Kelphus managed to stay on his feet during the next jump. Looking about him, dazed, he noticed that Tiras was slumped against the wall again. Mitsuko had passed out again, too. Selah's eyes were glazed over, but she leaned forward in her chair and scratched her head. Skyler and Takashi were already discussing their landing zone.
The planet Korrel was covered in waves of grey, brown, and white with the occasional splotch of blue. The Celestial Eclipse entered the atmosphere and came down through a river valley between the snow-capped mountains that covered the planet's surface. The sky above them was whitish-blue with the occasional whispy cloud.
"There's where the mining facility should be," said Skyler as they approached an unusually dark, low-hanging cloud on the side of one of the mountains. "I'm getting a structural reading, but there doesn't seem to be any other signal..."
"What does that mean?" asked Kelphus.
Takashi answered, looking down at the monitors in front of his seat. "The building's there, but the power is probably out. Computer, can you tell if the facility has been damaged?"
"No apparent damage," replied the computer, in its almost-female electronic voice.
Selah leaned back and rubbed her eyes. "What are we doing here again?"
"We're just picking up somebody in the company." Takashi furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought the boss was joking when he said this could be difficult."
Skylar slowed the Eclipse to a midair crawl just outside the cloud. "I don't suppose we know which radio frequency they use here?"
The computer chirped up in reply. "There is complete silence on all radio frequencies."
The cockpit was silent. Kelphus waited to see what Takashi and Skyler would do. Selah blinked, still a bit dazed from the jump. Tiras and Mitsuko were still unconscious.
"Go ahead and land in the hangar," Takashi finally said. Without a word, Skyler brought the Eclipse into the cloud. The fog seemed to cling to the windows, making it impossible to see anything through them.
"Any sign of life on the sensors?" asked Kelphus.
"No life readings in the hangar," replied the computer. A moment later the computer said, "Several unlife readings."
Selah sat bolt upright, still blinking. "Zombies?!"
Monday, October 15, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Vantares
"Where are we?" Selah hopped over to the edge of the cockpit and pressed her face against the window. The ground outside appeared to be flat, fuzzy, and purple. The stars spangled in the sky above were just as visible as they were before the Celestial Eclipse approached the moon and landed on it.
"This is the Vantares system." Skyler was scrolling through data reports on one of the cockpit touch screens. "One of the places that spacers go to hide. Nobody lives out here, and there's stuff floating about that interferes with most sensors."
"Where are we going next?"
"I'm not sure. Takashi said that our boss might have us shuffle around the plans for the next few days. Or the whole trip might be called off."
"What!? Why?" Selah turned back to look at him.
"Because we got attacked by pirates." Skylar looked up from his screen. "This assignment is probably going to be a lot more dangerous than was outlined in the contract. If the boss wants to keep us on board, he'll have to write us a new contract, pay us extra, and assign some security guys to our team. Takashi and I don't know if he's willing to put up with that."
Selah scrunched her face and tried to think, but all she could think about was her heart sinking. She turned back around and looked into the stars. Skylar felt like he should make a desparate attempt to reassure her.
"Things might work out. We'll see what happens pretty soon here."
"Okay." Selah kept on staring.
Skylar frowned and looked back at his screen. I wish I knew her better, he thought. I hope I didn't totally crush her dreams...
The cockpit's side door opened and Takashi came through. "Is that car unpacked?"
Skylar looked up. "Yes, everything's unpacked and put away. All systems on the Eclipse are functioning properly, the mana core is delivering optimum output, Kelphus is checking out the kitchen (and he loves it, by the way), and Mitsuko and Tiras are checking out the computer systems."
Takashi raised his eyebrows. "I didn't ask for a full report."
"Well, you got one." Skylar smiled and saluted.
Takashi chuckled. "Get everyone in here. Mr. Peters has arranged our next destination and he wants us there in an hour."
"This is the Vantares system." Skyler was scrolling through data reports on one of the cockpit touch screens. "One of the places that spacers go to hide. Nobody lives out here, and there's stuff floating about that interferes with most sensors."
"Where are we going next?"
"I'm not sure. Takashi said that our boss might have us shuffle around the plans for the next few days. Or the whole trip might be called off."
"What!? Why?" Selah turned back to look at him.
"Because we got attacked by pirates." Skylar looked up from his screen. "This assignment is probably going to be a lot more dangerous than was outlined in the contract. If the boss wants to keep us on board, he'll have to write us a new contract, pay us extra, and assign some security guys to our team. Takashi and I don't know if he's willing to put up with that."
Selah scrunched her face and tried to think, but all she could think about was her heart sinking. She turned back around and looked into the stars. Skylar felt like he should make a desparate attempt to reassure her.
"Things might work out. We'll see what happens pretty soon here."
"Okay." Selah kept on staring.
Skylar frowned and looked back at his screen. I wish I knew her better, he thought. I hope I didn't totally crush her dreams...
The cockpit's side door opened and Takashi came through. "Is that car unpacked?"
Skylar looked up. "Yes, everything's unpacked and put away. All systems on the Eclipse are functioning properly, the mana core is delivering optimum output, Kelphus is checking out the kitchen (and he loves it, by the way), and Mitsuko and Tiras are checking out the computer systems."
Takashi raised his eyebrows. "I didn't ask for a full report."
"Well, you got one." Skylar smiled and saluted.
Takashi chuckled. "Get everyone in here. Mr. Peters has arranged our next destination and he wants us there in an hour."
Friday, February 3, 2012
Shadows
Damion stared at the grain of the rich brown wood through the glass top of his desk, lost in thought, leaning back slightly in his luxurious black leather office chair. He was a thickly built man with carefully trimmed thick, black hair and narrow glasses. The office wall to his left was covered in bookshelves, and the rest of the white walls were mostly bare except for a few landscape pictures from various planets and a circular clock. A potted plant with football-sized leaves occupied the corner behind him to his right.
His computer made a low beep. "Mr. Peters, Kevarin Gaartha from Public Relations is here to see you."
"Send him in." Damion placed both feet flat on the floor and leaned forward over his desk. A moment later, the silver door slid silently open, and Kevarin walked cautiously into the room. He wore a blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie, and his hair was bright green. He scanned the office with his deep blue eyes, then took a moment to gape at the antiquated paper-and-ink books.
"Have a seat, Kevarin." Damion's quiet, deep voice almost made Kevarin jump. Kevarin dragged a black cushioned chair over from by the door and plopped down into it.
"I've got the report you asked for." Kevarin pulled an orange flash drive from his shirt pocket and dropped it on the desk, then quickly withdrew his hands into his lap.
"Can you give me a quick summary?" Damion grinned gently as he slid his hand over the flash drive and closed his fingers around it.
"Yeah. The UGS are definitely gonna go after our smuggle teams, 'cause they definitely know about what we're wanting to smuggle and they totally know that we're totally going to go for it. Somebody must've leaked the information or something. We're gonna need to have our smuggle teams be pretty tough fighters or something if we're gonna make the operation work."
"Do you know what extent the UGS has mobilized its counter-operations to?"
"Not a clue."
Damion's grin faded and he leaned forward a little further. "Our Celestial Eclipse team was attacked before they even left their home planet. They just barely contacted me from the Vantares system."
Kevarin reeled back, wide-eyed. "Crap. Somebody's leaking info. I'm pretty dang sure now."
Damion leaned back in his chair and raised his voice slightly. "Tell your supervisor I need your department to confirm that the attackers of the Eclipse were indeed from the UGS. I will grant him administrative access to the recording of my conversation with Captain Takashi. Do you have any questions?"
Kevarin's eyes shifted left, then right, then he spoke. "Nope."
"You are dismissed."
Kevarin stood and moved quickly out of the room. Damion looked down at his desk and started tapping his fingers on it slowly.
I thought I was becoming CEO of a merchant company, he thought. And now we have a spy department hidden in our public relations department, and a military force in our security department. We're fighting a secret war with pirates and malicious companies. And there's no telling what the governments are going to turn into...
He pressed a button on his computer. "Get me Kypher from Security."
It's time to see if our smuggling teams are up to our challenge.
His computer made a low beep. "Mr. Peters, Kevarin Gaartha from Public Relations is here to see you."
"Send him in." Damion placed both feet flat on the floor and leaned forward over his desk. A moment later, the silver door slid silently open, and Kevarin walked cautiously into the room. He wore a blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie, and his hair was bright green. He scanned the office with his deep blue eyes, then took a moment to gape at the antiquated paper-and-ink books.
"Have a seat, Kevarin." Damion's quiet, deep voice almost made Kevarin jump. Kevarin dragged a black cushioned chair over from by the door and plopped down into it.
"I've got the report you asked for." Kevarin pulled an orange flash drive from his shirt pocket and dropped it on the desk, then quickly withdrew his hands into his lap.
"Can you give me a quick summary?" Damion grinned gently as he slid his hand over the flash drive and closed his fingers around it.
"Yeah. The UGS are definitely gonna go after our smuggle teams, 'cause they definitely know about what we're wanting to smuggle and they totally know that we're totally going to go for it. Somebody must've leaked the information or something. We're gonna need to have our smuggle teams be pretty tough fighters or something if we're gonna make the operation work."
"Do you know what extent the UGS has mobilized its counter-operations to?"
"Not a clue."
Damion's grin faded and he leaned forward a little further. "Our Celestial Eclipse team was attacked before they even left their home planet. They just barely contacted me from the Vantares system."
Kevarin reeled back, wide-eyed. "Crap. Somebody's leaking info. I'm pretty dang sure now."
Damion leaned back in his chair and raised his voice slightly. "Tell your supervisor I need your department to confirm that the attackers of the Eclipse were indeed from the UGS. I will grant him administrative access to the recording of my conversation with Captain Takashi. Do you have any questions?"
Kevarin's eyes shifted left, then right, then he spoke. "Nope."
"You are dismissed."
Kevarin stood and moved quickly out of the room. Damion looked down at his desk and started tapping his fingers on it slowly.
I thought I was becoming CEO of a merchant company, he thought. And now we have a spy department hidden in our public relations department, and a military force in our security department. We're fighting a secret war with pirates and malicious companies. And there's no telling what the governments are going to turn into...
He pressed a button on his computer. "Get me Kypher from Security."
It's time to see if our smuggling teams are up to our challenge.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
After the Jump
It wasn't a star; it was a light bulb at the top of the cockpit.
Kelphus stared at it for a moment as he collected his thoughts. We were exiting the atmosphere... we were being attacked by somebody... we did a space jump... Skylar said something about him and Takashi being the only ones who'd jumped before... Why did he seem alarmed?
Kelphus sat up. He had fallen over onto his back. Selah was lying stomach-down next to him, with her eyes open and glazed over. Tiras was slumped against the wall, and Mitsuko had passed out in her chair. Skylar and Takashi had turned their chairs and were looking back at everyone. Skylar cocked his head at Kelphus.
"Why is it that summoners always handle their first jumps so well?"
"More bizzare things than that can happen during summoning rituals," said Kelphus. "Especially when you're learning a new one." He stood up and brushed off his long brown leather coat. "I was once turned into a loaf of bread for a split second. You almost get used to that sort of thing."
Skylar's eyes went wide. "Wow."
Takashi interrupted. "Skylar, let's land on the third moon for now. I need to contact our employers and explain the situation, and we need to unpack Selah's car. We might spend the night here and carry on tomorrow as scheduled."
"All right," said Skylar.
"Kelphus, can you help me wake the others?" asked Takashi.
"Yeah." Kelphus kneeled down and waved his hand over Selah's face. "Selah... Se-lah..."
She's grown a lot over the years, Kelphus realized. I remember when we met each other, six years ago... She was just as energetic and outgoing as she is now. But now she has a more peaceful and confident aura. And she's a lot taller.
Selah blinked and drew a deep breath.
She probably knows me best out of anybody. But she probably doesn't know that.
"Was that the space jump?" she asked softly.
She's bright, too. "Yes. I wasn't expecting that either." Kelphus stood up and offered his hand to help Selah up. The crack of a backhand slap suddenly echoed through the cockpit.
Mitsuko never liked being woken up, did she?
Kelphus sat up. He had fallen over onto his back. Selah was lying stomach-down next to him, with her eyes open and glazed over. Tiras was slumped against the wall, and Mitsuko had passed out in her chair. Skylar and Takashi had turned their chairs and were looking back at everyone. Skylar cocked his head at Kelphus.
"Why is it that summoners always handle their first jumps so well?"
"More bizzare things than that can happen during summoning rituals," said Kelphus. "Especially when you're learning a new one." He stood up and brushed off his long brown leather coat. "I was once turned into a loaf of bread for a split second. You almost get used to that sort of thing."
Skylar's eyes went wide. "Wow."
Takashi interrupted. "Skylar, let's land on the third moon for now. I need to contact our employers and explain the situation, and we need to unpack Selah's car. We might spend the night here and carry on tomorrow as scheduled."
"All right," said Skylar.
"Kelphus, can you help me wake the others?" asked Takashi.
"Yeah." Kelphus kneeled down and waved his hand over Selah's face. "Selah... Se-lah..."
She's grown a lot over the years, Kelphus realized. I remember when we met each other, six years ago... She was just as energetic and outgoing as she is now. But now she has a more peaceful and confident aura. And she's a lot taller.
Selah blinked and drew a deep breath.
She probably knows me best out of anybody. But she probably doesn't know that.
"Was that the space jump?" she asked softly.
She's bright, too. "Yes. I wasn't expecting that either." Kelphus stood up and offered his hand to help Selah up. The crack of a backhand slap suddenly echoed through the cockpit.
Mitsuko never liked being woken up, did she?
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