Captain Dan Saves Beta Earth

by Jeffrey Henning

“Firing up the UPA Striker A-Seven version twenty-three.” Watts told him as he used his three hands to rapidly push buttons on the console next to the old engine. As a Grot he should have four arms, but his fourth arm was cut off by an angry Human over a card game. The Human had accused him of cheating, which he would never have to do – he was simply counting cards in his genius little brain. He was small, about half the size of an average Human, but he was very agile. After his arm was cut off, he made a new one that had various attachments. His current attachment was a UPA wrist-console that he had modified to be more powerful.

  “I said you are clear to fire up the old engine!” Matthew said loudly.

  “I heard you the first time. The ‘old engine’ is firing up. It does take a few minutes to fire up a cold engine, you know.” Watts said as he used one of his hands to push buttons on his modified wrist console.

  “Well, that is one of the reasons we are testing my new engine out.” Matthew told him as he walked over to see if there was anything he could do.

  Watts laughed a little.

  “What is so funny?” he asked the little furry monkey looking creature.

  “I shouldn't say it, never mind.” Watts said as he tried, and failed, to stifle his laugh. It came out as chirps now.

  “Do tell, Engineer Watts.” Matthew said. He used Watts' title only to upset him.

  Watts bared his teeth and made his angry noise, which sounded like a deep growl mixed with a hiss. “Very well, I will tell you.” He smiled now. “The engine you keep saying is yours? When the test is complete, it becomes the property of Captain Dan and will remain on-board the Heatseeker.” He laughed so hard he was almost bent over. “Your engine will be my engine when you are gone!”

  “You’re lying. The UPA wouldn’t give its newest technology to a pirate like Captain Dan.”

  Quicker than Matthew thought the little four-armed monkey-like creature could move, Watts jumped on him, moved around to his back, and had a long, serrated knife at his throat.

  “Call the Captain a pirate again and I’ll cut your tongue out.” Watts said, moving slowly around him to look him in one of his eyes. His red and yellow eyes stared daggers into the side of the Lieutenant's head. He whispered slowly to talk in the man's ear.

  “Okay, okay! He’s not a pirate!” Matthew said as he held up his arms.

  “Watts, would you mind getting down please - without hurting him?” Belladi asked nicely as she entered the engine room to find Watts half-wrapped around Matthew’s neck.

  Watts looked at her and instantly felt like he wanted to get down without hurting the stupid UPA Engineer – though he did push off the human very hard, making him take a few steps to the side to recover. Watts landed on his workbench.

  Belladi bowed slightly. “Thank you, Watts.” She said with a smile. Her smile lightened Watts' two hearts.

  Watts mumbled something unintelligent as he stared at her. She was wearing another skimpy outfit, which highlighted her slim, very pink body. It also accented the curves in all the right places.

  “The Captain would like to know when the old engine will be online so we can have enough propulsion to dock with Zeta Earth Station One.”

  “Why didn’t the Captain just call?” Matthew asked.

  “Apparently, the last round of tests on the new engine knocked out ship-wide communications.” She said.

  Watts thought her voice was the most angelic and pleasing voice he had ever heard. He blinked a couple times, then shook his head. “Girl, I told you not to come to the engine room when we were working.” Watts told her after shaking off the effects of her pheromones.

  “I am sorry Watts, but the Captain sent me.” She said as she backed up to the hallway and stood in the doorway. “Is this better?”

  Watts sniffed the air around him. He could still smell her, but the effect was diminished greatly as far away as she was. “Better.”

  “When should the Captain expect the old engine to be brought online?” She asked loudly.

  Watts jumped up and used the pipes on the ceiling to swing over to the engine, one pipe at a time. Two of the pipes were blue, and he knew not to touch those – or he could possibly die. When he finally made it across the short way to the old engine, he dropped down onto the chair that was bolted down in front of the console. He held his modified wrist-console up in front of the engine, and his three arms went to work – two on the engine console and one on his wrist console. It only took him a few minutes before the engine started up. “There. Tell the Captain that it’ll be at full power in about ten minutes.” He told her over his shoulder.

  “Very good. And ship-wide communications?” She asked.

  “Come on girl, I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’ll work on that next.” Watts said with a grunt.

  “I could come with you to inform the Captain of our progress.” Matthew told her after moving to the doorway, clearly unable to look her in the eyes.

  She smiled. “I think it would be best if you helped fix what your engine broke.” She said as she ran her hand down his cheek.

  She left him right after her touch, leaving his jaw hanging open a little. He heard Watts laughing behind him. “What’s so funny this time?” He said furiously.

  “It’s funny because the Captain told her not to give you counselling!” Watts said as he swung himself around the engine room checking gauges, pipes, connectors, and various displays. He finally landed on his workshop table and detached his upgraded wrist console. He replaced it with a scanning tool, and started swinging around the engine room again, this time looking for what broke the ship-wide communications.

  “I don’t need therapy!” He said quickly.

  “Aha! I found the problem!” Watts said from somewhere behind the new engine. He popped his head up from the back corner of the engine room. “You are an idiot!” he said loudly and quickly jumped to hang off the pipes again. He made his way over to Matthew and tossed him a thick wire with a metal part hanging off of it.

  “What is this?” He asked. “And why am I an idiot?” he asked, handing the part back to Watts.

  “That, sir, is why the ship-wide communications is out. Our new engine burned right through it.” He said as he held the part up. “We’ll need to insulate the walls next to the engine.”

  “That’s ridiculous! My engine does not burn hot enough to burn through an insulated cable that’s over six inches wide!”

  “You want to make a bet on that? We’ll replace the cable, and the next time the engine turns on, you can see it fry my cable.”

  “What’re the stakes?” Matthew asked quickly.

  “You let me write your reports, and then you leave and tell Space Admiral Amaya that the engine has been fully tested.”

  “I’m not going to lose my job because of some little monkey!” Matthew said crossing his arms.

  “I am a Grot! Monkeys are only on your planets! Grots are everywhere! Grots are the best engineers in the entire universe!”

  “Oh please. The UPA has the best engineers in the entire universe.” He walked next to his engine and put his hand on the front console. “This should prove it. What have your people ever made?”

  Watts detached the scanner from his arm and replaced it with a welder. He grabbed his goggles and a short piece of cable from a bin next to his workstation. He jumped up to move behind the new engine while putting his goggles on. He dropped down behind it and immediately began welding the new cable into place. He came back up and replaced his welder attachment with one that looked like a sprayer and used the ceiling to move back behind the new engine again. He sprayed a foam like substance all over the cable and the side of the new engine. All of this took about five minutes.

  He landed beside his workstation and put his wrist console arm back on. After a few taps, he said “Attention crew of the Heatseeker, ship-wide communications have been repaired.”

  He waited a few minutes before moving to see if his message went out. It only took a minute and a half before
the speaker blared out.

  “Attention crew, this is your Captain speaking. We’ll be docking with Zeta Earth Station One in fifteen minutes. Zeta Earth Station One has a population of four hundred and ten. There is a small merchant area if you want to trade. Lieutenant Melton and Watts, please have a list of parts we need for new engine repairs and integration. We’ll be here for thirty-six hours. Keep your comms open at all times, just in case we need to leave early. Captain Dan out.”

  “You never said why I’m stupid, or what you’ve ever made.” Matthew said as he picked up a few crystal disks that he inserted into his wrist console. He brought up the list of parts he had assembled since they last docked and saved it to one of the disks. He pulled it out and gave it to Watts.

  “I built Twang,” Watts said as he took the disk and put it in one of the pouches around his belt which had his parts list in it as well. He left the engine room saying, “…and the Captain has prohibited Belladi from have any counseling sessions with you.”

  “I told you I don’t need therapy!” Matthew yelled after him. He stopped for a minute and his face wrinkled in confusion. “Twang isn’t human?” he asked himself loudly.

  * * * * *

  Lieutenant Melton entered the airlock hallway in full UPA dress uniform. His white pleated pants with red stripes complimented his red jacket, on which he had three small medals which he polished daily. He looked around to see the rest of the crew, minus the Captain, just standing next to the wall. He walked past them carrying a small square bag and headed towards the airlock. He was stopped by one of Too’Zer’s very large rock looking hands.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” the Lieutenant asked.

  “Not before the Cap’n.” Too’Zer said in a deep voice. Too’Zer was one of the last remaining Drogants in the Universe. The Drogant population were a mercenary race who took their entire population with them when they were hired for battle. In one war, the enemy killed the Drogant army, and then went on to destroy their entire race. Only three dozen Drogants escaped.

  “I am an officer in the United Planetary Alliance. You will move out of my way.” Matthew said.

  “Not before the Cap’n.” Too’Zer said again, this time taking a step forward towards the Lieutenant.

  “Enough.” Captain Dan said. He walked down the hallway, moved the Lieutenant aside with little effort, and stood in front of the airlock. He was wearing his typical outfit: loose denim brown pants, an untucked white button-down shirt, and a black leather coat. He was also wearing a skull cap pulled far down over his head with matching gloves. He complimented it with a black holster carrying his Watts-modified UPA Pistol. His usual outfit.

  “Are you cold, Captain Dan?” The Lieutenant asked.

  Dan just gave him a dark glare and turned to face his crew. He looked at them all. Too’Zer stood at his side as always.

  Then came Belladi, his super-beautiful Pluaggi who excreted a pheromone that would make most men and women want her – with the exception of most Humans, which whom it didn’t work on. “Did you take your pill? I don’t really want to see you get mobbed again.” He asked. She nodded to him.

  Watts was next. Watts was the greatest engineer Dan had ever known. He had his wrist console attachment in today. “No hacking the station.” He told him in a firm voice while pointing his finger at him. Watts nodded to him.

  Bort and Dort finished the line-up. They were a pair of human twins who just wanted to explore the galaxy. Dan took them on, and for the last two years, they have become the ship’s maintenance crew, salvagers, and barterers. Plus, they only wanted minimal pay. How could he say no to that? “You guys got the ships share to trade off?” he asked. Any time they got loot, they gave a share to the ship, which were sold off to pay for maintenance and parts. Bort and Dort both nodded to him.

  “Twang is pulling security on the ship. Too’Zer will replace him in eight hours, then Watts in another eight, then Belladi. The ship will remain locked at all times, except to our crew.” He waited a moment for his crew’s silent affirmations.

  “Can I go now? I’m not your prisoner you know. I am a United Planetary Alliance Officer.” The Lieutenant said.

  “Now, what’s the only rule I have for you?” Captain Dan asked.

  “Don’t get caught!” His crew said.

  “If I find out you did something wrong and have to turn around to turn you over to authorities, I will fine the hell out of you.” He told them. Some of them laughed.

  “Well this is going in my report.” Matthew said. He got a dark look from Captain Dan.

  “Belladi, is the game setup?” Captain Dan asked her.

  “Yes sir!” She replied, excited.

  “Well then, Lady and gentlemen, betting is open for the next minute. Please enter the number of people who you think will get a personal tour of the brig while we’re here, and how much you’re betting.” He said as he typed in his own bet on his wrist console.

  “What is this? Gambling? That’s illegal! This is definitely going into my report!” The Lieutenant said as he pulled his notebook out of his bag and jotted down some notes.

  “Actually,” Belladi interrupted immediately - after placing her bet. “According to the handbook of laws pertaining to ship captains, page forty-seven, section thirty-two: ‘The Captain may approve of any activity that promotes morale, except activities that would injure his or her crew.’” She said with a smile.

  “That can’t be right.” Matthew said. “Page forty-seven…”

  “Section thirty-two.” Said Belladi, helping him along. She watched as he jotted it all down.

  “Betting’s closed. See you all in thirty-six hours.” He said as he put his hand over the door control. The airlock opened with a swoosh.

  He instantly came face to face with Evelyn Williams, Commander of Zeta Earth Station 1.

  “Hello Trevor.” She said to Captain Dan.

  Chapter 2

  “I have repeatedly told you that is no longer my name.” Dan told her sternly.

  “And yet, it’s still in your file.” She said with a smile.

  “Ma’am. Lieutenant Matthew Melton reporting in as ordered.” Said Matthew as he pushed past Captain Dan and saluted her with his hand to his heart.

  “Lieutenant.” She said without looking away from Captain Dan. She returned his salute.

  “I have so much to report to you.” Matthew said, glancing at Captain Dan.

  “Report to my secretary, I need to speak with Captain Dan.” She told him.

  “Yes Ma’am.” He said, excitedly moving around her and nearly tripping to get to her secretary.

  “You can keep him, you know.” Dan told her as he watched him move quickly down the airlock hallway.

  “If he makes your life unpleasant, I may just permanently assign him to you.” She said with a smile.

  “You are more than welcome to, at least until the contract ends.” He told her.

  She smiled at him.

  He looked behind himself and moved to the side. “You guys can go any time.”

  “But we were watching her – “ Dort started to say, but was interrupted with a slap to the back of his head from Belladi.

  “Thank you, Captain, we’ll be taking our leave now.” Belladi said with a small curtsy. They all left the hallway and went inside the massive station.

  “You have a Pluaggi on your ship?” the Commander asked him after watching Belladi walk past her.

  “Don’t worry, she’s taken her pill before going onto your station.” Dan said.

  She gave a slight nod of approval. “Will you join me in my office?”

  “Do I have a choice?” he asked.

  “Not really, since I have to speak to you about your contract.” She told him.

  “I’ll be along, just need to get some parts first.” He said, holding up two data crystals.

  She tried to take them from his hand, but he held on to them tightly, forcing her to hang on to half of them. “Space Admiral Amaya has
informed me that the UPA is to provide you any parts you require during the Quantum-Ohm Engine test.”

  He raised his eyebrows a moment and let go of the crystals. “Throw in some steaks and beer, would you?” He more told than asked her.

  “Those are not required to perform the tests laid out in our contract.” She said with a smile. “Sorry.”

  “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying. I’ll be in your office in an hour. I got a few things to take care of first.”

  She raised her eyebrows as if to question him but stopped herself from doing so. “Very well. One hour then.” She said. She gave him a puzzled look and turned to walk away.

  He stared after her for a minute, smiled, and walked into the station. He heard the Heatseeker’s doors close and lock behind him.

  * * * * *

  “Captain Dan!” Lieutenant Melton shouted from further down the merchant’s hallway.

  As far as hallways go, this one was much bigger than a typical one. It was two floors tall and had an opening in the floor between the two floors with rails around so visitors can see below or above them. On both floors, merchants lined the walls with their own tables to sell their wares. Some merchants have built whole stores in the hallway. The only rule for the merchants was that they had to rent each spot (each spot was marked off), and they couldn’t sell any wares that the UPA deems illegal. This hallway ran all the way around the circular station, and in some parts, there were two floor tall windows – which weren’t allowed to be blocked.

  The windows overlooked Zeta Prime, which was a mostly volcanic planet. Instead of normal volcanoes that spewed molten rock and magma like the old Earth used to have, Zeta Prime's volcanoes spewed Axidonite which was used to help power starships. Zeta Prime was the only planet orbiting the dying star in this sector, but the Axidonite made it worth building a station and defenses in the sector. The UPA was the first to discover the planet, and as such was the first to build a station here.

  The merchant’s hallway was full of people, which surprised Dan because there were no populated planets around ZES1. The nearest populated planet was a three-day trip with an average engine. With the test engine, the three-day trip would only take two to three hours.