on the floor, he didn't know what to think. So many new questions to be answered, but now his mother could never answer them. His thoughts turned to Ineil and Arcarin. “What happens to me and my siblings?”



Idmei took Rogal's hand, helping him get to his feet. “My chief advisor has a tender spot for orphans, and she requested me to do something. She wishes for you and your siblings to come train at the Society, to become part of us. You'll all have opportunity to learn, to fly, and uncover mysteries, such as your mother, and your father. But you must understand, that you will be ours, and we will be yours, and no one else's. No Mog, no Ms. Cineru, no Captain Tului.”



Rogal couldn't imagine life outside of this station, all he could remember was being here. Yet he remembered the stories of the scary lady. That Ms. Cineru took you away if your parents died, and the grown ups never told the kids where they went. Yet here, with the Society, he knew what was going to happen, at least what was told to him. He looked Idmei in the eyes. “Alright, we'll go.”


Placx looked into the classroom, where students of the Society from all over the cluster were studying. Currently the principle of graviton physics was on the holo terminal.

“Has anyone tried contacting them?” Idmei had walked up beside Placx.

Placx turned and bowed her head. “No, not yet. No news of their father either.”

“Make sure to keep an eye on them. The mechanical incident that killed Oyena may have been no incident, the attack on their father’s ship is also questionable. Whoever this family is, someone is hunting them. We must be on our guard Placx. We still have not unraveled their mother’s contraption, and possibly the answer lies inside one of their minds. We must wait and see.” He turned to leave once again. “One more thing, make sure the daughter receives no implants, like the boys have. She is to be our control subject.”



“I will make sure of it, Idmei.” Placx bowed her head once again as Idmei left and then turned her attention back to the classroom, and specifically on Rogal’s head, where the skin was healing around the new implants. “I will make sure.”


End.
Thank you for reading!