Star Trader Update .051

I apologize for not posting this past Saturday, but life got in the way of art. My 94 year old father, who lives with me, experienced a heart attack. He is recovering slowly, but it may be a while before I post to the blog again. I hope you will scan through the other stories I have here and find something to keep you busy until I return. 

Thank you so much for your readership. I love you all. 

Once dad and I have established a new routine I will be back with another great story either 

sci-fi, fantasy or paranormal.

Don't forget to check out my main website for free books and great series.

Theresa Snyder's Books

Now on with the conclusion of our story...

051.01


“I was one of the first to hear its call,” Mul’drak told us. “Tal’on was my father’s Great. When I was a youngling. I listened to his tale of Tal’on over and over again.”

“So, it was at least three generations between Tal’on’s capture and the Sollen sounding again?” Jake asked.

“Yes, and for your humankind, many, many more generation,” Mul’drak said. “You live such short lives.”

“When the call came five of us answered. We mistakenly thought five was enough,” the old dragon said and shrugged his shoulders making his wings rise in the process. “We found out later that the Prime passed on the story of the Sollen and its location through his family and political associates as Tal’on and my father had passed it on to us. In fact, the ruling of the Valdare had been retained in the Prime’s family line. When we arrived, we found the Valdare had developed into an advanced technological society with no pity for their own kind, much less ours.

Star Trader Update .050

050.01

“Tal’on could not stay away from Delevy,” Mul’drak said. He mantled his wings up over his head stretching them almost to the ceiling of the cave dome. He gave a big yawn, his large pink tongue rolling out its full length. The old dragon smiled wearily and shook his hand. “The young dragon’s bond was too strong. Over the next two years he ‘jumped’ to Delevy’s village often. The town grew to know him and though they did not understand his speech, they grew to enjoy the presence of the young dragon.”

“Delevy found she had extended family still living in the village,” Rudd’ard explained. “They and Tal’on helped her build a small home. They built a pole-barn nearby and Tal’on slept there, with Delevy at his side, on his visits during bad weather. But the Valdare’s world was changing. Even though their village was far away and they had kept to themselves, and hence out of the war between their people and the Sandcor, it eventually encroached on their world.”

Star Trader Update - .049

049.01

Tal’on paced impatiently in the courtyard. He had not been able to share the cell with Delevy in months. He had grown too much to make it through the door and down the stairs. The Valdare staked him in the courtyard when he was home and brought Delevy up to him in order to keep him pacified and quiet during the days he was free from fighting their war or recovering from injuries inflicted by the same.

The jailer, who had become a friend of sorts, was fetching Delevy. Tal’on and Graf’tal landed in the courtyard. The rest of the dragons took up residence on the spires and wall of the building built around the yard. They caught the jailer on his way to take Delevy and his other prisoners dinner. He still did not speak Tal’on’s language, but he understood the young dragon’s demand for his companion. He also noticed right away Tal’on no longer wore the collar which kept him in a submissive state. The jailer hustled down the stairs to release Delevy.

“Is you friend coming?” Graf’tal asked.

Star Trader Update .048

048.01

Tal’on lay on his belly with Delevy curled up against his chest in the crook of his front leg. She had finally fallen asleep.

After he surrendered in the stadium, the Prime revealed many things from the safety of his perch in the box overhead. He explained that the collars they both wore had tracking devices built into them and if they were to try and remove them, they also had an explosive device in them that would be activated and no doubt decapitate them.

Tal’on did some snarling and growling at this point, but the Prime calmed him by threatening to activate the explosive device in Delevy’s collar if he did not behave. The guards escorted them back down here to his cell. The good thing was he now knew where he was and the way out should he chose to leave. He had no doubt he could knock down the cell door and escape. The question was could he do it with Delevy and not get him or her killed in the process. And, how far did they have to be from the Prime and his detonation device before they were safe? Or was there a safe distance?

Star Trader Update .047

047.01



When Delevy left that afternoon, Tal’on went to the wall to retrieve the Sollen. He smiled to himself as he extended a claw to pry it from its hiding place. He had not paid attention where he was throwing his fire earlier and it hit the Sollen. Now as he flicked it into his paw with one long claw it not only vibrated, but it sang. It sang softly, but it sang. He tilted his wedge shaped head and studied it. Could it have been the blast of dragon fire? It had to be. He had done nothing different to it.

Perhaps he only needed to hit it a few more times before it would be loud enough for Graf’tal to hear and come for him.

Provided he had not jumped too far.

He couldn’t have.

He had to be within hearing range.

Star Trader Update .046

046.01


The Prime stood before Tal’on dressed in his official military garb. His chest was covered with metals. His three cornered hat sat jauntily on an angle. Though his guard protectively surrounded him, he wore his ornamental saber on one hip and his blaster on the other. He was further equipped with one of the pain sticks Tal’on had become so familiar with in the past when confronted with the Prime’s guard.

“Delevy tells me you can understand and speak our language now,” the Prime said as he tapped the end of the pain stick against his tall black boot tops in an intimidating way.

“I can,” Tal’on answered.

Star Trader Update .045

045.01

“Let’s take a break,” Rudd’ard said. “Mul’drak and I will go get us all something to eat.”

Rudd’ard rose and swiftly mounted Mul’drak. He reached down and affectionately patted the larger dragon on the neck.

“We’ll be right back,” he assured us, and then promptly disappeared.

“Whoa,” Jake said with an exhale of breath. He looked toward Arr. “What are you getting out of this?”

Star Trader Update .044

044.01

“Delevy had no idea what Tal’on was going through, she only knew he was suffering and her kind heart reached out to him.” Rudd’ard was up pacing the cave now, his long tail thrashing the ground on occasion tossing up dust and small pebbles.

Perhaps he was thinking of his own change that would come one day. I didn’t know. Graf’tal kept a close eye on his youngling charge. I kept a close eye on Arr. I could see he was getting more out of this story and the interaction of the two dragons then either Jake or I could hope to. He was privy to their picture communication which was no doubt flying at this point.

“She did not know but a handful of words in our language, but somehow through the mists of the void her voice came to Tal’on and brought him comfort. A comfort he desperately needed.” Rudd’ard looked toward Mul’drak. He nodded and came back to sit at the older dragon’s side. He wrapped his tail around his feet and hugged himself. Mul’drak nudged him in the side with his large wedged head and the youngling dropped his arms to encircle the older dragon’s neck as he lay his head in the younglings lap.

Star Trader Update .043

043.01

“On the fourth day Tal’on woke up ravenous and shivering, sure indications he was going into stasis,” Mul’drak said. “Of course, Graf’tal had told him what to expect, but he had also told the youngling that he would be there for him to guide him through. The Great left the details of the journey through the mental muck of stasis to the time when it came, so as not to frighten Tal’on.”

“So, in short,” Rudd’ard added, “he knew little of what was about to befall him.”

043.02 

Tal’on couldn’t remember ever being this hungry. Even the first few days without food when he arrived in this place did not compare to the gnawing emptiness he felt. When Delevy arrived with his meal he knelt, bolting it down half chewed and raised his platter to beg for more. He was not adverse to begging. He had an almost primeval desire to eat and it was all he could do to keep from thinking of Delevy as his next meal.

“Morrrrr…Pleeez,” he begged.

Star Trader Update .042

042.01

Tal’on watched the green come and go as he finished up his meal. She dragged in numerous things that looked like their skins, but were in large squares. She spread one out on the stone beneath her feet and piled the others at her side. After making several trips she appeared to tire and sweat formed on her brow to dampened the fur that fell across it. Tal’on watched with horror, his mouth full of the last morsel off his platter, as she shed her outer skin and threw it to the ground. She proceeded to pull off another layer of her skin and wiped her face with it before she tossed it to the pile on the large skin. She now stood with only a layer of green around her chest and covering her legs. The rest of her, neck, shoulders, arms, appeared as her hands and face, pale and soft. Tal’on didn’t realize it, but his mouth was hanging open in surprise.

Star Trader Update .041

041.01

Tal’on had drifted off into a troubled sleep where the beings on this planet hit and probed him with their fiery sticks. He was brought back to reality by the sound of something grating against the stone floor. He bolted to his feet and yanked his chain to its full length in order to follow the sound to the see-through wall. He was surprised to see part of the wall was open now. One of the beings, blue from neck to feet, except for his hands, was standing there flanked by six other red beings, equipped with the pain sticks Tal’on encountered before. Several other beings of multiple colors stood behind them. Tal’on could see at least four more before the cave curved to conceal where others of their kind might have been hiding.

He wondered if the color of the beings designated their rank in their society as the color of his skin gave others an idea of his lineage, age and status. Perhaps the blue was a ruler…a leader of some type.

Star Trader Update .040

040.01


Tal’on vaulted onto Graf’tal’s haunches, finding purchase with his claws between the plates of his senior’s scales.

“Careful there youngling,” Graf’tal chided. He curled his long neck around and spied the young wingless dragon, his charge, with a shinny pair of obsidian black eyes rimmed and flecked with gold. “Why can’t you mount like any normal youngling?” He snorted smoke into the face of the lizard looking Tal’on on his back. “You scramble like a hatchling.”

“I would board properly by wing if we were not always the last to leave the ground,” Tal’on shot back as he finally made it up Graf’tal’s back and settled on the dragon’s shoulders with his scaly legs wrapped around Graf’tal’s neck and his tail lying out along the dragon’s spine.

Star Trader Update .039

039.01

“Say that again,” Jake said. He looked at me like he thought I had lost my mind.

“It was a dragon,” I repeated.

Jake got up from his place in my co-pilot’s seat on the bridge and took a few paces away from me. He removed his cap and ran his fingers through his dark, wavy hair. This was a habit Jake had when thinking, stressed or otherwise irritated. He could have been all three after my statement.

“What did you see?” Jake asked Arr.

“It was a dragon,” Arr confirmed.

Star Trader Update .038

038.01

At first, I didn’t know what woke me. I was just jolted awake by some unfamiliar noise. But then the sound rattled the hull of Ma-rye-a again. There was no mistaking it. It was Kay-o bellowing at the top of his lungs. His booming howl vibrated my chest as if I had the bass tuned up way too high on Ma-rye-a’s sound system.

“What the…” I started to swear.

I tumbled out of bed and headed out of my room and down the hall toward the guest room where Jake, Arr and Kay-o chose to spend the night rather than pod back over to their ship. We had a few too many drinks. They considered that room theirs anyway, so had tucked in for the night.

The fact that I had one too many before retiring, was not helping my navigation down the hall. Jake came crashing out of the guest room. We collided head on.

“What the…” Jake said.

Star Trader Update .037

037.01

“I’ll be fine,” I assured Marstead. “I think I need space. I need my mind to work on something other than who might be waiting to grab me next time I go into the city. For that matter, who might break into my ship and wreak more havoc.”

“I can’t keep you safe out there,” Marstead waved his hand in the general direction of everything. I was glad he was on the comlink rather than here beside me or he might have managed to convince me to stay. I really didn’t know why I was going. I just had a gut feeling I needed to go to my parent’s dig. Or, maybe that gut feeling was the breakfast Moby made for me that wasn’t settling very well.

“You don’t need to keep me safe, Marstead.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I am a big girl and I can take care of myself.” Yeah, right. Some of my friends could tell stories about that. “I’ll keep in contact. I’ll send messages daily if that will make you feel better. It’s not that far away. I can be there in no time.”

Star Trader Update .036

036.01

“Calm down,” Daniel soothed. “I can fix this.”

I thumbed tears from my eyes. I know I looked pitiful. I am not one of those pretty criers. My face gets all blotchy and my eyes turn red.

“How?” I asked in disbelief.

Even though I had total confidence in Daniel I thought it was hopeless. I actually called him because I knew I could not function in my profession without an AI to handle the loading and unloading of cargo. I figured I would have Daniel program me another as soon as possible.

Star Trader Update .035

035.01

“Tilt your head a little further toward me,” the dentist instructed.

I obliged and felt the jaw mike snap into place over my back molar.

“That should do it,” she announced. “Give it a try.”

I ordered the mike over a year ago, but hadn’t been anywhere with the facilities to install it. This layman’s variety of a jaw mike, unlike the Galactic Forces model, was not actually installed in the jaw surgically. Theirs was far more sophisticated. For this model, the wearer had one of their back molar’s ground down like you were prepping for a crown, but instead the mike was fit over the tooth.

I leaned up and took my “Ear” out of my pocket and stuck it in.

Star Trader Update .034

034.01

I sat in the lounge aboard my ship flipping through the pictures on mom and dad’s flat.

“How old were you there,” Horus asked.

Horus is one of five disembodied AIs I have on board my ship. All of them programmed by my dear friend, Daniel Dresden, one of – if not the most, talented programmer in the verse. Why he chose me as a friend I will never know, because I don’t know squat about programming and couldn’t carry on a conversation about software if I tried. That said, I really do appreciate Daniel’s handiwork especially when I am on long deliveries by myself, because heck, I am never really by myself. Space is a lonely place, but I always have company.

Star Trader Update .033

033.01

It was yet another day and my third without a decent night’s sleep. This time Marstead sat across from me behind the desk in his office on the sixty-fourth floor of the Marstead building. I told you he was a famous trial attorney. He dabbles in other things as well.

“I know you are familiar with all this, but we have to go through it to satisfy the legality of the estate’s distribution and closing,” Marstead explained.

Collin, Marstead’s assistant, came in carrying a tray with all the accouterments for tea. He set the tray down on the table between the two Chippendale sofas behind us. Once he set the service off, poured, and placed the small two tiered plate of savories and sweets in place, he nodded Marstead’s direction.

“Will you give us about fifteen minutes and then bring it in?” Marstead asked.

Star Trader Update .032

032.01

I stood before the columbarium pillar containing my parent’s cremated ashes. I arrived almost six months too late to attend their funeral. Leaning forward, I placed my hand on the carved surface of the pillar. The pillar was not new to me. Mom and Dad always thought ahead. They had it carved years ago after seeing the Goe’ze pillars on Muldavia. They were both archaeologists and appreciated beautiful, ancient ruins. The Goe’ze pillars are one of the wonders of the universe. Their surfaces reflect and refract the breathtaking sunsets of Muldavia. This pillar, my parent’s memorial tomb, was artificially enhanced to radiate the colors from within along with a holographic image of my parents, smiling lovely, out from just above their niche. The pillar was carved years ago and set in storage to await their needed time. That time came much too soon.

Marstead Grievus shifted his weight as he stood at my side. He was Mom and Dad’s solicitor. When I informed him I had arrived he offered to meet me here, at the cemetery on the site of the UOA. I accepted the offer with my heartfelt thanks. This was not easy. My parents were still young, just in their seventies. They hadn’t even talked about retirement. They were so happy doing what they did, being members of the Universal Order of Antiquities. My parents were experts in their field. If they did not discover it themselves, then they were called in to consult with whoever did make the discovery.

“I recorded the funeral,” Marstead offered. “You might want to watch it someday. There were an inordinate amount of testimonials given. Your parents were truly loved.”

Star Trader Update .031

031.01

The whole thing turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. Once the Hummer Arr was talking to understood that the Calpernia, which is what it related to, could fix the problem, the Hummer started bouncing the code out to the Hummers it was connected to, they bounced it to the next group until all the other Hummers in all the NBs throughout the Verse had a copy and the fix for the virus.

All this time the Valarians thought each Hummer team, in each NB, was an isolated entity, but all along they were connected and had been talking to each other all this time. It was truly amazing.

Our part was finished. The NBs were back online. All the backed up traffic was being routed properly and within a week or so even the outlying areas were back to operation as usual.

The only thing left to deal with was Zackary Taylor.

Star Trader Update .030

030.01

“Sam are you set?” I asked.

I had Ma-rye-a turn around and place us just outside of the window and off to the left, out of the way. I had Sam train our weapons on the mouth of the window. His reaction, and recognition time was far superior to mine and if the Tiltode came though that gate either alone or chasing the Calpernia, I wanted to be prepared.

“Ready and waiting, Captain,” Sam replied.

He had no sooner spoken than the Calpernia came sailing through unhindered. Jake pulled his ship up beside Ma-rye-a as soon as he caught sight of her and Ma-rye-a threw his and Arr’s imagine up on the viewport.

“You okay?” he asked with a concerned look.

Star Trader Update .029

029.1

Claiming to know someone who could talk to the Hummers was taking a wee bit of convincing until Coal managed to pull up some info on his computer about by friend, Arr, Jake Harcourt’s partner. Seemed a doctor named Margaret O’Connor was doing a bit of a study on him and she had recorders that attested to his ability to learn languages faster than a Roughnut snake can swallow a gerbit. You see, Arr’s people all have genetically inherited memories - abilities that are passed from generation to generation in the basic makeup of their brains. Arr can learn languages just by listening to them. Within a few hours he can master any language. Last count he gave me was one hundred and one, and that’s fluent, not just counting to ten and asking where the restroom is located.

A while back Arr and I were stuck in adjoining hospital beds for an extended period of time. We had a lot of time to exchange stories as we healed. That story is in my log books as “Body Bags and Other Dark Places” if you wish to look it up. Anyway… Arr told me about Jake explaining to him how the NBs worked - that they each held a Hummer inside. Arr was trapped alone on a planet for several years until Jake found him. Arr was shocked to think the Hummers were isolated in the NBs. He wanted to talk to them to make sure they were okay with what he saw as captivity. So Jake parked their ship, the Calpernia, by one and Arr took a few hours to learn their language and reassure himself that they were quite content as they were.

Arr told me this story, along with a string of others, and I remembered it.

Star Trader Update .028

028.01

Zack sat silently listening to the med tech as he jabbered on and on about the numerous incidents surrounding the breach in the NB operational system.

“I can’t believe someone would mess with those beacons,” the tech said, as he threaded the new tube through the holder on Zack’s servo-chair. “I mean, what kind of asshole would hack something that important to every living being in the verse?”

Zack had experienced a true epiphany the day Daniel triggered the cascade in the beacons. On that day one of the ships that locked onto an infected NB was a tour ship with a load of teenagers coming home from an interstellar field trip. The ship had no weapons to activate. Instead it just took over the controls from the adult crew and flew the ship into the nearest star. It was a long enough trip to the star for all the kids to call home and say goodbye to their family, not long enough for anyone to launch and save them. All twenty-one died on impact.

Star Trader Update .027

027.01

I don’t have a sick-bay aboard Ma-rye-a, so Damion was in the guest room with a dying patient in each bed with nothing more than my first-aid kit. I don’t usually need intensive medical treatment. My medical supplies are geared toward a headache or the flu.

The way Damion explained it was that by the Valarians injecting Daniel with anhydrates, his body was full of what must have felt like small medieval maces floating around inside him.

Targus, on the other hand, almost had his arm torn off.

Damion needed a ship load of painkillers, a well-equipped surgery for Targus and an ultrasound-stimulator to break up the rocks in Daniel’s system. Headache and nausea patches were not going to do the trick.

Star Trader Update .026

026.01

Zack sat watching the drama unfold across his monitors. The virus he initiated in the beacons around Valaria had done their job. It was better than any game display could possibly be. The mercenary ship opening fire on the settlement on Gamma 3 was his favorite part. He had it on loop and it was playing over and over and over again. The recording, made by a civilian survivor, of the ship descending upon the colony with laser cannons firing, the destruction of the ancient runes the archeological colony was built around blown into rubble, and the citizens running, screaming. The visuals made Zack’s blood race. He had lost the line between ‘game’ and ‘reality.’

Zack actually chuckled as he watched the self-destruction of the second vessel in the Titan region. He had not expected the N.B. to have that far reaching connection. They were really an amazing bit of technology.

He leaned over and sipped at the straw from the drink bottle attached to his servo-chair. The Valarians would be contacting Daniel soon. Wait until he found the surprise Zack secretly downloaded on his flat last time they played. It was not easy getting around Daniel’s security system. In fact, it was harder than initially accessing the N.B.s. But Zack had done it. He had managed to install the trigger. Daniel was going to have a lot of explaining to do the minute he hooked into the Valarian server.

Star Trader Update .025

025.01

“Mayday…Mayday…This is MT 2424,” Coal said in a hoarse voice. Over six hours of calling out to what appeared to be an empty verse had left him hardly able to speak. Next chance he got he was going to rework the gear for longer range coverage and auto-voice repeat presentation.

Up until a little while ago Targus had kept them in the vicinity of the debris field so if someone latched onto the beacon Coal triggered, there would be something bigger to home onto than three small bodies floating in space. But Targus had passed out a few minutes ago. His tanks were nearly empty. It took more air to keep the big guy going. Coal’s heart beat was slower than his Walhmite captain’s or the human medical officer. Damion was out cold too.

“Mayday…Mayday…This is…”

Star Trader Update .024

024.01

Zackary Taylor a.k.a. Matt Milestone sat at his computer diligently working. He used a VACP or voice activated command program to put the finishing touches on the computer virus he was creating. Like his character, Matt Milestone, he liked the physical. However, his real body was stuck in a servo-chair and had been for the past ten years since the accident that put him there. He couldn’t even scratch his nose let alone do the physical activity Matt ran through in the game.

The accident was a devastating chemical explosion which killed fifty-three and left Zack and hundreds of others maimed. The loss to the corporation was horrific and sent it into bankruptcy and eventually foreclosure. None of the survivors received any kind of settlement. Zack’s medical bills were so astronomical he gave up on the rehab and the possibility of prosthetics long ago. He ate and defecated through tubes. He was basically a brain in a chair and nothing more.

Star Trader Update .023

023.01

It was snowing and I really didn’t want to deal with this. Snow is fine if you are inside, wrapped in a lovely throw, sitting in front of a fire (artificial or not) with a cup of hot chocolate, but it is not fun when you are standing in it, spacer boot deep, being denied entry into your best friend’s house by what is the equivalent of a Love Bot.

“I am sorry, but he is indisposed at the moment.” The Bot had the most irritating voice. High pitched and sing-song. Her candy ass stood blocking the door – all dressed in black with pink polka dots, ruffles at the shoulders and on the hem of her very, very short skirt. Her stockings were pink to match the polka dots and her hair, with pigtails that I was sure were supposed to be cute. I found her all and all, repulsive.

A love bot was certainly not going to stop me. I shouldered her aside. “He is expecting me,” I exclaimed as if I needed to make an excuse to this latest of Daniel’s indulgences.

Star Trader Update .021 and .022

021.01

I kept telling myself there was no reason to be reckless about this. I made it over the wall without incident. I was well hidden in a shadowed corner of the garden trying to time the guards making their rounds without the luxury of a watch. I tried to gauge how late it was and how much more darkness I had left.

 I am not patient by nature. I watched the pair of guards pass one more time, took a deep breath and made a crouching sprint for the trellis that climbed up the palace wall to the balcony where Muloot fell. I hoped to find Rand there, or at least be able to backtrack from there to his personal quarters where he hopefully slept like the dead, unguarded, and I could snatch my blaster and run like hell. I know, big stretch, but I was desperate.

I was a bit noisier then I hoped to be climbing the trellis, but luckily did not draw any attention from the guards. I made it to the balcony without incident. The room I was now familiar with was dimly lit and unoccupied. Now that I was here, I wondered if it was even conceivable I would be able to find Rand without running into a guard and getting myself recaptured. And, what would the future ruler of Alta III do with me when he found I didn’t return with his prospective bride in tow? You would think I would have thought this out before scaling the trellis, but as I said, I am a little impatient at times.

Star Trader Update .020

020.01

Arr sat cross legged on the pod’s ramp in the shade of the doorway. Kay-o lay by his side, his tongue lolling out from the heat of the desert surrounding them.

            Arr hated the pod. The first English medical term he learned was ‘claustrophobic.’ The pod was stiflingly cramped. The initial trip in it from his home planet to Jake’s ship, the Calpernia, was almost unbearable. Jake insisted on strapping him in the first time. The second time Arr did a very juvenile thing, he growled at Jake. Arr was eighteen and once his species, the henu, reached adulthood it was considered extremely rude to growl, but he couldn’t help himself. Jake backed off and he made the flight white knuckled and grinding teeth all the way to the Calpernia.

He was thrilled to find that the claustrophobia subsided once he was out in the larger ship. It was a great relief since staying on his home planet would have meant living the rest of his life alone after the devastating attack of ‘The Others’ wiped out his people.

Star Trader Update .019

019.01

It was the second day of my incarceration at Mazala. TiSenge slapped me in chains and was having his inquisitors question me. They were using sleep deprivation and repetition. I guess they thought real violent torture was inappropriate for a female. So far everything they asked was something I was at liberty to tell.

Yes, I knew Aldobi-rand.

I escaped from his men.

I came to TiSenge to offer my services against the foul leader, Rand.

No, I did not know what Aldobi-rand’s plans were concerning aggression toward Mazala.

No, I was not paid to come and spy on TiSenge.

My mind was worn to a frazzle. I was physically exhausted to the core. I would have given anything to have never seen Alta III much less set foot on it.

Star Trader Update .018

018.01

“It’s part of the deal,” I said as I stood hands on hips trying to reflect my determination. “I contact my people so they don’t go off halfcocked and call in back-up to evac me.”

            “What assurances do I have you will not signal them somehow to come in anyway?” Aldobi-rand asked.

            “You have my blaster. You have a dead body. Do you really need more?” I asked, frustrated.

I needed to get to the pod. It would do me no good to run, Aldobi-rand would just turn me in. I was sure of that. He was just controlling enough to keep his promise whether he benefitted from it or not. I intended to palm the detonation device for my blaster that Sam made me. If all else failed I wouldn’t be framed for murder. No blaster, no tracing Mulott to me. At least not for certain.

            “I also have my spacer boots in the pod. If TiSenge wants a warrior princess, I can give him Warrior Princess.”  Besides, I far preferred my spacer boots to the lightweight leather boots of Arr’s if I was caught in another fight.

Star Trader Update .017

017.01

Boy, do I have motivation to find the perfect outfit and the best haircut my chits can buy. Forget that I would like to rumple the sheets with this dude if he is anything like his portrait - I don’t want to look like a frump beside him. I am going to buy whatever outfit I choose a size smaller. I’ll work out harder then I have in my lifetime between now and the delivery in another two weeks. I will have to advise Moby of my goals and have him adjust the menu to accommodate. He can pick up some fresh produce from the colony. It seems right to have a goal, something to shoot for even if it is a bit silly to think a guy like him might take a liking for a gal like me. But alas, a girl can dream…can’t she?

Star Trader Update .016

016.01

“I’m going down to the planet,” I announced.

“I wouldn’t advise that,” Horus replied immediately.

“Nor I,” Sam chimed in, “you risk coming in contact with whatever he is spreading below and bringing it back on the surface of the pod to contaminate the entire ship.”

So, I stayed on board Ma-rye-a and my crew and I were witness to the largest genocide of this century. Attalla released biological death from his little black box and the iisadsu fell from the sky like rain. He must have told the oacoco to stay below the surface during the release. Ma-rye-a told us she could still detect their life forms.

We tracked the movements of Attalla’s pod as he rendezvoused with the battle cruiser for a hull clean up.

We saw the cruiser’s crew deliver the body containment and disposal units to the surface and tracked their meticulous clean-up of the iisadsu species.

I collected Attalla’s personal items from his cabin and placed them in a capsule that Sam jettisoned into space.

Star Trader Update .015

015.01

“Sam? Get them off of us, now!” I yelled from the bridge. The iisadsu were not afraid of Ma-rye-a. They had attacked the ship as soon as she entered the level of the atmosphere that the iisadsu inhabited. I didn’t think they could do much damage, but I was in a pissy mood. It was as though they had expected us.

What they didn’t expect was Sam’s electrical pulse coming through Ma-rye-a’s outer hull. When he fired, their stunned bodies were blown off her like shooflies off a bug zapper. That action kept the rest at bay until we landed. There were a horde of them. The sky was full of the winged beings circling over Ma-rye-a like so many vultures over a carcass, but we weren’t dead yet. Not by a long shot.

“Ma-rye-a, now that we are down can you locate Attalla?” I asked.

“He is approximately 50 yards in front of us and 100 feet down,” she replied without hesitation.

I looked out the viewport in front of us. All I could see was a slip of the sandy beach and then the ocean.

Star Trader Update .014

014.01

Attalla sat at the table in the mess with his head in his hands. When I placed the cup of tea in front of him he flinched at the sound.

“Sorry,” I said. He had already told me that his head felt like a cracked egg this morning after being tranked last night.

Chee lay curled in her pouch on the table. She came out and approached Attalla for a pet or a bit of breakfast.

He pointed to her pouch without even looking up. “No, Chee. Pouch.”

The little mahserg turned around and returned to her pouch. I took pity on her and slipped her a grape.

“How much tranquilizer did Sam have in that dart?” he said into his hands.

“He loads them according to weight,” I answered plaintively.

Star Trader Update .013

013.01

I was so exhausted. I ached all over. To breathe was torture and he was sitting across my waist with his knife in his hand. Klaid had my hands pinned up above my head. He flashed his knife in my face.

“How about a little breast meat?” he threatened.

I screamed out in excruciating pain as he cut into the top of my left breast.

“3su, wake up,” Attalla said in my ear. “It’s a dream.” He soothed back the hair from around my sweat dampened face. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.”

He was sitting on the edge of my bed. I was still in my clothes from the night before, but he was in some sort of pajama bottom and nothing else. I must have awakened him from a sound sleep. Chee sat on his shoulder her tail curled around his neck. Her dark round eyes were bigger than usual from watching me struggle with my rampant sub-conscious.

Star Trader Update .012

.012.01

There really was a negotiation job for Arr on Ukhra. He eventually succeeded in creating a treaty that both parties could live under. The trip back to the refitting station where the guys left the Calpernia was leisurely. They did not have another job lined up yet. I was still looking for something simple. I didn’t need a challenge right now. I was still recovering – not so much of body, the body was pretty much healed, more of mind. I was still having nightmares.

Two days before we arrived at Refitting Station Delta I found a cushy little job shuttling a diplomat around for three months while he re-negotiates treaties with the planets in his solar system. Cassie and I checked out his Bio on the NET and he looked good to both of us. We took on the job contingent on the fact that we all liked each other’s company after the first stop.

Now it was time to say our good-byes.

Star Trader Update .011

011.01

“Officialdom is swarming all over the crash,” Cracker hissed when he rejoined us behind the rise. “We won’t be going that way.”

I was lying between Arr and Jake on the ground. I reached out and squeezed both their hands in an ‘I told you so’ moment. They both smiled back. The first time I had seen either of them smile since we crashed.

Jake signed to Arr. They both quietly rolled to their knees as the trio of malefactors continued to discuss strategy. Jake kept an eye on Klaid and his men as Arr proceeded to signal to Kayo behind us. I couldn’t see the Dar-dolf, but caught the movement of the grass as he crawled through it to our right. Jake reached back over his shoulder and tapped Arr on his back as he kept his eye steadily on the trio. Arr signaled again with a combination of hand signs and a trill from his throat that sounded like a bird.

Star Traveler Update .010

010.01

I don’t remember too much of that first day on Ukhta.

I remember Jake holding me in his arms as he did his best to break through the underbrush below the huge iron wood trees - their deep charcoal colored bark standing out against the dense green ferns at their feet.

I remember Jake’s heart beating a fast rhythm in my ear as he held me against his chest. It would have been so much easier for him if he had been able to toss me over his shoulder, but that would have punched one of my many cracked ribs through something vital internally.

I remember one very painful fall we took when Jake tripped on something in his rush to put distance between us and whoever was chasing us. It would have been a lot worse except that Jake managed to turn in mid-air as he fell and put his body under mine to cushion my fall.

Star Trader Update .009

009.01

“3su,” Cassie whispered.

“What is it, Cassie.” I sat up in bed and beamed the light up to low. I glanced at the bedside clock. It was 2:00 a.m. It wasn’t like Cassie to wake me in the middle of the night.

“It’s Jake,” she whispered. “He’s on the bridge.”

“He’s very agitated,” Ma-rye-a piped in. “He just broke a mug.”

I guess I was just too sleepy. I didn’t understand what they were saying. “He dropped a mug?”

“No, it was a violent act,” Ma-rye-a corrected. “He is upset about something.”

“I think you should have a look,” Cassie continued. “He might do damage to us.”

Jake must really be upset if he had my A.I.’s running scared.

I got up and slid me feet into my slippers. I never wore a robe. I wear shorts and a tank top to bed. I am always cautious about being prepared.