Stellar Survival Quest

by Jalf Whitemage

  Boov in her always-upbeat tone replied with a bounce and smile, “yes master! This one will do as you wish!”

  It took nearly two hours for the arrays to save up enough power for the habitats computer to come back on. Then another two for the lights to come in. Finally after a total of six the habitat was fully up and running again, although its’ small battery was still dangerously low. Boov returned to the habitat two hours after that and cleaned up, then proceeded to enter Nathan’s room to get some sleep.

  When Nathan awoke Boov was curled around him in her customary position. He smiled and stroked the amazingly soft grey hair of the colorless woman. He marveled how each thread of hair was soft yet jello like in sponginess.

  After a couple more minutes of sating his curiosity he finally rose and emerged from the sleep chamber. Yawning he went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and showered. Clean he moved to the storage room to rummage around for breakfast. Boov had still not awoken when he finished his meal of MRE Cheesy Noodles.

  “Well I guess I should start my day. She can catch up later.”

  He pulled on his spacesuit. Pinched the front closed and then donned his jeans and T over the grey material. Dress Nathan left the habitat and sighed upon seeing the cargo bay.

  The Transports lights had not come back on, so the bay was lost in darkness around him. But Nathan had been ready for the possibility. He had checked the power levels on the lights and the tools. Finding them mostly charged he brought them. It appeared Boov had arranged the transport to charge the tools before working on its’ own batteries. A decision that Nathan fully supported.

  After a quick look around the Cargo bay to see Boov’s progress he made his way into the hall. Turning right he head toward the intersection. A few more minutes brought him into the computer room.

  “Right, this has to be key to this portion of the station. If I can get this area online or at least working some…”’ He let his verbal comments trail off as he set to work.

  The next few hours he spent connecting the power supply from one of the lights to a system. Then trying to boot it up. If it worked he did his best to navigate around the system. A few things made it exceptionally hard to do though. First, the system was not arranged in a way that would make sense to a human mind. Second the little actual text he found was in some language that he could not even guess the context too.

  Nearly eight hours later Boov found him amid a room of open computer terminals, panels removed, wires and transistors everywhere. Nathan was so engrossed in his work that Boov had to carefully move around the maze of hardware and tap him on the shoulder.

  Nathan let out a very high pitched scream and nearly burnt a hole in his suit with the plasma torch that he had been using as a poor excuse for a soldering iron. As it was the board he was working on now had a pinky sized hole in it. With a grumbled curse Nathan tossed the ruined board amid a pile of others. Then looked at Boov.

  She gestured for him to follow her. She led him back to the cargo bay they called home. Then to the hatch. Using the manual lever she opened it slowly.

  Only as Nathan watched Boov squat down then lift high with the large lever did he realize the shadows and play of muscles that was so enticing was created by bright lights. Turning he saw the Transports lights had been turned back on. That made him smile.

  Finally when the hatch had about a three foot gap Boov stopped and secured the lever. Nathan turned toward the opening and saw a small craft outside the bay. It shined a bright light into the bay straight at Nathan’s startled face. The extremely bright light sent him reeling. He was surprised to see the ship to begin with, then the lights put him on his ass stunned. Boov’s smile slipped as she saw her master wobble. If gravity had been in effect he would have fallen she was sure. As it was he floated on dangling legs.

  The ship having confirmed the identity of the receiving party lowered closer to the deck as three tri-podded robots detached from the hull. A single sphere sat atop the three long spindly legs. In the center of the sphere a panel opened up to allow a flat platform to unfold and spread out. Three more small panels opened up each with another long appendage emerging. In short order the robots became six limbed and looked almost like a table on moving legs and arms.

  They moved over to the ship and reached into a dark breech that had opened in the ship. Each time the arms emerged they had a packaged carefully clutched in their three armed holds. With more care they placed the packages on their flat top where a small charge of electricity would create a simple bond holding them in place.

  With a full top they entered the bay to stand in front of the still reeling Nathan. Boov moved over and collected the first of the packages. She took it to the habitat and placed it into the airlock. After grabbing a second package, the robots moved over to the lock with her. Thus, making the remaining unloading faster. A full three minutes passed until Nathan was able to pull himself together and get back to a surface where he could help.

  “Stupid, Zero-G. Lose your footing for a second and you float away like some blonde in a windstorm” He grumbled to himself.

  It took the two of them and the three robots another 10 minutes to fully unload Nathan’s order.

  Without a word the moment the last package was in Nathan’s hands, the robots stored their extra parts and climbed back onto the delivery drone. The drone’s job complete, it zoomed away. Its black hull disappearing into the void in an instant.

  Nathan looked at the Airlock piled high with boxes of all shapes and sizes. They had almost forgotten to leave enough room for someone to stand inside too. Ass it was they would have to cycle the air lock once apiece. Nathan went first. Before he exit the airlock he grabbed a few of the boxes and placed them in the habitat proper.

  As Boov went through the entry process Nathan began picking up his orders.

  Most of the items he had purchased was nothing special. Just things he knew they would need. More food. A few chemicals for the habitats systems. Spare parts for the transport, and more tools. But there was two items Nathan was excited to get. Between the two they accounted for most of the cost of his order.

  The first was a new set of power storage cells. These cells could hold a total of 25 QOBOP expanding their limited storage 5 times. The reason they were so cheap though was because the cells used a magnetic field to contain the energy in a small space. Thus if not receiving a charge they would slowly use the power they were storing. The cells were also an imperfect storage reservoir and would only hold roughly 90% of the power they received. But, they price was in Nathan’s range.

  The second was what he was already pulling out of the boxes. It was a new solar power array. An array specially designed for power creation with a brown dwarf in mind. Since no one in their right mind would want to use a Brown Dwarf which did not emit normal solar energy as a power source the array was super cheap.

  Nathan on the other hand was close to not one but two such stars. From his estimation closer than Mercury was to the Sun in Sol system. Maybe even between the orbits of Epsilon Endi BB as it orbit BA. Although if that was the case the gravity between the two on those occasions where the station sat between them must have been intense. Perhaps that explained why it looked like the station was slightly out of the typical solar plane. By being a few degrees out above the plane it would keep the station from ever being directly between the two.

  Nathan shook his head… His mind had been wondering. Focusing he continued to unpack the array.

  When Boov entered the habitat she also unpacked the items and began to sort them. She reorganized the two storage rooms to better allow for storage between things needed in the day to day and then things that are for rebuilding.

  When she unpacked a pair of two dark green spacesuits she looked at Nathan. He saw her gaze and then at the suits.

  “Ah good you found them. Those are higher quality than this stupid suit. A bit more durable and better yet, they were cheap. Put one on and the other in my room. I’ll go change onc
e I am done unpacking this array.”

  Boov smiled and bounced, “master bought me clothes! Thank you!”

  Nathan smiled, “I remember someone saying that the longer you were in a shape the more like the host you became. So sooner or later you will need a suit. Regardless if you wear it then I’ll be a little less distracted.”

  Boov looked at her breasts and toned body, then back up to Nathan with a sly smile. “Master finds this one distracting?

  Nathan ignored the comment.

  Four hours later Nathan finished unpacking and organizing. He considered starting to build the array putting the smaller parts together that he could but the Habitat’s inflatable construction made him think twice about ding any work in it.

  With a sigh he decided it was time for bed. He hated that he slept so long, but he knew that Bubba had to do things too.

  Boov saw Nathan head to bed and smiled. After she put on her own suit which included a pull up hood and mask. She attached an air tank and gathered up some of the parts. For the next several hours she welded, soldered, using the new actual soldering iron and organized the array.

  It took them nearly two full days to put the array together. When it was on the last stages they had to take the assembled panels, braces, and other motorized parts to a landing pad for final assembly. When the solar array was completed it was larger than the spherical transport of Nathan’s.

  The array stood nearly 5 meters tall and 7 wide with three levels of panels to collect the infrared solar radiation emitted by the brown dwarf stars. The panels were able to automatically readjust to optimize collection. Even going as far as to rotate the base of the stand 360 degrees. The stand had magnetic locks to hold it on the landing pad. And it even had a small on board computer able to give diagnostics read out about the various components.

  Nathan knew from the manufacturer’s specs it could generate 6.4 QOBOP in a standard galactic day. Or roughly 0.2 in an hour. But that was under ideal circumstances.

  When he checked the output though Nathan was pleasantly surprised. At the moment it was collecting 0.18 QOBOP an hour. That was more than all four of the standard floating arrays were gathering even with Boov’s modifications. They connected the cables into the lines running into the interior and went inside.

  Before Nathan went to sleep he used the nearly 5 QOBOP they had saved up to order another array. This one a class I array. It was rated to collect 10 QOBOP daily. Nathan had thought about buying two of the J class arrays. They only cost three QOBOP but he settled on spending a tad under five on the higher quality array. He hoped it was the right call.

  The next two weeks passed slowly for the duo. When they had an array to build they worked on it. Otherwise Nathan worked on the computer room while Boov focused on repairs to the station.

  When they completed the 5th array on the last landing pad the pair looked at their handiwork. Five arrays sat together on the 3 pads. Each one was a step up from the last ordered. The most recent was an F class array and fully twice the size of the other four arrays. It produced an amazing 40 QOBOP a day. Sadly the arrays on the same pads were blocking a little of each other’s light, and they had to take down the floating standard arrays for the same reason. Still though their total collection value was a massive 80 QOBOP a day now. Nathan had invested in three more of the cheap power cells, to take advantage of the power.

  Chapter 06 – Claim A Module

  Elsewhere on the station. The small creatures had found a location deeper into the station. Its cold dark zero G was perfect for them to perform their rystalis. Out of the original 6, five had woven a slimy grey pulsing cocoon around themselves and began the process. The sixth was set as guard and food procurement.

  Being familiar with the galactic systems it sold the transport and used it to order fresh meat in special void safe containers. The large containers full of meat now stood filling most of the hold they had first entered into.

  The sixth eyed the crates with main mandibles twitching. It had been a very long time since it had eaten. The others would need meat when they came out. But there would be enough… there must be enough…

  Looking around sixth decided it could eat, just one little meal... It went to one of the smaller containers. Still fully twice as big as sixth and grabbed the thin metal. Being sure not to put claws through the flimsy material sixth used the null gravity to lift and carry the crate to the section of the station the others had claimed.

  After an intersection there was a pulsing orange membrane blocking the hallway. Sixth however did not pause he just plunged right through it and pulled the crate along with him. The membrane snagged then slurped wetly around six and his cargo, before snapping back into place.

  Beyond the corridors metal hallway had been completely covered in a dark orange excretion. The excretion had hardened and became like a rubbery skin, thin lines of veins that glowed a hellish red were clearly visible inside. Sixth’s clawed feet no longer made a tapping sound now that he moved on the Churm. Sixth also removed his mask freeing his brain tendrils and sensor antennae from their confined space. Dark acidic saliva dripped from sixth’s main mandibles as he fantasized about the meal to shortly come.

  Entering an opening where metal had been sheered through by sharp claw and rending mandible, sixth enter the cargo hold set aside as the living space for the new Lothar. The orange skin like Churm covering the entire bay had created thin tubes that periodically emitted a thick green gas

  Before being sucked back into the skin like substance, only to slowly extrude again when pressure built up.

  Sixth took a deep breath of the sulfur and methane rich gas as a new jet was emptied a short distance from him.

  With tendrils twitching in anticipation sixth set the crate down where the orange Churm adhered to it. The Skim ejected a pastel orange good that held the crate firmly in place.

  With glee filled black compound eyes sixth hit the open button and the two overrides warning of an incompatible atmosphere for the inhabitant. As a foul smelling oxygen rich air rushed out of the crate sixth got a look at his lovely meal.

  The creature stood only .5 GU and was all thick muscles covered by a heavy hair. Sixth frown, he hated hair it was always getting stuck on his third mandibles. He would be coughing the crap up for weeks.

  Still though when the creature opened its pale blue eyes to see him, it attempted to scream! The toxic air made its lungs burn, but somehow it still managed a half scream before coughing could smother it.

  Sixth jumped in jubilation not only would this one taste of fear and desperation! But better yet, sixth could tell this one was female. They were always more tender and fatty. With the gravity of one knowing they are about to consume a prime delicacy sixth snipped off the creatures arm at the shoulder with one quick nibble.

  The creature wailed collapsing to the ground holding the stump where thin orange blood shot out providing nutrients for the Churm.

  Sixth wanted to savor his food, but knew if he wanted it to scream and wiggle while he ate he must hurry. Outside their thin weak homes most meat did not live long. With slow deliberate movements sixth moved to nip off the other arm. He rejoiced in watching as the creature’s eyes leaked water and fear hid its intelligence being broken into insanity… Screams echoed through the station for just a few more brief moments while sixth ate…

  Retracting his proboscis feeding tube from the creature’s skull he savored the last of its cranial muscle. He always wondered at the inefficient evolution of many creature’s anatomy. Why would it place the main brain in such a weak place as the center of the head? Sure his major brain tendrils were also located at the back of his head too. But his secondary ones ran all the way down his chitin us back. Even if he lost his head his body would be able to survive long enough to regrow it.

  Musings over he tossed the now empty skull into a cavity lined with thousands of sharp grating spurs, that the Churm opened up for just such a purpose. With the last of the creatures unwanted bits the cavit
y closed and began to tear, rip, and dissolve the creature’s remains. Sixth for his part sighed. It would be a few more weeks before the others awoke. That was weeks for him to do nothing. He would guard and watch, as was his duty. But there was nothing here to watch or guard from. The mothers had said they detected life returning to the system from their home moon. But sixth had yet to see it. Still though sixth knew his place and would do his duty… First however he needed to remove the crate and its tale tail sign of his selfish meal…

  Nathan awoke as he had many times over the last few weeks. Boov lay nude half on top of him softly snoring. Smiling he extracted himself and followed his morning routine. Today was different though. The pattern of working on the arrays was completed. He was now producing enough power to follow the next step. He was going to turn on the power for this area of the station! From what he was able to splice and translate from the system, the module of docking bays he and Boov inhabited would require a whopping 75 QOBOP a Galactic day to run at full power. He was now making that, plus a little more.

  Yesterday the last parts he needed to connect the power cells to the station systems had arrived. They were like most of the things he had purchased so far, cheap and full of flaws, but still passible for what he needed. If this worked he would finally gain access to the two closed bays, the door across from the administrative room, and even access the main doors into the station proper. Or so Nathan was hoping.

  Several hours later, and a near death by electrocution due to skills being too low to complete what he was attempting Nathan and Boov had everything set up.

  Giving Boov a thumbs up he tapped the button on the console he had configured in the control room. With a whirl of old fans finding nothing but void the computer came to life, followed a half minute later by flickering lights in the corridors and a dozen seconds later bright Blue flashing warning lights strobing across the entire modular section!