by James McEwan
This time, the particle beam split the space between their bikes. Thad was not amused, however, he had no choice. “We’re nobody, but if you must know, my name is Thad and traveling with me is Julius and Quincy and if we don’t get Quincy some help soon it will be just me and Julius here.”
As the seconds ticked away, it felt like an eternity. Both men couldn’t help but wonder which one of them would die first in the bright blue flash of the particle beam. However, the hot flash of death never came. Instead, the comm crackled again. “Landing clearance has been given. Pull alongside The Lightning, the third vehicle in the convoy, match speed and we will extend the docking ramp.”
Thad looked over at Doctor Hammer who shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head in the direction of the convoy. They did as they were instructed. Thad pulled alongside first and as he did large steel doors on the side of behemoth vehicle slid open. A beam of soft green light extended from the open bay and bathed Thad’s bike. Thad felt the hairs on his body tingle, as he was surrounded by the light. He knew that it was a soft tractor beam by the color of the light and that the older models were a bit uncomfortable yet they were still safe, yet Thad still wondered how much of that was true. The bike, now under the control of the tractor beam was slowly being pulled toward a round platform that extended on a long metal arm. The landing pad was small and Thad was glad for the tractor beam because it would have been quite the feat of piloting to hit the target at the speed he was going.
The touchdown was as smooth as any Thad had ever had. As soon as the bike was down, the tractor beam switched off and the arm swung back inside and came to rest next to a loading dock. A man in brown overalls, yellow reflective vest, a white and black helmet, and goggles stood with a lit directional baton in each hand. He used the batons to direct Thad off of the landing pad and to a parking spot. As soon as the Thad cleared the pad, it swung back outside for Doctor Hammer.
The second the man with the batons crossed them indicating that he was to stop, Thad set the bike down on its landing struts. He punched the kill switch, which started the shutdown sequence. As the engines spun down, Thad dismounted and was working as fast as he could to unstrap Quincy.
He unbuckled the last strap and Quincy slumped over his shoulder. Thad took his weight and lifted him off the bike. He turned to see that Doctor Hammer had joined him.
Thad steadied himself under Quincy dead weight while a voice said “Welcome to The Lightning. I’m Vergil, Chief Engineer. Now please come this way.”
Thad looked around to see where the voice was coming from. He saw people on the loading dock, however, no one who was close enough for him to hear. Vergil could see that Thad was confused so he grunted. Thad heard the grunting and looked down to see a very little man standing there. He was not much taller than a child, barely three feet tall, however his hard face showed many years of hard living. No, he was definitely no child. He had blue eyes and must have had blond hair, Thad was just guessing by the color of his neatly trimmed beard. He had to guess because his head was covered by a leather cap with flaps with welding goggles on top. Around his waist, he had a tool belt that was scaled to fit his little size. His tan coveralls had years of grease marks and his boots had metal caps and heels.
Thad followed the half man off the platform. As soon as he stepped off the platform, it rotated again. Doctor Hammer dismounted his bike and joined the group. Thad laid Quincy down on a gurney. His breathing was getting exceptionally shallow and he did not look good. Doctor Hammer held up the body of the little snake for Vergil to see. “He was bitten by this nasty little feller.”
Vergil looked at the snake. “Then you better get him to the medi-bay right now.” Vergil waved at the two Medical techs that grabbed the gurney and ran for a door that led deeper into the vehicle.
“Wait for me.” Doctor Hammer yelled, out as he took off after the Techs.
Thad started to follow Doctor Hammer, but the miniature engineer blocked his path. He stood tall, well, as tall as he could. “Not you mister, you need to come with me. You’re off to meet the boss.”
“Okay, if you insist.”
“I do.”
Thad sighed. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this. All right, take me to your leader.”
“This way.” he said and then spun round on his little heels with military precision and took off at a surprising pace.
Thad’s long legs were more than enough to keep up with the little engineer. Vergil him through an endless maze of corridors, stairs and lifts. The inside of the Lightning looked much like the outside, with areas that were freshly repaired while others were in desperate need of attention. Some parts they walked through still smelled of fresh paint while others smelled of grease and sweat. The people of The Lightning went about their daily business ignoring the newcomer, but the children were another story. They peeked their small faces out of doors and around every corner. Some of them would run down the corridors trying to get a look the visitor. “Get back to your school work, you little scamps!” Vergil bellowed. The children weren’t more than eight years old. They screamed and ran off down the corridor giggling all the way.
“I see you are good with the kids.” Thad remarked.
Vergil laughed. “Once word got out that we were going to have visitors, the onboard school emptied and there is not a power in the 'verse that will get them back in school until they have a good look.”
Finally, they came to a thick bulkhead door. Vergil stopped and turned to face Thad again. “Okay, this is it the main bridge, beyond this door is Commander Gordon. Now when you meet him whatever you do, do not and I mean do not comment on his weight. He is, as you might say, a little over sensitive about it. Got it?”
Thad nodded. “Got it.”
Vergil nodded his head in return then turned and punched in the access code on the keypad just right of the door. The light above the keypad flashed from red to green and the door slid open with a soft whooshing sound.
The bridge of The Lightning was an impressive sight to behold. On the far wall in front of them were three massive windows that overlooked the nose of the vehicle. From the angle of the view, Thad could tell that he was near the top of the vehicle. This vehicle and the others like it in the convoy were far too antiquated to have AI systems, so the banks of computers were being manned by a variety of crewmembers. There were two pilots that sat side by side in front of a bank of controls. They really didn’t do much more than monitor the automated driving systems. There were other stations like navigation, weapons control, as well as a few that Thad had no idea what they were for. As Thad looked around the bridge he got a glimpse of red hair on one of the female crew. It reminded him of the twins and his heart longed to be in their arms once again.
The bridge had three levels that stepped down until you got to the front next to the windows where the pilots sat, but above it all, was a wide platform. By the looks of it, it had been modified. At one time it must have been smaller and most likely had a chair. The captain’s chair, Thad guessed. Now it was just a platform with several screens mounted on the forward rail.
It didn’t take a skilled detective to see why the platform had been modified. In the middle of the platform sat easily the fattest human being Thad had ever seen. His massive bulk was sitting on what looked to be a custom-built scooter chair. It was like a small tank without a turret. It had tracks instead of wheels. Thad looked closer at the body of the scooter and he could not help but chuckle.
Vergil elbowed him in the thigh. “Something funny?”
“Did you build his chair?” Thad whispered.
“Yes, why.” Vergil asked, discombobulated at the question.
“Nice job converting an old Jungle bot chassis. I haven’t seen one of those in years.” Thad whispered again.
Vergil did a quick check look at the commander to make sure he had not heard them talking. “Thanks, it was the only thing I could find that could support his weight. Even with the anti-grav suit that he wears he
still weighs nearly a ton.”
That surprised Thad. “The anti-gravity suit can’t handle the weight by itself?”
“It’s extremely old tech, generation one. It mainly keeps his massive chest from falling in and crushing his organs under its weight. If I could only get my hands on some newer tech like the antigravs on your bikes I could build a much better one. Then maybe he could get up and do some walking.” Vergil whispered back.
“Yeah, maybe if he lost a few pounds he wouldn’t need it.”
The massive chair swiveled around and the commander was looking straight at Thad. “Need what?” he demanded.
“Nothing Sir.” Vergil snapped back.
Thad was not scared of this man. He took a second to size him up, well, it took more than a few seconds; he was one fat man. “I was just telling Vergil that you need to get off your fat ass and do some walking. You know, drop a few hundred pounds and get yourself in shape, at least another shape other than a circle. I mean you are so fat. When was the last time you saw your ankles? Okay, that was a trick question, but really, you make Jabba the Hutt look like an anorexic supermodel. I have been all over the 'verse and I have never seen someone who is in need of salad more than you.”
All the chatter on the bridge stopped instantly and the only sound other than the droning of the vehicle itself was the sucking of wind as all of the crew froze in place. The commander’s sensitivity about his weight was legendary, as was his anger. The commander stared Thad right in his steel gray eyes. “You must have some pretty big balls of steel, or you’re completely out of your mind to come onto my ship as a guest and then stand here insulting me. I have had men killed for less.”
“Kill me? You would have to get out of that chair first, and by the looks of it I’m quite safe at the moment.”
“Man, the balls on this guy, huh.” Commander Gordon, said as he eyed his crew that was still waiting to breathe.
“You sure do have a fascination with balls, but if you must know my balls are big enough. However, if I had to compare them to you I am sure mine would look like mere pebbles next to the boulders you must be lugging around.” The two men looked like two alpha male lions poised for the attack. Thad had no intention of letting this man get away with trying to intimidate him.
The crew still hadn’t taken a breath yet, they were expecting the commander to kill Thad on the spot. Except that didn’t happen. Instead, the commander reared back and let loose a deep bellowing laugh. Finally, the crew took a breath, which was a good thing because poor Vergil looked like he was about to pass out. “Boulder Balls! I like that, but if I ever hear anyone of you calling me that I will kill you on the spot.” he paused to let it sink in. He returned his gaze to Thad “I like this guy, he is not afraid to say what’s on his mind. My Name Roland Gordon and I’m the commander of convoy Alpha-163 or the Heavy Rollers as we prefer to be called.” he held out his overly pudgy hand.
Thad’s hand looked like a doll hand next to Gordon’s. “Thaddeus Hammer at your service.’’
“Come up on the command platform with me, I would like to converse with you.” he said as he pulled Thad by his hand. Thad had no choice, but step up next to the commander, so he hopped up onto the platform before Gordon dislocated his shoulder.
“Firm grip you got there.” Thad said.
Gordon let go of Thad’s hand. “Oh sorry about that. Sometimes I forget my own strength. It is all this extra weight you see. I have had to get stronger to support it all.”
“I can imagine.” Thad said.
“You can’t, but thank you anyway.” he said. “It is good to talk to someone who is not afraid of me. I wasn’t always like this, in fact when I was a young man I looked much like you do now.” He pushed a button on his control panel and a few pictures of a much younger and thinner Roland Gordon flashed on the screen.
“If you don’t mind me asking ... what happened?” Thad asked.
Gordon laughed again. “You are strange one, Mr. Hammer.”
“Oh, how so?”
“You have the audacity to insult me to my face, then you have the gall to be polite.” He slapped Thad on the shoulder. “My doctors tell me that it is amutation in my pituitary gland. They say it is a common problem when human males mate with Nekton females. Apparently, there is something in their body fluids that can cause all kinds of mutations in humans.”
Thad was a little shocked, although it was not about inter-species sexual relations. Thad had used sex to gain access to or get close to a target on missions before, and not all of the women he’d been with were human, but never Nektons. For one thing, Nektons are not more than bug-eyed, walking fish people. The thought of having sexual congress with a Nekton just blew his mind. However, what really shocked him is that Roland didn’t know about the risk, after all, it was pretty much common knowledge. “You didn’t.”
“I did, I was young and extremely drunk and not to mention naïve at the time. You see I was born on The Lightning as all of my crew where. The whole convoy is made up of the descendants of the first people to come to Nueva Texas a hundred of years ago. Because of the slow rotation of the planet, the scientists, surveyors and track builders all lived on these land ships. Always following the sun, because if you don’t you will freeze to death in the dark. Nevertheless, I digress. I was young, only eighteen and had never been off the convoy before, let alone off world, but my people think that this life must be one that is chosen. So when we turn eighteen, all of us of that age are shipped off world. We were sent to Earth to see the mother world. Earth is not the Earth of yesteryear, ever since mankind has made contact with aliens they have brought many of them back to Earth, and many stayed. Now Earth is a true melting pot of the 'verse. There are aliens from every friendly race known that live and work on Earth. Well, after seeing a lot of different cities and tasting a verity of alcohols, me and a few buddies found ourselves in a bar in a city called San Francisco. Truly a lovely city. Anyway, back to my story. We had been drinking for hours and I can’t remember much, but what I do remember is that my buddies bet me that I wouldn’t dare have sex with a Nekton. Now I had never seen a Nekton before and after having been with a few girls before I thought what the heck, how different could it be?” he paused for effect.
“Well, of course, I did what any dumb drunk horny kid would do. I stood up and proclaimed to the whole bar as loud as I could that I would screw any woman, any race, anytime.” he held out his hands and shouted out, reenacting the moment.
“No. You didn’t!” Thad said finding his story highly amusing.
“Oh yes, I did! Now, I had no idea what a Nekton looked like but my buddies keep pointing to a really hot blond chick in the back. As it turns out she was an Eli and my buddies had paid her to let me pick her up.” Gordon said remembering the blond fondly.
“Oh I see, Eli huh, bet she looked a bit like a Valkyrie, didn’t she?” Thad said knowing that an Eli was not seen very often mainly because they were not much more than space pirates these days. However, once they were amighty race of space-traveling warrior people. Thad made the Valkyrie reverence because there were many on Earth who believed that the Eli had come to ancient Earth and were the basis for the Norse Gods.
“Yes, she did, as a matter of fact. She was unlike any woman I had ever seen, so naturally, I went for it. I’m sure you can guess the rest of the story. They switched her out with a Nekton back in a hotel room. It was dark and I was so drunk I didn’t realize what I had done until the next morning when I woke up next to fish girl.” Gordon said.
“I see, how awful for you.” Thad said.
Gordon laughed so deep that his fat rolled and continued to roll for minutes after he was done laughing. “It was not as bad as you think. You see the thing about Nektons is that their body fluids, along with causing mutations in humans, also act as a powerful drug. They give you one hell of a high.”
“This is all fascinating, but my friend is in desperate need of some anti-venom or he is going to die.” Thad s
aid.
“Ah yes, I am told he was bitten by a Jade Adder. Deadly little guy, amazing such a small snake can kill a man. I’m surprised your friend has lived this long.” Gordon said.
“He has the best doctor in the 'verse looking after him, but that will not save him if he doesn’t get that anti-venom.” Thad said.
Gordon placed his meaty hands on Thad’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about your friend, he will get the anti-venom he needs, but ...”
“Why is there always a catch?” Thad said, rolling his eyes.
“Because my friend, nothing in this 'verse is free and that anti-venom is rare and expensive, nevertheless I’m willing to make a trade for it.” Gordon said.
Thad had a feeling he was not going to like what he was about to hear. “Okay, what do you want?”
“I’m glad to see you are willing to deal. Now you need to understand a little about us first. You see, we are not the only convoy that roams the planet. There is another convoy that we have had some problems with before. They are called the Ballers or convoy-156 Delta, their legal designation.” Gordon said as he pulled up information on the screen about the Ballers.
“Okay, so how does that affect what you want?” Thad asked, still not sure where he was going with this.
“They have taken something from me and I would dearly like to get it back.” He answered.
“A snatch and grab operation. I see, that shouldn’t be too hard. What is it that I am meant to get back?” Thad asked.
“My daughter, her name is Julianne.” Gordon said.
“Oh, I see. That might make it a little harder.” Thad, replied.
“I have a feeling that you will be able to get the job done. If not, then your friends stay here and work for me for the rest of their lives.” Gordon said.
“That is a little harsh, don’t you think?” Thad asked.
“That is my price for my anti-venom. Take it or leave it. Your choice.” Gordon said, with a wicked smile on his face.
“Well, when you put it that way I guess I have little choice, I will take the job.” Thad said.