by James Warner
“We have 25,000 gallons. By the time the First Mate completes securing the leak we should have about 24,000 gallons of fuel. This is not sufficient for our return to our base. We lost over 10,000 gallons back on that station.”
“Thanks Sassy.” She sounded dejected. I was certainly dejected. I pondered what we were going to do.
“You know Sassy, we can always get a tow back to base, eventually.”
“Oh Captain! A TOW? You wouldn’t subject me to that humiliation, would you?” she answered, shock and horror in her voice.
“I’m sorry Sassy, but our mission is more important than our pride,” I answered, trying to sooth her mood. The golden goose we were after was probably more important than our early return to civilization, especially under tow. But I’d never live down getting towed back to base; maybe she wouldn’t either.
I heard the faint clanking and felt a slight shudder as the remote docked and the cargo bay door closed. I punched up the star chart to see how far we had been pushed. Meph came into the control room.
“Well that’s done. But you know, Captain, we can’t land anywhere now. The whole outside hull of the Hornet is highly radioactive from the fuel spill. “Okay Meph, I know. We’ll find some way of washing her down. Let’s continue with our explorations while we can. Maybe we’ll run into some fuel out here before we have to request a tow.”
“Sassy, let’s return to the course to intercept the entry of the Parents into our galaxy.”
“But Captain… yes, sir,” she said, somewhat glumly. Then we jumped as close as I dared to the “Galactic plane”.
It was a few days at sub light speed to the nearest star and we spent the time charting the region, setting it up with the Hornet’s new inertial navigation system so others could jump here later.
“We’re here, Captain,” Sassy announced. Here wasn’t what I was hoping for, though.
Our course had brought us to a system a little ways out from the galactic rim and the scant star density there. This star was a red giant with numerous planets around it.
“This system has twenty-five planets, Captain. None have a breathable atmosphere. The fourth planet might have had a civilization on it once, but no longer,” Sassy informed us.
A radioactive cloud, like the Earth’s Van Allen belts, but much thicker and more dangerous surrounded it. On the surface we saw mostly desert, no water or organic materials to speak of. There were some surface ponds of hardened metal, long ago melted from whatever cataclysm occurred there. From the look of things, if there had been a civilization here, it had been blasted with nuclear devices, along with everything else on the planet.
“Meph do you detect anything underground? Any gold?”
“No Captain. This place was scoured clean.”
After a few more orbits, with all sensors searching out anything but burned, melted, fried, whatever, we gave up and set out for the next star system indicated by the holo chart that we should find on this path.
“Meph, I’ve been thinking. I’ll bet that space station was set there for some specific reason.”
“Are you still wondering about that place Captain? I was thinking it might be an alien fuel depot with the supply ship long overdue and the station thought we were it. That would account for the tractor and presser beams. Most of my civilization’s fuel ships are robotic and are captured from a dead coast with similar tractor beams.”
“Yeah, but why did we feel fear so strongly?”
“I don’t know. Psychological warfare?” Meph said.
That was an interesting idea, but psychological against whom? Not humans, that’s for sure. We definitely hadn’t been out there yet.
“Do you suppose that fuel station was part of an enemy of the Parents? We don’t really know what was going on in our galaxy 100,000 years ago. But apparently something blew up a lot of Parent equipment, judging by the fragments we’ve been discovering around and about.”
Maybe this was what happened to the Parents… they had a battle with some other starfaring civilization? An interesting and kind of scary thought.
“Captain,” the Hornet interrupted, “I have been calculating our remaining fuel and the coordinates of any known system from here. We do not have enough fuel to safely reach base. However, there are a couple of alternatives.”
I loved it the way Sassy built suspense, just like in an old thriller on the holo. “Go ahead Sassy, you have my undivided attention.” I was lounging in my command chair, thinking about just this subject. Uncanny how a machine and a human being can build a psychic link over time.
“Well, we could go to that Pirate system and see if we can find some fuel left there that we didn’t blow up, or in Station 142. Or we could go to Robert’s Planet. Either way, we would only have sufficient fuel for simple sublight maneuvers. Actually, we could go from one to another, as they are only a few light years away from each other.”
“Robert’s Planet? I don’t remember hearing about that. What is it?” I asked.
“Oh, I know about that one, Captain,” interjected Meph scuttling onto the bridge. “Roberts was a Pirate, famous in the sector where I grew up. He was supposed to be like a Pirate king or something; raping, pillaging, that sort of thing. Then, so the story goes, he had a falling out with his band and they marooned him. But he had the last laugh, because he jimmied the computer program that they used to select a random world and he was dropped off with his friends and family on a planet he had kept secret and set up for his retirement. After that, he went honest and helped your Admiralty track down his old buddies and exterminate them. In exchange, your bosses kept his home off the computer lists and secret from prying eyes.”
“Oh. So Sassy, how do you know the location of this secret planet?”
“The maintenance computer on Last Chance told me,” replied the Hornet.
“Doesn’t anyone tell me anything?” I moped, looking from Meph to the Hornet’s optical pickup.
We traveled on to the next system. Here, on the way in to the galactic core, the systems were sometimes so close it hardly paid to jump. But we tried it anyway, after getting a fix on the next star on the path we had chosen. We arrived there without mishap, but the star had recently gone nova and we couldn’t venture too close with the Hornet’s hull still covered with radioactive fuel. I still hadn’t figured out how to clean her off.
So now I had to make the executive decision. Do we try one more shot in the dark, or do we go back to a known planet for fuel?
“Here are the fuel/distance figures you asked for Captain. You will note it is certain now we’ll run out of fuel before we reach Hamarabus Base,” Sassy informed me.
She showed me the fuel/distance figures on the systems monitor next to my right leg on the right floor monitor unit and no matter how I hated to face it, we would be cutting it just too close if we didn’t head somewhere for some fuel now. The galactic core, my favorite hunting ground, would just have to wait for another trip.
Chapter 8.
“All right, crew. Exploration is over. Let’s go to Robert’s Planet and fuel up.”
We weren’t invited, but if he had cooperated with the Admiralty, then there was a good chance that he might cooperate with us. At any rate, it seemed less threatening than trying the Pirate stronghold, even after we blasted it so thoroughly. That fleet and many of the planet busters were still loose somewhere. So over the next few days, as we skipped through hyperspace, we had plenty of time to argue over what had already transpired and what it all meant.
“Meph, can you think of any reason the Boss hasn’t contacted us recently?”
“No sir. I was hoping since you’ve worked with him quite a while you would have some idea.”
“Well no news is not good news. I hope everything is okay back home.”
“Yeah, we’ll need some help getting there now,” Meph said ruefully.
Then there was the problem of what was I going to take back as a trophy to show I had been doing something more than downloa
ding computer files. “Before we return to base, or get hooked up with a tow, we have to grab something from 142 or some other place to show we’ve earned the money we’ve been using up. I know you’re going to want to get Sassy’s gun emplacement cleaned up and that’s going to cost a bundle,” Meph said, needlessly reminding me of my primary mission.
“We can’t take back Station 142 or a Library.”
“Right, Captain. We don’t have the tools. Even my cutting beam wouldn’t work with the precision needed for that,” he said, confirming my assumptions.
“Well, Sassy has a lot of new data in her files…” I mused.
“No Captain, we’re supposed to bring back something tangible. How about that book you stole?”
I grimaced, feeling a bit guilty for keeping it.
“Maybe, Meph. But it’s not made of Artifact material, so no matter how magical it is, it’s not
what the Boss is looking for.”
I didn’t think a screw or wrench would suffice to back up my story. The book I had purloined might do, but I was loath to give it up just yet.
We continued to talk it over. Meph was encouraging.
“I feel it in my tentacles. There’re more of these complete Artifacts out here. We should continue the mission,” he said.
“Right. There has to be at least the remnants of 141 more stations somewhere in the galaxy.”
“So why haven’t the Pirates grabbed some of these Parent Stations?” Meph asked.
“Well, I heard rumors and I think they are true. The Pirates aren’t really human they just look human. That would keep them from accessing these treasures and it would explain why they’re always raiding us and trying to steal Artifacts,” I philosophized.
“You know, Captain, we’re in a sensitive position right now.”
“How do you mean, Meph?” I asked.
“We might not survive the shock, greed and especially the aftermath of finding the biggest hot dog in the history of exploration,” he mused.
“Weenie, Meph. The phrase is biggest weenie,” I corrected. He was right. We might be lucky to survive our return home. Now I knew how the ancient Conquistadors felt.
I wondered about the viciousness of the Pirates. Could they be linked in some secret way to Earth’s military or politics? They seemed to always be popping up lately, in force, right where I was exploring.
And then, there were the seemingly endless reports to file. I had instructed Sassy to handle most of the routine ones, but I still had my diary to bring up to date as well as various holos we had taken to integrate into the ship’s log I was compiling. This had to be good because most of the time the ship’s log was sold for publication under the Captain’s name and I always liked the idea of kids reading about my adventures and maybe getting inspired to be a Scoutship Captain themselves. Then there was the holo show about me that was ongoing – that was even more fame than I could stomach – let’s not get into that right now.
So I spent extra time getting the story line (all factual) just right so it read smoothly and easily and made sure that interesting pictures spiced it up. Some Captains made sure their ships’ logs were only published in scholarly journals. That wasn’t for me.
I hate to say it, but being a Scoutship Captain isn’t all adventure and good times. As in any government job, there are the reports that take up much of the slack time. And traveling between stars tends to be a bit boring without something (or someone) to keep your mind off the nothingness out here.
But we made it to the vicinity of Robert’s Planet without mishap and exited into normal space to call them up and plead our case. But, deja-vu, there in front of us, also heading for Robert’s Planet was a fleet of ships; about twenty in all.
“Shields, Hornet. Battle stations,” I said.
“Who are those guys, Meph?”
“Just a moment, Captain. Ah, got it. They are a fleet of Pirates left over from our last encounter. They haven’t spotted us yet.” Meph answered up immediately.
Damn! I didn’t want to backtrack and use up more fuel. Station 142 said its fuel was already low the last time we were there. Oh well.
“Sassy, get us out of here. Jump to Repair Station
142!”
“Captain, they spotted us.” Meph commented as we made the short jump to the other star system. “They may be able to follow us. We didn’t get a chance to ascertain all their capabilities last time.”
“It doesn’t matter now. We have no choice but to run to the nearest fuel,” I answered. I hated to run from anything, but as the old adage goes, discretion is the better part of valor.
As we came out of hyperspace there was a ship patrolling the outskirts of the planetary system. Of course they spotted us almost at once. Luckily we hadn’t gone out of battle readiness, so I didn’t have to get excited and yell at everyone again. I decided to hurry and get it over with.
“Captain, there are a large number of ships entering normal space right behind us. I think, yes, it is the Pirate fleet,” Meph alerted me. So much for relaxing.
“Sassy, how much fuel do we have?”
“At the present rate at full battle stations, we will be dead in space in four hours. That will leave us on maintenance systems and life support for another six hours. Then I will be empty except for battery storage, which will last another two hours. Then I will be dead. If we go to shields only we can withstand their attack for about twelve hours, then we’ll be down to battery life and minimum life support for the remaining two hours. If we stay at full battle stations and combat readiness we have six hours before everything shuts down to battery powered life support.”
“Okay. Can we get them all in four hours?”
“I don’t think so, Captain. We don’t have those platforms to help out like we did before,” said Meph.
“Hm. Hornet, take us as fast as you can go to Repair Station 142. Meph, let’s get ‘em.”
With that said we didn’t wait for the Pirates to englobe us or anything. We hit them with everything we had. I got three and Sassy and Meph got four before they saw we didn’t want to talk. That narrowed the odds down to 19:1. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was going to be a long battle. It took us on the average almost a minute of constant bombardment to break down one of their ship’s shields after we got a weapons lock. And they were not easy for Sassy to lock onto since they were almost as maneuverable as we were. I had to use the manual targeting system half the time. We were going to be lucky to get them all in six hours.
Three hours later, with the odds down to ten to one, I was feeling better. However, five of them had positioned themselves in front of us, blocking our access to planet 3 and the other five were trying to englobe us.
“Captain, I have been unable to reach Repair Station 142. The Pirates have been blocking our transmissions from a device they placed in orbit around it. I have no idea if we have been detected as a friend by 142,” Sassy informed me.
“Thanks Sassy. Keep trying. Let’s just get rid of these Pirates.”
I struck savagely at one of the five Pirates in front of us, leaving the other four for Meph. My shot went right up their exhaust tubes and the quarry exploded. Their numbers were inexorably shrinking. Their ships just weren’t up to the kind of bombardment we could withstand. I picked off another one. Then I lost the guns. No response when I went for the third.
“Damn it, Sassy!” I yelled, looking up from the viewer to the Hornet’s eye.
“Sorry Captain. I’ve lost power to the forward guns. I’m turning us around so you can use the rear guns. But we’ll have to coast from here on, because I have to redirect most of the power from the main engines to our shields.”
“Okay, I understand. Sorry I yelled at you. Turn us around and I’ll blast them.”
We turned around and I used the rear guns on two of the last four ships as we coasted at sub light speed to the planet and safety. Then the rear guns went out too. So all we had left were Meph’s toys and the shields. A few mi
nutes later we lost Meph’s shields. It was two to one, but I still wasn’t too worried because Meph was still in the fight. His equipment wasn’t designed for the speed of close combat, so it took him longer to get one of them.
But when he did, the Pirate ship just plain disappeared from view. Then it was one on one.
Meph and I took a minute to get into our suits, because we were running out of fuel and would soon be without life support in the ship unless we could get that Pirate before we went onto batteries. If we went on batteries, all power would go to the guns and shields in a combat situation at the expense of the creature comforts. Then we went on batteries and had about 15 minutes to get that guy if I wanted the Hornet to live. And in five minutes Meph got him.
So there we were. Literally dead in space, operating in our spacesuits, with all power off inside the ship except life support for Sassy, communications and the umbilical cords to our suit power packs.
