One of the things RON will be covering is possible solutions to various “history mysteries”— in this case the Carroll A. Deering. While the practical story is that there was a mutiny and for some reason the mutineers decided to abandon her, in this case a more fanciful version plays into the RON story.
They come across the Deering drifting in space (for precedence please go watch Doctor Who). I won’t spoil the surprise, but let us just say 1. the mystery is solved and 2. seriously don’t go aboard the Deering if you see her. I also used the opportunity to begin showing that Pendennis is beginning to hear ships— something that plays out later.
Excerpt:
The Deering responded ominously as Pendennis gingerly stepped off the shuttle and onto her planked deck. He half expected the wood to dematerialize if he put any weight on it; the old deck merely creaked in response. His heavily weighted boots made it difficult to walk, although he was glad bulky spacesuits had been replaced with a light belt producing a personal shield and miniature atmosphere. They were only good for a few hours, but that was plenty of time for most spacewalks.
Lydia had insisted upon accompanying the team, and rested her hands gently on one of the masts.
“Anything?” Pendennis asked.
“The ship is not here…” she breathed.
“Yes it is, we’re standing on it,” he tried to stamp a foot for emphasis, but by the time he’d managed to pry his foot off the deck it seemed pointless.
“She is divided— separated. I feel a consciousness that is shorn.”
Lydia was not making any sense, so Pendennis headed for the great cabin. It was set for an elaborate meal— plates, knives and even some main dishes.
“Sir,” one of the marines spoke up, “there’s no gravity— why is everything still on the table?” The ship creaked again sending a shiver through Penn’s body. He could feel a presence in the cabin with them— angry and afraid. To show such feelings did not affect him, he boldly walked into the galley. The rest of the food was sitting partly prepared— bread with a few slices cut off, vegetables half chopped. Like the cabin, some sort of internal gravity appeared to be at work. He flashed his torch into the cupboards— nothing seemed to be out of place.
This episode introduces our main villain of the series— hinted at in an earlier episode. We finally meet the formidable rebel Welsh ship. Pendennis’ ability to speak with ships has grown to the point where she nearly takes over his mind.
We also hear hints that the ship herself was instrumental in bringing the rebels together. She plays a cat-and-mouse game with Lydia before disappearing once more. She is a bit busy trying to defeat the natives of the planet Cymru, so Lydia is only a game at present.
Excerpt:
Pendennis lay wide awake in his rack, straining for any sense of the other ship. When he finally fell into a fitful sleep, the presence came again. He seemed to see a figure in the distance, robed in green with fiery dark eyes and black curling hair blowing in an unseen wind sending the silks of her medieval gown swirling around her. They seemed to be in the great hall of a castle bedecked with red and gold banners.
“You see me,” she commented, then laughed. He knew that laugh— the rebel ship.
“Why are you helping them?” he started forward, “they stole you out of spacedock!”
“Dear boy, dear foolish English boy,” she tossed her head back and forth as tiny golden bangles tinkled along her headdress, “they did not steal me. I called them to come.”
A crackling announcement over the loudspeaker sent Pendennis awake. Sweat dripped off his forehead— was the encounter real, or merely a fantasy concocted by his subconscious?
After several uneventful hours on duty, another hit sent Lydia shuddering and creaking in agony. The other ship, aware that she could be sensed, had been even more careful to mask her presence. The attack took Lydia completely aback. The hull plating obsorbed most of the blow, but the unexpected guerrilla-like tactics were taking their toll on the morale of the crew. They were used to having plenty of warning when new contacts arrived— the idea that a hostile ship could come out of nowhere whenever it pleased was less than comforting.
I’ve been rereading Plato’s Apology recently, and I let it seep through into RON. I also wanted to bring back the Dryadians so we could learn a little more about them (they were the recycle happy aliens from HMS Lydia series 2). Basically Lydia comes across the corpse of a Dryadian floating through space, and Pendennis accidentally has a part of its consciousness transferred into his own mind and begins acting strangely and eventually accidentally starting a revolution.
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