003.01
I completed my delivery to Trading post
#1313. Daniel and I had lunch together and I got to wow him with my description
of the Maelstrom incident and the unexpected meeting with the Valarian scout
ship. He said hearing about those kind of adventures made him wish he wasn’t
planet bound. We talked about GTD again. I offered to come back to give him a
ride to the event.
I put my availability on the NET as
soon as I hit orbit at 1313. I had a job lined up before I got my last load
delivered. I’ll make a short jump to Outpost #26 to pick up a passenger. One of
The Company’s ships was diverted to another location. The new Super-intendant
for Galnon Station #41 needed to find his own ride to his post. He found me.
I’ll pick him up and give him a lift to the station. It will only put me a
little out of my way to Jake’s party and I’ll make a nice commission on the
delivery.
The Company specializes in mining
galnon crystals. The crystals only form in a particular type of rock that is
found on planets with extreme heat. Galnon Station #41 is located between two
suns. It is bathed in light thirty hours a rotation. No night. The surface
temperature averages a consistent 120 degrees.
Galnon crystals come in grades like
diamonds. Some are sold for industrial use, some for jewelry, still other
larger clusters for expensive decorative pieces.
The Company locates the planets where
these crystals form. They bring in the equipment, a prefab mining station plus
all the out buildings, and all the staff to man the station. The staff usually
consists of a super-intendant, a security crew, staff for the company store,
and the miners and their families.
I was told by the ‘new man’ that the
previous super-intendant died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The new guy’s
name is Drew Chumlee. I hope he can play chess. It’s going to be a couple of
weeks onboard.
*****
The new superintendent does not play
chess. In fact, he doesn’t do much of anything other than eat, drink, sleep and
read comic books. I think I have the most boring man alive on my ship.
“3su, can we talk?” Moby asked over the
com system. “In the galley if possible,” he added. Moby had been complaining
steadily about the Super and his massive appetite.
Drew Chumlee is a little man, perhaps
five foot six or so, but he eats like a man that has been marooned for years on
a desert planet. I think he is trying to stock up for the time at the station
when everything will be rationed. I swear the man has a hollow leg he’s trying
to fill. Moby has increased the amount he prepares by three and the guy is
still scarfing it down. I should have charged him extra for supplies.
I passed Drew’s quarters on my way to
the galley. He was lying on his bunk with a bowl of Cheesy Crunch he was
sprinkling over ice cream (pretty darn disgusting) as he read yet another comic
book. Sam helped him load when he came aboard. He must have brought a trunk
full of those comics.
“I’m here, Moby,” I said as I dropped
into a chair at the table.
“He is eating us out of ship and home,”
Moby started to rant. “At this rate we will be out of stores by the time we hit
Galnon Station #41 and you know they will not issue us any for the return trip
from their supplies,” he declared.
“Come on, Moby, it can’t be that bad,”
I soothed. “I know you. You can make a dishrag taste good. I won’t starve.
Besides, I can stand to lose a little weight.”
Moby grumbled under his breath a bit. I
heard the prep unit click on and one of my favorite chocolate cupcakes
appeared. “I do have a few things in reserve,” he admitted.
“There, see? Not so bad after all,
right?” I took a bite of the cupcake. “Superior as usual,” I complimented. I
wonder if Daniel knows how much time I take placating his programs. Really, I
love them all. I would have been bored out of my mind on this trip if it weren’t
for the A.I.s he created for me.
“Glad you’re enjoying it. Luckily, he
doesn’t care for chocolate,” Moby said.
“Then we are saved. I could live on
these.”
Moby obligingly produced another
cupcake.
*****
“Check,” Horus said, as he moved his
queen to block my king on the holographic chess board.
We had dropped Chumlee off at the
Galnon Station and proceeded on our way as soon as the deed was done. I
certainly had no desire to linger on a planet where the mean temperature was
120 degrees.
We were finally on our way to Outpost
#68 for Jake’s party.
Horus and I were playing chess on the
bridge. Most people would play in the vid room or maybe even the mess, but I
like looking at the stars through the view port. That is the reason I am a
spacer and not planet bound. Ma-rye-a enhanced the view by throwing up an
occasional vid slice of an interstellar nursery with its energetic light and
winds from massive newly formed stars evaporating and dispersing amid the dust
in which they are formed.
Cassie was playing in one corner of the
view port throwing up pictures of outfits she saw on the NET that might
interest me. She put a dialogue bubble above the ones she liked most with
“Wow!” or “Sexy Lady” or “Frosty” or some other written comment. She was trying
to be quiet and not disturb the chess game, but being the program she was she
wasn’t being too successful at it.
My eyes wandered from the chessboard to
the view port, one more move and Horus would have me. Daniel had programmed
Horus so occasionally he would let me win. It was very random through. I could
tell today was not my day for victory.
I scratched my head. My hair is growing
back and it itches all the time. I kinda like it though. It stands up straight
at this point. I look like I am wearing a fur cap. Cassie threw up a shot of a
selection of several wigs, rainbow spiked, blond curls and a long black braid.
Her bubble said “Hair – what a concept”.
I spotted something out the view port.
I can’t explain how I see things out of place in an open Verse, but I can. Like
a proofreader, my eyes see misplaced objects. “What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s a wig,” Cassie answered.
“Not that,” I said, “that,” I pointed
at a space outside the port. “Ma-rye-a give me a close up of that area.”
Ma-rye-a pulled Cassie’s picture off
the screen and zoomed in on the area of space I indicated. It was two ships, a
freighter and a Phoenix Class flyer. They were both stationary in space. I had
a really bad feeling about this. It looked really hinky. Phoenix Class flyers
are built for speed. I could think of a dozen reasons a freighter and a Phoenix
would meet in empty space and none of them were good.
“What are the readings?” I asked.
“The integrity of the freighter’s hull
has been compromised,” Ma-rye-a said. “I do not detect any life.”
Just then the Phoenix pulled away from
the larger ship. We could see a huge hole in the freighter’s side - a hole that
looked like the remnants of an explosion. Out of the hole scurried several
beetle-like beings approximately seven to eight feet tall. Helavites! The
scourge of the Verse.
“Ma-rye-a, find us a place to hide.
Quick!” I ordered.
“There is an asteroid not far…”
“Get us there, now!” I interrupted.
Ma-rye-a banked to the right. I heard
her engines kick into hyper-drive. I was glad I was sitting down. She whorled
around and landed us in a depression on the back side of a small asteroid.
“Sam,” I said. “Can you give us some
camouflage?” I knew even though Sam and Moby had not been on the deck with me,
they always monitored the com and were aware of what was happening.
“Gotcha Cap,” he answered. He deployed
the scrubbers, which also worked on other tasks outside the ship. They quickly
planted themselves about the ship’s hull and activated their holographic
projectors. To anyone passing, we would look like another part of the rock we
were sitting on unless they came down and touched us.
“Ma-rye-a, can you keep an eye on them
for us?” I asked. “Without attracting any attention, of course,” I added.
“Of course,” she replied. The image of
the freighter and the Phoenix came back on the screen. The beetles must have
transferred all they wanted from the ship. They were making their way back to
the flyer. I marveled at their ability to exist out in space without a suit. No
one had ever been able to catch a Helavite, but it was believed that their
body’s shell acted like a suit and that they could go without breathing for an
inordinately long time. I found them downright creepy, yet fascinating.
The Helavites are the pirates of the
Verse. They move in on a ship or a planet and never leave anyone behind to tell
the tale. They use other culture’s technology and disguise themselves with it.
The beetles sell their plundered goods on a floating black market. Those who
buy from it are not the sort to give up its location, so the Galactic Forces
have never known where to find them to bring them to justice. We have no idea
how many there are or where they make their base camp.
The freighter exploded in a burst of
fire almost immediately snuffed by the lack of oxygen in space. There was
nothing left except floating debris when the Phoenix pulled away.
“Ma-rye-a? Track them as far as your
sensors will allow and see if you can locate MT2424. We need to report this.”
*****
003.04
“I’ll make this quick. I have no idea
if the Helavites monitor the Net, but I don’t want to take the chance.”
Ma-rye-a had connected us with MT2424. The computer officer had answered the
call and introduced himself as Officer Coal. He was a Realdat – a very
identifiable race. They all look alike, their only individuality being their
tattoos. The computer officer has a winged creature on cloven hoofs prancing
across one cheek. He’d called for Captain Targus to join him on the bridge, but
I didn’t want to wait on him. I wanted to get my duty driven report in and get
the hell out of this area of space.
“We just witnessed an attack on a
freighter by Helavites. We’re not equipped to fight, as your captain knows
since he was onboard my ship a couple of months ago. My ship is forwarding you
the coordinates now.”
Damion’s face entered the view screen.
“Were there any survivors?” Wishful thinking on his part.
“They blew the ship up before they
left. There is nothing except debris for one of your cleaning teams,” I answered.
“Ma-rye-a tracked them as far as her sensors would allow. We are transmitting
that data to you now along with the coordinates.”
“Coal, do you have a lock on 3su’s
ship?” Captain Targus asked as he came into view on my screen.
“Affirmative,” Coal responded.
“Can you wait for us?” The captain
asked. He looked down at the readouts on
Coals controls. “We can be there in less than ten hours.”
“I don’t feel real comfortable sitting
here even if we are shielded,” I told Captain Targus. “If they do any poking
around, they’ll find us.”
Coal was literally attacking his
keyboard. I could hear his fingers punching the screen with such force that it
was a wonder that he didn’t crack it. “The Yakoshi is only three hours from her
location,” Coal said.
“Can you wait for the battle cruiser to
arrive?” Targus asked. “I don’t think the Helavites would think of bothering
you with her around.”
“I suppose so,” I lamented.
“You may not realize you have further
information for us that your ship does not possess in her data base. Anything
we can learn about these raiders, no matter how small, is vitally important.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Well, tell
the Yakoshi to put a move on. I’ll feel a lot better about waited for you with
her sitting guard over us.”
“We’re on our way,” Targus replied.
“I’ll have the cookies waiting,” I
added as I winked at Damion. No sense in letting the opportunity of impressing
the handsome medical officer again. After all, what else could I do while I was
waiting ten hours for them to arrive, except worry?
I caught his returning wink just as
Coal signed off.
*****
“Aiyeh!” I exclaimed as the tea I
spilled ran off the console into my lap. “Yuck.” I jumped up from my chair. I
brushed at the liquid to no avail. I was going to have to change my clothes.
“I’ll make you another cup,” Horus
offered.
“How about some of those scones you
like to go with it?” Moby chimed in.
They were all trying to be so
solicitous. We had been waiting for over five hours and I was a wreck. I have
always thought I was brave and strong, but this waiting for the Yakoshi to
arrive with the Helavites active in the area made my skin crawl.
“Thanks, Moby. That would be nice. I’m
going to change out of this.” I plucked at the wet pants on my thigh.
“Perhaps a game of chess when you
return,” Horus suggested.
“We’ll see.” I wasn’t
in the mood for chess. I didn’t really think I could keep my mind on a game.
“You know, we’re okay,” Sam reassured
me as I walked to my cabin. “The scrubbers are doing their job. We’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, Sam. I know you’re doing a
great job. I just can’t help feeling very vulnerable sitting here.”
Cassie met me in my cabin. “Wear the
red,” she advised. “It always makes you feel better.”
I took my red jumpsuit out and slipped
it on after shedding my tea drenched outfit. Honestly, I do not know what I
would have done with myself the last three days without my crew. I am going to
have to get Daniel something special at the GTD festival as a thank you for all
the empathy he has programmed into them.
“There, isn’t that better,” Cassie said
in a cheerful tone. “A little eye makeup and you’ll be all set to meet the
captain of the Yakoshi. I have been reading up on him and he sounds very
capable. He’s also quite handsome.” She displayed a hologram from the projector
on the wall. “His name is Denn Silva. He is human and hails from Goliath’s
third moon.”
The projection was of a man about my
height, built wide in the shoulders and slim in the hips, blond, blue eyed with
chiseled features. Really nice if you liked blonds. Personally, I drift more
toward the dark-haired variety. Damion is more my type.
“Of course, Damion is nicer looking,
but you have to admit, Denn is cute,” Cassie commented. Daniel had programmed
her with so many of my preferences that it was like she read my mind half the
time.
“I just picked up the Yakoshi on my
long-range scan,” Ma-rye-a announced from the bridge. “They should be here in
another 4 hours.”
At this rate, they should make it to us
at about the same time as the MT Unit arrives. But hey, I wasn’t about to turn
them away.
“Thank heaven.” I said. I did feel a
bit light headed with relief. “Let’s have some scones and tea to celebrate.” I
headed toward the bridge. “Set up the chess board, Horus.”
*****
“I could get addicted to these things,”
Damion said, as he popped the last of the cookie in his mouth.
“Moby? Could you oblige us with another
plate full, please?” I asked.
“Coming right up,” Moby said.
The Yakoshi had barely said hello and
it was off to chase the Helavites in the direction Ma-rye-a indicated with her
tracking information. So, we had sat for another hour and a half until MT 2424
arrived. Coal was in on the conversation this time by com link. He was taking
notes at his console aboard the galactic vessel as we discussed what I had
seen. Captain Targus was doing the questioning and Damion was reveling in
Moby’s cooking skills.
“Make sure you pocket a couple of those
for me,” Coal said over the com.
Damion smiled at Coal on the monitor
and bit into another cookie with relish.
Targus had already asked me to recount
what I had observed in detail. Now he placed a wanted poster on my console.
“Did they look like this?” he asked.
The drawing made my skin crawl. No one
had ever been able to get a photo or vid of the beetles and live to show it.
With all our technology, a drawing was the best the Verse had.
“Yes, that’s them,” I responded. “I’m
sorry we weren’t able to get a picture of them for you. I was just in a pretty
big hurry to get out of their way.”
“Understandable,” the Captain said. “I
am thankful we are not picking up the debris of Ma-rye-a.”
“Me too,” Ma-rye-a piped in.
“Sorry,” I apologized. “I’ve made them
very interactive AIs.”
“I’m sure they are a lot of company to
you on long trips,” Damion offered.
“You can’t imagine,” I confirmed.
Targus folded up his poster and stuck
it back in his breast pocket. “Where are you headed from here?”
“I was on my way to Outpost #68 for the
birthday party of a friend. I don’t think I feel much like a party now. I may
go back to Trade post #1313 and see if I can pick up another load.” I didn’t
want to say anything about Daniel and have Damion get the wrong idea. I just
thought I might hang out at the Trade post until it was time to take off for
Valaria and the GTD celebration.
“Well, we won’t keep you any longer,
Captain,” Targus said as he rose to his full seven feet eight inches (I had
gotten up my courage to ask). He shook my hand and headed toward the cargo bay.
“Here,” I said. I handed Damion the
remainder of the cookies. “Some for the empty space.”
“Thanks, we’re going to have to stop
meeting like this,” Damion said. “I have leave soon. If we don’t get caught up
in a Helavite confrontation, will you be at Trade post #1313 long?”
“For a couple of weeks. Then I am
headed to GTD on Valaria,” I answered. “Any hope of you coming by that way?”
“Not much,” he replied. “Valaria is a
wee bit Outthere for us.”
“Maybe later,” I offered with a smile.
“Definitely later,” he said and leaned
over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the cookies.”
I felt a tingle down to the soles of my
spacer boots.
My luck, I hate long distance romances.
*****
MT 2424 followed us until we cleared
the space in the general vicinity of the Helavite attack. Coal sent Ma-rye-a a
virtual kiss for all the information she had passed to him over the NET. If she
had been human, she would have blushed. She had to show it to all of us. The
Realdat has really made a friend in her. No matter what I order next time, if
there is a next time, I bet she gets a picture of the Helavites for him.
I sent Tim O’Malley an apology for
missing Jake’s party and told him I would catch up with them later for a
belated celebration on Refitting Station Terrell. We all like the Corridor 6
Bar and the bartender there, Andy. I know if we keep it to a low roar, he will
let us camp out there for a spell.
We are headed back to Trade Post #1313.
I made enough on the last two jobs that I can rest for a bit and not feel
pinched. I can take some R&R with Daniel and then we can take off for the
GTD celebration. I want to take the slow way, around the Helavite area on the
way instead of through like last time.
Maybe I can even pick up some
enter-planetary transports to pad my pockets a bit more before the celebration.
I took the Valarian map/beacon class
last time for the 30 days I was there, so I could get my navigation software.
Because of the time needed to study for the class and the money involved in
enrollment and the purchase of the software, I didn’t get to see much of the
festival or the exhibits. I am looking forward to just having fun this time.
Some games, good food, maybe purchase a tech item or two, and after what just
happened, maybe look into mounting a gun turret or two on Ma-rye-a. We’ll see.
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