Chapter 10

            I looked around the main lobby of the Asimov Institute, it looked the same as the last three times I had looked.  Wide open with Holographic displays of famous scientists and graphic displays of well-known scientific achievements.  It was interesting and I had walked the tour and read the information, two hours ago.  Now I was just bored and ready to head over to the Provincial government building to apply for my letter of the marque.  The only thing stopping me was the fact I would have to come back and start the wait all over again.  You would think that waiting in a game would be kept to a minimum, after all this was supposed to be fun.  The powers that be had decided that players preferred realism over minimalism and so here I wait.  Sucks to be me sometimes.

            The lift doors suddenly swung open and out walked Jonas the assistant director I had chatted with.  Glancing around he started to walk towards me and smiled, “Duke, I am glad to see you, I have been discussing your call with my faculty and we have come up with your first two assignments.  Here walk with me as we discuss the details, have you seen the holographic displays, they are very interesting.”

            “I have seen them and they are interesting,” I stated.  But what would really be interesting to me is hearing what you would have me to do.  I am taking a chance that I can do this, creating my own class is a risk.  If your assignments are beyond my abilities I am done.”

            Jonas nodded and said, “No worries Duke, we have looked at your level and tried to base the assignments on what we think is a fair approach.  At level 12 we are not expecting you to provide definitive proof of ancient Martian tech.  Nope what we want is something that should be easier to accomplish for you, although being honest, others have tried and failed.  It will not be a walk in the park.  What we want is for you to locate one of the two Martian rovers that were sent here back in 2003. It is named the Spirit and unfortunately it became stuck in 2009, and went offline in 2010.  What was not revealed to the public was the last photos from the Spirit had inconsistencies within them.  Things that could not be explained.  It was all shunted aside over the years as other things took priority.  Eventually man made it to Mars and established our bases which grew into colonies over time.  Once we were established we decided to check on what we had sent here over the years.  We have found all the old rovers and landing sites of all the stuff Earth had sent here over the years.  With the exception of the rover Spirit, it has disappeared.”

            I nodded, it was ancient history but still a mystery, a good assignment.  “How long do I have to accomplish the mission, and can you send me a copy of those old pics?  Also, what do you want done with the rover once I locate it?

            Giving me a smile Jonas said, “Ah the confidence of youth, you seem to have no doubt that you will find it, I would guess giving your personal resources you probably have a better chance than most.  If you find it the second assignment would be to return it to us.  If you can do that you will receive 2 learning modules of your choice, along with a predetermined amount of XP and either credits or items.  Before we go any further you must select the two learning modules so that they can be prepared.  Take your time and let me know which ones you want.”

            I smiled at Jonas and said, “Tier one of Xenobiology and Xenoarchaeology are the first two modules I need.  I suspect that both of them are going to useful to me and at any rate they will be interesting.”

            Jonas laughed and said, “Those are excellent choices and well no doubt be of use to you in completing more missions for us.”  Stopping he shook my hand and said, “Good luck young man.  It has been my pleasure, I will send you that info packet right away, and once you have completed the mission return here to receive the modules.”

            As Jonas left I turned and began to walk to the door.  I was confident that I could find the Spirit, after things do not just disappear, the rover had probably been swallowed by one of the hundreds of sandstorms that had happened since 2010.  I was not paying attention as I left the building and had gone a couple of blocks before I realized I was being followed, once I knew that I began to observe who was following me.  Tall, with dark hair and a athletic build.  He moved with any easy grace that spoke of hardcore physical training.  I could not see any energy or projectile weapons on him but he had a sabre on his left hip.  He seemed to be content to keep me under observation and as long as that was the case I would leave him alone and continue on to the Government building.

            They say that Rome was not built in a day and I suppose that means that things take time.  This however was ridiculous, I had been shunted to 6 people, most of whom had no clue about what I was talking about.  Eventually I met a senior gov’t assistant Minister of Trade who listened to me and then actually asked several questions that were well thought out and pertinent to our discussion.  The long and the short of it came down to this, for a fee I would be allowed to apply for a letter of the marque which was free.  The cost was for my patent of nobility, I would be granted the title Marque.  The government of Mars was a provincial government that was part of the greater constitutional monarchy of North America.  

            Once the debt load of the old United States became too great to service the country literally went bankrupt.  Things were very difficult for a couple of years and it was only when Mexico joined Canada in accepting the Displaced British Monarchy that the Americans asked if they could join.  By this point most people were so fed up with Corporations buying off politicians and making up the rules that suited them that the common folks just wanted a clean break and fresh try to make a living and support their families.  Once they joined the GCM, it became apparent that things were improving with true universal health care, social services and a strictly managed government.  It worked but there were a lot of wealthy people who suddenly had no power.  The solution was to grant titles of nobility to those that could pay. Thus the House of Lords was brought back with only those of title included.  It had no political power but quickly became a huge financial force.  The current titles of nobility were,

* King, Queen.

* Prince, Princess.

* Duke, Duchess.

* Marquess, Marchioness.

* Earl, Countess.

* Viscount, Viscountess.

* Baron, Baroness.

Along with more minor titles, that people could purchase the system worked and the world's governments were stable, at least in the game.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

            At the cost of half a million credits, and the inclusion of a squad of Royal Marines that would be under my command but led by Captain Mergol I was granted my letter.  I was not happy with being handed Captain Mergol, apparently he had made several inquiries about me and our names had become cross flagged which meant for unfathomable reasons he was the first choice of the gov’t.   I also had to supply a ship at my own cost that would be converted into merchant raider.

            I sent out a call to Noa, I needed her to help with this project, before I spent any money I wanted her to look over everything, as a ship's AI she would have insight into design decisions that I would not even think of.  Detailing everything that had happened to me so far I sent it out on a low beam frequency that Noa had made sure could bounce of one of the communication towers on Deimos.  She would get it in about half an hour and it would take that long to have her reply reach me.

            With that done I left the building and headed to Hotel Excelsior which was located just down the road.  It was a secure facility that visiting gov’t officials often used.  I needed a secure lodging for a few hours, it was time to log out.  I had stuff to do in the real world, the game cube in my basement needed a closer look.  If could find out that it actually had a kill switch I could go to the police and the Cold Space GMs.  That would deal with Ong Bai for about 15 to life.  I also wanted to go over the old files NASA had opened to the public.  The game was based in a large part on real world history and perhaps a clue would be found in the information about the Rover Spirit.

            Plus, I had a few hours of video editing to do, I was not sure how I would deal with the Martians, by letting the gaming world know about them I might be hurting any chance I had of developing a relationship with them.  Having relationships with the different factions was what could make or break the game for players.  Still, they had not wanted to be found since man settled on Mars and had been successful in that.  My musings were interrupted by Noa’s message, she would start the process of commissioning the building of the ship, and would see me in a few days.  With that off my mind I engaged the security of my suite and informed the hotel I did not want to be disturbed for several days.   Finally laying down on the bed I began to logout, my last thought in game was wondering what Noa had meant when she said she had a surprise for me.

            The noise of the cube was the first thing I heard, the hum of a fan, the clicks of the GameCube opening, and then the light slowly getting brighter.  I slowly stretched and then relaxed, my muscles were a little a little sore a little stiff but not too bad.  Exiting the GameCube, I walked to the shower, and slowly began to soap up under the heat of the water.  Opening my mouth, I moaned out loud, my body beginning to relax under the pressure.  Finally stopping the water, I dried myself and then walked to my bedroom, grabbing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt I quickly dressed and then went and made some tea.  Earl Grey with a hint of lemon and honey, then sitting down I checked my messages while sipping my tea.

Lots of fan mail, and a couple of pre-approved credit card crap letters.  Putting it aside I grabbed my phone and sent off a couple of texts to my buddies, I needed to have a closer look at the GameCube in the basement. I then closed my eyes and relaxed.  The beeping of my phone woke me up and I glanced down to see what the message was.  It was my buddy and he was right to the point, dude your basement was broken in and the GameCube was stolen while you were playing.  The landlord called me and I had the window repaired but other than that I have been waiting for you to surface.

            That really sucked, and by that, I mean fuck.  I had hoped to have some physical evidence against Ong Bai but that bastard was one step ahead of me.  Making the call I chatted with my buddy but there was not really anything to say.  I had lost this round and that was a fact.  As I sat there I realized that all I could do was defeat him within the game.  At least that was going well.  Knowing that there was nothing I could do I went to bed, my dreams were vivid, with a ghostly dragon exploring my home and dark clouds on the horizon rapidly coming towards me as I stood outside.  Suddenly a huge dragon appeared and flew amongst the clouds which glowed with explosions masked by the dark color of the air.

            When I awoke, I felt on edge and knew that I needed to relax my body before entering the GameCube.  I began by stretching, and then for the next few hours I worked my body hard.  Grabbing a quick shower, I entered the GameCube and prepared to enter the Cold Space universe.  Closing my eyes, I opened them to look around at my hotel room, I felt great and could see my dragon was laying on the floor with the vid screen on.  I was not sure how the vid had turned on but it was apparent that he had been watching too many of the old reality reruns.  The first thing he said was, “Can we hunt and eat the Kardashians, I feel we should hunt and eat them.

            Having decided to call him Winston I said, “Winston, unfortunately we can’t hunt them, they are now old and live in a private residence of the old and insane.  The show you were watching is very old and the world is a different place now.”

            “Winston, I like it, is it my man name?”

“Yes,” I replied, that is what I have named you, I hope you like it.  It is the name of an elder statesman who saved the society of his day.  I greatly admire him and hope you will be honored to have that name.”

I was amazed at the ease we were communicating with each other, clearly watching old reruns had helped Winston with language.  He also seemed more mature and knowledgeable which I hoped was not from watching reruns.

Noa suddenly sent a message letting me know she would be arriving in 3 days and was looking forward to seeing me.  I replied to let her know I wanted to see her also, and was then informed that the mining camp was ready, the final shipment of water had been delivered and the hydroponics system was up and running.  The furniture had been delivered and the place was ready to be moved into.  Getting my gear ready I left the room with Winston draped across my shoulders, the lazy little dragon.

Checking out I entered the cab I had called and giving it directions I settled back while glancing out the windows at the buildings as we passed them.  After a moment, my built-in GPS let me know I was not heading where I was supposed to be but rather towards the far end of the space port where there were some old buildings.  This cab was one of the new automated models and there was nothing I could do until we arrived.  The doors would not open until the cab stopped and the emergency button was not working.

Once we stopped I was not surprised to see a welcoming committee of 4 men, all with armed blasters pointing at me.  Winston opened an eye and then closed it again, Clearly, he was not concerned about what might occur.  The men did not speak but gesturing with their blasters guided me into one of the decrepit buildings which was clean and in great shape on the inside.  We walked up to a pit in the center of the floor, and with a shove on my back I was pushed into the hole.  Falling about 5 meters I landed on my feet guided by my combat computer which kicked in as soon as I hit free fall.  Glancing up I saw the floor closing and suddenly I was in the dark in a hole.  The other thing in the hole was a lot of ghostly openings, doorways that led somewhere. It might be time to see if they actually led somewhere.