by Leon Castle
‘Right! You’re on laddie! I’ll make the arrangements. We are scheduled to commence the first cut when we receive the image data from the shuttle taking the shot tomorrow. That should give us some time to catch up, and organize you a ride.’
‘I’ll see you soon, Val.’
‘Travel safe, big yin.’
‘Nolack-1, keep the Croc’s visit under wraps for now, He will be staying with me when he arrives and can use the royal suite when he’s ready.’
‘As you wish, Captain, I’ll direct his shuttle to the secondary maintenance dock to subdue suspicion.’
‘Excellent Nolack-1, I’ll pick him up from there.’
Chapter 69
The following day the Croc, dressed in blue coveralls and a cap, is teamed up with Taneasia.
‘So you are from quality control…is that right.’
‘Yep, that’s right miss.’
‘The name is Taneasia, mate, not Miss…I never miss,’ She smirks.
‘Name’s Jack, I’m more of a customer service kind of guy. I look after our customers and try to keep them happy,’ he smiles.
‘Tough job that one, buddy, I’d rather be out here where the action is!’
‘That’s your seat behind mine, strap yourself in and I’ll grab you a set of headphones.
Rummaging around in the spare locker she finds a set of headphones. Handing them to the Croc she looks into his face. ‘Damn…your face looks familiar! I could swear I know you from somewhere…’
‘With the amount of faces looking at your pretty face, I’m not surprised I look familiar.’
‘Mmm…A cheeky little bugger to boot hey!’ she laughes, secretly flattered.
‘Well mister quality control man, you’d better hang onto your arse, because…here we go!’
The rush of blast off takes the Croc by surprise, and he let’s go a rebel yell.
‘Pretty Kool, Jack, huh?’
He can’t help himself ‘Hell yeah! You go, girl!’
She is beginning to like this bean counter, deciding he’s kind of cute in a weird kind of way.
‘Get your head back in the game girl! He’s here for them, not you,’ she rebukes herself.
TLM 007 attaches itself onto the target asteroid its clawed feet anchoring it securely to the massive iron space rock. Taneasia fires up the communication datalink back to the Sobek, opening it to all channels. This is to be the first official cut ever! This is history in the making right here, right now! and it’s all down to her, Taneasia’s hands glide over the control panel, switching on the manual override and then move onto the control joysticks. TLM 007 starts to hum and vibrate as she fires up the laser head.
‘Are…you…ready…?’ she yells into her microphone.
‘Let’s do it!’ the Croc’s response is drowned out by the roars and cheers of the entire asteroid belt community watching the event on their own personal screens, the surge of sound coming over their headsets is almost overpowering.
Taneasia fires the laser head. Hidden behind the dust and debris, the laser cuts into the rock in a slow, surgical sweep.
At the end of the shift she docks TLM 007 at end of ‘A’ leg on the top starfish. Undoing his belt, the Croc stands, takes off his headphones and thanks Taneasia for allowing him to accompany her, He puts the headset in the locker and collects his bag.
‘Hey not so fast, hot shot, you owe me a beer!’
‘I believe I do,’ the Croc’s smiling reply. Truth be told he could do with a cold beer to celebrate anyway.
‘I’ll meet you at the ‘Stagger Inn’ in say…a half hour,’ suggests Taneasia, swiping her access card on the scanner near her door.
‘Sounds good, I’ll meet you there.’ With that the Croc heads down the escalator for the change room in the gym on the second floor.
He had learned quite a bit from this young lady, from operating the LTM to getting used to its quirks and attitude. He smiles to himself that the machine has got an attitude, just try getting it to cut awkward angles, or manually walk on an uneven surface. Alarms scream and flash wildly like a little kid throwing a tantrum! He had to hand it to her, she is amazing at her job. Definitely worth shouting her a beer or two.
‘You scrub up alright mister quality control man,’ comments a cheeky young Taneasia, now in her jeans and bright, loose, blouse.
‘Why thank you, young maiden. Fancy quality controlling a few of these beers with me?’ he smiles back at her, now feeling a lot more comfortable in his slacks and polo shirt.
‘So I yacked your ear off about me all day…so what about you? You haven’t said boo about yourself all day, you just let me dribble on about me. Tell me about these customers you look after.’
‘OK, in total we have 269 customers wanting mineral plugs to fill their old pits, and since we are the only source of the plugs we get a good price for them. We need to give our customers exactly what they require, that is why we control the whole operation. from taking them up in the camera shuttle, as we call it. so that they positively identify the exact pit they want the plug for, through to them selecting the mineral they want the plug to be.’
‘Can’t they just tell you which pit they want the plug for, without them having to go with the camera shuttle and literally do a fly over?’
‘They could, but what would happen if we accidentally went to the wrong pit?’
‘I guess that would cause major dramas…’ she replies thinking about it.
After three (or was that four beers?) And much more shop talk, the Croc takes his leave.
‘I’ll head off now, a shuttle is due to pick me up shortly to take me back to the Sobek.’
‘So I’ll see you again sometime?’ he asks with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
‘You can bet your sweet shiny arse on it mister quality control man!’ she laughs, shaking his hand.
On the return journey to the Sobek, the Croc communicates with Val via the implant to arrange a party to celebrate the successful completion of the very first plug ready for delivery. He specifically asks that Taneasia and her crew be invited and be presented with a memento of the occasion, which he will present to them personally.
After a pleasant meal with his brother, he retires for the night.
‘What the hell are you up to? You’ve been grinning like a Cheshire cat all morning.’
‘I’m looking forward to the look on Taneasia’s face when she recognizes me, when I return for the first plug party.’ chuckles the Croc.
Chapter 70
‘Taneasia…you must have impressed the captain, you and your team finished our first plug in just three months! Wildly impressive stuff!’ enthuses Tarillia.
‘Well you know boss, our crew is the pick of the litter,’ she jokes with her dirt boss, winking at her crew mates.
‘The reason I called you all in early is, we are going to a party tonight on the Sobek! The order came directly to me from Captain Valentine, and…apparently he has a special guest he wants us to meet!’ Tarillia squeals, running over to Taneasia, grabbing her in a hug. The two excited girls started jumping up and down on the spot, still locked together in their hug, the rest of the crew of 19 stamp their feet and whistle and cheer, the atmosphere totally electric! After the excitement ebbs everyone leaves the pre shift meeting room and goes to their quarters to clean up and get dressed up in their finest.
There is a lot of fidgeting and nervous chatter as the crew await the shuttle that evening. Speculation heats up on the way over to the Sobek about who this special guest could be…in fact a couple of the lads have modest wagers on who it is!
On docking, they are escorted by a small, excited, reception committee to the lakeside park, the venue for the party. It seems like the entire city has turned out to line the streets and blossoming balconies above to see them and join in the party. Tarillia leads the crew out front with Taneasia at the back of the group. looking up at the famous plank.
‘The view from up there must be spectacular, both up under
the grand pyramid and down here over the lake and park,’ she muses, as she catches up with the two larrikins with the bet on.
‘I reckon it’s the Croc…I don’t think he could stay away if he tried!’ teases Taneasia.
‘You said it was ‘Black moss,’ ya donkey’ cracks Ginger at Billy.
‘That bunch of wallee’s couldn’t sing their way out of a wet paper bag! No it’s got to be ‘Black pepper’ now that’s one hot group!’
‘You two think what you like but I still think it‘s ‘Lady and the Stink Bugs,’ rubbing his fingers together at Ginger. ‘Here…twenty bucks…come on…come to daddy.’
Taneasia laughs and shakes her head at them. ‘You pair are unreal! I’ll put up 20 bucks and I say it’s the Croc!’
‘Right…you are so on girl!’ They both laugh and reply together.
‘Taneasia, get up here with me!’ Tarillia beckons from the front of the small group. Taneasia moves through the brightly dressed crew to join her boss and best friend up front. As she draws up next to Tarillia, they cross the street and onto the parkland. She can see tables laid with all sorts of food and a couple of drink booths, at the far end stands a huge temporary platform with tables and even more food. This is obviously the VIP area, the direction the reception committee are steering them.
In the center of the temporary platform is a huge table laden with food and drinks at the ready. Standing behind the table is a small group involved in deep conversation, apparently ignoring all the hubbub and happy noise. From a distance Taneasia can’t make out who they are but she guesses that it would have to be Captain Valentine and his high ranking officers, perhaps even his mystery guest.
Finally with the crew arriving at the VIP table the little group in deep discussion breaks up. The captain makes the first move to greet them. Taneasia gives the customary short bow to the captain and accepts his congratulations, shaking his hand.
‘You scrub up aright for a…rock jockey!’ comments a strangely familiar voice behind Val.
The Croc turns around, taking off his heavy, hooded overcoat to face a now deathly white Taneasia, dropping to one knee, followed by the entire population of the Sobek.
‘My liege…’ she stammers, recognizing her passenger, now dressed in his royal tunic. This is the guy she was busy flirting with only three months ago!
‘Rise Taneasia…all the wealth in the asteroid belt could never pay for the look on your face.’ he laughs hanging his coat on the chair. ‘You can be my companion for the party, if you wish, here sit next to me,’ he steers her to the seat next to his.
Taneasia is still in a state of shock and disbelief well in to the meal, finally she accepts the fact that the Croc obviously has a wicked sense of humor, too. So she begins to relax and enjoy the party.
‘Taneasia remember I took some small rock samples while you trimmed the face of the plug?’
‘Yes I remember you doing that, although for the life of me I couldn’t understand why.’
‘Could I have everyone’s attention for a moment please?’ asks the Croc, tapping his finger on the microphone as he steps forward to the little podium, his voice reverberating throughout the whole ship.
A hush falls over the party.
‘As a token of the Kingdom’s gratitude and as a memento of this occasion, I would like to present each member of your crew, Taneasia, and of course yourself, with a personal gift from me. Step forward, please, for each of you to receive your gold ring with its miniature polished iron asteroid plug to celebrate our first full size mined plug.
The crowd rises to its feet, and clap and cheer as the crew is presented with their rings.
Immediately following the presentation, an announcement:
‘And now for your entertainment, may I present…
Black Pepper,’ announces the MC.
Billy smirks at Ginger, rubbing his fingers together. The band blasts away at the revelers, eardrums for two solid hours.
‘Just when you thought we were slowing down…here comes the girls!
‘Lady and the Stink Bugs’ announces the excited MC. The place explodes with cheers and applause.
Ginger just smiles at Billy. ‘Guess this makes us even, but we still owe Taneasia!’ as he grabs his mates arm. ‘come on mate, your shout,’ as they swagger back to the booze booth.
Walking Taneasia to her accommodation after the conclusion of the festivities, the Croc asks her a question that would puzzle her for quite some time.
‘Taneasia, would you ever consider leaving this place?’
‘What do you mean?’ she asks.
‘Well I…’ the Croc stammers.
‘Come on tell me’ she prods with a grin.
With his frills rising slightly and blushing pink. he turns his face away embarrassed at his impulsiveness.
‘Oh…it’s OK’
With one hand on the door panel, she takes the Croc’s hand with her other hand, looks into his face and says: ‘You are my liege, but now you are also my very good friend, so if you ever want to call me I would be delighted.’
A very relieved Croc thanks her, squeezing her hand, leaving a very happy young lady behind as he finds his way back to his own suite.
As he turns into the corridor leading away from Taneasia’s accommodation he nearly bumps in to Tarillia.
‘My liege’ she bows, with a knowing smirk.
‘I ah… just walked Taneasia back to her room,’ the Croc smiles awkwardly, feeling the need to explain himself before scarpering off to find the elevator to his floor.
Chapter 71
Immediately after the crews flew back to the mining camp, the Croc calls a meeting with his department heads, including captain Val.
‘I have decided that to truly hold our claim, we should consider a more permanent settlement out here. Then we would be free to use the Sobek to explore further out.’
‘What do you mean, further out?’ asks Val.
‘Well I guess there is the possibility of finding a suitable planet to colonize.’
‘So if we are to setup a permanent home out here, are you thinking maybe a modular style of city? my Liege’ asks engineer 2.
‘Yes, maybe that would work for a time, but I was thinking more like finding a good size asteroid and maybe hollowing it out and building the city inside it,’ throwing the concept out there for consideration looking around the group.
‘My liege that could work, especially if we model it after the construction of the Sobek, the only difference being of course the hull is now the shell of the rock,’ comments a young geologist, still deep in thought mulling over the project.
‘Endorok, what do you think?’ asks the Croc.
‘Well me liege…I’d be tinkin’ it’s a grand plan.’ Endorok says in a thick brogue accent, ‘there’d be plenty big rocks floatin’ about out there, should be a few we can eyeball for you.’
Endorok is the chief surveyor for the expedition.
‘How long do you think before we find a suitable rock, Endorok?’ asks structural engineer 1, trying to sound important.
‘How long is a piece of string, old mate?’ replies Endorok, with a cheeky grin.
Glaring back at Endorok, ‘As long as it takes I guess.’
‘Aye, that would be right lad.’
‘Endorok, can I leave you to organize a crew to survey any suitable rocks for this project?’ asks the Croc.
‘I would be honored Croc, I’ll bring this bunch of larrikins here now, if they’ll join me?’ spreading his arms out to his fellows.
With nods and smiles all around the team is quickly assembled for the project.
Chapter 72
A week later the Croc sets off for Thera, having spent a little time with his younger brother Val, and of course a quick trip out to the mining camp to visit Taneasia. A fully equipped prospecting vessel from the fleet is commandeered for the survey team. This will make the ideal platform to do the survey, with the ability to drill samples to determine the size and quali
ty of any mineral or ice deposits on the rock.
During the almost 10 year survey for a suitable location to build the city of Sky Jewel a lot has happened. Skirmishes over religious beliefs on Thera are intensifying to the point that the Croc decrees that any form of worship is totally forbidden anywhere in the United Kingdom of Sobektar. This action attracts the backing of the One World Order and individuals who flock to join the United Kingdom of Sobektar who agree with the Croc. There is, however, a small backlash from this announcement, with some of his more devout people opting to quit the United Kingdom of Sobektar and return to their home regions on Thera to pursue their religious faith. The Croc personally pays each individual a handsome payout for their work and devotion to the Kingdom, and he offers them the opportunity to return if they ever change their mind in the future. All of them part on good terms with the Croc.
The timing of this announcement is Ideal, as extra hands are needed for the massive expansion work going on out on the asteroid belt.
Chapter 73
The fire now roars alive again as Dave throws some more sticks on the campfire.
‘Sorry Grandfather, I needed to get up for a stretch and digest what you’ve told us so far.’
‘Me too, Granddad, my bum’s gone numb!’ giggles Maxxy, as he untangles himself from his sleeping bag.
‘I reckon the boys are doing well staying awake this long, Dad.’ my Son Alex comments.
‘They seem to be getting the sense of it all, haven’t had too many questions in a while,’ I grin to Alex.
‘Calm before the storm.’ he knowingly mutters.
‘Granddad, you know the Croc?’ comes Maxxy’s voice from behind the trailer, as he walks back in to the fire light. ‘Is Taneasia the Crocs girlfriend?’
‘Well, let’s just wait for Dave, and I’ll continue the story.’
Dave’s shape throw’s ghostly shadows as he crosses into the firelight ‘Yeah, that sounds like a good question, Maxxy. So does he hook up with Taneasia Grandfather?’ he asks rubbing his tired eyes.
Alex catches my attention, tapping his timepiece he gives me a wink.