by Russell Fine
“Okay Max, we’ll see you in a few hours.”
Three hours later, Jeffery and Debbie were sitting in Max’s office.
Jeffery said, “The test went perfectly. I think we’re ready for a longer test, but I’d like to wait for a few days. I want S12 aboard before we go.”
“That’s not a problem. However, I’m sorry to tell you the board turned down your request to use the Star Explorer to transport your employees to Procolt 2.”
“I expected that,” Jeffery admitted, although he was still disappointed. “I just have to figure out how to get them there so we can open the Earth side of the resort.”
“Your ship will be ready by the time you get back from your next mission. Since the trip is short, you could probably take ten people at a time.”
“I’m not sure what I’ll do. I bought a refurbished starship. That ship will hold three hundred passengers. It should be here shortly after we return from our mission. I think the best plan would be to use that ship to take my employees to Procolt 2 and then bring it back here to be retrofitted.”
“If you do decide to do that, I’ll try to get your new ship worked on as quickly as possible. Garlut’s ship was supposed to be next, but I suspect it’ll be okay with him if we do your ship first.”
“Garlut should be on Procolt 2 when we get there with the Star Explorer. I’ll discuss it with him.”
“You should also know the engineers working on the ship upgrades think they can reduce the time required to install the new systems to thirty days. Your little ship is next. If they can complete the installation in that time frame, you’d probably be better waiting to have your new ship upgraded before you take your employees to Procolt 2.”
“I agree. We’ll see where we are when we get back from Coplent. Lieutenant Harris said S12 should be back in a few days. As soon as she’s ready I’d like to start the mission.”
“That’s okay with me. Frank also wants to go, but I think he plans on jumping ship when you get to Procolt 2.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
Four days later, they were ready. There were only five of them aboard. This ship had food generators instead of a kitchen, so nobody had to prepare any meals. Jeffery and Debbie had the captain’s cabin. Lieutenant Harris took the next largest cabin right across the hall. Frank’s cabin was next to hers. S12 decided she didn’t need a cabin. She was very comfortable in a chair on the bridge.
The ship left Earth and arrived at Procolt 2 twenty-seven hours later. They went down to the shelter and were surprised to discover that, aside from a few squirrels, nobody was there. They went to Procolt Paradise and found everyone there instead. The resort was finished and the workers were preparing to leave. All of the furniture was in place, the pools were filled, and everything was ready except the restaurants. Even the squirrels were in the process of moving into Squirrel Haven.
Jeffery and his small group found the others relaxing by the pool. Brealak and Marcet were nude and had apparently just gotten out of the water. Cathy saw them first and yelled, “Hi, it’s nice to see you again. We’re really enjoying your resort. You should stay here for a while. The only problem is the food. It isn’t very good.”
“Great to see all of you too. Sorry about the food situation. I guess for now, you’ll have to continue to eat generated meals until the restaurants are operating. Otherwise, I’m glad you like it. I noticed the squirrels are making themselves at home.”
“Did you come on the Star Explorer?” Brealak asked.
“Yes, and it was great! We made the trip in twenty-seven hours. I didn’t even have enough time to explore the whole ship.”
“Who is watching Mystic?” Marcet asked.
“She’s staying at Brandon’s house with Bess and Tom. They really love her and I’m sure they’ll take very good care of her while we’re gone. We miss her, but this is a test flight and her safety is much more important than our feelings,” Debbie responded.
Jeffery and Debbie went to their apartment and really liked what they saw. The furniture not only looked nice, but was very comfortable as well. They were sure they were going to like living there. They spent a couple of hours in the apartment, then rode the moving sidewalk over to the lake to look at the marina. Like everything else at the resort, it was very well done. They took one of the boats and went exploring on the lake for an hour. All the people met by the pool and Cathy brought an assortment of food from the ship for dinner.
The next day, Jeffery went back to the Star Explorer to pick up Lieutenant Harris and bring her down to the resort. She was very impressed and told Jeffery she could understand why everybody who had been here wanted to stay.
They stayed at Procolt Paradise for a few days. When it was time to go on to Torblit, Frank decided to stay on Procolt 2 and Jeffery mentioned he expected him to stay. The four remaining crew members went back to the Star Explorer for the trip to Torblit.
The purpose of the three-day trip was to show off Earth technology. When they arrived at the space station above Torblit, Jeffery was told where to secure the ship, and as soon as the ship was moored, the Trade Council representative would come over to the Star Explorer.
An hour later, Malden Pinder arrived on the Star Explorer. Everyone aboard was there when Malden stepped out of the shuttle bay. “Hello, Admiral Whitestone. It is nice to see you and your life partner again. When we last saw you, your ship was the slowest starship in the trade group. This ship is now the fastest. That is an amazing leap of technology in just a few years.”
“Yes, it is but the new technology aboard this ship is due to a partnership we have with S12 and her peers,” Jeffery responded, pointing at S12.
“It is nice to meet you, S12. Where are you from?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t have a translator for her, so she can’t understand you. She speaks English and Coplent. She’s from Procolt 2.”
Malden nodded. “I heard something about them. Well, congratulations on your technical achievement. It is my understanding you will be here for ten days. During that time, I will bring people interested in purchasing this technology aboard. It would be helpful if you could demonstrate some of the ship’s capabilities. Would that be possible?”
“Yes, of course. Please inform me of the schedule so I can be sure we’re ready.”
“I will do that. The first group will be here tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll be ready.”
During the next ten-days at Torblit, Jeffery and his small crew demonstrated the propulsion and navigation systems to fourteen groups. Every one of them was impressed with the capabilities of the Star Explorer. Jeffery didn’t realize it at the time, but the demonstrations resulted in the sale of sixty new ships and retrofits for another one hundred and twenty. It would be enough to keep Earth busy for several years.
The Star Explorer went to Coplent next. Jeffery had hoped to see Garlut when he got to Procolt 2. Now he hoped Garlut would be on Coplent when he arrived. As it turned out, Garlut was there. When Jeffery had an opportunity to speak to him, he quickly agreed to relinquish his spot in line for conversion to Jeffery. Jeffery spent twenty-eight days on Coplent. Almost every day demonstrating the ship. Before they left for Earth, Garlut told him he would be traveling to Earth soon in an effort to secure the manufacturing rights for the new systems. There was no way Earth would be able to keep up with the demand for them. Jeffery invited Garlut to return to Earth with him, but he declined because he had some other things to take care of first.
When Jeffery arrived back on Earth, he was surprised to see his ship docked near the space station. It was not where he had left it, so he hoped the retrofit had been completed. As soon as the Star Explorer was secured, he contacted Max who confirmed the conversion on his ship was complete and the systems had been fully tested. He also told him they had been able to complete the retrofit in only twenty-two days.
The station sent a shuttle to retrieve the four Star Explorer crewmen and bring them back to the station
. They took the first available shuttle to NASA headquarters. Brandon was there to pick them up and he had Mystic with him. She was overjoyed to see her parents again, she squealed and ran to them, her arms outstretched. Jeffery bent down and picked her up, hugging her and kissing her lightly on her forehead. Debbie took her from Jeffery and held her. They smiled at each other and Debbie kissed her too. On the way back to Brandon’s house, they told him everything that happened during the mission.
That evening, Jeffery and Debbie decided to use his little ship to begin taking employees to Procolt Paradise. There were six passenger seats and six beds. It would be cramped, but they could take ten at a time. The next morning, Jeffery contacted Vacations Everywhere to tell them he wanted to take ten of his new employees to Procolt 2 in two days. Martin Dressler called him back a few minutes later to tell him he had already told the new employees to be prepared to go on a moment’s notice. He would have the first ten at the space station in the morning on the day of departure. Jeffery also told him he would be back for another group in a week, but he also wanted twenty-five hundred pounds of food to take to Procolt Paradise on the next trip.
For the next twelve weeks, Jeffery, Debbie, and Mystic commuted between Earth and Procolt 2. On each trip after the first, they took ten people to Procolt Paradise. While that was happening, Jeffery’s new ship was being fitted with the new systems and all of the employees from Coplent arrived. After Jeffery’s last weekly trip, the resort was fully operational.
Invitations were sent to the workers who had built Procolt Paradise and their vacations were set to start in thirty days. Jeffery really wanted to use his new passenger ship to bring the workers to Procolt 2. He thought about it for a few days and decided to go back to Earth to see if the work was nearing completion.
The following day Jeffery, Debbie, Brealak, and Mystic went to Earth. On the way, they were trying to decide on a name for the ship. They finally decided to call it the Paradise Express.
When they arrived at Earth, Jeffery contacted Max to get the status of the systems installations for his ship. He was very happy when Max told him that the systems had been installed and were scheduled to be tested the following day. Jeffery said he wanted to be aboard for the testing. Max said he would arrange it and call him back later in the day.
Jeffery and Debbie had never seen the ship, but they recognized it from the pictures they had when they purchased it. As the shuttle approached the ship, they realized how big it was. It was at least twice the size of the Star Explorer. Once they were inside, they were amazed. Everything looked brand new. There was no way to tell the ship was really more than three hundred years old. They went to the bridge; Jeffery was surprised to see Lieutenant Harris at the navigation console.
“Good morning Lieutenant Harris, it’s a pleasure to see you again. What’s on the agenda for this morning?”
“Good morning, Admi—Jeffery, it’s nice to see you and Debbie again too. This morning we’ll test all three new systems. First, we’ll travel for thirty seconds and test the communication system. Then we’ll travel two light years away. Once we’re there, I’ll program the navigation system to take us back to a point sixty thousand miles above the Earth. We put a small object in orbit at that altitude and the idea is for the navigation system to locate it and take the ship within one mile of it, all without any human intervention.”
“That’s impressive. Who’s the acting captain of the ship today?”
“As far as I know, you are, sir. After all, it’s your ship.”
“Okay. Anytime you’re ready, we’ll get started.”
Jeffery sat down at the main console. The control layout was identical to his little ship. “I’m ready. We can go anytime. I’ll contact the station to let them know we’re leaving.”
Thirty minutes later, the Paradise Express was ready. After the thirty-second flight, Lieutenant Harris contacted NASA. Thirty-five seconds later, NASA responded. They traveled for less than two hours and were now two light years from Earth. Lieutenant Harris programmed the navigation system and initiated the program. They were back to Earth again in less than two hours and the small object placed in orbit for the test was one mile ahead of them. The test was a complete success.
By the end of the day, Jeffery, Debbie, and Mystic were aboard the Paradise Express and Brealak was on her way back to Procolt 2 in Jeffery’s small ship.
The next morning, the Paradise Express began its first journey to Procolt 2. When they arrived, Jeffery put the ship in orbit above Procolt Paradise and took one of three shuttles aboard to the surface. They were now ready for guests.
Procolt Paradise was a phenomenal success. After operating for a half year, they were booked up with guests from both Coplent and Earth for the next two years. By the time the resort had been open for a year, the required communication relays were in place and high-speed communication was available between Earth, Coplent, Torblit, and Procolt 2.
Starships were being retrofitted at facilities on Earth and Coplent. As a result of the profits from the resort and the royalties from the new systems, Jeffery and Debbie were the wealthiest couple among the trade group planets.
Crosus and Coplent
That information reached the controlling government on Crosus, and they were not happy their enemy had done so well while the entire planet of Crosus was on the brink of financial ruin.
They found the situation unacceptable and were determined to do something about it. It was decided the best way to get revenge was to attack Procolt Paradise. They wanted to destroy the resort, but even more than that, they wanted to push the Earth, Coplent, and the Whitestones into bankruptcy.
Their plan was to attack the resort and blackmail Jeffery into giving them the plans for manufacturing the new starship systems and the power modules. They felt that once they knew how to make their own, they would be able to sell them for much less and steal all of the business from Earth and Coplent. After they obtained the plans, they would demolish Procolt Paradise.
To put the plan into motion, they had to enlist help from some people living on either Earth or Coplent. Since there were already people from Crosus living on Coplent, the decision was to use them for the attack. First, they had to get a spy on Coplent. Since Crosus had been expelled from the trade group, their ships were no longer allowed to go to there, but no one would refuse help to a ship in distress.
They used one of their oldest ships for the mission. The hold of the ship was filled with cargo they still occasionally traded with other planets, even though that violated Trade Council rules. There was only one person on the ship. His name was Valik and he was the spy they needed for the mission. The ship went to the primary shipping route between Coplent and Torblit. Valik turned off all of the power except what was needed for life support, communications, the artificial gravity system, and the long-range scanner.
When the scanner detected a ship from Coplent, Valik began broadcasting a distress signal. The Coplent ship contacted Valik.
“My power system is almost dead,” Valik lied. “I only have enough power to keep the life support systems running for three or four more days. Can you tow me to Coplent so I can get the system repaired?”
“I can take you close enough for you to contact the Coplent authorities and request assistance,” came the reply.
“Thank you. That would be very helpful.”
The Coplent ship moved to a position very close to the front of Valik’s ship and put a tow beam around it. Once Valik’s ship was secure, the Coplent ship resumed its journey home. Since they were towing a ship, they had to use the sub-light engines for the remainder of the trip. That would take them more than two days. Valik used some of that time to short a few relays and control boards in the power system, so when Coplent sent someone to evaluate the problem they would verify his report.
They released Valik’s ship from the tow beam fifty thousand units above Coplent. Valik thanked them for their assistance and he contacted the Coplent space station. He e
xplained the problem and was told they would have to contact the appropriate authority on the planet before they could offer any assistance.
An hour later, Valik was told a repair ship would be there to evaluate the problem shortly and he should be prepared to pay for evaluation and repair. When the repair ship arrived, Valik opened the shuttle bay to allow it inside. Valik was waiting for the repairman as he exited the shuttle bay. He took the repairman to the area where he had damaged the power system and left him there. A short time later, he went back and the repairman was waiting for him.
“The system will take several days to repair, and it is so old I am not sure we have the parts we need. You will probably have to be here for at least five or six days.”
“Can you arrange for my ship to be towed to the station for the repair?”
“Yes, I will take care of that when I get back to the station. There is no place for you to stay on the station, so you will have to go down to the surface and stay there until your ship is ready.”
“That is fine. I have some friends on Coplent. I am sure I could stay with them for a few days.”
The repairman left Valik’s ship. An hour later, a tow ship arrived to take Valik’s ship to the repair area near the station. After his ship was docked, a shuttle was sent to pick him up and bring him to the station.
When the shuttle arrived, the station master was there to greet him.
“Please understand we do not welcome people from Crosus on Coplent, but we realize this is not a normal situation. The charge to repair your ship is one hundred and fifty hirodim and it must be paid in advance.”
Valik handed him a bank card and said, “The charges can be deducted from this account. I was told I will be here for several days. Is there a way I can contact some friends who live here?”
“Of course, please follow me.”
Valik contacted one of the Crosus families living on Coplent.
The remaining Crosus families living on Coplent were infiltration spies. Their help would be activated by using a keyword, and Valik was about to do that.
