Chapter 2

Eric started on a regimen of exercises to shake the long cold sleep he had been under. While he had been frozen totally, it was still advisable to recondition himself, and he did so with a passion.

He also listened to a short list of systems that were non-functional or were operating on back-up systems. The forward boat bay had been damaged, and was not going to be operational without extensive yard repairs. CCS-14 said it could blow the doors, but that might not be advisable, as hull integrity would drop from 96.9 percent to a dismal 89.8 percent.

The biggest problem the ship had, was that the jump coils had been destroyed in the jump. Until they were replaced, it had no FTL capability. In addition, the starboard forward torpedo tube was a non-op. It was hit and severely damaged, during the withdrawal.

The computer had also activated the ships algae tanks to supplement on-board rations. The tanks were currently producing more than enough oxygen, and farming some of the algae for the food processors was at 60 percent. It would be at 99.99 percent in just two months, and Eric could save packaged foods as luxury items, if he wanted to.

A few more systems were operational under back-ups, and that was it. The ship had done an outstanding job of repairing itself during his long cold sleep. He was interested to hear a report from the ship stating that it had found, and was monitoring, a ship of unknown type and configuration in the system.

It was not powered, and it appeared to have been damaged at some time in the past. Configuration suggested it to be a sleeper ship of some type. The ship was contaminated with radioactivity. Current orbit projected it to collide with the sun in only 389 years.

What was even more interesting was the level of civilization on the planet. The ships computer estimated a total of 4,387,200 people inhabited the planet. The people were divided onto the two biggest continents.

Both populations seemed to be in what the computer termed to be a medieval society. Though mostly agricultural, there were several mid-sized cities. Then there were towns ranging in size from as few as 50 people, to 2000 people. The largest city the ship had found, had a population of close to 800,000 people.

One continent had almost two million people on it. The other continent had the remaining two point three million population. There was little communication going on between the two continents as they were separated by several thousand miles of water, and all communications seemed to be by ship. Wind powered ships that sailed the oceans!

Also, they populated very small portions of the continents that they inhabited. The ship had already scanned several mineral deposits that both populations could use, but were unaware of.

Eric did not know what he wanted to do first. Go out and look at the vessel that was on a ballistic for destruction, or go planet side. The ship had already sent down several SNARKS, which were used for intelligence gathering, and were very stealthy. They were 6 feet in length, and 2 and a half feet wide. They incorporated the latest Coalition technology, and were powered by a nuclear micro-plant. They had camouflage abilities to blend in with any background, and an anti-gravity drive that gave very good maneuverability. Out of the twenty of these devices that were on board, 14 had been dispatched to the plant's surface, seeking information on leaders, conspiracies, and the news of the day.

The ship had already solved the language problem. It was not a very complicated language, compared to some. The ship had downloaded the language into the computer in Eric's brain. It was one of the first things the ship had done when they had joined by hard wire after Eric awoke.

Eric was on the bridge listening to live feed from SNARK 011. It had infiltrated a fortress that the ship identified as a castle. Eric read the stats on it and was impressed. Of course, a combat car could level it pretty quick, but to build such an edifice without modern capabilities was impressive indeed!

A meeting of some sort was going on with the local leader. His cabinet? councilors? advisor's? were all arguing about a group of people who wanted to leave their control. The leader, whose title loosely translated as king, was reluctant to let this group go. Apparently they had some very gifted people and the king was reluctant to let them out of his control.

Most of his advisor's were stating that if he openly went against his own laws by detaining them, then his rule was a joke. He only ruled by, and with, the consent of his lords. They were strong enough to remove him if he went against the general consensus.

To Eric, it sounded like any group of politicians he had ever heard of. They all seemed to promise the moon, then delivered a back handed slap when you wanted them to keep their promises.

The ship had named the continents with people A and B. This conversation was taking place on continent B. It had the most people, and was the most built up. Continent A was not too far behind, but had a larger navy. It had an extensive merchant fleet, as well as a war fleet.

Apparently, the king did not want these special people to go to continent A. This led Eric to the question: what was so special about these people? The ship didn't know. What was the relation like between the two continents? The ship was unsure.

Eric told the ship to ready a combat car from the aft boat bay. He wanted to go down and get a feel for what was going on. The ship cautioned Eric that this might not be the best idea at this time. Eric responded that it was never the best time, so get the combat car ready.

So it was that Eric found himself in the pilot seat of combat car A/S/W 3 (A/S/W stands for Air/Space/Water). The ship had programmed the combat car to enter atmosphere over the ocean and come in far to the south of any inhabited area of continent B. Eric would then travel north until he could not risk flight any longer.

All went as planned, and he landed in some hills that protected his craft from prying eyes. It was high in the hills, almost in the mountains, and access was difficult without someone of his abilities.

Eric grabbed his backpack, and exited the car. He took in his first deep breath of fresh air in over 10 years! He sealed the car with a thought, and started making his way out of the little bowl like valley where he'd landed.

For two days, Eric walked. He worked his way north, past many farms. He was interested in all he saw. He finally came to his first little farm town. He had already settled on what his occupation would be. He was going to be a doctor.

The ornamental band on his left wrist, was actually a very sophisticated diagnostic tool. His backpack was loaded with medications, and his combat car had an auto doc on board that could do anything short of return life to the dead.

The SNARKS had gotten enough sensor readings to know that the humans here were human enough to be treated with the medicines Eric had with him. The ship had down loaded a small medical library into the micro-computer that had been placed in Eric's brain.

Eric was clothed in a seemingly native costume. His, however, had several differences. His boots were tougher, as was his clothing. Local weapons consisted of swords, knives, and bows of varying types.

Eric's clothing would resist being cut by swords or punctured by arrows, to a point. His warrior reflexes were programmed and automatic. He had two hi-tech weapons with him, that should extricate him from most situations in an emergency.

His medical bag was a copy of one that a ship's SNARK had seen. Included were seeming herbs and potions, but which were actually modern medications that worked as well, or better, than the local drugs. Mostly better. Still, there was a drug here the ship was interested in obtaining.

From everything the ship had found out, this drug had properties that were unique anywhere in the known universe. Of course, this was the unknown universe, but still, that drug that was on Eric's list of things to acquire, if at all possible. If what the ship had been able to discover about it was true, it was a base drug from which many more drugs could be made, including longevity drugs. With the capabilities of the ship, Eric was sure they could turn out several miracle drugs.

Slowly, Eric kept pressing his way to the north. When he was sure he was out of sight, he went into a computer-assisted jog, which moved him along much more quickly than a normal human could travel. Humans could maintain the speed he traveled, for short bursts; but his 'combat jog', was assisted by his cyborg machinery. It allowed him to travel quickly, for hours.

CCS-14 monitored his progress and informed him of his position relative to other humans or villages. He slowed down, and passed through several small farming villages. It was late afternoon of the third day, when he started thinking of finding a place to stay for the evening.

CCS-14 told him of a farm that was just two miles further north, and a large town of over 600 people a couple miles further on. Also, the roads were becoming more and more congested, and he had to slow his pace substantially.

The ship had equipped him with several silver and gold coins, that it had been able to copy from samples observed from the SNARKS. It looked like tonight he would be sleeping in the local equivalent of a hotel.

CCS-14 was in continuous contact with Eric via the SNARK that was always in close proximity to him. It had to be in order to maintain his safety, to perform surveillance, and to provide active defense if it proved necessary. Unbeknownst to anyone around him, SNARK 009 was keeping an eye out for, and on, Eric.

Eric looked around with interest as he entered this town of some 600 people. The buildings for the most part were made of wood, or a combination of wood and fieldstone. Simple in construction, most dwellings seemed to be single story units that were very small.

SNARK 009 directed Eric to a larger two-story building towards the center of the town which seemed to be the local hotel. When Eric got to it, it had a sign proclaiming it to be The Talon Inn.

It was a two-story building made of logs and stone. The roof peaked acutely, leading Eric to believe that it must snow heavily in this location. Most buildings that had roofs with this degree of slope, had them to alleviate extreme weight stresses, CCS-14 informed him.

Finding the main door, Eric entered and found himself in a dimly lit interior. His augmented sight took over and his vision improved greatly in only a couple of micro-seconds. He found himself in a large room, some 55 feet long, by 20 feet wide. A long table filled the center of the room, with bench seating.