The Eye of Orion_Book 1_Gearjackers

by Mitch Michaelson

  She moved her thumb on the gun. “Clear.” Then she stepped back. “Run for your life.” Her laser sight touched him on the head. He did as he was told, sprinting away.

  Soon she was alone in the alley. She smiled. Selling these guns would buy her a couple more weeks in Nuzdak city.

  She heard clapping. She quickly lifted her pistol and aimed it at darkened steps above her. A man stood in the shadows, clapping. He laughed.

  “Do you want me to prove this is a real gun?” she asked.

  He walked down the steps.

  “Oh you don’t gist me. I’m a send,” he said.

  “What?” she said.

  “You don’t have to shear. We have a paired send.”

  Yuina kept her laser sight on him. She glanced down both ends of the street to make sure there was no one else. “Are you an idiot? You sound like one.”

  As he got to the bottom of the steps, she could see he was a skinny young human man, no taller than her. He was dressed in casual clothes and had stylishly disheveled hair. He repeated slowly. “I’m a send. We have a paired send.”

  She cocked her head. There was a long pause.

  “Friend. You’re saying you’re a friend, and we have a … something friend.”

  He nodded and watched her.

  “Bared, cared … shared. We have a shared friend. A mutual friend, right?” She backed away from him, toward her purse on the ground.

  He nodded. “Yeah. You put on a wood flow there.”

  She thought long and hard about that.

  “Good show. Okay, you rhyme. I’ve heard of this. Who’s our mutual friend?”

  “Thank,” he said.

  She got it immediately. “Slank? You’re a friend of hers?”

  He nodded.

  She lowered her gun and retrieved her purse.

  “What do you want with me?”

  He dropped the Slanglish. “My name is Steo. Slank told me about you.”

  “Steo is that a rhyme, like your name is really Theo?”

  “No,” he laughed. “My full name is Steorathan.”

  “What was that all about then?”

  “I wanted to see if you spoke Slanglish, and if you didn’t, if you picked it up quick.”

  She admitted, “I could see how it would be handy, even if it makes you sound like an idiot. What did Slank say about me?” She collected the guns and put them into her purse. They walked together.

  “She said you might have hidden skills. A deadman’s switch on a pistol? FaceBurster 96x? That’s outrageous.” He chuckled.

  “97x,” she corrected.

  “Ah. Neither is true though. I don’t know handguns very well but that looks like an ordinary Morg to me. The transparent barrel is kind of familiar. While you were pulling that bluff, I looked up a deadman’s switch on pistols and couldn’t find one.”

  She studied him. Plain street clothes contradicted his speech.

  “You haven’t said why you were looking for me, Steo. Come out of orbit.”

  “I need a pilot. A specific kind, Yuina. You’re trained and certified, Slank says.”

  “Expert in small to medium craft, specialty in maneuverability. A couple thousand flight hours. I got away from that, though. I like it here.”

  “How long can you afford to stay here?”

  She sighed. They continued for another block before she spoke again.

  “There’s a lot of history with me and flying. It wasn’t a choice I made for myself.”

  “Are you rusty?”

  “No! I could thread a ship through a hole in an asteroid or stop on a comet.”

  “Then here’s the deal. Double standard flight pay. You’ll be the sole pilot of a new corvette-class ship I own.”

  “New?”

  “Brand new.”

  “Double pay? That sounds like standard pay plus a hazard bonus.”

  “It is. I’m recruiting a crew. I have a mechanical engineer and a navigator will arrive in-system soon.”

  “What’s the business? I’m no pirate or knight-mercenary.” Pirates weren’t common in the Tarium arm, but the concept of getting a ship and taking what you want from poorly defended planets or ships wasn’t new. Knight-mercenaries were hired to hunt pirates. Both were violent trades.

  “I won’t lie to you, there will be trouble, but your sole responsibility will be getting us into and out of hot spots. No landing party or away-team business.”

  “How long is this assignment?”

  “Standard contract, three months minimum with a three month option before we renew long-term. Everybody needs R&R after that much space travel.”

  Yuina stopped and pointed to a building. “This is my place. Steo, I’ll think about your offer. I wasn’t looking for a paying job, especially flying again. Slank referred you to me?”

  He nodded.

  “I respect her. She’s gone far, for a croymid on this human planetoid. And I might need the money. When do I have ’til?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow, before midday. I’m staying at the New Caithness Wick hotel. The ship is the Eye of Orion and it’s docked at the spaceport.”

  “I’ll get back to you.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s holding you back?” he asked.

  “You may be honest, but I still don’t know if you’re an idiot.”

  Steo left it at that, and walked away.

  Yuina waited until he was out of sight before continuing on. There was no way she would lead a stranger to her place. She started calculating how much longer she could afford rent.

  CHAPTER 16

  Glaikis

  She’s late. I wonder if she decided not to take the job, he thought. Steo leaned on the door and waited, hoping to see Yuina. The starport bay was empty except for the occasional maintenance robot. He didn’t want to leave without a pilot. If they didn’t encounter trouble, anyone could fly the ship, but they were most definitely headed into trouble.

  He looked forward to handing some responsibilities to others. A navigator was necessary for trips into unknown sectors and one of the best was available. Glaikis would be a welcome addition to the crew.

  He got an incoming call. He held out his lee. A big eye appeared.

  “Back up. I can’t see who this is,” he said.

  “Oh sorry.” A woman with a broad face and brown hair sat back. It looked like she was sitting on a box in a cargo bay. She kept her voice down. “Hi, Steorathan. This is Glaikis. We talked a while back and you said you could use an astrometeorologist?”

  “Yeah, yeah I did.” He straightened.

  “Is that offer still good?”

  There was a split-second lag between them, telling Steo she wasn’t on NBS 2 but somewhere nearby.

  “It is. Are you in orbit? There’s a little delay here,” he said.

  “Yes. I’m on a freight carrier from the inner Tarium arm, in geosync over Bul Sahn. It wasn’t a glamorous trip, but I got here.”

  “Don’t say anymore, not over this channel. Can you come down to Nuzdak city?”

  She ran her hand through her unwashed brown hair. “I don’t think I can convince them to land. Could you fetch me from this ship?”

  “How long can you stay on that freighter?”

  “Less than a day before they break orbit and continue on.”

  “Okay. Stay there. We’ll come and get you.”

  “Thanks, Steorathan. I appreciate this.”

  “It’s Steo. And Glaikis, don’t worry. We’ll get you safe on board.”

  She thanked him again and shut off the connection. Steo was already worried about time. To catch up to Dr. Spierk’s ship the Vadyanika, the Eye of Orion needed to make a long jump to the edge of the Tarium arm, and then a very long jump to the outer Percaic arm. He started thinking about going on without Yuina, whatever her decision, when he heard a shout.

  “Hey! Heeey!” The tirrian ran across the bay with a duffel bag over her shoulder.

  She wore a maroon shirt with elbow
pads and sleeves that ended just below the elbow. The shirt was made of strong material, and under her long hair was a strap across the shoulders. This was called a “crew shirt.” Pilots had their elbows on armrests most of the time, but needed their hands and wrist free of loose clothing. The strap could be used to grab the crewmember and pull them from their seat if they were unconscious or dead. Yuina also wore cargo pants with a muted plaid pattern and soft black shoes.

  Steo waved to her. When she got on the ramp he said, “You’re late! Come on board. I want to get going.”

  She ran up the ramp. “I had guns to sell,” she said as she entered the ship. “Wow,” she said looking around.

  He shut the door. The hiss of atmospheric containment indicated the ship was sealed. The ramp retracted back to the starport.

  “How many guns did you have to sell?”

  “Nineteen.” She headed to the bridge. “This bag is heavy. Where’s that nanny robot of yours?”

  Steo protested. “What? He’s not … Governor is a personal valet.”

  He didn’t know how she knew about Governor. Yuina was a friend of Slank, so maybe the tirrian had checked Steo out. As they came into the bridge, they found Governor already there.

  Yuina threw her bag at him and he caught it.

  “Thank you, Miss …?” Governor said.

  Yuina yelled when she saw the pilot’s chair. “Hooo!” She crawled into the seat to avoid the heads-up display that was still out. “Who left the targeting reticle down? I don’t need this.” Settling in, she flipped open a small panel and touched a button. The plastic display retracted.

  “Oh, that’s how you turn that off,” Steo said.

  Yuina wiggled deeper into the seat, tapped buttons and scrolled through options. Around the wall, some panels came to life, others dimmed. That beep beep beep Steo couldn’t locate stopped.

  Steo couldn’t tell if she was humming or cursing, but she clearly knew what she was doing.

  “Steo. This is your ship I know, but you have a lot of systems locked out.”

  “Do what you can with her for now. You’ll get sufficient permissions. I’ll talk to you later about security. How long would it take to leave Nuzdak?”

  She looked through the controls. “Oh, there’s somebody else on board. A human lightworlder. Cool, I’ve never met one. If he stopped jinking with e-core three, I’d be able to take off in a minute.” Yuina hit the ship wide communication system and shouted, “Hey! Mek guy! Steo wants to leave. Put the e-core back together will you?”

  She smiled at Steo. Then she hit the button again and shouted, “Oh and my name’s Yuina. I guess you can call me Y-fly. Who are you?”

  There was no reply.

  Governor rolled his eye sensors. “Fine, Miss Yuina, I will take your baggage to your quarters.”

  Steo stepped to the pilot’s chair and hit the comm button. “Tully, this is Yuina, our new pilot. Yuina, Tully is our experienced engineer.”

  Tully said, “Y-fly, huh. You sound young and reckless, like a lot of pilots. The e-cores are fine. Thanks for letting me get my hands out before you disintegrated me. She’s good to go.”

  “Thanks, Tooly!” Yuina said.

  “Tully or T-mek will do,” he replied.

  She shut off the comm and snickered, “Tooly.”

  Yuina prepared for flight. She verified oxygen replenishment systems and drew in sensors on the belly fin. She fell into a rhythm from before she came to NBS 2. Steo sat in another seat and watched. Yuina didn’t spin the seat or play with anything out of curiosity. Before long she announced she was satisfied with the pre-flight checks.

  “Did you turn off the computer-assist for flying?” Steo asked.

  “No.” She turned on the front view panel. “That’s not safe. I just switched it to passive so it backs me up. In civilized systems, flight control can detect ships with it off and they get nosy.”

  He was impressed.

  “We’re good to go. You want to take off?” she asked.

  “Yes, please take us into space between NBS 2 and Bul Sahn.”

  He didn’t feel anything as the ship rose through the atmosphere. Soon, NBS 2 shrank to a small brown and green ball on a side panel, while the enormous Bul Sahn grew to fill the whole forward panel.

  Tully’s calm voice came over the comm system. “All’s well down here. The graviton engine is running like a charm.”

  Yuina reported back so everyone could hear, this time without yelling. “Flight systems a go. We’re in slow flight outside of orbits. Scanners show light traffic in the vicinity.”

  A side panel showed a diagram of the solar system.

  Steo stood. “Yuina can you scan for a freighter capable of long-distance FTL travel in geosynchronous orbit over Bul Sahn?”

  She looked at the various large panels around her and at her small console. “That?” She pointed to the left.

  A slow-moving dot behind Bul Sahn flashed several times. Steo said, “Anything else similar to it?”

  “Nope. Head for it?”

  He nodded and she turned the ship. Rising out of orbit is a slow affair, simply pushing away from the planet itself. Even though most atmospheres are only a couple miles thick, pilots can’t hurry because air resistance causes friction.

  Flight within a solar system was a little different. Instead of steadily pushing, a ship released one sudden burst of energy and it shot off at high speed (but still slower than light speed). To get to the freighter on the other side of the planet, Yuina couldn’t fly in a curve. She oriented the Eye of Orion a little above the planet’s top pole and triggered a burst. The ship shot forward and didn’t slow down. As the ship crossed the pole and began to pull away from the planet, she fired a small amount of force in the opposite direction. This reduced momentum and she triggered another burst to push the ship in a new direction, toward the freighter.

  Most new pilots had a difficult time understanding that ships don’t actually fly. A ship can travel backward as fast as forward. Yuina was a natural. She tended to keep the nose toward the target but she had a three-dimensional understanding of momentum. She usually didn’t orient the ship when changing direction. She did in this case because she didn’t know where the sensors were strongest, so she guessed the forward ones.

  “Meteorite collision detected,” Tully said over the comm.

  Steo checked a panel.

  “Shields scattered it. No damage done,” Tully said.

  “Your paint job is undamaged,” Yuina said.

  As they closed the distance, Yuina made small adjustments to slow momentum. Even at a close distance in space terms, ships weren’t visible to one another. The magnification of the forward panel was at maximum and it still only showed stars and the planet below.

  Hawking arrived in the bridge.

  Steo said, “Hawking, how did the install go?”

  Since they were off-planet, he didn’t want lag interfering with Hawking’s connection to the Forbidden Spin casino. Steo had directed Hawking to install some apps on the casino’s main computer and intermittently monitor their performance from a distance. It was a stop-gap measure for an hour or two.

  “Currently there is a .023 second latency between myself and the casino sir. The algorithms are still functioning at peak efficiency,” the robot said.

  “Brilliant!” Steo directed him to a console. “I’ve loaded my applications onto the ship’s computer. I know it isn’t as powerful as you. Please start assimilating those apps, their features and functions. I want to be able to count on you to use them in the future.”

  “Thank you sir. I will begin at once,” Hawking said.

  Steo turned back to the forward panel. He saw Yuina lean forward, scowl at the panel and check her console.

  “What is it?” he said.

  “I thought I saw that freighter accelerate when they detected us approaching, then slow to normal.”

  Yuina changed their angle so the Eye of Orion would approach the freighter from outside
orbit.

  In a little while, the freighter was visible with Bul Sahn behind it. Steo turned on his own lee and selected the option for ship-to-ship communication, which went through the Eye of Orion’s systems. He gestured to hail the other ship.

  “Freight carrier 4693, this is the Eye of Orion.” It felt good to make the first transmission with the name of the ship.

  No response. Steo instructed Yuina to move in a little closer. As they did, they saw the long, clumsy-looking vessel had chipped blue paint and plenty of rust.

  Steo went to a console and established a link to Glaikis. She was still in the cargo bay.

  “Glaikis, what are they carrying?” he asked.

  She looked around. “I don’t know, I’m in the upper cargo bay. Just rations and water filtration gear, the usual supplies for long trips. A little while ago they docked with a shuttle from the surface, down in the lower cargo bay. I could hear it through the bulkhead but I don’t know what they loaded.”

  “You paid them for a ride here?”

  “To this system, yes. I might have said NBS 2.”

  Yuina spoke up. “The white markings on the port side are new. They don’t match their transponder beacon.” She slipped her left hand over the shield activation button. “Still hailing. No reply.”

  Yuina watched intently. Steo was thinking just as hard.

  “Glaikis, who are the crew?” He reviewed the freighter’s schematic.

  “Just humans. No aliens that I saw. They’re probably from a cold world because they keep the ship cool and wear robes.”

  His head swiveled to the console with her face. “Robes? Covering head to toe? How many ears do they have Glaikis?”

  She looked confused. “Ears? I don’t know, they’re covered.”

  “Are their robes dirty? Stained brown?”

  “Yeah, I thought it was oil,” Glaikis said.

  “V-kuay!” Steo shouted.

  “Shields up!” Yuina said. “I knew something was eerie.”

  “Glaikis,” Steo said quickly. “Those aren’t humans, they’re v-kuay. That isn’t oil, it’s blood!”

  Glaikis blanched. V-kuay were genetically similar to humans, croymids and tirrians. They had long noses, four ears and six fingers per hand. The entire species was damaged by radiation poisoning, though. V-kuay mined the most hazardous materials in the galaxy under the worst conditions. Boils festered on their skin and the sores leaked, staining their clothes. They wore long robes to hide their appearance, earning them the nickname “the decayed”. The worst of their kind were toxic due to low-level radiation exposure.