Rae and Essa’s Space Adventure

by Donna Maree Hanson

  Thorn stood taller and squared his shoulders. ‘Tell me you aren’t playing a sympathy card.’

  I saw a crack emerging. ‘My mother is missing. That’s why Rae took off. I’m chasing her so that I can bring her back safely. Will you take the hire?’

  ‘Can you pay?’

  I threw my head back. ‘Are you kidding me? I could buy your ship, but I’m no pilot. I don’t like space travel unless it’s on a luxury cruiser.’

  After studying me for a minute or so, he shook his head. ‘I don’t need the hassle. Try Browns. They’re reliable.’

  With a nod to Slick, he ambled away. Anger washed over me. I wanted to pound on his retreating back and storm off. I did nothing. I stood there, torn. I don’t think anyone had ever treated me with such a lack of respect, except maybe spaceport security 20 minutes earlier.

  A rumble under my feet reminded me that this was a spaceport and that I needed to move if I was to get a charter. Independent charters were taken up quickly, I couldn’t afford to waste precious time.

  Browns were booked out. They were expecting a ship in tomorrow or the next day. Could I wait?

  ‘No. Thank you for your trouble,’ I said to the clerk manning the desk.

  I checked a few more charters but either the ships weren’t up to scratch or the pilots weren’t. Two hours later, I was back at the charter hall where I’d seen Thorn. His business and berth number were listed. My boots clicked against the concrete flooring as I headed to where his ship was docked. I’d be lucky if he hadn’t already picked up a charter and taken off.

  Rounding the corner, I saw his sleek, shiny ship. Slick was working the refuelling control panel. My gaze skimmed the Zero Class’ sleek lines and when I ducked down I spotted a pair of legs on the other side of the ship’s undercarriage. They belonged to its captain.

  Standing behind him, I placed my hand on my hip and sighed. He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to the power relays he was cleaning.

  ‘You back already?’

  ‘Yes. I can’t find anything suitable. Will you take me?’

  He finished cleaning the carbon particulates off his relays and turned around, inserting his ultrasound buzzer into his tool belt. In the light of the landing bay, his eyes were a vivid blue, like a clear sunny sky. His olive skin was unblemished. I stood straighter. He was a hunk. Captain Hunk.

  ‘I really have to find them. Please?’

  ‘Show me your ID.’ I passed it over.

  ‘Your real ID.’

  I locked gazes with him, tried to bluff.

  ‘No way you’re 21 and a consultant.’

  I had to trust him, because he didn’t trust me. Shaking my head, I passed him my real ID and his eyebrows rose.

  ‘Rayessa Gayens, student.’

  ‘Actually, I’m called Essa.’

  He tapped the card against the palm of his hand. ‘I know that name. Let me see, Rayessa Gayens, daughter of Opeia Gayens, President of AllEarth Corp?’

  Captain Thorn knew his heiresses.

  His gaze flicked up and down. ‘It still doesn’t change your age.’

  ‘Age is relative. I’m 17 going on 25.’ I tapped the side of my head, indicating I had smarts.

  His eyebrows rose. ‘You think so?’

  ‘Yes, I know so.’

  He tilted his head and blinked. ‘You’re twins and both called Rayessa?’

  I sucked in a breath. ‘My parents are rich and eccentric.’ I didn’t want to explain why we had the same name.

  ‘That’s really kinky. Your DNA is the same?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Fingerprints?’

  ‘No. Are you finished with your interrogation?’ I lifted my chin and my foot was aching to kick him in the shins. My fingerprints were definitely different. I’d had mine removed, even though they weren’t identical to Rae’s. It was a phase I went through. Periods of self-hatred will do that to you.

  He whistled. ‘Didn’t realise that there were two of you. But you’re definitely not the other one.’

  ‘You could hardly mistake me for my sister. She has no style and is so…so—’

  ‘Earnest?’

  ‘Sheesh. Enough already. Are you going to take the hire or not?’

  He stood closer and stared down at me. I had to bite my tongue in case I drooled. Captain Hunk was within touching distance and his physical presence caused a fire to burn in my gut. My knees were in danger of unlocking, which would make for an embarrassing crumble. I inhaled to steady myself only to catch his light, spicy scent.

  ‘Here’s the deal. You pay up front, the whole amount. You pay premium because you can afford it, and I can’t take other passengers with you on board. You’ll also have to sign waivers, although being a minor they won’t be worth much.’

  My luck was changing. Captain Hunk was buckling. A smile crept onto my face and he glimpsed it.

  He showed me his handheld. It displayed such an astronomical figure I nearly turned around and walked away. Yet I knew there were no other alternatives and maybe with Captain Hunk I could have some fun during the voyage. Still, it didn’t matter how handsome I thought he was, or how tall, I wasn’t going to let him rip me off because I was rich.

  ‘Here’s the deal. I pay you the going rate, which is about 70 per cent of this figure. I pay you a bonus when we find my family. I pay you another bonus when we arrive home safely. Deal?’

  His eyebrows rose but he nodded. ‘Fair deal.’

  I guess he didn’t think I was some dumb rich kid after all.

  We touched handhelds and the funds transferred. He turned to walk away and paused. ‘One other thing. On my ship, you follow my rules. Got it?’

  ‘Sure,’ I agreed, my smile widening.

  ‘Rule number one. None of that.’

  I cocked my head, my smile dropped. ‘None of what?’

  ‘Flirting, smirking, schmoozing, oozing or whatever you call it.’

  My face heated. He’d noticed!

  His right eyebrow lifted, questioning me.

  ‘How many rules are there?’

  ‘Lots, so you’d better pay attention.’ When I didn’t agree right away, he lifted his handheld as if to refund my fare.

  ‘I’ll obey your damn rules,’ I said in a rush.

  He pushed his face close to mine, filling my personal space with his scent and his slightly minty breath. ‘You’d better, or I’ll have you out the airlock before you can unlock your handheld.’

  ‘You can’t make threats like that.’

  ‘My ship. My punishments. You give me cause and I’ll have you across my knee for the spanking you should’ve got from your parents.’

  I sniffed loudly. My parents did not believe in spanking. I thought of Rae. Well, Father believed in using weapons as a form of punishment — though murder was a bit extreme. If I didn’t need this jerk I would have walked, but the next available ship was Monday morning and the school alarm would be wailing for both of us before then. He seemed less handsome to me at that moment.

  He walked past me and called out to Slick. ‘Prepare for lift-off.’

  Without looking back, he boarded the ship.

  I had time to retrieve my carryall while he listed the ship into the launch queue. My scanned and sanitised carryall was delivered to the berth chute after I paid a small fee. The cost of stowing bags of any kind was only thing at the port that wasn’t a rip-off. It was for security. No one carried luggage, except personal pouches, because of the threat of terrorism. Pouches did not carry explosives or volatile chemicals — the inbuilt sensors set off all kinds of alarms if anyone tried. At the spaceport all luggage was scanned in special rooms built to withstand a range of explosives. Some even had the technology to neutralise a range of non-standard explosive devices. Not that there was a current threat, hadn’t been for years, but old habits die hard.

  The alarm sounded for lift-off.

  ‘Wait!’ I scrambled up the ramp and the door slid shut behind me.

  Ch
apter Four

  A Bit of Flirt Can’t Hurt

  The ship was tiny, but clean. Inside there was four staterooms, a common area, a mess and a medical bay. Two weapons pods extruded from the outer hull, but inside they looked like little offices. I was ordered not to climb the short number of steps to investigate them. The guns were for pirates or less-than-friendly aliens. They were not normally called for on the main shipping routes but we were going off the beaten track on this trip.

  Countdown was 10 minutes away. I was in the way of the preflight checks. Thorn and Slick shouted back and forth and dashed here and there when something didn’t go right. With a nod in Thorn’s direction, I went to my assigned stateroom and lay down. Even though that was entirely boring, I was tired from scouring the port for a ship and Rae. I could’ve done with a mild stim, but a nap was a better option.

  The ship’s engines purred nicely and slowly rose in crescendo. Thorn’s voice over the intercom jerked me out of a doze.

  ‘Secure harnesses. Lift off in 10 seconds.’

  The bed didn’t come with a harness so I shot out of the blanket into a turbulence niche. Damn the man. He could have given more warning; I could have made it to a safety chair.

  The mesh of the safety harness wrapped around me as the engines groaned. I was pressed back into the niche as the ship pulled out of port. My teeth vibrated with the sound, and my lungs captured the bass thrum of the engines. With my hands caught in a web of harness, there was no way to block out the high-pitched whine as the ship tore through air. The ship jerked and yawed around me as it fought gravity and the heavy cloak of the atmosphere.

  A headache pounded in the back of my head. I hoped the pressure wasn’t going to rupture anything important, like a blood vessel in my brain.

  ***

  I couldn’t remember the moment I lost consciousness, but I woke to the sound of Thorn’s voice rattling off engine stats — trim and vectors and some such. I had sagged against the harness and, as I pulled back, I instructed it to disengage.

  My chin was damp. I must have drooled. No way.

  The door chimed and I tried to wipe the saliva away with the back of my hand as I slammed the release.

  ‘You didn’t answer,’ Thorn said. His gaze travelled over my head and lower. ‘I had to check if you were all right.’ A smile caused a dimple to appear on his cheek.

  ‘What is it?’

  That eyebrow lifted again and he grinned.

  I drew my mouth into a line and headed for the small san unit.

  ‘God no!’ Half my face had the imprint of the harness on it. I looked feral. My hair was in disarray and I had dark patches across one breast, most likely dribble stains. I switched on the auto-clean on my suit and rubbed at my face.

  The door was still open and Thorn stood there. ‘Is everything okay?’ His voice was laden with a smirk.

  ‘It’s fine!’ I shouted back.

  ‘Good. Meet in the mess in 20. We have orientation to go through and then Slick will prepare a meal.’

  I snorted. ‘Sure. See you then.’

  Thorn hit the release button and walked out. The hatch closed behind him. He had to be kidding. I was not going to sit through some boring orientation.

  ‘I did promise to obey rules,’ I said to my reflection.

  ‘He didn’t say this was a rule, did he?’ I answered myself, rubbing at the indents in my cheek.

  I didn’t want to show my face with its newly acquired criss-cross imprint. I checked the mirror 10 minutes later and it was still there, all red and puffy. It wasn’t fading any time soon.

  Bored out of my brain, I checked the entertainment panel and selected a vid. It thoroughly sucked me in. I vaguely heard a voice over comms, but the action sequence of explosions and gunfire drowned it out. Before I could blink, my room went dark. The entertainment panel rebooted and Thorn was at the door.

  He pointed at me. ‘You.’ Then he pointed outside. ‘Mess. Now.’

  I blinked.

  ‘Oh, the orientation. I’m fine without it. You go ahead.’ I flapped a hand at him and then went looking for the controls for the entertainment unit.

  An inarticulate sound emitted from his throat. Turning, I noted that his fingers were white where he gripped the edge of the hatch.

  ‘The orientation is for you,’ he ground out.

  ‘As I said, I’m fine without it. What happened to the entertainment unit?’ I pressed the controls and frowned.

  ‘Nothing. I switched it off.’

  I was ready to rip him up about that when I looked up and saw his face.

  ‘Young lady, you get your butt outside and in a seat before I count to 10, or I’m turning this ship around and taking you back to Earth. You feel me?’

  Shocked, I nodded dumbly. His nostrils flared and then he pushed away from the door.

  No one had ever talked to me like that before. I shook myself to ease the tension from my body as I digested what had just happened. I had no doubt he would take me back like he threatened. So I had to comply. I didn’t like that one bit.

  Muttering to myself, I half floated, half stomped to the mess. Slick was there, a checklist in his hand. I parked myself on a chair and folded my arms. Thorn was leaning back against the dining table, wearing a sleeveless vest. His crossed arms were stacked. They looked good. I sat up higher in my chair, forgetting I was peeved with him.

  ‘Miss Gayens, thank you for joining us. Passengers on this craft must understand all safety procedures and respond to directions from the crew immediately,’ he said using an affected posh voice. He paused, ‘and without question in times of emergency.’

  Thorn sounded like a salesman. I reckoned he put on that fake voice just to needle me.

  While pretending to listen to him, I ran my eyes down his body and nodded absently. Not bad, I thought. I may not be able to flirt but I could look, couldn’t I? He was streets better than James, Slyv and Preston, all previous crushes. Much better than Alistair, my last crush. Alistair was 20, and he’d been after my money. Luckily, I don’t fall easily, and the only thing damaged by that encounter was my ego.

  Thorn was older too, but I wasn’t sure how much. I’d find out, I always did.

  Thorn continued on with the instructions on how to engage the escape pod, how to use the breathers and put on the extra-vehicular activity suit — EVA — and he pointed our which one had been set aside for me. He ran over the emergency comms and the way to launch a navigation buoy and an emergency broadcast beacon. I yawned and then my stomach rumbled.

  Behind me, I smelled food. Turning, I saw that Slick was preparing a meal.

  ‘Ooh, no Robo Chef?’

  Thorn pushed away from the table. ‘Did you listen to anything I said?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Safety first. That’s your motto.’ I arched my body towards him and gave him my best come-hither smile.

  His brow furrowed as he looked at me strangely, like he’d seen a pile of vomit. ‘What are you doing?’

  I straightened. ‘Nothing.’

  He nodded and crossed his arms. ‘Sure it’s nothing. Well, you’re wasting it on me. I gave up on spoiled brats ages ago. Eat if you want.’

  He manoeuvred into the mess and took a plate of food. ‘I’ll eat in the bridge. It’s my watch anyhow.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Captain Hunk left with his dinner. Slick brought over a plate and placed it on the table. With a nod, he said, ‘Yours.’

  ‘Mine?’ It was some kind of stew. I looked from the plate to him. ‘You didn’t even ask me what I like to eat. What if I’m a vegetarian? Or have allergies?’

  Slick’s mouth went slack. ‘Are you a vegetarian?’

  ‘No, but that’s not the point.’

  ‘Do you have allergies?’

  ‘No. Like I said, not the point.’

  Slick shrugged. ‘I guess so.’

  He straddled his seat and sat down. Without looking up, he shovelled the food into his mouth.

  ‘What happened to
your Robo Chef? I thought it was standard with Zero Class.’

  ‘Something went wrong with its programming or circuitry, I think. It’s been that way since I’ve been on board.’

  My food steamed and it smelled delicious but I refused to say so. These two were bumpkins or fools or something, taking on passengers without a Robo Chef. It was criminal. Sitting at the table, I played with my fork. I shouldn’t eat it. That would show them.

  My stomach protested. Maybe I’ll not eat dinner another time, I thought, and slipped my fork in. A rich aroma filled my nostrils. I took a bite. Oh my god, it was wonderful. Some sort of spice I hadn’t tasted before. I shovelled another mouthful in, munched and swallowed.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Slick asked.

  I nodded. I couldn’t quite bring myself to speak, given my mouth was full.

  ‘Excellent,’ he said, nodding as I stuffed more food in.

  After that, we ate in silence until my plate was empty. I sat back with a contented sigh and eyed Slick. ‘So, how long have you been working for the captain?’

  Slick wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. I tried not to notice. I was not in the mood to upchuck my meal — it had been too damned good.

  ‘About two years now. I’m indentured.’

  My head jerked up. ‘Indentured. Like a slave?’

  A chuckle greeted my comment. ‘Not a slave. He pays me and I learn. If I wanted out he’d let me.’

  I sat back and twirled my fork. ‘You can’t be older than…19.’ I was fishing. I couldn’t help it if I was curious.

  He nodded and stood up to scoop more stew into his plate. ‘I’m 18, just last month.’

  ‘So much for not taking minors off-planet.’ I sneered, remembering Thorn’s excuse for not taking my hire at first.

  Slick swallowed a half-chewed morsel. I saw him strain as it slid down. ‘You don’t know much about the real world, do you? Captain Thorn saved me from dying on the streets. The only way he could take me with him was to indenture me for five years. The authorities on Prima Nova don’t want their brats back and don’t want more mouths to feed.’