Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1)

by Burger, Jeffrey

  Minutes later when the women filed in, the atmosphere was light and friendly. The women became at ease when they saw how happily the men made room for them at the crowded tables. They were finally part of the crew.

  ■ ■ ■

  The rest of that week, work on the Freedom went well, she began to take on a new look, inside and out. Pirate insignias were removed from every surface that they appeared. In their place, the silhouette of a gold winged horse against a crimson rising sun. Under each, the name FREEDOM in white capital letters.

  Jack and the other pilots stood outside the Freedom and stared at the new emblem emblazoned on the hull of their ship. It was then that they came to the realization that this was their ship, it would take them wherever they decided to go. And that soon it would be time to leave. Time to leave the place they'd called home for what seemed to be much longer than the few short months they'd actually spent there. But they also realized it was time after all this is what they had in mind wasn't it?

  The most difficult part would be saying goodbye, to all those people who had given and done so much. Jack hoped he had done as much for them as they had for him. He truly did not consider that he had actually done more.

  "Well, she's gettin' there..." Trigoss had strolled up from behind the pilots.

  "I keep wondering how we're going to drive something that big," said Maria as she turned to greet the new Chief Engineer.

  "Well first, you don't drive it, you navigate it," pointed out Brian.

  "Thank you," dittoed Jack.

  Maria sighed, "Well excuse me, for being terminologically incorrect! So shoot me!" Miffed, she walked away to survey the work on her own.

  Puzzled, Brian looked at the other men. "What'd I say?"

  "Forget it," waved Jack.

  "That's right, old boy," chimed Derrik. "Don't waste any brain power `bout it. Won't do any good if you did. Women are like a Mobius strip... you never know if you're on the good side or the bad side."

  Jack smiled at Derrik's curious philosophy but actually felt a bit guilty. He'd been so all-consumed with the work and progress on the Freedom that he'd been neglecting, even ignoring Maria. He came to the realization some time ago that Maria was a high maintenance woman, due more to her personal insecurities than any other reason. He promised himself he would make an effort to reassure her it wasn't intentional and spend some time with her very soon.

  "Well..." Trigoss interrupted Jack's train of thought, "as I was saying, she's getting there, but we have a few serious problems. And then, of course, a few minor ones."

  "Like what?" asked Paul.

  Trigoss started walking. "Follow me. We'll walk, we'll talk." They strolled leisurely away from the stern of the ship toward the bow and the loading ramps. "First," he paused, "well, let's just say a ship lives on it's generator power. It runs absolutely everything. This particular ship has five main generators and two smaller generators for miscellaneous items. Each genny, has a specific duty, things it supplies with power. If you take a genny away, the others pick up the slack but, of course, they have to work harder."

  "So what's your point?" asked Mike.

  "Hold on, I'm getting to it." The engineer cleared his throat. "The point is, the ship can safely run on a diminished number of power sources. After that, systems suffer lag time, power losses, even shutdowns."

  "So what's the bottom line?" inquired Jack.

  "The bottom line is this ship is equipped with five large and two small. Borderline adequate would be three large and two small... you'd have to be very careful in any type of conflict."

  Jack was getting concerned. "And we have..?"

  Trigoss finished his sentence. "One large and two small."

  "Whaaat?!" Jack threw up his hands. "Holy Shit, that’s it?!"

  Mike shook his head. "We're screwed."

  "Wait a minute," said Paul, stopping in his tracks. "Then how did this clown, Kidd get away with it?" Everyone else stopped walking, their attention on the engineer.

  "Bluffing," answered Trigoss. "The ship will operate. But if you need to use a large system, say shields for instance, you'd have no guns, no launch capabilities, etc."

  "Can they be repaired even temporarily?" asked Pappy.

  "Nope," countered the engineer, "they're totally hopeless."

  The men resumed walking and Jack threw up his hands again. "Well I guess we really need to find a bone-yard, and fast."

  Mike scratched his head. "A bone-yard? Y'mean like a junkyard?"

  "That’s right," injected Trigoss.

  "Yeah right," said Mike sarcastically. "You mean to tell me we just look in the yellow pages for a spaceship junkyard?" He added a hillbilly cartoon voice and continued, "Hey `yall, my name is Mel. I got this `53 Desoto Spaceship, and I need an alternator, well actually y`see, I need four..." He looked at the others, "Seriously you guys gotta be pullin' my leg."

  "Nope."

  Mike rubbed his forehead, "Now I've heard everything."

  “And as long as we're there..." added Trigoss.

  Jack shot him a wounded look. "You mean there's more?"

  Trigoss nodded, "I'm afraid so." He inhaled deeply. "The engines need parts too..."

  Jack held his head as he walked, "I don't think I want to hear this, I know I don't want to hear this." He sighed. "Ok, I know I'm gonna regret this... What parts do they need?"

  Like the dutiful Chief Engineer he was, Trigoss continued to explain the needs of the engines. It seemed much of the mechanical problems with the ship could be blamed on the battle it survived before disappearing. But, like the rest of the ship, almost as much could be blamed on neglect.

  Much of the plasma fuel feed systems for the Freedom's four low-speed thrust engines sorely needed to be rebuilt. Their valves and flow meters no longer accurately regulated fuel use, and many fuel line connectors leaked. The internal reflectors for the three main ion drive engines needed to be completely realigned and refocused. The outer forcing cones, which adjusted to control the concentration and dispersal of thrust, were badly burnt, were no longer adjusted and needed immediate replacement. The good news was they still ran. The bad news was, not at more than half capacity and not for long.

  They all agreed, the first chore at hand upon departing, would be to locate and make all good speed to a place where parts could be found. Jack hoped, that same location would prove an opportunity for additional fighter craft, or at least parts for those he had, as well.

  Trigoss had led the men along the length of the ship, up the Freedom's cargo ramp, and wound through the various contents of the bay to the furthest, darkest reaches of its interior. There, in a darkened corner, hidden by tarps, crates and supplies, sat the stolen shuttle of the Princess Hedonist.

  "Methinks I smell a rat..." quoted Brian.

  Trigoss wiped his hand across the layer of dust on the shuttle's hull, making a clean stripe, "This is the minor problem I spoke of. The men found it early this morning when they were scrounging for materials to finish up the hull."

  "Has it been searched?" Jack was concerned about preserving the crime scene, so to speak.

  Trigoss wiped the dust onto the leg of his coveralls. "Nope."

  Jack, followed by the others, moved around the nose to the access hatch on the other side of the shuttle. "This whole thing is beginning to look like a setup... except it blew up in their face..."

  Paul gave him a puzzled look, "I'm not sure I follow you..."

  "Too many coincidences, Pappy," answered Jack. "First, this shuttle disappears. Then we answer a distress call, off the main travel route between Genisis Gates..."

  "From the Eliza Meru," interrupted Paul.

  Jack nodded. "Right. Then about the same time,
we acquire a shadow named Kidd. Then, at full sensor range, he's able to tell our ship has no defenses and he only needs to send one fighter to stop our escape. I checked this tub," he indicated the Freedom. "And at that range, that information isn't available. Finally, in Gant's initial conversation with the commander of the boarding party, they inquired about the Earth pilots, and our planes. How could they have known about that? That stuff's been driving me crazy. But this," he pointed at the shuttle, "answers everything! Kidd had an agent posing as a passenger on the Princess Hedonist!"

  "But who?" asked Derrik.

  Jack, standing at the shuttle's entry hatch, shook his head. He opened the panel covering the keypad. "I don't know. I'm hoping the answer's in here..." The keypad chirped under Jack's fingertips and the door swished open. Since there was no boarding ramp, the men boosted each other up through the shuttle's doorway. "Search everything," he directed.

  It was a fifteen seat work shuttle with cargo and luggage space, so the men split up and went to work. It didn't take long. Two pieces of personal luggage were found in the cockpit on the copilot's seat. On the navigation computer, was the course and rendezvous point between the shuttle and the pirate cruiser. "Well," began Jack, "let's see who the proud owner of this luggage might be..." The luggage ended up on the floor in the passenger compartment, surrounded by the six men.

  Trigoss knocked off the latch-locks with a heavy spanner wrench and opened the luggage. Kneeling on the floor, the men rummaged through the clothes for a clue of identity. "Whoever he is," said Derrik, holding up a dress shirt, "he's a little fella..."

  "He's also Saurian..." added the Chief Engineer, looking at the pattern on the shirt.

  "What have we here..?" Jack pulled a leather pouch out of a hidden pocket in the second travel case.

  "Open it!" urged the group.

  Jack removed the contents and spread them across the mess they'd created looking for clues. Trigoss inspected the various documents, among them, a ledger of some kind. "Hmmm," he reflected, "it's all in Saurian, can't read a word... maybe someone on the Princess can translate for us." He flipped through the pages and a plastic card fell out. He picked it up and scrutinized it, flipping it over. "Hellion..." he mumbled. The engineer stared blankly at the photo on the other side before handing it to Jack. "It's Tee," added Trigoss, wrinkling his nose. "I never liked that stinking little worm..." The others duplicated his sentiment.

  Since he had not been among the prisoners and had not been discovered among the dead, Jack and the others came to the conclusion that, for his efforts, Tee was probably awarded with a shove into an airlock. It was also agreed upon, that a long stroll in space without a suit, had been too good for him.

  ■ ■ ■

  Later that afternoon, in a meeting between Jack Steele and Gantarro, arrangements for the return of the recovered shuttle were arranged, as well as the disposal of Tee's effects. Jack had also prepared a full report for Gant to relay to the Council of the United Federation of Worlds which outlined the new tactic of placing a spy on a ship desired for acquisition. In the search for creative new ways to obtain safe havens, it seemed obvious that large ships like the Princess Hedonist were the newest likely targets by the pirates. They made exceptional places for repair of small to medium ships and would provide a safe, anonymous, facility for crew R&R, or even innocuous transport of large masses of men and supplies.

  He also expressed that in the interests of victory, they might want to give the general populations, an incentive to participate in the fight and inevitably have some bearing in the outcome. He explained that rewards, bounties, bounty hunters and privateers, who under the flag of their own world, pillage from the pirates then split the profits with their own governments. This would not only increase the number of ships at the UFW's disposal, but funnel needed funds to the planets who might require added defense support.

  He explained, under this principle, he had taken possession of the pirate cruiser, making it his own. And, while his planet was not a member of the UFW or the spacefaring community, he should be considered an ally.

  "So, Jack, are you all settled in?" The two men sat in the Captain's ready room, connected to the Freedom's bridge. Jack wanted to show Gant how the ship was coming along.

  "Pretty much. Most all the systems are up and running pretty well, a couple of problems, but we're weeding them out."

  "Well she looks super. Probably better than when I served on her."

  Jack tried not to let his pride get the better of him. "Thanks. Everyone's worked very hard on her. And I want to thank you, for letting your people help us out."

  Gant swept the sentiment away with a wave of his hand. "Forget it, most of them came to me and personally insisted on it. Besides, the UFW needs all help they can get. I'm obliged to make sure if an opportunity arises, that I do what I can to make the best of that opportunity."

  A tall, particularly attractive female porter entered with a tray of food from the galley. She had long silken auburn hair and sparkling brown eyes. She strolled gracefully across the room with long, supple legs and set the tray on the table. "Wine?" Her voice was light and musical. Jack nodded and she poured for both men who watched silently. "Will there be anything else, Captain?"

  "No. Thank you Alité." She turned and walked out, both men watching her go.

  "Y'know, Jack," Gant leaned back in the high back chair and put his feet up on the conference table, "the UFW is liable to claim ownership of the Freedom, being she was theirs to begin with... they lost a lot of good people when the Ynosa disappeared."

  Jack, unconcerned, sipped his wine. "I don't know, I think they've got more important things to worry about. Besides," he grinned, "finders keepers..."

  Gant dropped his feet off the table and leaned forward, snatching a sandwich off of the platter. "Well," he smiled, "the Council will have their hands full when they deal with you..."

  Jack raised one eyebrow, "How so?"

  Munching on his sandwich, he waved his free hand. "You have the element of surprise. You aren't orthodox in your approach to things. At least not what they consider orthodox." He smirked, "They'll probably just agree with you. It'll be the path of least resistance."

  "That's the attitude that's losing their war," commented Jack.

  "True, true," agreed Gant, taking a swallow of wine. "They need some fresh approaches, some new ideas. They're too used to playing it safe." He held up Jack's report. "Maybe this will get them thinking."

  Jack leaned forward. "I hope so, I really do..." The two men grew quiet, each contemplating their futures and what was in store for them. Secretly, Gant wanted to be back on the bridge of a warship, he missed the thrill of conflict.

  The comm on the table buzzed, interrupting the silence. Jack answered it, “Steele...”

  "Captain?" said the voice, "Lieutenant JG Raulya and Ensign Myomerr to see you."

  "Thank you. Send them in."

  The two former security members of the Princess Hedonist entered the ready room from the bridge, dressed in brand new, gray and blue uniforms of the Freedom's crew. They saluted sharply. "Reporting for duty Captain."

  Jack smiled, "Relax, it's just us. So, you two got all you're gear stowed? You all settled in?"

  Raulya stepped forward and lifted a sandwich off the platter. "We have quarters on the port side, right down the hall from the bridge."

  "Real nice too," added Myomerr.

  "Good, good." Jack had been surprised when the two Ketarians had expressed an interest in becoming part of his crew, but was pleased to accept them with Gant's blessing. "Listen," he added, "if you two are hungry, Marna can get you something hot to eat in the galley."

  "Sounds like an excellent idea," agreed Myomerr.

  "Then, get some s
leep," added Jack, "we've got a long, busy day tomorrow." It was true. They were scheduled to pull the Freedom out of the Princess's bay, the day after that.

  "Raulya looked down at the floor. "What about Fritz?" she asked softly.

  Jack looked up and shifted uneasily in his chair. "They won't even let me see him, it's been three weeks..." his voice trailed off. It was obvious this was a painful, open, emotional wound. He swallowed hard. "Maybe it's better for him to stay on the Princess where they can care for him..." He took a deep breath to maintain his composure.

  Raulya cleared her throat. "Well, I think there was someone waiting on the bridge to discuss that with you."

  Jack stood up. "Why didn't somebody say something?!" He hustled to the door and it swished open before he reached it, disappearing into the wall. Gant jumped up and followed him out, accompanied by Raulya and Myomerr. Jack ran onto a bridge crowded with crew-people. "What the hell is going on here...?" No one spoke. He looked around, there had to be almost thirty people on the bridge. "Are you all going to stand there grinning at me, or is someone going to tell me what's going on..." his voice dropped off in mid-sentence, as Fritz moved slowly through the crowd which parted silently, shuffling to either side. "Oh..." his voice wavered.