Titan Stand

by Max Jager

  "What the fuck! Why can't I stand up?" Looking down, he saw the reason; the whole floor was covered in blue, just like someone had kicked over a can of blue paint. At this point, the ale, and everything he had eaten today decided to check out, and came up with a vengeance. Matt slipped again but this time the lights just went out.

  Slowly he became aware of the light, blurred images, and strange voices.

  "Am I dreaming, where am I?" He wondered. Then things seemed to go black again, now he was back home standing next to his mother as his father knelt next to their dog who had been hit by a car.

  "What the fuck? He thought how did mom and dad get here, since when did we have a dog, mom hates dogs." Even so, he felt an incredible sadness. Then images of Bria, Greg, Kaitlyn and Amber floated through his mind. Slowly a soft light reappeared, followed by unfamiliar faces, and what sounded like Kaitlyn and Bria.

  "This is crazy," He thought.

  Eventually he opened his eyes and began to examine his surroundings. It was obvious he was in a bed, there was some sort of band wrapped around his right wrist and he could hear beeping noises. Next to his bed he could see Kaitlyn and Bria slumped into chairs apparently asleep.

  "What the hell?" He wondered, "Did I get shot or something? He tried to remember the last thing he had done,

  "I know I shot someone, then something blew up, how did all that blue paint get there? No, that wasn't paint, what the hell did I slip on?" He began to move prompting Kaitlyn to wake with a start.

  "Matt, you're awake!" This woke Bria, who squealed with delight.

  "Kaitlyn, Bria?" Where am I?"

  "We are back at Fort Kamata," replied Bria, you are in the infirmary."

  "Did I get shot or something?" He asked.

  'No, thank god," exclaimed Kaitlyn, but you are a hero."

  "A hero? What happened?"

  "You killed Agrat Slyr, and Kreed Freihork," replied Bria.

  "Who the hell are they?" He asked.

  "Notorious raiders," exclaimed Deev Mocon, as he stepped into the room followed by Grak and Karlt. Shaking his head, Deev said,

  "Incredible, simply incredible, I've read Grak's initial report twice and I still don't believe it."

  "So tell me already, what happened?" Grak then spoke up.

  "All I can say is that those weapons of yours sure leave a bloody awful mess. You and the young lady here managed to kill all four raiders the first go-round, one of them being Kreed Freihork. Then you charged right into Agrat's ship with me right behind you. I shot one raider; while you took down two more with that thing you call a shotgun, one of them being Agrat himself. Took off one leg, causing him to bleed out before we could get back to him."

  "So what was that explosion?" Asked Matt.

  "You hit the life support control panel; electricity and pure oxygen don't mix too well. That triggered the ships fire suppression system, which was when I got you out of there, and back to our ship."

  "All I can remember is that I couldn't stand up I kept slipping on something," replied Matt. Grak and Karlt looked at him with grim expressions.

  "You were slipping on blood; the ships floor was covered with it."

  "Is that what all that blue stuff was?" He asked, both Grak and Karlt nodded,

  "Agrat and his companions were members of the Diyari race," replied Grak, "Their blood is blue."

  Slowly Matt began to absorb the reality of what had gone down, a sick feeling growing in his stomach. Then Deev spoke.

  "You told us earlier what would happen to anyone trying to invade your planet, from what I saw on those ships, and the things Grak and Karlt have told me it's very apparent that you earthlings are not to be trifled with."

  "So what about the ship?" asked Matt, "And what about the raider ship?"

  "We got both back here," said Grak, Karlt flew our ship, and because it was heavily damaged, I managed to get Agrat's craft back here in one piece."

  Matt then began to check himself over,

  "Did I get shot or something, why am I in here?"

  "You received facial burns and a blow to your head when you fell," said Deev, however a little anti-onc cream and your good as new. The doctors simply wanted to place you under observation for a little while."

  "So can we leave now?" He asked.

  "I'm afraid not," said Deev, you're free to leave the infirmary, but I'm afraid you have to remain until the authorities conclude their investigation, they are going to want to ask you questions about what you did, as well as those weapons of yours."

  "Am I in any trouble?" Asked Matt rather nervously. Deev chuckled,

  "Young fellow, you are a hero, on top of that, there is a considerable bounty being offered for both Agrat and Kreed, and by rights of salvage Agrat's ship is up for grabs as well. I have other duties to attend to, so I will speak with you later Matt." After Deev had left, Matt sat up and looked at Grak and Karlt.

  "Look you guys if there's any reward coming on those raiders, I want to share it with you, oh and as far as I'm concerned, that ship is yours."

  "Well thank you,' said Grak, but all it's good for is salvage. In its present configuration, it will simply show up on everyone's scanners as a raider ship. There is a scrap dealer here on the planet, why don't you talk to him and see what he will give you for it, and use the credits to upgrade the ship you already have."

  "Are you sure?" asked Matt, "I want to do right by you two; you have certainly done so much for the three of us."

  "Well I'm not sure what that might have been," said Grak, "But whatever you wish to share from the bounties will be more than enough."

  After Matt was released from the infirmary, lodging was in order, but because Fort Kamata was over crowded with people coming off freighters, and transport ships, the main hostelry was full. However Deev was able to get the three of them a small room with the Golian equivalent of a queen size bed. Kaitlyn remarked that she had been homes back on earth that had closets larger than this.

  "Well since Grak's ship is getting cleaned and serviced, we can't sleep there," remarked Matt. "A Motel 6 this ain't, but at least there is a tiny sonic shower and a toilet here." Sitting at a small table, while Bria and Kaitlyn sat on the bed, Matt said,

  "Thanks a lot Kaitlyn…You know…Back on the ship, I'm glad you managed to get those other two."

  "Man, I was so fucking scared, but I was even more scared of what would happen to us if they took us prisoner."

  "Well you tow would have probably ended up as slaves somewhere," added Bria, "Once they found out my father was a king, I would have been ransomed."

  "Is slavery legal in this galaxy?" Asked Matt.

  "It's not legal with Loridia," she replied, "Although S'ika Jasend told me once that there are illegal mines in out of the way planets worked by slaves."

  "That was really brave of you," said Kaitlyn. Matt stared at her,

  "You think so? I was so scared, I convinced myself it was just a video game."

  "Yeah," she added, "But the way you charged ahead like that it was so cool." He grimaced, and shrugged.

  "I remember reading a book or something once about all those people who stopped those terrorists from crashing their plane into the White House or wherever it was going, as well as something about your best chance to prevent being captured is acting right away. The longer you wait the better chance your captors have of preventing you from escaping."

  "Well all I know is that you are a real hero."

  "I agree," added Bria, "When I tell my father what you did, he will probably give you a big reward or something." Matt then looked around the tiny room and said,

  "There's no TV in here!"

  "Crap! You're right," said Kaitlyn,

  "What's a TV?" Asked Bria

  "Never mind," replied Matt, "So what are we going to do about the sleeping arrangement?"

  "Well I don't know about you guys," announced Kaitlyn, "But I'm tired, wake me in the morning, oh and I get first call on the shower."

  "That
sounds like a good idea," added Bria, who promptly lay down next to Kaitlyn.

  "Turn off the light Matt," mumbled Kaitlyn,

  "Where am I going to sleep?" he pleaded.

  ""We won't bite," replied Bria.

  He went into the adjoining bathroom and took a sonic shower, as well as changing his underwear. When he came back out both Bria and Kaitlyn were sound asleep. Carefully sliding in next to Bria, and trying his best to cover himself with just a snatch of the blanket, Matt tried his best to sleep. Since there were no "days" as such on the planet Fort Kamata was located on, everyone slept in cycles, and not always at the same time. There was a sort of intercom in the room that was connected to the office where they had checked in. Deev had used his authority to rent the room for the three but only for the equivalent of seven hours. Unlike "god-fearing" earthmen, planetary "days" varied, so a room rented merely to sleep in for seven hours or "milacentons" was considered very generous. So at exactly one milacenton before the seven hour period was up, the intercom squawked to life alerting them that they had one milacenton left.

  There wasn't any time to gradually wake up; it was strictly jumping out of bed, both Kaitlyn and Bria grabbing showers of five minutes each scrambling back into their clothes while Matt got all their gear re-packed. As they left, two aliens dressed in bulky flight gear and of an unknown race along with an android maid, were standing outside waiting for the room to be cleaned.

  On a hunch, Bria decided to check at the hostelry for the possibility of available rooms. They were in luck, it was still early, and crews were checking out. Two rooms were open, one with two beds. Using her Loridian credit card, Bria was able to get the room for four cycles, or days, the fact that she was a member of a royal family got them a nice little discount as well, something they all appreciated. Matt contacted Deev's office only to be told that the officials he needed to speak with were not here yet, so he and his friends spent the rest of the cycle exploring various sections of Fort Kamata that were not off limits. They found the scrap broker who turned out to be a female. She was a member of the Vaeon race, which meant that she had very light greenish skin, even lighter than the Golians, Pointed elf-like ears which caused to Bria to ask her if she was an elf.

  "I am not familiar with that race," she replied, "Do they offend you?"

  "Oh no," Bria quickly replied, "I'm not well traveled, and to date, the only races I know of with pointed ears are elves and pixies." This seemed to intrigue the woman who's name was Sung'Rir. Besides having pointed ears, she was completely bald, and according to her, a trait both sexes shared. Her eyes were yellow, and cat-like, but her facial features were normal.

  Matt explained his situation and that he was considered a legal claimant to the raider ship, but that due to its configuration could not be flown safely in normal space lanes.

  "I could have told you that," said Sung'Rir, I or one of my people would have to inspect it. What class is it?" Matt remembered Grak telling him it was a class four craft.

  "Class four?" Well without actually inspecting the craft, I could give you twelve thousand credits, but mind you that's sight unseen," stated Sung'Rir.

  "Well I've got to wait until the Golians look it over, and then sign off on it, hopefully that won't be too long."

  "Well you know where I can be found replied the scrap dealer.

  Before they left the scrap office, Matt noticed several signs and posters on the walls. Just as similar signs and posters back on earth were often printed in English Spanish, and sometimes French, these appeared to be similarly printed in various alien languages, unfortunately, Matt couldn't read any of them. On top of that, he and Kaitlyn's translators were still giving them problems.

  "You know guys," he said to Kaitlyn and Bria, "Before we get too far in this galaxy we are going to have to learn to read all over again.

  Chapter 25

  Titan Stand Chapter 25

  Two cycles passed before they were summoned to the government office where Deev Mocon, along with two Golian government officials waited for them. Deev introduced the three travelers to Gluz Igaia, and Dulvi Iljex. As soon as Matt, Kaitlyn and Bria sat down Gluz held up a 5.56 casing, along with a spent shotgun shell,

  "Could someone tell me what these are?" Matt looked at him and shrugged,

  "Well sir, that one is a rifle cartridge case, and the other is a twelve gage shotgun shell. I take it you don't have guns that shoot bullets in your galaxy?"

  "Could you show me how they work? Asked Gluz. Matt then took the spent casings from the Government official, and did his best to explain how guns work. He even resorted to taking a piece of paper from his pocket and drawing the various stages of a gun firing a bullet. Finally, the two Golians seemed to have a basic grasp of firearms technology.

  "When we spoke to Grak Armier, and Karlt Juliff," said Dulvi, they both told us you told them that you had some weapon their readers wouldn't pick-up, now we can see why."

  "So are we in trouble for that?" Asked Kaitlyn.

  Gluz looked at her and replied,

  "For killing a murderer, and notorious raider? Ha! I think not. We were simply curious as to how you were able to get the drop on them, it's very few that are able to do that."

  "Believe me sir," said Matt, "I've never killed anyone in my life, but I wasn't going to let them take us captive. When Grak told me their readers wouldn't be able to pick up our weapons, I realized that maybe we might have a chance to ambush them."

  "Well it would seem that your hunch was correct," added Gluz.

  "Those weapons of yours certainly left a terrible mess," said Dulvi, I would have to say that in all the investigations Gluz and I have covered, we have never seen the kind of destruction that these weapons of yours did on those raiders."

  "Well that was probably my shotgun that did all that," replied Matt.

  "It won't mean a lot to you, but I was using three inch magnum's filled with double ought buckshot. I was just worried that my rifle bullets would go through the spacecraft hull and cause massive decompression." Both Golians chuckled,

  "It would take quite a bit to penetrate a spacecraft hull," replied Gluz.

  "Most hulls are made from triple laminated Trinium, traveling at the speeds they generally do, you need protection from meteorites, tiny asteroids, and space junk. One thing though, somebody, somewhere along the line might take a keen interest in these amazing weapons of yours and want to ask you further questions about them."

  "Well as far as I know," said Matt, we were planning on traveling around this galaxy, or wherever the Loridia Company has a presence."

  "Speaking of which," added Dulvi, "Just how are you planning on doing all this traveling? Obviously not with Grak Armier."

  "Well no," replied Matt, "Right now Amber, she's our captain, and her friend Gandric are on Xandrus with Zeb Kifire, and trade representatives from Denedra, and Doradus." Deev then spoke up,

  "I'm fully aware of that situation Mr. Igaia, I've already spoken to young Matt here, and along with Zeb's report this Xandrus might just be the answer to all our problems in regard to a proper manufacturing site in this sector. If you remember, that's the old Sibranthi home world, but apparently the cyborgs and androids are running things now."

  "It's true," added Matt, "Kaitlyn and I have been there, they just want peace, and an opportunity to work, that's all."

  "Well technically your captain should have come here first and registered your ship," said Dulvi, however since the Loridian trading company is handling this situation we'll let it pass, but when she shows up, you have her get her craft registered."

  Matt then asked,

  "Sir, maybe the Nora-Lee is already registered," he then briefly detailed Greg and Amber arriving on earth from Z'ha'dum their back-story, and Greg's death.

  "I'm thinking that they may have already come through here and registered at some point." Dulvi looked at her partner with an irritated look,

  "Well why didn't we think of that? Well let's just see shall w
e?"

  "I know you mentioned their names what were they again?"

  "Greg Tate and Amber, no last name, just Amber, and the ship's name is the Nora-Lee." After a little computer work, Dulvi nodded,

  "Ahh yes, here we are, Greg Tate, origin…Z'ha'dum…race…human, it's curious that no one ever caught onto that," she added. "There is no ship's name listed or any record…No wait, here we are, yes I see it now, Amber, origin…Maltorret? That's odd, I've never heard of it."