Book 7 of The traveler.

by Robin Miller

  Then I wanted to go see how the work was going on my new hotels. So I found the children, and asked them if they wanted to go with me or listen to more stories. They said if it was all right, please, they would listen to more stories and meet me at the club for lunch.

  I said, “fine, I'll see you then,” and went to check on the work being done on my clubs and hotels. It was only a few weeks ago that you couldn’t pry them more than a few feet from their parents, and now they seem to be taking care of themselves and socializing, they sure grow up fast. I went to the first new hotel that had been started, and they had the top floor done already. They were working on the pool and roof now, so I flew to the next one. They were about half way done with that, but Digger had the club pored already, oh though the doors were not cut in yet. At the third site only the base of the hotel was done, plus the parking lot, and Digger was working on the rebar and wire, as well as the frame.

  As I walked up I said to Digger, "you do good workfor someone that works so fast."

  Digger, "it's easy when the hole is already dug, but please don't bother to pre-dig any that are in sand, I had to spend half of yesterday cleaning this one out. Trying to move sand is a tricky business, you need to stick around and keep putting up barriers or it’s all for nothing. So I may as well be digging them right from the start. Everybody wants to save wherever they can, but your time is very valuable, and I would not want you to waste any of it. Of course you could set off a number of fusion bombs that would turn all the surrounding sand into glass." I said, "no problem, I'll leave the rest as they are, most are in dirt and done. Just bill me for the work, and take your time. I want them all to be as well-made as the first."

  Digger, "when they are done and have a little sand or dirt over them, you can crash a ship on top and never feel it, and that's a good thing because you seem to like to build next to space ship ports."

  I said, "they are a great source of customers."

  Digger, "as are your hotels I bet."

  I said, "yes, they are, as a matter of fact. And now that story land Park is open my club is doing even more business."

  Digger, "are you planning to build a park near all your hotels?"

  I said, "let's see how the first one does, before I take another step." I bid him a good day and went over to get a closer look at how the hotel was coming along. Stony was in a chair, next to a table with his computer on it. There was a small trailer behind him and a tarp for shade. He was on a transceiver, talking to the crane operator about where the next piece of steel would go, when I walked up. I lit my pipe as he talked to the crew man, then I said, "overseeing three jobs at once. When do you find time to sleep?"

  Stony, "who says I do? By the way, would you happen to have another bud on you?"

  I pulled a large dry one out of my bag and gave it to him, saying, "hard to believe you would be out of the smoke."

  Stony, "been working too much to go pick any."

  I said, "well it shows, by the way these hotels are going up."

  Stony, "still a lot of work to be done inside of them, but we're working on it." He broke off a piece of the bud and stuffed it in his pipe, then lit it and said, "ah, now that's the good stuff. Now if I only had a drink and an hour of sleep." I said, "I can't do anything about the sleep, but the drink I got covered." And I pulled out my flask of brandy. He took a drink and said, "you always have the good stuff."

  I offered him another, but he said one was enough. I told him most of the other sites were already dug, but where there is sand it will only fill back in partially. So I'm leaving the rest up to you.

  He said, "no problem, we will get it done."

  I said, “Digger told me the only way to keep all the sand from filling back in, without setting up barriers, would be to drop a few fusion bombs and turn the sand into glass.”

  Stony, “a desert of glass, well now that would be pretty, until it starts to break.” I said, “many of your people, as well as some aliens, still walk around without footwear, I don’t want to think about it.”

  Stony, “I don’t care how nice your place’s are, no one will be walking on broken glass to get to them.”

  I said, "as I said, I don’t want to think about it. I have some things to do over the next few days and you may not be able to reach me, but I'll check in with you as soon as I can free myself up."

  Stony, "no problem, after the first one the rest are just a matter of doing it all over again, and again."

  I said, "well, I now need to go interview and hire 38 people to work in radio, so have a good day and see you in a few."

  I headed back to my ship and we went to my club at Central city. By the time I got there it was almost noon and the children were already at our booth drinking tall glasses of milk. I had a beer and a shot while telling the Twins how the work sites were coming, and that I had to go out back to talk to some new employees for a few minutes, but we would order before I step out. They were in the mood for seafood and that sounded good to me as well, so we put an order in. I then downed my beer and went out back to the garden to see who showed up. As I walked out the back door I saw a large group of people, talking to each other, near the fire pit. I walked over to them saying, “I am Mr. Nibor Rellim. Who is here for a job in radio?’

  As I looked around I could see they all had a hand up, so I said, "good, now if you will please all lined up around the fire pit, one next to each so we can have a count of how many are here."

  They worked their way around the pit until it was a circle of people, and I had counted 38.

  I said, "good, I need just 38 people, and providinghalf of you are here for the secretarial job and the other for the announcer job, you're all hired. Let's see hands for the announcers."

  I counted 19, and said, "19, good your hired. Now I know none of you are locals, and for some this may even be the middle of the night, so I'll make this short. Each of you has been chosen because you live near one of the new radio stations, as well as being fit for the job. You have been told your hours, and you have been told your pay. Now you need training. For the secretaries it will be on the job, so all you need to do is show up tomorrow, your time, at the station near you. As for the announcers, you will spend a day on the space station with the announcers there, learning your job. Then you show up at the radio station near your home, come morning the day after. It will be up to you to take a shuttle from your hometown to the space station tomorrow, your time. It will be up to you to a ask a guard where the communication room is. It will be up to you to learn how to do your job. If this all seems too hard, raise your hand."

  I looked around and there was not a one with a hand up, so I said, "fine then, if you all would please scan a credit chip into my computer, so I can have my bank pay you, we are done with the interviews."

  I pulled my PC out of my bag and they each filed past me to scan the information into my computer, as I said, “welcome to the team,and thank you for coming.” Then I went back to my booth to find Owsee there as well.

  I said, "joining us for lunch are you?"

  Owsee, "got my bank work done and was going to check on the port, so I stopped in for a bite. The Twins tell me we are having seafood, sounds good." I said, "I just heard 38 people for the radio stations, and on this chip is their banking information."

  Owsee, "I'll drop it off when I get home tonight. I thought there would be two more."

  I said, "I still need to hire two managers that I will train, but it looks like I'll be away for a few days."

  I then told him about the Pirates and my promise to the defend station B3. I said, “I know Gripper would go with me if I asked him, but I don't want to leave the station without someone in command for that long.”

  He said, "would it only be two or three days?"

  I said I was sure of it, and he said, "and I get to fly and maybe fire the weapons of the Trident?"

  I said I was pretty sure there was going to be a battle.

  He said, "when do we leave?"

/>   I told him after supper, and he said he would arrange to be gone for a few days. I said, “well then I’m glad to have you along to watch my back, I’m sure Kitty will be as well.”

  The food came and we enjoyed it, then after we were done Owsee said he was going to check out story land Park, than tie up some loose ends and meet me at home for supper. I said, “see you then,” and he left.

  Kitten said, “father, because you are going away, I’d rather spend the time with you than take my music lesion today.”

  So I said, "well then I guess it's a good time for meto go in for a lesson. You can come was a Prowler," and we all went to the music shop. When we got there Muser was happy to see us, and said he wondered if kitten was coming in for a lesson today.

  I said, “we are all here for lesson today, if you can do three at once that is.” He said, “we should be able to work something out. Please, play something for me so I can see what level you are.”

  So I pulled out my White Dragon flute and gave him a sample. He said I was very good, and he had a piece the three of us could do together. He pulled out a music chip and played part of it for us, then broke it down into our parts. After we got it right the three of us played it together. Then he got out two more for us to learn. We worked on them, and got fair at it before the hour was up. He had someone else coming in for a lesson, so we thank him for the time, and I said, “by the way, I love what you have done with the place back here, it looks professional and sounds great.”

  Muser, “thank you, I’ve made music my life, and it’s been both fun and rewarding to build a studio like this. If we ever do get any neighbors that are around at night, they will no longer here my music echoing down the streets of downtown.” I said, “for some, that may indeed be a loss. Good day sir.”

  He said, “good day, and go carefully,” then the twins and I went home by way of the space station, so I could tell Gripper I would be gone for the few days and why. He understood why I felt he was needed there, and said he would take good care of things while I was away. When we got home the children asked me to tell them more about Earth, and all the places I had been on my 30 year trip here. I said, “right after I go tell your mother I plan to be gone a few days, I don't want to put this off.”

  So I went to her shop and told Kitty the news. She was not happy about it, but understood why I thought I needed to go. She told her helper she was calling it an early day, and left her to close the shop at sunset, while she went home with me. There was still a good hour of light left, asI sat down to tell the twins the story they wanted, while Kitty worked on making us two large casseroles of lasagna. I told the children about the 30 or so different kinds of jobs I had, and the adventures of my travels. I left a lot out because I was not planning this story to take a year to tell. By the time Owsee got there I was wrapping up with the coming here and having them, then I said, "and the rest is in my books." As Owsee got to the house kitty said, "I'm told the two of you are going on a trip for a few days. Well, the least I can do is see you have a good meal to travel on. Come get it while it's still hot," and we all went to the table.

  There was really not much talking during supper tonight, and Kitty had made sweet nut pie for dessert, my favorite. Then right after we were done eating I said, “I'll see you in a few days,” and we were off.

  We took my ship to the Trident, then headed for space Station E3. My living ship flew next to us the whole way there, and she knew some shortcuts so it only took a few hours. Owsee wanted to get used to the ship, so I let him fly while I took a nap, and he woke me up when we were just about there.

  I said, “I’ll find our information seller, and get him started on the upgrades to our sensors.”

  So after we docked I went to look for him while Owsee guarded the ship. My liven ship, Id, stayed nearby but unseen. The station was very quiet, as if some people knew of the danger and had fled. The dockworkers were still there, the restaurant was still open, and there were guards walking around, but most of the other shops were closed and almost no one shopping. It’s hard to blend in with the crowd when there is none. I went to the high-tech store of our information seller, and as I walked in he said, "you made good time, you only left Laureate a few hours ago."

  I said, "and how would you know that?"

  He said, "please sir, selling this high-text stuff and information is my business." I said, "well I hope you're keeping track of the scavengers, as well as you are me." He said, "they are a lot harder, as a matter of fact, but I have a general idea." I said, "so do I, they attacked a Voleon ship four days ago. I talked to the survivors."

  He said, "well I should get started on those upgrades to your sensors. They will help you cut through their scattering field."

  We took what he needed and went to my ship.

  On the way I said, “the station is rather quiet.”

  He said, "I leaked the word about the Pirates, so it would be easier to spot any of these spies that may case the station to find the right things to take." I said, "and the fact that my Trident is the only visiting ship will not remain a secret for long either."

  When we got to the ship he was surprised to see Owsee.

  And Owsee said, "see, he don't know everything."

  He said, "there are many people that are not of interest. How is our old friend Goo da wa? Still hiding in his cave, selling beer and meat sandwiches?" Owsee, "Goo da wa was never your friend."

  I said, "let's get past all this, shall we? And do what we are here for." The two of them did the work while I kept watch. What would've taken half a day only took a few hours with the help of Owsee. Our shopkeeper may of known a great many things, but he was no engineer. By my clock it was now late night back home, and Owsee and I were worn out. So we got something to eat then some rest. I sleep on my living ship, knowing she would wake me if there was danger. After we got up we talked about strategy, whether we should look for the scavengers or wait until they got here. I always hated waiting, but we also had to decide whether we wanted to force the Pirates to move on, or declare total war on them. Despite the power of the Trident, one ship was a hard match for the power of their mother-ship. And though I did not like the things the scavengers were doing, it was a way of life for them. If they would leave all the stations in this sector of space alone, and move on, I could see letting then go. But we all agree that was not going to happen, so it was fight them now or later. And just how far should we go? Should we try to destroy them or just disable them? If we could force them to abandon their mother ship the small ships would not be such a threat without their power base. Or we could just kill them all, but that was a moral judgment I was not sure I had the right to make. The scavengers didn’t kill people when they rob them, but they were willing to let them die. Perhaps treating them the way they treated others was the moral thing to do. It was understood that I would be the one to decide how much force was to be used, and it was a hard choice to make.

  A strong shock wave hit the station and the docking latch came loose. Luckily the hatch was shut at the time or we would all be dead!

  Owsee said, "that blast wave had an EMP to it."

  But my ships systems were not down because of the great shield we had. Off the port bow was a small pirate ship. It fired at us again as we drifted away from the station, but the shield still held. I was getting pissed off, so I took a reading with the new sensors and fired on the ship. I must of had to setting to high, because I vaporized it!

  I said, "whoops, had the damn thing turned up too high, that was setting three." We then re-docked after scanning the area to see if there were any others. I said, "well, we now know that the shields will hold."

  Our storekeeper said, "and the new sensors were right on as well." I said, "yes, nice of them to provide a target for us to try them out on." Owsee, "but I thought they were two or three days away."

  Storekeeper, "as I said, information on them is hard to come by. This one was a scout, the rest will be less than a day away now. Anyway, wha
t's up with your liven ship not warning us about the pirate ship?"

  I wondered about that myself, and she said the ship was small and had no weapons that could hurt us. I told her to let me know of any ships that come our way.

  She said, "well then there are 20 ships off your port, just out of your sensor range. They seem to be waiting for something."

  I told our storekeeper it was time he went back to his store while we go see what we could do. After he was on the docks Owsee and I went out to meet the 20 ships that were there. We came upon them at high speed, and they scattered and fired their weapons at us. I fired back, destroying seven with the first volley of fire. They tried to surround me as they fired again. I took out another five ships without survivors, then I turned down the power on my weapons and fired on the eight ships that were left, and moved off to return to the station. The last 8 ships were not badly hurt, but they didn’t come after me. So I told Owsee to take the Trident back to the station, and defend it until I got back. I was getting on my liven ship to track the Pirates back to their mother ship. So I crossed over to Id, and we went cloak-phased to follow the ships back to their home. That's one nice thing about having a living ship, being able to phase out so not only are we not seen, but we can pass through anything or let anything pass through us without harm. The scavengers zigzagged until they were sure they were not being followed. A few hours later we came to where they hid their mother-ship. They put it down on a small moon with no atmosphere. The huge ship had a sandy paint job that let it blend in well with the moon, you could fly over it and think it was just another small mountain, except for the ships flying in and out of her. I figured as long as I was cloak-phased I would take a closer look, fly right through her and see what I could see. So I went down and did a pass through the huge ship. There were not many ships on board at the moment. They must've been out looking for places to hit. And there didnot seem to be many men on board running the mother-ship, just a few here andthere. I thought to myself, if I could disable the life support and environmental controls they would all need to get in their small ships just to breathe. And if I could make it look like a core breach, they would move far enough away that I could then steal the ship before they came back. What a prize that would be. I then looked over engineering and the lower decks. There I found the women and children, locked up in a great many cells, hundreds of them below decks. Some with many families in them and others with only one. All of them in ragged clothing and underfeed for sure. This is how they treat their own, slaves. One generation upon another. It was not enough that I stop the scavengers, now I must also freed the slaves. If I was going to take the ship I would need help. I would not be able to fly her by myself, so I went back to station E3 to tell what I had found, and come up with a plan that would serve us best. A number of things ran through my mind on the way back to the station. I could easily make it look as if the engines were going to blow or environmental controls were shutting down, but this would not guarantee that all the pirates would leave the ship. I may have to resort to an old-fashioned boarding party to take control. But finding that many people willing to help these people was unlikely, and there was not much time. Soon the scavengers would be in a realm of space patrolled by the Plexons, and they would not think twice about destroying the mother-ship. Saving people is always harder than destroying them. With the power of my Trident and the help of my living ship, I could make short work of the scavengers, but saving the slaves would take a lot more work and planning. When I got back to the station our storekeeper was helping Owsee boost the scanner's power on the Trident. I told Owsee and our storekeeper what I had seen, and they both agreed with me that it would be best if we could take the scavengers mother-ship and free the slaves. But finding an assault team on a moment’s notice was unlikely. Then my ship told me, over my earpiece, that there were a large number of small ships coming out of the Stargate and heading here. But they were not the same as the scavengers. So we did a scan, but they did not match anything on file. Then we picked up a transmission that said, "we are the children of the Sands. The 100 faithful that live at the foot of the sacred mountain from which the Stone of destiny was taken. We come to stand with the holder of the stone so his enemies may fall before him."