Starfire and The Planet Killer

by Christine Westhead

  "Renard," he said softly.

  "I'm Morei, and this is Lowen," Raan whispered back.

  "If you don't mind," began the old man, I'd like to pass this over and leave as soon as possible. Rarely do I have premonitions, but I do feel strongly that this day is not going to go well." He unscrewed the top of his cane as he spoke, deftly removed a red crystal and passed it over the table to Raan. "I fear I may have been compromised. That is why I changed our meeting time." Raan zipped the crystal into his tunic pocket as the old man rose to his feet and sidled out of the booth. "Good day to you both" He tipped his hat to Erion, nodded politely and left.

  "I have a bad feeling about this as well, now," said Erion. "Come on, let's go." She slid out of her seat and grabbed Raan's arm as he started to stuff more food into his mouth.

  "All right, all right, I'm coming." He grabbed a napkin and wiped his face as Erion pulled him down the central aisle and out of the glass doors.

  "Get us back to the Hopper," she commanded as Raan pulled the flexi out of his tunic pocket to study it.

  "This way!" Raan set off down glass fronted alleyways to the nearest aircar and stopped so quickly that Erion ran into the back of him. "Look!" he hissed and mimed her forward. Erion crept forward and peered around a corner to see the old man struggling with an officer of the Galactic Police. Another one searched his pockets as the old man struggled and a third broke his cane in two and peered inside.

  "They knew where to look," said Erion.

  "Somebody talked," growled Raan.

  "We have to get back to the Hopper before we're recognised. Come on!" Erion and Raan retraced their steps back to the lobby. They shared their spherical aircar with five other people so it stopped several times along the chain of carriages to let them off. Eventually, they were the only occupants and the aircar stopped next to their Planet Hopper. They waited a second for the green light to show above the door and walked two paces to the hatch of their little ship. Once inside, Erion contacted the Engine to request release from the carriage.

  "This is Planet Hopper 'Moonbeam' to Engine, come in please."

  "Moonbeam, this is the Engine, how can we help you?" It sounded like a very young, bored man on the com.

  "Unfortunately we have to leave immediately," began Erion. "Please release the clamp."

  "I'm very sorry, Madam," the voice didn't sound apologetic in the slightest, "this near to departure time, I cannot offer you a full refund on your ticket price."

  "Never mind that, Engine, just release the clamp."

  "They'll be back-tracking Renard," hissed Raan in her ear, "they'll soon identify us."

  "Would a thirty percent refund be acceptable, Madam?"

  "Yes, yes, that's perfectly acceptable," said Erion, trying to sound calm."

  "Would you like to arrange it now, Madam?"

  "No thank you. Just release us so we can be on our way."

  "Of course, Madam, we will credit the account that bought the ticket."

  "Yes. Yes. Thank you!" she snapped.

  "Releasing you now, Moonbeam." There was a clang and their hopper floated free from the clamps but it was still inside its metal carriage.

  "Get ready, Captain," ordered Erion. Raan nodded grimly, already well into pre-flight checks. All the indicator lights showed green on the console in front of him but it still took a few minutes to get the engines to fire. Erion pressed a button on the com link to scramble the signal. "Little Dragon to Grennig, come in."

  "This is Grennig, did you get it?" Starfire's voice came in clearly.

  "Major!" snapped Raan, pointing forward. The metal shutter on the side of the carriage had stopped half of the way up.

  "Yes, Lieutenant, we have it," continued Erion, "but we might have hit a snag."

  "What kind of snag?" asked Starfire, warily.

  "Just get over here," ordered Erion, peering upward.

  "On our way, Little Dragon; over and out." The indicators on the Hopper console showed the engines were ready to go, but they were stuck inside the carriage. She and Raan shared a grim look and Erion composed herself, pressed the com and called the Engine.

  "This is Planet Hopper Moonbeam," she began. "The side roller shutter seems to have stuck. We can't get out."

  "There seems to be a problem with your clearance, Moonbeam," the voice on the other end still sounded bored.

  "Look, Engine, we need to be on our way. Can't you get it sorted?"

  "Sorry, Moonbeam, it's a Police matter now. Handing over to Port Security." There was a click and the com went dead for a second.

  "Planet Hopper Moonbeam, this is Port Control. State your names and designation please?"

  "Lowen and Morei Cusp on vacation from Auria," Erion answered, calmly. "Look, what's the problem here? We've had some bad news and we have to get back home." Erion had one eye on the scanner and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Grennig appearing on the far limits of her scope.

  "Lowen Cusp, you and Morei Cusp appear on our monitors talking to a man outside the Aurian Grill. Do you know him?"

  "No, Port. He just came and sat down next to us. We thought he looked a bit lonely, but has asked us a strange question and moved away when we didn't know the answer."

  "Really," the voice sounded non committal. Another glance at the scope showed the Grennig a couple of minutes away. "We need you to come in and talk to us. We're sending an aircar. Get in it when it arrives."

  "But we're late, Port. We really need to get going." Erion put on her best wheedling voice.

  "It wasn't a request, Lowen Cusp." The voice cut off abruptly.

  "Damn it!" snapped Raan.

  "Major, we have you in range," called a voice on the scrambler.

  "Del, it's good to hear your voice," began Erion. "Is Hal there?"

  "Major?" asked the gunman.

  "We're last carriage on the Skytrain. I think they're on to us and we're trapped inside. Can you break us free." There was a short silence.

  "Yep. Get ready on my mark."

  "Here they come," Raan pointed to the scanner as the Grennig approached the Skytrain hub on a docking course. It slowed down almost to a stop but they couldn't see it directly as they were still trapped inside the carriage.

  "Raan," It was Starfire, "the Starport authority is already on our case. Del's keeping them busy but I don't know how long they'll fall for his rubbish. Hal's taking aim at the link holding you to the next carriage. You'll need to back out real quick when you're in free fall then catch us up 'cos we're heading back to the moon on a reverse course. I think they might have their guns trained on us already and I don't want to hang around so rig for an in-flight pick up."

  "Understood," answered Raan, grimly. He and Erion adjusted their seat harnesses until they were held tightly against their pilot seats. He passed his hands over a couple of crystals and a low whine started up in the engine bay behind them. He eased the little ship forward with the thrusters so that its nose was almost touching the front of their carriage. There was a gentle clang as the aircar umbilical connected to their hatch and the Port Com spoke again.

  "Moonbeam, we are raising the clamps. Shut off your engines and get into the aircar." The side panel door started to lower again and Raan nodded to Erion in the co-pilot seat.

  "Ready, mark!" snapped Hal. Erion broke the hatch connection with the aircar at the same time as Hal fired the Grennig's cannon. The laser bolt struck with a bang, and the rear of their carriage, along with the linkage, was blown away. Raan gunned the rear thrusters and their little craft backed out of the tumbling carriage. Raan cursed as the Hopper scraped against the sides on their way out. Then they were free and the Little Dragon, formerly the Moonbeam, shot forward after the departing Grennig, leaving the empty carriage and the reserve Engine spiralling slowly away.

  Raan changed the view from forward to aft and gave a non committal grunt as the scanner showed two fighters approaching them. A brilliant blue flash shot by on their port side as one of the fighters fired a wa
rning shot. They flew over the Sky Train and around the glass and iron Skytrain Port, heading out of the system to where the red glow of The Grennig's twin engines could be seen in the distance. The Little Dragon bucked as the aft shields received a direct hit and Erion fired back in a continuous stream of blue bolts towards the following fighters.

  "Don't hit them, Major" warned Raan. "The idiots are in the line of fire from the Starport. They're stopping the Port from firing on the Grennig." Both fighters received near misses from Erion's guns and slowed down, but did not stop their pursuit.

  The Little Dragon was gaining on its mother ship and approached her from behind and below. Raan slowed down as much as he dared and Hal opened fire on the approaching fighters until they backed off.

  "Main engine shut down in five, four, three, two one!" called Delta Ten. As the Planet Hopper rose up behind the Grennig, its rear cargo hatch lowered and its two main engines suddenly shut down. This made the Grennig decelerate and Little Dragon shot underneath the massive engine array and hurtled inside the rear cargo bay. Raan did an emergency engine shut down, firing the rear thrusters, and they were both jolted forward in their seats. As soon as the hatch closed, Starfire fired up the Grennig's engines again and shot forward into hyperspace, leaving the two pursuing fighters rolling in the backwash, spinning out of control.

  Raan gave a sigh, slid his chair back on its rails and stood up to join Erion at the exit hatch. As the rear cargo hatch was directly under the main engines, it was too risky to fly beneath to get the Hopper inside while in flight. They had performed the quick pick up manoeuvre only once before. It was very dangerous and needed split second timing, a steady hand and complete trust in the flying abilities of each other.

  "Another day dicing with death," grinned Raan to Erion, standing by his side at the internal aircar hatch. "We just have to be on the winning side here, Major. We get away with too much for this to be just chance."

  "I know what you mean, Raan."

  Starfire turned round in her seat as they both entered the pilot section.

  "What the hell happened?"

  "Somebody talked," said Raan. "They got the time wrong though and we'd already made the transfer." He produced the data crystal and twirled it around in his hand.

  "Well at least poor old Renard should be safe," said Erion "They wouldn't have found anything on him." Raan grinned across at Hal, who was looking bored again at his console.

  "That was some shooting, man."

  "Yes, Hal, well done!" added Erion. The gunman looked up, lifted one side of his lips in a sad attempt at a smile and went back to his work.

  "Have we logged our ETA with the Starport on Manta Six?" asked Raan.

  "Elkrist has done all that for us," answered Erion. "How long until we reach Manta, Del?"

  "In our time, seven point nine hours," answered the android.

  "Well, began Erion, we have nearly eight hours to kill, let's have a look at this Manta and then we'll all get some rest. Put it up on the holo please, Del." He complied and a holo image of a dirty grey, concrete Starport appeared in the centre of the pilot section and rotated slowly. The camera panned out to show a blanket of mist and an overgrown forest of huge green trees with dark green, leathery leaves. Pale green, curly vines covered the ground and a fair portion of the buildings, giving the impression that the spaceport was slowly sinking back into the forest. The green plants faded into the horizon and the Starport seemed to be the only sign of civilisation.

  "That's it?" asked Raan. "No towns, no houses?"

  "I'm afraid there isn't much more, Captain," began Delta Ten. The planet consists mainly of water, volcanic rock and the green plants you can see. It is because of its water content that the purifying plant was built. There were a few trace elements in the ash, which have been mainly mined out now."

  "What does it have a water purifying plant for?" asked Starfire. There's plenty in that system."

  "Three hundred years ago, when the plant was built, the inner planets did not have sufficient water for their needs," answered the android. "Manta had plenty of water, but it had to be purified and then transported to its inner planets." The view changed to show an old, grainy holo of a busy factory complex. "Now of course, planet forming has meant there is plenty water on the smaller planets so Manta has nothing to offer. Everyone left and the Starport shut down."

  "Grubby looking place, but it can refuel us and it's out of the way enough for it to suit our needs." put in Starfire. "Is our cargo sorted out?" Raan nodded,

  "One of Thirty Seven's contacts is meeting us there with the consignment. He'll pick up the data crystal and take it back to the Cantina. He has already been paid by the Alliance on a time logged transfer, so if he wants his creds he'll show up on time. By the time the cargo is loaded, we should be refuelled."

  "Do they know who we are?" asked Starfire.

  "Only what we are," answered Raan. "They have dealt with the Alliance before. We'll get in and out fast."

  "Let's hope so," said Erion, "I don't like the look of the place."

  "If it hasn't got pretty lawns and fountains like Auria, you don't like the look of any place," put in Starfire.

  "I just have breeding," answered Erion with a lofty smile. "I'm used to better things, that's all."

  "Highborn!" retorted Starfire. Erion pulled a funny face and stuck out her tongue. A gentle chime sounded and the computer's voice informed them that it was time for a meal. The crew kept Standard Aurian Time when on board ship. It avoided space fatigue and stomach upsets. Delta Ten duly collected the disposable trays from the food dispenser in the small crew lounge under the flight deck and carried them through. Despite the fact that Raan had eaten half a beef burger in the Aurian Grill, Raan and Starfire swivelled their seats around and accepted their trays while Erion and Hal left to eat in the relative comfort of the crew lounge, one level beneath them.

  "It never quite tastes like the real thing," muttered Erion as she tucked into what was supposed to be a vegetable salad.

  "What do you expect, eating Wanga food?" grunted Hal, slicing off a piece of rare meat. "Now me, I'd rather eat the Wanga."

  "Have you ever eaten the real thing?" asked Erion, fascinated, but still leaning away slightly at the thin trickle of red water that seeped from his steak. Hal shrugged.

  "If it doesn't have at least four legs and fur it isn't worth eating." Erion, like most Aurians, was a committed vegetarian. She shuddered and stared at the cold eyed gunman. To her surprise, she saw the edges of his mouth twist into the beginnings of a smile.

  "Very funny," she retorted and slid her half full tray across the table towards him, standing up at the same time.

  "Leaving us so soon?" he asked her departing back.

  "I'll spell you, Lieutenant," called Erion from the hatch.

  "Don't you want your meal?" she asked.

  "I couldn't stomach it right now," she admitted.

  "Has Hal been upsetting you again?" asked Starfire. "Erion, just leave him alone. He doesn't like people very much. He's more used to killing them than talking to them."

  "I know," answered Erion with a smile. "I just don't know how to take him."

  "Then don't take him," put in Raan. "I know you like a nice friendly crew, but Hal will never fit in. He doesn't really belong here and he knows it. Just leave him alone and let him get on with destroying things. He thinks that's fun!"

  "Terry's" murmured Erion.

  "Aurians!" countered Starfire as she rose from her seat. She turned at the hatch and put her head back inside the pilot section. "Don't touch anything, just monitor the controls."

  "Don't worry, I won't crash your precious ship!"

  "What did you say to Erion?" asked Starfire as she collected two coffees from the food dispenser and carried them to the table.

  "She thinks she's winding me up," he explained. "Sometimes I bite."

  "Give her a chance, Hal. She's not used to this outlaw game. And she is a first class navigator; the best I've e
ver seen."

  "Well that makes it all right then," he sneered. He took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs.

  "What did you think of Manta?" asked Starfire. "The place looks pretty grim."

  "Yeah, I know." Something in the way Hal replied made Starfire look up sharply.

  "Have you been there before?"

  "Yep."

  "Hell, why didn't you say?" she gasped. The gunman shrugged.

  "Nobody asked me. Anyway, I can't add anything. What you saw is what you get." He took another sip of coffee. "We won't be staying long anyway."

  "Hal, when we're discussing things, it's okay to volunteer information. You don't have to wait to be asked." Hal, not used to working with others, looked baffled. Starfire sighed, finished her meal went back to the pilot section.

  "All right if I take a couple of hours rest?"

  "Of course," answered Erion. "We have six hours left before re-entry so we should all get some shut eye."

  Six hours later a gentle chime sounded all over the ship. It was to inform them that they would soon be entering normal space. Everyone was already in the pilot section and Starfire made a few more checks.

  "Rig for re-entry, Captain," she ordered.

  "Aye," said Raan. He pressed a few buttons and doors slid silently shut all over the ship. Warning lights turned to yellow and the crew braced themselves for the stomach churning sensation of entry into normal space. The little system appeared in front of them, looking just like so many other little star systems all over the galaxy.

  A red sun glowed in the distance, and one large planet could be seen in front of it. This system had six planets and Starfire assumed they would be on the other side of the sun.

  "I have made contact with port control," stated Delta Ten. "We are cleared to approach and land. They are transmitting landing co-ordinates now."

  "I have them locked in," said Erion. "Starfire, go for landing."

  Starfire guided the ship towards the planet in front of them. The dark grey corvette made a graceful decent over a barren, mountainous region and came to rest on a landing pad next to a grey concrete structure. It was over fifty storeys high and carried warped and rusting antennas on its top dome. Several smaller concrete buildings surrounded the pad and as Starfire brought the Grennig in to land, grey dust rose in a cloud to obscure them from sight. The crew peered down as the dust settled to see several docks and rusting cranes scattered across the weed strewn landscape.