Flux Runners

by William Joseph Roberts

  “Hmmm, well, we have a few different things to prolong, enhance, or totally alter the experience,” Krista said. “It really just comes down to what you want.” Krista tapped her lips as she pondered, then ran toward a shelf near the rear of the room.

  Amanda gasped. “I know things are a bit pressed for time with the whole I.A. death threats looming over our heads and all. But why not just ask the captain for some extended shore leave the next time we’re Earthside?”

  “You could go all out and explore each other in deep, sensual detail,” Maggie suggested. “Lots of candles, wine, massage. Have you ever heard of tantric massage?”

  “Oh, hell no! That takes too damn long, and it’s too slow,” Krista retorted. “What you two need is a good old-fashioned sex fest. Here,” Krista shoved a dark, unlabeled bottle into Kara’s hands. “Give him this in a drink, then in about ten minutes you can jump on and ride till he begs for mercy.” Krista laughed as she excitedly arched and swayed her hips.

  “Excuse me,” Maggie said. “It isn’t too slow. It’s sensual and deeply romantic.”

  “And can be very overrated in my opinion,” Krista said. “So, mix ten drops of this into something with a heavy flavor—”

  “I beg to differ,” Maggie interrupted. “It is not overrated! It is a way to deeply learn and explore your partner on a whole new level of understanding.”

  “To each their own, sister. To each their own.” Krista grinned.

  “And how many pieces of furniture have you destroyed with your sex fests?” Maggie scoffed, she crossed her arms and directly confronting Krista.

  “I don’t see where that is any of your concern,” Krista said. “It’s not like any of your furniture has broken yet.”

  “Wait. Yet? You mean to tell me that you’ve been having sex on my bed?” Maggie fumed.

  “Why do you two have to argue about everything?” Amanda began to cry. “We were supposed to be a family!” She rolled to one side and pushed herself off of the massive couch and slowly shuffled away.

  “See what you’ve done now?” Maggie scowled at Krista. “Her tears are on your hands,” she said then hurried after Amanda.

  “What I’ve done?” Krista turned back to Kara. “Hey, where did Kara go?”

  The ship's intercom crackled to life with a pop of static. “Attention all personnel,” Doug said over the intercoms. His voice echoed as if he was speaking through a tin can. “Report to the wardroom immediately.”

  “Well shit, what now?” Krista huffed. “Come on, girls, Doug needs us.”

  cHAPTER 4

  The Betty, Nova star class mining transport

  Atlanta International Spaceport

  Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  May 13, 2176 / Afternoon, local time

  K rista whistled a light tune as she skipped onto the bridge, her skirts billowing around her as she flared them back and forth with each skipped step. She pushed her way through the rest of the crew gathered at the massive wardroom table at the port rear side of the bridge, adjacent to the Captain's quarters.

  “So, what’s up big boy?” Krista smiled. “What’s all the fuss about?”

  Doug glanced up from the datapad in his hand. “Good, the witches are here,” he said. “Wait…,” he began then paused, glancing past the gathered crew at Amanda as she made her way slowly onto the bridge with Maggie’s aid. He turned back to Krista with a look of concern. “Is she ok?”

  “Oh, she’s just dandy, nothing to see here, moving along now.” Krista grinned as she innocently rocked on her heels.

  “Fuck you, sadist!” Amanda shouted.

  “See, told ya.” Krista smiled wide with a quick nod. “She’s just dandy. It’s all rainbows and butterflies from here on out. Nothing but love, man, nothing but love.”

  “O-ohhhh-kay then.” Doug leaned against the wardroom table and loudly cleared his throat. “Listen up, folks. I know none of you like the idea of working for the Independent Alliance, especially considering the circumstances by which we’ve been employed.” He frowned at the taste of the word. “Thanks to the electronic wizardry of The Geek, we’ve managed to find out that the tech the I.A. wants is a new propulsion system. Come to find out that this tech is actually well past the design and prototype phase. The Martian Reich has developed a new class of heavy frigate built around this new drive system and is currently conducting shakedown runs out in the asteroid belt. Considering this new information, Lizz has spent the last two days in, um, intense negotiations with Director Lepetomane. They will resupply our fuel, ammo, and provisions at no cost. They have also agreed to supply us with sixty thousand liters of Bavarian Weizen, Bock, and Pilsener as cargo for our cover story. Lizz has also been working to find us buyers in the Martian colonies and out on some of The Belt stations.

  “Holy shit balls, Cap,” Trae interrupted. “Seriously? Sixty thousand liters? I mean, hell, that’s what—” Trae’s fingers flicked at the air in front of him as he did the math on his mental chalkboard. “One gallon is three-point seven nine liters … which is fifteen thousand eight hundred thirty-one gallons at, let’s say, ten pounds per gallon since beer is denser than water and round up for safety’s sake. Sooooo … that’s roughly one hundred and sixty thousand pounds of cargo.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. Betty has carried double that before,” Doug responded.

  “The weight isn’t the issue, Cap. The possible problem is volume.” Trae scratched his head and stared off for a moment in thought. “It all depends on how they package it for shipment. Is it going to be in bulk storage tanks, cases of bottles, or steel kegs? Normally when we’re out in The Belt, mining, we process the ore and make ingots that stack nice and neat into the holds.”

  “I don’t know, but that’s a damn good question for Lizz to find out,” Doug replied with a nod at Lizz.

  “Got it,” Lizz said as she scribbled on a small note pad.

  “Trae, Fergus, and Andy,” Doug continued, “I need you to make getting us loaded and ready for launch a priority.”

  “Will do, Cap,” Trae responded.

  “Willy,” Doug called on next. “You and Cheezy take care of refueling and any repairs or servicing that you can get done in the next two days. We need to be airborne and on the move ASAP,” Doug urged.

  “You betcha, Cap,” Rachel replied.

  “Does that include grease, anti-seize, hydraulic fluid, stuff like that?” Big Willy asked.

  “Yes, absolutely. Put together a requisition list and give it to Lizz. She’ll handle it from there. Betty needs to be in the best shape that we can muster. Tiff and Kara, you’re on ammo duty.”

  “Will do, Boss,” Tiff said with a raised thumb.

  “Ammo duty again, but I just had my nails done,” Kara whined.

  “They are nails, and they’ll grow back,” Doug said. “Mel and the Witches,” he looked around for Melanie.

  “Back here, Cap,” Melanie replied from behind the others. She waved her hand in the air for Doug to see.

  “I see you, Mel. I need you to make a full restock manifest and submit it to Lizz before the day is out. Standard ration packs for half of the restock, fill the rest of the pantry with fresh foodstuffs. Make sure to pick up some good pepper cheese for me and dark chocolate for you ladies. Add in a little something special for everyone else and whatever standard medical supplies that we need for a six-month run. Get it ordered and stocked, and no wishlist items this time, Krista.”

  “Oh, what the hell,” Krista said. “I still don’t see what all the fuss was about the last time. It was only a few baby ducks and chickens.”

  “That would have shit anywhere and everywhere they pleased. No livestock on my ship, got it?” Doug said with a stern gaze.

  “That’s just perfectly fine there, Captain Dougie,” Krista said. “If that’s the way you want it, don’t come crying to me the next time you want a little somethin’ somethin’.” Krista crossed her arms and glared in Doug’s direction.

  “And we�
��re moving on,” Doug continued with a swipe of his finger across the screen of the datapad. He reached beneath the large table and retrieved two large boxes. “Wes, I know you’ll know what to do with these as soon as you see them. Before you go all nerdgasm and start humping my leg, you have to know that Lizz is the one responsible for pulling this off.” Doug made his way to the operations station and handed Wes the boxes.

  “Oh, sweet,” Wes squeaked. “It’s like Christmas came early.” He ripped open the first box like a kid unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning. “Holy shit, Cap, how… where… Oh my God, this is so freaking awesome, Cap! How in the hell did you manage to get a main processor?”

  “Open the second one,” Doug said with a nod of his chin.

  “Woohoo! Two freaking processors! How in the hell is this even possible?”

  “Don’t ask me, ask Lizz,” Doug replied with a smile. “I told her what we needed, and she found a way to make it happen.”

  “Oh my God,” We said. “Thank you, Lizz! Thank you! Maybe now I can get some of the systems up and running simultaneously again.” He hugged the boxes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, Wes,” Lizz replied.

  “So get those processors installed and any upgrades that you can manage before we leave port,” Doug said.

  “Aye, Captain,” Wesley replied. He turned in his seat and popped a two-finger salute in Doug’s direction.

  “Now as a surprise bonus, our lovely quartermaster,” Doug said with a wave toward Lizz, “has managed to get a contract in writing from the I.A. for this assignment. It states that any and all physical property of Martian origin that we happen to acquire while on this run is solely ours to do with as we wish. No taxes, customs, import embargoes, nothing. It’s a privateering commission with full salvage rights that comes from the Independent Alliance being at war with the Martian Reich, even if it is just a cold war. So while we’re in Martian space, each of you please work your magic and pick up any goodies that we can easily move when we get back Earthside. As per normal, see Lizz for all final decisions on transactions. Until we get all of the details on the target. We are keeping the plan loose and fluid. When we get into Martian airspace, we’ll make a few transactions, offload some cargo, and get ourselves set up for the endgame.”

  “And pray tell, my Captain,” Krista said with a sarcastic tone. “What is this grand endgame of yours?”

  Doug leaned back and cracked his neck with a loud pop. “The endgame,” he said with a long, deep sigh. “The endgame could kill every one of us or it could square up a few old debts and set us up for years to come. Each of you has a hard choice to make in the next few days. You can either stay on as crew with the ship or tender your resignation prior to launch. No hard feelings from anyone if you chose to stay behind. You’ll be released from my employee and released from any retaliation from the I.A. Lizz has already seen to that, considering the nature of our assignment. So, the endgame.”

  Doug circled to the far side of the large table and pressed a few keys on the control panel. The table came to life as a three-dimensional hologram of the solar system hovered above its surface. A dotted line shot out from the Earth in a wide arc and entered the orbit of the Martian moon, Deimos, then continued to the second moon, Phobos and finally stopped in a high orbit around Mars itself.

  “Our first stops will be the Deimos and Phobos security platforms, then to the Hund shipyard in Mars orbit. Lizz has already arranged buyers for over half of our cargo while at the shipyard. Once there, Wes will be able to hack their systems without any lag or signal degradation and dig out the info that the I.A. needs. From there we’ll head for mining outposts Zurich and then Nuremberg since it’s a relatively short hop to reach them from Mars orbit. Per the shakedown schedule that Wes found, we know that the prototype ship, the Hans Landa, designation Z62, will be near Nuremberg in fifteen days. With a little fudge time thrown in to make sure that we’re in place at the right time, we launch in two days.” A dead serious look washed over Doug’s face as he manipulated the hologram display.

  “My plan is to place a Trojan horse in their path, here.” Doug pointed at the hologram as the view quickly zoomed in. “We’ll park the Betty in the asteroid field near the flight path of the Landa. Wes, I’ll want you to modify our transponders to make it look like we are a civilian Martian mining vessel. We shut down everything but the most minimal life support in the upper crew compartments, internal comm systems, and passive sensors. Once we pick up the Landa on sensors, we turn on the distress beacon and wait. If all goes to plan, they will come to assist with repairs or rescue and that’s when I mean to board her.”

  The crew gasped and muttered under their breaths.

  “Well there we have it, people,” Krista said with a slap to her thighs. “It has finally happened, people. The captain has lost his ever-lovin' mind. Seriously, are you fucking crazy? What in the hell would possess you to want to become a pirate? Not to mention to take the Betty, a hundred-plus-year-old mining transport, up against the Martian Reich’s latest prototype frigate? Exactly in what realm of insanity did the little guy in robes tell you this was the path to success? Did you hit your head or did you just go stupid all of a sudden?”

  “I have my reasons,” Doug said with a growl to his voice. His eyes narrowed to slits as he stared back across the table at Krista. “As I said before, this is entirely up to each of you. You each have the free will to make your own choices. I do not own any of you. Therefore, I will not order you to do something that has a high risk of death attached to it.”

  “Umm … Cap. We kinda risk our necks every day out there in The Belt,” Trae said plainly. “I signed on to do the job and that’s that, I’m in.”

  “Hell, we’re at risk even when we’re in port, Cap,” Big Willy added. “There’s always someone out there looking to take advantage of any Independent. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught some corporate shitstain messing with the Betty. So really, how is this any different than any other day? I’ll keep her flyin’ as long as I can, Cap.”

  “Ok, so Willy and Trae are in,” Doug said with a smile.

  “If it wasn’t for all of you, I’d still be begging for scraps on Luna station,” Amanda said tearfully. “You took me in like I was family and family shouldn’t abandon family. I know I don’t know much yet, or that I even do much of anything yet, but I’m staying, and I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

  “Are you kidding me, Cappy?” Rachel said with a laugh. “This isn’t even a choice for me. You let me fly however I want to fly. If I could find a job with one of those big companies, they’d make me follow … um … those ... things … um ...”

  “Rules!” Wes said beratingly. “Really, Cheezy? You couldn’t remember the word, rules?”

  “Yes! That thing! Rules! They’d make me follow ru-uuules. Me no likey rules,” Rachel finished with a stupid smile.

  “Oh my God. Why was it again that you hired her, Cap?” Wes shook his head.

  “Because she’s damn good at what she does,” Doug said. “What about you, Geek?”

  “Guess I’m in,” Wes said. “Who the hell else is going to keep her squirrels in line?” He said, thumbing toward Rachel.

  “Oh no, Wesley,” Kara whined. “This is a big decision. You can’t just willy nilly make this choice without considering me.”

  “Wait… After all that we’ve been through together, you want to just quit?” Wes turned to Kara with a stern gaze.

  “No, I suppose not. I guess we’re both in,” Kara said reluctantly.

  “Not like I have anything else better to do,” Fergus added. “I mean, who else is going to keep Trae from blowing himself up with one of his contraptions? And besides, if Rachel stays, I kinda have to stay. Ya know that whole marriage and death do us part stuff.” He motioned with air quotes.

  “I guess I should hang around since things would probably fall apart without me,” Lizz laughed. “Which reminds me, when was the l
ast time that you got any rest, Doug?”

  “Or ate anything for that matter?” Melanie added. “Without me, all of y’all would probably starve to death. Hell, I sat there and watched Andy have a fifteen-minute argument with the microwave one day because he couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.”

  “Now hold on just one second,” Andy argued.

  “Andy, just shut up and say yes already,” Melanie said with a look of absolution.

  “Fine, whatever. I guess I’m in. Just don’t come blaming me when we’re tied up and being tortured by the Martians.”

  “Well, that’s almost everyone,” Doug continued. “What say you, Tiff?”

  Tiff slapped the table with an open palm. “As long as I might get the chance to shoot at some real targets, then hell yeah, I’m in.”

  “Good,” Doug acknowledged. “That just leaves Maggie and Krista. What say you two?”

  “I couldn’t just up and abandon everyone,” Maggie replied. “Besides, where else would I go and who would be there to help Amanda through the hard times or keep Krista out of trouble if I just left?”

  “Then I suppose we’re down to one,” Doug said as he looked to Krista.

  “I don’t know what in the hell has possessed you to take all of us with you on this insane path. We made a commitment to each other all those long years ago and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you down after all the shit we’ve been through. I promised to always be there and support you the best that I could. I don’t know what bug has crawled up your ass to make you suicidal, but I’ve got your back as best as I can have it.”

  “Good…,” Doug started but was interrupted.

  “But I’ll tell you one damned thing, Captain Douglas Rackham,” Krista said as she jabbed a finger in Doug’s direction. “You just remember. If you’re going to this insane mission for the wrong reasons, I promise you, it will come back to you threefold. Maybe not this lifetime, but the karmic debt will be paid back in one form or another. So you’d best be doing this for the right reasons.”