Starcrasher (Shades Space Opera Book 1)

by Rock Forsberg

‘You mind if I take a look?’

  ‘Now you’re a mechanic as well?’

  ‘I know a thing or two about these systems – the problem can be anywhere,’ she said, and darted back to her room.

  When she did not return, Tredd peered in. He saw her sitting cross-legged on her bed, a grey blanket thrown over her shoulders, her face lit by the screen on her lap. She looked up at Tredd, and then back at the screen. ‘I’ll just run a bit of diagnostics.’

  Tredd remembered how she told him she had hacked the ship to get herself in. If she could do that, she could likely control any other function of the ship’s computer. Perhaps she can use her powers for good as well. Skilful hackers were able to solve most software-related trouble, but on the flip side they could also create a lot of trouble – damaging much more than mere software. A gamer, huh? The thought crossed Tredd’s mind that she had planned this happening.

  She raised her head from the screen. ‘The main computer’s got power, and looks functional, but its IO units seem to be offline and I can’t turn them on from here. It’s likely a physical fault.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘See here,’ she said, pointing at the screen.

  Even if he tried, Tredd could not make any sense out of the symbols and graphics on the screen. ‘You sure?’

  ‘Yep, and we need to find this particular unit.’

  ‘Oh great,’ Tredd said, defeat in his voice. He had no idea where to look for the IO controller, or the connections to the main system. Sending out a distress signal for assistance would be an option, but there would be too many questions he didn’t want to respond to. ‘So, do you have any ideas?’

  ‘Well, you’re lucky the core is operational. Otherwise the only way would have been to send out for a tow service, and I don’t know about you, but the costs… Anyway, let me see.’ She turned back to her screen. ‘I can see a few options – there’s something like a fuse box, likely in the corridor, and a connector unit likely in the cargo bay.’

  ‘Likely?’

  ‘Who knows – in these old ships it could be anywhere.’

  ‘Let’s go and see.’ Tredd nodded towards the door.

  Evie stood up from the bed and, like a cat, pulled a simultaneous yawn and stretch.

  The corridor was littered with multiple hatches and scuttles. Tredd started opening them up, trying to figure out what all the wires and switches were for. It was a long time since he had studied these things, and even then his knowledge was about large, purpose-built military ships, completely different to this old carriage. In this one, each hatch had a blueprint of the set-up on its internal surface, as if they had known some ad-hoc fixing would be required. Tredd tried to read one in the dim light, but the text was small, and in a language he didn’t understand.

  ‘You get any of this?’ he asked Evie, who was running from hatch to hatch.

  ‘They’re in Andronese – many think it’s difficult to learn, but it’s actually quite simple. Let me see… here.’ She stopped at one of the hatches and pulled out a small unit with dozens of small parts attached to it. ‘This is the control box, but it looks to me like it’s operational. Let’s go and see the connector unit.’

  They headed down to the cargo bay. Tredd let Evie go first, not only because she seemed to know what she was doing, but also because he wanted to keep an eye on her. There was the large cargo space, perhaps twenty metres long, ten metres wide and just as tall. Two levels of metal bridges hung on each side, and behind them stood a massive outward loading door.

  ‘Do you know where the connector box is?’

  ‘It’s a connector unit. And no, I don’t. Do you?’

  ‘That’s why I’m asking,’ said Tredd. He wasn’t up for any games, especially after waking up in the middle of the night. ‘It’s a big space.’

  ‘It is, but typically most maintenance panels are close to one another. Give us some light please?’

  Tredd pulled up his pistol.

  ‘Whoa!’ Evie jumped at the sight of the gun. ‘I just wanted some more light.’

  ‘This is light,’ Tredd said, and engaged the torch in his pistol. He scanned the walls with it. ‘See anything?’

  ‘No, no… Move up… No, the other wall… Up, up, closer to us… Stop.’ She started walking to the stairwell that led to the uppermost bridge. She beckoned to Tredd. ‘Come on!’

  She moved like a cat and Tredd clambered behind her. As Tredd reached her on the upper bridge, he found himself panting. At least he was starting to feel warmer.

  Evie was already examining the wall. She opened the big hatch in the middle, then a smaller one below, two on the side and one above, but none of them seemed to contain what she was looking for. ‘There’s one above, over there, but I can’t reach it.’

  Tredd stood a head above Evie, but reaching out he just couldn’t touch the hatch. ‘Damn! Why do they have to make these so difficult?’

  ‘Beats me. Maybe you could lift me?’ she asked. ‘I mean, standing on your shoulders I think I could reach it.’

  ‘Sure,’ he said with a shrug. ‘If I raise you with my hands, you climb onto my shoulders.’ He turned his back to the wall, crossed his fingers and lowered his hands.

  Evie put her left foot on Tredd’s palms and steadied herself by holding onto his shoulders.

  Evie was so close to Tredd that he could smell the remains of her warm and spicy fragrance mixed with sweet sweat. She groaned just a little as she pushed herself up. The bumps of her breasts under the black tank top almost brushed against his face, and when he lifted her up, so did her white navel, which peeked between the tank top and her pants. He felt her feet on his shoulders, first one, then the other.

  ‘You OK down there?’ she asked.

  ‘What? Oh, yes.’ Tredd felt his face blush.

  ‘Good, because we’ve just hit the jackpot. A few of the connections have come loose.’

  Tredd breathed heavy. It was not that he had to carry Evie, she was light as a summer blanket, but how her closeness made him feel. It had been a long time since he had been intimate with a woman, and now he felt like a hormone-driven teenager. He had to push the feeling aside, and cleared his throat. ‘Can you fix it?’

  ‘Too easy.’

  He heard a click, and then a whirring noise. Warm air started blowing, and the lights flickered on, turning the night to day. He squinted at the sudden brightness and rubbed his eyes. ‘Computer, dim the lights.’

  ‘Acknowledged,’ the computer responded, and the lights dimmed to a level somewhere between a romantic dinner and a bedside light.

  Tredd had to get these thoughts out of his head. This girl was just a child.

  ‘We did it!’ she said, with a voice of excitement. Tredd could feel her dancing on top of his shoulders. As he grunted, she stopped and said, ‘Could you please lower yourself a bit, so I can jump down?’

  Tredd squatted down and Evie jumped in front of him. The metal bridge clanked as she hit down and crouched, revealing a sliver of white skin at her waist. She straightened herself up and turned around, brushing her hair out of her face and smiling.

  ‘Well done,’ Tredd said, feeling he was blushing.

  Evie’s face became serious. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Tredd rubbed his eyes and yawned. ‘I’m just tired. Let’s go back to bed.’

  ‘Yeah, let’s…’ She placed a strand of hair behind her ear, and said, ‘But I’m not sure I can sleep after this.’

  Tredd thought the same. His heart was beating faster than it had for ages. Even facing Daler at gunpoint hadn’t given his heart a run like this. It was incredible how just the presence of a young woman in her prime made his body behave. An image of Jill in her teens passed through Tredd’s mind. He glanced at his watch. ‘We’ve still a few hours until we reach Baleor. Let’s try to get some rest.’

  Tredd led Evie back to the crew’s quarters. At the door to her cabin, Tredd said, ‘Thank you, Evie. Without you I’d have been in troub
le.’

  She leaned against the doorframe. ‘Does that mean I’ll get to be in your crew?’

  ‘We’ll see about that tomorrow.’

  ‘Yes! Thank you so much,’ she said with a smile, and lifted herself to give Tredd a kiss on the cheek, unintentionally making sure her scent would follow him to his bed.

  Tredd squeezed his jaws together. ‘I didn’t say I—’ he started, but she had already closed the door in front of him.

  He lounged back to the captain’s quarters, took off his clothes and switched off the lights, and slid in between the sheets. The only thing on his mind was the naked body of a young lady, the sweet scent of spice and sweat, and her soft hands caressing his worn body. He thought of curling up in her warm lap, and fell asleep in minutes.

  CHAPTER SIX

  TREDD DOCKED the Rutger at the Gemma Central space station. He rose up from the pilot’s seat, grabbed his black leather coat, and pushed his terminal to the inside pocket. He touched the cool surface of the Light Burst on his hip as he went looking for his little stowaway.

  He found her in the engine room, fiddling with the control screen. He said, ‘This is your last stop. Get your stuff and disembark so I can lock up the ship.’

  She glanced at him and returned to face the screen. ‘Yeah, let me just—’

  He shook his head. ‘No. I want you out now.’

  She stood up and turned to face him. Pushing her fists against her hips she tilted her head and frowned. ‘Listen. I’m doing you a favour here, tuning this neglected mess of a machine. Besides, you do realise I could hack myself in any time?’

  She was right. The worst she could do was to mess up something, which the Gemma Central service unit could fix up in no time. He only had to run the diagnostics when he was back. Furthermore, his gut told him that he could trust her.

  ‘Fine, but don’t do anything stupid.’

  She raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘See you later,’ she said, and turned back to the screen.

  Tredd took a space taxi down to Baleor, a boorish and uninspiring planet, where life went on as it always did, hidden away from the troubles of the galaxy. It wasn’t known for anything special, except perhaps for wool exports, enabled by the gigasheep, which were like ten-metre tall clouds floating over the never-ending green hills and pastures. They produced the softest and the most sought after natural wool in the universe, and the number and the size of the animals made the product abundant on Baleor. This had made it a prosperous planet and, with reasonably sane governance, had enabled it to develop as one of the more stable ones. This was a lucky planet, but for most folk it was also very boring. It didn’t have anything to pull in foreign investors or visitors, but for most people living in Baleor it was their piece of heaven in the universe.

  The space taxi took him down to Bella spaceport, and from there he took a local taxi. Tredd had sent Eddie a message from Gemma Central, and he had confirmed his address. Tredd flew across the city to a spacious suburb by a lake and a backdrop of mountains. It was almost like back in Eura, but everything was bigger and cleaner – more luxurious. He got off at a large house of wood, glass and white composites.

  Upon his arrival, Eddie opened the front door. He stood tall and slender, his skin tan and radiant under a loose white shirt. However, his pointy eyebrows had grown longer than ever before, as had the wiry hairs growing out of his ears and nose, and to top it all, the rimless glasses did no favours in hiding his bi-directional gaze. He still looked like an owl, only healthier than before.

  ‘Tristram, great to see you!’ Eddie grabbed Tredd on the shoulders for a hug. Tredd didn’t recall him being the hugging type.

  Tredd leaned back. ‘How are you, old pal?’

  ‘I’m excellent – absolutely excellent. Come on in.’ Eddie led Tredd in through the front door. ‘How are you? What brings you to these hidden parts?’

  ‘Good, pal. I was around and thought I’d pay you a visit.’ He followed Eddie to a foyer bigger than his pad in Spit City.

  ‘Really?’ Eddie asked and reached out his hand.

  Tredd took off his coat and handed it to Eddie. ‘No. Honestly, I came because I wanted to talk about something with you.’

  ‘Of course,’ Eddie said as the wardrobe door slid slut.

  He had done well for himself. He lived in a big house by a lake, had a shiny new craft out front and a very neat sailboat on the pier behind his backyard. There was perfect green grass, and then spruce and pine forest leading up to the hills, and mountains far beyond the lake. Behind the mountains rose the modern city of Bella, all shiny, white and clean, a complete opposite to the dark dirt of Spit City. Tredd realised this was something he had always wanted for himself.

  The massive living room had an impressive view over to the lake, the large windows set between heavy beams that ran from floor to the ceiling. ‘Are those windows blast-proof?’ Tredd asked as they walked down to the light grey couches.

  ‘They are. Not that it’s really needed though,’ Eddie said as they sat down. ‘It really has been a long time. What, three years?’

  Tredd shook his head. ‘Five.’

  ‘Time passes so quickly nowadays. You know, when you’re young, the days and months seem endless, but now, five years can pass without you noticing.’

  ‘I can see the past five have been good for you.’

  ‘This place? It’s not mine. Or, actually, it is. What I mean is that it’s my wife’s.’

  ‘It’s a beautiful home,’ Tredd said, and looked up at the ornate lamp hanging down from the ceiling. ‘How long have you been married?’

  ‘For four years now,’ Eddie said, and showed his golden wedding ring. ‘Her name is Cassandra, and I believe she should be back with the boys any minute now.’

  ‘The boys?’

  Eddie smiled. ‘Got twin boys of three and a half, and one almost two-year-old. Cassandra went out with them to a nearby play centre.’

  ‘I’m speechless, what can I say… It must be a great feeling to be a father,’ Tredd said, trying to hide his disappointment. Getting Eddie to join the crew might be more difficult than I expected, he thought. Also, he felt a tinge of jealousy creeping up his spine. It was his childhood dream: sharing this kind of a big house with Jill, raising beautiful and strong boys.

  ‘It’s great to see them grow, finding yourself in their eyes, their speech and their manners. But boys can sometimes be a handful – at least these ones are.’

  ‘You know what they say about family men?’ Tredd asked, leaning back on the couch. ‘When you get engaged to a girl, your testosterone drops. You marry her, it falls. You have children, it plummets.’

  Eddie chuckled and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘I see what you’re saying. But do you know what I’m most proud of?’

  Tredd raised his right leg on top of his left knee. ‘What?’

  ‘I haven’t touched the bottle for three years. The last time was one glass of very expensive vintage bubbly from a vintage planet, on our first wedding anniversary. I’m completely clean now. And I feel like I’m ten years younger.’

  ‘You look good, I have to say. You been working out?’

  Eddie straightened up and rapped his stomach with his fist. ‘My personal trainer keeps me in check – he doesn’t trust robots, and I tend to agree with him.’

  Eddie had been transformed from a little skinny kid into a powerful, wiry man. He still wore glasses, but now they just added to the package. Tredd realised he’d just stayed the same, perhaps even gone down. He raised himself up from the slumped position he had managed to get into on the couch. ‘I should train more…’

  ‘No, you look absolutely fine,’ Eddie said. ‘You’ve always been strong, and I can see you’re doing more than virtual reality.’

  ‘Yeah, well…’ Tredd said. Perhaps it was just a compliment to an old friend, but still it was good to hear it from Eddie. He didn’t feel as strong as he used to – with every mission, bounty hunting felt harder on his physique – but a
t least it had kept him from becoming a brain bot.

  ‘So, tell me,’ Eddie said, and clapped his hands together. ‘What have you been up to these past years?’

  ‘I’ve been, well, collecting,’ he said with a tone of defeat.

  ‘Collecting?’

  ‘Fetching people for FIST in Spit City.’

  Eddie’s eyes lit up instantly. ‘Bounty hunter, in Spit City? Is that right… How cool is that?’

  Tredd heaved a sigh. ‘It pays the bills. Sometimes.’

  ‘Ah, that’s too bad. You have to tell me some stories, you must have a few.’

  ‘I’m not much of a storyteller,’ Tredd said wiping his forehead. ‘And besides, the real Spit City is a glorified dump, nothing more.’

  Eddie laughed. ‘When I was a kid, I used to watch these stories from the Dawn Net, about bounty hunters in Spit City. I wanted to be just like them – facing the danger, getting the bad guys, doing the right thing. Funny, isn’t it?’

  ‘I remember that show,’ Tredd said. Of course he did, he’d even picked his new name because of it. Every kid in Eura watched it then. Everyone wanted to be a slick bounty hunter in the dark metropolis. ‘The reality is not quite the same…’

  Eddie nodded. ‘For me, the navy was the closest thing I got to being an action hero. Sometimes I miss it, but I have to say my dismissal was the best thing that ever happened to me.’

  ‘I remember you felt a bit differently about it last time we met,’ Tredd said, looking around the expansive living room. ‘So, what changed? What kind of job makes all of this possible?’

  ‘I know. Now I enjoy working as part-time teacher, teaching practical computer science in the Bella School of Technology. It’s really Cassandra’s family who have provided us with a fairly reasonable lifestyle.’

  There was a sound behind the front door, children yelling.

  ‘They’re here,’ Eddie said, and leaned forward towards Tredd, beckoning him to do the same. ‘Now, before she gets here, tell me: why are you really here?’

  Tredd leaned in and whispered, ‘I need your help.’

  ‘What? Tell me quick.’