"Searcher II, part 01" by Lyn LJ Jackson

Searcher II 01: Stowaway

            The day had started out good. The sky of Earth had been clear of clouds, and the yellow sun of the Solar System was bright as usual. Earth seemed to be having a peaceful morning, aside from the fact that ships were continuously tearing through its atmosphere. Most of the ground base spaceports were operating normally, except for the Gipfel Port north of the equator.

Meteor Class Jones ships sat active, but none were launching. A glitch was discovered in the computers that stored the coordinates and launch/arrival schedules. Gipfel Port’s manager, Mr. Rhinehart, blamed the mistake on the head coordinator, Vishnu Ayat. Vishnu was running now, from Mr. Rhinehart. The manager had fired Coordinator Ayat, and received his own coffee splashed in his face. The brown liquid also fell upon the silk tie and shirt he was wearing.

Vishnu could hear Mr. Rhinehart’s yelling as he entered the launch bay. Running up the cargo ramp of the nearest ship, Vishnu hid inside one of the cabinets of the ship’s hold. He hugged his pale arms around himself and waited in the dark.

“Mr. Ayat! Where are you? You are going to pay for this,” yelled Gipfel Port’s manager, “This shirt was from my wife!” Where did that guy go?, wondered Mr. Rhinehart as his blue eyes scoped the area. He turned and walked out of the launch bay. I will get him when he comes back, said Mr. Rhinehart to himself, Mr. Ayat will return crying for another chance. A chance that he will not get.

Vishnu had entered the cargo hold of a ship called Star Path. At the helm, Capt. Aegnor Crowell was pacing the deck with a mug of green tea in his hand.  His ship was a Nova Class Corleone, a privately owned ship that the captain used for the company he worked for.

The pilot, whose name was Qin, was busy imputing the last coordinates for the course they were about to take. No one knew his last name. He often said he did not want ‘them’ to find his family in Beijing. Supposedly, ‘them’ was the American government. It was rumored that Qin had stolen something from that government while worked with the CKO.

Mrs. Crowell the nurse was sitting strapped in a seat, waiting for launch. Usually she remained in the sickbay, but this time she wanted to sit on the main deck.

Elé Machina was the Tactical Officer. The TO was leaning against a weapons console. She did not mind if she mistakenly fired off one of the Star Path’s weapons. She hated the look of Gipfel port’s launch bay anyhow. The captain would not have had to land there if the ship’s Eternal Drive had not broken apart.

“So how much did it cost?” asked Capt. Aegnor to his TO. He was talking about the new Drive Elé was sent out to buy… and install. She also did maintenance work.

“Well… I had to bargain a little, but it came out to around five K.”

“Not bad, not bad,” commented Capt. Aegnor.

“So what is it?” asked Qin as he turned to face Elé. “A Beast Drive? A Syolin? A Dutch? A Sage?”

“No, No. None of those,” said Elé, “Much better.”

“A Instant Drive? A Metronome Drive?” inquired the Chinese man excitedly. “Come on, tell me what I get to play with.”

“A Dragon Drive.” Qin was silent once the words left Elé’s mouth. Even Capt. Aegnor stopped pacing. Mrs. Crowell only began to drum her fingers on the nearest console. She was ready to leave Earth and get back to their mission. If Eberhard, the company they worked for, sent a representative to watch them all the time, the nurse was sure they would be out of work soon.

“A Dragon Drive?” repeated Qin.

“But those are out of production,” stated Capt. Aegnor, “There are not anymore around.”

“The dealer I went to had a lot of old stuff,” responded the TO, “You sent me there. I thought you would know.”

“I have not been to Vincenz’s shop since we were back on Earth five years ago,” informed the captain, “I guess he changed his stock.” He paused for a moment. “You did go to Vincenz's place, right?” Elé nodded.

“I want to see my new baby,” said Qin, “I cannot wait to try her out.”

“Yes, yes. That is all good and well,” commented Mrs. Crowell, ‘But I have been waiting to leave this dark plane for ages.”

“Ages? Then we must be old potatoes by now,” said the captain as he went to his wife and kissed her hand. “But I will still love you anyway.” The captain turned to face his pilot. “You heard the woman! We must be off! Then we will go look at the Dragon Drive.” Elé punched a button that lay near Qin’s hand to close the cargo bay doors.

Meanwhile, Vishnu had heard the ship’s thrusters activate. He removed himself from the cabinet and became dismayed to find the cargo ramp up.

“Oh no…,” said Vishnu Ayat to himself. He had not meant to be hidden so long. He glanced around the hold. The craft would be launching in seconds, and he could not find anywhere to strap himself down. Heavy crates and metal storage containers loomed left and right. Vishnu feared they would shift and slide during the ride through the atmosphere. The coordinator went up to the bay entrance doors and began banging and yelling. He had to get off the ship or at least out of the cargo hold.

Mrs. Crowell’s head suddenly twitched.

“Did you hear that?” asked the nurse to her husband. “It sounded like someone yelling for help.” Capt. Aegnor shook his head no.

“You are the only one trained to hear things like that, my darling,” responded Capt. Aegnor. “Pilot, do not start the lift thrusters just yet. Let us have Mrs. Crowell take a quick look around first.” A quick look around the nurse did take, only to find Vishnu Ayat in the cargo bay. Mrs. Crowell brought the coordinator to the helm.

“It seems like we have a stowaway,” said the nurse as she entered the main deck. All heads turned to gaze at Vishnu.

“Well boy?” asked the captain, “What have you got to say for yourself?” Aegnor Crowell had a habit of calling men half his age ‘boys’.

“I was hiding from my manager, Mr. Rhinehart,” began Vishnu, “He fired me…and I spilled coffee all over him.”

“And what was your job?” asked the captain.

“I was a Coordinator for Gipfel Port.”

“Coordinator, eh? Well tell you what, we can let you off before we go…or you can come with us. I can recruit you for Eberhard Co. You can help Qin over there with navigation,” informed Capt. Aegnor. “The pay is good.” 

“Well, I guess,” consented Vishnu, “My name is Vishnu Ayat.”

“We are Charters, we explore space and map new star systems…along with some side jobs from our boss Gottfried,” informed the captain to the coordinator. “Now is there anything you need to get off this forsaken planet?” Vishnu shook his head no.

“Then have a seat,” said Qin, motioning to the empty seat near Elé ExMachina. “Elé will tell you the rundown of things around here.” Vishnu walked over to the chair and strapped in. His green eyes glanced down at the seat’s base.

“You have a mag-deck in here?” asked Vishnu amazed. Elé nodded as she stared at the weapons console.

“And that is not all,” said the TO to the newcomer, “Once we are free of Earth’s atmosphere, we are all going down to the engineering deck to look our new Drive.”

Qin stood silently staring at the Dragon Drive. Elé had taken the plating off the wall so everyone could see the machine. Capt. Aegnor took off his cap and ran a hand through his dirty blond hair.

“That definitely is one of the legendary Dragon Drives,” acknowledged the captain.

“Well you know I could not let you down, sir,” said Elé. Qin reached out a hand and touched the metal of the Drive. It was warm, even though it was not active yet.

“At least we are on a set course,” commented the nurse, “I think Qin is going to be down here for a while.”

“Do you guys even know how to use that thing?” asked Vishnu. He was standing near the door. Everyone turned around to look at the green haired man of twenty-four.

“All Drives work the same way,” informed Qin, “As a pilot, I have been trained on how to use them.”

“Not the old models, like this Dragon here. It has more than one function, unlike the new types. If you do not use it properly,” informed the coordinator, “You could get dangerous results.” Qin looked back at the machine. He quickly pulled his hand away from it. He was beginning to get the queasy feeling he had whenever the crew encountered the Sweet Midian ship.

“How do you know about this?” asked Elé as she pulled blue strands of hair out of her face.

“My father used to manufacture the old Drives,” revealed the coordinator.

“What is your last name again, boy?” inquired Capt. Aegnor.

“Ayat…”

“Ah…I see,” said the captain. “Well, when the time comes, you can instruct Qin on the proper way to use it…that is if you know how.”

“I do,” responded the pale skinned coordinator. The crew soon field out of engineering while Qin stayed behind and replaced the panel over the Dragon Drive.

Elé’s eyes followed Vishnu out of the room. If she remembered correctly, Vishnu’s father Samui Ayat was a great Drive designer and builder. It was rumored that Mr. Samui Ayat was not quite human and had weird powers. His skill was said to come from those rumored abilities.

I wonder if those rumors are true, thought Elé to herself as she entered the mess hall with Vishnu and Capt. Aegnor. If they are, something is bound to come up in Vishnu.

Vishnu sat on metal bench across from the man who was now his captain. He stared down at his bowl of colourful pellets. He picked up his spoon and commenced to stir the objects around in the milk.

 “It is called cereal. Eat it,” commanded Capt. Aegnor.

“Cereal?” repeated Vishnu.

“What? You have never had cereal before?” asked Elé in amazement as she came in from the kitchen. She set her own bowl down and sat next to the coordinator. “You are missing out on the crunchy goodness that every person deserves to eat.” Vishnu picked a blue circle out of his bowl and pt it in his mouth.

“So where are we headed?” asked Vishnu to his captain.

“The Abenteuer system,” answered the middle aged man, “We found it two months ago, but had to return to earth before our Drive fully shutdown. It is located through the black hole just behind Mars. It was a good thing we were so close to Earth, otherwise we would have been stranded. The White Engel’s captain, Mr. Ruprecht, is my friend at Eberhard Co. he is our ally out here in the final frontier. We would have had to call him for help.”

“How many planets?” inquired Vishnu.

“Only three.”

“Is there really any danger on this job?”

“Of course,” cut in Elé when Capt. Aegnor was about to speak. “You have heard of the Nova Class Shihuangdi ship Sweet Midian, right? Well our side job that is not on record is looking for some object that Sweet Midian’s captain Mr. Drak Lucif also wants. The Sweet Midian warship tries to destroy any craft it comes across.” Vishnu’s eyes widened.

“You have faced Sweet Midian before?” asked Vishnu Ayat in wonderment.

“Oh, here and there,” answered Capt. Aegnor as he cut off what Elé was about to say. “Usually we never get too damaged…”

“Why do you even have a job that could lead to your demise at any turn?” asked the green head.

“Like it said before,” said the captain as he rose from his seat, “The pay is good.”

Capt. Aegnor was seated in the command chair. Qin was staring ahead at the viewport. A view of the Abenteuer system’s first planet was on screen. The planet had a golden yellowish colour.

“So…what do you think is going on down there?” asked the captain to no one in particular. Elé was busy studying the external radar for signs of other ships.

A man named Smith captained a ship called Sharp Flame. Sharp Flame’s captain and crew worked for Eberhard Co’s rival, the Ludwig Corporation. Ludwig Corp also had a branch for star charting and systems, and the Sharp Flame seemed to appear wherever Capt. Aegnor’s Star Path went. Capt. Smith hated Capt. Aegnor, and often used his boss Adalbert’s instruction of ‘whatever means necessary’ to damage the Star Path craft.

“Smith better not show his hull,” said Elé, “I am dying to try these new Ventre Blast guns.”

“Ventre Blast?” questioned Qin, “When did we get those?” Elé shrugged.

“While back in Gipfel, I had them installed,” the captain revealed, “I won them at Gryfon.”

“Gryfon?” said the nurse as she entered the main deck. “I was just walking by and I know my husband did not just say Gryfon.” Mrs. Crowell stomped over to the captain. Capt. Aegnor pretended to be studying the yellow planet before him. “You better had not been playing that dreaded kristone poker game, Aegnor.”

“I was not gambling,” said the captain, “I was only having a bit of fun paling Drais.”

“That is just as bad,” murmured the tactical officer. Mrs. Crowell forced her attention away from her husband’s gambling habits to the viewport.

“Is this the planet we are landing on first?” asked the nurse. The TO nodded her head.

“Qin decided to name it Haltestelle in our report to the boss Gottfried,” informed Elé.

“Strap in, honey,” said Capt. Aegnor to his wife, “We are going to descend soon. Let us hope Smith does not come shoving his nose around.” The captain glanced around the helm. “Where is that coordinator?”

“Down in the mess hall,” reported the nurse as she found an empty seat.

“Doing what?” asked Qin in curiosity.

“Checking out all the food,” said the nurse.

“Qin, page him over the intercom and tell him to find a seat,” commanded the captain.

“Yes, sir,” said the Asian pilot as he slid his chair over to the next console.

The captain, nurse, tactical officer, and coordinator were down on the surface of the planet Haltestelle. The pilot has remained with the ship, which he had hidden in a grove of trees. The rest of the Star Path’s crew were wearing Enviro Suits and walking along a beach. Capt. Aegnor was in front, holding a scanner. The nurse was carrying a datapad and Elé was lugging the sack of weapons.

Vishnu was made to carry the rations and other supplies and equipment. The load was kind of heavy, but he did not mind. He was glad to have obtained another job so soon. He was not worried about paying the apartment rent and other bills back home. Elé had explained that Eberhard Co would pay the money for him and notify his landlord of his whereabouts. Capt. Aegnor had sent the report that he recruited a member during their stop on earth for a new Drive.

“So what exactly are we looking for?” asked Vishnu to Elé.

“Well…nothing in particular. We are just collecting data to send back to Eberhard Co,” responded the TO. She then lowered her voice to a whisper. “But you see that scanner in Capt. Aegnor’s hand? It is special. It can detect output signals from the device our side job requires us to look for. If it picks up anything, then we have a mission and these will really come in handy.” Elé patted the bag of handheld weapons she carried. Some of them were designed just for the Star Path crew.

“I see…,”said Vishnu. The group walked until they came to a small patch of trees. The captain turned around and faced his team.

“So far the scanner has not picked up anything,” reported Aegnor Crowell, “I think we should have Qin take us to the other side of the planet, where it is night.”

“The other side?” questioned Vishnu Ayat. “How strong is the scanner?”

“Very strong,” replied the captain, “It has detected signals inside mountains that lie beneath seas thousands of miles away from the device itself.”

“Let us just hope there are not any locals here,” said Elé as she leaned against the trunk of a purple tree.

“Most likely there could be,” said the nurse, “If we are breathing the oxygen here, maybe other creatures are too.”

Qin was leaning back in Elé’s mag-deck chair. His headphones were on his ears playing Wilco into his head. Qin was supposed to be watching the radar for any sign of Capt. Smith and the Sharp Flame. He did not hear the rest of the crew banging on the hull where the ramp would lower. Suddenly a loud blaring sound from the intercom made Qin sit up straight.

“Qin, lower the ramp now!” It was the captain’s voice. Qin quickly punched a button to his right and the Star Path’s crew boarded. The captain walked right over to his pilot and snatched the headphones and CD player from Qin.

“Hey!” exclaimed Qin. Capt. Aegnor glanced at the CD case that lay on the console.

“When you are told to watch the ship and keep an eye out for Sharp Flame,” began the captain, “That is what you do. Not listen to Willo.”

“Wilco, sir.”

“Whatever, Qin. Do not slack off because this seems like a harmless planet,” commanded Capt. Aegnor. The pilot stood and returned to his seat. “Take us to the dark side of Haltestelle, pilot.” Everyone found seats and the lift thrusters were ignited.

Paul and Fong Xeq were skipping down the corridor of the White Engel craft. Aegnor Crowell’s friend, Ruprecht Xeq, was the ship’s captain. The pilot was the renowned war navigator Nehl Ghente. The White Engel ‘s doctor was named Vouye, and its tactical officer named Dean Dain. The two ladies skipping down the corridor were the captain’s daughters. Capt. Ruprecht Xeq had not wanted to bring them along on his job, but Paul and Fong had insisted on going with their father. Capt. Ruprecht’s ship was a Galaxy Class Al Capone, made especially for exploration.

The two sisters soon reached their destination: the helm. They were going to ask their father about a mysterious crate in the hold, but a blinking light on a wall panel caught Fong’s attention. She pointed it out to Paul, who decided to inform their father.

“It seems like you have a message, Dad,” said Paul Xeq to the captain. Capt. Ruprecht turned in his command seat.

“Dean, check that board,” said the captain to his TO, “Find out who is transmitting. Most likely our boss Gottfried.” The red haired man stood and wandered over to the wall panel. He pressed a few buttons and a piece paper printed from a slot in the wall. Dean looked down at it and then handed it to the intended receiver. Capt. Ruprecht took the printed transmission and read it.

“Contact the Star Path, Dean,” commanded the captain, “There is something here that they should know.”