Book 7 of The traveler.

by Robin Miller

  Owsee, "I'm not even going to question that one."

  I said, "good, now all I need to do is teach someone all I know about advertisement. Make that two some bodies, so they will be able to devote at least one hour a day to each of the stations. Back on Earth they would have a advertising agent or manager for each station, but we can start with 1 for ten, for now."

  Owsee, "I don't want to talk about radio anymore, the more we do the more employees we have. Just make it work."

  He opened the other bottle of wine and we filled our glasses again, then drank a toast to the winemaker. The Twins then came out to ask Owsee the question, "how do we get historical information from other planets? Like trade that went on hundreds of years ago."

  Owsee, "that's a good one. I guess it would be helpful to know somebody. Gripper may be able to help with Tronex, and perhaps the chief Plexon engineer may be able to help find some records for that. As for other systems, I would try talking to Ranger, at your father’s ice mine on lunar one. He has been many places and knows many helpful people."

  The children asked if they could use the transmitter in the house to make some calls, and I said, "Ranger should be working at fire control right now, but Gripper and the Plexon can wait until tomorrow."

  They took that to mean yes for Ranger, which is what I intended, and said thank you. Then went inside and called him.

  Kitty, "you know, Goo da wa has been around a long time, he may know some people to call."

  Owsee, "maybe, but we mostly know the same people for the last 30 years. I'll go ask him, gives me a reason to stretch my legs, and I'll see you in the morning." He then left to go see Goo da wa at his cave bar. Kitty and I were not in the mood to join him, as the day had already been long enough for both of us. After some talk, and the rest of the wine, we went to bed. The Twins, never needing to be told, had gone to their rooms upstairs. After a bit of play and passion Kitty and I felt asleep.

  I woke up in the darkness to the sound of many small ships landing outside. I walked to the porch to see what was going on. Small shuttles like ships were landed in front of our house by the dozens and the sky was filled with hundreds more. Out of the ships walked a large number of two lagged people in monk robes, with hoods over their heads so I could not see their faces. They didn't seem to speak but I could hear them in my head saying, "yes, very interesting, let me look, now let me look." One upon another until my head was in pain from all the minds trying to read me as they got closer and closer. Then I sat up with a yell and found myself on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands. Kitty touched me on the shoulders and I flinched, still not sure I was awake. She asked what was the matter and I just said, "bad dream, go back to sleep," and I went to the kitchen for a drink of water. I splashed my face with the water and took a sip from my hands, and dried both with a towel before going out to the porch to look at the night sky. I took a deep breath and looked over at my ship near the side of the house. Knowing she would wake me if there wasany danger. I went inside and got out a bottle bud liquor, then sat on the porch and lit my pipe. I took a drink and tried to decide if I wanted to go back to bed or not. But I was not ready to chance another bad dream at the moment. I could sleep on my liven ship, but that becomes habit forming, and I know it must make Kitty a bit jealous. Besides, I think she feels a bit safer just having me around. Not that she needs any protection, I would stack her frightened skills up against anyone I knew, even without weapons. When a katalackeon lets out their claws they can rip a man's head off. I should know, she saved my life that way once, and Owsee’s that day as well. I took another drink, knowing that it would not take much of this stuff to put me out. So I put that bottle aside and just finished my smoke, then went inside and laid down on the sofa. I think I heard my ship singing to me in my head as I fell asleep. Unusual because she normally remains silent.

  Day 100

  I woke up a few hours later with a cramp in my leg, and jumped up and shook it off. Fully awake now, but the sun was not too long behind me. So I got a cup of coffee and did something I hardly ever get to do, I started breakfast, cheese and pepper omelets. I was frying up the peppers and beaten the eggs when Kitty came in from outback and said, "what you doing?"

  I said, "making pepper and cheese omelet’s."

  Kitty, "I can do that for you."

  I said, "I got here first, you can help by making some biscuits and white gravy." Kitty, "I would love to, but the kitchen is not big enough for the two of us." I said, "how is it that the kitchen is not good enough but the shower is?" Kitty, "cooking is the one thing I get to do for this family each day." I said, "you do a lot more than just cook, but if it makes you happy I surrender the kitchen to you, as long as it is understood I do sonot because I can't cook." Kitty, "of course you know how to cook dear, now go write."

  Which is what I did, back out on the porch with my pipe. It didn't take long to get caught up with writing about my night, then Kitty called me to breakfast. As I stood up to go in, Owsee came up on the speeder with a bag from the bakery. I said, "I didn’t hear you leave."

  Owsee, "I just figured out there is a silent mode on this thing. You can't go fast, but it's a great way to sneak off."

  I said, “well your just in time as usual.”

  Kitty made some hash brown potatoes to go with the omelets, biscuits and gravy. Owsee had brought a miniature pie for each of us. It looked like blueberry, but tasted like Apple, and went well with the rest of breakfast.

  Owsee said, "my father used to buy these tiny pies from time to time, for breakfast. It's surprising how much energy one of these and a glass of milk will give you."

  Kitty, "I think of pie as a desert, not a replacement for a good meal." I asked the children if they got a hold of Ranger last night, and kitten said, "yes, he said he would check around to see what he could find out about old records and stories of this world."

  Prowler, "he said it may take a few days, but he’s sure he can dig something up." Owsee, "I was talking about the same thing to Goo da wa last night, but he said he had not been in this part of space in a few hundred years, and does not know anyone anymore."

  I said, "how old is Goo da wa?"

  Owsee, "he won't tell me."

  Kitty, "he turned 300 last year."

  Owsee, "he told you?"

  Kitty, "one of the advantages of being a good cook is that people tend to share their secrets from time to time."

  I said, "and how old does his species live?"

  Owsee, "a thousand years or so, that I know."

  I said to Kitty, "does he know how old you are?"

  Kitty, "yes, but good luck getting it out of him, or me."

  Owsee, "I can make a good guess based on how long I have known you." Kitty, "you do and I will never cook for you again!"

  Owsee, "I think I'll just eat now."

  Prowler, "how old is Gripper?"

  I said, "about 137, but he looks like 30. His kindcan live to be about 300 due to a treatment they go through on Tronex, when they are very young." Kitten, "how long will we live mother?"

  Kitty, "I'm not sure dear, Catalacks live to about 30, but you are part human so you should live longer. Eat your breakfast dear."

  I said, "well I'm 51 and proud to have lived this long, hope to make another 50 years."

  We made it through the rest of breakfast without anyone talking about how long we would live. Gripper stop by before we were done and had a cup of coffee, and talked about what we would do today. The children asked him who they should talk to on Tronex about old stories or records of trade with this planet. He said, “old trade records may be hard to find, and my planet does not have an oral history to speak of. But I will see what I can find out.”

  I said, “order me two more speeders, for the Twins, while you’re at it. I don't feel right using Owsee’s so much, and I would like to go flying with my children from time to time.”

  He said he would put in the order. I could see the children's eyes light up, but they didn
't say a word. The smile they were trying to hide said enough. Then Kitty asked how the triplets were doing.

  Gripper, "starting to walk, believe it or not. I had to put a rug down in the living room to cushion their falls, and take the end tables out so they can’t hit their heads on them. I also put a screen over the fireplace and a gate to keep them in the one room."

  Kitty, "they are growing fast, have they started to talk yet?"

  Gripper, "only to each other, and I can't understand them. I'm not even sure they understand each other but they try."

  Kitty, "what dialect do you speak around the house?"

  Gripper, "Nursa’s, I even turn off my translator so I can get better at it." Prowler, "we had to learn four languages at once."

  Kitten, "yes, yours, Owsee’s, mother’s, and father’s. All at the same time." Kitty, "Catalacks are good with new dialects."

  Prowler, "on the station they use seven other ones."

  I said, "well I'm glad to have my translator, never been much good at new dialects. Takes me a long time to pick up on it."

  After breakfast kitty went to her shop, Owsee his bank, and Gripper his ship to go to the space station. The children and I also went to the station, on my ship, and we probably got there before Gripper even got off the ground. The Twins wanted to talk to the Plexon engineer, and I wanted to look around, to see how things were going and to be seen. It's good for the crew to see their captain from time to time, lets them know you care. I made sure the Twins had their communication badges on before I left them, then I went to sickbay to get a well overdue full body scan. The doctor said I was in fine shape, but it's good to get regular scans in case they need to put me back together again one day. I said, "here's hoping you never really need to doc.."

  Then I went to the bridge, sat in my chair, and reviewed the logs for last night to see what’s been going on. According to the log the station could use a minor course adjustment to keep it in mid orbit, but there was too much traffic to do it now. We had four ships taking on water, three ships unloading crystals, and a ship with supplies from the planet.

  Then a alarm went off and the computers said, "intruder alert!"

  I pressed my communication badge and said, "security, what's going on?" Security, "two Voleons landed on the flight deck and started to run around, we will have them soon sir."

  I said, "when you do, take them to the brig and check their ship to see if there are any more of them."

  He said, "yes sir," and the computers said, "intruder alert, all decks." Then the communications officer said there was a private communication for me from station B3. I said I would take it in my quarters, and went to my room. When I got there I sat down at my computer and found it was the information seller.

  He said, "I have some information now, about to next danger, but I need to trade it for a favor."

  I said, "what kind of a favor?"

  He said, "on its way to you, the danger will come here. You and the Trident should be able to handle it. The corporate mining company does not have enough ship of sufficient size to handle the problem."

  I said, "and just what is the problem?"

  He said, "do I have your personal word you will protect the station and my shop?" I said, "do I have your words this is the problem the CM was arming for before I smash their fleet?"

  He said, "yes yes, this is what they were worried about, and you will be glad to have your space station and all its arms when it reaches you."

  I said, "fine then, I'll do what I can once I know what I'm dealing with." He said, "Pirates! Not the local kind, but a clancalled the scavengers. They have a large mother-ship that holds about 500 small ships they call leeches. The leeches can latch onto a mother-ship or station, cut into it and suck out food, water, air, whatever they can find. Then they fly away very fast back to their mother-ship. They are very good at hit and run, and they never stay around too long. So no one has been able to mount a large attack force against them. They use long-range jammers so you can not call for help, and stay well hid in-between attacks. They will be in range of the station in two or three of your days, and even this small bit of information cost me a great deal."

  I said, "these leeches they use, what kind of arms do they have?"

  He said, "electromagnetic pulse wave generators. Knocks out most small ships with just one blast, but your Trident can take a solar storm up close, let alone a small EMP blast. They also use a scattering wave so your sensors read one ship as a hundred, that keeps anyone from getting a lock on them, and their ships are painted as black as space so you may not see them."

  I said, "can't see them, can't find them on my scanner, how am I to fight them?" He said, "I can't tell you over a open channel, but I'll need half a day to do the work on your ship. Let's just call it a systems upgrade."

  I said, "an upgrade, that will be interesting. I'll be there tonight or tomorrow, I don't want to pin down a time to my travel plans over an open channel. Expect me when you see me."

  After terminating my communication I got a cup of coffee from the replicator, then lit my pipe and started to look at what was going on around the station on my monitors. On the docks there was a guard next to the Voleons ship. But no guards, on anyone else, in the brig. So I called security for an update. The head guard said, "we just found them in the mess hall sir, we are now taking them to the brig."

  I said, "I'll be there shortly."

  I then tuned in the monitor for engineering and saw the Twins were still there talking to the chief. They were fine, so I hopped on a transport and went to the brig. When I got there I asked the guard what the two had to say for themselves, and he said, "we don't know sir, our translators don't speak Voleon. I walked over to the cell and my translator kicked in so I could understand them. It's nice to have the top-of-the-line translator. They said they had been attacked four days ago, pirates took all their food and water, plus most of their power. They tried to call for help but they could not reach anyone. The engineer was a able to rig the ship for a starburst that got them here, but not enough power left to take the ship down to the planet. He said, “We are sorry about stealing the food, but we were starving, no one could understand us and we thoughtyou may just put us back on our ship and set us adrift.”

  I said, “you're lucky my translator speaks your language, or you could've been in that cell for a long time.”

  I motioned for the guard to open the cell and help them to use the replicator, as I asked them to tell me more about the Pirates. But they could not tell me much as the Pirates gassed them before boarding. I asked them why they were so far from their home, and they said they were pilgrims, returning from a sacred journey. I told the guard to let them rest while we refueled their ship. We then gave them food and water for the journey home, and saw them safely off. Before leaving they gave their thanks and handed me a small black stone, saying, "in your hour of need, place this in front of you, so your enemies may trip and fall before you." I thanked him for the stone and the blessed, then bid them safe journey. After seeing them off I went to engineering, gathered the children and we went to story land Park. The children asked about the intruder alert, and I told them it was just two lost Voleons. They said they had not seen or read about them. I said, “From what I have heard, they don't leave their planet much and not a lot else is known about them.”

  We landed on the roof of the main building, well ---- more like hovered over it. Id, being a liven ship, was always careful about such things. As we stepped onto the roof I said, "I need to put in that garden up here one of these days. Or maybe I'll just leave it like it is, I'm not sure."

  Prowler, "gardens are a lot of work, and if no one's going to see it, what's the point?"

  I said, "that’s probably why I have not started this one yet."

  We went down to the park and the children chose a storyteller to sit at. The park was not as crowded as it was yesterday, and I told the Twins they good listen until noon, when we would go to the club for lunch. I then to
ured the park to see how things were. The food stands said they were worried that another day like yesterday and they would run out of prepared food, but they were able to handle to the crowd.

  I said, "you all did a great job yesterday, I don't think we will be seeing crowds like that again soon. Try to get ahead when you can, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it."

  There were only a few people at the swimming area, and I asked our life guard how he liked his job.

  He said, “at one time I was a lifeguard at a publicbeach, but this had more shade, and I will not have to swim out that far to get someone.”

  I asked him if he knew CPR and he asked what that was. So I told him about it, and he said, “We were taught to raise the hands above the head and back again, and push the legs to the chest and back again, if someone is not breathing it sometimes helps.”

  I said, “that could be helpful, but it's good to know my way as well.” So we found someone to help, and I showed him how to do CPR the way I was taught. He picked up on it right off, and said it could be very helpful. Then I walked the trails, and saw maintenance was doing a bit of racking. I asked how the trash was, and they said the only trash was from the small boxes that food came in, and everyone puts that into the recycling bin which is picked up each day.

  I said, "well that’s nice, how is everything else holding up?"

  They said there was nothing broken down yet, so I said that’s good to hear and went on my way. I headed for the food stands as I thought to myself, “it may seem dumb to ask how things are in a brand new park, but at least it shows I care.” I got myself a meat sandwich, just checked the quality. It was as good as the clubs, but then it was my chef that set up thefood shipments. I then found a storyteller to sit at and listen to a few stories. So far I had seen no plays or movies on this planet, the storytellers were the closes thing that came to an actor, so this was entertainment. Why no one had organized then, and set up a park before was beyond me, but the people were sure enjoying themselves.