Through the Bopecan Port

by Dave Lemel

  ​Simon giggled like a little kid. “Whoops, my bad, buddy.”

  ​“Yeah, sounds real sincere, you jerk. I’m getting you back for that. I don’t know when or how, but it’s coming.”

  ​“I’ll keep the eyes in the back of my head open.” Simon dug through his pile of new items. “It appears Pritzley is trying to exact revenge on me for something as well.” Simon pulled a piece of clothing out from the pile and held it up. His face cringed in disgust as he twirled the shiny, purple, pinstriped, square-collared shirt, examining it from every angle.

  ​“I don’t know,” said Todd. “I kinda like it.”

  ​“Of course you do. Here.” Simon tossed it to Todd. “It’s all yours.” Simon’s slack-jawed expression worsened as he continued to progress through the pile. “I can’t wear any of this. Well, these pants look okay, I guess.” He rolled up the gray pair of trousers and stuffed them in his bag. “Man, am I glad I packed extra from home.”

  ​“Whatever you decide to take or not take from the clothes is up to you, but make sure you grab that backpack.” Todd pointed to the bottom of Simon’s locker. “They look like hiking packs, and I’m guessing we’re gonna need ’em for our trip up into the mountains.”

  ​Simon leaned into the locker and pulled his out. “Definitely. This thing is nice, too. I’ve done my share of hiking growing up. This pack is the real deal.”

  ​“I don’t know what you’re complaining about with these clothes. Looks to me like Pritzley has fantastic taste.” Todd shoved as much of the new duds into his bag as he could before opening his new backpack and stuffing that full with the rest.

  ​“Well, I’m thrilled I packed extra at home.” Simon pulled on his powder-blue, gold, and gray star marshal uniform. “Now suit up, would ya? I wanna head up today if we can.”

  ​“Hey! You didn’t do your vac-pen!”

  ​“I did it while you were admiring your new wardrobe. Come on.” Simon smacked Todd on the shoulder and then sealed his link. “I’m leaving without you if you don’t get moving.”

  ​Simon grabbed his bag and slung his new backpack over his shoulder. He walked toward the end of the row of lockers and spun to walk backwards as he hit the last couple in line. “I’ll be outside. Want to take in the home scenery for a minute before we head to a whole ’nother planet.”

  ​“Cool,” replied Todd as he began to pull up his suit. “Be up in a minute.”

  Chapter 6

  Simon stood outside the exit from the locker room stairwell he had recently ascended. He gazed eastward down the road separating the hangars from the Star Marshal Headquarters building. The lake was quite calm, and the thick blue line it created at the horizon contrasted beautifully with the evergreens dotting the snow-covered hill at the end of the road.

  ​A group of eight young marshals in training from the academy, easily identifiable by their bright yellow jackets, emerged from the side of the Star Marshal Headquarters building. They were led by an instructor Simon and Todd had once had for a couple of classes what seemed like dozens of winters ago rather than the half dozen it had actually been.

  ​The five female and three male marshals in training were having a lively debate over which cruisers slotted where on their top five coolest cruisers list when the door behind Simon flew open. “Is that Deblitz?” asked Todd as the door closed again behind him. “Yo, Deblitz!” he shouted across the road in the direction of the instructor who was now a good half block ahead of his students. “Deblitz!”

  ​The slender man with the worn face under an equally worn-looking plain navy blue knit winter hat turned slowly to find the source of his shouted surname. He found Todd with an open mouth grin waving happily on the sidewalk opposite him. “Hello, Marshal Jordan,” the man said back with unchanged expression. “I assume you’re supposed to be somewhere more important at the moment than heckling me from the sidewalk.”

  ​Todd laughed. “I’m not heckling you, you cranky old fart. I was saying hi and trying to show my elder and favorite teacher ever the respect he deserves.”

  ​“Yes, well, like I said, I’m sure you have somewhere else important to be, and I have to herd this lot,” he said, pointing at the eight students watching the exchange with great interest, “back to the academy buildings before they wander off and freeze to death somewhere in the woods.”

  ​“Right on, sir, and you lot,” Todd said, turning towards the students, “listen to everything that old crank has to say. Hands down best teacher at the entire academy.”

  ​“Ignore him,” said Deblitz as he waved his flock up the sidewalk, “I’m probably top three, but ‘hands down best’ is just gobbledygook.”

  ​Simon chuckled and picked up his bag. He began his way down the sidewalk toward the hangars, and Todd joined him. “Remember when he told me he’d pass me as long as I kept my head down on my desk and slept through most of his class because he said I was,” Simon made air quotes with his fingers, “too disruptive to the rest of the class if I was awake.”

  ​Todd laughed quite hard now. “Like I said, hands down best teacher at the academy.”

  ​As the two marshals entered the cruiser hangar, a mechanic with close-cropped reddish-brown hair was on his way out. “Hey, guys,” he said, stopping in front of Todd and Simon, “got your ride all set for your O.E.A. Just heading out now for a bite to eat. Been here since daybreak and I’m starving. You have any questions since you caught me?”

  ​“No, sir.” replied Todd. “Thanks once again, Josh, and enjoy your break.”

  ​“My pleasure, Marshal Jordan. I truly love working on these beautiful vehicles. Especially yours. It’s an honor every time I wake up and get to head in here for work.”

  ​“All right, all right, you’re laying it on pretty thick there, Josh.”

  ​Josh’s eyes doubled in size. “I mean it! I really love this job!”

  ​Todd chuckled and interrupted him before he could continue. “Kidding, kidding. I’m absolutely convinced of your sincerity. It’s why I will never let them take my cruiser off your detail. No doubt you’re the top mechanic here.”

  ​“Okay, okay, now you’re the one layin’ it on a little thick.” Josh smiled. “Good luck out there, fellas, and see you when you get back.”

  ​Todd and Simon wove their way through the busy hangar toward their waiting cruiser. Todd entered a series of commands on his link, and up ahead two black doors opened upwards. The pair of marshals jumped into their ride off their home planet and slid into their seats.

  ​They each closed their respective door, and Todd fired up the engines, lifting the black and chrome vehicle off the floor. He aimed it toward the gaping opening at the other end of the hangar and slowly advanced over the plethora of colorful cruisers coating the floor like a giant piñata had spilled its contents over the entire area.

  ​Simon turned to Todd as they exited the building. “I’m not even gonna say anything about the last assignment nonsense. We wasted too much breath talking about it last time. Let’s just appreciate this incredible opportunity we are about to experience in visiting another solar system.”

  ​“Couldn’t agree more, buddy.” Todd accelerated out over the lake and up toward their destination. “Couldn’t agree more.”

  Chapter 7

  As the cruiser closed in on the Star Marshal Dock, Todd flipped the comm switch, opening communication with the Henrietta . “Is my ancient parrot head home?”

  ​A few seconds passed, and a familiar gravelly voice boomed through the speakers on the cruiser. “You guys up here already? I’m still in the garden loading up all the extra produce, plants, and trees we need on board for leaving the solar system. I’ll meet you in the garage in a few minutes.”

  ​“Sounds good, but take your time, old man. I don’t need you hurting yourself already. There’ll be plenty of time for that on this assignment.”

  ​“You’re hilarious.” The open comm line closed.

  ​Todd opened the jaw-li
ke door at the rear of the Henrietta and flew the cruiser through the pass-through gel and into the waiting garage. On top of the usual backup cruiser there were two more on board. On one side of the blue and white version Todd and Simon were accustomed to seeing was a red one with black stripes that had been influenced by late-nineteen-sixties Mustangs. On the other side sat a purple one with green stripes that very much resembled an early seventies G.T.O.

  ​Todd settled their black and chrome edition across from the three backups, and the doors opened upward. The two marshals stepped out into the Henrietta garage as Foggen entered from the hall.

  ​“Hey, Foggen, how’s our trusty vessel doing?” asked Todd.

  ​“Outstanding. All extra provisions required as standard for inter-portal travel have been loaded. As you can see, we have our requisite four total cruisers now that you have arrived with yours. Ben is just finishing placing the last of the extra vegetables, fruits, and trees in the garden as we speak. All diagnostics are complete, and the ship itself is in excellent condition.”

  ​Todd nodded. “Right on. Did you guys get any leave at all, or did they make you stay up here for the quick turnaround?”

  ​Ben walked in from the hall sporting a bright orange, yellow, and red Hawaiian shirt. “Three days.”

  ​Todd smiled and turned in the direction of the large mustached engineer. “Three days what?”

  ​“They gave us three days’ leave. I took full advantage and I am still really feeling it. At my advanced age, it takes a week to recover from a bender like that.”

  ​“Awww, poor old man.” Todd’s grin was widening with every word. “You need a half hour or six to take a nap before we head out?”

  ​“Glad you’re getting a kick out of this, kid. Yuck it up ’cause this happens to the best of us with age.” Ben looked at Simon and winked before turning back to Todd. “And you better believe I am the best of us.”

  ​Todd and Simon both chuckled. “Well, that I know for sure,” replied Todd. “Foggen says all the extras are loaded for just-in-case scenarios?”

  ​“Yep. We’ll re-stock a few things at the port station before we go through, but otherwise we are up to code for inter-portal transportation.”

  ​“Sounds good. Let me and Simon put our bags in our quarters and we can meet up on the bridge in say…fifteen for pre-launch pow-wow?”

  ​“Works for us, right, Foggy?”

  ​“That is affirmative,” replied Foggen.

  ​Todd and Simon left the garage and headed to their respective cabins. Ben and Foggen rounded up all loose tools and equipment they could find in the garage to lock down before heading up to the bridge.

  ​A little over ten minutes later, Simon entered the bridge and found himself alone. He strolled up to the windshield and looked out at the dock. It truly was a sight to behold, he thought to himself. All the transport ships dotting the spires. The cruisers coming and going. The beings visible through the windows of the dock itself busily scurrying to and fro. Just then, the whole structure rotated into position where the curve of the Earth began to show itself in the background.

  ​“Whacha lookin’ at, kid?” Ben growled as he shuffled through the doorway to the bridge.

  ​“Just taking in the view. Somehow looking at your home planet from orbit seems even more significant than usual when you’re about to leave the solar system it inhabits.”

  ​Ben listened to Simon as he observed him through creased eyes before turning his squinted gaze to the view out the giant windshield. He grunted and shuffled to the nearest seat before slumping into it.

  ​Simon’s expression now turned to mild concern. “Geez, man, you really look like crap.”

  ​“I wasn’t kidding, kid. I am way too old to be having anywhere near as much fun packed into that little time as I managed on that three-day leave. It’s gonna take me halfway to the asteroid belt to fully recover from this one.”

  ​“Did Foggen take leave with you?”

  ​“Yep.”

  ​“How’s he feeling?”

  ​Ben shook his head. “Foggen’s runnin’ round here like a spring chicken, chipper as all hell. I swear them Bopecans have an amazing hangover cure and they don’t share it with us just to have a private laugh at our expense.”

  ​“You want me to go get you some ibuprofen or something?”

  ​“I’m taking another dose right after we depart. My last one is just wearing off now. Thanks anyway, though. Hey,” Ben said, sitting up a little straighter, “what you thinking for dinner tonight? I think I finally have my appetite coming back.”

  ​“I don’t know.” Simon walked to his seat inside his horseshoe console, spun his chair to face Ben, and sat down. “How ’bout fajitas? I can think of something else, though, if you’re not digging the sound of Tex-Mex tonight.”

  ​“No! No, that sounds great, actually. A perfect vehicle for sriracha.”

  ​Simon smiled. “All right. I’ll get started on my prep as soon as we’re on our way.”

  ​“Get what started?” asked Todd as he and Foggen joined Ben and Simon on the bridge.

  ​“Dinner. Ben’s finally getting his appetite back after his leave.”

  ​Todd turned to Ben with a raised eyebrow as he walked past him. “What exactly did you do down there, old man? I mean, did you even stop to sleep?”

  ​“Once. For a few hours. Look, I get it, mother. I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t need the lecture. Just get us moving so Simon can get cooking. I need something in my belly.”

  ​Todd shook his head and laughed. “Good lord. When we get back, I am hanging out with you and Foggen.”

  ​“You sure you can hang with a—what did you call me when you got here?—an ancient parrot head?”

  ​“I’m born and raised Wisconsin, too, ya know. I can handle myself.”

  ​“Consider it a date. Now make with the standard procedure and get us movin’.”

  ​Todd sat and spun in his chair as Simon entered a series of commands on his console. On two of the screens flanking the windshield, a space station in the shape of an H appeared in the foreground with a large circular structure floating ominously behind it.

  ​“Twelve days to the public port. Once we get there, we dock and stock. When we give headquarters the okay that we’re ready to proceed through, Lombargnor will call for the shutdown of the port. After they fire it back up, we are first ship through. We will emerge relatively close to our destination. The port in the Montice system is just about the same distance from Gleeb as Mars is from Earth. We will settle the Henrietta into orbit around Gleeb, and then the two of us,” Todd said, pointing back and forth from Simon to himself, “will head down while you two do your thing from the Henrietta . Any questions?”

  ​“None we can’t discuss in transit,” said Ben, rising slowly from his seat. “Come on, Foggy, let’s go strap in down below. I wanna get this show on the road.”

  ​Foggen joined Ben, and they exited the bridge together. Todd spun forward as the course map appeared on the screen to the left of the windshield. He released the anchors holding the Henrietta in her place on the marshal dock, and a loud “KA-CHUNK” accompanied the maneuver. The Henrietta rose out of its stall and rotated slowly until the direction it pointed corresponded with the path shown on the course map.

  ​“Everybody ready down there?” Todd asked through the all-ship intercom.

  ​“You betcha,” grunted Ben forcefully in return through the speaker. “I’ll even start the countdown for you. Five! Four! Three!”

  ​Todd and Simon smiled as Todd threw up two fingers to accompany Ben’s “Two!” then one finger. “One!” The Henrietta vanished from sight as it zoomed outwards through the solar system.

  Chapter 8

  Simon sliced peppers and onions as thinly sliced strips of skirt steak sizzled in a pan on the stove. He made the final cut of his vegetables and checked on the darkening slices of beef. Needs another minute , he said to himself. Just as h
e reached for his tongs, the door slid open, and Ben sauntered into the lounge.

  ​“Oh, man, that smells good.”

  ​“It’s just beef so far. Well, a little garlic and oil too.”

  ​Ben slid into the booth around the table. “Whatever it is, my mouth’s watering already, so hurry up, would ya? And would it kill you to put a little chips and salsa out?”

  ​“I’m a little busy at the moment.” Simon picked pieces of browned beef up with the tongs, and after inspecting each for sufficient coloring, placed them in a metal bowl beside the stove. “There’re plenty of bags of chips in the pantry, and I saw at least half a dozen jars of Bonnie’s salsa.”

  ​Ben groaned as he slid back out from the booth. “Bonnie’s is worth the effort. Anything else I would’ve waited for the next person through the door to get it.”

  ​On cue, the door opened, and Ben sat back down. “Hey, be a doll and swing through the pantry for a jar of Bonnie’s and a bag of chips on your way to the table.”

  ​Todd veered right and ducked into the pantry door beside Simon. He emerged just as Foggen joined the other three. Foggen slid into the booth across from Ben, and Todd slid a bowl onto the table followed by a jar filled with bright red salsa and a bag of chips. He reversed course and headed to a machine set in the wall to the other side of the pantry door.

  ​“Anybody want anything to drink?” He pressed a button next to the small screen that sat head high on the machine. A cup dropped onto a small indented shelf below the screen and waited as the screen lit up. Two dozen icons appeared, each representing a different choice of beverage. Todd selected black cherry seltzer, and the cup began to fill.

  ​“I’ll have orange juice, but stop it three quarters full and finish it with cola.”

  ​Todd turned to Ben with a face that looked as if he was sucking on a lemon wedge. “You cannot be serious.”

  ​Ben did not flinch in response to Todd’s soured expression and tone. “I could use the vitamin C, and I need a pretty regular dose of caffeine right now. Why bother dirtying two cups? It’s all going to the same place.”