"You sound like you're trying to sell it," smiled Raan.
"A 'Ground-Pounder' like you wouldn't understand," Starfire glared at him. Raan was a good enough pilot but it wasn't his chosen profession. He preferred to lead small ground assaults behind enemy lines with all the excitement and danger it entailed. Flying wasn't second nature to him, as it was for Starfire. She continued, "A pilot has to have an affinity with the ship or it doesn't fly right." Raan snorted in derision and looked over to Tranter.
"She's right, man. If you don't get that vibe off your ship, you ain't a real pilot."
"I'll like it even better when it's re-named," Starfire answered without looking away from her controls. This was the first time she had flown the new ship and she didn't want to screw up in front of everyone.
"Yeah," put in Tranter, "and while we're on the subject, what sort of a name is Grennig? What does it mean?"
"It's not a 'what', it's a 'who'," explained Starfire. "It's someone we know who always wanted to go into space and isn't going to get the chance."
"At least it's short," grumbled Tranter. "Won't take too long and use too much paint."
"Will you look at that," said Raan, pointing towards the wall-to-wall asteroids which slowly enlarged as they grew closer.
"Impressive, ain't it? Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet."
"How did you find it?" asked Raan, peering ahead with interest.
"I was in a fight and kind of accidentally ended up in the middle of it…" Tranter caught Starfire's eye and looked down to hide his embarrassment.
"A fight," she murmured, "I can hardly believe it."
"Anyway…." Tranter rallied, "I had to hide out for a while and realised I couldn't contact anyone for help. There's Trianite in the rocks and it stops all communication. "Well, Vermillion helped guide me out eventually and it didn't take me long to see the potential for a hideout."
"Vermillion?" asked Starfire.
"She's a friend. A very, very old friend." Tranter caught sight of Starfire's expression and broke in with, "Don't even ask!" before she could frame her question into words
"What the frag is that?" Starfire pointed through the view port to a small rock with a pulsing red light.
"That's how we communicate with the outside world." He saw Starfire's puzzled expression and pointed to it through the window. "Look, because of the Trianite in the rocks, communication signals can't get in or out. These little guys patrol the borders and act as signal boosters. They line up and form a kind of chain, back to the base." He leaned forward and spoke into the com. "Ain't that right, Little Rock?"
"Affirmative, Con Tranter."
"By all the gods, it talks!" gasped Starfire. "How many of these things are there?"
"There are at present eighty seven Little Rocks," answered the disembodied voice. "I am Little Rock Sixty Two. Please follow me."
"That's also our way in, kid," grinned Tranter. He leaned past her, pressed a toggle switch on her console and spoke. "Cantina Control this is Tranter with a new ship. Identify and log, please. I can confirm the navicom is disengaged." There was a short delay, then the com burst into life.
"Tranter this is Cantina Starport Control. You are cleared to enter. Do you see your guide?"
"Affirmative, Cantina. The light is green we're going in clean."
"The light is green, we're going in clean?" mimicked Starfire. "What the frag is that, some sort of secret code?" Tranter pointed ahead.
"See the light on the Little Rock? It's changed to green. That means its safe to go in. Don't ever follow it if it's red."
"I'm almost afraid to ask, and what happens if it's red?"
"The light is red, you're gonna be dead!"
"Right……" Starfire looked dubious.
"Tell her, Little Rock," ordered Tranter.
"As well as the means of communication with the outside world, we are also Security for the Cantina. Unless all the code sequences are correct, we will lead followers to an empty party of the asteroid field, attach ourselves to them and self destruct."
"Oh no!" Starfire put a hand to her mouth. "You can't kill the Little Rocks!" Tranter's mouth dropped open in amazement and Hal looked away to hide his grin.
"They're just rocks, Lieutenant," sighed Tranter.
"But they're so cute!"
"If it makes you feel any happier, the robot consciousness is transferred back to the main computer just before detonation. Then they can put it in another Little Rock." Starfire nodded and smiled.
"Oh, that's all right then." Tranter looked over to Erion, who mouthed, 'Really?' behind Starfire's back. Tranter mouthed back 'No!' and got back to the task in hand.
"Well go on, hot shot!" he thumped Starfire's arm, "take her in." Starfire took a deep breath and turned the big ship towards the flashing boulder. It seemed to sense the ship's presence and moved away, into the throng of revolving rocks with the Grennig following close behind. They travelled slowly behind the moving beacon in a path that seemed deliberately intricate for over two hours until the asteroids grew further apart to reveal a massive clearing. The ship's lights picked out more asteroids that could been seen in the distance all around them, but the centre had been emptied of all rocks apart from a small planetoid that sat motionless in the darkness. Bright flood lights illuminated a few buildings which were clustered around a medium sized space port. It appeared to grow larger as they approached and it was plain to see that, although the station was old fashioned, it was well maintained. Several landing pads showed red or green lights around their perimeters, depending on whether they were occupied or not. A few larger ships were in stationary orbit above the station, but Tranter instructed Starfire to orbit the planet and stop at the other side.
"So that's the Cantina?" she asked, looking down as they floated past it. They slowly turned to the rear of the little planet and Raan switched on the landing floods to illuminate the red, rocky surface. Using the braking thrusters, Starfire brought the ship to a gradual halt in stationary orbit.
"There's no landing pad," pointed out Starfire.
"Here's where we get out," stated Tranter. "We'll need the planet hopper." He caught Erion's questioning eye. "No, we ain't goin' to the same place as Hal took you before." He grinned weakly at her and Erion realised this was the first time she had seen him smile since Jemmi's death.
"Talking of Hal . . . . ." Raan motioned to the gunman, whose head rested on his folded arms, leaning on the gunnery console, fast asleep.
"He could sleep on a cactus," muttered Starfire, nudging him as they all walked by. He sat up, stretched and looked down at his console.
"We going straight in?" Hal's face looked mildly interested.
"Gant's orders," said Tranter by way of explanation. They walked out of the pilot section and arranged themselves around the circular rail. "Right, guys," Tranter pointed, "this ship has a basic internal aircar. It'll take you anywhere with a voice command. You're all scanned in so it'll do it for you and anyone else with the pass code, which is 'Gant'. The other doors lead to tunnel walkways to get you around in case of power failure.
"Where do the stairs go?" asked Raan, peering over the rail.
"Down takes you to the living quarters, dining room and recreation. They're on two levels under the pilot section. You can also get to the front cargo bay from here. All crew areas and the medicentre are double shielded." He pointed up the circular staircase. "Up there is engineering and aircar maintenance. There's a pretty extensive workshop up there, so your smartass android should be able to fix anything you break. You can access anywhere on foot, but this is a big ship. I'd advise you to keep the aircars maintained." He pointed to a legend stencilled onto a steel plate by the aircar door number two. It was highlighted in red where they were, "There's one of these aircar maps on every door or hub. There are aircar exits to all four levels but this is the main hub." He pointed to the other doors. "Two, you know. That's the port crew access aircar where we came in. Three is the pilot section and
four is the starboard crew access aircar. Hatch six is the aircar that runs from bow to stern and you'll find it quicker to use the aircar that's going mainly in the direction you want. This is a basic system so if too many people try to use it all at once, you confuse it. You'll eventually get where you wanna go, but it'll take a bit longer. There's six shuttles in all, running on an air tight system and it's a 'first come, first served' order of travel." He waited until everyone nodded and pointed to doors One and Five. "These hatches lead to the medicentre and the main computer room but you can get to the internal walkways as well. They mainly travel on top of the aircar tubes so it shouldn't take you long to navigate your way around." He pointed to the circular stairway. "This goes vertically up and down the ship to all levels; there's another one amidships and one near the stern. There's aircar access on some landings, but not all." He waved his palm over hatch six and the door opened to reveal a standard aircar sphere. "Rear hold," he spoke into a small screen by the door after everyone else was seated.
The little shuttle sped off along the spine of the ship for twenty seconds or so, slowed and then dropped straight down for ten seconds. The hatch opened to reveal a cavernous hold. It was empty apart from their ATV and a modern looking planet hopper that took up a quarter of the space. It sat, nose facing the rear cargo doors and Starfire saw that it had two rear engines instead of the usual one. The hopper side ramp lowered and they climbed the shallow steps to get inside. Starfire took the pilot seat and Tranter set next to her in the co-pilot spot. It was a sleek little ship with two pilot seats and four passenger loungers. The usual configuration for a short range hopper was eight seats, but Tranter had removed the rear two seats and installed a bathroom and small dinette. Small planet hoppers like this one did not usually have jump capability and were strictly one quadrant range, but Tranter had ensured that even a long sub-light flight could be carried out in relative comfort. Starfire was impressed again. Most ships were designed either by robots or by people who didn't actually pilot or travel for a living. Tranter had designed simple little luxuries like swivel seats and clip on, locking trays, which extended to make a dining table with six seats around it. Drop down partitions could be lowered around the seats, so that they turned into private berths when fully reclined. Comfort and functionality did give way to design though and Tranter had used the materials he had to hand so that nothing actually matched. All the seats were of a different colour and design and the carpet tiles were all different. Tranter saw her staring at the furnishings. "Well, what d'ya think?" he asked, proudly.
"It's a good design," began Starfire, hiding her smile. "What's the pack?"
"The usual chemi rocket lift off thrusters but there's two fusion reactor jets for flight instead of one. She'll do speed point six for half a parsec or point two five on each jet if you need the extra distance."
"What's the maximum burn?"
"She'll do point eight, maybe eight five if you're in a real tight spot and you use everything you got at once. But you'll have to glide to land unless you refuel and you won't be able to sustain it for long." He motioned to a small button under the glass steering bar. "There's your booster. It'll maybe give you a tenth of a parsec in a straight line. Less if you gotta do fancy flyin'." Starfire nodded and a quick look back at Raan showed he was also impressed. The name 'Little Dragon.' had been etched on a new steel name plate on the dashboard and Starfire brushed it gently with her fingers. Tranter looked back at his passengers. Delta Ten stared straight ahead, Erion looked interested, Raan looked excited and Hal had his arms crossed over his seat belt and appeared to be slumped in his seat, dozing.
"Buckle up, gang," grinned Tranter. This is going to get interesting." He showed Starfire how to depressurise the Grennig's hold. She fired up the manoeuvring thrusters on the little ship, opened the huge rear cargo doors and floated the Little Dragon out into the glaring, white light of the downward facing floods. Starfire took the ship out slowly, conscious that Tranter was watching her every move. She forced herself to relax and guided the planet hopper under the massive engine array above them, past the Grennig's superstructure and the brilliant floodlighting of their mother ship. Once the planet hopper was clear, she closed the Grennig's cargo doors and shut off its external illumination, leaving just dim navigation lights showing. It was so dark on the rear of the planetoid, that only the winking navigation lights could be seen. There was no shadow of the ship in the complete blackness. Another guide appeared on their starboard front quarter and Tranter motioned to Starfire, who said,
"Cantina Control this is the Little Dragon requesting passage to….."
"The Gateway," Tranter leaned forward and spoke into Starfire's console."
"This is Cantina Port Control, do you see your guide?"
"Affirmative, Port." The flashing light changed from red to green and the voice continued, "Follow your guide, Little Dragon and welcome to you and your crew."
"Thank you, Port, over and out." Starfire leant forwards and spoke into the com. "Hello, Little Rock. Which one are you?"
"I am Little Rock twenty nine." The voice was neither male nor female, but was pleasant and melodic.
"Lieutenant, you don't need to have a conversation with them," Tranter was beginning to regret introducing the guides to Starfire. Hard bitten in most all other respects, she seemed to have developed a soft spot for the little robots. She spent the next two hours weaving in and out of revolving rocks with the little flashing boulder just in front of them. Eventually the rocks and small asteroids thinned out until they were once again in clear, black space.
"What's our course?" asked Starfire as they drifted clear of the last asteroid. The guide rock switched off its pulsating light and moved back into the asteroid field. Tranter leaned forward and punched it into the navi computer.
"Remember it," he advised. "Don't save it to the computer." She nodded and watched how Tranter entered the co-ordinates. She would have to show the others how to operate the Planet Hopper later so wanted to get everything straight in her head. "It won't take long to get there," began Tranter. "Couple of hours or so straight flying. Plenty of time for coffee though." He winked and stared pointedly at Starfire, who took the hint, unbuckled her belt and walked to the rear of the ship.
"Black for me," muttered Raan as she passed him.
"Ooh, yes please," added Erion, who sat next to him. Hal opened one eye, raised a lazy finger and Starfire pulled a face.
"Five years at the academy," she grumbled. "An extra year in flight combat; and for what?" She busied herself at the food dispenser and came waltzing back down the aisle like a flight attendant. "Here you are, sir, madam," she sang, dropping a curtsy and placing the steaming brew into the receptacles built into the seats. The strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee permeated the crew compartment as Starfire carried her little tray from seat to seat. "Is there anything else I can get you? Magazine? Blanket? In flight movie?" She reached Tranter on the flight deck, who had turned his seat around to face the others. It was standard practice and common sense not to sit at the flight console with food or drink. Ash now was a different matter entirely and Starfire took her place in the pilot seat and lit up a black cigarillo. The overhead fans came on and sucked the smoke and ash particles away while she checked the controls and stared out of the front port. There was no sense of movement, no stars sliding lazily past the windows as they travelled onward in normal space. A distant point of twinkling blue light, alone in the blackness, however, did seem to be getting slightly larger and a glance at the navi screen confirmed that they were headed straight for it. She suddenly sat up and leaned forward before punching up the magnification screen and moving it towards the heads up display where it glowed in holographic splendour just in front of her face.
"What is it?" asked Raan.
"No idea," she answered. A glance at Tranter and Hal showed that they were not bothered in the slightest, although Tranter did seem to be wearing a smug grin. "All right, I'll bite," she began, "what the fr
ag is it?"
"A fraggin' big secret is what it is," he smiled. "You are about to join the chosen few."
"Stop messing about, Tran." Starfire automatically adjusted their course slightly. "I've never seen anything like this before and we're heading towards it."
"Like I said, I was in this battle," began Tranter, lighting up an evil smelling cheroot. "I got chased into the asteroid field and got lost. Vermillion found me, guided me out the back way and I found myself here. I was pretty banged up and needed help. Well, as you can see, there's nothing in front of us in this quadrant and I sure wasn't going back out the way I came in for fear the bad guys were still waiting for me. I guess I must have blacked out and I woke up on the other side. Vermillion must have figured I was worth saving, 'cos I met Thirty-Seven over there."
"Thirty Seven?" Starfire and Raan both spoke at the same time.
"Ah, Thirty Seven," put in Erion. "I've met him."
"That's the big black robot, right?" said Raan.
"Right," answered Erion.
"And what," began Raan, getting to what he thought was the point, "do you mean by 'the other side?'"
"It is a rotating inter-spatial rift," pointed out Delta Ten.
"Eh?" muttered Raan.
"It's a wormhole," Tranter decided to put them out of their misery.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place, damn it," Raan glared at the android and Tranter laughed.
"Don't worry, we'll still be in our galaxy. It's not that big and very stable."
"Oh, goody," muttered Starfire. The anomaly, although still a sparkly blur to the naked eye, was now plain to see on the heads up in front of Starfire. It was clearly identifiable as a wormhole, a deep black circle, surrounded by a slowly spinning whorl of lights. "You want to take the ship through that?" she asked.
"Straight in, Lieutenant. You'll need to keep her in the centre all the way through. It's not that wide. This is why we're in the hopper for your first trip through." Starfire nodded briefly, not taking her eyes from the screen in front of her.
Starfire at Traitors Gate Page 19