by J W Murison
‘They are paying for it aren’t they sir?’
‘As far as I am aware.’ He checked his pad and ran his stencil over it. ‘Yes, the moment they have finished refuelling we received payment. Courtesy of the PD music company of Earth. It is a good pay day for us.’
They happily went back to their work.
On board the Earth tanker designated five, the pilot was also feeling frustrated, ‘They sound a bit pissed off with us sir.’
The Captain sat back in his seat, ‘We can hardly blame them. We are supposed to fly in to ten thousand feet before their automated systems take over. As it is they are having to take over from twice the designated height.’
‘It’s not our fault we have never received atmospheric training sir.’
‘You’re right it isn’t, but they must be starting to feel a little frustrated. Remember that when you talk to them please. They have another twenty tankers to fuel up yet.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Maybe they could give us the training?’ Suggested the co-pilot.
‘I will pass that remark upstairs. You never know.’
It was a busy week for the tankers. By the end of it they had full tanks, as did every ship in the fleet. The fuel companies weren’t the only ones to benefit. As the Human music took the Empire by storm, then so did Human spending power. Food companies that grew fruit and vegetables began to receive custom. Many of these companies were consider purveyors of luxury goods and came from off world. The Modloch economy received a healthy boost.
CHAPTER 23
The door must have buzzed for the hundredth time in three days.
‘Bugger off.’ Charlie growled at the intercom. A few seconds later it slid noiselessly open.
Buzz smiled and showed Charlie the back of his hand. ‘Skeleton key pass. Sorry Charlie but I am going nowhere. We need to talk.’
‘I’m no in the mood Buzz.’
‘Obviously.’ He walked in and sat on the only chair in the room. Charlie eyed him suspiciously. ‘He is very sorry Charlie and wants to apologise.’
‘He knew before he gathered all of the senior staff together who was responsible for the music company. He intended to embarrass me before them all. I understand he didn’t have all the facts because I deliberately withheld them from Babes. He should have hiked me in by myself Buzz. No paraded me like a bloody clown. That is unforgivable.’
Buzz sighed, ‘He is far from perfect Charlie, he is Human.’
‘Right, and I’m no!’
‘Don’t go there Charlie.’
Charlie slumped back against his pillows, ‘Whatever. It preys on the mind sometimes.’
‘I couldn’t begin to imagine. But you are alive.’
‘Aye I am that Buzz, and grateful.’ Charlie looked up at the ceiling, ‘It might no seem like it at times, but I am.’
Buzz afforded a smile, ‘Still fighting the demons?’
‘Every day and every night.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’
Charlie shook his head, ‘Buzz, you have never thought I belonged here, not since I arrived. Neither has half the crew, including Komoru. You are worried I take a banzai and wipe out half the ship. Those who know of my special abilities want to run a mile when I come close.’
Buzz cringed inside, ‘Can you give us time Charlie?’
‘I don’t look into peoples’ heads you know. I occasionally pick up the odd stray thought if a person is in a highly emotional state, but that’s it.’
‘Did you use your abilities to secure that contract?’
‘Of course I did. They are the opposition.’
‘Not the enemy.’
‘No one is an enemy unless I am told they are.’
‘You must have enemies.’
‘I’m not a child, Buzz. There are plenty out there who hate my guts and want to kick my arse. There are plenty guys out there I can’t stand and want to kick their arse. That’s different. An enemy is someone my government pays me to fight and kill.’
‘We have never really had a chance to talk, have we?’
‘There’s been plenty of chances Buzz, you just don’t like or trust me.’
‘You must be feeling pretty isolated.’
‘No really. I have Cookie. We have been friends for a long time. I get on well with Kelly and Lewis. It’s enough.’
‘You’re right, I really don’t know how to take you.’
‘I understand your reservations Buzz. Your ultimate job is to protect Stevie, or that’s what you believe it is. You have been doing it for years. You think I am a loose cannon, and know I am one of the few people who could actually physically hurt him if I got it into my mind to do so. Dr Freeling running around telling everyone that I am emotionally unstable probably hasn’t helped either.’
Buzz sighed, ‘Good point.’
‘She isn’t a bloody shrink, she is a medical doctor. I keep my shit wired tight Buzz, I always have, it is in my nature. It has nothing to do with bloody combat stress.’
Buzz found a crack appearing in his face, a smile forcing its way to the surface. ‘Is it my imagination or have you been giving her the run around?’
‘Every time I see her it is a hundred questions. It pisses me off.’
‘I will take that as a yes then. I think she likes you.’
‘She fancies the pants off me. Literally.’
‘Why don’t you go for it then?’
‘I am a sergeant, she is an officer in the same army. It just isn’t done old boy. That’s her thoughts not mine. Besides, I don’t think I could stands the avalanche of questions every day.’
Buzz laughed. ‘I see. So you really think I am still looking out for Steven?’
‘What are you doing right now? How many of these conversations have you had since you took on the job of his second in command? Let’s be realistic, Steven is brilliant, beyond brilliant, but his man management skills are in the shitter.’
Buzz rocked with laughter. ‘Yeah OK Charlie. There has been more than a few. You have to try and keep in mind that Steven has never had this kind of responsibility before.’
‘I get that Buzz. At least us two went through the process. Me in the army, and I hear your father made you climb the ranks before he put you in charge of his business.’
‘He certainly did.’
‘It’s almost three years since he took command of this ship Buzz, something should have rubbed off on him by now. Instead of teaching him, you’re just protecting him.’
‘Ouch. I felt that.’
‘When we were kids, I used to protect Steven from the local bullies, never from himself.’
‘Looks like it’s my turn for the ass kicking. You think I am being over protective?’
‘Look Buzz, you and I both know that Stevie is a great guy, a decent bloke with good morals. He is the kind of guy that blokes like us feel naturally inclined to protect.’
Buzz held up a hand, ‘I get it Charlie. You’re right. I’ve got used to protecting him from the unpleasant shit that floats around, and here I am still at it, years later.’
‘You know Buzz, I really admire you for the way you haven’t turned your back on him. Most guys would have. I never knew him during that time, but by what Steven has been telling me it couldn’t have been easy.’
‘It wasn’t easy. Especially the first few years after the accident.’
‘Aye but you never gave up on him.’
‘I always knew that he was in there somewhere. I admired him as a kid, and I admired the determination and the fight he put in to get back on his feet. Every time I was able to spark a memory, I got a little more of my buddy back. I suppose he is more like my little brother than a friend. I always doubted his decision when he picked me for this job.’
‘The way I see it is you’re the guy that’s been keeping it all together. I think he couldn’t have made a better choice.’
Buzz thought that over for a moment, ‘Guys like us, huh?’
‘There is no such th
ing as a bad job Buzz, just bad bosses.’
‘Steven isn’t a bad boss Charlie.’
‘He isn’t a bad person Buzz. I have heard them all talking you know, and looked into the minds of the malcontents. Some of them resent him because he is so bright. They are the ones who resent him for not having the same qualifications as they do.’
Buzz grunted, ‘He had the accident before he could finish college.’
‘Aye, well it might be time he considered doing it through open university. Many of them resent the fact that he is trying to teach them without the relevant qualifications.’
‘Hasn’t he got enough on his hands Charlie?’
‘More than likely, but it is all about perception, isn’t it? OK, the young folk coming aboard now are in awe of him.’
‘You mean the problem is with the older guys, like the scientists that are left?’
‘Most of them were gone before I got here, but the few that are left certainly feel that way. They don’t mind so much if it comes from Komoru. It would seem that she is a star in the scientific world even though, from what I can gather, she followed Steven’s studies as far as she could go. Then she began to develop them farther. I heard that in the three years he has been in charge of this ship that he hasn’t bothered to submit so much as one scientific paper. Komoru has submitted at least a dozen.’
‘Hey, Stevie has literally written a whole damn book on star navigation in the past year. It’s what they are teaching at the academy.’
‘Has he got the relevant qualifications? Has he submitted them for review, published them in whatever manner the science community requires?’
Buzz pressed his knuckles into his eye sockets. ‘Not that I am aware of. No.’
‘I think these folk are desperately looking for something that they can hold up and shout out, “Yes, he is one of us. Come learn about the universe.”’
Buzz sighed heavily, ‘I don’t think he likes the way they handled his papers, or the way they treated Komoru when she stood by them.’
‘So what? In the Army, if you challenge one of your officers, try and tell him he is wrong, then you had better be damn well sure of your facts, and have the evidence to back it up. If you do it right they will listen to you. They will even respect you for that. Of course they will then steal whatever the hell it was, get a pat on the back and probably promoted for it as well.’
‘Yeah, I’ve seen shit like that go down in my time.’
‘That’s the point I am trying to make Buzz. We have seen it, we know how it works, but Steve doesn’t. He has never had to deal with these kind of issues. Everyone has looked out for him all his life.’
Buzz opened his mouth then closed it again. ‘I was about to say we have never had to deal with the issues he has. You have though.’
‘I never lost my memory Buzz. It might have been a lot easier to deal with if I had.’
‘Yeah I get that. I suppose I have to take the blame for a lot of that.’
Charlie shrugged, ‘I don’t think this is the time or the place to start proportioning out blame. What is, is. Deal with it.’
A slow smile spread across Buzz’s face, ‘You know, I think I’m beginning to like you.’
‘Oh aye? I get that sometimes.’
Buzz burst out laughing. ‘You haven’t been sitting here for the past three days... what is it you Scots call it, um...’
‘Sulking.’
‘Yeah that’s it, sulking.’
‘Is that what everyone thinks?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘No, I’ve been working on a report for whoever takes on this music thing. I have been studying the kind of music that the Modloch and some of the other races like.’
‘Their music is terrible.’
‘Bloody awful,’ Charlie agreed, ‘but it’s much less about the music and more about the sound, comparing the kind of instruments that they use and those that we use that sound similar. From there I have compiled a kind of chart of the kind of music I believe they will like. Apart from that I have been in touch with Kelly and we are working on an advanced training program. As soon as I have wrapped this up I am going over to work with him.’
‘You could go back to working with Stevie. Now this crisis seems to be over.’
‘He doesn’t need me at the moment, not stuck here anyway. Kelly needs me more.’
‘You mad at him because he took Howe and Beaver with him, and left you here?’
‘Oh hell no! He did exactly the right thing.’ Charlie sniffed, ‘OK, he did it for exactly the wrong reasons though.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The shit he was dealing with was ultra-high secret. I know that. Thing is I’m a sergeant in the army. I have signed the official secrets act. No matter what I found out, I would never reveal the details to anyone. The stuff he was doing before he replaced me was so far over my head I would have drowned had I tried to make any sense of it. He replaced me with two high ranking officers who could advise him, who would know what he was talking about. Good move, great move even. The thing is he replaced me because he didn’t feel he could trust me. Bad move.’
‘Yeah, I see. Problem is, no one is really sure about your state of mind.’
Charlie shrugged, ‘I’m not a child. I have seen guys come down with combat stress before. I know the signs and symptoms. If I feel at any time that it’s getting to the stage where I can’t cope, I will be the first one to admit it. I know the shit we are involved in here is far too vital to be jeopardized by some idiot going off his nut. I keep my shit wired tight. If I begin to unravel, I can assure you, I will be the first to notice.’
Buzz smiled and stood, ‘What about Stevie?’
‘Want me to do it or do you want to do it? I won’t be anywhere near as nice as you will.’
Buzz scratched his head, ‘Let’s just see what Stevie does when I tell him you won’t accept his apology from me.’
‘That should be interesting.’
Buzz left Charlie to it. He had a lot to think about.
CHAPTER 24
The Chief sat in front of the Emperor in a state of high anxiety. The longer the Emperor sat and stared at him the more anxious he became. He wasn’t sure if it was the cold smile that didn’t reach the Emperor’s eyes which worried him the most or the fact that he was flanked by two of the Emperor’s executioners.
‘Are you happy with your post Chief?’
‘Yes sire.’ He nodded vigorously, ‘Very happy.’
‘Are you sure Chief?’
‘Yes sire.’
‘Then why is it I hear that you have taken yourself into the music business?’ The Chief could manage no more than a strangled squawk. ‘No answer? OK, let me go on. You see these Humans you are so friendly with? I had them right where I wanted them. Beholden to me. This side of the great barrier they couldn’t survive without me and my generosity. I would have to give them fuel, food, escort their freighters back and forth between the barrier.’ The Emperor waggled a finger in front of the Chief’s face. ‘I bet I know what you are thinking. You must be thinking, “Wow! How generous of my Emperor. The expense must be tremendous.”’ He sat back with a smile. ‘Of course you are right. It is expensive. Do you know what it isn’t as expensive as Chief?’ He leaned forward again, ‘I suppose I am going to have to explain this as you are a complete idiot. It isn’t as expensive as building a whole new battle fleet, training its personnel and paying them. I had a whole brand new battle fleet at my fingertips, and a race that quite frankly frightens the shit out of every race this side of the great barrier.’ He gestured with his arms, ‘A whole race of fearsome meat-eaters beholden to me and my generosity.’
The Emperor sat back and took a drink of water. The Chief’s eyes were beginning to roll in his head in panic. ‘Of course a few years from now, maybe light years from here, when I had enough trained personnel, I could have simply let the Human fleet run out of fuel. By the laws of salvage I could have gained myself a whole ne
w fleet, free of charge. Now, with the Humans being able to buy their own fuel and food, I have no leverage. None. Nothing. All gone. All that generosity and goodwill flushed down the toilet. All because my Chief Engineer is a complete idiot. Thank you Chief. You know when I sent these fellows out to fetch you it was to drag you screaming into a quiet room where you were to be tortured and then executed? I was quite looking forward to the show.’ He smiled, ‘I was going to watch the highlights in my bath this evening.’ He sighed, ‘I was so looking forward to that. Another evening’s entertainment ruined, and all because of you.’
Foam had began to form on the Chief’s muzzle and his eyes were rolling uncontrollably.
‘Will someone give the idiot a drink of water before he faints.’
One of the executioners poured water into a glass and forced it into the Chief’s hands. He managed to gulp a few mouthfuls. The Emperor waited until he seemed to have gained some measure of control again.
‘Would you like to know what saved your life? Of course you would.’ The Emperor picked up a pad. ‘I received this from the owner of Dylastics, that wonderful engineering company:
‘My Emperor,
It is with the greatest joy that I supply your new city ship with the generators that you need. We have at this time four of our latest generators in stock. I have already started work on the other eleven units that you require. Please accept my apologies for not having everything that you need in stock. I assure you that I will endeavour to have them completed and shipped out to you as soon as they have been built and tested.’ The Emperor put the pad down.
‘The funny thing is Chief, none of my quartermasters remember ordering such a thing. Enquires were made and it turns out that my Chief Engineer paid for them himself, out of his own pocket. Out of the profit he made from his deal with that music company. Now why would you do that, Patron? I want an answer.’
The Chief took a deep breath, ‘Many of the generators are a complete write-off, sire. I asked for replacements but was told that there was no money for such things and to make do. It meant that your ship would not have been fully powered. In the extremely unlikely event that it is attacked, we would not have been able to supply full power to the shields and the weapons. I had no idea that I would make so much money from the music contract. As soon as I did, I ordered the new generators and paid for them myself. I could not let the ship leave here without you being fully protected, sire.’
