by S. W. Gunn
Jarron grinned broadly. He never understood why neither of them appreciated good human music. The radar once again beeped, signifying the Grokmal ships were closing into firing range.
“Hain,” Jarron commanded, “Swap spots with Feligrin and arm the weapons. Feligrin get the nav computer working.”
They moved quickly to swap positions. Jarron took a deep breath and then began to concentrate intently on the task of flying the ship. He knew that the Keg could never win a contest of pure speed but she was one of the most maneuverable cargo ships in the galaxy. Gently he pushed the controls, forcing the ship into a slow wide right turn, which caused several Grokmal ships to miss badly with their shots. Some urge forced Jarron to wrest the controls into a rough upwards barrel roll. As the ship moved upward about four different Grokmal beams whipped by.
“This might take a bit to fix.” Feligrin announced.
“Okay.” Jarron replied.
He took a glance over at Hain to see that he was beginning to fire the ship’s weapons. With a slight pull of the controls, he moved the ship out of the barrel roll and into a deep horseshoe maneuver. A sudden explosion vibrated through the ship as one of the Grokmal ships collided with another one. Hain and Feligrin both howled in glee.
“Great job lad!” Hain called out.
Gently, Jarron rotated the controls once again to move the ship into an upwards turn. Blasts of laser fire emitted from the Keg, causing another Grokmal ship to explode. Hain grunted in satisfaction.
Feligrin announced, “I fixed the nav computer and am programming it for our destination. Just hold them off for a little bit longer.”
Nodding to no one in particular, Jarron continued to pilot the ship. It shuttered slightly as a laser lightly bounced off the ship’s shields. Hain grumbled loudly and then continued to fire the weapons. Jarron twisted the controls again, this time forcing it into a small barrel roll. As he kicked the ship out of the barrel roll, it rocked violently as several laser shots rocked the shields, which caused Hain to moan sadly. That was going cause poor Hain to have several more hours of work to repair. The nav computer beeped, signifying it was ready.
Feligrin cried about, “About time!”
Jarron reached over and pulled the level on the nav computer and the ship began folding again.
“Dang it all, those foul bastards got a hit on my ship!” Hain yelled out loudly.
He stood up and headed out of the cockpit.
Jarron yelled out, “Sorry Hain!”
Feligrin calmly said, “Don’t worry, avoiding ten ships with constant fire at you would have been impossible for almost any pilot.”
Jarron nodded but he was still unhappy because he hated it when the Keg took any damage.
The comm crackled to life, “Jarron the fold engines took some damage, so in ‘bout an hour we’ll need to shut ‘em off so I can work on ‘em.”
Jarron pushed the comm button and asked, “Okay but won’t that put us at some risk?”
The comm crackled back a response, “Aye, so we’ll have time it so we end up in a null point lad.”
Jarron pushed the button again and said, “Alright Hain.”
He released the button and began working at the nav computer to find a safe spot.
After a few minutes he grinned widely and turned to Feligrin before saying, “I found the perfect null point for us to hide.”
“Where?”
Still grinning Jarron replied, “Oh, no where special. Just a cozy ‘lil hole in the galaxy known as the Zilton Maw.”
Feligrin gawked at him and once he recovered he exclaimed, “No way!”
“Yep, it’s on the way, less than an hour and best of all, it has a natural shielding against detection because it interferes with sensors.”
“This is so great!” Feligrin stated with a wide grin plastered on his face.
Jarron nodded at him before starting to work feverishly with the nav computer to reprogram the nav computer to stop where he wanted instead of the way point set in the system they were heading to. He set it so that the ship would far enough away from the maw for safety, close enough to scramble sensors and still provide one hell of a view. About thirty minutes later the ship dropped out of the fold, leaving them with an amazing view of the Zilton Maw. Covering easily the size of a small solar system, the maw itself was a dark chasm that appeared to look like a slice of unoccupied space. Surrounding the maw was several nebulous clouds; each cloud itself was impressive since they varied in size, color, and overall depth. Jarron knew that in order to conceal themselves they would need to hide within one of those clouds so he scanned quickly and chose a small purple nebula cloud. Slowly he guided the ship into it and as it entered the cockpit became fully illuminated by a light purple colored light. Jarron chuckled at Feligrin, who was leaning almost into the cockpit’s clear plexisteel cover, with an expression of utter awe on his face. The gasses of the nebula swirled around the ship as it settled in place.
The comm crackled to life, “Jarron, I’m gonna need an hour or so til I can git dese repairs done.”
Jarron pushed the comm button and replied, “Okay Hain, we should be fine here for quite some time.”
He glanced back out into the cockpit to a spectacular view. A band of colorful gas was slowly spinning to the center of the maw. It seemed to Jarron that the maw must have acted as some sort of magnet, drawing everything near it like the opposite magnetic end. The band of gas was being slowly drawn closer and closer.
Feligrin then said, “Wow this is totally amazing. I’ve wanted to see this since I was a small lad in Astronomy class. I doubt my family will believe me when I send them a message about it.”
“We could take a few holo-images of it.”
Jarron ran the scanners and set them to record an image. Once he was done he forwarded it to the files on the computer set aside for Feligrin. They went back to sitting in silence watching the view outside their window. Twice, during the hour that they waited for Hain to finish the repairs, various Grokmal ships entered the system and left. It had made them nervous but the nebula made a perfect shield against the crude Grokmal sensors. At the end of the hour Hain called up with the comm to let Jarron know that everything was working properly. Jarron reset the nav computer and once it was ready, he pulled the level to execute the fold. After they entered the fold Hain stomped loudly into the cockpit. As he sat down he grunted with discontent, as usual.
“So Hain,” Jarron said, “Do you think the ship will be fine ‘til we can get this shipment completed?”
“Aye, once we make landfall I can fix her up some more. I’m figurin’ that we’ll have several hours once we git there.” Hain stated.
Jarron nodded at him. Glancing at the nav computer he noted the name of the planet that they were headed to, Savilus Prime.
“Anyone know anything about the target planet for our delivery?” Jarron asked.
Feligrin quickly replied, “I heard that it had issues with some sort of renegade group but I’m not sure who or what.”
Hain grumbled and asked, “Why do dese high payin’ shipments always seem to head right into those sorts o’ situations?”
After giving a chuckle Jarron answered, “Ya, it’s kinda frustrating sometimes but that’s the nature of the beast.”
“I guess we better be careful then.” Feligrin added.
Hain announced, “I suppose I could work on repairin’ the ship an then double checkin’ our defensive systems.”
He stood up and then left the cockpit.
Once he was gone Jarron said, “Feligrin run a full test on the shields and weapons, that way they’ll be ready. I’m going to prepare some personal shield generators and an emergency kit with some handy items.”
Feligrin turned to the weapons panel and immediate began running the diagnostics. Jarron left the cockpit and went into the ship’s small storeroom. He collected some shield generators, a few meal kits, and a collection of assorted tools. He spread the items throughout the various
rucksacks and set the the rucksacks on hanging hooks by the door of the storeroom. Jarron went back into the cockpit.
As soon as he entered Feligrin declared, “All of the shield generators and weapons are fully operational.”
Jarron nodded at him and then pushed on the comm button.
Speaking clearly he stated, “Hain we verified the weapons and shields are good to go plus we set up a small package of emergency supplies just in case.”
The comm crackled back, “Okay lad.”
Jarron glanced to the nav computer, which told him that there was an hour left until they arrived. Since he had time, Jarron decided to get something to eat. He went over to the nearby meal dispenser. Normally they would only dispense very generic meals but Hain tooled it up to dispense a wide variety of dishes that each like to eat instead. Thankfully they had a nice string of jobs that allowed them to power it for use. Jarron requested cheese tortellini in marinara sauce with some garlic bread, which he has always loved. Once his meal was ready, he took it and sat back down in the pilot’s seat. When Feligrin saw him eating he rose from his chair and went to get something for himself. He walked back to his chair and set down his plate, which had a lamb shank and some cabbage. After they finished eating, they cleaned up their plates and then returned to their seats. The nav computer indicated that they had slightly under fifteen minutes left until they arrived at their destination.
Jarron pushed the comm button and said, “Hain we have about fifteen minutes til we get out of the fold.”
The comm replied, “Okay lad, I’m on my way up.”
Sure enough, Hain appeared in the entryway in a minute or so. He took his normal seat.
He announced, “I was able to readjust the maneuvering thrusters so you’ll be able to turn a ‘lil more smoothly.”
Feligrin groaned and said, “Great, the last thing he needs is the ability to make even more insane maneuvers.”
They all laughed at his words.
“Okay guys, just about time for landfall.” Jarron declared.
Both Feligrin and Hain strapped their seat belts in place. The ship rocked as it shifted out of the fold and Savilus Prime leapt into view. Savilus Prime was a huge light green orb with various strikes of blue and white, water, clouds, and vegetation. The planet very much like most habitable planets in the galaxy. As they pulled into a gentle orbit Jarron began checking the notes on the data-disk. It gave instructions on the landing point so he set the coordinates and then began to pilot the ship to the target location. The ship began a quick descent into the atmosphere and before long they were quickly closing on the location to where they were supposed to land. As soon as the ship landed Hain was on his feet and moving to the rear of the ship to set up a parameter. Feligrin moved to the storage closet. Jarron guessed that it was to check his weapon.
Pushing on the comm Jarron asked, “Hain, what time will the pickup occur?”
The comm crackled back, “In ‘bout six hours or so. Go ahead an get some rest you guys. We should be fine for a few hours. I’ll wake ya up when it’s time.”
Jarron was slightly tired from the day’s effort of flying. He loved to fly a space ship but sometimes it was physically straining, especially when space battles were involved.
He pushed the comm button and replied, “Okay Hain, I think that I’ll get a few hours of sleep.”
Standing up, he walked to the back of the ship and into his sleeping quarters. The ship had four rooms that served as bedrooms, one for each member of the crew and an additional one for any guests that they might have. The guest quarters were rarely used. Jarron climbed into his small bed and was quickly sound asleep.
* * * * *
Deep in his sleep, Jarron began to feel an overwhelming a moment of dread. He opened his eyes and found himself trapped within a closed box. He could not move or speak at all. All he could see was several lights flicking along the two walls of the box that he was trapped in. His arms would not move and he felt a sharp stabbing near his left elbow, which led him to believe that there was a group of several needles in his arm. The only sound that he could hear was his beating heart. Jarron felt as though he was trapped within the box for hours as he struggled mightily to simply just move. His body just would not respond.
A loud booming voice rang over the darkness, “Jarron wake the hell up lad!”
Jarron startled awake to the very concerned face of Hain.
With concern thick in his voice Hain said, “Damn lad, you musta had one rough nightmare. You were tossin’ an turnin’ like you were bein’ mugged.”
Wiping the heavy sweat from his brow Jarron responded, “Ya, it was weird as hell. Oh well… How long until pickup?”
Hain grunted before answering, “Well it should be another ten minutes.”
Jarron nodded and the rose from his bed. He followed Hain out of his quarters and back to the cockpit. The sun had set on Savilus Prime and they were completely surrounded by darkness.
“Turn on the flood lights Feligrin.” Hain ordered in a stern voice.
Feligrin touched a switch on a nearby panel and the night’s sky illuminated from several dozen flood lights.
“I can’t wait to finish this run,” Jarron solemnly stated and after a slight pause he continued, “Something about this whole planet, the shipment, or our employers are really getting under my skin. I just can’t get a bead on it.”
Feligrin nodded at his words. As if on cue, a small cargo conveyance and two smaller conveyances appeared on the pathway the flood lights illuminated.
“Showtime!” Jarron announced happily.
It was a relief to finally get this over with.
Hain instructed them, “Jarron stay here to man the guns an Feligrin you come with me to meet ‘em.”
“Make sure you guys take some weapons and those shield generators.” Jarron instructed them.
Hain nodded grimly and Feligrin scratched the top of his head nervously. Trying to cheer him up Jarron gave him a quick smile, which he returned weakly. It had always been the most nervous time as a smuggler, the final pickup. Generally they never quite knew what they were getting into, especially since people who want things delivered via less than legal methods tended to have a reason for it. A reason that could turn quickly on Jarron and his friends.
Chapter 3
Hain and Feligrin turned around to leave the cockpit. Jarron took a seat at the weapon’s station and activated the primary laser cannons facing towards the open field where the conveyances arrived at. The last thing that they needed was Jarron firing wildly with the Keg’s weapons but many times just the threat was enough to keep many issues from happening. Jarron watched patiently as the conveyances closed the final distance until they were far enough for them to stop and the passengers to exit. He did not see the man who employed them with the group.
Jarron pushed the comm button and said, “Hain how will we know if these goons are our pickup men?”
The comm crackled back with Hain’s voice, “The disk has a code to verify.”
It made good sense to Jarron since they did not need the wrong goons picking up the cargo. As the men approached the cargo bay Hain and Feligrin exited the ship to approach them. Jarron could see them briefly conversing before another conveyance arrived. Once it stopped the man who hired them exited it and slowly approached Hain. A long conversation occurred between the man and Hain. Hain slowly walked to the cargo bay door and opened it. Several of the man’s goons entered the bay and then pushed out the crate. They brought it to the man and stopped there. The man began a slow inspection of the crate. He stopped at the main terminal of the crate and started working the controls. He nodded and then spoke again to Hain. Hain appeared to become quite upset and the conversation became heated. Jarron started to get nervous because it was not looking so good from his viewpoint. After a bit more time conversing with the man, Hain reached to his arm and activated the comm.
His voice crackled over the comm, “Jarron come down here. Our employer wa
nts to see ya.”
Jarron was very confused. Why would it matter if he was there or not?
He pushed the comm button and asked, “Umm Hain… That isn’t what we planned is it?”
The comm crackled again, “Our employer insists. They tracked our progress as we came here an apparently he’s quite impressed with your skills as a pilot.”
Jarron sighed heavily. The last thing that they needed was a bunch of silliness. Turning his chair around, Jarron stood up and then headed out of the cockpit. He worked his way through the ship. Making sure to grab his belt and holster, which he strapped around his waist, he exited the ship. For some reason his nerves began to twinge a little, which was highly unusual for him since he generally had the nerves of steel that were needed by any pilot. Jarron saw Hain and the man who employed them standing next to the crate. He turned and saw Feligrin standing near the ship, by a large bush, slightly under cover. He also spotted about six different goons of the man, although he had no doubt there was more hidden away in the distance. The man and all of his men were wearing the same brown robe. Each man was also armed with a Lucascorp blaster or a rifle. Jarron nodded at the man and stood next to Hain near the crate.
“Alright,” Hain said gruffly, “Ya done seen the pilot so let’s see the gold.”
The man nodded and announced, “First, I will need open the crate as I need to see something.”
He then walked over side of the crate and began working the terminal again. After a few seconds, the latches on the crate popped as their seals broke. Almost immediately after the seals popped Jarron felt a very light electrical pulse throbbing within him. He was very confused but continued to watch with interest. The man lifted the lid of the crate, which caused Jarron to respond with shock. Lying the crate was a young human woman! She appeared to be in her early twenties and she only seemed to be wearing a thin looking white robe. She had long light blond hair that was almost white in color and pale white skin. Her soft face had narrow cheekbones and her closed eyes appeared to be more oval than the average human. She was very slender looking, more so than any woman Jarron had ever seen before. He immediately found her to be very attractive.
