by AZ Kelvin
Quiet relief turned to smiles and cheers at the happy news. Crissi sat with them for a short while as they put the room to order and then walked with them to Moonshadow.
The slight instantaneous shift in perception that accompanied a quantum jump let them know the ship had just arrived at Outlook Station.
“Will we see you over there?” CJ asked Crissi before he boarded the shuttle.
Crissiael nodded twice.
“Stellar, thanks, Crissi, and to your crew as well.” He bid his crystalline friend farewell. Gina prepped Moonshadow for flight as soon as Crissi and her personnel cleared the shuttle bay.
The Rhhkt’tau Aurrinn approached Outlook Station and cleared Moonshadow for departure. Gina lifted the shuttle off and flew through the outer structure of Crissi’s ship. The moment they hit open space they could see her, the Altered Moon, and she never looked better. She sat in space next to Outlook Station, her dark silhouette lit here and there by the orange running lights between the green and red navigation lights at the terminus of each wing.
Boss watched from the bridge of the Altered Moon, as the Rhhkt’tau Aurrinn closed the distance to Outlook Station to take up position in front of them. The shuttle came into view as Gina flew Moonshadow through the outer structure of Crissi’s ship. Boss hit the ship-to-ship icon to hail the shuttle, and Gina’s face filled the view screen.
“Damn good to see you, Moonshadow! Damn good!” Boss said with a huge grin.
Gina smiled and laughed, which edged a tear from her wet eyes. “Likewise, Altered Moon. It’s good to see your smiling face, Bernie. Sorry we’re late, but the Captain wanted to stop off to get a tan.”
“Ha, ha, ha—Oh!” Boss’ laughter stopped short when CJ leaned into the picture, “A tan? Looks more like a pink to me! CJ, are you all right?”
Cat and Pene both gasped when they saw him lean into view from behind Gina. CJ put on a big grimace and held his hands up with fingers askew to look as menacing as possible. He moved up closer to the camera feed, as he swung his head back and forth and said with a little extra flair, “Yes, it’s the new ‘Fireball’ exfoliating method developed by the Kang, those delicious beasts”—he waved his hand. “It does wonders for your skin. It makes you wonder if you’ll ever have any again.”
“Ha-ha-ha, aw, put him back on the planet, will ya?” Boss laughed out loud.
“How can you guys even laugh about that?” Pene asked in shock over what happened to the captain.
“Oh, you’re just going have to get used to that, Pene,” GABI said with a sly smile, “especially, with these two superior officers.”
“Captain, you’re in luck,” Cat said in her doctor’s voice. “I just happen to have an open appointment in med bay for you, let’s say, immediately.”
“Ha-ha, you got it, Doc,” CJ agreed, as he disappeared behind Gina.
“What about everyone else?” she asked.
Katy and Cal leaned into the picture. Katy waved while Cal threw her a kiss and a wink. Zhu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Cal and the others alive and well. However, Doctor Katsu saw crewmates with injuries and burns.
“Actually, you’re all in luck—appointments just opened for the rest of you, as well.”
“Stellar, do I get to turn my head and cough?” Cal said to be funny.
“Pfff—I do have some surgical glue for that troublesome gash under your nose,” Cat scoffed. Relief and happiness rolled out in laughter from all of them.
“Ah, ha-ha, the door is open and the welcome mat is out, Moonshadow. You are clear to dock and lock,” Boss said when he could.
“Copy that, Bernie-Bear,” Gina replied. “I’ll be seeing you in a minute.”
“Rogerrrrrr that!” Boss said, with a giant grin, as he closed the channel.
“Cat, you’ll let me know if the captain isn’t as good as he’s letting on?”
“You got it, Boss. They’re not clear until the CMO says they’re clear.”
Boss watched as Gina brought the shuttle in over the Altered Moon, deftly positioned her for the drop to the shuttle bay deck and secured the landing clamps on touchdown. He heaved a sigh of relief as the personnel status in his mind changed to all hands safely aboard and accounted for.
*~*~*
Chapter Thirty-One
The next two days passed by quickly as the crew’s injuries healed and CJ’s hair began to grow back. Katy had her work cut out for her with replacing the power conduits that shorted out during the battle.
She went into full battle and the only thing to happen is a few breakers popped, Katy thought to herself. That’s pretty good, really. The new hull plating did the trick.
“Sorry I wasn’t with you, girl,” Katy said aloud to the Altered Moon. She affectionately patted the bulkhead framing. “Believe me, I would much rather have been here.”
Her thoughts wandered back to the moment when the crew came together again just after the shuttle had landed. The crew’s closeness came from more than being shipmates and friends; they were family. Happiness and relief flowed around them like a sea, with hugs and kisses for all. The loud exchange of stories blended chaotically with bursts of laughter and gasps of dismay. Katy remembered how Pene stood off to the side a bit until she caught CJ’s eye. He walked up and put his arms around her; Pene relaxed into the embrace and then buried her face in his chest. She hugged him as hard as she could.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked her.
“Me? I’m fine! What about you?” She pulled back to look at his freshly healed skin. The rest of the crew had quietly come up and gathered around the two of them. “I mean, here we just escaped a friggin’ space battle with you guys stuck on some planet that’s being bombed to smithereens and you’re all just joking around like it’s nothing. Ha-ha this and tee-hee that and—and—ahhhg!”
“Laughter brightens even the darkest day, Pene,” CJ said warmly, as the others joined in the embrace. “Besides, this is just another day in the life of a West Becreth relic hunter.” He turned to put his arms around Katy and Pene’s waists, as they started out of the shuttle bay. “Don’t suppose there’s a chance you could scare up a cup of joe for me, is there?”
Cat gave him the chief medical officer’s look.
“Annd, bring it to me in med bay,” he added.
Pene looked exasperated, but nodded her head. “Yeah, I guess.” Off to the galley she went.
So, by trial under fire, Pene had been officially initiated into a full member of the crew. Every one of CJ’s team got clean bills of health after their examinations were done and the doctor was satisfied with the results.
Boss hovered along as CJ and Katy walked around the Altered Moon to do a quick post-battle visual of the ship. The two of them just wouldn’t rest until they made sure the new systems held after their first engagement since the refit.
“Sorry I skipped out on you guys back there, CJ,” Boss said to him, as they looked over the engine housings in engineering.
“Don’t be. The Moon’s not a warship. You did the right thing.”
“It didn’t feel right.”
“I can only imagine, Boss,” Katy said to him kindly. She knew leaving Gina behind still ate at him. She laid a hand on his hand. “We all understand.”
CJ stopped and turned toward his science officer and looked him sternly in the eye. “You saved the crew, you saved the ship, you contacted the help that came in and rescued us. How did you not do right?”
“Yeah, but what if—” Boss said.
“Ehh, whatif-schumtif!” CJ scoffed. “We’re all alive now because you didn’t stop to ask ‘what if’ back then, so quit doing it now. That’s an order.”
“Aye, Captain.” Boss smiled gratefully.
“From the report I got, you did the ship and me proud in the battle.” CJ slapped Boss on the shoulder and continued the inspection.
“So, the Leland thing—what do you think?” Boss asked.
“Uh, man, that’s a twisty one, there,” CJ answer
ed. “Definite trap, but I think we need to go in and rescue—the heavy gold artifact.” The three of them broke out with laughter, as they moved off together to finish the inspection.
The next day was a much-needed day of rest, but the day after that, it was back to business. The Rhhkt’tau Aurrinn returned to its assigned duties after the conclusion of the search-and-rescue operation. The time aboard the Keect’na vessel gave the crew new insight into their crystalline friends.
CJ and Boss went to Outlook Station in Moonshadow to meet with Commander Mintz. The meeting went well and good relations were fostered, but the commander was firm in her resolve not to allow the sleep chambers aboard the station. She did speak with the research staff and found several of the scientists were willing to assist with opening the chambers. One of them suggested using a research vessel with a bio lab, which the commander passed on to CJ, who just happened to know where to get his hands on one.
CJ called Nelson, who did indeed, have just the ship— Horizon’s Call. She could be outfitted and at Outlook Station in three days’ time. Horizon’s Call was the ship where Nelson’s central nervous system procedure took place, and it would be where Boss’ procedure took place, as well, but the entire ship would be nestled safely inside a Keect’na science vessel orbiting around Keect.
Katy’s mind came back to the present from the events of the last couple of days, as she finished the repairs on the minor power conduits and then locked off the maintenance panels. Her thoughts turned to the sleep chambers and the entire mystique surrounding them. Ever since they managed to secure the Find of the Century, they hadn’t been able to discover what the Find of the Century even was. She checked her chrono and saw that she had just enough time to clean up and hit the crew meeting.
Nelson’s ship is due in tomorrow. I guess we’ll see then, she thought, as she left the starboard maintenance cavity and went up to the crew deck. Pene and Gina met up with her just outside the door and the three went in together.
CJ, Boss, and GABI were seated at the table and were focused on a star chart while Cat and Cal talked quietly off to the side of the room. CJ’s blond hair had grown back enough to give his head and face a frosted look and his skin had lost the fresh pink sheen in trade for normal skin tone.
“Okay, people, everybody’s here, so let’s gather up,” CJ said, and the crew took seats around the table. “Horizon’s Call will be here tomorrow and we’ll finally be able to find out what’s inside those chambers.”
“Looooot!” Boss bellowed out.
A round of mild applause and cheers went around the table.
“That would be unlikely,” GABI said pointedly.
“Oh, Miss Daily Dollop of Sunshine,” Boss asked in a teasing manner, “and what do you think it is?”
“I sincerely hope it will be the antidote for the genetic poison that was in the Shadowberry Corvina we found in Stile’s Hideaway,” she replied seriously.
“Whaat?” Cal said and laughed uneasily. “You’re kiddin’.” He looked over to Boss and CJ. “She’s kiddin’, right?”
CJ just shrugged, rubbed his throat, and coughed lightly.
Boss had his hand to his forehead and groaned about a headache.
“Okay, both of you, sirs, with all due respect, can get stuffed!” Cal swung a pointed finger between the two of them. He caught GABI trying to hide a smirk. “Oh and you too, over there. The eye of Cal sees all.” He nodded a warning, as he scolded at them and pointed to his cyber eye before he smiled at his own joke.
“I believe there will be Humans in the chambers,” GABI said. “There are too many variables to speculate as to whom it is.”
“Cat, give us a rundown on what to expect,” CJ said.
“Well, opening them is going to be the easy part, I think. If there are people in them, I don’t know what condition they’ll be in. Typically there are a few days of recovery while the body wakes up again. If there are biological weapons, contagions, or viruses, I would like permission to destroy them before there’s any chance of release or capture.”
CJ hunched forward with his hands clasped in front of him and his elbows on the chair arms. “Permission granted,” he said. “However, I don’t want to be reactive about it. Let’s be proactive. I want information gathered on known biological dangers, contingency plans for every possibility, and safeguards put into place. We rendezvous with Horizon’s Call before the mission.”
“Mission?” Cal asked.
“I’ll get to that in a sec,” CJ said to Cal and turned back to Cat. “Cat, you’re in charge of any and all medical decisions. Under no circumstances is the research staff to take control. I’ve already made that clear with Nelson’s group and the Outlook Station scientists as a condition of their involvement. Both groups will get complete copies of all scientific data that’s accumulated, however.”
“Understood.”
“Now—Leland Stile.” CJ sat back and scratched a stubbly sideburn.
“What did he mean by ‘our man from Trydden’?” Cat asked.
“The captain and I set up a survey ship for Leland Stile on Trydden,” Boss explained, “so he’d have a chance to get to Stile’s Hideaway.”
“Why did we do that?” Cal asked skeptically.
“I gave Leland the coordinates to his father’s outpost, but I didn’t tell him about the goods we found there,” CJ answered. “So, I figured getting him out there was the least we could do.”
“What goods?” Pene asked.
“And who’s Bobby Bluay?” Katy asked.
“And what about this golden artifact?” Cal asked.
“We’re gonna help him, right?” Pene asked.
“Why are the Blood Stars after him?” Cat asked.
“Yeah, why all this for one old man?” Katy asked.
“And, how did they manage to track it back to us, I wonder?” Gina looked pointedly at Boss.
Boss held one fist up to Gina and poked an imaginary button on his suspensor chair with his other hand while he made a machine noise and slowly raised the middle finger of his held-out fist. Gina laughed out loud.
CJ heaved a sigh, as the chaos of questions happened all at once. He caught GABI as she watched him with an odd smile on her face.
“Recording?”
“No, sir, just enjoying.”
CJ laughed quietly and then turned to the group, “Okay, pipe down everybody! Pene, we found the outpost before we met Leland and you. Part of what we do is to seek out lost and forgotten places to hunt for relics and artifacts. Finding Stile’s Hideaway is what led us to Skriti Station, where we rescued you and gave Leland a chance to reconnect to his past, but I’m not going to lie to you: we looted the place. It’s kinda our fault the Blood Stars were able to find him, so, yes we are going to help him. Katy, I don’t know who Bobby Bluay is, and as far as Leland is concerned, I think that the Blood Stars are using him to get to us.”
“I know who Bobby is,” Pene spoke up.
“Well out with it, girl,” Boss said after a short moment.
“He’s a merchant at Skriti Station. He owns almost the whole fourth level of the station. They say, ‘if you want something on the sly then the Blob is your guy.’”
“The Blob?” CJ asked to make sure he heard her right.
Cal nodded his head to confirm what she said.
“Yeah, he’s really fat. Leland always called him ‘Blobby,’ but he never seemed to get mad about it. He and Leland always stopped to talk.”
“Pene, was Leland part of the Blood Star operation there?” Boss asked.
“Oh no, he lost a lot of money gambling before I met him. They took his ship for payment. He probably went to the Blob for a way off the station.”
“Why would the Blood Stars even care if he’s gone?” Katy asked.
Katy’s question only brought more questions while everyone tried to make sense of the situation.
“Our visit to Skriti had to be the linchpin,” CJ mused aloud. “We kicked something loose ther
e that started the avalanche.”
“What could’ve had that kind of impact?” Gina asked. “We got into a scuffle twice, we met up with Leland, and we stepped up for Pene.”
“We took out Borne and his uglies,” Cal said.
Pene looked down as a shiver of disgust ran through her body when she heard Victor Borne’s name.
“An ongoing plan was most likely disrupted,” GABI spoke up. “The loss of Victor Borne, Leland Stile, or”—she indicated Pene—“Penelope Burnette, has interrupted a monitored Blood Star operation.”
“McCarthy sure didn’t care if I was lost,” Pene said despondently.
“Pene, you’re the greatest treasure we’ve found so far, hon,” Cat said to her with a smile.
“Hear, hear!” CJ raised his coffee mug to Pene. “But, she’s right and Varrin was more concerned with Leland being gone.”
“Correct, but even more so with the location of Fulson Stile’s remains, if you remember,” GABI said.
“We know Fulson snagged something from the Blood Stars and ran with it,” Katy said. “And we know that Fulson was obsessed with this Find of the Century.” Katy pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows as she waited for the others to catch her drift.
“Oh, and we stepped smack in the middle of it,” Gina said, as she caught on.
“The quantum sleep chambers are the Find of the Century. That’s what the Blood Stars are after,” CJ said.
“I don’t follow,” Pene said.
“The Blood Stars most likely orchestrated events in Leland Stile’s life in order to keep him under surveillance,” GABI explained, “to gain access to Fulson Stile’s location.”
“But Fulson died before he contacted Leland or anyone else and the trail went cold,” Cal said.