Their gruesome task completed, Harmon and Clip went onto the bridge of the battlecruiser and took a look around with the lights from their helmets. Clip noticed the open panel on the module in the center of the room. He pushed off from the hatch and floated over to it. He had his kit over his shoulder, holding Jayneen with a power cell attached to her. He settled down in front of it, strapped into the seat, and looked at the cables that would connect Jayneen to the ship. He didn’t need to make any modifications; all of the plugs were the same type that was in the back of the cube. He didn’t completely connect the AI to the ship yet, though, and he kept the power cell hooked up.
“Looks good up here. Zee, you guys get the reactor up?” Clip asked over the comm.
“Yess, I think sso. The rodss in the fussion coress in all four reactorss withdrew and sstopped reacting many yearss ago. Thiss type of ssafety override iss very common on sshipss. After a sspecified amount of time with no sservice, the power plant sshutss itsself down. The little oness have manually sstarted one of the reactors, and I think we are ready to engage power. Oncce that iss complete we will know how much life iss left in that core. We will then check the others.”
The lights slowly came on in the bridge. Harmon could feel a slight vibration through his gloved hand as he held onto the command seat in the center of the space. Panels lit up everywhere. Clip connected the last few cables to Jayneen.
Jayneen began the initial ship start-up protocols, and every system on the bridge ran a diagnostic. She maintained a running dialogue so Clip and Harmon could keep up. Some of the things she told them had already been run through, as it took her longer to tell them about it than it did for her to do it.
“I have engaged the environmental system and reprogrammed it to maintain oxygen levels consistent with what was set in the hauler,” she said through the speakers in the bridge and their comms. It will take one hour to normalize. I can engage the artificial gravity at any time. Please let me know when you would like it performed.”
Harmon called out to everyone on his comm to warn them. It would not do for one of the crew members in the power plant to be freely floating over an open panel of some sort when it engaged. He felt pressure as his boots hit the deck.
“Jayneen, can you set the gravity to the same level as the planet Joth?” Harmon asked.
“Yes, I will adjust it,” the AI answered.
Harmon sat in the command chair and waited for the atmosphere to become stable. He wondered about the weapons on the ancient battlecruiser. Would they work? Would they even need them? No pirate in their right mind would attack a warship, especially one that was over seven hundred meters in length. Working weapons would mean a higher sales price. Maybe they could test them later.
“All four reactorss are in operation. We have full power available. The reactorss have approxximately ten perccent of their life left before they will have to be replacced,” Zerith told them.
“Ten percent? That’s it? Where are we going to get those?” Clip asked.
“We have more than two hundred yearss left, Clip,” Zerith explained.
“Oh. That’s different, then,” Clip said. “I wonder if we should mention that when we sell it?”
* * *
Harmon and Clip watched the lifeless star port fall back as Jayneen applied power to the maneuvering engines and backed away from it. They had been able to take their helmets off outside of the hauler for the first time in days. The air had a slight funky smell to it, but it was nothing they noticed after a day or two.
They didn’t come out of the suits completely, just in case. Zerith and the rest of the crew kept their helmets close by back in the power plant, as well. Vera and Kyla had put their mates to work back in the engine room with them, but they kept an eye on them. Both Hank and Stan had grinned at the prospect. Normally, they were told to stay out of the engine room on the hauler. They could dismantle things quickly, and their mates knew it. The women weren’t about to turn them loose in a room that important. Sure, the brothers could put something back the way they found it, and they wouldn’t risk damaging the ship, but some things were best left untouched…curious or not.
When Jayneen applied power to the ship’s main engines, they felt the raw power the ship was capable of. Jayneen adjusted the dampeners so the level of G-forces was at a comfortable level for them. They would reach the gate out of this system in half the time it took to come across. Harmon had been on fast ships before while in training, but nothing like this. It was awesome.
Jayneen sent repair bots throughout the ship, fixing minor problems as they headed out. Damage had occurred in a number of places because all of the lines in the ship had frozen when the power plants shut down. Minor damage like a water line leaking was something the ship’s automated systems could handle easily. The automation was how a crew of one hundred was able to handle the ship. A similar ship took four hundred in the fleet back home.
Harmon prepared himself for the feeling of gate entry. Even though the battlecruiser had taken less time to cross the system than the slow scrap hauler had, the time in transit between gates was not going to be any shorter. They entered the gate and disappeared.
* * *
Clip and Jayneen had applied a translation program to the ship’s operating systems. All of the monitors were now in Earth Common. It made things a lot easier. Even though Jayneen was flying the ship, Harmon needed to have everything at his fingertips.
Down in the bay, Harmon spent some time going over the fighter’s controls. The fighters looked like they would be too difficult to fly with just two arms. Perhaps Clip and Zerith could find a work-around. Kyla said they would be fast and dangerous with the quad laser mounted on the front under the nose. Each ship also had mounting brackets for eight missiles. Hank and Stan were pretty confident they could operate the system that mounted the missiles to the fighters. There were plenty of missiles stored on a rack in front of the fighters, so they each gave it a try.
The two Leethog discussed how to change the controls over to a two-handed system while they loaded missiles. Zerith told them not to start taking anything apart just yet. In their investigation, they also discovered the fighters used liquid hydrogen for fuel just like the Zax III, and there was more than enough of that on board. Stan and Hank dragged the fueling hose over, grinning at each other. Why not?
Harmon had never intended to get into the arms business, but working fighters with the ship would be a bonus for a buyer. It had to make the ship worth more. Perhaps a world government would purchase all of it in a package deal.
With Jayneen’s help, they could move the ship from Point A to Point B, but there was no way they could truly operate it. It would need a full crew. It was a good thing, then, that all they needed to do was get it back to their system and in orbit around Joth. From there, he would figure out the best way to sell it. Perhaps an auction, inviting potential buyers to come to the system for the sale? Maybe Rinto knew an auction company that would handle all of the arrangements.
* * * * *
Chapter Thirteen
They emerged into the Tretrayon System. After a moment of disorientation, Harmon looked at the sensors and was relieved to see that there were no Tretrayon Defense Fleet ships near the gate. He would have hated to be on the receiving end of an officer’s decision that the battlecruiser was a threat. He had instructed the AI to turn off all defensive shields and power down all weapons systems. They weren’t turned off in case a pirate or two was completely insane and attacked them, but powered down to a dormant state.
“I’m glad there are no ships out here, but I don’t see them anywhere around at all. Do you?” he asked Clip. “There is usually a light cruiser and a couple of frigates nearby, so ships don’t get jumped shortly after entry.”
“I’m not sure. It is unusual,” Clip said. He was looking for them also.
“I will bring up the entire system for you,” said Jayneen.
“Nice,” said Harmon. “I didn’t know
how to do that.”
When the sensors showed him the ships in the system, he was able to determine which were civilian and which belonged to the fleet by their designation code. Clip and Jayneen had disassembled the identification system on the Hauler, then reverse engineered the pulse patterns. Once they had that, it was simple for Jayneen to break the fleet’s code and they were able to see everything the fleet had plotted. Something was…odd, though. Harmon looked again and started counting.
“Hey, Clip, come look at this and tell me if I am counting right. I only see half the fleet. There are only twenty-eight ships out there. I see the Albinta and its escorts on the other side of Tretra near the shipyards, so I know that the second fleet is still in the system,” said Harmon.
“It looks like you’re right. Isn’t that the Agonon, the one with all the fighters aboard?” Clip asked, pointing to a group of ships about a day away from them.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Harmon replied. “I guess half of them did go out of the system like Evelyn mentioned. It’s been two hundred years since any military ships left the system. Whoever hired them must have paid a system’s ransom, that’s for sure. As far as I know, we don’t have any enemies they would have to go chase down.”
“Well, being a hired gun is a sure way to make some,” Clip said. “Doesn’t sound like a good decision to me.”
“You have a good point there, buddy. A good point,” Harmon agreed.
“Unidentified ship exiting the gate. This is TDF Weltner. You will identify and state your intentions,” a voice said over the comm. She sounded serious.
“Squat! That ship is a missile carrier. I should have known they would see us,” Harmon said, sitting upright. “Jayneen, can you put it on the screen so I can answer? Fast.”
The screen came up on the console in front of the command chair. Harmon saw a young lieutenant on his screen. He recognized her from the academy.
“Hi Abby, it’s Harmon Tomeral. How are you this fine day?” Harmon asked.
“Harmon? What are you doing in…what appears to our sensors as a medium battlecruiser coming through the gate?” Ensign Abigail Peetro asked, clearly surprised. She looked over to her side, and Harmon heard her talk to someone. “Sir, I recognize him. Yes, sir, I will.”
She looked back at her screen. “What are you doing?”
“Salvage rights,” Harmon said. “I am bringing this ship into orbit around Joth with the intention to sell it. You can look us up. Tomeral and Associates. We are a registered company. Our ship is actually in the bay of this baby.”
“Wait one,” she said, and the screen went blank. The Weltner had muted comms on their end.
“What do you think they’ll try and do?” Clip asked, concerned.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure this has never happened,” Harmon said, shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing, I hope. Unless they plan on giving us frost because of the stomping I gave them at the competition,” he added. Now that he thought about it, it was a good possibility. Ten minutes passed before the connection came back up without a visual.
“Unidentified, you are to proceed to upper orbit around Joth. Do not deviate from this flight plan. Await further direction once you are onsite. TDF Weltner out,” she said, her tone serious again.
Five days later they were in orbit around Joth. Harmon was furious. They had been informed that the Tretrayon system government, located on Tretra, was not going to allow an auction of a medium battlecruiser in the Tretrayon system. They said that it would bring many “unsavory type” beings into the system. They tried to claim that it may actually bring in ships of the same caliber.
To ensure the auction was not held, the voice coming through the comms had politely informed him that they could not register the ship without a title. Without a system registration, the ship could not receive a galaxy registration. The Bith controlled the process of registering any ship using the gates. It was one of the few rules they insisted on, having put it in place to deter piracy. If a ship was stolen, it could be reported and locked out of gate use. Of course, this didn’t keep nefarious types from stealing ship IDs. The battlecruiser could not leave the system without a galaxy registration unless they were willing to travel for years. Clip could probably fake an ID, but the fleet already knew of them.
“At leasst we are in orbit around Joth,” Zerith said. “Otherwisse, they would assk for all the weaponss to be dissmantled and the ammunition turned in.”
“Why would they require that?” asked Jayneen from the overhead speakers.
“On Tretra, they think that if no one is armed, everyone is safer,” said Clip.
“Beings are safer if they can defend themselves,” stated the AI. “This is statistically true.”
“Welcome to Joth. Would you like citizenship status?” Harmon said, smiling despite the mood he was in.
* * * * *
Chapter Fourteen
Two weeks later, Harmon was sitting outside of the office of the president of Joth. He was nervous; it wasn’t every day a being got to meet the president. He hoped the meeting would be profitable.
They had left the battlecruiser in lockdown mode with the defensive screens up. Harmon didn’t think the fleet would attempt to get aboard. After they had received their instructions, the fleet did not contact them again. Jayneen would contact Harmon if it appeared any other ship was getting too close.
Two weeks earlier, Harmon and Clip had told Rinto of their discovery and resulting predicament. He was amazed they had even tried to start the ancient battlecruiser, much less try to bring it back to Joth. He asked them why they didn’t just go to another system and sell it before coming back home. They looked at each other dumbfounded—they hadn’t thought of it.
“That would have been a lot smarter,” Clip said, “but we’re here now and we’re stuck with it.”
“We can’t use the gate to go anywhere to sell it, either,” Harmon added, “and no one will come here and buy a ship, no matter what kind of deal they get on it, if they can’t take it with them.”
“Boys, let me make a few calls. Maybe there is something you can do,” Rinto told them. “After I make the calls, you boys are going to take me up in that fancy shuttle, so I can see this ship and meet that AI. An actual AI…who would have believed it?”
“Ssir, the pressident will see you now,” said the president’s personal assistant, a light green Prithmar, bringing Harmon’s thoughts back to the present.
Harmon walked into the large office and met President Jarith Benter halfway across the room. He was a grey-haired man, several inches shorter than Harmon, with a strong grip.
“Harmon Tomeral, I am glad to meet you. That was a fine display you put on a while back. I speak for every being on this planet when I say your planet is proud of you,” he said, looking Harmon in the eye.
“Thank you, sir,” Harmon said, slightly embarrassed. He hadn’t competed for his planet. It had been a personal thing, but he could see what it meant to everyone now.
“Sit down, sit down,” said the president, waving at a couch by the window. “Kizoola says you have a bit of a predicament. Tell me about it.”
“Well, sir, I have a medium battlecruiser on my hands, and I can’t get rid of it. I can’t register it, so I can’t leave the system to sell it. From my time at the academy, I know that Joth, and you especially, have been trying to provide a crew to serve on a ship in the fleet. I also know the fleet has not been very receptive of your offer as they only want humans in the fleet.” Harmon shook his head. Xenophobia was something he just couldn’t wrap his head around.
“You’re right; I have, and those xenophobes have fought it every step of the way,” said the president,
“Sir, would you…the planet Joth, be interested in a battlecruiser?” Harmon asked, hoping he would like the answer.
President Benter looked at him for a moment and smiled. “That is a great question. If we had our own ship, how could they say no? Let me make a call to the system president
. Would you mind waiting outside?” he asked.
Harmon sat in the waiting area and made small talk with the pretty Prithmar. She asked if she could take a picture with him since he was famous. Harmon gladly obliged and had her send a copy to him. He was going to tease Zerith and tell him he could get hugs from prettier Prithmar than Zerith could any day of the week. He was looking at the picture on his slate when he heard something slam in the president’s office.
“Ssometimess he doess that,” said his assistant, shrugging.
The President opened his door and called Harmon back into his office. Harmon went in and sat back down. He looked over and saw the desk comm lying in pieces against the wall. That was not a good sign.
“President Jiffers let me know, in no uncertain terms, there was not going to be a ship made by another race as part of the fleet. He didn’t trust its manufacturing. When I argued with him, he informed me that arguing, instead of going along with him, was why we pay the tariffs we do for the goods we receive from Tretra. The bastard threatened me with more tariffs, too! He threatened Joth!” President Benter said, clearly angry. “Politics!”
“Look, Harmon, can I call you Harmon? I want to help you out. Frost! I want the ship. But Tretra has us between a rock and a sand pit, and that’s just the way it is. The way it has always been. The next thing you know, they’ll try to make us collect beings’ weapons,” he said, shaking his head.
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