Space Cowboy Survival Guide

by Long, Heather

  “Oh, you’re back!” she said by way of greeting as he arrived in the kitchen services area. The scent of food burning filled the air.

  “Zed, kick up the recyclers,” he ordered the system. “What are you doing?”

  “Well, I was trying to do what you did with the steak.” The confession had an earnest childlike quality about it.

  Almost afraid to look, Shaw leaned past her to stare at the scorched meat and blackened vegetables. Still a bit numb, he gripped the handle on the pan while flipping off the heating switch. Sweeping the whole mess away, he emptied it into the recycler.

  “You stock the food you purchased, and I’ll make us something to eat.” At her crestfallen expression, he scowled. “Trust me when I say you didn’t want to eat that, and I know I didn’t. When you learn how to cook, you can prepare as many meals as you want. Until then, I’ll do it.”

  The pan he preferred was in terrible condition. How had she managed to burn a non-stick surface? After five minutes of vigorous scrubbing, he had to add the pan to the recycler as a lost cause.

  Tika said little as she emptied the carton of its treasures. More than one package of chocolate appeared on the counter. He retrieved a second pan, then studied the sweets she continued to pile. The internal debate of comment or not comment fell on the not comment firmly when he recalled all the reasons his mother used to purchase chocolate in large quantities.

  Women. Didn’t matter which planet they’d been born on. If she wanted chocolate, he would not get in her way.

  “Is there an organizational system I should be aware of?”

  “Just put like with like—and you can put all the chocolate in your room.” He didn’t even look up from his chopping. Fortunately, he had enough steak to last to the next planet. If he was right, it was a farming world and he could restock beef there.

  She paused. “How did you know I meant the chocolate?”

  “Because it’s the only thing I see you purchased in that crate that wasn’t on the list.” Then before his brain could get in the way of his mouth, he had to ask. “Anything else you add to the shopping trip?”

  “A couple of blankets. They were very soft… I also added some different brands of coffee. They had an entire shop devoted to ground beans from six different colony worlds.”

  “Including New Athens.” She didn’t have to say anything, her jerk of surprise answered for her.

  “How do you do that?”

  He still had his back to her, but the treble of shock underscoring her question amused him. After setting the steak into a fresh pan and putting the heat on low, he went to work on chopping the vegetables. “You’re not that complicated, sweetheart. You miss your home planet, and I don’t drink a lot of coffee.”

  “As in any…I found something called Tasty Choice. It’s freeze dried. Who freeze dries coffee?” And there it was, a real objection to his pantry.

  Still amused, Shaw shrugged. “It’s coffee. Coffee is meant as a fuel to help you stay awake when you don’t get enough sleep. I get plenty of sleep on the long hauls between worlds, so I don’t need coffee.”

  “Then I can throw this abomination out?” She waved the sealed can at him.

  “No.” Was she looking for a fight? He shifted his stance so he could chop and watch her at the same time. “It’s there for a reason.”

  “Hmmph.” She shoved it back into the storage locker, then added her freshly purchased bags of coffee with extreme care. Far more than she’d shown to his. Not that it bothered him. “There’s another bin with food. I’ll get it.”

  “No,” he felt like he was repeating himself. “Leave it where it is, I’ll get it after supper. Sit down and tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I thought you didn’t care.”

  Not an unfair charge. He’d made a point about only inquiring about issues he needed answered. Facts like the people hunting her. Her emotional state? Yeah, he didn’t generally go anywhere near it.

  “I don’t. On the other hand, you’re burning food and assaulting coffee cans. So something is wrong. What is it?” A reasonable request in his opinion.

  “What would you being doing right now if I weren’t on this ship?” The demand came out of left field, and Shaw was beginning to think he needed a scorecard to keep up with her.

  “Not having to try and wade through the tall grass.” The vegetables ready, he tossed them in the pan, then added some spices and turned up the heat slightly. Better to cook the meat to tender and soften the vegetables to perfectly hot and crisp.

  “What does that mean?” All the temper seemed to have drained from her voice to be replaced by an honest curiosity.

  “It means I would know what to expect and when to expect it, I wouldn’t have to account for someone else’s mood or ill temper.” He fixed her with a look. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know.” Her expression crumbled and tears threatened.

  Reaching for one of her packages of chocolate, he opened it then slid it across the counter to her.

  Bewilderment stymied the tears—thank God—and she picked up the chocolate package with a questioning glance. Before she could saying anything, however, an alert sounded over the comm.

  Lifting a finger to tell her to wait, Shaw tapped the panel. “What’s wrong, Zed?”

  “A weather warning has been issued by the port, Captain. A storm of significant strength has increased its velocity and will be arriving within the hour. All grounded ships are advised to launch or risk being trapped on the ground. My scans concur with the weather report.”

  Son of a bitch. “Notify the dockmaster we’re departing, and start cycling the engines. Fuel level?”

  “Sufficient for the trip to EA-1187.”

  Shaw glanced at Tika, “Go store your chocolate, I’ll have dinner ready in a minute. We’re going to have a bumpy launch if the wind shear is anything like what we flew in on.”

  Not waiting to argue with him, she fled the kitchen services.

  “Zed, verify all external hatches are sealed.”

  “Completed, Captain. We are ready for launch. Time expected, ten minutes. I’ve applied for a launch window as several other ships have already begun departure proceedings.”

  “Good, then we have time to eat.” He got the food plated, then sealed in containers before locking down the used dishes in the sink. The seal would keep them from bouncing too much. A sweep of the kitchen services showed everything closed, and sealed except the container.

  As soon as Tika returned, he handed her their meals. “Take these up to the cockpit.” The moment he handed them off, he scooped up the empty storage crate. “Go.” He ordered when she continued to stand there.

  “I don’t have cockpit access without you, remember?”

  No, he hadn’t. Crap. “Fine, go wait by the hatch.”

  He left her to do that and hurried down to the hold, storing the container in a used bin. He double checked the fresh supplies were locked down, then engaged the seal around Thunder and Lightning’s pods. He’d made it back to the ladder when he hesitated and glanced back at the storage stacks. Had she moved some stuff around?

  At least three containers had been shifted from their original location. They were still secured, but he’d have to ask her what she was looking for—after he got the Gilly off the ground.

  Once up the ladder, he closed the hatch to the hold behind him and sealed it. Tika waited for him by the cockpit access and he double-timed it, unlocking the seal and letting them both in as the engines came fully online.

  “Buckle up,” he ordered her and took his food container. At his station, he tapped a button and opened a secure hatch. “Store the food for now. I doubt you want to try and eat during takeoff.”

  She mirrored his action. One thing he did admire about Tika, she understood urgency. While their earlier conversation seemed to bother her, she didn’t bring it up. So he took a page from her and ignored it for the time being.

  “Zed, controls to me.”


  “Acknowledged.”

  In most circumstances, he’d let Zed handle basic departure as he did most of the landings. The storm on the scanners bearing down on them was rife with red, which indicated heat and electricity. If it was a thunder snow system, they’d run the risk of lightning strikes on the hull. “Ionize the hull,” he instructed. “Keep your sensors on that system.”

  “Acknowledged, Captain.”

  Throughout the exchange, Tika remained white lipped and knuckled. She didn’t interrupt.

  “It’s going to be fine,” he told her. “Don’t forget there’s a bag in the side pocket.”

  “And don’t vomit on the console. I remember.”

  On that note, he engaged the engines and completed lift off.

  The launch proved far more violent than their descent. Lightning strikes spread out over the hull, riding the ions on the plating. By the time they achieved orbit, Tika slumped in her seat, her eyes closed tight while her lips moved.

  It took him a minute to focus on the words she said, and when they did register it was hard not to be offended.

  “Are you praying?”

  “Don’t complain,” she chastised him. “We’re still alive, so it worked.”

  * * *

  She didn’t appear particularly hungry after the turbulent, electrified ride from the surface to orbit. The scanners seemed to have made it through the worst of it, and the storm below them continued to unleash its full fury on the Port of York. Tika moved to the viewport and stared at the planet below them. The geo-synchronous orbit kept them over the storm.

  “It’s huge.”

  “Several hundred miles wide,” Shaw agreed with her, then pulled out his food and flipped open the lid so he could eat. “Zed, start compiling the data you collected on the planet. Were you able to scan the interior of all the domes?”

  “Proceeding, Captain. Warning, air vented from a maintenance hatch during launch. Hatch failed to seal properly. Area cordoned off. Suggest repairs during our next docking.”

  No kidding. Shaw swiveled to check the environmental controls. “Highlight area affected.”

  A sliver of red flashed on the ship’s diagram. Zed hadn’t been wrong—definitely a maintenance tunnel, one he used to access external sensor arrays and connections.

  “Verify all sensor readings and response times.” If there wasn’t a real issue, then they could definitely just seal the area. One of the perks of the Gilly was how the airlocks allowed them to section the ship neatly.

  “Sensors online. Shall I run a diagnostic?” One downside of Zed’s exceptionally British accent meant it made even the simplest of questions sound like a derogatory comment on his intelligence.

  “Absolutely.” Their CO2 scrubbers worked as expected, oxygen levels remained at optimum. He checked the modules in the hold, and blew out a breath of relief when he discovered they hadn’t been affected. The isolated system had been top of the line, or so the engineers assured him, designed with redundancy atop redundancy to prevent possible compromise. He took a bite of the food and sighed. At least the steak was still mostly warm.

  “How can you eat?” Tika made no effort to disguise the disgust in her voice.

  “Hot food? Check. Still alive? Check. Starving? Check.” Shaw flashed a grin at her, and added, “If you don't want yours, I'll make sure it doesn't go to waste.”

  With a trembling hand, she opened the compartment and withdrew the dinner he’d made. She passed it over to him without a second's hesitation. “Yes, I'm way beyond not hungry.”

  He chuckled. “You just need to get your space legs under you again. I won't eat it for at least five minutes.”

  She wrinkled her nose and grimaced. By all rights, she could probably give him the finger and he would've deserved it. As it was, she simply waved at him. “I'm going to go take a shower.”

  Waiting a minute until she’d just cleared the hatch from the cockpit, he called after her, “Just remember if you do decide to puke…”

  Her voice trailed back to him. “… I won't vomit on a console.” The generous layering of hostility in her voice, combined with the dark humor, pulled another grin from him. He had gotten rather used to having Tika on board. Not altogether a bad thing. It was fun to have someone to pick on. It didn't hurt that she acted like a baby sister most of the time.

  “Zed, what did you learn about the central dome?” With Tika out of earshot, Shaw returned to the business at hand. The arrival of the storm had been unfortunate, but perhaps they were better off being in orbit rather than on the planet itself. Still, he wanted to know what they were hiding.

  For the next hour, Shaw reviewed all of the scans. He wasn't sure what he was looking for—in fact, most of the time he didn't know what he was looking for other than the base numbers the census required him to input. Their population numbers were much higher than one might presume for a planet run by a corporation no longer in existence. Of course, that didn't mean someone wasn't still minding the shop. Government structure in the Port of York… He was unable to complete the thought as an alarm sounded on the environmental controls. Swiveling, he frowned at the source. “Zed, I thought you locked down the maintenance area.”

  “Manual override initiated. Automatic seals have been reengaged.”

  Manual override? Rising, Shaw abandoned his work to go in search of Tika. If she really wanted to get into trouble, there were many better and far safer ways to do accomplish it without endangering the ship via decompression. Before he reached the hatch, however, a second alarm sounded on the deck.

  What the hell?

  “Life pod activated.”

  Why the hell would she get on a damn life pod? “Abort! Zed, abort the activation. Lock down the life pods, seal the others—authorization Sullivan, Shaw.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Zed, begin a life signs scan of the Gilly.” He sealed the cockpit hatch, then resumed his chair. Pushing aside his dinner, he cleared the main data screen. “Bring the Rosen Engine online.” Not waiting for Zed’s acknowledgement, he activated the thrusters and broke orbit. They couldn’t use the Rosen Engine until they were well clear of the planet and, even then, it would take them twenty minutes to spin up fully. Jumping from within a solar system had never been advisable if circumstances allowed for it. All bets were off if they were on a clock.

  “Five life forms detected.”

  Shaw didn’t curse, but a territorial anger swarmed in his blood. Some asshole had boarded his ship. “Set course for the next scheduled destination.” Firing all engines, he increased to one-half of light speed. The ship began to rattle as they peeled away from orbit, settling once they cleared York’s moon.

  “Internal scanners have gone offline, Captain. Attempting to reboot…power surge detected on hold deck. Secondary surge at aft life pod.”

  “Zed, take the wheel.” Shaw checked the flight path he’d entered. “The moment the Rosen Engine is spun up, make the jump.”

  “Jumping so close to York is not advisable.”

  “I don’t care,” he said, rising and checking his pistol. It had a full charge. From another compartment, he removed a pulse shotgun and checked the charges loaded within it. It would do damage to organic material, but shouldn’t harm the hull. The knife still sat secure in his boot. “Systems secure, condition red.”

  “Acknowledged, Captain. System secure.”

  Zed would complete all the tasks Shaw assigned him, while maintaining a system wide lockout. With internal sensors down, he would have to search his ship, compartment by compartment. Gun in hand, he began with the crew deck. The hatch to the cockpit would remain sealed until he opened the portal. After clearing his room, then Tika’s—where he found a trace of blood on the floor of her washroom, he sealed those. The empty crew quarters were next, then the lounge.

  Since whoever was on his ship likely boarded while they were docked at York, he’d have to find the weak point they penetrated. The assailant then waited for Tika in her quarters. Why
hadn’t they grabbed her before Shaw returned to the vessel?

  A question for another time.

  The whole ship vibrated as the Rosen Engine engaged. The rocking sensation rolled through the ship as they left normal space and jumped. Locking his legs, but keeping his knees loose, he rode out the fluctuation wave. The sudden silence enveloping the ship and the absolute lack of rattle confirmed the jump complete. They’d ride the wave as far as the star system of their next destination.

  In the meanwhile, no one would get off the Gilly, even if his unexpected visitor managed to override the lockdown on the life pods. They wouldn’t release while the Rosen Engine remained engaged.

  Kitchen services cleared, he sealed the hatch as he left. Each of the hatches along the crew deck sealed, he descended to the hold. Moving slowly, but deliberately, Shaw kept his back to the hull walls. The crates he’d noticed earlier were still out of order. The new items she’d purchased remained in their secured position.

  The crates…

  That was how their erstwhile hunter got on board. Tika had brought him on, but he’d likely been in a shielded container designed to repel scanners or at least fool them. If he weren’t so annoyed about the bastard successfully infiltrating the Gilly, he’d be impressed. The vehicles remained undisturbed and in shutdown mode. The lockout should keep them that way. The containment units for Thunder and Lightning were also secure, and the monitors detailing their vital functions were all in the green.

  There were plenty of places for their visitor to hide, but the life pods made the most logical sense. He’d already tried to activate one. The Gilly had four life boats—two accessible from the crew deck and two from down here. A shuttle had been in the works when he departed Earth, but he didn’t see much point in adding a shuttle when he could land the Gilly.

  A glance at his datalink showed no updated status with regards to the internal sensors. “I don’t know who you are,” Shaw called out conversationally. “I do know you’ve messed with my ship and you better have only disconnected something and not damaged it or there will be hell to pay.”