THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2518 words) [17/18] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 05 2016	Views/Reads: 1759/1246	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 1 - CH 16

SIXTEEN 

The following day's session took place on the Ship they were going to
use for the mission. It was a modified version of the Falcon which 
Tyler had travelled to Sirene on, its weapons systems having been 
increased. 

Blaze was still recovering from the hangover and the effects of the stun
gun and had been excused. The others teamed up with specialist Fleet 
technicians and were going over the layout and controls in their 
various departments. 

Miller was away in the Drive section re-familiarising himself with the
Falcon's nuclear powered engines. Sinto and Corthan were in one corner 
of the Bridge learning about the Ship's advanced weaponry. Muslik was 
in another area checking the Falcon's communication system and 
computers. He had already planned some modifications to the main 
Computer but he refrained from discussing that with the technician 
showing him around. 

Which left Kane and Talis. As his Pilot, she would effectively be his
First Officer and the two of them were moving round the Bridge with a 
technician, going over controls. Despite himself, Kane was stealing an 
occasional glance at Talis...and her figure. Maybe it had been too long 
since he had been with a woman. Maybe it was her perfume. Maybe. 

Tyler meantime was in his secret room deep in Fleet Head Quarters. He
was sitting back in his chair, leather boots on the worktop, smoking 
one of his thin, black cigars. On the bank of small screens on the 
wall, he could watch different areas of the Ship from hidden cameras 
and he grinned in satisfaction, knowing that he could see the prisoners 
without them knowing. 

They spent until mid-afternoon in the Ship then it was time for Jetpak
training but Kane had asked if he could stay on alone so he could 
completely re-familiarise himself with the Falcon and Tyler had agreed. 


The Ship was not powered up and even if it had been he'd been cloned so
escape was out of the question. Just to be on the safe side Tyler had 
left a few Guards who lounged around the Ship, waiting for him. 

Prowling round the Bridge, Kane felt as if he'd never been away. It all
came back so quickly – the instruments, the controls, the scanners and 
screens, the Teleport Platform, the atmosphere. Some advances had been 
made in the weaponry since he'd been on Sirene but his mind rapidly 
absorbed the new information just as it had when he'd been a Fleet 
Captain. 

The Lasers were more accurate than the ones he'd been used to – the
first beam that was fired sighted on the target then bounced back a 
second beam to the weapons computer which made any necessary 
adjustments then fired the third beam which actually destroyed the 
target. The process took two seconds and after the first beam locked on 
it was impossible to miss, even if the target was moving. 

The Cloaker was a very recent addition. It could render the Ship
invisible for short periods as it moved through space. The drawback was 
the massive amount of power it drained in doing so. 

The Thermal Sensor was good. It allowed someone to be tracked on the
surface of a planet when the Ship was inside its atmosphere. 

The invisible Explosive Vapor which could be sprayed out to varying
distances was deadly. It drifted around where sprayed until something 
came into contact with it then exploded. 

The Ship itself, complete with Fleet markings on a strengthened outer
hull, was similar to one he'd commanded himself a long time ago and was 
nuclear powered. 

After examining the Bridge in detail he strapped himself into the
Captain's chair and looked round. He felt completely at home, as if 
he'd never been away but he was too honest with himself to permit that 
illusion to linger. Those days were gone. He was an ex-Fleet Captain 


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