Free Trader Complete Omnibus

by Craig Martelle

  “We were in zero-gravity. Everything was floating. It wasn’t pretty, and G-War tried to take off with my finger.”

  Jocelyn slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe what I’m getting myself into.”

  “I guess you had to be there. Oh well, follow us to sickbay so you can have your implant fitted and then get used to it before heading to the matter transfer chamber. And whatever you do, if you lose a finger, you better find it before the ‘cats do.”

  The Matter Transfer Chamber

  “Is everyone good?” Braden asked. Fea and Treetis looked miserable. They hated the vests that covered their necks and bodies. G-War had a new scratch across his face where Fea let him have it. He knew enough not to fight back. He maintained a respectful distance after that.

  Pik Ha’ar rested his hand on Aadi’s shell. The two were fast friends and Pik felt responsible for Aadi’s capture by the Androids.

  The Wolfoids wore their gear with the harnesses over top. They carried their lightning spears easily as they always traveled with them. Skirill and Zyena were still in the tree.

  “Time to head in,” Braden called, holding out his arm to give the Hawkoid a place to land. Micah held out her arm, too. Skirill landed softly, his claws wrapping around her armored forearm. Zyena did the same.

  The Rabbits stood to the side, looking small and sad.

  “I’m sorry,” Micah told them. “You have been a great help every time we needed you. We need you now, too, but there is a limit on how many bodies can be transferred to the Traveler at one time. We’ll make it safe and then you’ll be able to travel to the ship whenever you want.”

  Their whiskers flickered as their noses twitched, but they didn’t reply.

  Micah led the first group to the elevator. Braden directed the second group in when the elevator returned, and he came with the last few.

  Upon Braden’s arrival on the manufacturing level, Micah set out, with Skirill standing regally on her upper arm, near her shoulder. The others followed and Braden brought up the rear. Jocelyn was all eyes as she saw the immensity of the operation beneath New Sanctuary.

  Micah pointed toward a corner, where the first of the combat vehicles was being cut apart and fed into the recycling system.

  They continued on the catwalk, misnamed as the ‘cats hated walking on the grating, until they reached a room tucked away on the far end of the facility.

  They entered the circular room, one by one, and Micah pointed out their chairs to them. Once Braden and Zyena were inside the room, the wall slid into place behind them.

  The Wolfoids climbed into chairs, side by side. The ‘cats looked small in their reclining metal seats. Fea yowled long and low. Treetis’ eyes were big as he stared at nothing.

  Aadi floated downward until he rested on a seat. Pik took the seat next to him, holding his trident across his chest. His new and restricted blaster was in a holster at his side. “You people blink when we arrive so I don’t think you’re dead!” Braden warned them.

  The Hawkoids were carefully placed in their seats. Jocelyn took hers, reclining stiffly as she tried to make herself comfortable. The anxiety of the group weighed on all of them.

  Micah took her seat. Braden continued to stand. “Last reminder. Keep your hands, paws, feathers, and shell inside the chair. Don’t touch anyone else and try to stay still. It’ll be over in an instant. When we get to the other side, you’re going to puke. Accept it, embrace it, and try not to get any on me. If it takes a few minutes before you can sit up, that’s okay. There’s no rush. We’ll work our way from engineering forward, incrementally. That’s it for my plan.”

  Braden took his seat and leaned back.

  “Holly, work your magic.”

  “The panels will shimmer. Stay in your seats and do not move. Space between you is important as the device catalogues and deconstructs you. You will be reconstructed on the Traveler. For you, it will seem as if only a moment has passed, while the entire process will take one to two days. Relax. Close your eyes and breathe deeply.”

  The mirror-like panels on the wall shimmered. Then a deep tone pressed in on them. ‘Everyone relax and remain still,’ Micah said over the mindlink. ‘It’ll be over before you know it even started.’

  Braden opened his eyes slowly. His head throbbing, as it always did after a transfer, but this time wasn’t as bad.

  The ceiling colors were different. The walls shimmered into focus. Braden never understood if that was the end of the matter transfer process or his eyes lying to him. He accepted it for what it was.

  “Welcome to the Traveler, good people of Vii,” Braden croaked. He slowly sat up, ready for the nausea to wash over him. He took a drink from his flask, let his feet hit the floor, and stood.

  The spin of the ship pulled him slightly to the side. He took a tentative step. “I must be getting used to this,” he said as he continued around the room. He stopped at Pik’s chair. “I told you to blink!”

  Braden shook the Lizard Man until his jaw started to work and he turned his head.

  Treetis yowled, and G-War jumped down. Fea stayed in her seat. Jocelyn had paled. She was sitting perfectly still.

  Braden opened the door, finding an Android on the other side. He pulled his blaster and aimed it at the Android’s chest.

  “Holly dispatched me to see to your needs,” it said pleasantly.

  “I need a bucket.”

  The mechanical creation had one by its side along with a Cleaning Bot.

  “It’s like you’ve dealt with humans before.” Braden took the bucket and returned to the room to give it to Jocelyn. Micah was standing.

  “Maybe you can get used to traveling this way. I don’t feel sick either.” She petted Treetis’ head. “You’ll be alright, little man.”

  Micah lifted him to the floor where he kept his legs wide for better balance. Fea stood in her chair and Micah lifted her down, too.

  ‘I hate you,’ she told G-War.

  ‘I told you not to come,’ he replied.

  “Wrong answer,” Micah suggested as she straightened the feathers on the heads of the two Hawkoids. Zyena started to bob excitedly. She closed her eyes and leaned into the spin.

  The Golden Warrior nuzzled his mate, and she hissed at him. Her chest started to heave. G-War tried to dodge out of the way but she was faster, stopping him with a single paw. She ralphed a pile of something noxious at the scarred orange ‘cat’s paws. Fea took a deep breath.

  ‘I don’t hate you anymore,’ she said calmly, nuzzling his face.

  ‘Did you just wipe your puke on me?’

  ‘Probably.’ She walked past, taking each step tentatively as she tried to adjust how she walked. She staggered sideways, straightened, then staggered again, finally opting to take two steps, wait, then take two more.

  Treetis took one step and projectile-vomited. G-War jumped straight in the air, twisting and contorting his body so he wouldn’t land in the mess. He kicked off a chair, did a backflip, bounced off a second chair, and landed with all four paws packed tightly together in the single clean space on the deck. He bunched his legs under him and leapt from the danger zone.

  ‘You’re right. That does make me feel better,’ he told Fealona.

  Zyena started beating her wings. Aadi swam out of the way. She took off, aimed for the doorway, tucked her wings as she went through, and spread them wide once in the open. The Android ducked out of the way, but was still smacked by Zyena’s next downstroke.

  Skirill followed suit, almost crashing into the door on his way out, but he corrected quickly once in the open space of engineering.

  “Stay away from those vines!” Braden called after them.

  “Is everything okay, Master President?” Holly’s voice projected through the speakers outside the matter transfer chamber.

  “Perfect delivery, Holly. How long did it take?”

  “It was thirty-four hours,” the AI replied.

  “A little longer than normal.”

  “T
he group has a lot of equipment. There was a significant amount of material that needed to be transferred. And I’ve been able to improve the system. Were you less disoriented this time?”

  “We were much better this time.”

  Jocelyn emptied the contents of her stomach into the bucket with a great deal of gagging and coughing.

  “I can hear that. Are you telling me the truth?” Holly pressed.

  “I am. The new people are having some issues, though. I guess we’ll call that the rite of passage. The rest of us are not having any problems, but once again, Braden thought Pik was dead on arrival.”

  “I will delay making any further refinements to the matter transfer process until after you return.”

  “Out of the way, Android,” Braden growled, standing between the Android and the others as they filed from the matter transfer chamber.

  “Of course,” it replied neutrally and stepped to the side.

  ‘I was not dead on arrival,’ Pik clarified over the mindlink as he shuffled past.

  Jocelyn bounced off Braden when she stumbled after taking too many steps in a row. Treetis tried to run and promptly crashed into a computer console. He sat down where he was and watched the others.

  G-War moved well and determined that it was in his long-term interest to walk downhill from his mate, to keep her from falling over or running into things.

  Treetis was on his own.

  The Hawkoids flew gracefully in the space around the chamber. They extended their explorations, but steered clear of the metal-leaved vines.

  “See anything?” Braden asked.

  ‘Nothing. It is as we last saw it.’

  “Even though a number of groups have come through here since. We have how many corridors to check?”

  “There will be thirty-six, as they are separated by ten degrees on the outer rings.”

  “Thirty-six corridors that are a kilometer long with multiple rooms and berthing areas each. We know that one is off limits, the electric people. How they survived is beyond me, but we’ll mark it, seal that hatch, and move on. Holly, you said that you’d have equipment that we could use to permanently close some of the spaces.”

  “Yes, I have all the Androids at my command. You will have one at your disposal at all times.”

  Braden closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. His cheek muscles stood out from the strain. “Are you absolutely, positively sure that we can trust these scumbags?”

  “Master Braden, that’s no way to talk about mechanical constructs that have no intelligence. They simply do as a computer program tells them. That program is me. I have purged all the malicious code that I could find from the system.”

  “What about the stuff you couldn’t find?” Braden wondered.

  “If it rears its ugly head, then we’ll deal with it.”

  “You mean that we’ll deal with it,” Braden replied. “We’ll be keeping a blaster aimed at them, just in case. I trust you, Holly, but not these things. I know that I never will. I think my hatred of these things will be passed down through the generations. Androids should never become the primary workforce on this ship.”

  “The Androids serve far too many critical functions aboard the RV Traveler to be discounted like that. The only way they’ll be a secondary work force is if thousands of humans took up residence on the Traveler and got to work. The solution appears to be dilution, not fewer of them, but more of humanity.”

  “Don’t mess with me, Holly, or you’ll be sending dead Androids through the recycler faster than you can build them,” Braden said in a cold, hard voice. He pulled his blaster and approached the Android. “And don’t you mess with me, either.”

  “That’s not what I do. I will do as Holly has commanded, which is simply to follow your orders. What would you have me do, Master Braden?”

  “Stay out of my way while also staying where I can see you. Can you do that?”

  “I will do my best.”

  “You don’t sound like a machine.” Braden glared at the Android and its artificial skin, which was different enough from a human’s to be creepy.

  “Let’s go,” Micah said, giving Braden a nudge.

  The Wolfoids stood comfortably nearby, their lightning spears at the ready. Their experience with Androids hadn’t been good either, and they were on edge.

  “You look like you’ve already acclimated to the spin,” Micah said to break the tension.

  ‘It feels natural. I guess one never forgets,’ Bounder said. They started walking without a hitch.

  “This way,” Braden said, pointing in the opposite direction of the vines. The group turned and started walking between the workstations and equipment that made up the engineering section of the RV Traveler.

  Splitting Up

  The Hawkoids raced ahead, describing more of the same as they continued into the distance of the upward curve.

  ‘We can fly all the way around, if you’d like, just to be sure,’ Skirill said.

  ‘Stay wide and fly fast past the vines. We’ll be waiting up ahead to pass down the first corridor,’ Braden replied.

  ‘This could be the most boring thing you’ve ever done,’ G-War suggested.

  “What madness escapes your mind?” Braden said while thoughtfully holding his chin. “This is the epitome of exploration. The unknown, in space, humanity struggling to free itself from the abominations!”

  ‘Let me correct that. It’s boring nonsense.’

  ‘At least I don’t feel sick anymore!’ Treetis declared.

  ‘It is necessary. I would rather it be boring than us having to fight our way across the ship,’ Bounder said.

  ‘I agree,’ Strider replied. ‘Maybe we can split up to cover more ground. Boys against the girls?’

  Micah nodded, smiling as she made eye contact with Braden. He frowned as he looked at his companions.

  “I don’t want to embarrass you,” Braden started. Micah punched him in the chest, his armor protecting him from the force of the blow. “The men will take the Android.”

  “A second Android has already been dispatched and will meet us in the first corridor.”

  “Looks like we’ll have one, too—for marking and sealing doors, if needed. We have no way to weld and that’s what they do. I trust Holly.”

  “I trust Holly, too, but it’s the Androids I don’t trust. Last time, Holly told us they were okay and they weren’t. And the Android that attacked Young Tom and Zeller. That wasn’t far from here!”

  “You’ll give yourself gray hairs worrying about stuff out of your control,” Micah told Braden.

  “Maybe so, but as long as I’m still alive, I’ll have hair that can turn gray.”

  “Boys and girls,” Micah started. “Jocelyn, Fea, Strider, and Zyena are with me, along with this Android here. Hey you, what’s your name?”

  “I am designated Beta Theta Seven Four Six One Niner.”

  “What was that? Beta who’s a miner?”

  The Android repeated his designation in the same unwavering tone of voice.

  “Fine. We will call you Betafor. Put that in your memory bank,” Micah told the Android.

  “Yes, Master President,” the Android replied emotionlessly.

  “As soon as Zyena arrives, we’ll be off. We’ll take this corridor right up here.” Micah pointed at a door on the catwalk.

  ‘What about the rooms on this level?’ Pik Ha’ar asked.

  “I don’t know,” Braden replied. “Holly? Can you tell us about the rooms that we can access from the main floor of engineering?”

  “Of course. Most of the rooms are workshops of various sorts for fabricating the pieces necessary to keep the equipment functioning. There are break rooms, dining facilities, and two research laboratories.”

  Braden blew out a long breath. “Sounds like we’ll be making the circuit down here while you’re doing the same thing up there.” Braden nodded toward the catwalk about ten meters over his head. “I’ll have you outnumbered, so we’ll probably accompl
ish twice as much in half the time.”

  “You think so?” Micah said, squaring off with her partner.

  “The fight is out there,” he said smoothly, pointing toward the forward end of the ship. “Out there, with people who aren’t me.”

  Bounder and Strider nuzzled as their way of saying good-bye.

  Fea nodded toward G-War and Treetis. The Golden Warrior yawned. She reacted instantly, slapping his head with a paw, and he was on her in an orange flash. The two rolled around on the deck until they ended by licking each other’s faces.

  Braden and Micah kissed.

  ‘Are you sure it’s best to split up before we know?’ Aadi asked.

  “I was worried how we were going to handle the corridor. With a dozen of us jammed in? Only half of us would be able to respond if something happened, half at the most. Splitting the group will help keep us engaged, otherwise I expect that G’s complaint of boredom would come true.”

  ‘It’s already true. BORED!’ the ‘cat remarked.

  “Stop it!” Braden shook his finger at G-War and Fea, still locked in their embrace.

  ‘Nothing, Master Braden. Besides a couple Maintenance Bots, there was nothing all the way around. No Androids, definitely no life of any sort, besides those crazy vines. But we were past them in a heartbeat,’ Skirill reported as the Hawkoids raced overhead, banked, and landed gently, side by side, on the catwalk railing.

  “We decided a plan of action while you were gone. What do you think of boys against girls?”

  ‘I hate it,’ Skirill replied.

  ‘I love it,’ Zyena said simultaneously.

  “Sorry, Ess. You’ve been voted down.”

  Skirill cocked his head, twitching it back and forth, as birds do. ‘Okay,’ he conceded. ‘Be careful and don’t get hurt. I can’t live without you,’ he told his mate over the mindlink where all could hear.

  “Come on, Ess, you’re making us all look bad...”

  ‘Speak for yourself,’ G-War replied, finally unclutching from Fea and standing.