Path to Europa

by Garion Swann

  "You'd think in all the advances the human race has made we'd have got rid of our drive for wealth, we're a greedy species," Jenny said.

  "Well, you'll never get rid of the seven deadly sins," Mark said, he took a sip of his drink, it was a black liquid sharing the glass with a red liquid, they didn't mix until they hit the tongue.

  "The what?" Jenny asked.

  "They were part of an old Earth religion's big no-nos. Various things like Lust and Greed," Mark said.

  "Ha, sounds terrible to me." Jenny downed the rest of her drink and looked to the bartender to get another.

  "Might want to slow down there, I think there's actually real alcohol in these," Mark said looking at his drink. It was a common thing on ships for beverages to be non-alcoholic, it meant the crew could not get intoxicated and be ready to deal with emergencies, even if they are mid-party.

  "Oh who cares, I'll be sober by the time we lift off!" Jenny said in a raised voice, a few people turned their heads to glare at her. "I must be disturbing their peace," she said with a quiet laugh. Mark had noticed that it had only taken one drink for noticeable effects, the fake beer that they had on starships meant the crew were not used to real alcohol, so the results were very noticeable even after a small amount.

  "That was quick," Mark said as he saw Grant approaching, he was wearing the what seemed like the same eyewear as when he came in.

  "Didn't buy anything then?" Mark asked him, wondering if they'd wasted their time coming here.

  "I did, these are my new eyewear," Grant said tapping the small pair of glasses he was wearing. Although they looked like a standard pair of glasses, they were actually made for augmented reality. Grant would be seeing the word as everyone else does but with built-in scanners, he could see more detail about everything, he could look at a product, and it would find and give information about that product, he could scan people as well see who they are, and any information that is available about them. He receives messages through it, he can read and reply all controlled by using his eyes. It also synced to the ship he can get all the status updates he needs and even manage some of the ship's functions through the eyewear.

  "They're still the same as your old pair, the pair you only bought six months ago," Mark said.

  "Oh they're very different," Grant began, "Software optimisations, faster interfaces. The last one was model fourteen, this one is model fourteen point one,"

  "And that point one made you spend so much money getting another pair! Your old ones still looked new." Jenny said in her still raised voice, she had already had already finished her second drink. She was struggling to stay in her chair, who knew it could be so hard to remain seated.

  "Are you drunk?" Grant said laughing.

  "No! I am not," Jenny stuttered for a moment, "Drunk!" She attempted to stand and had to be steadied by Mark, who also seized the chance to take her drink and place in on the bar.

  "I think it's time to go," Grant said. "I've got some work to do before we take off." They both assisted Jenny to the exit, she was mumbling to herself but not saying anything either of them could understand.

  "How do you afford this place anyway, just glancing at the price list hurt my bank account," Mark asked Grant bluntly.

  "That's a long story," Grant replied, Mark was not sure whether he wanted to share it or not, he'd save it for another time, it was taking a lot of effort to help Jenny out.

  Doctor Tamber had decided not to visit Lochmead, she never liked it and decided that it wasn't worth the visit, she stayed onboard and get on with organising the infirmary as she had planned to do for the last few weeks, she just never had the time. Most days she would spend talking to the crew as their counsellor and trusted ear. She spent more time talking to than treating the crew which she was not fussed about, it was probably a good thing. She was getting to the age where she wanted to retire, she could feel the years catching up with her so was happy to be seated most of the day. She realised that now that the mission was finished and they would be on their way back to Trulen, she would be leaving this crew. She'd enjoyed her time but was ready to move on, spending her retirement with Jamie would be lovely. He was a little younger so probably would not retire yet, maybe she would get a job in Trulen's medical service, she'd never served on a station before.

  As Doctor Tamber moved around the infirmary she did some general decluttering, she reorganised the storage cabinets as well as labelling everything. She didn't need to use labels as she knew where everything was but her replacement wouldn't. They would need labels to know where to find things. Doctor Tamber's organising system was something of a mystery to most people, but it worked for her. She opened one of the storage cabinets and noticed someone had left it unlocked, she didn't think it was her as she was very particular about making sure everything was locked, she looked through the whole cabinet to look for anything missing or out of place. She saw that there was some medicine missing, the worrying thing was two certain medicines were missing, both of which can be used to create recreational drugs, and most commonly they create Elixia. This concerned Doctor Tamer considerably that meant they could have someone with an Elixia addiction on board, the withdrawal symptoms have been known to be fatal. She put a quick message together for Captain Harper and sent it, she said what was missing and what her concerns were. She moved the remainder of the drugs to a more secure storage unit hoping the thief would be deterred.

  Alex walked up the loading ramp to board his ship he saw that the cargo has all been unloaded and his supplies had been delivered. He had decided to take a walk around one of the arboretums before heading back to the ship, he had seen a message from Jenny saying they had a contract and they'd be loading cargo before they were due to leave. He'd also received several more strange messages from Jenny, Alex assumed she had found some real alcohol. It was quite common for a crew used to no alcohol to have too much when docked at a port. Another message he read was worrying, supplies had been stolen from the infirmary, so it was likely he had drug addict on board, something to worry about later, he just wanted to get back to Trulen. As he entered the ship and closed the airlock behind him he noticed the difference between the outside air and the recycled air that they had on the ship, he would love to find a way of getting fresh air constantly on board, but that was not going to happen anytime soon. Large vessels like the Colossus class had huge forests growing onboard that helped, but the air was still no way near the quality of fresh planetary air.

  He was taken away from his thoughts when he saw Nuisance approaching him. She had stayed out the way during the scan as she was a member of the Trulen military and it wouldn't take long for the Yventi to find that out if they met her. She had recently told him that his previous executive officer had sabotaged the ship and led them into a trap which they only just got out of.

  "Captain," she said standing to attention. Alex ignored the military etiquette.

  "What have you found?" he asked.

  "He was on Trulen for a few hours, and then Mr Roper boarded a transport, one of our stealth vessels followed it, and he transferred to another ship known to fly with the pirate known as Lady Jean." Alex held his tongue, since knowing Dylan was the saboteur he suspected he had been working with Lady Jean, the man he'd shared bottles of Whiskey with, the man who he trusted with his life was actually working for the pirates that wanted to kill him and his crew. Alex sighed and took the information without letting his face betray his true feelings,

  "Does Trulen do anything about Pirates?" He asked.

  "They tend to be opportunists if they see a target they go for it, however, if Pirates attacks a ship linked to Trulen, the whole force of Trulen can be used to go after them." Nuisance answered honestly. Europa had an active pirate hunting task force, they would seek and destroy known pirates without mercy.

  "Ok, thanks, Nuisance. Keep me updated," he said moving away and heading towards his quarters.

  "Aye, Captain," she once more snapped to attention.

  C
hapter Seven

  "We're confirmed as fully loaded all crew are onboard. All but operations report ready." Jenny said from her seat.

  "Where is Grant?" Alex asked, loading the crew tracking system.

  "I heard him arguing with Grey earlier," Tina, said from her station at the back of the bridge.

  "About what?" Alex asked, he didn't like the idea of his crew fighting between themselves, it did nothing for morale.

  "Grey put his hot sauce in Grant's food, and they've been at odds ever since," Jenny answered.

  "Oh and apparently Grey's got boyles all other his face. Apparently, Grant mixed his hot sauce with something." Tina added.

  "Oh," Alex said. He found it amusing him had to keep that to himself. "Practical jokes, great," he said in a dull tone, he couldn't be seen to endorse practical jokes.

  Grant entered the bridge and made his way to his station, it seemed like he was annoyed.

  "We were due to depart five minutes ago Grant, where you been?" He asked, not trying to sound like a nagging Captain.

  "Sorry, Alex. Had some issues to sort out, nothing important. Won't happen again." Grant went to take his seat.

  "Good, I…" Alex was cut off by the emergency alarm going off, it seemed to be louder than anything he'd heard before. Grant fell off his chair from jumping. He was sprawled over the floor with his chair on top of him, he moved it off and him and sat up a bit dazed.

  "Report!" Alex shouted.

  "No emergency, Captain," Jenny said, "I think it was a false alarm."

  "Why did we have a false alarm?" Alex said frustrated.

  "It's my seat," Grant said, he was fiddling with something attached to the bottom of his seat, a loudspeaker and a pressure sensor. He sighed and knew precisely where it came from.

  "Grey," he said quietly.

  "Is it disconnected?" Alex said ignoring anything else Grant was saying.

  "Aye," Grant said sitting back down his chair, although he had disconnected the speaker he sat down cautiously, as soon as he realised it was safe he took his controls. "Operations ready."

  "Clear our departure and get us into the jump as soon as possible," He didn't wait for a reply he pressed his comm button for engineering.

  "Grey, get your ass up here!" he cut the com before there was any chance for Grey to respond.

  The ship had left the atmosphere and was well on its way to the jump point, Grey had finally arrived at the bridge it had been half an hour since Alex told him to come up.

  "Took your time," he said in an angry tone.

  "Had things to sort out, I got here when I could alright," Grey replied. Alex was fed up, he was happy for the ship to have a relaxed etiquette, he didn't make people wear uniforms, but he expected them to respect his authority.

  "My office now!" He said to Grey, just as he was sitting down.

  "What for?" Grey said matching Alex's angry tone.

  "I don't have to explain myself I'm the captain! Now go!" He shouted. Grey got up and went to the office. Alex stood and followed, "You too, Grant. Now!"

  All three made their way to the office, and Alex sat down, both of the others went to sit down.

  "Did I say you can sit down?" Alex snapped, he was asserting his authority. They both stopped and stood up.

  "Now, I don't care what's happened. I don't care who's done what, but there will be no more practical jokes. Especially ones that could affect the ship. If we had been in a real emergency situation, any crewmember who can't do their job puts the lives of everyone on board in even more danger, and I will not stand for it. You're both senior members of the crew for a reason, and I expect you to live up to this each and every day. If I see or hear of any more practical jokes, you can bet your ass you'll be off this ship quicker than anything. Do I make myself clear?" Alex said in a rant. They both nodded.

  "I'm sorry I can't hear you?" Alex snapped again.

  "Yes, Captain." They both said.

  "Good. Go do your jobs." Alex turned away from them and looked at his console, he wasn't doing anything on the console but making a statement to them. They both left without another word, he wondered if they'd agree not to make any more jokes or if they'd just forget about it and not talk about it.

  He turned back to his console and saw an automated message from Lochmead, it confirmed that his money pool had been deposited to his account. He checked his balance and saw the figure of four million had been deposited. He sighed and paid the crew, with the remainder he knew he could get some new equipment for a ship, Grey kept sending him different things that the ship needed. He'd take Grey shopping, their destination has a ship part merchant that should have what they need. They will also gain some money from the current trade run they were on, Jenny had managed to get them a reasonable contract, transporting a regular shipment that another trader couldn't do due to battle damage. That would also be their stop between Lochmead and Trulen, they would look for a contract for Trulen when they get there. He was looking forward to being told that he had no debt with Trulen and getting the better contracts. He stood up locked his console down and made his way onto the bridge, he checked Jenny's display and saw the ready to jump light come on, and a moment later the ship jumped.

  The ship appeared at the jump point, the engines fired, and they made the slow journey into the system. They had completed seven jumps, and the ship had travelled for hours between each jump, the longest being twenty-three hours. There was always people calling for more investment put into having more jump points, but they could only be put in places that had no gravity pull which was surprisingly hard to find, and only two jump points could be tied together. So you couldn't just jump instantly you would have to travel to the next jump point. Their destination was a space station orbiting the second planet of the Dijon system. The space station was owned by the Apollo Consortium and was their main ship supply for the system. It was split into two sections, evident in the 'H' shaped design of the station. One side was for the military the other for civilians. It would take several hours to reach the station, the jump point was just outside the gravity pull of the system's star. Some stations were purposely not put in systems, so it was quick to jump in and out of. Stations that handled military ships tended to be in the system as it meant any attackers would be spotted hours before they could actually fire anything, in that time the fleet in the sector could be mobilised.

  Alex brought up the schematics of the station, and looked for equipment shops, he found a supplier that seemed legitimate and sent the information to Grey. He had been thinking about his plan, the extra money they will make from the Trulen contracts will be going towards refitting the ship, he will sit down with Grey once they know how much money they will be bringing in.

  As he waited his mind wandered onto his home, he kept thinking about returning to Europa, he would get priority contracts there as he would at Trulen due to his previous position as a commerce manager and freeing the slaves, he was told this in a message he received from his old manager asking when he'd return. The only thing stopping him was Lady Jean, she operated close enough to Europa that it wouldn't take long for her to find him. Something crossed his mind that he had not thought of yet, Dylan knew they were working for Trulen, and if Dylan is working for Lady Jean, she now knows. He'd have to talk to Dean about it, and maybe invest in getting some surprises ready for any pirates that want to attack. He never liked the idea of increasing the firepower of the ship it can make you overly-confident, accepting more dangerous and higher paying contracts, but you'd have to fight people off trying to get your cargo. He dismissed the idea of getting over-confident he'd learnt that lesson three years ago.

  The ship touched down, and Alex ordered the cargo bay door open,the robots would start unloading the cargo, this station was all automated, he didn't need to visit anyone and he didn't need to buy any supplies so he could just stay on the ship but he wanted to visit the supplier. He had tasked Jenny with finding a contract once again, and he met Grey at the airlock. He didn't plan
on staying here much longer, so he had told the crew to stay onboard. The boyles were still evident on Grey's face but no way near as bad as it was. He'd hoped both he and Grant had learnt their lesson about practical jokes.

  "Thanks for sorting out going to a supplier, we have some stuff we really need. Hopefully, they have it." Grant said breaking a silence.

  "Yes they should, they seemed like they had a lot according to their information," Alex replied.

  They walked through the station, it was bustling as it was the central hub for the sector so would always attract a lot of ships. They had to walk through thousands of people to get to where they needed to go. They eventually found the supplier they were looking for after looking at various information signs. The station was a maze, no clear plan, it seemed they'd just built things as they were needed, the station was mix-and-match of extensions and modules that probably weren't designed to work together. Alex wondered if the military side of the station was anything like this, the Apollo Consortium put a lot of effort into its military, it had some of the richest systems in inhabited space so had to put the money into defending it. Alex entered the shop with Grey behind, the room they entered was not like most other shops where you see virtual products, tell a robot what you want, and it gets delivered to your ship and installed for a fee. This shop had it's wares on display, a lot of small pieces of equipment ranging from conduit junctions to flow regulators. Alex and Grey were looking for some replacement equipment for the ships fuel pump. Grey noted that it had never been replaced and it was wearing down, it was the top of Grey's list of replacement parts needed. Alex had learnt to listen to Grey after they were stranded three years ago from his negligence.

  Grey was off looking around digging through the items available, the part they needed was small, and they would be able to carry it back to ship. Alex looked through various items for ships, he found some lighting strips that he thought would be nicer for the corridors, the lights they had were a cold white, and were not very pleasing on the eyes. These lights were a warmer colour that he thought could be soothing, he glanced at the price and was shocked, it was at least five times what he would expect of simple lighting. He checked the cost of other products and saw the case was the same, it was costly. He made his way back over to Grey who was looking frustrated.