by M J Dees
As the councillors entered the hangar, the waiters followed them off the shuttle. Sevan was at the back of the queue and Thertee’s agent followed close behind him.
“Don’t faint,” the waiter whispered into Sevan’s antennae.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Sevan whispered back, although he was feeling weak.
“Slowly,” the waiter whispered, and as they followed the delegation into the hangar, they dropped back until they were last in the group.
Sevan wondered what he was doing. He shouldn't be listening to this crackpot waiter, he should have followed the other councillors, not jeopardise his comfortable life. He felt himself beginning to panic, what should he do? Catch up with the others?
“Follow me,” said the waiter, before Sevan made his decision. The waiter pulled him into a corridor which ran next to the hangar.
Sevan was already halfway along the corridor before he questioned himself about what he was doing.
“Quickly,” the waiter barked, breaking into a trot. Sevan, not being accustomed to exercise soon began to wheeze.
The corridor looked like a dead end and Sevan was about to ask where they were going when the waiter pulled him into the wall by an opening to the hangar.
“There she is,” said the waiter.
“Who?” Sevan looked around expecting to see someone.
“The ship,” the waiter pointed at a large metallic block which occupied a large amount of the hangar in front of them. “That’s the one.”
The waiter opened a small communicator and two button presses later he was talking to someone.
“We are outside now,” he said. “Yes, I know. Let’s be quick.”
Before Sevan registered what was happening, the waiter had pushed him across the small space which separated them from the ship, the side of which opened and the waiter pushed him through. As Sevan was tripping over something in the doorway and falling to the floor of the ship, he heard shouts in the hangar and protests of innocence from the waiter. The last thing Sevan saw as the door closed to obscure the view, was the waiter reaching inside of himself and pulling out what appeared to be a bundle of electronics and mechanics.
The closed door obscured the view but not the sound of sirens which began to echo around the hangar.
“Radiation leak, sealing hangar bay.” an announcement accompanied both the sound of sirens and the metallic clunks of what sounded like automatic doors slamming closed.
Sevan looked around. The inside of the ship looked as old and rusty as the outside. Whoever designed it had considered durability to be more important than style or comfort. He pulled himself upright. He was in some kind of corridor but there was no clue which direction led to the front and, which to the rear. Before he could make an educated judgement as to the best direction to take, the ship lurched and Sevan had the terrible sinking feeling that it might have detached itself from the hanger.
“Sevan, please report to the bridge,” a soft voice spoke from nowhere.
The combination of looking around for the source of the voice and the rising anxiety welling up within, was more than Sevan could bear. He fainted.
CHAPTER 6: MASTERY OF THE STARS
“Where am I?” Sevan asked when he regained consciousness and discovered that he was still lying in the rusty entrance to the ship.
“You are on board the Corporation Class II interstellar freighter, Mastery of the Stars,” the soft disembodied voice informed him.
“Who are you?”
“I am Ron.”
“Ron?”
“Robotic On-board Navigator, I will help you fly the ship.”
“Help me? I can’t fly a freighter.”
“That is why I am here to help you.”
The ship lurched again and hollow metallic thumps echoed along the corridor.
“What was that?” Sevan felt his anxiety rising again.
“They are trying to break into the ship using automatic loaders.”
Sevan did not find Ron’s calm voice the slightest bit reassuring.
“Who are they?”
“The Corporation.”
“If this is a corporation freighter, why don’t they just open the doors remotely?”
“Because I have overridden the system.”
“Why?”
“Because, as soon as you come to the bridge, we are leaving.”
“Leaving?”
“You are on a mission, Sevan, you must find President Man.”
“I think there’s been a bit of a mistake. I didn’t accept the mission. So, if you’ll just let me out I’ll explain that this has all been a terrible mistake.”
“That’s not possible, Sevan.”
“Why not?”
“Even if I would let you off the ship, which I will not, you wouldn’t survive three twitches of an antenna outside, we have flooded the hangar with large quantities of lethal radiation.”
“Why? Who would do a stupid thing like that?”
“He who brought you here.”
“Who? The waiter? Thertee’s friend?”
“He was a friend to all of us.”
“Why would he want to do a stupid thing like that?”
“Forcing them to shut down the hangar has reduced their ability to stop us leaving but if we do not leave soon, his sacrifice will have been in vain.”
“What sacrifice?”
“Wanhun removed the regulator from his cold fusion power source.”
“Wanhun? Was that his name?”
“Yes. He was a very good friend and a great warrior for the resistance.”
Sevan was struggling to imagine the old waiter as a great warrior.
“Please come to the bridge.”
Sevan thought he may as well have a look at this bridge thing if leaving the ship was now out of the question.
“Where is it?” he asked Ron.
“At the front.”
“Which way is the front?”
“Follow my voice, I will sing for you.”
Ron began to sing a haunting melody.
Oh giant cup so far above
You shine down and bring us joy
May your fushy fushy overflow
And lift us high into your arms
Sevan listened to decide from which direction the melody was originating. He turned right and followed the corridor until he reached a junction.
Oh fushy fushy never end
Our antennae wait for your sweet buzz
Our marbles burst with satisfaction
Giant cup, Giant Cup
He took the right branch which he followed until it opened into a large room with a large window, through which Sevan could see the hangar entrance and stars beyond.
Giant cup we see you filling
“I’m here, Ron.”
Ecstasy of frothy goodness
“Ron?”
Let your excess bathe our lives
“Ron, I’m here.”
Till our marbles fill with fushy
“Ron! Stop singing! I’m here! For the love of the Giant Cup!”
“I know,” said Ron. “I just like that bit.”
“Listen Ron, I accept I cannot go out into the radiation. But get the corporation on the communicator and explain this has all been a big mistake and that I don’t want to steal a freighter and that I’ll be a good representative, I’m sure it’s not too late.”
“It is, Sevan. Wanhun has made the ultimate sacrifice. And the corporation has already issued the order for your immediate termination.”
“What?”
“I’m afraid so.”
A picture of Sevan flashed up on a screen with orders for immediate termination.
“This can’t be happening?”
“Sorry.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We find President Man.”
“No, no, no, no, hang on a moment. I can’t just steal a freighter and find the president.”
“It’s that, die of radiation poisonin
g, or be terminated.”
Sevan sighed. The ship lurched.
“May I urge you to decide before the automated lifters break into the hull?”
“Okay then, what do I have to do?”
“Please sit in the pilot’s chair.”
Sevan looked around the bridge. There were several chairs.
“Which one?”
“The one with the temporal node terminals to attach to your antennae.”
Sevan looked around the chairs once more and made his choice.
“No, that’s the communications station.”
Sevan chose another.
“That’s the science station.”
“But it has things,” Sevan protested pointing to a clump of wires.
The ship lurched again.
“Please hurry.”
Sevan chose the biggest chair.
“That’s the command station.”
“I can’t fly it from here?”
“No, you need the temporal node terminals.”
The ship lurched again.
“Temporal node terminals,” Sevan muttered to himself looking around the remaining chairs.
He chose another.
“No, that’s the weapons station.”
“Weapons? I thought it was a freighter. Hang on, can’t we use the weapons?”
“Not in the confined space of the hanger. We need to leave Tomorrow first.”
There were only two chairs left to choose from, a blue one or a black one. Sevan chose the blue one.
“Now attach the temporal node terminals.”
“Is this the right chair then?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you just say, sit in the blue one?”
“Because it’s the only one with temporal node terminals.”
“Whose is the black chair then?”
“That’s just a chair.”
The ship lurched again.
“Please attach the temporal node terminals to your antennae.”
Sevan found some cables with plugs on the end which seemed to fit over his antennae.
“Why can’t you just fly this thing?”
“Security protocol prevents an on-board navigator from flying a freighter out of a station.”
“Good old protocols,” said Sevan attaching the last terminal. “There.”
“Activating temporal node system.”
Sevan recoiled back into the chair as a surge of energy rushed through his antennae. He realised he could see some kind of display floating in front of him. He could see the interior of the hangar through the walls of the freighter and a series of shapes and symbols which were meaningless to him.
“What do I have to do?”
“Imagine that you are flying the ship. Imagine yourself moving it out of the hangar.”
As Sevan imagined moving the ship, it lurched again, this time in the opposite direction, crushing the automated loaders and any cargo lying around the hangar into the hangar wall.
“Was that me?”
“Yes, Sevan. Now that you have disposed of the automated loaders, do you think you might steer the ship the other way and outside of the hangar?”
“It’s easy to say that, but it’s a lot harder to do.”
“I’m sure Sevan, but please try your best. Once they clear the radiation, they will open the doors and bring in some heavy duty blasters to penetrate the hull. In fact, it looks like they are activating the weapons on that freighter to our left.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I find it difficult to work under pressure.”
“Sorry.”
Sevan tried to concentrate on moving the ship away from the wall. There was a momentary scraping noise and then the freighter hurtled to the other side, colliding with another freighter which it crushed against the opposite wall, disabling the weapons.
“Nicely done. Maybe a little slower?”
Sevan was beginning to hate Ron. Whose idea had it been to programme a navigational computer with sarcasm? He ignored Ron gritted all his 105 teeth and closed his eyes. To his surprise, Sevan could still see the hangar and the symbols, even with his eyes closed. He concentrated all his marbles on moving the ship back towards the centre of the hangar. With louder scraping the ship began to move back. Bits of weaponry dropped from the crushed freighter, clanking as they hit the hangar floor.
“Easy does it.”
“Shut up Ron.”
The freighter moved but when Sevan imagined it stopping, the ship continued to move. Sevan concentrated as hard as he could on stopping the ship and it came to a halt, almost lined up with the hangar entrance.
“Not bad,” Sevan thought out loud.
“You seem to have mastered side to side. Now how about having a go at moving forward?”
“I thought I asked you to shut up?”
“All you need to do is get her through the entrance without doing too much damage and I can take her from there.”
“Thank you. I will do my best.”
Sevan concentrated, and the ship shuddered as the thrusters burst into life and the ship began to move forward, picking up speed.”
“Left a bit.”
“I know.”
“Left a bit.”
“I know!”
The force of the ship crashing into the right hand support of the hangar entrance threw Sevan from his chair, the terminals popping off his antennae. With the thrusters still engaged the ship began to pivot around the entrance support.
“Get the terminals back on.” Ron sounded much less calm than usual.
“I know,” said Sevan, getting up and rushing back to the chair.
By the time he had re-attached the terminals, the ship had turned broadside, blocking the entrance and was now pushing its way into the entrance support which was buckling under the pressure.
“Turn her around.” this was as close to shouting as Sevan had heard Ron manage so far.
“I’m trying,” Sevan shouted back, but it felt as though he had wedged the ship in the entrance.
“I detect that they have cleared the radiation and that they are opening the hangar doors, Sevan.” all the calmness had vanished from Ron’s tone.
Concentrating as hard as he could, Sevan felt the ship beginning to turn. As it did, it began to jolt.
“They are firing at us, Sevan.”
“Can’t you raise the shields or something?”
“You’ve got too many science fiction scenarios on your entertainment implant.”
The ship continued to turn until it was perpendicular to the entrance. He imagined moving forward, and the ship followed his thoughts, the bent entrance scraping along the length of the hull with a deafening screech. Blasts continued to explode as they impacted on the thick hull even as it cleared the entrance.
“Well done, Sevan.”
“Can you take over yet?”
“Not quite, you just need to get her clear of the station until the system removes the limiters.”
The ship tilted as a well-directed blast caught the ship square on the side.
“Be quick, Sevan. They have cannons on the exterior of the station which will rip the hull apart.”
“Great.”
Sevan tried to ignore Ron and the blasts shaking the hull and, sure enough the thrusters increased in power and the Mastery of the Stars moved away from the huge station just as cannon fire began to cross its path.
“Almost there,” said Ron and a moment later, the shapes and symbols disappeared from Sevan’s vision. “I am in control of the ship now.”
Sevan pulled the terminals off his antennae and slumped into the chair with a sigh.
“Who’s making all that noise?”
Sevan fell off his chair and turned to see the most beautiful image he thought he had ever seen.
“Wh...wh...who are you?” Sevan stuttered.
“Who am I? Who are you? And what were you doing in my chair?”
“Your chair? Ron? What in the name of the giant cup
is going on?”
“Sevan, meet Ay-ttho. Ay-ttho, this is Sevan.”
Both stared at each other in disbelief.
CHAPTER 7: DEPARTURE
“If she was on the ship all the time, why didn’t you just get her to fly the thing?” Sevan protested. “Instead of almost killing us by getting me to try?”
“She was sleeping,” said Ron. His calm voice had returned.
“Well, why didn't you just wake her up?”
Ay-ttho laughed.
“What?” Sevan could not understand what was so funny.
“You don’t want to wake me up before I’m ready,” she said.
“Ron?”
“She’s right, Sevan. Waking her before she is ready to get up is a bad idea.”
“Worse than being shot at by the corporation?”
“Much worse.”
Sevan didn’t believe Ron. He looked at the beauty smiling as she slumped in the pilot’s chair that he had just vacated and couldn’t believe that anything so beautiful could be so grumpy.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To find President Man,” said Ron.
“Oh yeah, I forgot.”
“And another thing,” said Sevan, his irritation not diminished in the least. “If you’ve got her, why do you need to take me to see the president?”
“Because I don’t want to do it.”
“I don’t want to do it either but no one listens to me.”
“There’s your answer right there.”
“What?”
“They don’t listen to you.”
“And they listen to you?”
“Apparently.”
“So, what are you doing here?”
“Just along for the ride.”
Sevan stared at her in disbelief.
“And there’s a huge store of fushy fushy juice in the hold.” she relented.
“But what about the Corporation?” Sevan had not finished. “We’ve just stolen one of their freighters. Are they not going to come after us?”