“How am I looking?” Kat says hopefully.
“Not good.”
“Ok, and that means what?”
“That you might have had another week tops before you killed yourself.”
“What!?”
Whisper lets out a sigh, which was always impressive to Kat because she didn’t have the lungs. “Your cybernetics need cleaning. In about a week from my guess, your heart would have stopped working. Its half cybernetic if you didn’t know. Plus the vision in your right eye is down. Didn’t you notice it was getting harder to see?”
Kat didn’t know that. She’s going to have to be more careful from now on. Her dream is almost in her grasp and to die early for such a silly reason as not keeping her parts clean won’t do.
“No, I didn’t notice. So how would I clean everything?” Kat asks confused.
“Just a cleaning like this once every three to four months is fine. I have to run a solution through you're moving parts to take away the gunk buildup. You’ve been a whole year and a half without one. I’m actually surprised nothing happen sooner, now that I think about it.”
Graven’s voice fills the room from the speakers, “Hey Kitty Kat, got two choices on a job.”
Kat cringes. She thought he was going to pick, so there is either nothing out there but these two, or they are both really bad. She takes in a deep breath and says, “What are they?”
“One is on planet Starz for a delivery, but I can’t seem to contact the recipient for confirmation. The other is with a Stewardess named Tia, and I was able to get in contact with her rep.”
“I am not transporting around a whore, so how much for the Starz delivery?”
“Enough to cover our expenses, but something just doesn’t seem right.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we are only hauling medical supplies. Normal ones, nothing special. Which makes me worried because there is nothing restricted about the planet. Which would mean it’s a normal looking drop, and Bob doesn’t give us normal. Ever.”
“Good thing we have a stolen high tech personnel carrier with stealth flight. What does it matter, if it makes what we need then all the better. Plus not having to cater to those Stewardess whores makes it all the better.”
“The job with Tia would be easier and quicker, but ok. I still don’t trust this one, because it’s too normal. Also the stealth systems only work if someone doesn’t just look out a window.”
“How often are you looking out windows?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Honey, we’re taking the job.”
Graven signs. “I thought you would say that. I told Bob we were the ship for the job, and the cargo is on the way.”
3
Kat leans back in her seat, crossing her arms, and turns to Graven from the cockpit saying, “Bob didn’t tell you about this did he?”
Roughly two hundred Guild warships were positioned near Planet Starz on one side. On the other, two hundred Glutton ships. Each side in what appeared to be a standoff, neither side firing a weapon or moving.
Graven folds his arms, mumbling something to himself before he says aloud, “Remind me to have a talk with Bob about what he considers an easy job.”
Whisper says, “Would you like me to get Bob on the line?”
Graven shakes his head, “No, not yet. We don’t really know what’s going on here, but I’m going to wager not good.”
Fury says, “Should I get our weapon systems up?”
Kat hastily says, “NO, don’t do that. They might start shooting at us. We might be able to take on a few ships, but not four hundred.”
Graven places his hand on Kat’s shoulder. “So what’s the plan?”
Kat turns her head back to Graven, then to the screen. She doesn’t know what to do. They already accepted the job, and if they turn back it could mean their reputation for always finishing a job goes away. If they try to go in, they might just get shot into space dust. The stealth systems could get them down to the planet, but leaving would be a problem. There is always the drop and run, but again its risky because she can’t guarantee her delivery. Before she gets the chance to finish her thoughts, a call comes through on screen from the Guild ships.
A tall woman wearing a gold and blue Guild uniform with curly red hair poof’ng out is waiting for the call to be accepted. Kat tells Whisper to answer it, and her green eyes are burning with skepticism.
She says, “Who are you, and why are you in the no fly zone?”
Kat looks back at Graven, who shakes his head. It was the first they had heard this was a no fly zone. They just checked the flight schedule before they left and it was all green.
Kat turns back and answers, “I’m sorry we didn’t know this was a no fly. We check before we jumped here to Starz and everything was green. This is the Felicity, and we are carrying medical cargo for the planet.”
The red head touches a console to her right, flicking though something. “There is no Felicity on the flight manifest for any official channels.”
“This is a private frigate, and we don’t ask too many questions. Just trying to make a living out here. Is there some way you can let us just drop the goods and be on our way?”
“No.”
Kat didn’t think it would be that easy. It’s never that easy. If it was, then she would definitely know that something was up. “How about an orbital drop, we have the…” Kat gets cut off.
“No. There will be no deliveries. We are currently in a stand off with the Foremid, and if anything gets near the planet or comes off the planet it will start a battle. We are in negotiations right now with them. Do. Not. Come any closer to the planet or we will open fire. This is your first and last warning. Commander Claireborn of the Guild vessel Ascension, out.”
The screen cuts out.
Graven plops back into his chair. “That could have gone better.”
Kat slumps into hers. “Yea it could have. Now what?”
Whisper says, “We could go to the far side of the moon and engage the stealth.”
Kat shakes her head, “I still don’t think that’s a good idea. And just what are the Foremid anyway? I thought that was the Gluttons out there.”
Graven says, “I have heard the name once, but I always thought they were a different species.”
Whisper says, “Foremid, race of humanoid like aliens of unknown origin. Currently on the far edge of known Guild space. Their intentions are unknown, but they always take all of the technology of any battle they win and incorporate it into their ships making upgrades to them as they do.”
Kat says in awe, “Alien’s? Like real nonhumans?”
“Yes. That’s what is in this report.”
“How did you find all of that?”
“I just hacked their secure channel and started to download their databases. There’s all kinds of information in there. The encryption is as best as I’ve seen it, but nothing I can’t get though.”
“Aren’t you just full of surprises.”
“Please. Nothing some meat-bag comes up with will stop me.”
Kat laughs, “I guess you’re right. So Aliens are real, and they are fighting the Guild. I like them already. Anything else in there we should know about?”
“Yes. It looks like negotiations aren’t going well. As in there is nothing. The Guild is broadcasting on an open channel but nothing is coming back. They plan on attacking in three hours if they don’t get a response.”
Kat lets out a sigh. That doesn’t give them much time to do anything. When a battle like that happens the surface typically suffers. They could just wait it out and watch, but that could be more dangerous than trying the stealth route, and the client might be dead by then. Kat fiddles with her hair, running her hands though her silky black strands. That are far too oily. When was the last time she treated her hair? Thoughts that need to be saved for later, she thinks.
She says, “Let’s call Bob. He might know more than what he gave
us.”
4
Thirty minutes go by before they can get him on the com. Bob is on the screen, in his chair wearing a dirty blue bathrobe that Kat could tell hasn’t been washed. Ever. There are bags under his tired brown eyes, and his brown hair is in a tangled mess like he just woke up.
Bob smiles and throws his arms open wide, which opens his rob a little too far almost revealing more than she ever wanted to see of Bob. “Katrice its good to see you. The last time was…”
Kat cuts him off, “Bob. What’s the deal with sending us into a war-zone? Don’t you understand the meaning of easy?”
Bob holds his hands in the air, palms facing Kat, “Sorry. I just got word about the no fly. The job is still an easy one. Well, easy for you two.”
“Bob I swear, the next time I see you I’m going to…”
“Kiss me?”
A shiver runs down her spine, “Ugh, no.”
“Hug me?”
“Never happen.”
“Thank me for the wonderful pay.”
“I’m going to wring your neck, that’s what.”
“But Katrice we get along so well and you’re wearing the most delightful clothes.”
She looks down at her shirt which had slipped down showing off more of her cleavage than she meant to show. Quickly covering herself up she says angrily, “No Bob, we don’t get along well. You’re going to pay us double.”
Bob’s eyes go wide. “I can’t do double. I’ll go 70/30, have to have my cut too.”
“80/20, and that’s my final deal. I’m betting you wouldn’t be able to find another ship that can deliver this in the next two hours. Plus I’m not going into a war-zone for the peanuts you just tried to pay us.”
Bob squints his eyes and rubs his chin. There is a long pause before he replies, “Fine, deal. I just got a bonus payment from them anyway, requesting it come sooner. Get it down there and fast. You do that I will pay you eighty percent of what the total job is.”
Kat nods, “Good.”
“Then it’s settled. Always good doing business with you Katrice.” Bob turns his head to Graven. “You too Graven. You don’t speak much do you?”
Graven laughs then shakes his head.
“Right. I’ll leave you two to it.”
The screen goes dark, and Kat turns to Graven. “Why didn’t you say something when he said he wanted to kiss me?”
“You seemed to handle it well enough without me intervening. Plus its fun to watch.”
Fury laughs, “Yea Kat that was funny.”
Kat says, “Hey I don’t want to hear that from you Fury. That guy gives me the creeps. I hate dealing with him, but he is the least creepy and most reliable out of the choices we have. For a criminal.”
Whisper says, “Yes it is funny that she gets so easily flustered.”
“Whatever Whisper.”
Graven laughs, “Hey you two, don’t pick on her. It’s a human thing.”
Kat says, “Graven, don’t encourage them. I didn’t get flustered.”
“Whatever you were you got him to cough up more pay, which is good but doesn’t solve our dilemma on how to get down to the planet in the first place.”
“We stealth it.” Kat says firmly. “That’s all we can do. We need that money and it helps those people on the surface. Then once we’re down there we can warn them about the attack. Win-win-win. Am I right?”
Graven says, “Then how do we get off the planet once we’re down there. The stealth only works in space with recirculating the extra heat. It won’t work on entering or exiting a planet.”
Whisper says, “I have already plotted a course. Flying in at the South poles will give us cover from their scanners thanks to the strong magnetic fluctuations there. It will disrupt either side from seeing us getting close to the planet. Once we hit the atmosphere we’ll light up like a beacon on their scanners, but they won’t be able to do anything. They aren’t monitoring ground flight traffic, only planet exit and entry. So we just fly to our destination and make our drop.”
Kat says, “Ok then Whisper, how do we get off the planet?”
“I’m still calculating, but in every scenario so far we turn into small specs of space dust.”
Kat leans her head back against the cockpit chair. There had to be some way of getting off the planet. If they are monitoring things, then maybe they could cut or stop it. That could take care of the Guild, but what about the Foremid?
“Hey Whisper?” Kat asks, “Are you hacking into the Foremid too?”
“Not currently no, but I can.”
“Do it, and tell me what they are doing right now.”
“Blast.” Whisper says annoyed. “We’re too far away. I’m getting a signal but nothing strong enough for me to connect to.”
“What if we were on the planet? Would that be close enough?”
Graven says, “That’s an awfully big risk. What if Whisper can’t hack into the alien tech, then were stuck down there?”
Whisper says, “Ape, please. There isn’t a computer system made by you fleshy things that can keep me out.”
Kat stands up, “See. There’s your answer Graven, she can handle it.”
He lets out a breath. “Fine. If you think you can do it Whisper, then lets try it.”
Another half hour goes by giving Kat time to shower. She steps into the shower. It was connected to her room, like an on-suite. Graven hated that word, which was one of the technical definitions. He said it just didn’t sound right, and was stupid that they call it that. Kat never agreed out loud. She did think the term was odd, but had never heard it called anything other than a connected bathroom. So having a word that meant that, which also bugged Graven, was all the better. The mixture of sonic pulses and small amounts of hot recycled water begin to wipe away tension that was building since they arrived at Starz. The water filters through the ship and gets reused everywhere it can. The only time it really goes away is when they drink it. The water is almost hot enough to burn her skin off, as she likes to say. It just makes it easier to relax when there was hot water running over her head.
She just wants this job over with so she can be done with the delivery game. There is an image that she has been placing in her mind, her and Graven on a wooden front porch, swing, watching the twin suns of Raspiel go down. Graven showed her a picture off one of the hills near where they were going to be. The suns setting, trees, rolling hills overlooking a small lake and river. It was paradise as far as Kat was concerned.
After seeing that picture she has put her house there in her mind, and Graven with her. Once they settle down, their won’t be need for a ship like Felicity. She had thought about turning it into the house. Whisper will inevitably have something to say about apes, shelters, and the beautiful sacrifice of her metal husk. At least that what Kat thinks she will say. Maybe Whisper will like it just the same. They will still have the connection to the interstellar-net hub, gathering all the information from the other planets and solar systems. Whisper might like the idea of all that reading time with her not trashy romance novels.
Touching the off button, the shower fades and she lets herself drip looking down into the drain telling herself, just this one last job. The mirror always fogs when she gets out of the shower even though the amount of water is low, she keeps the temperature so high it steams up anyway. There is a fan above the mirror she turns on and it blows loudly as Kat looks for her hair brush and spray in conditioner. Her hair was far too oily feeling earlier. Just like Whisper told her three days ago, she needs to take better care of herself.
Graven’s voice talks over the speakers, “Hey Kitty Kat, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine, just getting ready. I always feel better after a shower, and with the way everything is going, I might not get another chance to get one.”
“Very funny. Seriously, how are you? You’ve been distant the last few days.”
Oh now he wants to talk, when we are about to go flying into the jaws of the Guild, but
when everything is fine he’s all bottled up. Plus what’s this whole you’ve been distant thing. He’s the one that’s been distant.
Kat keeps her frustration in check and says, “Nothing’s wrong Grav. Let’s just concentrate on the job and making it out in one piece.”
“Alright, but we have a long time ahead of us to be together on that tropical planet. I love you Katrice and don’t want you to bottle things up. It never worked for me.”
“What is it with everyone thinking that I have something wrong with me?”
“Who thinks you have something wrong with you?”
“You and Whisper.”
“What was Whisper saying about you?”
Kat goes though everything that Whisper and her talked about her cybernetics.
“Oh, that is serious. I didn’t even think to ask you if you were taking care of yourself. I just assumed.”
“Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about now. I can and will take care of myself.”
“Kat, we’re a couple. It’s ok to let me help. I need your help with things too. God only knows the things I would have killed myself with over the last few months if I didn’t have you around.”
Kat thinks back over those last few months. They had been gathering together everything they needed for the trip. Money was one of the biggest ones. The last couple of jobs had been bad, but nothing as bad as what they were about to go flying into. It wasn’t something that she liked to dwell on. There are too many feelings that come to the surface when she does. Losing everything in her life again, it would almost make her freeze in fear. So she just doesn’t thing about it.
She says, “Yea Grav, I know. I love you too.”
“Good, then I’ll see you on the bridge in fifteen minutes. Whisper is flying the ship into position. I’m getting all of the equipment together, anything you need?”
“Just you.”
“Same here. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
He is always so frustrating, and sweet, and obnoxious, and she loves him. Kat just wants him to be more sweet and less man’y. She files those thoughts away for later, and gets dressed.
Starship Magic 2: Imprisoned Page 2
