{"data":{"id":12818,"title":"Cassandra's Tears: Issue #6","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/12818-Cassandras-Tears-Issue-6","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/12818","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/12818","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Cassandra's Tears","images":[{"id":109,"name":"CalMasonFI_Crop.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/dzgf0umox510mr\/source\/CalMasonFI_Crop.jpg","alt":"","size":2001824,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:28:41+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/109","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/109\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Lt. Cal Mason\u2019s funeral turned out to be a contained affair. The squadron stood proudly in formation but otherwise only a handful of officers and deck crew attended. Kerny, a pit crew mechanic, showed up. Cal helped Kerny\u2019s family escape the Nul system about a year ago. Now the quiet giant stood there, wringing his hands as if that would keep back the tears that were threatening to burst through.\n\nAdmiral Showalter ran through the routine. His face was granite as always. Words were said. A three-volley salute. Launch the empty casket. And that was that. The group was dismissed and gently dispersed.\n\nPenny, Showalter, and Kerny remained, as if taking a step away was a step towards accepting.\n\nCal Mason was constantly under guard. Despite the cuffs binding his hands and the link-chain to the wall, someone was always watching him. It\u2019d been a couple days and three more jump-points. Cal was a model prisoner but he kept his eyes and ears open the whole time. The crew of the Constellation were being extra cautious about using names or discussing things around him. That was good; it meant they weren\u2019t settled on the notion of killing him.\n\nDespite their attempts at secrecy, here\u2019s what he still managed to pick up:\n\nThe ship was called the Phoenix. An engineering monitor let that slip.\n\nThe big guy who\u2019d spoken to the leader woman who may or may not be Cassandra was nicknamed Trunk. From his size and general mannerisms, he seemed like the strongarm of the bunch. There was some connection with Cassandra but Cal hadn\u2019t figured out if it was romantic or a bond weathered by battle\/thievery.\n\nThere was a gunner who liked to talk. Really liked to talk. His name was Nesser Yahro. He\u2019d flat out told Cal that one. Had a problem with the drinking too, which explained why he didn\u2019t remember the bulk of their discussions. He also seemed to be the back-up pilot when Cassandra was flying herself. Cal could always tell who was flying. Where she was a dancer on the controls, he was a wrecking ball.\n\nThe last crewman was the ship\u2019s mechanic. He wanted nothing to do with Cal and did everything in his power to stay out of sight, which was annoying to Nesser as it was interfering with their ongoing Trigger game. Nesser called him Mahony.\n\nIt was shortly after early-meal on the third day when she approached Cal, speaking to him for the first time since he was taken.\n\n\u201cComfortable?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh sure. Who doesn\u2019t love being handcuffed?\u201d\n\n\u201cDepends on the company.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue.\u201d Cal said with a conceding nod. She grinned. Cal weighed his options. He could dish what he knows in the hopes of catching her off-guard and tipping her hand. On the flipside, if she doesn\u2019t bite, she might make up her mind on the whole \u2018kill him\u2019 discussion\u2026\n\nNo, he thought. Better bide his time see if he can get a line on what they\u2019re up to or where they\u2019re going. Consequently, a heavy pause hung in the air.\n\n\u201cBe sure to let us know if there\u2019s anything we can do for you?\u201d She said, taking a sip from her cup.\n\n\u201cHow about letting me go?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get right on that.\u201d She started walking away.\n\n\u201cBye Cassandra.\u201d Cal said, mostly out of curiosity. She slowed for a nanosecond, her mind caught the hesitation and she tried to move on. But Cal saw it. That answers that question, he thought.\n\nIt didn\u2019t really because her name isn\u2019t Cassandra. Sasha Tai moved up to the pilot\u2019s chair, her mind churning as to how he heard that name. She slid behind the controls and flipped it off auto. Hydraulics pulsed into the controls as she took the helm.\n\nIn retrospect, she shouldn\u2019t have stopped the Vanduul from killing the pilot, Mason. Having him onboard was putting everything at risk but she had seen what Vanduul do to UEE prisoners. She told herself she would sleep better putting a round through his brain herself than letting the Vanduul go to work on him.\n\nShe checked the Nav-plan. They\u2019d been changed, again. Nesser was wasting too much time and burning too much fuel with his inefficient flight plans. Trunk came up as she recalibrated the approach.\n\n\u201cMahony\u2019s got the stuff stowed.\u201d He said, checking on Cal before sliding into the seat beside her, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on up here?\u201d\n\n\u201cNesser\u2019s gonna run this ship into the ground.\u201d She whispered; making sure Nesser was out of earshot. Sasha paused for a second then leaned over to Trunk.\n\n\u201cHas anybody been talking to him?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think so. Why?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe called me Cassandra.\u201d\n\n\u201cWeird.\u201d Trunk chewed on that for a minute, \u201cWell, then he doesn\u2019t know what it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t sweat it, sis. If he becomes a liability, we dump him out the airlock.\u201d\n\nBack on the Gemini, Penny was in her bunk. Showalter hadn\u2019t really enforced her punishment for Cal\u2019s stunt on Yar so she enforced it on herself. She scrubbed the flight deck, helped the pit crews, ran sims for rookie pilots, anything to stay busy. She worked herself to the point of collapse. That was the only way she could sleep.\n\nExcept for today. The second she hit the bed, she realized something. In all the madness, she had completely forgotten. She snatched the SysBook off her shelf and pulled up all the photos Cal had sent her of the settlement on Yar. Of the missing equipment. After two hours of study, she couldn\u2019t figure out what the equipment was so she switched to the settlement itself.\n\nOddly all the info-links were locked behind dense security protocols. She kept prodding for a way around them, running some innocent keycrackers until one took-\n\nThe settlement on Yar was set up as a research lab back in 2880. Back then everybody was running high off the new Synthworld project. Corps were all trying to figure out ways to get their foot in the door of the lucrative government project.\n\nShe kept digging. Apparently, the settlement formed to work on a single project, a project called Cassandra.\n\nAlthough most of it was a dense web of science-speak and formulas, the Cassandra Project was attempting to redesign a planet on a molecular level. A self-replicating nanovirus designed to break down an existing planet and rebuild it.\n\nAnd the scientists on Yar got it to work.\n\nThat\u2019s when her screen suddenly went black. . . . TO BE CONTINUED","de_DE":"Die Beerdigung von Lt. Cal Mason erwies sich als eine geschlossene Angelegenheit. Die Staffel stand stolz in Formation, aber ansonsten kamen nur eine Handvoll Offiziere und Deckmannschaft. Kerny, eine Mechanikerin der Boxenteams, tauchte auf. Cal half Kerny's Familie vor etwa einem Jahr, dem Nul-System zu entkommen. Nun stand der stille Riese da und rang mit den H\u00e4nden, als ob das die Tr\u00e4nen, die durchzubrechen drohten, zur\u00fcckhalten w\u00fcrde.\n\nAdmiral Showalter hat die Routine durchlaufen. Sein Gesicht war wie immer aus Granit. Es wurden Worte gesprochen. Ein Drei-Volleyball-Gru\u00df. Starten Sie den leeren Sarg. Und das war's dann auch schon. Die Gruppe wurde entlassen und sanft verteilt.\n\nPenny, Showalter und Kerny blieben, als ob ein Schritt zur\u00fcckgehen ein Schritt in Richtung Akzeptanz w\u00e4re.\n\nCal Mason stand st\u00e4ndig unter Bewachung. Trotz der Handschellen, die seine H\u00e4nde und die Verbindungskette an die Wand binden, beobachtete ihn immer jemand. Es waren ein paar Tage und drei weitere Sprungbretter vergangen. Cal war ein vorbildlicher Gefangener, aber er hielt seine Augen und Ohren die ganze Zeit offen. Die Besatzung der Konstellation war besonders vorsichtig, wenn es darum ging, Namen zu benutzen oder Dinge um ihn herum zu besprechen. Das war gut; das bedeutete, dass sie sich nicht auf die Idee einigten, ihn zu t\u00f6ten.\n\nTrotz ihrer Versuche der Verschwiegenheit, hier ist das, was er immer noch aufheben konnte:\n\nDas Schiff hie\u00df Phoenix. Ein technischer Monitor lie\u00df das verrutschen.\n\nDer gro\u00dfe Kerl, der mit der Anf\u00fchrerin gesprochen hatte, die Cassandra sein k\u00f6nnte oder auch nicht, wurde als Trunk bezeichnet. Von seiner Gr\u00f6\u00dfe und seinen allgemeinen Manierismen schien er wie der starke Arm des Haufens. Es gab eine gewisse Verbindung zu Cassandra, aber Cal hatte nicht herausgefunden, ob es romantisch war oder eine Verbindung, die durch Kampf\/Diebstahl verwittert war.\n\nEs gab einen Sch\u00fctzen, der gerne sprach. Ich habe wirklich gerne geredet. Sein Name war Nesser Yahro. Er hatte Cal das schon gesagt. Hatte auch ein Problem mit dem Trinken, was erkl\u00e4rte, warum er sich nicht an den Gro\u00dfteil ihrer Diskussionen erinnerte. Er schien auch der Ersatz-Pilot zu sein, als Cassandra selbst flog. Cal konnte immer erkennen, wer fliegt. Wo sie als T\u00e4nzerin an der Steuerung arbeitete, war er eine Abrissbirne.\n\nDer letzte Besatzungsmitglied war der Mechaniker des Schiffes. Er wollte nichts mit Cal zu tun haben und tat alles in seiner Macht Stehende, um au\u00dfer Sichtweite zu bleiben, was f\u00fcr Nesser \u00e4rgerlich war, da es ihr laufendes Trigger-Spiel beeintr\u00e4chtigte. Nesser nannte ihn Mahony.\n\nEs war kurz nach der fr\u00fchen Mahlzeit am dritten Tag, als sie sich an Cal wandte und zum ersten Mal seit seiner Einnahme mit ihm sprach.\n\n\" Bequem?\"\n\n\"Oh sicher. Wer mag es nicht, in Handschellen gefesselt zu sein?\"\n\n\"Kommt auf die Firma an.\"\n\n\" Stimmt.\" sagte Cal mit einem zugestandenen Nicken. Sie grinste. Cal wog seine Optionen ab. Er konnte alles, was er wusste, auftischen, in der Hoffnung, sie zu erwischen und ihre Hand zu kippen. Auf der anderen Seite, wenn sie nicht bei\u00dft, k\u00f6nnte sie sich in der gesamten \"T\u00f6te ihn\"-Diskussion entscheiden.....\n\nNein, dachte er. Besser warten Sie ab, ob er eine Zeile dar\u00fcber bekommt, was sie vorhaben oder wohin sie wollen. Folglich lag eine schwere Pause in der Luft.\n\n\"Seien Sie sicher, dass Sie uns wissen lassen, ob wir etwas f\u00fcr Sie tun k\u00f6nnen?\" sagte sie und nahm einen Schluck aus ihrem Becher.\n\n\"Wie w\u00e4re es, wenn du mich gehen l\u00e4sst?\"\n\n\"Ich k\u00fcmmere mich gleich darum.\" Sie fing an, wegzugehen.\n\n\"Tsch\u00fcss Cassandra.\" sagte Cal, meistens aus Neugierde. Sie verlangsamte sich f\u00fcr eine Nanosekunde, ihr Verstand fing das Z\u00f6gern auf und sie versuchte, weiterzumachen. Aber Cal hat es gesehen. Das beantwortet diese Frage, dachte er.\n\nEs war nicht wirklich so, weil ihr Name nicht Cassandra ist. Sasha Tai ging auf den Stuhl des Piloten zu, ihr Verstand wirbelte dar\u00fcber, wie er diesen Namen h\u00f6rte. Sie rutschte hinter die Bedienelemente und schaltete es automatisch aus. Die Hydraulik pulsierte in die Steuerung, als sie das Steuer \u00fcbernahm.\n\nIm Nachhinein h\u00e4tte sie die Vanduul nicht davon abhalten sollen, den Piloten Mason zu t\u00f6ten. Ihn an Bord zu haben, stellte alles in Gefahr, aber sie hatte gesehen, was Vanduul mit UEE-H\u00e4ftlingen macht. Sie sagte sich selbst, dass sie besser schlafen w\u00fcrde, wenn sie selbst eine Runde durch sein Gehirn schlagen w\u00fcrde, als die Vanduul an ihm arbeiten zu lassen.\n\nSie hat den Nav-Plan \u00fcberpr\u00fcft. Sie wurden wieder ver\u00e4ndert. Nesser verschwendet mit seinen ineffizienten Flugpl\u00e4nen zu viel Zeit und verbrennt zu viel Treibstoff. Der Kofferraum kam hoch, als sie die Ann\u00e4herung neu kalibrierte.\n\n\"Mahony hat das Zeug verstaut.\" Er sagte und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte Cal, bevor er auf den Sitz neben ihr schl\u00fcpfte: \"Was ist hier oben los?\"\n\n\"Nesser wird dieses Schiff unter die Erde bringen.\" Sie fl\u00fcsterte; sie stellte sicher, dass Nesser nicht in H\u00f6rweite war. Sasha hielt eine Sekunde inne und lehnte sich dann zum Kofferraum hin\u00fcber.\n\n\"Hat jemand mit ihm gesprochen?\"\n\n\"Ich glaube nicht. Warum?\"\n\n\"Er nannte mich Kassandra.\"\n\n\" Seltsam.\" Der Kofferraum kaute eine Minute lang daran: \"Nun, dann wei\u00df er nicht, was es ist.\"\n\n\" Immer noch.\"\n\n\"Keine Sorge, Schwesterchen. Wenn er zu einer Belastung wird, werfen wir ihn aus der Luftschleuse.\"\n\nZur\u00fcck auf dem Zwilling, war Penny in ihrer Koje. Showalter hatte ihre Strafe f\u00fcr Cals Stunt auf Yar nicht wirklich durchgesetzt, also hat sie es sich selbst auferlegt. Sie schrubbte das Flugdeck, half den Boxenteams, f\u00fchrte Sims f\u00fcr Anf\u00e4ngerpiloten durch, alles, um besch\u00e4ftigt zu bleiben. Sie arbeitete sich selbst bis zum Zusammenbruch. Das war der einzige Weg, wie sie schlafen konnte.\n\nAu\u00dfer f\u00fcr heute. Als sie das Bett betrat, wurde ihr etwas klar. In all dem Wahnsinn hatte sie es v\u00f6llig vergessen. Sie schnappte sich das SysBook aus dem Regal und holte alle Fotos hoch, die Cal ihr von der Siedlung auf Yar geschickt hatte. Von der fehlenden Ausr\u00fcstung. Nach zwei Stunden Studium konnte sie nicht herausfinden, was die Ausr\u00fcstung war, also wechselte sie in die Siedlung selbst.\n\nSeltsamerweise wurden alle Info-Links hinter dichten Sicherheitsprotokollen gesperrt. Sie stie\u00df immer wieder auf einen Weg um sie herum und lie\u00df ein paar unschuldige Keycracker laufen, bis einer von ihnen nahm -\n\nDie Siedlung auf Yar wurde bereits 2880 als Forschungslabor eingerichtet. Damals liefen alle hoch hinaus auf das neue Synthworld-Projekt. Alle Korps versuchten herauszufinden, wie sie ihren Fu\u00df in die T\u00fcr des lukrativen Regierungsprojekts setzen k\u00f6nnen.\n\nSie grub weiter. Anscheinend bildete sich die Siedlung, um an einem einzigen Projekt zu arbeiten, einem Projekt namens Cassandra.\n\nObwohl das meiste davon ein dichtes Netz aus Wissenschaftssprache und Formeln war, versuchte das Kassandra-Projekt, einen Planeten auf molekularer Ebene neu zu gestalten. Ein sich selbst replizierendes Nanovirus, das einen bestehenden Planeten zerst\u00f6ren und wieder aufbauen soll.\n\nUnd die Wissenschaftler auf Yar brachten es zum Laufen.\n\nDann wurde ihr Bildschirm pl\u00f6tzlich schwarz.\n\n\n. . . WIRD FORTGESETZT","zh_CN":"Lt. Cal Mason\u2019s funeral turned out to be a contained affair. The squadron stood proudly in formation but otherwise only a handful of officers and deck crew attended. Kerny, a pit crew mechanic, showed up. Cal helped Kerny\u2019s family escape the Nul system about a year ago. Now the quiet giant stood there, wringing his hands as if that would keep back the tears that were threatening to burst through.\n\nAdmiral Showalter ran through the routine. His face was granite as always. Words were said. A three-volley salute. Launch the empty casket. And that was that. The group was dismissed and gently dispersed.\n\nPenny, Showalter, and Kerny remained, as if taking a step away was a step towards accepting.\n\nCal Mason was constantly under guard. Despite the cuffs binding his hands and the link-chain to the wall, someone was always watching him. It\u2019d been a couple days and three more jump-points. Cal was a model prisoner but he kept his eyes and ears open the whole time. The crew of the Constellation were being extra cautious about using names or discussing things around him. That was good; it meant they weren\u2019t settled on the notion of killing him.\n\nDespite their attempts at secrecy, here\u2019s what he still managed to pick up:\n\nThe ship was called the Phoenix. An engineering monitor let that slip.\n\nThe big guy who\u2019d spoken to the leader woman who may or may not be Cassandra was nicknamed Trunk. From his size and general mannerisms, he seemed like the strongarm of the bunch. There was some connection with Cassandra but Cal hadn\u2019t figured out if it was romantic or a bond weathered by battle\/thievery.\n\nThere was a gunner who liked to talk. Really liked to talk. His name was Nesser Yahro. He\u2019d flat out told Cal that one. Had a problem with the drinking too, which explained why he didn\u2019t remember the bulk of their discussions. He also seemed to be the back-up pilot when Cassandra was flying herself. Cal could always tell who was flying. Where she was a dancer on the controls, he was a wrecking ball.\n\nThe last crewman was the ship\u2019s mechanic. He wanted nothing to do with Cal and did everything in his power to stay out of sight, which was annoying to Nesser as it was interfering with their ongoing Trigger game. Nesser called him Mahony.\n\nIt was shortly after early-meal on the third day when she approached Cal, speaking to him for the first time since he was taken.\n\n\u201cComfortable?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh sure. Who doesn\u2019t love being handcuffed?\u201d\n\n\u201cDepends on the company.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue.\u201d Cal said with a conceding nod. She grinned. Cal weighed his options. He could dish what he knows in the hopes of catching her off-guard and tipping her hand. On the flipside, if she doesn\u2019t bite, she might make up her mind on the whole \u2018kill him\u2019 discussion\u2026\n\nNo, he thought. Better bide his time see if he can get a line on what they\u2019re up to or where they\u2019re going. Consequently, a heavy pause hung in the air.\n\n\u201cBe sure to let us know if there\u2019s anything we can do for you?\u201d She said, taking a sip from her cup.\n\n\u201cHow about letting me go?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get right on that.\u201d She started walking away.\n\n\u201cBye Cassandra.\u201d Cal said, mostly out of curiosity. She slowed for a nanosecond, her mind caught the hesitation and she tried to move on. But Cal saw it. That answers that question, he thought.\n\nIt didn\u2019t really because her name isn\u2019t Cassandra. Sasha Tai moved up to the pilot\u2019s chair, her mind churning as to how he heard that name. She slid behind the controls and flipped it off auto. Hydraulics pulsed into the controls as she took the helm.\n\nIn retrospect, she shouldn\u2019t have stopped the Vanduul from killing the pilot, Mason. Having him onboard was putting everything at risk but she had seen what Vanduul do to UEE prisoners. She told herself she would sleep better putting a round through his brain herself than letting the Vanduul go to work on him.\n\nShe checked the Nav-plan. They\u2019d been changed, again. Nesser was wasting too much time and burning too much fuel with his inefficient flight plans. Trunk came up as she recalibrated the approach.\n\n\u201cMahony\u2019s got the stuff stowed.\u201d He said, checking on Cal before sliding into the seat beside her, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on up here?\u201d\n\n\u201cNesser\u2019s gonna run this ship into the ground.\u201d She whispered; making sure Nesser was out of earshot. Sasha paused for a second then leaned over to Trunk.\n\n\u201cHas anybody been talking to him?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think so. Why?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe called me Cassandra.\u201d\n\n\u201cWeird.\u201d Trunk chewed on that for a minute, \u201cWell, then he doesn\u2019t know what it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t sweat it, sis. If he becomes a liability, we dump him out the airlock.\u201d\n\nBack on the Gemini, Penny was in her bunk. Showalter hadn\u2019t really enforced her punishment for Cal\u2019s stunt on Yar so she enforced it on herself. She scrubbed the flight deck, helped the pit crews, ran sims for rookie pilots, anything to stay busy. She worked herself to the point of collapse. That was the only way she could sleep.\n\nExcept for today. The second she hit the bed, she realized something. In all the madness, she had completely forgotten. She snatched the SysBook off her shelf and pulled up all the photos Cal had sent her of the settlement on Yar. Of the missing equipment. After two hours of study, she couldn\u2019t figure out what the equipment was so she switched to the settlement itself.\n\nOddly all the info-links were locked behind dense security protocols. She kept prodding for a way around them, running some innocent keycrackers until one took-\n\nThe settlement on Yar was set up as a research lab back in 2880. Back then everybody was running high off the new Synthworld project. Corps were all trying to figure out ways to get their foot in the door of the lucrative government project.\n\nShe kept digging. Apparently, the settlement formed to work on a single project, a project called Cassandra.\n\nAlthough most of it was a dense web of science-speak and formulas, the Cassandra Project was attempting to redesign a planet on a molecular level. A self-replicating nanovirus designed to break down an existing planet and rebuild it.\n\nAnd the scientists on Yar got it to work.\n\nThat\u2019s when her screen suddenly went black. . . . TO BE CONTINUED"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":77,"created_at":"2012-11-23T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"13 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-04-29 18:20:21","valid_relations":["images","links","translations"],"prev_id":12817,"next_id":12819}}