by K. Rowe
“Hello, I’m paying for these two lots.” Dar handed over his scrap of paper.
“Two hundred-fifty thousand and three hundred.”
“Yes,” he replied with a pained expression, handing over the wad of drig.
The clerk counted it out and gave him a receipt. “Pick up your slave in the back. The shuttle is outside. Just show this to the slave and property masters.”
“Thank you.” He took the slip and headed to the back. The slave master met him at the door. “Hello, I purchased the Nouian.”
The slave master chuckled. “Okay, hope you know what you’re gettin’ into.”
“I guess I’ll be taking my chances.” He waited patiently while a cage with the Nouian was brought out.
“I’d keep him in the cage at least until you get back to your ship.”
Dar looked down at the Nouian. “Will you behave?”
“Ga.”
The slave master laughed. “You’re taking his word?!”
He knelt down so he was eye level with the little alien. “What’s your name?”
“Schmuff.”
“I’m Dar, but captain to you. Understand? I need an engineer, and I hope you’ll be able to help me. I’m not one to beat a slave, but I do expect you to work. I’m a fair captain, and if you prove your worth, I’ll give you pay.”
“Eg unkterstundd. Ka goo.” He folded his hands together, lacing his fingers, trying to show he wasn’t a threat.
Dar looked at the slave master. “Please, let him out.”
“Okay, but it’s your own risk.”
“I’ll take that.”
Returning to the Marsuian, Dar walked down the gangplank into the shuttle bay. “Ah, much better, a shuttle for the bay.” He looked over his shoulder. “Coming, Schmuff?”
The Nouian followed along. As he got down the gangplank, he took off at a mad dash. “Hey!” Dar hollered and ran after him. It didn’t take long to catch him. “What are you doing?” He grabbed Schmuff by the arm, spinning him around. Schmuff growled and lunged at Dar, biting him on the hand. “Fuck!” He let go, drawing his hand back, cradling it with the other. An intense burning immediately started going up his arm. “No, please no,” he said, knowing he needed to get back to his cabin. The pain and burning slowly crept through his body, his stomach cramped, and he vomited half way there. “Oh, why was I so stupid!?”
Staggering along, he finally made it. His legs didn’t want to work, so he partly crawled to the bathroom. Dar didn’t know what to do; the pain was intense, his breath came short, and his eyes couldn’t focus. His whole body seemed to be shutting down. Grabbing his little bottle of Mind Blow, he tapped out three tablets, tossed them into his mouth, and collapsed on the floor.
16
Three days later, Dar awoke flat on the floor of his bathroom. His head and hand hurt, but otherwise, he seemed fine. He sat up and tried to think of what happened. The Nouian, yes, the Nouian bit him. Oh, there was going to be punishment for that transgression, Dar thought, struggling to get up. He wondered where the nasty little fur ball was. Did he steal the shuttle and escape? Or did he steal Marcy? If so, he’d have a rude awakening since the warp drive was inoperable.
Washing his face, he looked in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, and mouth felt like a roll of cloth had been stuck in it. He took a drink and dried his hands. “Well, I guess I’ll go see if I can find that little Nouian bastard.”
Dar walked out to the bridge and found it empty. He studied the stars, seeing they weren’t moving. He looked at the controls and noticed the engine off. Everything was how he’d left it. Leaving the bridge, he followed the maze of catwalks down to the shuttle bay. The shuttle was still there. “Okay, what gives?” he said softly. A loud clanging noise reached his ears, he thought it came from the engine room.
Going to the door, he stopped and listened for a moment. Yes, there was noise, definitely. Dar wondered if he should go in there armed. He reached back and slid his knife out. With his left hand, he quietly opened the door and peered in. The Nouian sat on the floor, doing something, his back to Dar. Quickly closing the distance, he grabbed Schmuff by the back of the neck, threw him to the ground face first, and dropped his knee right in the middle of Schmuff’s back. “How dare you! How dare you bite me when I showed you kindness!” Dar held the blade to Schmuff’s throat. “Why did you do that?!”
“Churee, kaptaw,” he grunted. “Eg vag efkraid.”
“What?” He got up, keeping his distance. “What are you saying?”
Schmuff skittered over to a corner and held his arms in front of his face in a protective manner. “Eg vag efkraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Ga. Efkraid je jzurt mekka.” He made motions like someone was beating him.
“Afraid I’d harm you?”
“Ga.”
“Schmuff, I only grabbed you because I wanted to know why you were running off. I had no intention of harming you. I meant what I said about not beating slaves.”
“Nak?”
“Nak,” Dar replied.
“Churee, churee, kaptaw.”
“Is that sorry?”
“Ga, churee.” He stood and slowly approached Dar. “Eg nagt tek ewebbe geed eginar.”
Dar rubbed his face. “Oh, I wish you spoke Ontarrin, this is gonna be a long few months.”
“Eg’ll treech je Nouian.”
“Are you saying you’ll teach me Nouian?”
“Ga!”
“Well, we got about fifteen months til we reach Newrillis, and I have no idea how long for Marcy’s refit. So, we’re gonna have lots of time together.”
“Kaptaw?”
“Yeah?”
Schmuff pointed to the Ceriddium mix tank. “Eg figged.”
Dar walked over and noticed a rather dodgy looking patch on the tank. “You fixed it?”
“Ga.”
“Are you sure it’ll hold? Doesn’t look very sturdy.”
“Ga, set dak.” He pointed and nodded.
“You say it will? So we can make warp?”
Schmuff nodded again and held up three fingers. “Wak treig, nak mog.”
“Warp three? No, more?” He was beginning to get the gist of Schmuff’s language.
“Ga.”
“All right, thanks. But if that patch blows, you’re cleaning up the mess, okay?”
“Ga, unkerstundd.”
Unlocking the heavy door to the outside, Dar swung it open and was met by two Newrillians. He was docked at the Newrillian space station; a place he’d been a few times before. The alien species stood roughly six and a half feet tall, had dark green skin, and walked upright. Their faces had wide noses, large blue eyes, with a heavy brow ridge above, and what looked like peshine-like gills in front of their small ears. They weren’t a water-based society, so Dar wondered what function the odd appendages served. He’d never worked up the nerve to ask them either. “Hello,” he said softly, speaking in Newrillian. Despite their small ears, their sense of hearing was very acute. Loud noises tended to startle them. “I am Captain Dar Meltom, and this is the Marsuian. I was sent by Gwog of the Cunik to request a refit.”
“Come with us,” one of them said. The Newrillians were a mostly male-dominated society; so much of what Dar encountered on his trips here were males. The females tended to stay home and care for the younglings. They were a highly advanced species, especially when it came to weaponry. Prices weren’t cheap, but the weapons always lived up to their performance specifications.
He was taken to a small office and instructed to have a seat. Several minutes later, another male came out. “I am Kerner Noh. How may I help you?” he asked.
“I have a ship in bad need of a refit and I was told to bring her here.”
“We can help you with that.”
“Good, good. I don’t know how much it’ll cost, but Gwog told me to ask for a Gorrin…Gorrin…” he couldn’t remember the last name, since not all alien species used them.
“Algo
k?”
“Yes, that’s it! I was told that if the refit was more than I have, I could request credit for the rest.”
“You’ll have to see Gorrin about that. My job is to evaluate the ship and draw up a refit estimate.”
“Well, the Marsuian is pretty old.”
“Shall we go have a look?” Kerner asked, grabbing a clipboard.
“Yes, please. I know she’s at least fifty years old.”
“Fifty!”
“Well, from what I can see of the log book. Gwog said that despite her age, she’s not in bad shape.” Dar led the way to the port Marcy was docked at.
“How much did he say needs to be done?”
“Engine, weapons, and the cargo holds all need upgrading.”
Kerner shifted hands with the clipboard. “So, basically everything.”
“He did say the hull is in good shape.”
“I’ll be the judge of that…And we’ll need to take your shuttle out for a look.”
“Not a problem,” Dar replied. They reached the dock. “Here she is.”
He looked out the observation window. “Quite old. Origin?”
“Satiren.”
“Hmm, Satiren. Don’t think we’ve had a ship of that manufacture in decades.”
“I won her in a poker game on the Sirrix space station.”
Kerner headed down the entry tunnel. “Won it in a poker game, huh?”
“Sounds strange, I’m sure.”
He stopped at the hatch, pulled a scribe stylus from his pocket, and commenced his inspection. Dar followed along, not saying much. He figured Kerner knew what needed to be done. They went through the bridge and over to Dar’s cabin. “Captain?” Kerner asked.
“Yes?”
“I’m sure you’d like your quarters upgraded.”
“Oh, yes! Very much so!” Dar pointed to the bed. “I have three empty crates from Priddin jerky holding my bed up.”
“That doesn’t sound particularly comfortable.”
“No, and not doing wonders for my back, either.”
“We’ll get that fixed up.”
Four hours later, Dar and Kerner finally finished. Both had a clear understanding of what the old ship needed; and Dar now felt the pain of how much it would cost: over five million drig. He groaned as he looked at the estimate. “This is far more than I expected.”
“I’m sorry, but to get your ship up to current standards, it’s not cheap.”
“I know, I know. I guess I’ll be talking to Gorrin.”
“He’ll probably finance you—with interest, of course.”
Dar sneered. “Of course.”
Kerner was silent for a few moments. “Uh, there is one thing…”
“What?”
“I happen to know our engineers are working on an advanced warp engine.”
“So?” He wasn’t sure where Kerner was going with this.
“So, say you were to agree to an experimental testing of the engine. It would give you the top of the line prototype.”
“With what strings attached?” Dar asked, rather skeptical.
“At certain time increments, you bring the ship back here for them to download the information gathered, and they will make adjustments to it as needed.”
“Doesn’t sound too bad. Can you check into that for me?”
“Certainly.” He made a few notes. “And as far as the weaponry goes, they offer a few programs too.”
Dar looked around the ship. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Kerner tore a scrap of paper off his clipboard and scribbled some information on it. “Here’s a contact name for Eglig Modew, he might be able to find you a few freight hauling jobs to help start making some drig.”
“Thank you, thank you very much. I appreciate all that you’re willing to do for me.”
Dar left Kerner and headed toward the engine room. He figured Schmuff would be working there. As he entered the aft bulkhead, a wonderful aroma reached his nose. “Oh, where’s that coming from?” He sniffed a few times, trying to find the source. There was only one place it could be: the galley.
He hurried along, the smell making his mouth water. Dar wondered what it was. It smelled like braised bovidis shoulder, one of his favorites. The closer he got, the stronger the fantastic aroma got. Finally reaching the galley, he burst in the door and stopped dead. On the table was a large metal baking pan, a bovidis shoulder nestled inside with a few Gardinian tubers and some Iddrian beans. The skin on the shoulder browned to perfection.
Rubbing his eyes, he thought it was a hallucination. He swallowed all the saliva that poured into his mouth. The feast that lay before him looked like pure perfection. The only other person who could do up a bovidis shoulder like that was his mother. “Hello?” Dar called, not sure if there was someone else on board besides himself and Schmuff.
“Kaptaw, sigg doag.” Schmuff came from the kitchen. “Eg sho dignaar.”
Dar sat down at the table. “You made this? You made dinner?”
“Ga.” Schmuff grabbed a large knife and presented it to him. “Je kaptaw, je shev.” He motioned for Dar to cut the meat.
“Shev?” Dar wasn’t sure of that word.
“Shev.” He made motions of cutting the meat and serving it out.
“Ah, you want me to serve?”
Schmuff nodded, then disappeared into the kitchen. He returned with a bottle of Vigurian wine and set it on the table. Taking his seat, he patiently waited while Dar sliced the meat and served it.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“Mekka mogginar.” He patted his stomach and made a motion like a youngling coming out. “Mogginar.”
“Your mother?” Dar handed a plate to Schmuff. “My mother’s a great cook too.”
“Ga, mogginar. Eg niss mekka mogginar.” He made a motion like he was being pulled away. “Mogginar frookn akway.”
“She was taken away?”
“Ga, nuuw slevea.” Schmuff pointed to himself. “Slevea—je owank mekka.” He pointed to Dar. “Je owank mekka.”
Dar took a bite of the bovidis shoulder, it almost melted in his mouth. “Okay, now you got me confused…Are you trying to tell me your mother got sold into slavery?”
“Ga, mogginar slevea; Schmuff slevea.”
“I told you, I may have bought you at a slave auction, but I don’t consider you a slave. I needed an engineer, and you seem to know what you’re doing…Not to mention you’re an excellent cook.” He tasted one of the Gardinian tubers; it was sweet and starchy. “I think I got a great bargain for three hundred drig. But if you keep cooking like this, you’re gonna make me fat!” They laughed.
Schmuff poured two glasses of wine. He picked his up. “Tek taah Marsuian!”
Dar raised his glass. “To the Marsuian!” He reached across the table and clinked glasses with Schmuff. “May she serve another fifty or more years!”
17
“This is the Marsuian requesting permission to undock,” Dar said into his headset as he stood at the control console. His stomach jumped and jittered, the excitement inside him almost uncontainable. Considering the vast overhaul the ship had, the control console remained virtually unchanged. The re-fitters even left all the original Satiren writing on it. The only new part was a small sub-panel with a few weapons controls—namely torpedoes. After six months in dock, Dar was itching to get going. He’d gotten with Eglig Modew and had a few jobs lined up. One happened to be hauling a shipment of massive specialty rockets to Sirrix.
“Roger, Marsuian, you are clear to undock.”
“Thank you. And thank you all for the kind treatment you’ve shown me.”
“Safe journeys, Marsuian.”
Dar fired the bow thrusters, edging the ship out of dock. He backed away nearly a mile before slowly turning. Looking ahead, he saw the stars, just waiting for him. “Well, Marcy, let’s see what you can do.” He nudged the throttle, bringing the ship to full impulse power. “Schmuff? Do you read?”
Dar said.
“Ga, kaptaw, Eg’m reegy.”
“Let’s start out slow, just warp one for a little bit.”
“O-kay,” Schmuff replied. There were a few words of Ontarrin that he knew. Mostly it was his choice to speak his native language.
Dar made one last check of the navigation computer. His test should send them near Zumik 6 in the Tau sector, about two days away at warp one—if all went well. He was told to operate Marcy for three months, then return for evaluation. The total cost of the refit, with all the “experimental allowances” cost almost four million drig. He’d only have to repay Gorrin about seven hundred thousand for the loan. And with the way payloads were calculated, it wouldn’t take very long. Then he’d repay Gwog; something he had absolutely no problem with. He almost wished his long-time friend and mentor was here to see this.
“All right, Marcy, let’s open you up.” He rested his hand on the throttle, took a deep breath, and pushed it forward. “Warp one.” Dar watched as the stars became a blur. “How’s she doing, Schmuff?”
“Geed, Marcy wak egin geed.”
“Good? Shall I give her a little more?”
“Ga!”
“All right, warp two.” He upped the throttle. The stars ahead streaked by faster. “That’s it, now you’re moving.”
“Chasta! Chasta!” Schmuff called over the comm headset.
“Faster?”
“Ga!”
“Seriously?”
“Ga! Wak tregi.”
“Okay, warp three.” Dar let out a tense little sigh as he pushed the throttle again. He watched the warp speed indicator. “Warp three and holding.”
“Wak furg!”
“Oh, come on! Warp four?”
“Ga! Marcy kun frook set.”
“You’re confident Marcy can take it, huh?”
“Ga. Regfiktur sakt Marcy nwatss wak teg.”
