Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1)

by Burger, Jeffrey

  Derrik frowned into his tea. "Well it's not a Harrier is it. But it'll have to do."

  Harrier? thought Paul, what a tub! At least when you compare it to the Hornet... But he said nothing, a conversation like that had no profitable outcome. He shot a glance at Mike, to be sure he would say nothing as well. Mike smirked, but caught the meaning and continued eating without saying a word. Fritz raced around the corner and slid to a stop at the table of pilots. Helping himself to a chair he looked around the table smelling the smells.

  Derrik took exception to the dog's bold behavior. "Hold on there, what do you think you're doing? Get down, you hairy beast!"

  Fritz, sitting in the seat next to Derrik, turned and looked the Englishman in the eye. It was a deep unblinking stare. Without making a sound, he curled his lips, baring his teeth in a sardonic grin. Derrik's eyes widened at the sight, a chill raced up his back.

  Brian cleared his throat, "Fritz, cut it out! I wouldn't bother him if I were you, Derrik, he's a grouch till he gets his morning pastry. Right, Fritz?" The dog, his attention now on Brian, snorted in reply. Brian handed him a sweet roll across the table. "Now get off and eat that on the floor." Fritz happily obeyed.

  Jack and Maria, all smiles, rounded the corner earlier turned by Fritz. "Morning all!" Called Maria musically. She was wearing the same boots, pants and double-breasted shirt as the rest of the pilots.

  "Your great hairy monster was going to eat my face!" said Derrik, pointing at the dog with his spoon.

  "You must have pissed him off," said Jack, casually walking to the buffet table.

  "I did no such thing," insisted the Englishman.

  "Did so," said Mike, "said he couldn't sit at the table with the rest of us..."

  "And you called him a hairy beast," said Brian.

  "You shouldn't have done that," said Jack from the buffet table, "he's very sensitive."

  "But he's a dog!" Derrik was thoroughly confused.

  "He doesn't know that..." said Jack, returning with his plate, "he thinks he's human."

  "Maybe someone should set him straight!" Derrik was incensed.

  Jack looked at the amused faces around the table. "Hmmm, well... you could try, but I wouldn't recommend it."

  "Why not?"

  Jack stopped eating for a moment, his fork in mid air, "You really need to ask?"

  Derrik frowned into his tea and shrugged, "I guess not."

  Jack nudged him on the shoulder and laughed, "Lighten up man, give him a sweet roll or a slice of bacon and you'll be friends for life." Hmm, at least it looks like bacon, he thought. He decided not to dwell on it - some things were better off left unknown.

  Derrik stole some bacon off of Mike's plate and slipped it to the Shepherd under the table. Fritz took it with grateful acceptance.

  "Hey!" shouted Mike, "that was mine!"

  The Englishman grinned, "Key word was, old bean" He slapped Mike on the shoulder and everyone laughed.

  Pappy, noticing Maria was wearing the clothes adopted by the pilots, pointed at her with his fork, "You going to be flying with us too?"

  She sipped her juice and nodded, "Mmm, well not officially but there's not much else to do so I might as well."

  Brian nodded, "Makes sense, more the merrier. Right?" Derrik made a sour face. "What?" said Brian.

  Derrik put his hands behind his neck and stretched. "Cockpits really no place for a lady."

  Maria fixed him with a deep, steely-eyed stare. "Watch who you're calling a lady!" She snapped. "I can fly as well as anybody!"

  "I believe her," whispered Pappy, to no one in particular.

  Jack rose from the table, wanting to cut this off before it escalated to a more serious level. "Ok, is everybody ready? It's time to get to work and earn our keep." There was a momentary pause, then the sound of chairs sliding on the smooth floor as the group collectively rose from the table.

  "Jack!" It sounded almost musical.

  Jack Steele turned to greet the voice. It was Raulya, she had entered the restaurant from the other end. Maria moved to intercept, but Pappy grabbed her by the arm. "Relax," he told her, "he's a big boy, let him handle this his way." Maria stood between Paul and Brian, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her jaw clenched.

  Raulya strode boldly up to Jack and put her arms around his neck, "Mmmm, you smell so good this morning..." Jack unclasped her hands and took a step back. He tried not to breathe in the drug laced perfume. She took a step forward and reached out to him. He held her away. She pouted, "What's wrong baby?"

  Jack shook his head, "You and me... it's no good..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, he felt a headache coming on. "Look, we're just too different, humans like to fall in love under natural circumstances, we need our freedoms... we don't use drugs." He thought about that last part for a moment, "Well, some might... but I don't, never have, never will. I want to make my own choices."

  Raulya nodded sedately, "You love the little one then?" She motioned toward Maria.

  Jack nodded in return. "You could say that..."

  "What does that mean?"

  Jack rubbed his chin. "Well it's open for interpretation."

  "Well, could we still be friends?"

  "Sure," said Jack, "as long as you quit wearing that perfume."

  She smiled and held out her hand, "Deal." They shook hands. “One last kiss...?

  "Uh...” Jack's eyes shifted uneasily, “probably not a good idea. Quick question... why doesn't it affect you?"

  "Generations of exposure and use..." she tossed her long mane. "We're immune."

  Jack nodded, "Makes sense I guess... well, listen, we gotta' get going. We have flight training. I'll see you later Ok?" Raulya nodded and they parted company.

  Jack returned to the waiting pilots and the group left the restaurant, Fritz leading the way to the air tubes. Maria walked stiffly beside Jack. "Sooo?"

  Jack looked at her, intentionally playing dumb. "What?"

  Maria looked at him sternly, still walking. "Welll?"

  He looked back at her innocently, "Well what?"

  Maria stopped in mid stride, Jack stopped too. She threw up her arms in disdain, "What do you mean, what?"

  Jack knew this was driving her crazy but he couldn't help himself, she just made it too darn easy. They stood there on the air tube platform, the others trying to act nonchalant. Jack shrugged, trying not to smile, "I dunno', whaddya' mean, what do I mean?"

  She stomped her foot. Offworlders passing by, stared. "What do you mean, what do I mean? YOU KNOW what I mean!" It was beginning to sound like an Abbott and Costello routine. He offhandedly wondered if she knew who they were.

  Jack stared blankly at her. "I'm not sure I know what you mean..." he said deadpan.

  Then she lost it. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close, growling. "Sometimes I think I could just KILL you... you can be such a shithead..." The others had wandered a bit away, unable to control their grins. Maria never noticed.

  "Control yourself, woman!" He was smirking and he knew it.

  "Fuck control!" she began swearing in Spanglish, which seemed to be easier than remembering it all in English. She tried to shake him by her grip on his shirt with the same effect of someone trying to move a sizable tree. She only succeeded in moving herself.

  Jack looked down at her grip on his shirt. "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." His hands were at his sides.

  She looked at him defiantly, "Oh yeah?" He turned his head to the side and she followed his gaze. Fritz was only a few feet away and was taking more than a passing interest in their conversation. His tail swayed ever so slightly, and he stared at her suspiciously with dark unblinking eyes, ready to intervene. She swa
llowed hard, almost feeling his eyes drilling into her, trying to read her intentions. "Make him go away," she said softly.

  "Nope."

  She released her grip slightly, "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

  "Tell you what?" he said, smiling.

  "What happened..."

  "When?"

  Maria stomped her feet like a child. "You know what and you know when, you bastard! So quit playing the village idiot, you asshole and tell me what that fucking fuzzy bitch said!"

  Jack decided it best to stop playing at this point, "Geez, you're so insecure..."

  "And you're not helping any!" she snapped.

  "Let's just say we agreed handshakes are the limit, ok?"

  Maria's demeanor changed, "Ok." She decided she should quit while she was ahead.

  ■ ■ ■

  Mounted on the wall, a lit color schematic illustrated the ship's floor-plan via a touch keypad and scrolling directory. The directory displayed the flight director's office, as being at the base of the flight control tower in the flight bay. Brian pointed to an arriving air car, "To the bat car, men!"

  The air car covered the mile of corridor to the stern of the ship in about three minutes. The car hissed to a stop and the pilots climbed out in sight of the shuttle boarding gate.

  Behind them, the air car rotated lazily on the carpeted turntable and was inserted in the tube on the opposite side of the corridor for a return trip. Hissing as it was released, the empty car accelerated silently away.

  The corridor ceiling was higher here, almost two levels tall. Four, wide moving walkways, stretched from where they were standing to the upper level balcony, for boarding and off-loading passengers to the shuttles in the flight bay. The doors to the bay on the balcony were closed. There wouldn't be any planet tours for at least a couple of weeks yet.

  The intuitive Shepherd led the pilots between the walkways and to the flight bay's crew door, on the main level, underneath the balcony. Any one of their private security codes would admit them into the bay. Brian did the honors of working the chirping keypad. The heavy airtight door slid open with a woosh, and a wall of warm, stale air greeted them. The pilots recognized the thick smell of lubricants, fuel and electronics, commonly associated with aircraft and other large machinery. They felt immediately at home when they stepped through the doorway and into the thick air of the flight bay.

  Jack had no idea which part of the bay they had been in when they first arrived but in contrast, this area was well lit and teeming with life. They headed for the control tower which stood on the other side of the shuttle boarding ramp. The tower looked like a huge pillar stretching from the deck to the ceiling far above, with a glass flying saucer impaled in the middle of it. Jack correctly assumed the glass saucer was flight control. Off to the right sat a shuttle looking overused and aged, gaping holes where panels ought to be.

  Contemplating its cause of demise, the pilots paused and gazed at the silent ship like a huge, dead animal. In such disrepair, it was difficult to tell what it really looked like when whole.

  An automaton whizzed past, pushing an anti-grav cargo pad. Close enough to prompt him to step back, Brian wheeled about, "Hey, you overgrown tin can, watch what the hell you're doing!" It did not slow or acknowledge his presence.

  "HEY!" The voice came from above and the pilots turned to search for its owner. He stood on the walkway that ringed the glass saucer part of the control tower. He leaned over the rail, "Get to that training simulator and quit bothering my work bots!"

  He seemed to demand respect and Jack didn't want to start off on the wrong foot. "Yes, sir, where might we find it?"

  The man pointed further towards the stern, "Five bays down on your right and hurry up. You're late!"

  Paul, Mike and Derrik, saluted out of habit, Jack out of courtesy. Brian and Maria simply followed suit as a matter of decorum. Six pilots turned in unison and trotted towards their destination. Fritz loped along behind, his nose trying to identify the odd scents and new surroundings.

  Their flight boots clomping on the steel flight deck, the pilots covered the distance to the simulator bay in short time. Halting just outside bay six, they were confronted by a short Saurian with pale gray skin and a furrowed brow. He stood before them, hands on hips, in clean, white work coveralls. Simply put, he did not look happy. "About time!" he barked like a drill sergeant. "Don't stand there like a herd of stupid Bardigs. Get your butts in here and let's get to work." He turned and waddled on his short legs into the bay filled with electronics. The simulator pod stood on an articulated pedestal in the center of the bay, connected by umbilical cords to the Saurian's huge control console.

  "Pilots," he harumphed to himself, "pains in the ass... and keep that hairy thing out of my bay," he said, pointing to Fritz. Jack thought about responding to this unkind attack but was interrupted by Maria's tug at his elbow. He ordered the Shepherd to remain at the doorway. Obediently the dog obliged, finding himself a comfortable place to sit and watch the traffic go by. The Saurian continued, "My name is Tee and you will address me as such. I am a technician, not an officer, so you will not salute me or call me sir. Understand?" He did not wait for an answer, "Good. Two of you will stay with me the rest will go with CABL 12 here, and he'll show you a shuttle, inside and out."

  CABL 12 stepped out of the training simulator, "It's ready now, Tee." CABL 12's voice was raspy and metallic, he looked cold and lifeless, different from CABL 5, yet the same. True, both were CABLs, but 12 lacked the animation the pilots noticed in 5. Derrik and Maria opted to go into the simulator first.

  Jack, Brian, Mike and Paul, followed CABL 12 through the flight bay. Ahead of them, Jack could see the noses of several shuttles, sticking out past the end of their bays. He was a little puzzled. "Y'know, the first ship we saw back there..." he thumbed back in the direction of the old shuttle, near the control tower, "seemed a bit smaller..."

  CABL 12 nodded mechanically, "Shorter Commander, no engines. We use it for parts." It became clearer to Jack and the others not all CABLs had the same personality either, CABL 5 had been outgoing and friendly, while CABL 12 seemed barely alive.

  Mike interrupted Jack's train of thought. "Wow," said Warren, stopping abruptly, "what's that?" The others stopped to follow his gaze into a nearby storage bay. The dimly lit bay, held another training simulator, much smaller than the shuttle simulator they were using. This one was also slimmer, more streamlined. Instead of a side passenger style entry, it had a fighter craft type, canopy entry.

  "It's not ours, Commander," said CABL 12.

  Pappy, accustomed to achieving results through rank, took over and applied pressure. "Didn't ask who's it was, CABL 12, we asked what it was. Answer the question please."

  "Yes, Commander. It's an interceptor flight simulator going to a small training outpost in the Ridargos System. It can simulate four different craft and their assorted compatible armament, as well as an unlimited number of combat situations."

  "Is it operational?" asked Jack.

  "Yes, Commander." The four pilots grinned at each other. "Shall we continue?" asked CABL 12, coldly.

  "By all means," said Jack. They let CABL 12 walk ahead so they could talk with some amount of privacy. "I don't know about you guys, but that's what I want to learn how to fly." They all agreed.

  "D'ya think between the six of us, we could figure out how to use the programming console?"

  "Sure, Mike," said Pappy. "All we gotta' do is, while two of us are in the train-sim, the other two watch Tee to see what he does."

  Brian shrugged, "Sounds like a plan to me!" In an effort to work the bugs out of their plan, they discussed the details in hushed tones as they followed CABL 12.

  The shuttle was wide and low, its lan
ding legs were so short, to pass under the craft would require crawling. The nose, although tapered was short and blunt. Cockpit glass, severely sloped, was large enough for good visibility even on the sides. The long semi-rectangular hull held fifty people comfortably. The engines were fixed to the sides of the hull at the stern of the ship. On the top of each of the two engine nacelles was a gracefully back-swept tail about nine feet tall. The only wings were two, four foot stubs, up near the cockpit, forward of the boarding hatch. Since the shuttle flew mostly by anti-gravity technology in atmospheric flight, a great amount of wing surface was not needed. The fins and tails were primarily required for stability during forward flight.

  All in all, she wasn't a bad looking ship, a bit brutish maybe but not unattractive. Jack noticed some minor differences between some of the other nearby ships but nothing major. CABL 12 explained this was because some of the units could be modified with attachments for military use, others could not. After a thorough look, their questions answered, they returned to the shuttle simulator bay.

  Derrik and Maria were stepping out of the simulator when Jack walked into the bay with Paul, Brian and Mike. CABL 12 was instructed by Tee, to take Derrik and Maria to see a shuttle while the others took their turns at the controls of the training unit. Pappy and Mike headed for the hatch of the simulator while Jack and Brian put their plan to work. Jack grabbed Derrik's arm as he passed, "Check out what's in bay eleven, I'll explain later..." he whispered. He let Derrik go.

  Jack and Brian watched every move Tee made on the huge control console, and when they got their turn at the train-sim, Mike and Pappy took over. By the end of their training period for the day, they felt they knew the console well enough to run it on their own.

  Tee stepped out from behind the console to address the six-pilot class, the Saurian's face lined with a perpetual frown. "You will be here on time tomorrow. Your skills are pathetic, and you need practice so bad, you should spend all your spare time in this simulator." He turned and plodded away, muttering, "Pilots, hummph, waste of time, pains in the ass..." He turned abruptly and spoke aloud, pointing to Fritz, "And leave that ugly, hairy beast someplace else tomorrow!"