Chapter 11: Corri-Door

I arrived at Corri-Door nine days after I left Austin. The system was on the very edge of Union Space. Kermac/Galactic Council space began just beyond its heliopause towards the general direction of the galactic center, or in the old astronavigation terms, towards Galactic East.

Two so-called transit corridors, marked only by marker buoys and defined by the armistice treaty that ended the last big war originated from here. One of these corridors connected Magnitude, the home system of the machine species called the X101s, with Arsenal, a nine-planet system that was one of the Union Navy’s biggest Fleet bases.

The Corri system would have never been important if not for its strategic position. It consisted of Corri, an Orange K III star, plus three rock and ice planets and one gas giant with only one sizeable moon.

Yet every rock and surface of the system was occupied or utilized. The Sixth and Seventh Fleets had their permanent headquarters here.

Border Control was stationed here, responsible for logistics, intelligence and patrols for the 22,000 light years of border space the Union shared with the Galactic Council and Nul. Due to the recent events the system was busier than a flicker fish hatchery at feeding time as we arrived.

The planets were named Corrosive, Corri-Door, Corri-Rock and Corri-Giant, with its moon, Corrode. Our destination was a Class A port on Corri-Door. Even though this world was the second planet orbiting around its star, it was too far out to receive much heat and was mostly composed of a methane and water ice mantle over a rock core. It had no minerals or metals worth mining, a thin atmosphere and it was almost as cold on its surface as was deep space.

The spaceport and planetary city of Corri-Door were completely different from Twilight, while there were a few civilians among the milling crowds of beings, almost everyone was wearing some kind of military uniform and there were no Gal Drifters, or Bottoms to be seen anywhere.

I couldn’t help but smile as I noticed an Arthur’s Swine and Dine restaurant. This one was the biggest I had seen so far and every one of the hundred or so tables was occupied by soldiers, space crews and Marines. I was told space bus traffic to Arsenal had not yet resumed but the Greylines info bot was certain they’d resume regularly scheduled flights within the next four to five days.

I went into a recruiting office and they confirmed my pre-entry appointment and I was assured, this time by a life officer, that I was still way too early and had be plenty of time to make my application once the connection was re-established. So I had at least four days to kill.

With no particular destination I went to the huge view ports allowing a view over one of the landing fields. Six battleships were currently being serviced by towering robots with dozens of flexible metal tentacle arms. Marines in precise columns marched to board a Marine drop ship. Another Marine ship landed and at least two hundred Dai Than pirates and twenty or so black Nogolls, wearing prisoner control-suit restraints and guarded by battle robots and armed Marines, were herded into a waiting transport skimmer.

I watched for at least two hours before I got tired of standing and decided to sit somewhere and have something to eat. I also needed a hotel.

A fur covered Attikan behind the counter of the Holiday Inn made an apologetic gesture. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re booked solid and I’m afraid all spaceport hotels are as well. I doubt you’ll find anything in town right now. It looks like half the Union is here and you might have to take a shuttle to Corri-Rock or Corrosion.”

I turned and considered the options. I was looking for an info bot when a tall red haired woman with a dark green velvet dress said to me, “Excuse me, sir, but I too need a room and I heard you were as unsuccessful as me. I just found out that the Cloud Castle on Corri-Giant has rooms available. I just called an intra-system cab. You are welcome to share the cab fare with me if you like.”

“Yes that would be great. I don’t really want to spend three nights sleeping in the space bus lobby.”

“I was afraid I’d have to do something similar,” she said. I guessed she was between forty and ninety years old. Her hair was long and curly in a dark coppery shade. Her eyes were as green as her dress and she had a nice feminine curved body under that velvet knee-length dress. Over it she wore an open, matching dark green coat. She held out her hand. “I’m Dawn Blythe by the way.”

“Eric Olafson.”

She wore thin leather gloves and a bunch of silvery bracelets that tinkled as I shook her hand.

The intra-system taxi arrived moments later. It was a large D 4 flier capable of interplanetary space flight and piloted by a very tall humanoid being.

Dawn said to him, “Cloud Castle Hotel on Corri-Giant please.”

The pilot waited till a robot put the lady’s luggage in the cargo box and answered. “This is my sixth trip today to the Gas Planet. Every room is booked solid. Not just military, there are going to be a lot of people coming to see the executions.” He queued his cab behind a row of other taxis and fliers heading for a force field membrane to get to the outside of the planet’s surface. He switched to auto pilot and asked, “So are you here for the executions as well?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know anything about any executions. I’m on my way to Arsenal but the buses haven’t resumed service.”

The woman answered, “I’m here for the executions, yes.”

I wasn’t really interested but said, “Someone famous getting hanged or something?”

“Seventeen Dai Than clan chiefs are getting executed. They’ve been identified as slave traders and responsible for many deadly attacks and raids. Most of the captured Dai are processed and released but these seventeen were identified as especially cruel and having sold Union Citizens into slavery.”

The taxi passed through three energy curtains before we were outside. The pilot pulled the shuttle into a steep climb and accelerated quickly. I was distracted for a moment as I saw a Union battleship take off not too far from us and the immense ship climbed faster than we did. A feeling of great pride filled my heart as I saw the lettering and read the ship’s name, USS Ragnarsson.

The shuttle pilot changed course and kicked in the small ISAH drive and I couldn’t see the ship anymore. The pilot and the lady were talking and I paid little attention, but the pilot had other ideas. He turned his seat. “Andoria, my home world, is clear on the other side of Union Space and we never had any Dai raids. But my nephew was killed in a pirate attack and I think we should hang them all, no mercy for pirates.”

The woman simply nodded but didn’t say anything. I figured she too was here to see those hanged because she might have lost someone. Then she said, “Watching a hanging isn’t something that should be done for entertainment.”

He shrugged. “It was a citizen decision to have executions shown to the public. Over 80% voted for it, if I remember correctly. If only one person thinks twice about murder and slavery after seeing an execution then it was worth it. We Andorians had a long history of slavery both as slavers and as slaves and I tell you lady, I’m as proud a Union citizen as there is because we aren’t doing it anymore. Our society is filled with sad and horrid tales. My own family had been sold as slaves. Being sold and used against your will is worse than death. I’m going to watch it for sure and send my aunt and uncle a recording of it.”

She sighed.

The cab reached the huge gas planet after about 20 minutes. He turned to us again. “We’re almost there now. This DeNoir Planetjumper does eight percent over light speed.”

I asked, “Is this is the fastest it can go?”

“Unfortunately yes, sir. This isn’t a FTL shuttle, able to reach other systems, and I’m not licenced to go past the system. You do know about the shipmaster’s licence required by Union law for any conveyance going past the light threshold. Intra-system traffic skims only a few percent above light speed so we can use ISAH drives, take our time along the way and make it in a reasonable time to other celestial bodies.” He sighed. “If Corri stays as busy as it is, we’re bound to get a space tram or even TMT connections. No need for intra-system cabs then.”

He shrugged. “Anyway, welcome to Corri-Giant. The floating cities on Corri-Giant are as pretty as the ones on Saturn I’ve been told.”

I expected the hotel to be on a moon and said, surprised, “The hotel is on the gas giant itself?”

“Oh yes. There are many gas planets with floating cities. It all started with the Terrans, who simply settle and occupy everything, building Nuc-Gas refineries on Saturn and Jupiter. Those are the names of the gas planets of the Sol system by the way.” He made a few control adjustments and continued, “You know gas planets are the best source for Nuc Gas, the stuff we use to power ISAH Pods. The refineries grew, permanent crews brought their families and they wanted to shop and have schools, and before you knew it, floating cities came into widespread use. With Corri system being an important Fleet depot and traffic hub, that’s why we have refineries on Corry-Giant. Actually, the cities down there float on a thin layer of liquid water vapor and below that is metallic helium and hydrogen and other stuff. Don’t worry, the floating cities are quite safe and nothing has ever happened to them. The Cloud Castle is a five-star hotel.”

The gas planet was enormous and reminded me of Big Ball, the planet I had seen in the sky of Twilight. The pilot activated shields and dove into the swirling atmosphere of the giant. Even though the shuttle was stabilized it was tossed around by violent winds and some of the motion came through. He laughed, “I always love this part. Makes you feel like you’re actually flying.”

Then a city appeared, looking as if it was sitting on a huge dinner plate floating on a purple and gray chasm of foggy nothingness. There were lightning bolts crackling over a sky of shades of red and blue. The clouds whirled, like milk stirred into black coffee, and I wondered, if someone stared long enough at this swilling madness could they go insane.

With a last shudder the taxi slipped inside a protective force field and dropped us off at the doors to a big hotel. Only a nearly invisible force field separated this drop-off area from an environment that was absolutely deadly in so many ways. I was almost certain I saw life forms outside, looking similar to Nilfeheim jelly fish but without the filament strings below the body, and I saw Humans in suits with wings soaring outside the city.

The woman also noticed them. “No matter where Humans go they find a way to use their surroundings for sports and recreation. I think this is the secret of Terran Humans. They’re not the strongest, fastest or smartest species but they seem to be able to adapt to every environment.”

I agreed with her. Learning that there were floating cities in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant was really something and I had to agree with the Ancient, the Union truly was an amazing place.

The lobby of the Lux Hotel could have been anywhere, with its marble floors, indoor plant islands and water fountains. An Ult sat behind an Ultanium, which was somewhat akin to a Terran piano, and played Ult harmonic melodies. Humans and non-Humans, in business suits, dresses, and robes, walked back and forth, standing together in small groups talking to each other. Most of them ignored the whirling elements outside the view ports.

A Thauran receptionist in a tight fitting black suit and purple shirt smiled at us. “Welcome to the Hilton Cloud Castle on Corri-Giant. What can I do for you?”

I motioned the woman to go first and she said: “I would like a room for four nights.”

“I am sorry Ma’am but all our standard and deluxe rooms are booked or reserved. I do have one suite left however.”

“How much is that?”

“18,000 per night.”

“Are there any other hotels or accommodations?”

He looked at a screen and raised his hands. “It looks like the Snorkel Intake City has bunks left, but I wouldn’t recommend them to a lady. The Sylvain on Far Out still shows three rooms but that’s almost a day intra-system from here.”

Her mouth twitched and she said to me. “I do have a temporary office on Corri-Door, I guess we could share. I don’t know how big it is but it might still be better than the space bus lobby.”

I smiled. “We also could share the suite. I’m certain it has separate bed rooms.”

The blue faced Thauran looked at his readout after I swiped my CITI and Credit Chip. He said, “It is always a pleasure to welcome executives of Enroe Corp. Do you wish Human or robotic butler service?”

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