Sins Of A Solar System - Chapter 1

    "We are entering low orbit of Callahan Primerus, captain." The exaggerated awe in the young lieutenants voice was plain, but as usual his captain paid it no heed. Every syllable spelled an event far more interesting than that which were occuring. An everyday decent upon the celestial body of Callahan Primerus by a standard passenger cruiser.    "Thank you. You may prepare the cargo to disembark." With a well meant mock salute, the lieutenant pressed a small button on his control board, and his seat disappeared below the floor with him, leaving captain Accolon alone in the two-man cockpit. The view from the captains seat was dominated by the massive rock on which the ship was decending, framed by the darkness of space surrounding it and a small part of the crafts bulk was visible in the lower end of Accolons vision. Though the view was spectacular, the job was often less interesting as a bus drivers on Earth due to the automatic piloting computer. Seconds after the hatch closed after the lieutenant, the ships forward thrusters burst into life, as the computer slowed the craft. Captains such as Accolon was often refered to as warrant captains, as their primary task was to supervise the automated route, and assure the passengers that a human was able to intervene if things should go unpredicted. As though the computer wasnt capable of getting the cruiser from one point to another.
    A minor flash of light directly ahead of the ship caught Accolons attention, and less than half a second later the craft dived into a deeper decend angle. A the end of the second, the entire scenery of Callahan Primerus was blocked by a massive bulk of grey steel. Accolons ship narrowly but sufficiently avoided the huge Ghost Ship, filling a nearby screen on the control board with renewed course calculations. As he passed under the majestic battleship a deep sence of awe settled upon Accolon. Not only was it by far larger than the small passenger cruiser, but the reinforced hul, the dual-barreled turrets on the shelf like vings on both sides of the ship and the giant engine section in the stern radiated one word. Might. As the probe, which Accolon had spotted as the flash of light, was pulled back, the ships engines silently flamed into life, the six tube like turbines glowing under the smooth carpet of steel, protecting them from damage during battle. Due to the size of the ship, the docks were built in orbit of Callahan, where a few similar vessles rested for now. Who knew what adventures the crew were returning from? Probably the crew.
As the passenger cruiser liberated itself from the Ghost Ship, the steep decend flattened out a bit, and the final approach began. Captain Accolon picked his coffee mug from its socket, and unsealed the straw penetrating the lid. It was easy to forget the lack of gravity when you had been strapped to the captains seat for hours, but the mug lid preventing the coffee from floating out was a merry reminder. The dull rocky surface of Callahan grew larger by every second, and the capital of Caliburn appeared as a smear of silvery grey. The gravitation sensor displayed a number increasing. In order to provide a habitable environment on Callahan, a tunnel into the core of the astroid was dug, at which end a chamber was fitted with a special Ghost Drive called a gravitation accelerator. It was rapidly discovered that a sort of gravitational pull was able to pass through the gateway between the two world layers, and so a link was established to an Earth sized mass in the other layer, thus creating a singularity with a planets gravitation in the middle of Callahan. A shield of vacuum prevented disturbances of this gravitation, and a system wide treaty disarmed the threat of sabotage. Just like Earth, except the lack of outdoor activities.
    "Bedwyr VI requesting permission to land." For some reason had the use of names from the Arthurian legends become a legacy of the Callahan Federation, with only the Solar Alliance having a similar tradition. Pure science fiction names. Imagine that.
    "Permission granted, Bedwyr VI. Welcome home."
The repulsion engines kicked in and began slowing the dropping craft, until the bone shaking hover state was aquired. As soon as the thrusters fully countered the gravitational pull, the computer slacked the power, making the vessle float towards the ground. The moment the rubber tyres touched the concrete surface, the engines went out, letting the suspension deal with the last potential energy.
    "Welcome home…" Accolon muttered to himself as he pressed the button to decend through the floor like his lieutenant had done earlier.