Chapter 02

Chapter 2

            The Batpooh docked at the repair yard orbiting the farthest of Batpooh State’s three moons.  The docking process itself took hours with the Batpooh’s controls in such sorry condition.  An engineering team had been able to rig up something better than a commpad, but not much better.

            Once the ship came to a stop, Buster let out a sigh of relief.  There had been times when he thought for certain the ship would fly apart.  But as Jeremiah had said, she was a tough old bird.  She’d held together even at maximum speed.

            “Make sure the wounded are the first off,” Buster said to Jake.

            “Yes, sir.”

            The first among those wounded would be Captain Barker.  He had woke up three hours earlier.  According to Nina, his first words were, “The mission?”  Only after she told him it had been successful did he ask about himself.

            Buster had visited the captain for a few minutes.  Captain Barker was in good spirits, though the painkillers Nina had given him hadn’t worn off yet.  “I’m sorry, sir,” Buster said.  “I let you down.”

            “No you didn’t, son.”  Captain Barker reached out to put a paw on Buster’s shoulder.  “You did an excellent job.  You saved the outpost and the ship.”

            “It wasn’t just me.  Everyone did their jobs.”

            “I know.  But you were the one up there in command.  You held everything together.”

            “Thank you, sir,” Buster said, though he still didn’t feel like celebrating.  Two-dozen crewmembers had been injured.  Most were not as badly hurt as Captain Barker, but that didn’t matter.  He thought again of the meteors he had missed, that had caused the damage.  If he had been faster, nothing would have happened.  “Nina says your spine—”

            “I know.”  Captain Barker shook his head.  “It won’t be so bad.  They’re making new discoveries everyday.  One of them might help me walk again.”

            “I hope so, sir.”  Buster looked over at Nina and her bulging stomach.  He hated to think that Captain Barker would never get to chase his puppies around except in a hoverchair. 

            At the repair station, Buster wished he could be there to see the captain off, but he had too many things to do here.  For better or worse he was still in command of the Batpooh.  At least until Command assigned a new captain to take over.  They would certainly want a more experienced captain to command the flagship of the fleet.  Until the orders came through, though, he would do what he could to get the Batpooh back in fighting trim.

            Hours later, only a skeleton crew remained.  Buster told Spot to go and take some much-needed shore leave, but his friend refused.  “I want to make sure they fix this right,” he said.

            The department heads gathered in the conference room, which had survived intact.  “The damage could have been much worse,” Jeremiah said.  He brought up a diagram of the Batpooh on the conference room’s viewscreen.  He tapped the twin engine nacelles with one paw.  “The nacelles and the main reactor took very little damage.  A few conduits overheated on our way back, but nothing serious.”

            “Most of the damage was cosmetic,” Spot said.  He stood up to point to decks below the bridge.  “These decks aren’t used much in combat situations, which minimized casualties.”

            Buster nodded, though he wasn’t sure he agreed with Spot about how minor the damage was.  He thought again of Captain Barker.  Sensing everyone was looking at him, he cleared his throat.  “This is good news.  I’ll pass it along to Command.”  Buster turned in his chair to face Jeremiah.  “How long should repairs take?”

            “With a full repair crew working around the clock:  two weeks.”

            Buster made a note of this for his report to Command.  They would decide whether to devote a full team around the clock or not.  “Thank you all.  I’m sure Captain Barker would share my congratulations to you and the rest of the crew.  Dismissed.”

            While the others left, Spot remained behind.  “It could have been much worse.”

            “It could have been much better too.”

            “It’s not your fault about those meteors.  There were too many—”

            “I said, ‘Dismissed,’ Commander.  That means you too.”

            “Buster—”

            “I have work to do.”

            Spot stood and nodded.  “Yes, sir.”  Then he left Buster to fill out the report.  Once he finished, Buster turned to stare out the window at Batpooh State below.  Right now the station was aligned with the Poohbear Mountains, where most of the bears had retired to generations ago.  Buster wished he could join them right about now.  With a sigh he went back to work.

#

            Despite Buster’s brush-off in the conference room, Spot remained aboard to help with the repairs.  The Batpooh had been his home for the last four years and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to it now because of a sloppy repair crew.  If Buster wanted him off of the ship, he would have to drag Spot into an escape pod.

            The elevator doors opened while Spot was underneath the temporary helm.  He pushed himself away from it, looking up just in time to see an officer coming down the steps.  It was only when the officer stepped away from the railing that Spot saw the officer’s skirt.  Female officers weren’t unheard of in the fleet, but they were far from plentiful.

            This female officer came to stop a meter away from him.  Her back straightened and she saluted.  “Lieutenant Marshy Ruff, sir.  I have a message for Commander Buster Bulldog.”

            Spot returned Marshy’s salute.  “At ease, Lieutenant.  What is this message?”

            “I’m sorry, sir, but Command instructed me to deliver it only to Commander Bulldog.”

            “I see.  I’ll show you to his office then.”

            “Thank you, sir.”

            The conference room two decks below was Buster’s temporary office at the moment.  On the way down in the elevator, Spot asked, “You said your name is Marshy Ruff?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “I spent a semester working for Dr. Randy Ruff.  I remember he had a little sister.  She was just a puppy at the time.”

            Marshy looked down at the floor.  “Yes, sir.  That was me.”  In a quieter voice, she added, “I think I remember you now.  Randy said you were his best student.”

            “I don’t remember him ever telling me that,” Spot said with a smile.

            “That’s not his way,” she said.  She smiled a little too.  “He also said you lacked the intellectual curiosity to be a scientist.”

            “I’m sure he did.”  The elevator doors parted and Spot ushered Marshy out.  “I don’t suppose you could at least give me a hint about this message?”

            “No, sir.”

            “You know Commander Bulldog is going to tell me anyway, don’t you?”

            “Be that as it may, I have my orders.”

            Spot couldn’t fault her for that.  He would probably have said the same in identical circumstances.  They reached the conference room.  This time Spot went through the door first.  Buster was at the table, typing something into a commpad.  He looked up when Spot cleared his throat.  “Excuse me, sir.  A Lieutenant Ruff has orders from Command for you.  Your eyes only.”

            “I understand.  Thank you.”

            Marshy came in behind Spot.  She stiffened and saluted as she had on the bridge.  Buster waved the salute away and said, “Just give me the orders, please.”

            “Understood, sir.”  She marched across the room, holding out the commpad for Buster to take.  “Here you are, sir.”

            “Very good, Lieutenant.”

            Buster’s face wasn’t the easiest to read with his heavy bulldog jowls and wrinkles, but Spot had been his friend long enough to read his eyes.  He could tell that it was bad news.  Buster didn’t give anything away as he stood up.  “Lieutenant, you may tell Command that I’ll be on the first transport available.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Spot waited until Marshy had left and the doors closed before he asked, “Bad news?”

            “The president wants to meet me.”

            “The president?”

            Buster held up the commpad.  “They say it’s an urgent matter of planetary security.”

            “I see.  Do you want me to manage the repairs here?”

            “Jeremiah can do that.  I want you to go with me.”  Buster’s heavy jowls and wrinkles shifted into a smile.  “Then at least I’ll have one friend in the room.”

            “Yes, sir,” Spot said with a mock salute.

#

            The city of Washingdog had been completed twenty years earlier.  Most of the work had been done by Bulldog Industries, which was still headed by Buster Maximillion Bulldog, Sr. Buster had still been nursing from his mother when they went on a tour of the nearly-finished capital.  Buster still remember his father patting him on the head and saying, “Someday this will be your city.”

            That day hadn’t come, at least not yet.  The transport made a wide turn around the copper-plated Bulldog Tower.  His father was probably in his office on the top floor, where he had been for most of Buster’s life.  He would probably continue to be there for years to come.

            Once clear of Bulldog Tower, the transport aligned itself with Government Avenue.  They first passed the Justice Building, home to the BPS’s highest courts.  After that came Parliament Hall, where the BPS legislature held its sensations to pass laws.  At the very end was the First Mansion, where President Batpooh Bear lived and worked.

            It was a simple house, not even as large as the one Buster had grown up in.  Most of the upper floors were just for show at the moment.  Like all bears, President Bear preferred an underground environment.  This left most of the house for aides and receptions.

            The transport touched down on the pad in the back lawn.  Buster waited for the steps to come down before he made his way to exit.  He wasn’t surprised to see a gray bulldog in an expensive suit standing there.  Buster didn’t salute the civilian, but he did give his brother a hug.  “Hello, Jonathan,” he said.

            “Good to have you on the ground,” said Jonathan Bulldog.  He put a paw around Buster’s shoulders to lead him away from the transport.  “I hear the Batpooh got pretty beat up.”

            “Not too bad,” Buster said, echoing his report, which he knew Jonathan had read.  Buster looked back over his shoulder.  “Is it all right that I brought my XO?”

            “You never could go anywhere without Spot, could you?”

            “He’s my friend.”

            “I know.”  Jonathan shrugged one shoulder.  “What we have to say will probably affect him too, so might as well bring him along.”

            They waited for Spot to catch up.  Buster did the introductions, not that Spot needed to be introduced.  He and Jonathan already knew each other well enough.  “It’s good to see you again,” Spot said.

            “Do you boys want to freshen up first after the trip?  I can have the kitchen bring you a bowl of kibble if you’re hungry.”

            “We’re fine,” Buster said.  “Just some water would be nice.”

            “Sure thing.”  Jonathan made a signal to one of the security guards with him.  “How’s Jake doing these days?”

            “Jake is still Jake,” Buster said.  They shared a laugh at this.

            “How many times you have to put him in the brig?”

            “Not since we left the station.”

            “He must be mellowing in his old age.”

            “Maybe.”  They laughed again.  Jake’s run-ins with Fleet Security had become legendary.  He might have been a commander by now if not for the fights he got into while on shore leave.  Buster hoped this time would be different.  It would be awkward for Buster to bail his brother out as his temporary captain.

            They entered the first floor of the mansion.  The halls were lined with paintings, some centuries old.  These were mostly from dog artists, though there were a few of the wooden sculptures bears specialized in.  Jonathan motioned them into a dining room with more expensive art on the walls but only one small table.  On this were two bowls of water.

            While Buster lapped up his water, Jonathan said, “I can’t give you a full briefing yet, but this is a very serious matter.  That meteor shower that hit the outpost might be the tip of a very large iceberg.”

            Buster paused from drinking to look up at Jonathan.  “There’s more of them?”

            “We’ll get into that soon.  There’s something else you should know before you meet the president.”

            “What’s that?”

            “This is the traditional hibernation period for the bears.  So if the president seems a little tired at the moment, it’s only natural.  Understand?”

            “I understand.”

            “Good.”

            They finished their water and then Jonathan took them down a marble staircase.  More bear works of art appeared and the walls were painted a brown not unlike the walls of a traditional bear cave.  Buster had never gone into such a cave, but their father had.  He was one of the few to ever visit a bear village and return to talk about it.

            From what Buster Sr. said, each bear family had a cave they decorated with paintings and sculptures of their ancestors.  Each cave had a rear entrance leading to the village center, where community business took place.  That business was suspended during the three month hibernation period, when all bears succumbed to their animal instincts.

            It didn’t surprise Buster then that Jonathan took them to a large, round room like a community center.  Sitting at the table already were admirals, generals, top aides, and Dr. Randy Ruff.  The doctor was recognizable from the right half of his face, which was composed entirely of metal.  It had been painted brown to match the other half of his face, but there was still a metallic sheen to it.  His right eye was also green and it was said he could use that eye to see every spectrum of light.

            Buster and Spot took a seat across the table from Randy.  Jonathan left them to chat with some of the powerbrokers at the table.  Spot leaned across Buster to tap Randy on the shoulder.  The Bloc’s top scientist focused his robotic eye on Spot.  “Greetings, Commander Mutt.”

            “Hello, Doctor.  Your sister sends her regards.”

            Randy nodded.  “I trust she’s doing well?”

            “Quite well,” Spot said.

            “Good.  I have been curious about her military career, but she has been very secretive on the matter.”

            Before they could say anything further, a door opened.  Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the door.  Those in military dress, including Buster and Spot, came to attention as President Batpooh Bear lumbered into the room.

            The expensive blue suit President Bear wore did nothing to make him look less powerful.  His yellow muzzle and forearms still looked deadly enough to shred any threat that got in his way.  By contrast, Batpooh’s voice was delicately soft as he said,  “Have a seat, everyone.  Then we can get down to business.”

            The way the president didn’t so much as sit but fall into his seat made Buster think of what Jonathan had said.  President Bear was fighting his instincts demanding that he fall into a blissful coma for three months.  On top of that, the president was no longer young, having presided over the Bloc for twenty-five years.  It couldn’t be easy for him to stay awake and alert, but somehow he managed to still do it.

            With the president seated, Randy got to his feet, both of which were made of the same brown metal as his face.  A lab accident ten years ago had nearly killed him, but Dr. Ruff was so brilliant that from his hospital bed he had engineered a way to keep himself alive but replacing damaged organs and limbs with robotic ones.  He had even performed many of the necessary surgeries himself, using a virtual reality computer he had constructed and robotic instruments.

            “Mr. President and other distinguished guests, I trust you are all aware of the incident that nearly destroyed the Batpooh two days earlier.  If not, we have two from that brave crew who can attest to the deadliness of the meteor shower that destroyed outpost Bone Seven.”

            Randy looked around the room but no one said anything so he continued.  “Our equipment is still attempting to unravel how this shower could have occurred without our knowing it.  But we do have a clue.”

            Randy tilted his head, prompting the viewscreen across the room from President Bear to come to life.  On the screen was the planetary system that had housed the outpost.  An asteroid belt on the edge of the system became highlighted in green.  “The outpost’s sensor readings indicated a fluctuation in the gravity of this asteroid belt three days prior to the meteor shower.”

            President Bear grunted, which was enough to shake the table.  “You’re saying this fluctuation caused the meteor shower?”

            “That is my theory, sir.”

            “What could have caused such a fluctuation?”

            “There are a number of reasons, but by using other sensor networks, we have determined the source for this fluctuation is here.”  The map zoomed out to indicate an uncharted system known only as CAT-1 on the map.  “Our sensors could not find a cause for the fluctuation, but we believe it is not of natural origin.”

            Jonathan said, “You think someone created it?”

            “That is the theory.”

            “Who?”

            “We are unsure.  No ships or space stations exist in the area.”

            “That we can see,” an admiral growled.

            “You are perhaps speaking of stealth technology?  So far we have found it impractical for starships.  The amount of power necessary would be far too great for the benefit.”

            “But it’s not impossible.”

            “No, sir, it is not.”

            The president grunted again.  “Who could be behind this?”

            The admirals and generals looked to each other.  It was obvious to Buster they didn’t have any idea.  Various groups had threatened the Bloc in the past, most notably the separatist raccoons, but none had the kind of power or organization for something like Randy was indicating.  “We’re unsure, sir,” one general said.  “Our intelligence sources are working on it.”

            “With all due respect, sirs, this might not be the work of an enemy at all.”  Randy looked around the room.  “We may be seeing the work of another species previously unknown to us.”

            “Aliens?” Buster blurted out.

            “Very good, Commander.  Yes, this may be the work of an alien life form.”

            Buster caught the slight nod of President Bear’s huge head to Jonathan.  His chief of staff stood up and then faced Buster.  They must have practiced this beforehand.  “That is why we need a ship to investigate.  Your ship.”

            “With all due respect, I don’t have a ship—”

            “The Batpooh is yours.  If you want it—Captain.”

            Buster stared in shock at his brother.  Here in front of the top brass of the fleet he was being offered a promotion and command of the flagship, the assignment he had yearned after most of his life.  “Again, with all due respect, the Batpooh is badly damaged.  It will take two weeks to repair her.”

            “That’s not a problem.  Dr. Ruff is going to need time to prepare his team.”

            President Bear turned to Buster.  “Captain, this mission is of critical importance to the entire Bloc of Planetary States.  We need not only our best ship, but our best crew.  As the meteor shower proved, there is no one more capable than you and my namesake.”

            Buster blinked in disbelief.  He looked over at Spot, who was smiling broadly, urging him to accept.  “Thank you, sir.  I’ll be glad to do this for the Bloc.”

            With that, Buster had achieved his lifelong dream.