Gus

by Frank Carey

  "What's your name, boy?" Morty asked while looking around. He grabbed a one-piece overalls and threw it to the boy while Savannah turned to give him privacy and hide her burning cheeks.

  "Mathias Apeloko, Deckhand First Class of the Yosho Maru. Who are you? Where's the captain and the rest of the crew?"

  Morty held up a single finger. "What the hell are you?"

  "I'm a Logash. My mom is a Crystallanian elf and my pa is a human shop owner in Sandton City, South Africa. You know, mix a Crystal elf with any of a number of League species and you can end up with pure perfection," he said while flexing his biceps.

  Morty smiled. "Right. Computer, explain!"

  A history of the Crystal elves, their diaspora, and their interactions with the League appeared. Morty quickly read through the data, but came to an abrupt stop when he came to Logash physiology. "Matt, can I call you Mat?"

  "Sure."

  "Matt, how old are you?"

  "Physically and emotionally, I'm in my early twenties. Temporally, it's been two years since my mom gave birth to me."

  "What?" Savannah asked while spinning around to look at the now-clothed lad. "You're two?"

  Matt nodded emphatically. "The Logash did some tinkering with their genetics two million years ago. They felt they needed to have a quicker start on life, so they arranged for all the parent's memories and experiences to be transferred over to the baby during gestation. It’s a real time saver."

  "Fascinating," was all Morty could say.

  Savannah opted to sit down hard on a crate and cry.

  Before Morty could do anything, Matt ran over to the weeping women and knelt down beside her. "Hey, I'm not all that scary. I know things. Like I know you're a Basili from Nest, one of the winged ones that came out of hiding. It was all over the news feeds, though those Basili weren't nearly as pretty as you. How about you tell me your name. Maybe I can help?"

  She looked up at him, staring into his eyes. "Your eyes glow."

  "Bioluminescent blood cells with enhanced oxygenation and healing capabilities."

  She smiled as she started to relax. "My name is Savannah Hardy and this is my companion, Morty. We're... Well, it's complicated."

  "Long story short," Morty said, "Mistress Savannah and I have been sent to steal this ship and these four drive units. Her mother needs them for a project important for the survival of our race, and we couldn't get them locally..."

  "Umm, the mistress here is Sokuhl, co-founders of the League. I haven't heard of any extinction-level events threatening their home world, and if there were, the League would jump right in."

  "We're not from this universe."

  "You're not?"

  "No, we're not. Our quantum spin signatures are slightly different from yours."

  "So, you're not from around here, but are, kinda?"

  "Sort of," Morty said. "For example, we've never seen a Logash before. And we don't have Basili and Sokuhl, only winged female Sokuhl and wingless male Sokuhl. Our civilization is being threatened by an ancient scourge known as the swarm."

  The Logash were an old race with old reflexes. Matt's hackles stood on end when Morty told about the Swarm. "Is this swarm something natural?"

  "No. It's a bioengineered weapons system," Savannah explained.

  "Morty? You're not Sokuhl."

  "No, I'm an immortal."

  "Ah, we have those here as well. They were god-figures for a number of the races."

  "Wait, you have immortals?" Morty asked.

  "Oh yeah. One day they appeared, passing themselves off as artificial intelligences, but then they revealed their true origins. Computer, display current lineages of the Immortals. Highlight those that have appeared in public." A family chart of the Olympian gods appeared. "I've heard there are a lot more, but they prefer to remain in hiding for now."

  Morty just stared. "I'm the last of my kind. The other immortals disappeared."

  "Will you help us?" Savannah asked in an attempt at deflecting further questions.

  "Yes, as long as you pose no threat to the League or her people."

  "Kinda protective, aren't you?" Morty asked.

  "Two million years ago, the Logash seeded this part of the galaxy with our DNA. You might say the current inhabitants are our children, and we are very protective of our children. Now, what about the missing components? The captain told me there's a crate containing some important parts sitting in a warehouse on Earth. I'm supposed to stay aboard in case they get shipped."

  "We're heading to Earth to retrieve them."

  "Anyone attempt to call the ship since we left Earth?"

  Morty shook his head. "Dead silence."

  "Let me talk to them if anyone does call. I might be able to convince them that all is well."

  "Matt, are all freighters in this universe armed like this one?" Morty asked.

  "Yes, at the Captain's discretion," Matt explained. “A number of unarmed ships were destroyed by pirates, so the League decided to arm freighters and train the crews in close quarters combat. The captain opted for a defensive system that could give the crew time to abandon ship in the event of a raid."

  "Normally, ours do not have weapons of any kind, not even personal ones. Sheila's plan, whatever it is, requires the outfitting of one to four of our freighters with defensive weapon systems. Unfortunately, neither Savannah nor I have any idea where to find this type of ordinance."

  Matt thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Negis Corporation!" Matt saw Savannah frown. "The captain has a deal in the works with a weapons merchant named Negis Corporation. He was going to buy a set of five, ship-mounted weapons systems at a discount. These systems would then be re-sold on the black market for a very hefty profit. The captain had a buyer out on the frontier, but the deal fell through when the Yosho got hung-up on Ventos Prime."

  "Are these systems difficult to install?" Morty asked.

  "Nope. They're recoilless hypersonic railguns designed to mount on most surfaces using vacuum-rated epoxy. Captain said they came with 500 rounds each."

  "Not a bad idea, mistress," Morty said. "I wonder if they're still available."

  "I wonder how we're going to pay for them if they are," she wondered.

  "How did you access the ship?" Matt asked.

  She reached into her pocket, removed Sheila's Ship's Master's Card, and handed it to Matt. He looked at the picture, then her. "Wow, considering you and Capt. Minty are from two different universes, the resemblance is striking."

  "She's my mother's twin. She also has a two-year-old daughter named Samantha. I feel bad having to lie to her..."

  "Ah, thus Sheila's plan. I've heard of Dr. Minty and her husband, Kel. I promise you, they are only interested in your safety. Right now, we probably have at least three security agencies looking for us, so we need to make our stops as brief as possible. Let me go make a call. Can I borrow this?" he asked while holding up the card.

  "Sure, but what good will it do?" Savannah asked.

  He walked over to the hold's terminal and slid the card into the reader slot. The information that came up on the screen caused Matt to give a long, low whistle."

  "What is it?"

  "Her Captain's contingency account contains over twenty million credits. I need to meet this woman. Anyway, we can use those funds to purchase the weapons." He typed commands using the keyboard. "Got it. It's waiting for us in a hangar on Alyson." He shut down the terminal and handed the card back to Savannah. "This skullduggery is fun."

  "Kid, what happens if you get caught?"

  "Not sure. I may be the first Logash to go criminal in two million years. I probably won't work a ship gig ever again."

  "Matt..." Savannah started to say.

  "Don't. You two seem to be on the up and up. Just remember, if I detect a threat to the League and its people, I will pull the plug on this op and see to it that you two are arrested. Understand?"

  "Yes, we understand," Savannah said.

  "Good. I need to get
this hold squared-away before we land on Earth. You both are welcome to give me a hand."

  They smiled and rolled-up their sleeves.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Gus parked the Furball behind the security office. After contacting the Chief Security Officer, they settled in to wait for the arrival of the Yosho. While Minnie made something for them to eat, and Horus watched from his perch eating from a plate of thawed mice carcasses, Gus lay on the couch reading reports on his datapad.

  "Find anything?" Minnie asked from the galley where she was putting together a lunch of sushi.

  "Not much useful. They found Savannah alone in a ship attached to a very old space station in orbit around a Cepheid variable star. The ship was toast as was the station. Both ship and station are very old."

  She walked in and sat down across from him, placing the sushi and two bottles of beer on the low table between them. He grabbed the beer and chugged it before turning his attention to the Japanese delicacy. "Thanks, I was starved," he said between bites. "So far, information is thin. A probe picked up her life signs from outside the system, so it went in to investigate. The ship they found her in has been moved to the Cube while a survey team is checking out the space station."

  "So, no idea why she's here?"

  "That's what's eating at me. She spent the whole day with the Hardies, yet all they could glean from the visit is that she's a typical twenty-something woman who's afraid of her father, who by the way, doesn't have wings. In her universe, males are wingless while the females have the whole dragon options package."

  "She had to have access to the League InterWebs and the Database, else how could she know about the Yosho and its cargo?"

  "And why cross universes to get drives which allow inter-universe travel when you already have the capability?"

  "And does this event have anything to do with the Trent?" Minnie added while she petted her owl as he contently scarfed down another mouse carcass.

  "Right before she met the Hardies, she mentioned something about the 'Swarm' eating all the other races except for the Sokuhl, but that her mom had a plan. If her mom is anything like Sheila..."

  "This swarm sounds a lot like the Trent. Could that damn thing be from another universe?" Minnie stopped and saw the look Gus was giving her. "Yes, I'm known as the Goddess of Knowledge, but even I have limitations. I have never heard of any creature that even remotely resembles this Trent-thing, but keep in mind that the universe is big, and I've only experienced the Milky Way Galaxy part of it."

  "Someday, you will have to regale us with stories of the immortals' past," Gus suggested. "All we know are the ancient myths of a handful of League civilizations. Me thinks the real story is far richer than that."

  "Someday, but for now, you will just have to make do with the annotated version." She got up and grabbed two more beers from the fridge. "What do we know about her passenger, the deckhand?"

  "Mathias Apeloko, Logash. Mother a Crystallanian elf; father an Earth human. Graduated from the merchant academy at the top of his class. IQ is off the charts, yet he plays the part of bumbling ne'er-do-well. Since she's gotten as far as she has, we can only assume he's helping her."

  "Why would he do that?"

  "He's a Logash, which makes the rest of us his children? I don't know. Every Logash I have ever dealt with does what they do based upon a set of moral standards that most of us can barely understand. Whatever the reason, he is allowing her to proceed, which says a great deal about her mission or her story telling."

  "Why don't you like the Logash?"

  "Who says I don't like the Logash? I like them just fine."

  "Uh huh."

  "No, I have no problems with the Logash, except for that damn party line they maintain between all the members of their race."

  "What party line?"

  "The one between their crystals. You can never know how many Logash are in a room with you. Maybe one? Maybe all of them? it creeps me out."

  "Oh, you mean like the sub-audible comm link the three of us maintain when we're separated?"

  "Wait a minute! Our link is nothing like that."

  "Yes it is."

  "Hoot!" the owl said between mice.

  "He's right," Minnie said as she changed subjects. "We need to stay on task.

  "He said 'Hoot,'" Gus pointed out.

  "Why yes he did. So, the two of them are going to 'steal' a crated of components on Earth before flying out to Alyson to pick up a crate of weapons. Then what? What the hell is that young lady up to?"

  "Incoming," Minnie said as she listened in on the Furball's comm chatter.

  "Furball, Furball, this is security. Your visitors have arrived. What do you want to do with them?"

  "This is Gus. Give them the location and have them move their ship to the loading area. We'll meet them at the crate. Have your people keep an eye on things, but no one moves unless I tell them to, understood?"

  "Copy that, Furball. They're on their way. Security out."

  "Let me guess. We're changing careers."

  Gus got up and retrieved a pair of hats from a closet. Each had "Spaceport Stevedore and Longshoreman Union" Emblazoned on its front. "Another reason why I keep our membership up to date." He threw one to Minnie.

  "How becoming!" she said as she posed for Horus. "You stay here and watch the ship, won't you?"

  Horus squeaked while twisting his head ninety degrees.

  She rewarded him with a handful more of mice.

  "Let's go," Gus said as he donned his cap and headed to the door with Minnie close behind. Horus ignored them, interested, as he was, only in his mice.

  ###

  "And sign here, Mr. Apeloko," the warehouse manager said. "Sorry about your wrist, Captain. I hope it heals soon," he said to Savannah as Matt finished the paperwork.

  She held up the cast and shrugged. "Thanks. Damn thing'll be off before you know it."

  "Copy that, ma'am." He took the papers, looked them over, then said, "You're all set." Having been briefed by security, he keyed the mic on his comm unit. "Central, this is Moffat, where the hell are my loaders?"

  "Here, sir. Sorry about the delay," Gus said as he and Minnie walked out from behind a stack of crates.

  "Central, never mind. They've arrived." He handed them their copies of the shippers before turning to Savannah and her two companions. "Captain, the crate is all yours." He tipped his hat to the captain before walking off to his other duties.

  "Captain, my name’s Gus and this here is Minnie. Where do you want your crate?"

  "Morty, could you show them where to put the stuff?"

  Morty said nothing. Savannah turned to see Matt staring at Morty who had his gaze locked on Minnie. Gus turned and saw Minnie staring back at the big man.

  "Minnie? The crate isn't going to move itself, Darlin. Care to give me a hand?"

  "What? Hand? Crate?" she asked as she continued to stare.

  "Morty?" Savannah asked the immortal. "You OK?"

  "What? Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, miss, but have we met before?" he asked Minnie.

  "Met? No, not to my knowledge. I... I've got to get to work," she said as she walked over to a loader. Activating it, she walked it over to the crate and positioned its forks underneath. "Ma'am, where would you like it?"

  "This way," Matt said as he led the way back to the ship with both stevedores in tow.

  Once they were out of sight. Savannah turned to her friend. "What's gotten into you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "She's an immortal."

  "What? Are you sure?"

  He nodded.

  "Well, I think she knows you're one as well. Look, we've got time. Why don't you talk to her? I bet you have a lot of questions."

  "Yeah... Yeah, I'll do that. Here they come," he said.

  "Captain, we're ready to go," Matt said as he signed a copy of the paperwork Gus was holding.

  "Great. Listen, Matt, why don't you go start preflight. I want to talk to Gus for a minu
te.”

  "Wow! I've never run a preflight before!" he said as he jogged back to the ship.

  "Could you two give us a moment?" she said to Morty and Minnie. Minnie looked at Gus for guidance.

  "We've got time before the next load. Give us a minute," he said.

  She glared at him before leading Morty out of ear shot.

  "What can I do for you, Captain?"

  "Um, no offense, but what are you?"

  "A stevedore/longshoreman which means I'm rated for loading anything from break pack to pre-loaded mega containers," he replied. He wasn't lying. In his earlier life, he loaded and unloaded ships for a living.

  She smiled. "No. I mean what is your species?"

  He played along. "I'm Storen. You, on the other hand, are one of the Basili who live in the city of Nest on Sokuhl. Your kind have only been out and about for a few years, am I right?"

  "Nest? Oh, yeah, right. Nest. I'm still learning about this League thing. Is your partner an immortal?"

  "Minnie? An immortal? Yep! She used to be the Goddess of Knowledge. Now, she and I load and unload ships."

  "How do you go from Goddess to Stevedore?"

  "Lucky, I guess. Is Morty an immortal?"

  "Yeah, but he's not from around here. I don't think he's seen another immortal for a very long time."

  "It must be tough going through life as the only one of your kind."

  "Captain!" Matt said over the comm. "Preflight is completed. Up is go at your command."

  "Copy that, Matt. Morty! Time to fly." Savannah yelled to her friend.

  "Yes, Mistress," he said. Gus watched as he and Minnie embraced before rejoining Savannah and him.

  "Thank you, Gus, for everything," she said before giving him a hug. Moments later, they and the Yosho were gone.

  The manager returned with the security chief in tow. After explaining to them what had happened and giving them instructions to contact OffSec, he and Minnie returned to the ship where he checked on the flight path of the Yosho Maru.

  "Next stop, Alyson, he said as he took the Furball into orbit. Once he filed a flight plan, he broke orbit and set about following the Yosho.

  "OK, spill it. What did he say?" Gus asked his immortal friend.

  "His name is Morty, and he's working a job."