The Star Traders: The Star Traders Series Volume One

by Gary W. Feather

  “I-I made a terrible mistake, Cindy.” Ellie the horror she felt in confessing the truth. “I asked the Lorkiiz for help. I was worried that no one would want me to be senior captain and I’ve never been anything but an XO for so long.” Ellie paused to swallow her saliva. “Tawny has been my lover for a couple years and after Audrey’s death we started to plan against Alberta to take over Guinevere. I d-didn’t want anyone to die, Cindy. I…You need to take full command. I-I just officially resigned a few minutes ago in the captain’s office. I’m sorry.”

  Ellie lowered her head and felt her age and more so as Cindy frowned at her. She waited a few minutes as Cindy went to work and made an announcement to everyone on Guinevere about what’s really been going on.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDREDTHIRTEEN

  Stealing Guinevere's Daughter

  Alberta had led her people safely to Flight Deck A. Piper and her security women quickly organized a barricade to keep the Lorkiiz out. Then they heard Cindy’s announcement. Alberta heard a few cheers and she grinned too. At least our own family won’t be attacking us anymore and a few more people had joined her group.

  “Alberta!” Amy clutched Alberta’s arm with a tablet in her other hand.

  “What is it?”

  “I got a call from my husband. He and few others have gathered up all the children. They’ve moved them to Gaia Gardens.”

  Alberta nodded. Alberta’s sister was the only one of the family married to a man, a science teacher named Saul Menendez. They had two daughters; Isabelle and Cyma. The Gaia Gardens was a large park inside the starship full of grass, plants, trees, creeks, and ponds. Even a few small animals. A beautiful place to enjoy nature while far away from any planet. It was a place that you could have a picnic, fish, swim, pray to the Goddess, and gather in a large group.

  “That’s good.” Alberta looked back at the barricade. “Anything else?”

  “He said the damn Lorkiiz are everywhere.” Amy sighed. “A group of them passed by the Gaia Gardens, but didn’t stop.”

  “I think the Lorkiiz are trying to gather as much Intel as they can before they make an open move on the bridge.” Alberta looked away from the barricade. “We’re not safe here. We need to get out of here. We need to get the children out of here to safety.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Amy tilted her head.

  Alberta pulled out her tablet. How long would it take us to get there? She brought up the map of Guinevere’s decks. Not bad. We could make it. I hope. Alberta looked up. “We’ll take the Daughter.”

  “Are you sure?” Amy frowned. “There’s two alien starships out there that’ll try to blow us to bits.”

  “They might.” Alberta smirked. “But I know a few tricks that I can use against them. And Kansbar has a navy big enough to take out those two alien starships if they become a problem to its valuable merchant traffic. Out here in the middle of nowhere they can kill us, but once we get into more heavily populated area of the Kansbar star system then they’ll won’t attack.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Have I ever given you reason to doubt me, sis?”

  “Oooh, once or twice. Maybe six times. I’ll have to think about it.” Amy laughed.

  Alberta grunted. “Anyways, Saul can bring the children to Daughter and we can get them to safety back in Yin Confederation space.”

  Amy nodded.

  #

  Alberta walked through the corridors with Piper by her side. Keiko was up ahead with eight security women, while Heidi followed Alberta’s large group with six security women. There was also security women scattered among the middle of the group for protection. Everyone of them had a blaster rifle along with their helmet and armor jacket. Of course Saul Menendez’s group only has a couple of security women with them. Alberta wasn’t sure how many weapons Saul’s group had. That’s why I need to get the children out of here! And Amy and her nurses still had wounded that they needed to get to the sickbay on Guinevere’s Daughter.

  Alberta looked down at her map on her tablet’s screen. They were nearing the hatch to the docking tube that they’d walk through to get into Guinevere’s Daughter. She looked up at the numbers on the wall as they turned right down the next corridor. Keiko raced up ahead with eight security women to secure the closed hatch. Alberta and the others followed. So far we haven’t seen any damn Lorkiiz. Hopefully that won’t change. Though Alberta didn’t really have too much hope for that much luck.

  “Let’s get the wounded inside, Amy.” Alberta ordered. Alberta made a call to Saul Menendez.

  “Saul here?”

  “We made it to Guinevere’s Daughter. Get the children down here as fast as you can, Saul.” Alberta told him.

  Saul’s grim face nodded on the screen. “Right, captain. We’ll try. We don’t have too many weapons with us. Hopefully we can’t sneak are way there. Gods help us.”

  “Got it, Saul. Good luck. Alberta out.” Saul’s face vanished from the screen.

  “Maybe you should get inside.” Piper said.

  “What? Oh. I want to wait here for the children to get her-” Alberta tried to explain.

  “You can wait inside for them, Alberta.” Piper said. “And get the rocketship ready to undock from Guinevere’s back.”

  Alberta frowned. Then shrugged. “Fine. Fine. I’ll leave this to you.”

  “Thank you, captain.” Piper kissed her on the lips before turning away to talk to Keiko and Heidi. “Okay, let’s get a barricade built here and another over there. So we can protect the hatch from both directions.”

  Alberta walked through the hatch and into the docking tube that would take her to Guinevere’s Daughter.

  #

  Alberta and most of her second shift crew’s regular bridge crew rode an elevator to the bridge of Guinevere’s Daughter. Everybody’s here, except for Janet. Janet and others had been caught in an elevator on the way to Guinevere’s engineering deck. Alberta had just been told that the Lorkiiz had freed them and took them to the brig in Security Central. My Jessica was among them. Alberta forced her fears for her youngest daughter out of mind and heart. I’ve got children to get to safety. Some of them are babies and pregnant mothers.

  The doors opened and everyone raced to their station. Alberta sat in her command chair and tried not to look at the empty executive office chair beside it. Alberta turned the command chair on and the visual and data screens around her chair came on. The rest of the bridge did the same at their stations. One of the data screens told her gave her reports from the heads of all of her departments telling her they were ready. Catriona Zhou in Engineering said the nuclear fusion reactors were on line and all engines were being warmed up and tested.

  Piper called in. “Saul just arrived with the children, Alberta. They’re marching into Guinevere’s Daughter right now. We’re going to shut the hatch to the docking tube tight as possible. Then we’ll get our buns up there too.”

  “Thank the Goddess!” Alberta smiled at her wife’s face on a visual screen. “And I’ll be overjoyed to see your pretty buns later.”

  Piper chuckled. She waved a finger. “Now. Now, Captain Williams.” Her face disappeared and Alberta smiled at the blank visual screen for a minute before turning away. The data screens told her that all the departments were functioning fine or powering up; weapons, sensors, communications, life support, navigations, medical, engineering, maintenance/repair, and so forth. All around Alberta her bridge crew were working to everything ready for the launch. She decided to make a quick announcement to everyone on the rocketship.

  “This is Junior Captain Alberta Williams to all crew aboard Guinevere’s Daughter. We haven’t been cleared to launch from Guinevere just yet, but it could happen at any moment. I need everyone to be ready to get into their launch chairs and strapped in it. I’ll inform you when later. Captain out.”

  Alberta tapped it off. Hopefully we won’t have to damage Guinevere by launched with the docking tubes and docking clamps still attached. Immedi
ately she got call from Guinevere’s bridge. “Junior Captain Alberta Williams here.”

  “Junior Captain Cindy Williams here. Alberta, I’m glad to here from you. Ellie has resigned and confessed to me about all the shit she and Tawny has been doing.”

  “I know. I heard.”

  “Yes. How can I help?”

  “I have all of our children aboard Guinevere’s Daughter.” Alberta explained. “I plan to launch and get the children to safety. I’ll try to get some help and come back for all of you once we reach Yin Confederation space.”

  “Thank you, Alberta.” Cindy turned her head towards some noise. Alberta didn’t know what it was, but Cindy looked frightened. Cindy faced Alberta through the screen and forced a smiled to hide fear. “They’re trying to break into bridge, Alberta. But don’t worry we’ll get you free of Guinevere. Goddess be with you! Goddess be with you all!”

  “And Goddess be with you, Cindy!” Alberta forced back a tear. “My daughter Jessica…”

  “I’ll try my best to keep her safe, Alberta.” Cindy turned away again and Alberta heard the sounds of blaster fire and screams. After a few minutes the visual screen went blank.

  #

  “Uh, captain.” Said the pilot Donna Williams. Beside Donna was her young co-pilot Jade Williams. “The docking clamps and docking tubes having been removed. We’re ready to launch.”

  Alberta back tears and any sign of emotion. She gave a nod to her pilot. “Thank you.” Alberta made another announcement to her crew on Guinevere’s Daughter. “This is Junior Captain Alberta Williams. Into you launch chairs. We are launching immediately!” Alberta turned to Donna. “Launch, Donna!”

  “Yes, captain. Launching from Guinevere.”

  The rocketship shuddered. Donna had fired all the clusters of small rocket engines on the side of the rocketship’s hull that faced Guinevere’s back. The exhausts of those engines caused no damage to Guinevere for that area of the starship’s hull had been designed to take that kind of punishment.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDREDFOURTEEN

  Escape the Kansbar!

  One of Alberta’s visual screen showed a map of the Kansbar star system. A data screen showed her the distance between Daughter and Guinevere. Also distance between Daughter and the two Lorkiiz starships. I want to increase that distance, but where should I take us? Alberta tapped the data screen to make some calculations.

  “Think you can get us there, Donna?” Alberta asked her pilot.

  “I believe I can, captain.” Donna went to work on her controls.

  Alberta saw the rocketships powerful main engines firing. Guinevere’s Daughter zoomed away to safety towards Kasbar’s nearest gas giant. A beauty four times the size of Jupiter.

  “Captain, the smallest of the Lorkiiz starships is following us.” Said sensor chief Fiona Williams. “They haven’t powered up their weapons yet as far as I can tell. Will keep you posted.”

  “Thank you, Fiona.” Alberta nodded. She checked one of the data screens to see how many missiles and counter-missiles they had.

  #

  “Lorkiiz starship’s missile tubes have powered up, captain.” Fiona announced.

  “Thank you, Fiona.” Alberta at the map screen that showed Daughter and the Lorkiiz starship chasing them. “Ready missiles and counter-missiles, Tiffany.”

  “Yes, captain.” Said Tactical Chief Tiffany Williams. “Already ready launch.”

  “Thank you, Tiffany.” Alberta smiled. Tiffany is eager to fight as always.

  “Missile launch!” Fiona announced. “Three missiles headed our way, captain.”

  “Thank you, Fiona.” Alberta tried to relax her shoulders. Here they come! “Fire counter-missiles, Tiffany. Then fire our own missiles.”

  “Yes, captain.” Tiffany went to work. “Firing first counter-missile salvo.”

  Alberta looked at the map screen and her data screens. The Lorkiiz starship was too far away to fire its laser cannon at the Daughter, so the slower missiles would have to do for both sides in this chase. Alberta watched nervously and worried that her crew could tell her fear in her voice and movements. Their counter-missiles closed with the enemies’ missiles and two missile exploded. Just one left. Daughter’s three missiles flew past the enemies’ missile to take out the enemy.

  “Firing second counter-missile salvo.” Tiffany announced.

  Alberta watched in frustration as the enemies’ counter-missiles rammed her missiles. At least we should take out their last missile. Goddess help is if we don’t. A few minutes later Alberta breathed a sigh of relief when the enemy missile exploded.

  “Well done, Tiffany.” Alberta gave her smiling nod.

  “But I missed.” Tiffany frowned in frustration.

  “Uh, we didn’t get hit, Tiffany. That’s a good thing.” Alberta chuckled at her gungho tactical chief.

  “Yes, captain.” Tiffany replied with a disappointed face.

  “Captain, we’ll nearing the gas giant’s gravity in fourteen seconds.” Donna announced.

  “Good.” Alberta her data screens. “I want you to bring Daughter in close to the gas giant. I want you to swing shot us around the planet. I’m sending you the directions I want you send us to. Think you can do that?”

  Donna looked at her own screens for a while before replying. “Yes, captain. Can do. Calculating now.”

  “Captain, the Lorkiiz starship just jumped to near light speed.” Fiona told her. “At 0.99998 C.”

  “What?” Alberta checked her map and data screens. The damn bastards were upon them like leopard jumping out of the bushes. “Tiffany. I need a missile launch.”

  “Working on that, captain.”

  #

  The rocketship shook as if it had hit something. “What was that?” Alberta said as she searched her screens.

  “Tracker beam! They’ve caught us with a tractor beam and are pulling us backwards.” Fiona said.

  “Tiffany, fire those missiles!”

  “I can’t, captain.” Tiffany slammed her fist on her armchair. “The tractor beam is interfering with my targeting computer. I can’t lock on to them. If I fired we’d just lose a missile for nothing and we don’t have very many of them.”

  “Damn it! Donna, get us out of here.” Alberta ordered. The map screen showed how the long wide tractor beam was latched on to the after of Guinevere’s Daughter, while the data screens told her all the technical readouts she needed or didn’t need.

  #

  “I’m pushing the main engines at their maximum, captain.” Donna and her co-pilot were working furiously at their stations to get the rocketship free of the tractor beam. “If we keep this up one or all of the main engines will burn out and go cold in six hours.”

  “How long will it take us to get within docking range of the alien starship chasing if we shut off the main engines?” Alberta asked with her fist on her chin.

  “Uh,” Donna checked it. “One hour and twenty-five minutes, captain.” Donna glanced back.

  “And if we also fired off the bow reverse engines?”

  “Pretty fast, captain.” Donna stared at Alberta with her jaw open.

  “Tiffany, temporary transfer…eighty percent of the power in Daughter’s forward deflector shields to her rear end. Can that be done?” Alberta rubbed her chin with her fist.

  “Yes, captain.”

  “Good. Do it now.” Alberta ordered. “Donna, shut off the main engines.”

  “Rear deflector shields over hundred percent, captain.” Tiffany announced.

  “Main engines off and we are being pulled back.” Donna’s voice sound as shaky as the rocketship was feeling to Alberta.

  “Donna, fire bow reverse engines. Now!” Alberta watched her screens. Alberta prayed to the Goddess that everyone on Daughter had stayed in their launch chairs. This is going to be bumpy! The rocketship slammed into the alien starship. Both ships shook, but there was no explosion. Spaceships had be tough out here. There was always cosmic rays from the nearest sun or rocks of vari
ous sizes flying through space at high speeds. “Cut the bow reverse engines, Donna!”

  “Done, captain.”

  “We’re free from the tracker beam.” Fiona told Alberta.

  “Fire the main engines, Donna! Maximum power!”

  “Yes, captain.”

  The rocketship snapped forward and the exhausts over her powerful main engines burned into the bow of the alien starship. Donna drove the rocketship into the outer atmosphere of gas giant. She maneuvered Daughter around the gas giant to slingshot Guinevere’s Daughter away at near light speed. Thus leaving the wounded alien starship far behind.

  #

  We did it! Alberta relaxed in her command chair. Then she straightened back up to check her screens. It’d be an hour before they were in the queue for the Kansbar’s hyperspace laser station, but she still needed to buy Guinevere’s Daughter a spot in the queue before they got there. Alberta checked a data screen. Good it’ll only take forty-nine minutes, instead of an hour. We’re making better time than I thought.

  Alberta got a call from engineering. It was the chief engineer. “Hello, Catriona.”

  “Why the fuck did you ram the aliens with my main engines? Damn you!” Catriona Zhou screamed on a visual screen.

  Alberta forced herself not to roll her eyes. “All the info that I’m getting on the data screens say that they’re working just fine.”

  “Arrg! Data screens? I’m going to need Daughter docked at a spacestation-a civilized one not some backwater tin can in orbit-and hopefully when we examine the engines it won’t be as bad as I fear. Damn it, Alberta! I swear. You just don’t do that. And…”

  Alberta listened as Catriona droned on for a time that seemed like hours, though it wasn’t really that long. Why do chief engineers take the damage to their engines, so personally? Alberta forced down a chuckle. “I’m sorry, Catriona. I didn’t really think we had much choice in the matter. The aliens had grabbed us with a tractor beam, so we had to get away. I have a rocketship full of all of the Williams clans children that I needed to get to safety. Hundreds of them.”