The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link

by Hanks, Daniel

On our way to the service building, I had to stop for pedestrians several times. It was odd having so many people running around. Once we were settled, I checked the security of the perimeter force field. Sandra paced. She was nervous, so I went to bed and laid there wide awake, in the quiet of the night. I went over all that had happened since arriving on planet. When I came to the part where I cut Ron down, I stopped. Those darts were made of iron.

  Another planet found fifty years ago had evolved with life. A company had claimed it and turned it into a resort for the rich. Wild life was hunted for sport and wiped out before public uproar had stopped or limited the practice. Maybe the aliens were intelligent? An emerging people. If they did create iron, then they must fall into the classification of humans?

  Chapter 9: Shop Steward

  I slept until midday and awoke groggy and feeling sick, worse than if I’d been drinking. Sandra followed me around with a worried look on her face, constantly asking if I needed anything. I went to medical and dug into the trash, pulling out several darts that had been removed from Ron.

  The darts were handmade and of excellent quality. I could make out the hammer strikes that had formed them and could see the carbon treatment of the leading edges. The natives had to have a pretty advanced civilization to create such weapons, I thought.

  The barbs were sharp and ugly. I remembered the image of Ron being struck with one and the native pulling on the rope. They were ghastly-looking devices made for killing. Were they going to eat Ron and us?

  Sandra had been looking over my shoulder. She shuddered. “That poor bastard.”

  “Margret, who is in charge of the expedition?”

  “Hard to say. Professors Hinton or Jackson.”

  “You’re saying no one is in charge?”

  “Correct, the captain tried to put Jackson in charge, but Hinton has political clout. After talking to the captain, she ended up leaving no one in charge. The Armstrong left and won’t return for two hundred days,” Margret said.

  “What the hell. This is one of those disaster scenarios, starting with no clear command. Do people ever learn,” Sandra said, sliding into a chair.

  “We’re going to be just fine. We stay together, no matter what happens. We need to let everyone know about the natives so the story isn’t hidden.” I made three copies of the attack on Ron and wrapped them up with the three darts.

  “Okay, Sandra, hide one of these packages. Don’t let me know where. I’ll hide another and place the last one in my luggage. One might get to tell the story.”

  “You’re a very suspicious man. How am I to hide this without you knowing while staying within arm’s length?”

  “Being a smart girl you’ll think of something.”

  “You’re charming when you want to be.”

  “Sandra, help protect these people. They’ll be destroyed if we do nothing.”

  “Drake, don’t forget what they did to Ron, and tried to do to us. They’re dangerous. They’ll kill if given the chance.”

  “True, lots of wild beasts are territorial. We came to their planet uninvited, cleared land, set up buildings and then are surprised when they fight.”

  “I agree, but it won’t matter when a dart is stuck in your chest. First thing to worry about is staying alive, not being hurt, and to keep our own people safe. If these creatures kill, they’ll be hunted. You can count on that. Any deaths will be avenged.”

  “Get the head of security. I can get the union people. Let them know about the humanoids, and what the dangers are. Then we can work out plans to reduce the risk, and still complete the mission.”

  Sandra bit her lip. “You’re going to end up going head-to-head with management on this.”

  “Yeah, that’s what union people do sometimes.”

  Contacting the union members about the meeting was tricky, but being in maintenance helped. I pretended to be checking lighting, going from one building to the next. That evening forty-three people stood around in the garage.

  I started the meeting by welcoming everyone, including the security personnel, and asked them to be patient as union members conducted some business. “Fellow union members or brothers and sisters, we have a problem. Management has left no one in charge of this expedition. As usual it’s up to union members to take up the slack. We need a temporary steward to take our concerns to management, now more than ever. I propose we choose a shop steward. Will someone second my motion?”

  A hand waved. “I second,” a man said.

  “Show of hands in favor.” Most hands were raised. “The proposal stands. Does anyone have candidates to propose as temporary shop steward?”

  “Son, you have a big mouth. I recommend you,” Walter, one of the extended vehicle drivers said.

  “I second that,” Dane, one of the lab techs said.

  “Any other nominees?” The room was quiet. Shocked, I didn’t know what to say. “Show of hands for me as shop steward.” Everyone raised their hands.

  “Never heard of a quiet shop steward,” Walter said with a laugh. Everyone joined him.

  “Ah, I’ll do my best. I have a video of what happened to poor Ron.” The room went silent. Everyone stood straight and paid attention. “Go ahead, Margret.”

  The wall turned into a picture of what had happened. I stopped the show when the native threw the dart. Sandra talked about the weapon and how he’d thrown it. We discussed the foliage, the natives’ trap, and of course, the spear that had been in her leg. Everyone let out a gasp as Ron appeared, hanging from the trees.

  “Notice the location of the darts. The one on the left side is high, missing his heart. One through his stomach, missing major arteries. The dart in the leg on the outside again missed major arteries. They didn’t want him to die, at least not right away. They’d set an elaborate trap. Be careful. They’re crafty,” Sandra said.

  “Margret, show the picture of the dart.” It appeared on the wall. “This is made of Iron worked by skilled artists. This requires a culture of sorts. These primitive people are humans.” I looked around the room. It appeared that what I’d just said meant very little. “To safely gather the scientific information a plan needs to be made and enforced.”

  “Tall order, son. These scientist types scatter in the field, going out in all directions. Very hard to protect. Larger groups may help or have the scientists stay within boundaries. I’ll talk to them. We’ll work out a plan,” Mike Spencer, head of security, said.

  “Okay, brothers and sisters, I propose that no union members leave the compound without a workable plan to keep everyone safe. Will anyone second my motion?”

  Dane said, “Second the motion.”

  “Show of hands in favor of a work stoppage.” Everyone raised their hands.

  “So drivers secure the vehicles, and keep the codes safe. We’ll work out a good plan.”

  The meeting broke up. Well, at least, we had a plan to make a plan. That was something, I thought.

  Sandra hooked an arm through mine. “Well, an apprentice shop steward. I didn’t believe that was possible,” she said with a smile. “Come on, tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  Now that the camp was set up my day began like most days in maintenance. Going through the list of complaints, I made a priority list. Sandra demanded to accompany me and we got in a small argument. “Sandra, what can happen to me inside the force field? I don’t need armed protection here,” I said.

  “My top priority is your safety. You’re the only part of this mission that has no backup. Those are my orders. You’re my responsibility,” she said, grabbing a side arm.

  * * * *

  It was an emergency. Men were running about in their underwear. Sandra agreed get them dressed. Yuk! She stayed by my side as I replaced the controller board and brought the system back online. It felt weird to have her always there with no time to myself. I liked her, but enough was enough. I’d just got the cooling back on and was checking that everything worked when Professor Hinton accosted me.

>   “Boy, you want to lose your job?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t want to die either.”

  “Everyone is armed.”

  “We want a plan on how we’ll be protected.”

  “The plan, son, is that if attacked we kill them with our weapons!”

  “That’s not a good plan, sir. Most of these people would shoot off their own feet just drawing a blaster.”

  “You don’t need any training just to open fire. Everything will be just fine. Take it as it comes. We’ll deal with the natives when the time comes.”

  “Not good enough, sir. We aren’t going without a solid contingency plan.”

  “You snot-nosed boy. You get your people going or I’ll fire the lot of you for insubordination. Do you hear me, boy?” His face took on a bright red complexion.

  “What authority do you have? Are you my supervisor?”

  “Yes. I’m in charge of this expedition!”

  “The captain made no appointment of leadership, Mr. Hinton.”

  “Professor. Boy, address me as Professor Hinton. Got it?”

  “Mr. Wilson, not boy,” I said. I turned and walked away before I hit him.

  “Let’s go to the gym and spar. It’ll be fun to fight when you’re mad. I’ll call you boy and let you try to hit me,” Sandra said, laughing. “Come on, let’s fight!” She punched me in the arm.

  “Sandra, just leave me the hell alone! I don’t want you around! Just leave,” I said, pointing across the compound. She slapped my arm and shoved me.

  “It’s tough having someone watch your every move and everything you do all day long. How about me? Do I get tired of watching? Enough talk. Let’s go fight. I want to kick ass.”

  She grabbed my arm, twisting it up behind my back, and marched me into the gym before shoving me into an empty ring. I rubbed my shoulder. She’d been rough and looked pissed. Good. I’m pissed too, I thought.

  She took off her shoes, and I pulled off my boots. We started easy, a few faints and a couple light punches. Then I attacked, knocking her block aside and hit a glancing blow to the jaw. She exploded. I never thought someone could move so fast. After knocking my hands away, she went in three, four, five hits to my face. I staggered back, then she kicked me in the chest, knocking me down hard on the mat. Every breath was agony. I rolled on the floor, and she put her hand on my side.

  “You’ll be fine in a few minutes. Try to relax. My parents own a self-defense school, and taught many fine fighters, including one Olympic winner. With lots of practice, you could be a fair fighter. Let’s get cleaned up.” She helped me up and then we walked to our quarters.

  She cleaned and dressed my cuts, giving me an ice pack for the bruising. I settled in on the couch.

  “I lost my temper and beat you up. Sorry. I’ve never done that, hit someone who is untrained. I care about you.” Not in any mood to let her off the hook and still having trouble taking deep breaths I kept quiet. “Listen, you mean more than just a body to keep me warm at night.”

  I dropped the ice pack. “What?”

  She got up and paced. “I need to be held tight or let go. I can’t live like this. It’s not good.”

  “You mean sign a contract and have six children?”

  “Ah, six? Did I say six?” she asked.

  “Hmm, Sandra, I don’t even have time for a girlfriend let alone a wife.”

  “Shut up. That’s stupid. You study now, and I’ll make sure you continue to study so we can afford six kids.”

  “So you’re the lucky girl then?”

  “Ha, don’t know about lucky.” The room got quiet. “Well?”

  “Well what?” I asked.

  “A word.”

  “Oh, the contract will need to be thirty years to get the kids raised.”

  “Baby steps, Drake. A word.”

  “Okay, Sandra, I said before when rescuing Ron that I love you.” I stood and walked over to her. “We’ve been through a lot since then, and when I say I love you now, I mean it ten times as much.” I gave her a light kiss, and she pushed me away.

  “You’re a smooth talker, Drake, but what I want is to up our relation a notch, change my title to girlfriend.”

  “Well, I haven’t had the time for a girlfriend. Besides, you’re more than that.”

  She grabbed my coveralls. “Girlfriend is enough for now, okay?” She gave me a kiss.

  “Sandra, I’d be happy giving you the title of wife.”

  “You’re scary. Just girlfriend for now.”

  “Okay, girlfriend. I’m hungry.”

  “Sit,” she said before she started getting dinner ready.

  * * * *

  Professors Jackson and Hinton looked as if they were going to get in a fist fight. I told Jackson that Hinton would meet with us. Hinton had arrived for the same reason.

  Mr. Spencer started the meeting by outlining his proposed security plan. He’d worked it out with the help of several field biologists, who’d done work in very hostile areas. It called for working in groups no smaller than four with at least one security person. Everyone on the team would have to have basic firearm safety training, showing efficiency at drawing it and firing, hitting a close-range target.

  “In the field means working outside the main camp’s barrier or outside a protected vehicle. While there, anyone not following the direction of the security guard can lose future field privileges. As decided by the ruling board made up of myself, head of security, Mr. Wilson, temporary union steward, and one member as yet unannounced representing the scientific community,” Mr. Spencer said.

  “You’ve got to be joking?” Hinton asked. “Really? Goddamn rent-a-cop and a snot-nosed boy are going to have equal authority with a professor? Have fun, boys. When we get home, I’ll have the last laugh.” He stood. “It’s all yours, Jackson. I can’t stomach this amount of stupid in one room.”

  Jackson turned to me. “Boy, union guys aren’t the only ones who can strike. I’ll be on your board, but I get two votes. Discuss it. I’ll meet with you tomorrow.” He stood and walked away.

  Mike let out a sigh. “That means we can’t ever stop the scientists from wandering. No way Jackson will vote to sensor one of his own. What the hell, Drake. We tried.”

  “His terms are unacceptable. If a scientist wanders off, we’ll search for him. That puts everyone at risk.”

  “Drake, they won’t work with us. They’ll let this whole mission fail if they don’t get their way.”

  “I read the mission history. There were arguments in the scientific community about professors being part of it. Undergrads and technicians are capable of performing the field work necessary, at least at this stage. Let’s stick to the plan. The professors are invited, but have to follow the board rules.” I smiled.

  “That’s easy to say. You have union protection. Those two professors will pull every string to get back at us.”

  “Maybe, but if this mission is successful, the good professors will rewrite history, showing how they worked and created a board. Just depends on how it comes out in the end. That’s what matters.”

  Mike called as I checked the main power generation system. “Look.” He held up his assistant.

  I could see Hinton talking to several scientists, who were in line to take weapons training for the first three-day research excursion.

  “Baxter, right? What the hell? Don’t give in to these people. Compared to you they’re morons,” Professor Hinton said.

  Mike stepped closer. “Professor, may I ask your opinion.”

  “You couldn’t begin to understand my opinion!” He stormed away.

  Mike turned to the two men. “Gentleman, we’ll have time to go on ten more missions. Suggestions where the missions should go are appreciated.” Mike walked away from the men. “Drake, you there?”

  “Yeah. That was interesting.”

  “Union or not, you start a legal file. Put a copy of everything in it, including that last bit. We’ll both need it. Don’t trust company-ow
ned machines with your file. Make your own copy and keep it safe. Got to go.”

  Making a safe file was becoming harder and harder. Margret knew everything so destroy her and it’d be gone. “Margret, did you hear what Mike said?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Make a legal file as he said.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Partition my mechanical eye and keep a backup of yourself in it as well. Update your backup when you run the eye diagnostics.”

  “Okay, but why?”

  “I don’t want to lose you. It’s just in case something happens.”

  “Are you sure? If something happens to me, you can program my replacement.”

  “I like you.”

  “We love you, Margret,” Sandra said.

  “Done. Thank you, Drake, Sandra,” Margret said.

  I sat on the floor of the gym and studied while Sandra worked out. The change in our relationship had improved my ability to study. Even the noise of people huffing and puffing, being tossed onto the floor while sparing, didn’t interfere. I kept focused, making the most of any free time.

  Snap. The towel hit above my head. I looked up. Sandra stood over me. Sweat dripped off her face. “You didn’t see me, did you?” I shook my head. “Good, you’re supposed to be studying. One hundred and twenty-five V ups, my personal best. See? Steel.” She slapped her belly. “I’m finished, are you?”

  “Ah, yeah. I’ve gotten ahead. Programing is hard for me. You sure you want such a stupid boyfriend?”

  “I don’t want to cook tonight. Let’s eat in the chow hall,” she said.

  “Sounds good. You haven’t answered my question.”

  She looked me in the eye. “You need reassurance. Should I fall to my knees and pledge my never-ending love for you in front of everyone?” She smiled.

  “Ah, that might be over the top.”

  “How about you’re smart and I love you?”

  “Good enough. I love you too, and good job on that hundred whatevers.”

  “I’ll go hit the shower. You stay here and get a grip on that programing stuff,” she said as she headed toward the shower room.

  Arm’s length. She’d loosened up since her status change to girlfriend. Come to think of it, five security personal worked out in the gym right now. She hadn’t loosened. She didn’t go to board meetings, but Mike was there. Me and my brat attack. I bet she sat at home and worried the whole time. How I can fix this, I thought as I plunged back into my studies.