The bridge XO was a short, hairless alien with six limbs and mottled brown-green skin. He was a kalam, though some called them “scurjes.” His head had four eyes and in place of a jaw, he had a stalk that dangled from his lower face. His uniform was plain, black, contoured armor with no indication of rank.
Pesht didn’t hide his relief that it wasn’t the owner of the Fire Scorpion on the lift, but his robot instead. None of the crew looked up from their stations.
The kalam spoke from the appendage hanging from his face. The words came out sloppy and moist. “Leech. What do you want in my bridge?” Pesht said with open distaste.
Leech was the retainer robot that accompanied the Admiral.
“As ever, Bridge XO Pesht, I am here to review your work for the Admiral. He is most concerned with inefficiencies and lack of discipline among the crew,” Leech replied. The robot hovered into the room with his arms behind his back. Pesht rarely saw him in any other pose and was irritated by how self-important he acted.
“A survey vessel was taking measurements of the field. We destroyed it.” Pesht turned away from the robot. “They didn’t transmit any messages and we’re pushing the wreckage into the ship graveyard.” There wasn’t anyone in the system to send messages to, but Pesht was a thorough mercenary.
“As for my crew,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear, “they obey out of duty and fear of my agony lash.” He fingered a rod hanging from his belt. “Efficiency and loyalty are rewarded in their pay.” The crew were paid in credits when the ship returned to space stations. They returned for the promise of more credits and because of lengthy, detailed contracts. Men who didn’t return to fulfill their contracts were hunted down.
There was silence. Leech was looking at a console. “Eh? Were you speaking, Bridge XO Pesht? I’m sorry, I was distracted.”
Pesht ignored him. To the crew he said, “Continue operations. I want that wreckage propelled into the graveyard so that it mixes in. Do we have the identifying transponder yet?” A crewman indicated they did and were bringing it on board.
Leech floated around the bridge, looking over shoulders and making disapproving sounds.
“Bridge XO Pesht,” he interrupted. “You are aware of your orders, are you not?”
“Don’t repeat them to me, Leech. You know I hate that. If you do it again, I will shoot you with my fission gun and damn the consequences.”
Leech politely said, “Perhaps I misspoke, sir. I merely meant to collaborate with you to determine that our understanding of the mission goals was clear.”
Pesht said, “We’re ahead of schedule. The engine crew saw to that. We’ll be at the generation ship deep inside the graveyard in two hours to drop off the Admiral, you and associated crew. I’ll have plenty of time to find the Vadyanika and check on the Admiral’s acquisition.”
The robot nodded his head of sensors and hummed in agreement.
Pesht said, “The engine crew needs downtime so we’ll head to the Vadyanika at a slower pace. We’ll run tests on the engines during that time.”
“Why sir,” Leech said, returning to a condescending tone, “You sound so fond of the crew. Are you getting soft?”
Pesht snarled. “I like efficiency in my crew and my engines. Things work around here because of me, robot. A man bleary-eyed from loss of sleep loses precious seconds while nuclear missiles are inbound.” He felt no need to project his voice for that. Pesht recruited some of the crew himself. He knew them, and they were accustomed to him in many ways.
Leech responded, “Your skills as Bridge Executive Officer are confirmed.”
Pesht drew his fission gun, a weapon that could burn through steel. He would never use it on a person. That would be wasteful. It wasn’t even terribly safe to have on board a ship, but the kalam liked unsafe weaponry. Pesht ignored the robot. He idly spun the fission gun, sat in his chair and watched the Fire Scorpion’s operations. The data on the panels indicated the survey vessel was dead.
Soon Leech left the bridge. Pesht paid no attention. Pesht had served the Admiral in many operations. Technically, he was Bridge XO of the Admiral’s personal vessel, but in practice Pesht was captain.
This time, there wasn’t a fleet yet. There was something special here in the old ship graveyard though. Soon they would embark on another campaign and the galaxy would see red.
Few other qualified candidates would have accepted the position. For among knight-mercenaries and pirates alike, the Admiral had a well-earned reputation. Massacre and carnage always followed Admiral Slaught.
CHAPTER 12
The Eye of Orion
Steo’s steps were light. The bounce in his step wasn’t just because gravity on Nibs was lower than average. The job was nearly done and he had only the future to look forward to. It felt like leaving his home world for the first time.
Governor and Hawking were back at the hotel. Steo and Slank had agreed to wait to finish the job. It gave Slank time to prepare and Steo time to get going.
Dr. Spierk is out there, he thought. The man was responsible for the most horrendous experiments on living people in recorded history. By all accounts he was dead, but Slank’s sources said he was alive and back in business. The monster was somewhere out there in the blackness of space. Steo had the information to track him down.
Morning came quickly, and the rising sun shined over Steo’s shoulder as he walked down a long avenue of exclusive shops, full of designer labels and high fashion. Even the snacks here were expensive but the shops weren’t open yet. Steo’s destination was a tall building at the end of the street. As the sun rose, the dull gray panels changed transparent, showing luxurious offices inside. A logo of a stylized arrow occasionally flew across its surface.
As Steo crossed the street to the building, two panels rotated up. Inside was a showroom, though no customers were here this early. As if waiting for him personally, a robot hovered over to him as he entered.
“Welcome sir, to Vector Opulence, the premier manufacturer of cutters and corvettes for the discerning, tech-savvy starfarer. How may I help you?”
“I’m here to see if my order is finished.”
“Outstanding, sir. May I have your order identification? That could be the order number, receipt or DNA scan.”
Steo wasn’t about to let the robot take a DNA scan. He removed a plastic bracelet from his wrist and handed it to the robot.
“Thank you for the receipt, sir.” The robot fed the strip into a port on its shoulder. “Please wait one moment, sir.”
The white sun rose behind Steo, illuminating the Vector Opulence showroom. He turned and watched the sunrise. Now he felt a little nervous. He could go there, to that burning white orb, and beyond. This was a turning point, when he stopped being a passenger and could chart his own course. His fierce sense of independence made him eager.
“Good morning on NBS 2, sir,” came a soothing voice behind Steo.
Steo turned and saw a tall alien in a long, slate gray suit and sandals. His arms and legs branched out from his wide pelvis, giving him a triangular torso, narrowing to a long neck. His skin was cracked and red, and his black, oily hair was swept-back. His face was covered with a plastic mask that displayed a polite, male human countenance.
This wasn’t the first time Steo had met a honna. They were hermaphroditic humanoids from a hot planet. Honnas never revealed their faces and it was rumored they had visages that terrified other species.
“My name is Woshan. Please follow me sir.” Woshan guided Steo down a long corridor. “We at Vector Opulence are pleased to do business with you sir. It’s our honor to say we’ve received the final payment this morning. The five hundred thousand credits bring your account to full. Thank you. Fortunately, we only had to run the vessel through the final calibrations and I must say, it performed magnificently sir.”
Steo couldn’t afford a starship on his own, not like the one he ordered anyway. A lot of his jobs were for causes he believed in. Many of his contacts and customers were doubtful that a
n infosurgent could solve their problems, so they paid little. However Steo was becoming infamous. That brought donations, some anonymous. One in particular had given him nearly enough to purchase the ship he wanted. To make the final payment he just needed the help of a friend. As Slank had found out, Steo made a dangerous friend.
The pair came to the end of the tunnel, and a ledge on the lip of a massive, bright room. The roof was open to the sky, but many spotlights lit the inside of the bay, adding to the daylight. The focal point of the room was a starship.
Steo stopped at the railing and took in the view of his ship. Its surface was glossy, metallic green. Some features were reflective gold chrome. A few smaller sections were shiny black. The body was sleek and aerodynamic. It was capable of atmospheric travel so it needed to be smooth.
“Wow,” Steo whispered.
“We’ve fitted and modified the vessel according to your specifications,” Woshan said. “Of course if you wish any further enhancements, we are fully prepared with teams standing by. You could rest in our sumptuous lounge and enjoy live entertainment while we fit any additional features you desire.”
Steo felt like running forward and grabbing the starship. About the only thing he ever owned was what he carried with him. He wasn’t poor by any measure, but he had no home. He had begged, borrowed and bought passage from one solar system to another. This starship was the realization of a dream. He didn’t want to blink. His eyes were full of the vessel floating in the bay.
Below the body of the ship was a long fin almost as long as the ship. It bristled with antennae and dishes, the powerful sensor array the alien had spoken of. These were extended now but could be retracted to protect them when in atmosphere.
The prow of the ship was a concave scoop and Steo knew the bridge was behind it. Advances in sensors made windows obsolete. A single meteorite or space debris could destroy a vessel, so physical plating was as important as energy shielding.
Steo took it in. The simulated versions he’d seen in the advertisements didn’t do the ship justice. The lines and curves told him of speed and power, freedom and boundless opportunity.
The salesman said, “Now, if you don’t mind my asking, sir … the forward weapon mounts?”
“Yes, Woshan. What about them,” Steo said flatly. He didn’t want to be rude, but he had spent a lot of time and money to get to this day. He was understandably anxious.
“The Tyrant Missile Packs are truly an art of destruction,” he said with what seemed like glee.
“I hope my specifications were clear,” Steo said.
Steo was startled as the balcony he and the alien stood on pulled away from the wall and slowly circled the ship.
“Of course sir. The vessel is exactly as you requested, as you can see,” Woshan said. “Yet, if I may … with your obvious sense of style and well-heeled patrons, we could enhance the ship to deliver wonderful firepower. We would certainly grant you an extended payment plan.”
Circling the ship, Steo didn’t want to look at the salesman.
Near the front of the ship were pods shaped like teardrops, one on each side. Behind them were small wings with cylinders on the ends. These were the weapon pods. No ship needed to fly with lift from airfoils; vessels could manipulate gravity in every direction. These didn’t need to look like wings for structural purposes. Like many of the bulges and panel lines, it was for style. Steo stood in awe. The ship was far beyond what he’d seen in 3D holograms.
A series of five holes on each side weren’t for exhaust but for launching sensor pods. On top was a tiny pair of what looked like backward-tilted fins, in line with the giant belly fin. These were more sensors. The corvette class of starships was designed for scout duty in military use. The combination of excellent sensors, small size and offensive weaponry made it the most stolen class too, the favorite of pirates across the galaxy.
“I don’t think I’ll be needing anything else,” Steo said.
Woshan bowed. “Understood, sir.”
“Were there any problems?”
“None, sir. We modified the graviton drives to balance the field due to weight changes from the original template.”
“The tachyon subengine too?” Steo asked, referring to the smaller engine that converted the ship to energy. Only tachyons could be accelerated faster than the speed of light. Discovery of graviton particles allowed engines to store enough energy to convert matter to tachyons.
They circled around the rear and saw the semicircular grav engine. The horizontal half-torus encompassed the rear of the ship. The ship had its own lights and they flared as the engine came to life. White lights flashed at the bottom of the ventral fin. Cool aqua ones glowed steadily on the weapon pods and the graviton engine.
The engine made no sound, and no motion. The ship sat perfectly still and silent.
“You are wise and knowledgeable sir,” Woshan said. “The tachyon subengine was more powerful than necessary for this class of vessel, so we replaced it with a more efficient, smaller scale subengine. As your order indicated, we applied the savings to the ventral sensor arrays. I think you’ll find them galaxy-class.”
Steo didn’t see a single flaw in the new, polished ship. His heart beat faster and he drew a deep breath to calm down. He was eager to open it, like a child with a big, wrapped box.
The alien tapped his lee, creating icons in front of him. “Sir? I need the name of the vessel, for the tracking system.”
“The Eye of Orion,” Steo said.
The alien typed it in. “May I ask why the Eye of Orion, sir?”
“It’s a constellation hard to see from this angle in the galaxy. You can see it more clearly further along on the Tarium arm, but it was named after a mythological hunter.”
The alien nodded. His face-image smiled. “I’m unfamiliar with human mythology but with the tools built into the Eye of Orion, you should be able to hunt anything you choose, sir. Shall we go aboard?”
Their platform moved to the side of the ship. The alien touched an icon floating near him and lines appeared in the hull. That section slid up into the body of the ship.
Steo stepped inside. The lights along the corridors lit up in response. Steo knew the way; he’d walked through the ship in holograms many times. He turned right and marched to the bridge.
The oblong room held two chairs on either side and a massive chair mounted on a thick metal shaft in the center. It seemed to have a matching seat suspended upside-down above it. The outside walls of the room were covered in panels, ports and stations. Doors connected to other parts of the ship.
The alien gestured at the central chair. “The pilot’s chair sir. Please begin the security process here. The vessel is under your command and control when you enter your biometric information, by placing your hand here.”
The alien looked away as if Steo was typing a password. Steo placed his hand on the flat surface and it scanned his palm. There was a trilling sound and more lights turned on.
“Thank you, sir. The purchase is complete. I am on board your vessel now, so I will take my leave. Please come back to Vector Opulence if you have any further needs. It has been a pleasure building the Eye of Orion for you.” With that, Woshan left the ship. Steo heard the door close, and a wall panel indicated atmospheric containment.
He stood in the bridge, barely able to contain his excitement. First he set his memory storage book on a console and connected it to the ship’s computer. The information and applications would take a while to upload to the ship.
He moved to the pilot’s chair. The seat was comfortable and as he settled into it, it adapted to him. The arms and back were high. He tapped a button, making the gravity inside the ship slightly heavier and more comfortable. He had waited a long time for this day.
“I have to see this for myself.” He pressed a button.
What looked like an upside-down duplicate of his chair descended. The sides touched and fit together with his chair perfectly. A soft “wshhh” sound was followe
d by a few clicks. The two pieces had sealed together, forming a protective egg. Lights came on and he had total control over the Eye of Orion. In case of danger, this egg protected the pilot from everything: toxic gasses, loss of atmosphere, hull breach or internal gravity failure. It could provide air, water, food and energy. The chair was directly attached to the hull both above and below. Its outer shell was resistant to weapon fire. In short, when fully enclosed the pilot was safe even if the ship was ruptured.
Secure in his new starship’s protective embrace, Steo beamed. He was more than happy with his purchase. His mind was a rush of hopes.
The Eye of Orion was his new home. It was fast and strong, able to transport him in comfort wherever he could imagine. It meant freedom. With the amount of credits Steo had collected, he could have bought a home or freedom on any planet. This starship, added to what Hawking could do, made it one of the most powerful computers in the galaxy. There were cities that didn’t have the processing power of this ship. It meant that he could do more, take on bigger challenges. It was worth it.
He flicked a button and the top of the egg unlocked and receded to the ceiling.
A light blinked by his hand. He tapped it. The alien’s voice came on.
“Hello sir. Your systems are active. You may leave the bay at any time.”
“Thank you.” He shut off the link. “I think it’s time for a look around.”
The new owner of the Eye of Orion ran through the controls. Most were physical, unlike the light interfaces he used with computers and networks. He turned on the wall panels and got a look at the bay. The inside of the bridge was flooded with light. He linked the Eye of Orion into nearby flight centers and activated the flight computer. Without a pilot or navigator, he had to let the ship plot safe courses around satellites and other objects.
Soon he was ready. He had never piloted anything as big as the Eye of Orion but it was nearly impossible to cause an accident, especially in the Navo system.
Steo gently lifted the ship a few feet higher in the bay. With a smile, he punched it and the ship hurtled skyward. The sun reflected brightly off the ship’s green and gold plates.
The Eye of Orion_Book 1_Gearjackers Page 7