Children of Steel

by John Van Stry

  “Well just be careful, okay?"

  “Of course.” I gave her a hug, “wouldn’t want to let you miss out on your revenge now, would I?”

  She smiled, “You’d better not!”

  The rest of breakfast passed quietly and saying my goodbyes I headed down to the shuttle bay. From that point on I was on alert for the rest of the flight.

  Being that I was the new guy I was in the bottom of the rotation and assigned the most dangerous position, shuttle number one. I found Rudy my WSO and we suited up and went down to the launch rack to check the shuttle over.

  After convincing ourselves everything was in order we got in and powered up all of the electrical systems using external power. I wasn't going to start engines until the shuttle bay had been depressurized and we were near breakout. As I went through my checklist I saw the other crews boarding their shuttles as well. I double-checked the safeties on the ten Laser/Radar Guided Missiles we were carrying; the lead shuttle was expected to open a path for the next two in the flight, they carried the ship killers. Rudy opened the hatch behind his seat and confirmed that the cargo area, which was usually rigged for troops, was presently loaded with a thirty days supply of emergency rations.

  I then opened a channel to shuttle control and reported our ready status. After that I linked our computer up to the ship’s guidance system so that we could be provided with all the critical state information on the breakout. Information which we would need to maneuver and eventually survive if we should have to launch. Next I opened a channel to the bridge, again reported our ready status and then started to watch the sensor feed that the bridge was supplying. It would become live the second that we broke out, which was only ten minutes away according to the ship's clock.

  "Shuttle control to all shuttles, Depressurizing shuttle deck."

  I sat and checked the pressure gauges, when they got down to near zero I called control.

  "Shuttle one to shuttle control, request engine start."

  "Shuttle one cleared engine start."

  I checked the safeties on the launch rack, and made sure they were engaged. If we got launched before breakout we'd turn up way too far away, if we survived the transition of course. I went through the engine start sequence as I heard shuttles two and three request start clearances, and then four, five, and six requested permission to hold at just prior to ignition.

  I checked the engines; they were both ticking over normally, the core temperatures quickly evening out. I checked the bay hatch in front of me. It was open, I found the view of jump space to be unnerving so I looked down and checked the clock, twenty seconds.

  The bridge feed started a verbal countdown at ten. At three seconds I ran the throttles up to full military power and flipped my visor down. At zero I released the safeties on the launch rack, as I saw the flash through my closed eyes. I flipped up the visor then and started to watch the display.

  The next thirty seconds would tell. If there were any hostile contacts in that range, I would be launched. If the ship couldn't run, we would fight it out. If the ship could run, it would, without us.

  Like I had told Terease at breakfast, I was confident that I could use the planet's gravity well to burn off enough speed to do a landing, in say two or three weeks. If the Astra's vector was favorable when I got launched that is.

  Otherwise we had food for thirty days, and hopefully we'd get rescued by then. In this system, that was a pretty good bet. After thirty days well, I think Rudy figured I'd eat him.

  At ten seconds I heard a call over the bridge circuit.

  "Contact, bearing 231 degrees, azimuth 43 degrees."

  I checked the repeater, and looked at the information as the ship's computer sorted it out.

  "Range is increasing; object is identified as an asteroid."

  I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to watching. Twenty seconds later I heard the announcement over the bridge circuit.

  "Secure from general quarters. Secure all Shuttles'."

  I reset the safeties, shut down the engines, and started my checklist for securing the shuttle.

  "Damn, I'm glad that's over," said Rudy

  "Me too, of course it'll be a couple of days till we're almost in orbit and totally in the clear."

  "Yeah, but at least then we'll see them coming in advance." he replied, then added as an afterthought, "And the more speed we burn off the less likely I am to become cat food!"

  "Come on, do you really think I want to be given the rest of your debt?"

  "What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.

  "Oh don't you know?" I replied with a sinister look as I opened my helmet, and looked at him in the mirror. "If I eat you I have to pay for you too!"

  "Ah you're pulling my leg."

  "Of course," I continued with a smile, "for someone as sour as you I could probably get a discount."

  "Okay, okay I get the point; I won't mention the cat food thing again."

  I checked the gauges to make sure the shuttle bay had pressure again, then opened the canopy.

  "You know, if you're really worried about it, smuggle on some extra food."

  I thought I heard him mumble 'I did' but really wasn't sure.

  We went through the checklist again to make sure the shuttle would be ready for an immediate launch. After all it would still be three days until we would be safely in range of Hobson's Navy, but unless somebody should breakout right near us, we'd have a lot of advance notice.

  Having completed the checklist, we climbed out and went back to the flight room. From this point on, half the crews would be on duty, and confined to the immediate vicinity. This left four crews on duty at any given time. The nice part was that my off time was my own for a change, as combat crews could be called to duty at any moment.

  The bad part was that it could be really boring. I mean there's only so much drilling and emergency procedures that you can go over before the stuff starts to get old. At least we didn't have to wear G-suits, then it'd be boring and uncomfortable too. So as it has probably gone on in flight rooms and ready rooms through history, we started playing cards, poker actually.

  I had to admit I was new to the game, and as we were playing for money, everybody was very happy to hear that. I then realized that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that to anyone and kept my mouth shut. I didn't do too bad the first day, I only lost a few dollars.

  On the second day, I actually manage to win some, and really started to enjoy the game. It was on the third day however that I really got creamed. I not only lost the winnings of the second day, but half of my cash on hand. It's a good thing that most of my pay went straight to the bank, otherwise I could have gotten into real trouble.

  On the fourth day, we entered the safe zone and all breathed a sigh of relief. We were still on duty, we would be until we entered orbit, and of course the poker games continued. I played a lot more carefully after my loss of the previous day, but just couldn't seem to gain any ground. I'd win a little or lose a little, but that was about it.

  It seemed that every time I got a good hand, everybody would fold pretty quickly. I had to admit I got a little obsessed about it. I spent hours working on my 'poker face' in the mirror. By the sixth day, I still wasn't doing any better. Well, at least I wasn't losing big, but I did learn more about how the game worked and how to judge other players. Gabe wasn't too bad, but he had a tendency to bluff too much and ended up losing quite a bit too. Just not as quickly as I had. Dave wasn't bad, he ended up ahead, and Rudy turned out to be pretty good and ended up ahead quite a bit.

  But it was mostly the old timers who cleaned up. The chief came in and out a bit, even played some himself, but the big winner was Jerry, an eagle. He had been around quite a while and was an excellent pilot; he had a good sense of humor, told great jokes and stories and must have ended up with most of what I lost.

  I wanted to kill him.

  So on the seventh day, as the saying goes, I rested. I figured that if I lost too much m
ore to him I'd go berserk; I was already having to go down to the gym and work off my anger and frustration fairly regularly by then. The last thing I needed to have happen was for me to lose my temper in the flight room, and worse yet I found the game was really kind of addictive. I was surprised when Jerry came over to talk to me later on.

  "Hey Raj, don't let it get to you. It's only a game." I always wondered how an eagle got an Irish accent.

  "That's easy for you to say, you're winning."

  "Somebody's got too, and don't blame me if it's my lucky day."

  "I really don't believe luck has anything to do with it." I replied with a slight growl.

  "Really now, you wouldn't be accusing us all of cheating ya', would you?" He asked quietly.

  I looked to see if anybody was listening to our conversation. Nobody was watching us, but everybody's ears were perked up. So I was pretty sure I had an audience and the last thing I wanted to be branded was a sore loser.

  "Listen," I said "I don't think anybody's cheating; I just think I'm missing something important and I don't know what it is. I haven't won a big hand from any of you older guys since the second day, and yesterday I couldn't win one from anybody."

  "So?" he asked looking me in the eye.

  "So until I figure out what I'm doing wrong, I'm going to stop losing my money before I go broke. I've never been to another planet before and I don't want to show up without any money to spend!" And I looked him right back in the eye and smiled as politely as I could. I could notice the others at the table all relaxing out of the corner of my eye.

  "Oh, well in that case I guess we can all wait ‘til the outbound trip to get whatever money yea've got left."

  "Not if I can help it," I said. "After last Wednesday, I'm going to avoid high stakes games, you guys can find other sheep to shear."

  "Hey, maybe it is that you're not so dumb after all!" He laughed.

  "Oh? Then how come it took me six days and two-thirds of my spending money to figure it out?"

  I heard quite a few snickers come from the table at that comment.

  "Some people," he replied with a wink, "never do! Good luck!" and he went back over to the table and sat down.

  I noticed afterwards that the other crewmembers were a bit more at ease around me. I guess not blowing up and taking my losses like an adult helped, and that maybe I was finally gaining acceptance among the other crews. If that was so, then maybe the lost money was worth it.

  We made orbit that night, so the poker game ended while I was off shift. I can't say I was sorry, but I knew it'd be back. I was just going to have to figure out what I was doing wrong. I really hated losing, and I was too competitive to just be a spectator. But then, we all were.

  6

  We started unloading the next day. One of the two cargo modules was being totally unloaded here, and some of the second was also destined for the company's local operation. Unloading was going to take about two days. Fortunately the company had a large holding here, so we weren't using just our own two cargo shuttles, but had several more to help.

  It also helped that the space dock was company owned, so there was a lot less confusion going on.

  Unloading went on around the clock and when I wasn't helping to move crates around, I was doing a spell on one of the cargo shuttles. I really hated flying them; it was like driving a truck. They're big and boxy and don't handle well. You could fit two assault shuttles in the back of one, if you squeezed, and they take two pilots plus a navigator/engineer (one of the WSO's usually), and a loadmaster. The loadmaster is just that, he makes sure the load is put on right, and goes off right.

  So at the end of unloading, it was a relief to hear that we'd be in port for a week before loading would take place. I don't know why it takes that long to get a load together, I'm just glad that it did because I was dying to go look around. On the shuttle flights I had gotten an overhead view of the city and I had gotten to check out a tiny bit of the company's local plant while they unloaded the shuttle between runs.

  Most of the Astra's crew moved to the company's temporary quarters on the surface where we were given a map of the local city and a quick briefing.

  "Okay, listen up folks," said the local company rep, who was a small dark brown Raccoon. I noticed there were no humans in the crowd anywhere.

  "This planet is pretty tolerant of us animen and the company has a good reputation here, so let's not ruin it. The local populace is about thirty percent animen, and about forty percent of those are paid off or freeborn.

  "Now don't go around stirring up any trouble, but if you do get into a mix-up with any Auntie-anns, here on Hobson's you have the right to defend yourself against attacks by anybody, even humans."

  A small cheer went up after that statement; maybe some of the stories I had heard about beatings and lynching really were true.

  "But," he continued, "we had better not find you baiting them either. They're not too popular a group on this planet, especially since during the Corporate Wars of the 60's, a lot of animen died here protecting the city. But we don't want to give them any martyrs either. Plus if you go beyond what is strictly required to defend yourself, you’ll have to answer for your actions.

  "So go on out, enjoy yourselves and remember to be nice to the locals. We've marked the maps with the areas of town you’re to avoid, and why. Oh, and one last thing: No fighting with the members of other companies. That's enforced by all of the companies that have an installation here."

  "What's the story on weapons here?" Asked a wolf in the back of the room.

  "Knifes are okay, anything bigger animen need a permit. Humans don’t need a permit to carry sidearms, but I wouldn’t expect to find many carrying in the city."

  "What about the police?" Asked a large black Bear, I knew him from the ship, his name was Tanson and he worked in engineering with Terease.

  "About half the police are animen, so don't worry too much about them. Unless of course you're looking for trouble, in which case they’ll give it to you. Any other questions?" He looked around, "No? Okay enjoy your liberty, and keep out of trouble."

  He turned around and left the room. I looked around and saw Gabe and a few of the other shuttle crews gathering in one area. So I walked over there to see what they had planned.

  "Hi guys, what's up?" I asked.

  "Oh, just tryin' to figure out where to go," said Dave. "Gabe wants to head to that bar of his down in the animen part of town, but most of the rest just want to go someplace quieter tonight."

  "What about you?" I asked.

  "I can go either way really, but somebody's got to keep an eye on Gabe." he smiled.

  "Hey, I can take care of myself you know," butted in Gabe, "and I'm sure I won't be the only guy from the ship there either. You want to go Raj?"

  "What's the place like?" I asked.

  "Well," said Dave before Gabe could say anything, "It's a pickup place mostly. A lot of humans do go there to pick up on animen. But a lot of animen go there to pick up on each other as well."

  "Yeah," said Gabe "It's a pretty big place and drinks are cheap too."

  "I guess I'll go," I said. "Cheap drinks sound good to me right now. And I'd like to check this place out anyway."

  "Fine by me I guess. Anybody else coming?" Asked Dave.

  Nobody was, so we headed out on our own, walking across town.

  It was early evening outside, the sun was due to set soon and it was starting to get dark. It was pretty nice out, the city was located near the equator and the weather was fairly warm and mild. I spent a lot of time looking around at everything as we walked along.

  "What's the name of this city anyway?" I asked.

  "New Cape," responded Gabe, "It was founded by a group from South Africa, who were fed up with the history there. That's why they're so tolerant here."

  "Oh."

  "And stop gawking like somebody straight out of the crèche, will you?"

  "But I am 'straight out of the crèche'!" I laughed an
d Dave joined me.

  "Well at least stop acting like it. Haven't you ever been to a city before?"

  "Once or twice, but that was always with a supervised group. We weren't allowed out on our own."

  "I keep forgetting you're from Earth," Gabe sighed. "Just stay with us and you'll be okay. Just remember where the plant is and how to get back."

  "And don't trust strangers," Dave added, "Everybody's out to make a buck, and some are just downright dishonest."

  "I'm not totally naive!" I said.

  "They're not that bad," said Gabe, "Dave's just a total pessimist. Most of the people here are pretty good. Last time I was here there was even talk about making Auntie-ann attacks illegal."

  "Never happen, too many corporations want us to remain second class." responded Dave.

  "It's not like anybody's asking for the right to vote, or run for office," said Gabe, "just the right to live in peace. Or at least retire in peace." He added with a smile.

  "Listen guys" I said, "Let's not talk politics. We've got the right to defend ourselves, and that's good enough for me!"

  "Typical Leopard, happy as long as he can fight." responded Gabe sarcastically.

  "So? What's wrong with that? It's what I do best and it's what they pay me for. But right now I want to go out, have some drinks and have a little fun."

  "Can't argue with that." said Dave.

  "But you'll probably try!" laughed Gabe.

  We continued on walking through the city. It took us about an hour, but after being in the ship for so long it felt good to be outside walking. When we got there, it was a pretty simple looking place from the outside. It was called 'The Lining', and while the surrounding area wasn't fancy, at least it wasn't in a slum.

  We went in and it really was pretty big inside, the first thing to hit me was the strong collage of scents of all the different species. I liked it. Looking around I saw that the place was split up into several areas. The front one was the fanciest, with a plush bar and well lit booths. The middle was darker and had a stage, with a band performing as well another bar and a dance floor. The back was even darker with a lot of booths. Some of which were already occupied with some couples and small groups.