Zak Jahns

by Gregory Anderson

  “There is a small laser on top and missile racks on the bottom, all ready to go.”

  Junes smile got even wider and Zak approved also. When Junes was ordered by Admiral Byrd to join Panther's crew. She had misgivings because she thought it would be boring on the small ship. She could not have been more wrong, on Panther she had gained real combat experience and not just simulated but the real thing. Also, she genuinely liked the crew and came to accept the more casual manner they had. Yet when it came to trouble they came together tighter than any military crew she had encountered. When it came down to it the Cyrillium forces had very little real combat experience since their overwhelming presence alone that rarely got challenged. On the other hand these small ships like Panther moving around the fringes were challenged regularly. Panther avoided many of these troubles because of her reputation and pirates just stayed away. Even Federated's captains, who are as ruthless as they come, tried to avoid Panther. The refurbish of the three shuttles went well as they expected and the upgraded navigation systems added further to their value. There was no Azurite on any of them which was to be expected but Panther had ample supply. They were supplied with enough to power up and fully test the shuttles and take them on test runs. This happened well before they made their next stop. Hart announced.

  “Entering the Glassbow system and adjusting course for Glassbow Three.”

  The Glassbow system consisted of five inhabited planets on the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy. It's location made it a major trading center for a good chunk of the Galaxy. The system had an almost military style of government that allowed equal representation among the planets. Of course it had a large law enforcement presence that made it attractive for traders because of the strict zero tolerance on violence policy. All the planets were open and friendly. Glassbow Three had the largest population and also a huge space station. This is where Zak hoped to sell the shuttles and containers. Then he would look for two habitat containers for the next leg of their journey. Panther was well known in this system and they had a long trading history here. It would take two hours to dock at the busy station, the queue was full. Zak spent some time and found a broker who would swap the two freight containers for two habitat containers. The three shuttles would remain in the containers until an interested party wanted to look at them. The crew was looking for some downtime but would not be going planetside as Zak wanted to push on for Edahni as soon as possible. Glassbow station was huge and had everything from advanced medical care to foods from around the galaxy. Most of the planets had offices on the station.

  “Zak, good to see you again it has been too long.”

  “Good to see you again as well Frank. Have you been able to find any buyers for me yet.”

  “Yes and no but first let's have a drink, you need to relax. Edahni will still be there when you get to it. How's Pete doing.”

  “Pete is no longer with us, he settled down and by how is a father. Just how do you know about Edahni.”

  “The colony on Edahni is no secret and neither is Federated's interest in it. You need to be real careful in the Colisus system, word has it that Panther is to be stopped no mater what. And that includes a fat bounty on you personally.”

  “Frank you always seem to know too much about too many things so I am glad you are on our side. I will take heed and now, what about buyers,”

  “Ah that, I understand you wanting to move on as quickly as you can so I have a proposal. If you leave the shuttles with me I will sell then for a small commission, the paperwork is all ready. That gives me time to get you top dollar and I will give you an advance on that. That way you can conclude your business on the containers and move on. All the while they enjoyed a mild malt beverage that relaxed Zak and made him put things in perspective. Frank had connections all over the galaxy and often heard things that were beneficial not only to Zak but the high council as well. Zak had always thought that the council compensated Frank for his information.

  “What you say makes sense, let's do business then get some dinner. I would like you to meet my new second, she is much different than Pete.”

  “A woman in command of your ship, I never thought to see the day. She must be Cyrillium.”

  Zak pondered that last comment as they concluded their business.

  “That should do it, let me contact my ship.”

  “Where do you recommend that we eat, somewhere new perhaps.”

  “Yes of course, I have something a little different in mind, a fusion thing. And bring your engineer couple along also, they will enjoy it also.”

  They made arrangements for time and location and Zak headed back to the ship to prepare. Most people stayed away from grax, especially when they were eating. Uhr and Dihr were the best engineers he had ever had as well as being good friends. If Frank said to bring them along he would not question the reasons. Frank was at a loss for words when meeting Junes. Looking up at her and then to Zak, back and forth until Uhr said something.

  “Shut your mouth Frank and quit staring at Junes.”

  They were standing in front of a new eating establishment which Dihr and Uhr recognized as grax, this pleased them.

  “I doubt you are at a loss for words very often, I am flattered but still, you should learn some manners. Zak, you never said you business associate was so timid.”

  “Frank is not shy, he is just awestruck by your beauty.”

  “It is more than that Zak, forgive my rudeness please. It's just not that you are beautiful but also a high ranking Cyrillium officer, that is a frightening combination.”

  They all laughed as they walked into the establishment. A human came to seat them and present menus. Frank had eaten here before.

  “Uhr and Dihr, all your favorites are on the menu but also some great cooked fusion dishes that you may like.”

  There was a comfortable silence as they looked over the choices. When a waiter came to take their order it was Junes and not Frank who spoke first.

  “I would recommend the Mootoo. It's a mix of meats and tomatoes, lightly cooked in Maz sauce.”

  The waiter responded.

  An excellent choice and a house specialty. Would any others want this also.”

  They all agreed to try the Mootoo and even though grax tended to raw meats they all enjoyed the dish with it's spicy flavor. The conversation flowed easily and Frank was able to update them on many happenings from this part of the galaxy. They also completed arrangements for Frank to pick up the three shuttles after the containers were dropped. This also saved them some time.

  “Just be careful with those Federated people, they are getting more ruthless by the day according to the reports we have been getting.”

  “We appreciate the warning Frank but still we have a mission to complete.”

  With that they parted ways and headed back to Panther. Upon return Uhr thanked Zak for the invitation. Glassbow was one of the few worlds with a rather large grax population so humans and hegmon were used to them.

  “You two are quite welcome. We will give the crew another six hours until we take off, until I am going to get some rest.”

  Zak headed for his cabin, Junes to the bridge and Uhr and Dihr back to engineering. Later, the station gave clearance and Panther departed for the forth moon where they would swap containers. The forth moon had no name and was used as a giant parking lot. Owned by three companies the moon's light gravity made it the perfect place for cold storage. The entire surface was fairly smooth and well marked. There were hundreds of containers all laid out perfectly for pickup and drop off. Other parts of the moon contained all sort of stored items including a junkyard of spaceship parts. As they approached the moon they received a comm directing them to their container drop location. Zak commented.

  “They have visual markers on the drop point, this is a first rate operation.”

  As one of the largest handlers of the old style containers the Marc company could afford to make it easy or as Marc often said 'people are idiots' and it sav
es time and effort. It took no time at all drop off and then pick up two containers. After a system check of the containers confirmed that they were spaceworthy Zak ordered a course to the jump point. When Junes took over the con she asked Hart where they were going.

  “We are making for the jump point.”

  “What jump point, there are no plotted jump points anywhere near.”

  “That is correct, there are no plotted jump points but there are many across the galaxy that are known to us.”

  “Okay, next you are going to tell me that we are going to jump between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms.”

  “Yes, it is a longer jump but we do it all the time.”

  Junes, being a highly trained Cyrillium officer had heard of ships jumping the void but discounted it as rumor.

  “Listen Hart, I thought that jumping the void was just a myth.”

  “But it is, Jings was one of the first to try it successfully and there are risks. You cannot exactly predict where you will come out and then there is the other thing.”

  “What other thing.”

  “Well, when we come out you will be sick and it is much worse on these longer jumps. Fortunately it has little effect on grax so we have Uhr and Dihr to take command till someone else is coherent enough to take over.”

  For Junes this explained how Panther could make it across the galaxy in such short time. Many had asked Zak about it and he never answered.

  “You can not tell anyone about this, including the Cyrillium command. This is a strategic advantage that must never become common knowledge.”

  “I understand, thanks for explaining it to me.”

  By doing these void jumps a ship could save as much as a year in travel time. This jump would save Panther seven months over traveling conventional routes. The biggest risk was that a ship was totally vulnerable when coming out because of an incapacitated crew. Not only was there no way of telling where they would come out it also meant there was a chance they could come out near a solid object and that would be catastrophic. Hart was one of the best navigators around and these void jumps were routine for Panther. Something rare on Panther was happening, Uhr was at the helm. Zak and Junes sat back and strapped in. Zak and Junes dreaded this.

  “This saves time but when we come out it's bad, you will see Junes, you will see. Uhr, take us in.”

  While most jumps were a few minute this would be ten, one of the longest any ship had ever taken. All the monitors went black while most stayed awake there was a surreal feeling came over them. At six minutes many passed out or felt weak and disoriented. This time it was even worse.

  “Whoa, asteroids.”

  Uhr mumbled as he took evasive maneuvers. They had come out in an asteroid field and now Uhr had the ship jinking around as best as he could, the shields got a workout but there was no damage. Hart, the first on the bridge crew to recover said.

  “Good job Uhr, keep it up and we will be clear in a few minutes.”

  Zak and Junes were both unconscious and just bounced against their restraints.

  “We are clear, that was fun. Hart, you have the con. I have to get aft and check on crew back there.”

  Aft, Gina is still vomiting while Dihr and Uhr stood by and laughed.

  “It's not funny, I feel like crap and can barely stand.”

  “You humans are just not tough enough for these long jumps.”

  The bridge crew did not fair much better and Junes and Zak just sat, afraid to move or stand.

  “That was worse than you said it would be Zak.”

  “Ah yes, but we just saved over seven months. You did fine for a first timer just don't move for the next fifteen minutes and you will start feeling better.”

  Hart stated.

  “Course set for Colisus Five, long range scans are clear so just relax. About eight hours to our next destination.”

  At various rates the rest of the crew got back to normal.

  On Edahni they were facing an insurmountable problem. Food was once again running out with no remedy in sight. Comms were blocked and with two Federated ships above no one could get through. No schemes to raise crops or livestock had come to fruition. They always assumed they could eat manna. Manna was a truly amazing fungus that could be grown just about anywhere, just not on Edahni. It kept a long time dry and then with moisture and steady temperature it grew like crazy, just not on Edahni. Every spaceship carried it and a person could live on it but while it had all the essentials it had no taste. The slow growth of manna on Edahni left them with an estimate of beyond a year before they had enough for one meal. So food could be what did them in, no one wanted to give in to Federated. Berdle stated.

  “Panther will be back, she will, and bring more food.”

  So far that had been true, Panther and another containership had brought food but now with two ships blockading and no comms things looked grim. Some colonist had become resigned and wanted to concede to Federated. To slowly starve to death made no sense because then Federated could just step in with no resistance. On the other hand, if they capitulated they would be slaves forever or worse. If the Azurite proved out they could buy their own fleet to protect them if they so chose. Really though, what they wanted mot was to be left alone to live their uncomplicated lives.

  -12-

  “Captain, we have two Federated ships in orbit around the planet, how do you want to proceed.”

  Zak replied.

  “We just need to lay back until we figure out their pattern and then slip in between them while they are furthest away.”

  Panther approached Colisus Five slowly in anticipation of Federated's presence but had figured on only one ship, now things could be a little dicey. The would have just a small opportunity to approach the planet without being detected. They could not evade the planetary systems but this was not any concern. The leaders of the planet had no love of Federated and would no give away Panther's approach. This was the planet where they would pick up food and medical supplies for Edahni. Before, bringing food to Edahni was a routine mater but now it had become a very dangerous thing. Panther was far enough from the planet to achieve a good speed going in and calculated a narrow window of approach. They sat back and waited for the right time, Hart called it.

  “In our window in one minute.”

  “Taking us in on my mark.”

  The crew was fully alert but trusted the captain when he called 'mark' they were prepared for anything.

  On one of the Federated ships a navigator called out.

  “Captain, we have something coming in.”

  Captain Barc replied.

  “What is it and do we have weapons lock.”

  “Ah no sir, it just disappeared. Might be a glitch or just out of our range and not coming this way.”

  “Keep a close watch and contact planetary and see if they saw anything.”

  Whether or not they got an answer from planetary was questionable. Colisus Five's government complained many times about Federated putting weapons lock on every other ship that came in. It was the same argument on all the other planets that Federated 'protected'. No one wanted that level of protection that Federated insisted they pay for. If a planet complained too much then pirates started showing up and causing troubles. The planets of the Colisus system had run out of options as the cost of each one setting up their own fleets was cost prohibitive. Zak ordered.

  “We will be hitting atmosphere hard so be prepared for that and an almost immediate flip. Try not to black out.”

  Zak had given the last order and said nothing more until they were on the landing pad.

  “Okay everybody, we should be safe for now so take your regular rotation of ground time but stay close and stay out of trouble.”

  Always a few would stay with Panther and often that would be Dihr and Uhr after a brief walkabout. There was quiet as the crew left the ship looked up and around at the wide open spaces. Junes had already contacted the supplier who would be loading the containers. They were co
mplaining about loading into habitat containers, this meant a lot more labor.

  Barc was not satisfied with the results of the inquiries and suspected the lack of cooperation from the planet would never change. Barc was not without other resources so he commed his men on the ground.

  “Harm, I need to have you find out about a ship that landed in the last two hours, possibly at Agra Foods..”

  “Already on it boss, an old container ship just came down there at Agra, is that what you needed.”

  “Maybe, but I need you to get a visual on it and let me know if it has four main thrusters.”

  “Boss, there are no container ships with four thrusters.”

  “There is one, Panther. Just get back to me as soon as possible. Barc, out.”

  Harm called his partner and made arrangements for a shuttle to take them to Agra foods which was on the other side of the planet. He found out he could not land at Agra and they landed nearby. Now they would have to figure out how to get by Agra's security. Zak was sitting in the offices of Agra and going over the purchase and making tentative arrangements for another pick up.

  “How you get out of here is none of my business but you must know there are a couple of Federated ships with orders to take you out, dead or alive.”

  “Oh yes we know but they only have two ships up there so getting out should not be a problem.”

  “I hope so, we appreciate your business and rest assured that while you are here on the ground our security is on full alert so you have no worries on that score.”