G-Pol

Chapter 1

Lieutenant Natalya Nazarova of the Galactic Police, or G-Pol as they were commonly known, looked at the magnified image of her rapidly receding homeworld on the vid screen. She'd hoped to have a little time at home this time around. She'd even put in for some of her accumulated leave.

She'd been in her parents' house about six hours and was just starting to relax after her excited welcome when the call from the local office came. One of their agents, a man she'd gone through the academy and had been close to had been killed by a prisoner he'd been bringing in. There weren't any details in the report she'd received, but the fugitive was to be considered extremely dangerous. They needed the most capable agent available and she, and Bona of course, was apparently it. In her opinion, they were exactly the kind of team needed for a job like this. They were one of only two such teams in G-Pol. The Bavarian Enclave almost never assigned a killhound team outside their military services.

Natalya, Natasha as she was called by most of her friends and family, was recruited at the relatively young age of sixteen when her latent psychic ability was discovered at school. She hadn't actually spent much time in school though, as before that time her family was in the trading business and she was usually in space with them. She'd kept up with her education through tutors and the subspace net.

Her parents had been planning to retire soon though and they were looking at a place near where her great great grandparents had settled. It was a quaint little village in a deep and sheltered valley in the Western Urals. They'd elected to take some time off and see how settled life suited them and so, Natasha had been put into the local school.

It was at this school that a military recruiter came to visit. He was a semi-retired wolf pack soldier and he and his killhound partner had spotted her, immediately recognizing her as yet unrealized talents. She was completely uninterested at first, but the thought of an intelligent and lifelong companion took hold of her imagination and she found herself asking her parents for permission with the recruiter in tow. Needless to say, her parents were pleased and quickly gave their permission.

She finished her education in military boot camp. After this she entered a training and evaluation program to see if she was fit for the Wolf Pack program. The results of her testing were unusual in many regards, but not at all unacceptable. The officials in charge would not comment further on this though, and she wondered if she was making the right decision. Her fears were dispelled when she was approved for further wolf pack training. It was a month later when she first met and bonded with Bona.

The handlers knew something was different when Bona was suddenly excited at seeing a new class of cadets entering. She'd shown little interest before, and they'd wondered if she would ever bond. They were even more surprised when the oldest hound in the group made a beeline for the youngest cadet in that group. It was unexpected but not worrisome and the bond was immediate and obvious. The two seemed made for one another.

Bona was quite unusual in several ways. First, she was a German shepherd wolf hybrid which was not all that unusual. In fact, it was a favored mix as it brought out the best qualities of endurance strength and intelligence. What made Bona unusual was that she was nearly solid black except for a white blaze that ran up her chest and throat. The other thing was her size. She weighed in at around forty-five kilos while most of her contemporaries were in the upper part of the fifty to seventy kilo range with some getting even bigger. That being said, she showed all the expected traits with an unexpected addition. Far greater agility, probably due in part to her smaller stature, but her reflexes and sense of timing too were also superior. Early on, it was clear she exceeded her peers in intelligence and creativity as well. Her IQ estimates were superior to many of her human handlers, and this translated well into adaptability and ingenuity. Later these qualities were to be mirrored in her new bond mate.

Much to the chagrin of their trainers, the two showed a definite proficiency for investigation and problem solving rather than the regular military duties. Quite a bit of effort was put in to try to bring their military aptitudes up to par with their other talents. They performed exceedingly well in their scholastic and basic military discipline, but were obviously not enthusiastic about the more rigorous Special Forces combat training. Further testing showed aptitudes for law enforcement and investigation as well as psychology and public relations. So once their training was complete, they were sent into a law enforcement training program from which they graduated with honors with Natasha's proud parents looking on. After graduation they were assigned to G-Pol for further training. And the rest as they say was history.

They were only the second team to be active in G-Pol service currently. The only other Killhound team had been active for more than twenty years and were still highly valued and successful field agents who'd passed up more than a dozen promotion opportunities in order to stay out in the field. So far, Natasha and Bona seemed to be following in their footsteps admirably.

When Natasha had entered the military, then progressed into law enforcement, her parents had quietly refurbished their long-range cargo shuttle. They'd transformed most of the cargo space into living space and an exercise area with the lowest deck being a kind of garage for her favorite vehicles so she could have them wherever she went. In this garage were her two most valued possessions.

One was a vintage BMW motorcycle. It had been a flex fueled military all terrain model when it was built and came with a detachable sidecar. She'd acquired it using her own funds from a trader in antiquities when she was twelve. With the aid of one of her step father's crewmen, she set to work rebuilding it from the ground up. The crewman, Marco had been a painter with an eye for the dramatic and they'd spent weeks obsessing over the paint scheme. Then they'd spent another two weeks carefully hand painting every part that could be painted. The result was what could only be called a work of art. The final theme was that of a star system against the backdrop of a massive roiling nebula as it might be seen through a broad-spectrum camera, with all its brightly colored whirling dust and gas clouds, fields of rocky debris and its smattering of new born stars glowing in its midst. The work covered every available panel and surface as well as the entire sidecar. This with all the flat black and chromed accessories made for a very striking image.

The other was an even older Delta Scout Hovercycle. This too had a sidecar. The look was quite different from the motorcycle in that it was predominately black. Closer inspection would show that portrayed on the highly polished surface was a clear and open galactic star field. The work was done with such skill that the effect looked three dimensional. The bike had a lean raked back look with the rider seated feet forward reclining against a high back rest. Its windshield flared almost seamlessly into the handlebar faring. The forward hover deck was nearly two meters in front of this giving the craft a look reminiscent of the chopper motorcycles of the old American empire of the 1960's and 1970's. This design was favored for a number of reasons. First was the nostalgia, but more important was the inherent stability of the design which was far safer than the motorcycles it had been designed to resemble. The advantage of hovercycle was that they had no wheels and were capable of traveling at 400 kilometers per hour over almost any terrain because they never touched the ground. One could even cross water unimpeded on its cushion of air.

The motorcycle was an internal combustion design that could burn just about any liquid fuel. The hovercycle was powered by a fusion core which meant almost unlimited range. Most of the time she preferred the rumbling roar of the motorcycle, but on occasion the whine of the electric turbines of the hovercycle were fine as well. There was also room on the garage deck for either one large, perhaps armored vehicle or two smaller full-size models, but she saw no need for any but what she already had. After all, either bike could accommodate her and her partner. With the force screens she'd installed, they could also handle most inclement weather comfortably enough. The only exceptions would be frigid wastes like the planet Ceres which was locked in an eternal ice age. She'd considered acquiring an enclosed vehicle for times like that, but hadn't yet found anything that really suited her tastes.

The ship itself would most likely be classified as a light freighter or heavy shuttle. It had long since been modified with a Transit drive and far more robust life support and recycling systems. It had been thus when her step father bought it as a very young entrepreneur twenty years before he met and married her mother. He'd already been a successful trader by then, making his living buying what might be common on one world and selling it for a much higher price on another where it was rarer.

Her biological father had been a socialite from Volkshaven who'd come into the valley where her mother lived with her wealthy grandparents, Natasha's great grandparents, and her parents. Her parents'd been the wealthy children spawned from generations of adventurous explorers and had been adventurers in their own right. They'd spent several years fighting pirates among the moons of Jupiter and Saturn with its own moons and rings. They hadn't gained much recognition, but had made a small fortune of their own from the rewards and recoveries they'd collected in their adventures.

Natasha's great great grandparents had been the first to bring wealth to the family. They'd been on the first team to Discover and survey the planet that would later be named Timian. They'd also been among the few to survive.

The report they brought back told of a hellish world where nearly every life form was poisonous, venomous, hostile or in most cases all three. Most of the planet was desert. Overall, it had about a quarter of the water of Earth and double the land mass. The seas were shallow and warm and filled with some of the most vicious and voracious marine predators mankind had ever seen. Including a plant that could grip with the strength of a constrictor. It was equipped with thousands of spines with which it injected a toxin that began to digest its prey while it was still alive and struggling. The sweltering fetid jungles bordering the seas were just as bad, with insects and arachnids the size of small dogs and the strength of five large men, and a relative of the sea plant that lived as a predatory vine. Worst of all were the deserts. There nearly everything was venomous and aggressive and trying to kill and eat everything else it met. Only twenty-three people out of ninety-eight left the planet alive to report their findings. Worse, there were at least two other ships obviously alien and of unknown origin there, completely abandoned, the crews presumably wiped out by the native flora and fauna. Both had been there for centuries.

The survivors of that exploration and survey expedition were all paid handsomely, released from their contracts if they so desired and allowed to retire early with full pay. They were also told the planet would be quarantined until further better prepared studies could be made to catalog the life there. What really happened was the blackest point in human history. Even Blacker than the holocaust of World War II.

The Planet was given the tranquil sounding name of Timian. Then a net wide advertising campaign was initiated announcing discovery of a new world ideal for and being offered for colonization by the human sub-races.

These so-called sub races of humanity were actually minor mutations created by the introduction of a new energy source to Earth's environment. They were still fully human genetically speaking, and despite their differences, could reproduce normally with human kind. There were nine major sub groups or races and each was given a name from fantasy or mythology.

The Giants were nearly ten times the mass of a normal man or woman being typically twice as tall but otherwise normal in proportion. The Ogres were somewhat taller and broader than normal humans but with nearly twice the muscle density making them nearly three times the mass and strength of normal humans with similar builds. The elves were about ten percent taller than a normal human but slimmer and with pointed ears and a slightly increased visual spectrum which allowed them to see slightly into the infrared and ultraviolet. The pixies were nearly identical to the elves only much smaller, averaging twenty percent shorter than normal humans. The orcs were generally human in size if slightly bulkier, but much coarser of feature and with pointed ears and teeth and a grayish cast to the skin, often with tinges of blue green or brown. The goblins were similar but much smaller, averaging slightly over a meter to just under a meter and a half in height. Both races are considered to be the least attractive of the new human variants. There were several more but most came about well after the fall and may have been aliens from alternate realities.

The Earth had been devastated in the early twenty first century when it was hit by a shower of debris. It had once been a cometary mass that had passed too close to the sun which had of course burned away all its more volatile ices and gases. What was left was the solid rocky material that is usually encased within. Tens of Thousands of objects of all sizes fell on the planet over the span of two days, nearly wiping out all of humanity and its works. The comet had been laughingly Dubbed Silverson's Snowball for its discoverer by the media when its discovery was announced to the public. It was a wonder to thousands of amateur astronomers for nearly six years during which it was easily seen, even by those with relatively low powered telescopes. Then the announcement came. Silverson himself had confirmed it would cross Earth's orbit. Further study concluded it would actually come very close indeed, to within the margin for error in fact!

Most of Earth's governments hadn't been sitting on their hands in that time either. Their top scientists had long since figured out that a collision was possible, even likely, and contingency plans were already being put in place. When the panic began the people of several countries including the United States, most of the European Union, Russia, Japan and Australia found impact shelters had already begun being built and survival supplies stockpiled. Those who could afford to were encouraged to do the same. No one could give an accurate estimate as to when or even say for sure the comet would actually hit Earth, so doubt also became a factor. As usual, various cults both new and old drew the disenfranchised, profiteers and con men made and lost fortunes and paramilitary groups sprouted in out of the way, easily defended places. Silverson's Snowball became Silverson's Hammer and the upcoming impact came to be called Hammerfall.

In the days and years afterward the Hammerfall name would stick. Chaos and confusion were the order of the day after the fall. With the loss of most of the world's electrical infrastructure and the struggle to survive, most of humankind found they didn't have time to worry about time. In the early days immediately afterward, there was no easy way to tell if it were day or night with the fallout from the impact. The planet was cooling fast and ice sheets were expanding from the poles within weeks. The icecaps grew and sea levels dropped. In the end, no one could agree on exactly what day the fall had occurred, or even how much time had passed. So, a new calendar was begun.

It was Silverson's Hammer that brought the new and until then unknown energy form with it to Earth. This energy form turned out to be persistent and surprisingly, easily manipulated by human minds. All that seemed to be required was strong mental discipline and desire. It was this energy that caused nearly a third of the children born in the decades after Hammerfall to be born different from their parents. At first, they were thought to be deformities, but it soon became apparent that they were too regular and widely spread.

Of course, with these differences came fear, distrust and outright hatred from many of the "normal" humans. The differences were far more than skin color and hair texture and some wanted the so-called neo humans wiped out. It was among the ranks of these haters that the idea to send them to Timian was hatched. What better place to get rid of them naturally?

Eventually tens of thousands applied for colonization permits, eager to escape the pressures they were experiencing. Of course, not all wanted to go, but it was reasoned that eventually the rest could be forced and the problem would be eliminated. Natasha's great great grandparents had no idea Timian was the hell world they'd barely escaped with their lives.

The haters' plan began to unravel when ten years into the operation, free traders found out where Timian was and began to offer cheaper passage. The colony ships had been automated and subsequently sabotaged to be sure they could not be turned back when the treachery was discovered. They would land and the dying would begin. None of the on-board long-range communications equipment was functional. In fact, much of it was entirely fake, or had been sabotaged, the inspection reports falsified. As often as not the ships were set up to simply crash, further reducing the chances of anyone escaping.

When the first fleet of cheapers as they were called arrived, they thought they'd been given false coordinates. The desert world they were seeing was nothing like the advertisements shown on Earth and in the Sol system. As they sat in orbit and argued about where they actually were, a legitimate colony ship appeared in the jump zone, continued past without acknowledging their presence, and eventually slammed into the surface at orbital velocity, probably killing most if not all of its passengers. Then it was clear what was really going on. The Cheapers were horrified. Taking a closer look at the planet's surface, they found several dozen similar wrecks and at least as many apparently safely landed vessels. They were scattered randomly around the globe with more than a few either crashed or landed in the seas.

Still not knowing the true extent of the danger, most of the fleet landed and began carrying out rescue operations at the wreck sites with the help of the would-be colonists on board. This would lead to thousands more deaths. The carnage they found was terrifying.

Those Captains who hadn't landed had immediately returned to the Sol system to get help for the survivors. They were surprised to find they'd been labeled as pirates and were arrested immediately upon arrival.

One Captain though suspected what was waiting for him when he returned. Instead of using a standard jump point, he arrived at what was commonly referred to as a pirate point. these areas of the jump zones were considered dangerous because they were well within a planet's gravity well and therefore rendered a Transit drive less stable, more likely to explode. A Captain who knew what he was doing could make good use of such points, usually for not quite legitimate reasons. This one knew what he was doing, having been a sometime smuggler. When he arrived, he immediately began to transmit everything they'd discovered about Timian on every frequency available to him. The media was first to get hold of the story and it spread like wildfire. The perpetrators were quickly rounded up and tried for their crimes.