[40K, WIP] The Gildar Rift

[Дядюшка]

The Gildar Rift

by Sarah Cawkwell

CHAPTER ONE

'WE'RE DEFINITELY ALONE, sir.'

Silence followed this ominous pronouncement as the bridge crew of the Endless Horizon exchanged glances. There was concern in those looks; a deep anxiety that was almost palpable. Luka Abramova frowned, running a hand across his jaw as he considered the situation. His eyes looked over the unfortunate young man who had delivered this worrying missive and his grey eyes steadily narrowed in obvious disapproval. It was not the news he had wanted to hear.

The youth shifted uncomfortably, aware instinctively that more was expected of him. A slow, creeping realisation that every pair of eyes on the bridge were riveted to him began to creep unpleasantly through his body and he cleared his throat, tapping at the dataslate in his hand. Before he could speak however, Abramova leaned forward.

'The coordinates are correct, yes?’

‘Y… yes, sir. Captain.’ The youth offered up the dataslate and Abramova took it without looking down at it. The lume strips on the bridge were still dimmed, not yet re-powered after their trip through the warp. In the dull half-light, Abramova’s hawkish face was unreadable.

‘Then the words 'we’re definitely alone' are, as I'm sure you appreciate, Kaman, completely unacceptable.' Abramova rose from his control throne and took the two or three steps down from the dais. 'Are we so very early? Or even late?’ Abramova silently cursed the inconveniences of warp travel. Its time dilation effects were, of course, the least of the problems a ship could encounter; but they were a frequently irritating side-effect nonetheless.

‘Ship's chronometers put us at perhaps four hours ahead of schedule,’ came the answer from somewhere over to Abramova’s right. The captain glanced across and nodded curtly. When he spoke, it was with an outward confidence that he definitely wasn’t feeling inside.

‘Then we may as well continue onwards to our destination.’

'But, sir...' Kaman hesitated, biting back the words. He used the honorific without thinking. It was a sure sign he was nervous and Abramova noted it. He encouraged an element of informality amongst his crew. Some had, however, come to him from spells in the naval service and it seemed that old habits died hard.

Kaman cleared his throat. He did not wish to appear patronising or condescending, but every member of the bridge crew was thinking what he was rather clumsily attempting put into words. 'The dangers...'

'The dangers of the Gildar Rift are well known to me, Kaman. Do not presume to lecture me on that which I am well aware.' A look of shame coloured the youth's features and Abramova softened his attitude slightly. 'Concentrate on assessing all available data for our helmsman to get us safely through the belt and to Gildar Secundus. I'm prepared to compromise. We'll wait a while for our escort. I’m sure that they will show up soon enough.' Or perhaps, he added mentally, not at all. 'You all know as well as I do that we're on a tight schedule.'

This was certainly not the first time he had commanded a vessel through the treacherous straits of the system and he sincerely hoped that it would not be his last. But without the safety net of their intended escort he could not help but feel a disquiet that would not settle. A knot of discomfort began to twist in his stomach, but he retained a stoic expression. There was little point in displaying uncertainty to his crew.

'Yes, sir, straight away.' Kaman crossed his hands over his chest and returned to his station. Abramova nodded. They were a good crew; reliable and trustworthy. Inexperienced, perhaps. Kaman was a case in point. But Abramova had very carefully cherry-picked his crew over the years. There was enough combined expertise on board to ensure that their sojurn to Gildar Secundus should not have presented any major difficulties. He believed he had taken all the factors into consideration: indeed, he was completely confident in that knowledge.

And yet...

Were he brutally honest with himself, he would have admitted the truth of the matter. Had he been allowed to have his own way, he would have preferred to navigate through the debris field with his crew alone. His navigator was extraordinarily proficient and his helmsman was a veteran of many years. Telyna was one of the most extraordinarily gifted pilots he had ever known. They were a fine assembly and they had an excellent track record. The Endless Horizon may have been old and held together with little more than wishful thinking – but she was reliable. The old girl had many years of service left in her yet.

Abramova had certainly not wanted an escort. But ultimately he had not been given a choice. If there had been the option to refuse the vessel assigned to oversee their passage through the Rift, he would have taken it without question. However, he had not been given the chance to repudiate the suggestion. He had been told that he would receive the escort.

Luka Abramova was a shrewd man and an excellent captain – and he knew better than to refuse what was tantamount to a direct order from an Adeptus Astartes Captain. They were, after all, entering the Silver Skulls's patrol corridor and to have gone against that one instruction would have been an insult. On top of that, from what he knew of the Silver Skulls chapter in general - and of Captain Daerys Arrun in particular – it would possibly be perceived as more than disobedience. The Silver Skulls were noted throughout this sector for their ferocity, after all. To contravene an order was something that would be seen as a challenge, or something that would raise suspicion. It was the sort of activity that freebooters and smugglers engaged in. Abramova, whilst he may occasionally and almost always entirely accidentally have transported the odd microgram over his allowance, was no smuggler.

Not all ships were guided through the Rift. Most of the time, as long as their presence was made known, that was enough. But when the order had come through that the Endless Horizon was to rendezvous with another ship on arrival in the system, it wasn’t something that could be lightly dismissed.

Abramova had enough problems to deal with – he neither wanted nor needed the displeasure of Captain Arrun adding to his load.

'Maintain augur sweeps,' he said to the operative at the scanner console 'I want to know they second they show up.' Unlike some other ships, the Endless Horizon had an almost entirely unaugmented human crew. Abramova had served in ships crewed largely by servitors and had never felt entirely comfortable around them, at least not on his own bridge. As such, the moment he had taken command of his own vessel, he had instigated his own rules. Lobotomised servitors still moved around the engineering section in their lifeless way, never needing their morale attending to and keeping the literal cogs of the ship turning. But all of Abramova's core crew were human, not a servitor in sight. He was proud of that fact.

'Of course, Luka,' the operative replied. She was more comfortable by far with the informality adopted on board the Endless Horizon. Like Abramova, she was dressed in dull grey overalls with the ship's insignia, that of a sun setting on a horizon. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back from her face in a highly unflattering manner, emphasising the tired eyes and frown lines that marred her handsome profile. Abramova watched her for a few moments as she expertly worked the buttons and dials on the archaic systems at her fingertips. The cogitators and systems groaned into semi-obedient life and she murmured soft thanks to the machine spirits that she had disturbed from their slumber.

After some time, activity on the bridge of the Endless Horizon resumed some sort of normality. Abramova allowed himself the opportunity to relax a little. The tension had been uncomfortable, but there was always a brief spasm in the bustle after re-entry from the warp as the systems recalibrated themselves. Those moments may have been laden with apprehension, but there was nonetheless a certain peace; it represented a marked change from usual hubbub of life and animation that dictated his existence on board the freighter.

Information was passed to him verbally and in the form of printed reports and he took a great comfort in the perfect symphony of the workings of the bridge crew. It was a familiar, well-orchestrated pandemonium of sound that he could have conducted perfectly without even trying. The chimes on the quarter hour that reminded the machine operators to renew their litanies. The slow, steady growl of the engine’s pulse far beneath them – and the occasional lull in that growl as a piston skipped a beat. The monotone responses of the engine room servitors as they obeyed orders and relayed information across the ship-vox… Abramova leaned back in his command throne briefly and closed his eyes, allowing it all to wash over him like a soothing balm. All was calm. All was well.

Abramova had taken ownership of the Endless Horizon several years ago and although his preference was for independent cargo runs, he had nonetheless served the Imperium well when called upon to do so. Particularly when the agreed contract was as lucrative as the one he had negotiated for this run to the promethium refineries.

Known for his thoroughness and diligence and an honesty that was almost disarming, he was well respected and entrusted with many precious cargoes. Ten years of working solidly for the Imperium had given him an urge to work for himself – but here he was, back under contract to them once again. He’d developed a taste for the life of a freelancer, however – and there were many opportunities for ships to make trade runs to the Gildar system. Blessed with a wealth of natural resources, there were always contracts available to this part of the Segmentum Obscurus. It didn’t hurt to run a few more ‘official’ missions. Practise, he knew, made perfect.

There were certainly far more contracts than there were ships willing to travel there. Abramova had no compunction about such a journey. He knew the risks and welcomed them as part of what he considered his responsibility.

For countless centuries this part of space had always presented itself as a major hazard to all vessels entering into its vast tracts. 'The Gildar Rift' was the name that had been given to the shipping channel that cleaved its way through the area. Comprised of a number of scattered, largely uninhabited worlds, it was a potentially lethal zone to traverse.

Through the centre of the system, an asteroid belt orbited the densely-populated planet of Gildar Secundus. The field's intrinsic dangers were added to by the vast quantities of space debris that drifted eternally through the void. Remains of smashed vessels that had failed to heed warnings added to the hazards, too hazardous by far to salvage. Those would-be looters who had tried to recover the wrecks often added their own to the mass.

The ships were ruptured space corpses, leaching a slow trickle of plasma and other toxic wastes into the area. The lethal cocktail created a permanent chemical haze that caused interference constantly with auguries and communications signal.

So the asteroid belt was both a blessing and a curse; presenting difficulties for any who wished to descend to or leave Gildar Secundus, but also offering excellent natural defences for a planet whose promethium reserves were a critical source for the Imperium. The challenges offered by the swirling band of rock and ship debris was only the beginning. Xenos ships were regular trespassers into the system and, so it was rumoured, pirate activity was increasing not just in the Gildar Rift but in the whole of the furthest reaches of the Segmentum Obscurus.

Relishing the challenges that the sector offered, the Silver Skulls had long set themselves to the task of patrolling the Gildar Rift. Other chapters of the Adeptus Astartes would rarely volunteer themselves for such a plain, inglorious duty. But the Silver Skulls considered the sector as part of their territory. And the Silver Skulls were proud.

Safe it may have been, but the Silver Skulls monitored and maintained control over passage through the system with a rule of iron. The more fortunate vessels, such as the Endless Horizon followed protocol, alerting the Space Marines to their planned transit in advance. After the necessary approvals were carried out, they were granted permission and provided with coordinates where they would be met by an escort. Those who simply translated into real space within the Gildar Rift were very swiftly met with a 'welcoming party'. A misnomer if ever there was one. The stoic Space Marines weren't known for their warm and embracing natures. They were definitely well known for their adherence to rules and didn't take kindly to chancers. And woe betide any ship's captain who thought to argue the point with the Silver Skulls chapter. No, there were protocols to be followed.

Yet for all he had followed the guidelines and adhered rigidly to instruction in this instance, for all he had waited a tedious length of time for Captain Arrun's grudging acknowledgement, for all he had ensured that the coordinates he had been given to had been adhered to most rigidly, Abramova and his crew were completely alone.

The captain's hand ran over his jaw again. It was a nervous gesture and one that didn't even begin to hint at the sense of extreme caution that was beginning to eat away at him. They had been told that to traverse the Gildar Rift without an escort was tantamount to going against the Silver Skulls' direct wishes – but there was no escort present. Abramova would be damned before he drifted idly in space, a sitting target for any pirates who might chance their arm.

He had always hungered for the autonomy of his own command and so when the opportunity to invest his dead father's money had come along, he had grasped it with both hands. The years of managing his own contracts and pulling together the best crew he could afford had given him a wealth of experience. Thus it was from this pool of worldliness upon which he now drew.

The choice, then, was reasonably straightforward, yet far from simple. Maintain position and wait for the Silver Skulls to arrive – or continue towards Gildar Secundus. It was only a several-hours journey away and Abramova had every confidence in his highly skilled crew to arrive in one piece. Exactly how the taciturn Captain Arrun would react to such a breach of verbal contract, he had no idea – but could hazard a reasonably well-educated guess.

In the end, compromise won out.

'Maintain a holding pattern for five hours,' he said, dropping back down onto the command throne. 'If there is no word from our escort by then, we continue onwards to Gildar Secundus.'

'Aye, Captain.'

Abramova let out a rushing breath. With luck, he would not need to risk the wrath of the Emperor's Angels.

SLEEP HAD BEEN elusive during the journey to the Gildar system and Abramova had taken advantage of the five-hour grace period to retire to his quarters and attempt to catch up on some much-needed rest. He had barely had time for his eyes to close and to fall into a deep sleep before he was rudely dragged awake by the bellowing scream of the ship's alert system. Scant seconds later he felt the ship lurch beneath him. The suddenness of the movement tipped him ungraciously from the bunk.

'Captain Abramova to the bridge,' his helmsman's voice was saying across the shipboard vox system. 'Proximity alert.'

Roused into full wakefulness, Abramova hauled himself off the floor and rubbed sleep from his eyes. He caught a passing glimpse of himself in the tarnished mirror above his sink and wished he hadn't. Looking dishevelled and tired, many years past his fifty, he hardly cut the figure of authority he had always at least attempted to maintain.

He was still pulling his overalls on over his clothing as he strode through the door to the bridge.

'Report.' He stifled a yawn and glanced at the ship's chronometers. He regretted it instantly. He had been asleep for less than two hours. 'Is it the Silver Skulls?'

'No, I'm afraid not.' Telyna, his pilot – and the most competent woman he had ever met in his life turned her head to study him with casual indifference. 'Debris field dead ahead. I’m doing what I can to avoid the worst of it.’

Telyna's words made their way through his muzziness and snapped him back almost immediately to full alertness.

‘I could tell by the way you woke me up.’

Telyna tossed her long, blonde plait over one shoulder. It was a simple gesture, but there was a lot of suppressed aggression there. ‘I could have just let the remnants of that ship hit us. Would you have preferred that?’

Their eyes locked for a moment and it was Abramova who looked away first, a slight smile on his lips. 'Can we not simply go around?’

‘Something’s stirred up this debris,’ she reported, turning away from him and gesturing out of the forward view screen. ‘There's enough junk outside to ensure that no matter which direction we take, we'll hit obstacles of one form or another.’ Telyna fell silent for a moment or two, concentrating on the matter at hand. 'Most of what's out there looks pretty old. But we’ve already seen at least one complete vessel. Recently disabled according to the preliminary scans.'

‘Probably the last ship that didn’t follow Arrun’s orders,’ Abramova muttered, then shook his head. Probably better not to allow himself to wander down that line of thought. 'Maintain course and heading. Be alert and prepared for anything. It's a deathtrap out there.'

Изменено 3 февраля, 2011 пользователем Дядюшка

[культурки не хватает?]

для кого это?

[Дядюшка]

для кого это?

для тех, кому интересно, что ЭТО за книга

[Alfаrius]

Корсарчики - это хорошо, чёрт возьми! :rolleyes:

[Erenarch]

хм... сразу видно, что женщина писала :)

капитан, рулевой - женщины =)

собсно рассказ у нее неплохой получился, посмотрим что за книга выйдет

[Alfаrius]

хм... сразу видно, что женщина писала :)

капитан, рулевой - женщины =)

собсно рассказ у нее неплохой получился, посмотрим что за книга выйдет

Если это та, что написала рассказ про дручии, то боюсь, у маров появятся дети. <_<

[Erenarch]

нет, она писала уже про Черепов

[Летающий Свин]

нет, она писала уже про Черепов

Редкое, кстати, УГ.

[Дядюшка]

хм... сразу видно, что женщина писала :)

капитан, рулевой - женщины =)

у Бена Каунтера чуть ли не в каждой второй книжке - женщины капитанят или занимают высокие командные должности...

кстати, тут "Абрамова" - мужик. просто с фамилией не повезло. кто-то на форумах уже указал Саре на то, что это не очень лепая фамилия. но это только "первый драфт", так что в конце очень может быть, что получится всё-таки "Абрамов"

[Габозов]

Народ, всем советую книгу(хоть читать и не хотел). В книге имеется. Псих Гурон, натягивание лоялов и страшная тайна Серебряных черепов.

[Дарт Йорикус]

Ещё там имеется отсылка в конце к событиям "Кровавого Пирата" АДБ. :)

[Летающий Свин]

Давно охота на эту книгу лапы наложить :)

[Monique]

Что с Черепами? Они всё-таки потомки Железных Воинов?

[Габозов]

Не. Эксперименты над маринами, по подключению их к кораблю, типа дредноут.Марин и корабль становятся одним целым. Черепа также вымирающий орден.

Изменено 8 января, 2012 пользователем igori

[Erenarch]

так это типа не ново

[Monique]

Марин и корабль становятся одним целым. Черепа также вымирающий орден.

А из-за чего вымирают?

А в подключении к кораблю нет же ничего плохого :? Это старый одобренный приём, пользуемый даже адмиралами Флота.

[Габозов]

Но не по кодексу. Марину отрезают все что можно и впаивают в корабль, а не как в дредноут, после получения ран и система подключения тоже не одобрена механикумами. Человек слишком сливается с машиной. А вымирают из за потерь, беспокойный участок им достался, а тут еще Гурон решил их извести и неофитов себе забрать.

[Ash W]

У бладов в Дэус Энкармин, кажется, тоже капитан был намертво вмонтирован в корабль. Все ок.

Книжка есть, надо читнуть. Долгая вообще?

Изменено 8 января, 2012 пользователем Ash W

[Габозов]

230 страниц. Так вмонтирован после ран возможно, а это намеренно. И он не просто как капитан, а вообще один десантным кораблем управляет. И там система мудреная, чувствует корабль как свое тело.

[Ramzes Literus]

Может спойлер под катом на пишет тот кто прочел???

[Erenarch]

И он не просто как капитан, а вообще один десантным кораблем управляет. И там система мудреная, чувствует корабль как свое тело.

ну один - это тоже не особо ново, севиторы могут все заменить. ну а чувствовать, так тоже нормально, было уже. да и принцепсы титанов тоже себя так чувствуют. среди флота тоже распространено.

[Дядюшка]

ну один - это тоже не особо ново, севиторы могут все заменить. ну а чувствовать, так тоже нормально, было уже. да и принцепсы титанов тоже себя так чувствуют. среди флота тоже распространено.

кажется во второй книжке про правосудора Аларика был как раз такой капитан корабля....

[Ash W]

Начал читать, цимес с проектом в том,

"+"

что парня выдающихся способностей, заслужившего имплантацию геносемени, по единогласному решению совета провидцев ака Прогностикарум, заворачивают и выдают на растерзание в проект Ресерджент ака Возрожденный. Обрубают его как тушку под дредноут, но ставят аугментику, якобы разрабатывать соответствующие участки мозга, ответственные за слияние с машиной - черного панциря ему не вшивали, так что ему придется поучиться. Кроме того, аспирант для снятие стресса занимается в тренировочных клетках, где за ним завистливо наблюдает рыжий немытый дрыщуня (натурально Шэгги из Скуби-Ду по описанию) - местный навигатор - не особо желающий делиться слиянием с кораблем. И вот приходит момент подключения к кораблю, но тут на сцену выходит персонаж с обложки.

Изменено 8 января, 2012 пользователем Ash W

[Габозов]

Правильно, он же скаут. Одобрили, не одобрили, но получить за эксперименты могли.

[Ramzes Literus]

кажется во второй книжке про правосудора Аларика был как раз такой капитан корабля....

Да че вы как дети малые и ты Дядюшка вроде все романы и рассказы переведенные читал, в книгах по Вахе 40к постоянно такие киборги встречаются (совместимые со своим служебным местом) эка невидаль для Igori, а скажи ка мне дорогой ты где прочел про запрет совместимости человека и корабля (если учесть что корабль это инстртумент, в данном случае протез ;) так говорил Тони Старк из фильма Ж.Ч. 2 про свой костюм, а в чем разница в размере ), в книге прямо говорится о том, что эксперимент для С.Ч. запрешен кем то из Империума? И кто победил ваще Гурон и его К.К. или С.Ч. и Империум?