Starfire and the Space Dragons: A Grennig Crew Adenture

by Christine Westhead

  “Welcome back, Con Tranter,” the gentle voice chimed in his head. “I am the Rebel.”

  “Hey Tran, wake up,” Raan’s voice sounded far away.

  “Tranter?” That was Erion and she sounded a little nearer. He opened his eyes to see everyone staring down at him as he lay on the floor. He raised his hand and Raan pulled him upright. The Rebel’s port hatch was now open and Tranter put his head inside. It was the Rebel all right, but cleaner, sleeker and more modern.

  “I got my ship back,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. He caught sight of Vermillion, standing nearby and walked towards her, hand outstretched. She took it and he kissed the back of it. “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

  “Then say nothing, old friend. Your delight is enough for us.”

  “Vermillion, about these dragons…”

  “Trenee,”

  “Yeah, about these Trenee. Hal trusts them so that’s okay, but not the others.” Vermillion laughed.

  “Your concern is noted, Tranter.”

  “No, Vermillion, I mean it. Humans are bastards on the whole. These Terrellians that live with the Trenee; Starfire says they see the Trenee as guardians. They’re kept in line down there and they can’t go out up top in case anyone sees them. Once they get here, they’ll be safe. They’ll know freedom, Vermillion. The dragons will give them their freedom. They’ll want more. Humans always want more.”

  “You worry too much, Con Tranter.”

  “And you don’t worry enough, Vermillion,” Tranter took her hand again and looked up at her. “You been all alone too long. Not everybody is good like you. You don’t understand. It only takes one idiot to ruin it for all of you.” Stuck for the right vocabulary to make his point, Tranter sighed and gave up. “Thank you again for the Rebel,” he said.

  “Hey, Tran, we gotta go,” Raan’s voice came over his comlink and he let go of Vermillion’s hand and turned away.

  Vermillion and several of the black Citizens were there to see them off. The Grennig lifted off, as did the Josie Dog with Starfire at the controls. Tranter met them in orbit above Manta Six aboard the Rebel. There was a bit of shunting to get the tow line secured between the Grennig and the Josie Dog, then Raan picked up Starfire in their little planet hopper and took her back to the Grennig.

  “All set?” Tranter asked Starfire.

  “The tow line is secure,” she confirmed. “We’ll drop this dog off at your station. See you on the other side.”

  “See you on the other side,” he answered, and disappeared.

  “Shit, I forgot how fast that thing was,” said Raan by her side.

  “Get us out of here, Lieutenant, said Erion. “Let’s go home.” Once they were safely in hyperspace, Starfire said,

  “So, I’m guessing you’ll need those big tankers again.”

  “Those and all the ships we can muster, Lieutenant,” began Erion. “From what you tell me, the Trenee are large creatures. They would have to travel in our cargo holds.”

  “What about their Terrellians?” asked Raan. “They’ve never seen the Trenee directly and they’ve never been outside. They’ll go bonkers.”

  “It isn’t like Terrell down there,” began Starfire. “It’s underground but it’s like the hydroponic gardens on Manta Six. Kaura was telling Hal he reckons a bit of brain tweaking will sort them out so they’ll be fine outside.”

  “And the prisoners?” asked Raan.

  “I’m hoping the Alliance can find them somewhere to go,” answered Erion. “At least they don’t have to move all together and we don’t have to keep anything secret from them.”

  “Jon Carly is a good man,” put in Starfire. “I’d like to see him settled somewhere with his family."

  “It would be nice to see everyone settled somewhere peaceful and free,” said Erion. Starfire looked back to Hal, who was sitting at his gunnery console, looking into a blank screen.

  “You’re even less talkative than usual,” began Starfire, “if that’s possible.”

  “Anything the matter?” asked Raan. Hal stood up.

  “It ain’t my watch for four hours.” He left the pilot section and Erion turned around from her navigation post and said to Starfire,

  “Find out what’s up with him, will you Lieutenant?” Starfire pushed back her pilot’s chair and nodded.

  “I’ll try.” Hal was notoriously quiet, withdrawn and uncommunicative at the best of times so it was hard to spot if he was being more moody than usual. Information usually had to be dragged out of him and of their little band, only Starfire and perhaps Tranter, could get him to talk about himself. She heard his footsteps leading down to the next level and rushed down to keep up with him. He wasn’t in the crew lounge or the Vanity. His cabin showed empty and he wasn’t in the gymnasium. Starfire faintly heard the laser strikes and then she realised where he was.

  Delta Ten had made Hal a shooting range and he was in there, his laser bolt hand gun set to charge through the ship's wireless interface so he didn’t have to reload. Starfire eased herself into the long room behind him and watched for a while. Hal, black sleeves open and turned back to clear his wrists, was shooting at little lights that flashed along the narrow corridor. Sometimes there was just one, and Hal shot it and holstered his gun, before another one appeared somewhere else. Sometimes there were several and Hal blasted every one of them before holstering the weapon. The big gun bucked in his hand with a recoil, even though it was set to simulate.

  He was incredibly fast. So fast that Starfire could not see his hand move. Hal stood relaxed, his hand just brushing the gun’s butt. The laser target flashed, there was a bang, the light went out and the gun was back in its black holster as if it hadn’t moved. There was no straining to gain extra speed and no tension in his stance. She and Raan had filmed him in action once and played it back in slow motion. He still looked fast even then.

  “What do you want?” he asked, still facing away from her.

  “Something’s bothering you,” said Starfire. “Erion sent me to find out what it is.” She knew it would be pointless to lie. Hal shot six or seven lights, Starfire couldn’t be sure as the blasts all merged into one, and holstered his gun again.

  “Manta Six,” he said softly. “All this traffic puts Vermillion and the Citizens in danger of discovery.”

  “It’s their risk to take, Hal, not yours.”

  “I know,” he said softly, shooting out four fast moving lights in blindingly quick succession.

  “I’m sorry, Hal.”

  “Yeah well, sorry don’t help them now, does it?” Hal shot down some more lights without turning round. Starfire watched him for a while, then stepped forward from the wall she had been leaning against and left.

  “Oh,” said Erion, when Starfire reported back. “So that’s what it is.”

  “He isn’t that happy about it,” explained Starfire.

  “Too right I ain’t happy about it,” said Hal, who had followed Starfire back to the pilot section to lean against the hatch entrance. “They ain’t that good at defending themselves and all Rimek needs is a hint of where they are and he’ll slaughter them all.”

  “Look, if it will make you feel any better, I’ve worked out some plans with Vermillion. The Trenee are also very advanced and they are exceptionally good at terraforming. Vermillion thinks they can easily build another underground complex and construct a shield for the whole planet eventually. Nobody will ever know they are there.”

  “Nobody did know they were there,” pointed out Hal, “until I told you.” He stood away from the hatch and walked out.

  “He’s kind of right, you know,” said Raan from the co-pilot seat.

  “I know, Captain,” sighed Erion. “I know.”

  Chapter 10

  “Cantina, this is the Grennig, towing the Josie Dog, requesting assisted passage through the asteroids,” Raan’s voice was calm as they waited patiently outside the massive wall of rocks. After a long pause, one of the boulders left the revolving r
ocks and stopped off their starboard bow.

  “Greetings, Grennig. This is Little Rock Sixteen. Please send your recognition code.” Raan flicked a hand over his console and the flashing light on the Little Rock turned from Red to Green.

  “Hi there, Sixteen,” said Starfire, leaning forward for a better view.

  “Welcome to you and your crew, Lieutenant Starfire. “What is your destination today?”

  “We need to get Tranter’s ship back to his base. Can you guide us straight there, Sixteen?” began Starfire, “and none of your pissing about, either. We need to get there quick and we’re towing this ship behind us. We need a wide, straight path.”

  “It will be an honour and a pleasure,” the little boulder backed into the asteroid field with the Grennig close behind it. The Little Rocks were an invention of Thirty Seven and Tranter. They were designed to ferry signals through the asteroids, where communication was impossible because of inhibiting elements in the asteroids and rocks. They had evolved over time and now they acted as pilot boats, bringing in friendly ships and luring the unwanted to their doom. Starfire had managed to get them upgraded so that they did not have to self-destruct to accomplish this and they had elevated her to a status that everyone else on the Grennig considered unworthy. The Little Rocks were programmed to make the journey to the Cantina long, winding and different every time, but they were in a hurry and Starfire wanted to go straight there.

  “Please follow me, Lieutenant Starfire. I will take you to Captain Tranter’s base by the quickest and widest route.” Less than an hour later, the Grennig slid to a graceful halt above a large asteroid. All the smaller asteroids had been cleared away and Starfire looked down onto the barren surface. A few cuboid buildings, much like Commander Tabbert’s quarters, could be seen, linked together to form some sort of complex and a massive hangar was almost finished to one side of it. A few lights could be seen and Raan brought Starfire’s attention to The Rebel on a landing pad below them.

  “Tranter, this is the Grennig. Come in, please,” said Starfire.

  “Hey guys, what kept you?” he laughed. “Ditch that old Josie Dog and land on pad four.” He lit it up for them. Raan cut loose the freighter and it drifted gently away before coming to a halt among a few other ships in stationary orbit.

  Starfire landed the Grennig and they waited in the hexagonal hall outside the pilot section for the aircar tube to make contact. Tranter was waiting for them by the aircar door and threw away the butt of his cigarillo to take Erion by the hands.

  “Long time no see,” he laughed. “Come on, I got coffee waiting.” They followed him as he weaved his way through space ship parts and dismantled lifting robots to his main lounge. A sunken, semi-circular couch sat in the centre of a small room. There was a low coffee table in front of it and the wall behind it was covered with computers that emitted a distant sound of electronic chatter.

  They sat on the semi-circular couch, drank their coffees and passed around the cigarillos.

  “I already been to see Thirty Seven at the Cantina,” said Tranter. “It’s gonna be a big operation, but he can’t see it being a problem. He’s gotta run it by Gant of course because we’ll have to pull everything back in to get enough ships. Gant says he’ll meet us all at the Cantina tomorrow if you want, or you can stay here tonight and they’ll come to you.

  “I don’t know about you,” Starfire stretched out on the comfy couch, “but I could do with a rest.”

  “I’m with you, Lieutenant,” Erion smiled at Raan. “Fancy a game of Pan, Captain. We never finished that game we were playing and, as I recall, I was already sixty credits up.”

  “Maybe later, Major.” He stood up and grinned. “Did you get it finished?”

  “Need you ask?” Tranter waved his hand over a crystal display set into the arm of the couch and the wall in front of them split down the middle and moved aside to reveal Tranter’s trademark. He had once seen a hologram of a tropical paradise and built one for himself wherever he lived. His last pool had been totally destroyed by the Aurian Federation when they blew up his base, but in true Tranter style, he hadn’t let it stop him from building another one.

  Fake palm trees swayed in a warm breeze and a bank of soft, pink sand led down to a half sized, deep pool. It was surrounded by loungers and little tables with holders for food and drinks. Hidden speakers played the sound of rolling surf and tropical birdsong, and there was scent of saltwater and a hint of coconut in the air.

  “Tranter, you have excelled yourself,” Raan rubbed his hands with glee and started to take off his Marine issue boots and gunbelt. He padded round to the side, where a diving board sat, perched over the blue depths. He looked down, “Tranter have you got fish in here?”

  “Sure, man,” lied Tranter.

  “Fish?” said Erion, peering into the water. Raan gave her a shove and jumped in beside her. She hit the water with a cut off scream and surfaced, coughing violently. Raan leapt up, grabbed Starfire’s ankles and she befell the same fate as her friend.

  “So that’s how you want to play it,” gritted Starfire, treading water while she tried to remove her boots. They both turned on the grinning Captain and pulled him under the water. Erion surfaced, holding his jeans and Starfire joined her, waving his shirt above her head. Tranter watched, shaking his head, sadly.

  “It’s the strain,” he explained to a silent Hal by his side. “This last mission was probably too much for them.” Hal eased off his flat, black boots.

  “Hold this for me,” he said softly, handing an amazed Tranter his heavy, black gunbelt, complete with laser pistol. The shirt came off next, then Hal ran to the edge and executed a long, clean dive straight into the water. Starfire disappeared with a gurgle and Hal broke the surface, beside her, ignoring her spluttering obscenities. Erion reached them and she and Starfire tried to push him under, then a general water fight ensued, which ended with a lot of clothing bobbing gently away. Tranter watched them splashing about for a while, then walked to the edge.

  “Hey, peasants, dinner is ready.” They cut cards for first dibs on the Vanity Unit and Erion went in first, then Hal, Raan and finally Starfire. Nearly an hour later, they sat around the couch after their meal, drinking coffee and smoking cigarillos with silver bands.

  “Del, stop lurking by the door and come and sit with us,” commanded Erion. The android joined them and perched on the edge of the couch. “We need your input, Del,” said Erion, “so don’t worry about speaking up if you think of anything. Tranter cleared his throat,

  “According to Thirty Seven, The Alliance can easily shift the prisoners. They’re officially dead so the Federation won’t be looking for them. The problem is going to be the Terrellians with the Trenee. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not happy about them going to Manta Six.”

  “But it won’t be any different for them if we can't find anywhere for them to go,” began Starfire, “Kaura said they could even put them to sleep for the journey. They’ll go to sleep underground and wake up underground. They won’t even know they’ve moved planets.”

  “Look, you don’t get it, do you?” said Tranter, hotly. “Vermillion wouldn’t allow it.”

  “Eh?” Starfire looked baffled and Tranter tried to be patient. It was not one of skills.

  “Why do they hide underground on Serrell?” he demanded.

  “Because they’d be captured by the natives if they went up top,” said Starfire, “and if the Terrellian Council got hold of them, they’d be made to talk and the Trenee would be found.”

  “Yeah, idiot,” Tranter was losing his calm. “There won’t be any danger of that on Manta, will there? Vermillion would insist they’d be set free to build their own little village on the surface. The Trenee and the Citizens would still have to hide underground. We all know what us humans are like.”

  “Yeah,” put in Hal, softly, looking straight at Starfire. “Curious.”

  “And sooner or later one of ‘em would see something they shouldn’
t. Then they’d all have to find out. There could be a war, or they could find a way off the planet and tell somebody else or….

  “I get it!” Starfire lifted her hands in mock surrender. “The Trenee and the Citizens, they’d all have to stay right underground forever.”

  “And they’d do it too,” mused Erion. She looked up, “You’re right, Tranter, the Terrellians can’t go to Manta.

  Later that night, Erion and Starfire lay in their bunks, staring at the ceiling.

  “Do you think you can pull it off?” asked Starfire.

  “I’ve evacuated people off planets in war time before,” she began, “but it’s the Trenee. I don’t know how to hide them while we do it, and I gave my word.”

  “You’ll think of something,” said Starfire. “You always do.”

  “That’s what Tranter said,” Erion sighed. “He has such faith in me Lieutenant.” Erion sounded so despondent, that Starfire took her chance.

  “You know why, don’t you?”

  “No, tell me.”

  “It’s because he’s in love with you, you stupid idiot.”

  “What!” Erion sat up in her bunk. “Lights!” she snapped. Their little room lit up and Erion stared at Starfire. “Has he said anything to you?”

  “He doesn't have to. You’d have to be blind not to see it,” laughed Starfire. “And you; do you feel the same way?”

  “I…..I have so much responsibility, Starfire. There’s too much danger in what we do. I could be killed any time we’re on a mission. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “But, we’re at war, Major. It’s different.”

  “You know the rule, Lieutenant,” Erion shook her head. “The rule we always keep. We never fall in love with our comrades. We make sure it never happens.”

  “The same command or on board ship, yes,” agreed Starfire. “We make sure it never happens, but Tranter isn’t our shipmate. We’re out in space and he’s back here. Frag it, Erion, he’s already died once. Just grab your happiness while you can.” Erion thought for a long moment, looking back on all the little signs between them that she should have spotted. The smiles that were only for her and the way he blushed when he touched her hand. She made her decision, stood up, tied a silk robe around her slender waist and called Tranter on her wristlink.