Part 2: The Challenge

Chapter 35

“Junior!”

They were still on the stinking moon in the Munchkada system. The engineer had assured Sheriff Justice that they’d be in the air in forty-five minutes. Over an hour had passed.

“Yes sir?”

“Why are we still sitting on this rock?”

Junior’s face twisted in thought and fear. “Because we haven’t taken off yet?”

Justice’s eyes narrowed. “Get out of my sight.”

Junior put his hand on his hat and turned to run away.

“Where are you going? I need you here.”

Junior stopped and nearly toppled over as he turned around. He looked torn between running away anyway and returning to his father’s side. In the end he pouted and stayed put.

“Sir, we have a communication from GCP Central Office,” one of the officers said.

“Put it up on the screen.” B.T. Justice stood up and walked forward from his chair. “Junior, don’t stand too close. I don’t want you in the shot.”

Junior backed up with his head down as the image of Counselor Pitrine faded into existence. His hands were hidden in the sleeves of his robes and he looked displeased, judging by the frown on his face.

“Sheriff Justice, I thought you’d like to know that we’ve located the SS Acid Rat.”

“You have?” he tried to feign surprise.

“We’ve also detected that your ship accessed the Galactic Central Point Central Office computers and also obtained this information.”

Caught in a ruse there was no use lying. “Yes.”

“I must ask, Sheriff Justice, are you anywhere near the system where the Space Ship Acid Rat is?”

Sheriff Justice smiled. “No.” And he wasn’t about to give anymore information.

“Sheriff Justice, we have been having…difficulties tracking your ship. What are your coordinates?”

“I told you before; we are running silent in our system. We are looking for a smuggler that hasn’t left our system yet.”

Pitrine’s eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. “At this time you are not granted access to leave your own system. Please keep that in mind Sheriff. I wouldn’t want to see you overstep your bounds. If I find that you have your only course of action will be to report here to Galactic Central Point Central Office to stand trial.”

Like a common criminal? That would never happen. He would catch the SS Acid Rat and haul it back to Bamda and place the entire crew under arrest. Never had anyone snuck onto his planet and stolen right under his nose and he wasn’t about to let this one get away with it.

“I understand Counselor Pitrine.”

“Do you? Do you understand the consequences of leaving your own system without authority? I can assure you, Sheriff Justice, that the Central Office will not go easy on a rogue officer loose in the galaxy. It is possible that your punishment will be most unpleasant.”

Empty threats. That’s why they were dishing to him. If he brought in a criminal wanted in over forty systems he’d be a hero not only on his home world, but across the galaxy. He’d be the man that brought the weasel to justice. He would live up to his namesake. There was nothing the GCP Central Office could do, but he didn’t want to push his luck until such a time as he had the SS Acid Rat in his custody.

“I understand.”

Counselor Pitrine studied B.T. Justice for several long moments. Finally, after an intolerably long time his image faded.

“Junior! I want this ship off the ground now! Do you hear me? Now! Let’s move. I don’t want any more excuses. If that ship has left Planchar by the time we get there, heads will roll!” He snapped his riding crop against his leg. He thought about smacking Junior upside the head, but he wanted the boy to be alert.

“Sir,” Junior said and swallowed hard. “Engineering reports we are ready to take off.”

That’s more like it. “To the Planchar System. And don’t tell me some nitwit forgot to enter in the coordinates and I have to wait for that.

There was silence.

“Well?”

“We’re ready for take off sir. You’ll want to buckle in.”

Sheriff Justice clicked a button on his uniform and his boots magnetically secured to the floor.

“I’m ready. I don’t want to wait any longer. Get me to Planchar and get me there quickly!”

The Apprehension slipped silently off the moon and into hyperspace.

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Chapter 36

With the canister on the ground and June signaling all was clear, Vic got out of the crane. He didn’t so much get out of the crane as he was carried out and passed over the top of the crowd back to his ship. People swarmed from all directions. This was heaven.

He found himself deposited back next to the Acid Rat. June stood stolidly with her arms crossed. She looked as cold as steel in her outfit. Vic had tried to dissuade her from her choice of uniform and had suggested something a little less intimidating, but she wouldn’t have it. He wasn’t about to bring up the point. Not with her mad at him. He thought about slapping her on the bottom and congratulating her, but only laughed at the idea. Last time he’d done that he’d gotten a black eye.

He gave Dexter a pat on the head and walked back over to Argmon, whom was still standing with Chancellor Verbiddi. The man wore a massive grin.

“Vic you’ve done it, my lad, you’ve done it. This is wonderful. Not only have you brought us a load of tonindrium, you’ve eliminated the rebel threat, well, at least for the short term.”

“Who were they?”

“They had blown up two official vessels bringing tonindrium to Planchar and that’s when the trade embargo with Bamda started. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have gotten this load.”

“And speaking of that, you didn’t tell us that it would be illegal to get this stuff off Bamda and you didn’t tell us we’d be at risk of being shot at when we returned. I’m going to have to up my price.”

“Of course, of course. Money is no worry. I’ll make sure you and your crew are well taken care of. Before we concern ourselves of such petty matters as money, what do you say we have a celebration?”

Vic smiled. He loved a good party. Besides, they couldn’t go back to Munchkada yet. There was a police cruiser there waiting for them. “Sounds good. I’d like that.” He could feel June’s anger aimed at him. That psychic stuff hurt sometimes. He’d have to let her know to bring it down a notch.

“Excellent.” Chancellor Verbiddi clapped his hands like a giddy school boy. “Arrangements have already been made. I anticipated you would stay.”

Vic smiled and Argmon barked a low, gruff bark.

Verbiddi pulled Vic aside. “Please have your crew dress appropriately. This will be a formal event.”

“I’ll have them go out into town and get some new clothes. Should I have the bill sent to you?”

“I wouldn’t dream of you doing otherwise. I shall see you there.” The Chancellor left and vanished into the crowd that had already started dispersing.

Once he was gone, Vic hugged Argmon. “Can you believe it! I knew this trip was going to pay off.”

“Don’t get cocky, Vic,” June’s voice said in his ear.

“Don’t get sour, June. I know you really wanted to get back to Munchkada right away. We’re just being a little delayed.”

June didn’t answer.

“Come on, June. You know we can’t risk going back now. Not with a police cruiser sitting there waiting for us. I’ll get ahold of someone and they’ll let us know when the coast is clear and we can zip on back.”

“It’ll be too late then.”

“And you’re going to hold that against me?”

“For taking risky assignments? Yes.”

“But look at how much we’re getting paid for this trip.”

“It’s not about the money, Vic.” June finally turned her body to face him. She raised her hands to her helmet and removed it. That was a good thing because it always creeped him out when she talked inside her helmet and he couldn’t see her face.

“June,” Vic said in a meager attempt to console her.

“Not this time. You can count me out on the next assignment. I’m going to find something back on Munchkada when we get there and this little jaunt around the galaxy is over.”

“But you love your job.” Doesn’t she?

“I don’t care. Your shenanigans are going to get us all tossed into jail. You’ve got Joey now and you can tote him all over the place if you like. I’m through. No more rebellions. No more guarding this ship. No more illegal shipments. I’m done.”

She was really hot this time. She’d blown up before, but never like this. What is it that’s so important for her back on Munchkada? Vic didn’t even know how to respond. He just looked at her, his mouth agape.

“That’s about the response I’d expect from you, Vic. Go enjoy your victory celebration. I’ll be on the ship.”

“But…”

She spun on her heel and stomped back into the Acid Rat. Vic had the feeling he wasn’t going to get her back out again.

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

Well, he had a naked tri-ped and a naked Shathar to take along to the celebration. Not much need to go shopping for them.

Mike scared people everywhere he went so he was going to be restricted to the ship. Joey had passed out. Maybe he’d wake up in time. Vic knew he’d feel really stupid showing up without his entire crew and June needed to be there. The Chancellor was expecting her. She deserved this as much as anyone. She’d saved the shipment. And this wasn’t the first time.

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“I’m thinking Dexter,” Vic said and pulled the earpiece out. “I’m thinking.”

“Perhaps I can help you there.”

A fat man in a white suit and a tall white hat walked up. His white boots stomped on the platform and echoed loudly. He had long, thin, white hair and a thick, white moustache. In his mouth he chewed on a massive cigar. Beside him strode a much shorter, and much thinner version of the man minus the white hair, moustache, and cigar.

“Name’s Almo. Pleasure to finally meet a legend like yourself. Paul, this man here is a living legend here in this galaxy.”

The little one responded, “Legends and derelicts look a lot alike I guess.”

“You watch that mouth, little one. I won’t have you talking like that in this man’s presence.”

“Who are you?” Vic eyed the two men warily. Something about them didn’t feel right.

“I’m Almo Petrino, and this is my son Paul Petrino and we’ve got an offer you can’t refuse.” Almo accented his last words by pointing his cigar at Vic.

That was doubtful, but Vic was never one to dismiss an offer. He was still riding the high feeling of making the delivery of tonindrium and the pay they were going to receive. This would have to be something big to keep his attention for long. Really big.

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Chapter 34

June shook her head as Mike dragged Joey back onto the ship. Vic should have known better. Joey wasn’t prepared for this. It took her several planets before she even dared to walk off the ship for the first time and that was only to set foot on solid ground before she ran back into the ship. Joey had been scared not only by the planet, but by the people. Something within her unconscious psychic abilities told her that.

But he was in good hands with Mike. She didn’t need to worry about him. She needed to keep an eye on everything around the ship.

The cameras mounted on the ship’s exterior gave her a view of everything on small view screens inside her helmet. With a word she could switch views, zoom, pan, and filter. With the throngs of people around the ship, anything could get through, but she was certain that whoever would attack this load would not be close by. There were a large number of tall buildings all with easy access to the ship. She had half the cameras aimed high and set to focus on any movement.

Vic and Argmon made their way to a group of very fat, official-looking men and women. Hands were shaken and smiles exchanged. The largest of fat men, Chancellor Verbiddi, led the two of them to a small, raised platform and his voice boomed over a hidden PA system.

“Ladies and gentlemen, V&A Shipping has arrived.”

Fireworks exploded high over head. The cameras swung in the direction of each projectile until it exploded and then panned to acquire a new target. June’s eyes darted to each looking to see if anything was going in any direction other than up. It was hard to keep track of all of them, but it was possible there would be no attack.

“Contaminar would like to thank and commend V&A Shipping for delivering a precious and much needed load of tonindrium.”

Another round of cheers and fireworks erupted. This time one of the ship’s cameras didn’t focus on a rising firework, but on a figure atop a distant building.

“Zoom camera C times two,” she said softly.

“What’s up June?” Vic asked. He was equipped with an earpiece and microphone as were Argmon and Dexter.

“Just checking something out. Nothing to worry about yet. Focus.”

“I will.”

“Not you, the camera.”

Whoever had been atop the building dipped out of sight. The camera would stay trained on that spot now. There was no sense in taking a chance of that person popping back up.

Vic was given a medal of some sort. Of course he got a medal. He was the captain of the ship after all. He was the one who needed the glory. Once the medal was placed around his neck Vic turned and waved to the crowd. A man with a camera stood up and pushed a button on its top. Nothing happened. There was no flash. June trained two cameras in to see what was going on.

Something grew out of the ground. She trained a third camera. It looked like legs made from rocks with a billion tiny particles adding more to the protrusions all the time. A statue?

“…and in honor of your bravery this statue shall remain on this spot for all time to let everyone know that it was Vic of V&A Shipping that saved our planet from self destruction. Let’s all look upon it and marvel.”

A statue. As if getting a medal and having the entire planet adore him wasn’t enough he was having a statue erected in his honor. For a load of tonindrium? This was just ridiculous.

One camera panned away as a crane lowered down to the Acid Rat.

“Mike, open the cargo bay,” Vic ordered.

No response came, but the top of the ship opened up. The crane’s hook descended into the cargo bay. When it stopped there was a long pause. Mike had to be hooking up the load. When the crane started to pull up on the load the ship groaned loudly. The boom of the crane bent dangerously forward. The crane clamped down and righted itself and the load was drawn out of the ship.

The canister, about the size of a volkswagon beetle (tonindrium being the heaviest known element in the galaxy didn’t need a big canister), appeared and more cheers and fireworks ensued. The crowd swayed from side to side and the band started up again.

Three cameras spun and zoomed to the top of one building. A person was definitely there. Whoever it was had a gun and a huge gun at that. They were going to shoot something and the ship was in the way. June cared about getting the load delivered, and that was done, but the ship was her home now and she cared about that even more.

“Trouble. Dexter, to me.”

“What’s up?” Vic said.

“It’s under control.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.” Dexter arrived at her back.

“Keep me covered, Dex. There may be someone in the crowd.”

June raised both guns. The person was almost done setting up his gun. He’d been waiting for the shipment to be out and he was either going to shoot and detonate it or hope to shoot the cable of the crane and crash it back onto the ship. Either way this guy was trouble.

Gasps rose from the crowd. One camera angle showed people moving away. Dexter had his guns out and scanned everyone and watched for anything out of the ordinary.

Crosshairs appeared in her view, one set for each gun. She was able to get them both focused on the man on the building. He was working frantically to get the gun mounted. Why hadn’t they set up before hand? Something didn’t feel right. Something was wrong.

Dexter fired. A woman was downed and the crowd pushed back in a panic.

“Dexter, what happened?”

“Eep! Eep! Eep!” Dexter fired another shot into a man’s chest and he exploded.

June saw the gun, but the crowd couldn’t have seen it. It wasn’t looking good for the home team. She had to concentrate. They had threats here and on top of the building. She could have removed the threat if she’d seen it earlier. They must have known that.

June set the crosshairs on the man’s head and fired. His head disappeared in a mist of blood.

“All cameras in.”

“There’s a lot of confusion here. What’s going on?” Vic demanded over the screaming crowd.

“I’m on it Vic.” June shot two people coming up from the other side of the ship. There couldn’t be many more. These things always came in small waves.

Something overhead groaned. The canister was still over the ship. The crane should have lowered it by now. Why was it still in the air?

“Camera G. Focus crane.”

“Crane? What’s going on with the crane?”

From one camera angle June saw Vic look up above the ship and his mouth gape open. In camera G she saw the controller of the crane in a struggle with someone. Someone who knew their plan had failed and was trying to execute an ad hoc plan. The crosshairs lined up and the man’s head disappeared just like his partner’s had. The crane operator leapt from the crane and ran.

“Vic, problem. Can you get to the crane?”

“What’s up?”

“Just go. We need a crane operator.”

“I’m on it.”

One camera tracked Vic running to the other side of the ship and to the crane. He jumped inside and moved the canister away from the ship and slowly lowered it to the ground.

No more shots were fired, the canister made it safely to the ground, and as luck would have it, Vic’s statue had gotten knocked over in the confusion. June smiled. He didn’t need another statue on another planet.

When Vic exited the crane she told him, “All clear.”

“Thanks June.”

“Just earning my keep.”

Dexter holstered his guns and moved the bodies away from the ship. One might be booby trapped. Dexter always thought of the little details. She would have helped, but she needed to monitor.

All buildings were clear now. The crowd had moved back, but was once again pressing forward. The fat guy was making a speech. Great. Vic’s going to get more credit and they’ll probably make another statue. What luck.

June put her weapons away and crossed her arms over her chest. “No one messes with the SS Acid Rat” is what her stance said.

Something tugged at her mind. Someone of the crew was scared and hiding. Had to be SPX-39, though she had never had a psychic link with him or Tootsie. Who else would be hiding? Joey was passed out. It couldn’t be him. Mike? Not possible.

She put it out of her mind. She didn’t have time for another distraction. She just wanted to get back on the ship and be on their way. Even if she couldn’t get back to Munchkada she still wanted to be off this planet. It just didn’t feel right. Not at all. They were in danger. It was something more than just that little attack. Much bigger indeed.

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Chapter 32

When the SS Acid Rat dropped out of hyperspace, Mike decided it was time to do a little reconnaissance work. Joey had gone into the weapons room where Dexter and June were getting ready. Vic must want to keep the boy busy while the ship landed. Mike was going to have to keep Joey out of the way when the challenge was issued.

Vic would be easy to handle when the time came. He wasn’t bright and was easy to coerce in awkward situations. Over the past year Mike had convinced Vic to take on several difficult assignments to see just how far he could manipulate the man. The boss had given the right information each time and hadn’t led him astray.

Argmon would do anything Vic said. Mike always thought that strange given the fact that the ship had belonged to Argmon in the first place. Argmon had lost his brother so perhaps the Shathar’s brother was the brains of the operation and Argmon was just the muscle. Either way, Mike discounted Argmon’s ability in every way.

Mike crept along the ceiling of the cargo bay. It was most comfortable to come down from the top. All the others on the ship were, after all, two dimensional movers and never seemed to look up.

Continuing the run-down of the ship’s crew, Dexter and Joop-Nop were both difficult to comprehend, but neither had exhibited even a remote thought of their own. They did what they were told, didn’t ask questions, and were even more subservient than Argmon. He would just have to make sure Vic gave the right order at the right time and they would both be out of the way.

Then there was Tootsie, the Ship’s computer. She was polite and liked to follow strict and logical laws, but Vic was able to get her to break those rules from time to time. There was something about her makeup; something that could be used and manipulated to his own end. He would have to watch for an opening.

And then there was SPX-39, the new robot Vic had bought. That paranoid pile of bolts would be easy enough to scare into submission. Mike had already scared it enough and gotten it to do certain menial tasks. A little more pressure and soon he’d have it doing anything he wanted. Perhaps even speaking to Tootsie. That was an idea, now wasn’t it?

Mike poked his head down over the top of the room’s entrance. June was already meditating. She always did that before they landed. She was more paranoid than SPX-39, but with a purpose. She took steps and this was the most dangerous thing to Mike’s plan. She didn’t dislike him, but he wasn’t sure she trusted him fully. In fact on the last job she had insisted that he stay on board. She had said “It’s for your own protection” but Mike suspected it was that she knew he was anxious to meet with someone.

He had been. He was supposed to meet with the boss. If he hadn’t sneaked off the ship, this all might be over already.

Joey looked out of place. Why wouldn’t he? He was a billion miles from home and had never been in space before. The whelp needed to be taken out. Perhaps I’ll be merciful and take you out first.

Dexter was asleep. Only Joop-Nop and SPX-39 were missing. They were insignificant anyway. They would be of use later. Much later.

They would be landing soon. There was nothing to gain by watching the lost boy Joey stand in the middle of the room and look confused. But wait.

“Joey,” Mike whispered and motioned for the boy to come outside. June didn’t move. Dexter snored.

“What?” Joey asked when he was outside. His expression was worried and he didn’t approach quickly enough. Mike wanted to reach in and pull the boy out of the room. He moved away from the door so Joey would have to come out of the room.

The boy did.

“Um… yes.”

Mike narrowed his eyes, then opened them wide. He didn’t want to look devious. “Joey, isn’t it? I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t know you were going to get scared of me. I hope you’re not still frightened.”

Joey looked dubious. “No.”

“Great. I’ve grown so close to the others on the ship, I just wanted to make sure you and I got off on the right foot, so to speak.”

“Sure. Okay.”

Talkative idiot, aren’t you? Mike sighed. “So Joey, do you have any questions? I know June and Vic have probably answered the most obvious questions about where you are and how you got here. Of course I couldn’t answer those. Do you have any questions about the galaxy or this ship or anything? I just want you to know that I’m here to help out.” Shut up, you’re rambling!

“I’m good.”

Monosyllabic moron. Can’t you even form a sentence? “Well, good. I just wanted to make sure you and I were on good terms. I’d hate to think that my appearance had somehow frightened you.”

“At first it did. I guess being out here in space will just take some getting use to. I mean, I’ve met everyone on this ship and it seems like the galaxy is filled with a pretty diverse set of life forms.”

-He can form full sentences! “That it is. If you run into any problems, you can always count on me, Joey. I just want to make sure you know that. Anyone on this ship will do anything for you, but I’d be honored if you came to me if you needed anything.”

Joey’s lips formed a nervous smile. “Thanks.”

Mike started to smile his broad, square-toothed grin, but forced his lips to stay closed.

Joey turned and disappeared back into the weapons room.

“Well that didn’t go well at all,” Mike cursed to himself. He wanted to befriend the boy. Hopefully the seed had been planted that the boy could trust him. At least some of the fear appeared to have been alleviated. That was something. He would have to spend more time with Joey to make sure that seed flourished. Joey could end up being pivotal to the outcome of the boss’ plan.

Mike scampered across the cargo bay’s ceiling. They would be landing soon. The anticipation was getting to him. A year’s worth of work with this crew and it was time for a change. How much longer was the boss’ plan going to take? Hopefully this challenge would at least be something interesting. Some sort of excitement before he finished and moved on to a new assignment.

Mike disappeared back into his control room.

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Chapter 33

June looked dangerous in her form-fitting, black-with-pink-trim outfit with the black fishbowl helmet and long-barreled guns slung low on her hips. Her look was something of a young boy’s sci-fi fantasy girl. Joey hoped she couldn’t see him staring. Suddenly realizing that she probably could, made his cheeks flush and he looked away.

The gun she’d pushed into his hand hadn’t felt right and he was embarrassed that she snatched it away so quickly. Maybe he was a puny wimp just like Brad, Chad, and Thad continued to say he was.

It wasn’t his fault though. He’d never held a gun. Heck, he never wanted to fire a gun. It wasn’t that he was scared of them. His grandfather had shot guns. Did that make him more of a man?

But then his grandfather had never been in space. No one in his family had. Even if they had, they would never be in a place like this. It was difficult to imagine that they were all gone. Not just his family, but everyone. Even his friend Carlos. He couldn’t linger on that though. He was about to set foot on his first alien planet. How exciting was that?

Dexter woke up and jumped off the bench he’d been laying on. “Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“Eh?” Joey felt like everyone else understood Dexter, why couldn’t he? Was it something that they just got used to over time?

“Eep. Eep. Eep,” Dexter said, a little more urgently this time and lunged at Joey.

Joey stumbled backwards and fell onto one of the benches. With his three hands, Dexter strapped a belt across Joey’s lap, strapped in the meditating June, and then strapped himself in. The speed at which he did this was impressive.

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

Dexter, if he had a mouth, probably would have been smiling. Maybe it was the tone in how he said things. He did sound satisfied with what he’d done. Just how smart was the little, what was it Vic called him? tri-ped. There was something in those three eyes blinking at different times that denoted a deceiving intelligence.

The ship rattled and banged. Joey looked at June. God seeing a friendly face would make me a lot less nervous right now.

Vic’s voice boomed over the con. “I hope you’re all strapped in back there. Looks like it’ll be a little bumpy going down. This shouldn’t take long. I think I can have us on the ground in five minutes. Just sit tight. We already have a vector to the landing pad.”

Well that wasn’t very reassuring. Five minutes? Didn’t it take the space shuttle an hour or more to land? How could Vic do it in just a few minutes? They were in a ship designed to take off from a planet and fly through space. Of course it would have to be far more advanced than the space shuttle, wouldn’t it?

Joey tried to keep his thoughts on not dying as the ship jostled and shimmied though the atmosphere of Planchar. He waited for the ship’s walls to break apart at any moment, but after what felt like hours and was possibly only seconds, the vibrations stopped.

“I think we’re through the worst of it. Stay belted in just in case.”

Vic’s voice sounded confident. He’d done this many times before so the fear that the ship would break apart was unfounded. Dexter must have had some sense as to how it would be when he buckled them all in. Was it premonition that made him seem to act so quickly?

There were no more announcements on the way down until after a thunderous “thud” announced their arrival on the ground.

“This load is heavy. Sorry about that landing. Let’s get up and get out there. We’ve got a greeting party so I need everyone on their best behavior.”

June unbuckled her belt and stood. When she spoke her voice was electronic and harsh. “Dexter, get outside and do a check outside the ship. Joey, stand guard at the base of the ramp.” She grabbed a rifle from out of a cabinet. “This doesn’t work. Don’t let anyone know that. I don’t expect anything will happen, but at least you’ll look important.”

She shoved it into his hands and strode out of the room. Dexter was already gone. Dang he was quick. It took Joey several seconds of fiddling with the buckle just to get it unlatched. By the time he got out of the weapons room and into the cargo bay, Vic and Argmon were coming down the main ladder.

“Hold up kid!”

Joey stopped and waited as Vic and Argmon caught up. Vic put his arm around Joey’s shoulder.

“Okay kid. I want you to try and contain the excitement I’m sure you’re feeling. You know, those butterflies in the pit of your stomach? This feeling will pass. We need to keep a professional image here. So just lay back and don’t go far from the ramp. Okay?”

“Got it.” Now Joey felt those butterflies. They were angry and doing loops inside him.

“Great. Just leave the negotiations to me. We’ll get out of this in one piece and be on our way. There’s going to be a celebration, but I don’t think we’ll be going to that. I don’t want you to get overwhelmed so if there is a celebration, I may have you stay on the ship.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Kid, do you really think you can handle this?”

“Of course I can.” Joey was offended.

“Well, if you can’t handle it, just hang out near the ramp. It’s not a big deal if you don’t come out any further.”

That made sense, but at least now he had a choice. He didn’t want to stay back just because he was told to. “Thanks.”

“June on the con.” Vic put his hand to his ear. “She wants you at the bottom of the ramp now. Better get going kid.”

Joey ran on ahead. The ship’s exit lay just on the side of the weapons room. Mike was poised at the top of the ramp and looking down. Joey slowed, but didn’t intend to. He wanted to get past Mike as quickly as he could. Even though Mike had tried to make it clear that he was a nice guy he was still a giant spider. And creepy.

Mike smiled and patted Joey on the back as he strode down the ramp. He could hear Mike say, “That’s some crowd, Vic. I think it’s a record turn out for you.”

“Isn’t it always?”

Joey’s steps faltered as he walked down the steps. He’d been on a stage before. When he was six and at the church Christmas play. He’d gotten nervous and wet himself in front of the entire congregation. That was only about two hundred people. This was a flood of people. All of them cheering and applauding. Music played with loud crashes and bangs of drums, trumpets, all in a cacophony of noise. The din was deafening.

Behind the waves of people were buildings that extended into the sky. Living in Southern California Joey hadn’t seen many skyscrapers. He knew that the buildings in downtown San Diego were comparatively small when you considered those in New York, but he was certain that these he was seeing would dwarf even the tallest on Earth.

The sky was a dark, dingy yellow in color and littered with black smoke. Once he was able to breath again, he’d been holding his breath since he saw the crowd, he realized that the air burned. Involuntarily he coughed and gagged. His eyes burned. It was pollution. Pollution worse than anything he’d ever faced. It was like the entire Earth’s pollution was condensed to this one spot and assaulting him violently.

Vic put his hand on Joey’s back and yelled over the din. “Quite some reception, eh? Tonindrium is used to clean pollution from a planet’s atmosphere. As you can tell, these guys need it. They haven’t been able to buy any because the guys on Bamda have imposed a trade embargo against Planchar for some reason or another. That’s where we came in.”

Now it made sense. But suddenly Joey didn’t care. He was getting dizzy. He had this feeling once when he was fourteen and he and Carlos had smoked a pack of cigarettes in about an hour. His eyes watered. His mind recoiled. Breathing became difficult. And just like that time when he was fourteen, he passed out.

---

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Chapter 30

“Can you believe that jerk?”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“You said it. He expected me to cook and then tells me I can’t go back to Munchkada. That’s just so unfair.”

June felt like she was fifteen again and complaining that her parents wouldn’t let her out of the house. At least she knew she could tell everything to Dexter without a word of it getting back to Vic. Sometimes she went off on him, but she wanted him to think she was tough. If he didn’t think that, she wouldn’t be worth keeping on the ship and there was something about Vic that lingered in the back of her mind that if he found her worthless he’d leave her on Munchkada and then she’d truly be all alone.

“Dex, can you zip me up?”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

Dexter never wore any clothes except during security duty when he wore two thick, leather belts across his chest that crossed just under the arm that protruded from the center of his chest. Each came down to his hips where he strapped his blasters. These dragged on the ground due to Dexter’s extremely short legs. For being just under three-feet tall, the little guy was quick. Quick and quiet, a dangerous combination.

The quiet part was what June loved best about Dexter. All he ever said was “Eep. Eep. Eep.” but it was the way he said it that made you know he understood you. And he couldn’t convey that information to anyone else. That was the most special.

Dexter zipped up the back of June’s outfit by standing on a bench. Her outfit was much like all her other outfits: black with hot pink trim. She liked the color combination and it didn’t seem like anyone else in the galaxy put those colors together the way she did.

Her outfit had been special ordered. It was made of similar dura-palsti that made up the ship’s hull. It was impervious to most energy blasts and could also block smaller projectiles. It was very form fitting even though she wasn’t looking to impress anyone while on duty.

Like Dexter, she also strapped on two blasters. Hers were smaller and longer than Dexter’s. Hers were designed for accuracy whereas Dexter’s were for short range shots.

All she had to do was get her helmet on and she’d be ready. She leaned her head back, pulled her hair up into a bun on top of head, and secured it.

“Eep? Eep? Eep?”

“What was that Dex?”

“Hi June.”

Joey? What’s he doing down here?

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“Um, what? Vic sent me down here. Something about helping.”

June sighed. “What does he think we’ve got down here that you can help with?”

Joey’s elated looked faded quickly to disappointment. She felt bad, but what was she supposed to do with Joey? Vic should be the one babysitting, not her. Especially after he denied her to go back to Munchkada.

“I don’t know,” Joey said in a defeated voice.

Dammit Vic. “Look, we’ve only got so much gear. If Vic wants you to help out with security, you’re going to have to order some equipment. We can’t do that until we get back to home port.”

June pulled a vest made of dura-plasti off the wall and handed it to Joey.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the best thing we’ve got. Put it on and we’ll find you a gun,” she told him, her tone cold and flat.

Joey made a tsking noise. “Why are you so mad?”

She was mad at Vic. It wasn’t Joey’s fault. She just didn’t want to have to watch a new person while she was supposed to be on security duty. Planchar was bound to be a dangerous planet on which to drop this load. The country they’d sold it to had a lot of enemies and the last thing they needed to do was get caught in the middle of a civil war with a load of tonindrium. Of course she didn’t want Joey to know any of this.

“Sorry. Just get that vest on.”

Joey put the vest on. Dexter reached up to help him buckle the sides. Joey shied away.

“Let him help you. He’s good at this security stuff. And you’re the last person who wants to upset Dexter again.”

Joey paled and allowed Dexter to assist with the buckles.

“I don’t think I ever got your last name.” Joey grunted as Dexter tightened the straps on the vest.

“Miller. June Miller.”

June opened a panel on the wall and removed her helmet. It, unlike her outfit, was completely black. It was a dome about twice the size of her head. Inside were advanced electronic sensors that would allow her to scan and monitor everything around the ship without having to move. She’d even made Vic install cameras all around the ship that worked with her helmet so she could monitor everything.

It had taken a long time to get Vic to trust her, but she was paranoid enough after several of their trips. Dexter was good, but she made sure that all bases were covered. Once she was inside her suit, nothing could get to her. She felt like a different person. That’s what helped her through the tough times she’d been fighting.

“Wow! Why don’t I get one of those?”

“Look, you need to earn something like this. You’ve only been on this ship a couple of days now, if that. When you’ve spent as much time on this dump as I have, you can buy your own.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“See, even Dexter agrees with me.”

Joey frowned. “Do I at least get a gun?”

It took all her will not to laugh. “Have you ever shot a gun?”

“Um…yes.”

She removed her left gun and handed it to him. “There’s a target on the other side of the cargo hold about ninety yards out. Do you see it? I want you to shoot it.”

He stood in the doorway and peered to the other end of the cargo hold. Even if he saw it, she was certain he’d never hit it. Blasters didn’t have the kick of a regular gun, and her father, being a detective, had taken her shooting many times as a young girl. She knew how to handle a gun. Looking at the way Joey held the gun when she’d handed it to him let her know there was no way he’d be able to shoot it.

“That little thing way over there?” Joey asked incredulously as he turned around, gun in hand, and faced June.

She snapped the gun out of his hand. “When you learn how to respect a weapon you can have one.”

His look of surprise was devastating, but she didn’t have time for this. They were going to land soon. She needed to be ready. This little game was over.

“You’re going to stay with Dexter. You don’t stray from his side. I don’t care how much you want to go and look around, this being your first time on a strange planet. This isn’t Earth. If you walk away from the ship, you’re going to end up dead. Do you understand?”

Joey nodded.

“Good.” June put the gun back on her hip and the helmet on her head.

Displays popped up instantly as the smart fibers in the suit connected with the helmet. She saw her stats. Her heart rate was up. The banter with Joey had gotten her worked up. She was going to have to sit for five minutes just to calm down enough. Joey was going to have to keep himself company.

As she sat down on the one bench in the security room the outside displays came up. The exterior of the ship looked good. Nothing trailing them. Planchar was getting close. Vic should be giving an announcement any time that they were coming in for a landing. She needed all that time to get herself mentally prepared. This trip had drained her and now she wasn’t going to get to relax like she thought she’d be able to. It just wasn’t fair. Not fair at all.

---

Chapter 31

“Sheriff Justice, you’re needed on the bridge straight away, sir!”

B.T. Justice rolled over and looked at the clock on the edge of his bed and groaned. He’d only been asleep for six hours. What were they thinking waking him? Hadn’t he given explicit orders that he wasn’t to be disturbed.

He cleared his throat. “This had better be good.”

“Sir, the SS Acid Rat.”

Justice took a deep breath and slapped his hand on his face. He wanted to be awake for this.

“Where?” he asked as he shook his head and rubbed his face aggressively.

“They just sent their ship numbers to report a landing on the planet Planchar.”

“Planchar?”

“Yes sir.”

That made a strange sort of sense. Planchar could be in need of tonindrium. He would have to check to see if there was a trade embargo against Planchar that would prevent them from getting a shipment through the normal lines. It was strange for someone to need to hire an independent, and a crafty one at that, to ship a simple load.

“I’m on my way to the bridge. I want to know everything about Planchar when I get there.”

“Yes sir.”

It took less than a minute for B.T. Justice to don his uniform, stomp out of his room, and head to the bridge. They had landed on the second moon of Munchkada and were waiting for something like this. He’d suspected they wouldn’t report the proper numbers and he wouldn’t be able to catch them here when they returned here. This was a stroke of luck he couldn’t have wished for.

“Where are they?”

One of the young officers jumped up. “Sir, they’re landing now.”

“How soon can we take off?”

“I’ve already contacted the engineer. He says it’ll be forty-five minutes.”

“What?”

“The engines need to be started up. That takes time.”

“I know that. I didn’t order the engines turned off! We need to be ready to jump at a moment’s notice. Who dared turn them off?”

“Sir, I don’t know.”

“Just get them started. Now do we know where they’re landing.”

“They’re landing in the Contaminar province on the main continent. They’ll be on the ground any time. We have no idea how long they’ll be there before they taking off again.”

“I want us off the ground as soon as possible and en route. This is unacceptable and I’ll be reprimanding whoever is responsible as soon as we get back to Bamda. Junior! Hamburger!”

Forty-five minutes to restart the engines. This was intolerable. Justice ground his teeth in frustration and clenched and unclenched his fists. Who’s responsible for this? Who?

---

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Chapter 28

Mike’s hands clung to the ceiling as he maneuvered his way to the rear of the ship and back to his engineering room. It had taken a great deal of time, but he had managed to build a web that spanned across all portions of the ship’s ceiling that didn’t open and for the cargo bay he’d managed to skirt the far walls so even when the doors were opened the webs wouldn’t tear.

He was much faster at traveling upside down and it took under a minute to reach the engineering room. The room was nothing more than a ten by ten square, but off to either side of the room tubes disappeared into each of the engines; tubes only Mike could fit down.

It was Vic’s assumption that it was fate that put Mike on this ship. Mike had been told that Vic was the superstitions type and to play on that as well as become the man’s friend. Mike succeeded.

Mike reached down from the ceiling and pressed a button on a bank of controls. Why they hadn’t redesigned the ship so the button to charge the engines was in the cockpit was beyond Mike, but he’d never questioned Vic about this. Vic wasn’t very smart.

“Engines charging, Vic. We’ll be ready to go in five minutes.”

“Great! Thanks Mike. You’re the best.”

Of course he was the best. Mike’s placement on the ship had been planned. The boss had made sure Mike was here. Mike was to also make sure that Vic didn’t get into any trouble until everything was set up. Big plans were in store for Vic. Plans the man knew nothing about.

When Mike had supposedly stumbled upon Vic, it was very convenient that their engineer had been thrown in jail. The boss had planned that as well as how Mike was to meet Vic; in a fight. Vic was a sucker to save someone in a fight. It was tough for Mike to throw the fight, but Vic lived up to his reputation and fought on Mike’s behalf. And the deal was sealed. Vic needed an engineer and Mike was there to fill the billet.

At the time Vic had only Argmon, June, and Dexter. It wasn’t until much later they’d found Joop-Nop trying to chew on an intolerable barkeep’s leg and Vic was there to save the retched creature. Worthless piece of slime Joop-Nop was and Mike had tried more than once to be rid of it. Then there was that pitiful hunk of scrap SPX-39. Mike shook his head.

Now there was the boy to be concerned about. That wasn’t something Mike had planned for nor had the boss. He was going to want to know about this development right away. There was precious little time. Barely four minutes and even then it would be cutting it close.

Mike scampered up into the webbing at the top of the room. The rest of the crew, the boy, Joey, included, all hated spiders and wouldn’t dream of entering Mike’s web. That played to his favor. He had built a funnel in the furthest corner of the room with communication equipment hidden away there. Equipment that would allow him to contact the boss and no one else on the ship would be any the wiser.

Inside the funnel Mike donned his headset and flipped a switch on a small black box.

“Boss, this is Mike.”

There was a long wait of static. Mike didn’t want to wait. He needed to speak to the boss right away. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. If there was no response in that time, he would have to try again later. He was on seven when his response came.

“Report.” The voice was harsh and gravelly.

“Boss, there’s a new crew member.”

“How is that possible? You weren’t on Bamda long enough to pick another crew member.”

“This one just appeared.”

“Appeared?”

Mike thought of how to explain it. “Well, you remember how I told you that June got here?”

“Yes.”

“I’m guessing it’s the same way.”

“So the machine still works. Do you know what year the boy came from?”

“Year?”

“Never mind. It’s not important yet. I will find out later. I want you to keep a close eye on those three. They will be taking a challenge soon. I need you to do whatever you can to foil that challenge.”

“What’s the challenge?”

“You’ll know it when it happens. I assure you. It is highly important they take it. You must make sure they do so.”

“That might not be so easy.”

The boss strained to grow louder. “I’m not paying you to do something easy. Just make sure they accept that challenge. Do you understand?”

Mike paused. This was the first time in over a year that the boss had raised his voice. Mike could hear the tension in the voice. This had to be important. This was what he had been put here for. Almost a year of waiting and working with the crew of the SS Acid Rat and it was all going to pay off soon. He had to contain his excitement.

“I understand.”

The boss’s voice resumed it normal drone. “Very good. You’ve been patient and loyal. This will be worthwhile, I assure you.”

“Do I get to keep all the money I’ve earned as a member of this crew?”

“Absolutely. That was money earned. Just be prepared for some difficult assignments once they have accepted this challenge.”

“Can’t you tell me anything about it?”

“Not at this time. Just check in with me often once you have landed on Planchar and made this delivery.”

A beep sounded from below in the room.

“I’ve got to go. We’re about to jump to hyperspace.”

“Keep me informed of the progress and let me know once the challenge has been accepted. Vic’s ego won’t let him turn this one down.”

“I’ll let you know.”

Mike broke the connection and hastily removed the headset. It stuck in the web next to the box. After scrambling out of the web Mike called out, “Vic, we’re ready to go!”

“I hope everybody’s strapped in.”

Mike landed in a chair and buckled himself in just as the engines sounded up and the ship entered hyperspace. He didn’t notice Joop-Nop oozing across the floor and out of the engineering room.

---

Chapter 29

The ship came out of hyperspace on the outskirts of the Planchar system.

“Kid! We’re out of hyperspace. Get up here. You’ve got to see this.”

Vic knew that Joey would appreciate entering a star system. Planchar wasn’t anything amazing, but it would be fun to see his reaction.

Joey appeared. “What’s up? Whoa!”

Vic had brought the ship close to the system’s largest planet, a gas planet. He didn’t know the name, but it was about twice the size of Jupiter. When they had taken the job he did a fly-by and he was impressed with the sight of it. Purples and oranges swirled together in thick bands across the rainbow of thinner bands. Just like Jupiter, this one had a significant number of moons and Vic had Argmon plot a course that would take them past a couple.

“Is that…” Joey didn’t finish his question.

“It’s a planet. One of the biggest I’ve ever seen. I thought you’d like to see that.”

Vic was right. Joey continued to stare out the window. Vic put his hand on Argmon’s arm to get him to slow the ship a little. Argmon curled his lip disapprovingly, but Vic knew they would still make it in plenty of time. He wanted the kid to get a good look. This was, after all, Joey’s first time.

“We’re going to use this planet’s gravity to swing around and come in close to Planchar.”

“Why didn’t you just, I don’t know, stop closer to the planet?”

For being provided with such an amazing sight the kid sure was being ungrateful.

“I figured you’d want to see this. You could at least say thank you.”

“Oh, um…thank you.”

“Yeah, go sit down.” Vic turned to face Argmon. “Take us to Planchar. The kid doesn’t want to take the scenic route.”

“I didn’t say that,” Joey defended. “I was just, I don’t know, I thought you were on a time schedule and had to get this, what was it?”

“Tonindrium.”

“Yeah, tonindrium, to the planet as quickly as possible.”

“We do, I just thought you might appreciate looking at the sights. We can look at them on the way back out. Go and sit down.”

Vic was annoyed. Here he wanted to show him something and all Joey could think about was work. And June accused Vic of being dedicated to his job.

“June, Dexter, suit up. We land in thirty.”

“Right Vic,” June’s voice said over the con.

Joey had sulked back into the passage way.

“Hey kid! You need something to do?”

Joey’s face lit up as he turned around. “Yes.”

“I need you to go back and see if June and Dexter need any help. This is a valuable load for our clients and I want to make sure it gets to the right people.”

“Is security really that big of a problem?”

“Kid, you’ve got a lot to learn.” Vic turned around. “There’s several different factions on this planet and all of them would want to get their hands on this stuff. We’ve got it, they want it. Our client is paying top dollar to make sure this gets to the right place. We’re going to do that.”

“So, security is a big issue.”

“You got it.”

“What do I do?”

Vic smiled. He’d just gotten rid of Joey’s skulking attitude and instilled him with a sense of responsibility. As the smile faded from his lips, he could only wish he’d ever had a talk like this with his father. Even though the year span on Earth would have been thirty-five or forty years between him and Joey — he could be the kid’s grandfather for crying out loud — it was only seven or eight in this strange future they were in. Vic wanted to make sure Joey didn’t have the feeling of impending doom.

“See if June has a suit for you and suit up.”

“Suit?”

“You’ll see when you get down there. Go.”

Joey turned and started running, then turned back. “Vic, where am I going?”

“Keep going past the lounge and into the cargo bay. June will be down there getting ready.”

“Vic.” Joey looked at the deck and shyly lifted his head. “Thanks.”

Vic nodded.

When Vic sat down, Argmon was laughing his throaty laugh that told Vic the four-armed, dog-faced mutt thought that whole exchange was humorous.

“What’s so funny?” Vic narrowed his eyes furled his brow.

Argmon punched Vic.

“Hey! The kid needed to hear something to make him feel better. He didn’t want to see the system and I made him feel bad. So I decided to give him something to do to keep his mind off things. What’s so bad about that?”

Argmon shrugged.

“Well, I just hope he can keep out of trouble on this one. The last thing we need is something to mess this one up.”

Argmon nodded in agreement.

The planet and moons left the view port and drifted away behind the ship. They had picked up speed. No sense in wasting time if there was no one around to care what they saw. Vic could enjoy the view at high speed. He’d done this a hundred times before and this time would be no different.

“Tootsie!”

“Yes Vic,” the computer said in its sweet tone.

“When we’re coming in for a landing, I need you to send our correct ship numbers to Planchar and request a landing vector. Can you handle that?”

A pause. “I’m sure I can handle that. Currently we are sixty-five minutes forty-five seconds from landing.”

“Thank you Tootsie. I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when we’re twenty minutes out.”

“Will do, Vic.”

“It’s all your’s buddy.” Vic patted Argmon on the shoulder. “I need to get a little sleep before we land. A man’s got to look his best you know.”

Argmon sighed and shook his head as Vic put his feet up on the console and leaned back in his chair.

---

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Chapter 25

Joey didn’t know what to say. He’d been wrapped up in the story only to have everything crash down. It all was so unfair. Vic had given up his life with his mother to find a father he wasn’t even sure was alive only to find him and watch him die. How tragic.

Vic was laying down on the bench. He exhaled a plume of smoke into the air. The empty beer cans on the table had multiplied and the ashtray was now filled with butts. Joey looked down at the can in his hand. He’d been drinking too.

“That’s my story, kid. Take it for what it’s worth. I tried to go home. I can’t tell you how long that took trying to explain to Argmon where Earth was let alone trying to figure out how to talk with him. You know what I found there and had to relive when June wanted to go back there.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not going back again. I just can’t do it.” Vic sat up and propped his head on his hands. “You see, I just don’t have it in me anymore. I’ve put all that behind me. I’ve moved on. Seeing you was bad enough. Hearing about my mom wasn’t the easiest thing. If I had a way to go back, I’d have done that by now. But that’s not going to happen. Ever.”

Vic’s face clouded over. Joey was sure the man was devastated. How could he not be? Seeing his own father blown to bits just after finding him and being thrust into a bizarre situation. The weight of Joey’s situation, though nearly equally strange, wasn’t nearly as bad. He hadn’t even had the chance to say goodbye or to think about never seeing his parents again. June’s situation was the same.

“Look, kid. I’ve got to get back up to the cockpit. I’ve still got to get this load delivered.”

Vic’s hand slipped on the table and he nearly fell to the floor. Joey jumped up to try and help him out, but the effects of the beer was hitting his head hard as well. June appeared.

“Here Vic.” She handed him something. A pill. He popped it, then took several deep breaths.

“Thanks June.”

Vic got up and left. Joey suddenly felt alone despite June being there. Her nose was red and her eyes swollen. She’d been crying.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I thought not being in the same room would help when he told you about the story. Even though he’s got this tough exterior, he’s all torn up inside. I felt his pain as he told that story as if it had happened to me.”

“Is it that psychic stuff?”

“I think so. I just wish it was something I had the ability to actually control.”

Joey couldn’t think of anything to say. He felt so inept to handle this. He wanted to just run away like he had with his parents, but look where that had landed him. Even if he could run away, where would he run? It wasn’t like this ship went on forever. At some point he was going to have to face the reality that he was here and this was his new life. The sooner he accepted that the sooner he would be able to get on with it.

“So how’re you holding up?” June asked.

Joey shrugged. “Alright I guess. There’s just so much to think about.”

“And you’ve only been here for a day. Wait until you’ve been here for a week. Then a month. Then a year. There’s a lot more to think about and you could be a lot worse off. I had Vic when I got here. You can see the deep compassion he shows.” June smirked. “You’ve got Mr. Compassion and me. So just don’t feel all alone. And yes, I know that’s what you’re feeling.”

Damn! She knew how he felt? Could she read minds too?

“I’m not a mind reader, it’s just how I felt when I got here.”

“Are you sure you can’t read minds?”

June laughed. Joey smiled, but it was strained. He had more to deal with than he had ever thought life would deal him. He was supposed to be off to college in the summer, not outer space. His parents must be devastated. Must have been devastated.

“Joey.” June snapped her fingers in front of Joey’s face.

“What?”

“I was saying you’ve had a couple beers. You want something to eat?”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

June got up and served a small but satisfying meal of bread and meat, at least it looked and tasted like meat. Joey could only think about sleep when he finished. And that’s exactly what he did.

---

Chapter 26

By the time Vic made his way back into the cockpit of the SS Acid Rat the effects of the alcohol were gone. It was June that had found those pills back on some strange planet where they had made a delivery. It had never occurred to him to thank her. One of these days he would have to.

“So Argmon, how’s Tootsie?”

Argmon leveled Vic with a dark glare.

“Hey, it’s not my fault.”

Argmon snorted.

“Okay, okay, so I did buy SPX-39. They guy said it was a good deal. How was I supposed to know the machine would turn out to be nuts.”

Argmon growled.

“You did? When did you tell me? Was it before or after I’d bought it? Yeah, just sit there and be quiet. You thought SPX-39 was really going to help out until we got it back to the ship and it freaked out at its size. Then freaked out because we had a female computer system. Stupid thing is bonkers and bad with the ladies. Maybe we should take it out for drinks.”

Argmon laughed. Making fun of SPX-39 always made Argmon laugh. Vic couldn’t be sure if Argmon had heard the story, but Argmon had lost his brother the day Vic had lost his father. It was a tough day for both of them and they bonded immediately in their shared suffering. The dog beast wasn’t good at negotiations, but he was an incredible pilot.

“Vic.” The voice was SPX-39 over the ship’s con system.

“Go!”

“It appears that Tootsie is having trouble with a command you gave her. Should I abort the command or hardwire it into her psyche?”

How was he supposed to know? “What command?”

“I can’t be sure what the command was that you gave her, but I think I can hardwire it in easier than wiping it out.”

“How long until she’s up and running?”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Do it. We need to get moving.”

There was a lengthy silence. Vic wasn’t sure if SPX-39 was done talking. He was about to say something when…

“I don’t think she’s going to like me being in here.”

“Where?”

“Her psyche. She kicked me out twice and now I think she’s mad at me.”

“SPX-39! Fix her. Now!”

There was another long pause. Vic’s patience was wearing thin. He put his hands on the seat of his chair and was ready to go find SPX-39 and talk to him in person.

“Good morning.” It was Tootsie this time.

SPX-39 added, “She’s fixed sir, but she’s going to be mad at me.”

“I don’t care,” Vic snapped.

“You don’t care that it’s morning?” Tootsie asked.

“Sorry Tootsie. Are you ready to get underway?”

“I need to reboot my system. Something seems to have changed. I need twenty-eight minutes forty seconds. Shutting down now.”

“Glad to have you back, babe.” It was about time they got everything running properly.

“Mike!”

“Hey Vic. So are we done sitting around?”

“Stuff it Mike. I need you to get the engines ready for a jump to Planchar. How soon can you be ready?”

“Well, there’s calculations to be made and I’ll need to…Hey! What happened to Tootsie?”

“She’s rebooting. She’ll be back up in about thirty minutes.”

“Well, I can’t do the calculations without her up and running.”

“There’s no other way?”

“Well, I can tap into GCP Central Office and use their nava-computer. I don’t think that’s a good idea though?”

“Why not?” Vic Knew why not, he was just goading Mike.

“They’ll track us for one. Tootsie didn’t leave an untraceable trail.”

“Are you saying you can’t cover up our trail once you’re in there?”

Pause.

“Vic, I’m good, I’m not a god. Even I can’t get around the GCP computers. You know that.”

“I had to try. How soon once Tootsie is back up before we can have our route and be on our way?”

“Five, maybe ten minutes.”

“Why don’t you get up here and we’ll all have something to eat?”

“Who’s cooking?”

“June!”

“What Vic?” The tone of her voice let him know she’d been listening.

“Can you whip something up?”

“Vic! I’m not the maid on this ship! I’m not the cook either. You want to eat, cook it yourself.”

Whoops. Caught her on a bad day.

“Aw June. But you cook so much better than I do. Please.” He did his best to sound sincere.

“Since you put it that way. Hell no! Get off your ass and cook it yourself.”

“Hey Mike. Looks like we’re on our own. You want to order out?”

“I can cook,” Mike replied.

“God no! I’ve had your cooking before. Hey! I know. You need to meet Joey. Maybe we can get the kid to cook for us.”

June snapped. “Vic! That’s not nice.”

“I’m kidding. Lighten up.”

Mike laughed. Argmon pointed to himself.

“Hey Mike, Argmon said he’ll cook. You up for that?”

“I’m on my way!”

“Alright. Thanks Argmon. Let’s eat before we head into port and drop this shipment off.”

Argmon smiled and chortled.

---

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Chapter 23

Joey sat up straight. Vic had trailed off right in the middle of his story.

“And?”

Vic nearly fell over as if Joey had just woken him from a nap. “And what kid?”

“What happened?”

Vic, who had lit a cigarette at some point, snuffed out his smoke and got another from his pocket. Why didn’t he just get on with it? Joey wanted to yell at him.

There were four empty beer cans on the table. Joey had been so engrossed he hadn’t even noticed when these had appeared. Despite Vic sounding like a bad Star Trek episode, Joey wanted to hear more.

Vic moved slowly as he took a drag off his cigarette and blew a plume of smoke into the air.

“You see kid, I had no idea what was going on. I was in this weird place where everyone wanted to be quiet and I just wanted to know what the hell was going on. A couple whispers later and I was in this big, dumb arena and preparing to fight for my life. My brain still wasn’t working at full speed. You know what that’s like, but I think they gave me something because I was doing a lot better than you or June did when you got here.”

“So what did you do?”

Vic leaned in close to Joey. The smell of tobacco and beer was strong on his breath. He pointed at Joey with the cigarette and his eyes closed.

“Vic!”

“I tell you kid, you got to quit screaming.”

“Get on with the story. What happened next?”

“Oh, that. So you see this old guy turns to me and says…”

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Chapter 24

“Run, Victor.”

Victor? This guy knows my name?

The old guy was running, his robes wafting out behind him.

“How do you know my name?” Vic asked in a shout as he ran after the man. “Who are you?”

A glace over his shoulder and Vic could see the two figures he thought were people hunkered down and gaining on them with frightening speed. He ran harder.

“Did your mother send you, Victor?” the man asked between gasping breaths.

“Dad?”

Vic, as best he could while running at full speed, looked at the man’s eyes. The deep, steely blue was his father’s, but this man was old. Very old. His dad had only been gone for a few years and he wasn’t that old to begin with.

“I’ve been stuck here for nearly seventy years, Victor. I came here in search of a new life. This is what I came to.”

“Seventy years?”

“Time isn’t the same once you get off our planet. I haven’t figured it out yet, but everything is shifted. Being in that dark cell all these years, I haven’t been able to test any of my theories, but I have to assume that it somehow sent you forward in time where I am as you see me now.”

They crested a small dune and Vic pulled his father to the ground.

“I want answers now, dad. First, how do we get out of this?”

“I’m afraid we don’t. We can’t.”

“There has to be a way. We must be able to do something to get out of here.”

Vic poked his head up. The beasts he saw with their dog heads and, how many? four arms, were nearly upon them. These things were going to tear them apart with nothing more than a thought.

Vic took up a handful of sand. It was all they had. That and their clothes. Well, it worked in all the westerns. Right?

“Dad, let’s throw sand in their faces.”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t know what we’re facing here, but I’m sure we won’t win against them.”

“Well what do you propose? Stay here and die? What are they making us fight for anyway?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Their entertainment. Either we die, or the other two die. It’s quite simple.”

“Have you been here before?”

“Yes, but not against anything that was nearly as difficult as these two look.”

One of the beasts flew over the dune and spun around, teeth bared and ready to strike. Its four arms were massively muscled and it flexed and let out a hoarse scream. Vic fumbled for a handful of sand and was not able to get a handful. He had to do something. Anything. He wasn’t just going to sit here and die.

“Wait! Stop!”

The beast cocked its head. Had it understood?

“We don’t want to kill you. Do you really want to kill us?”

The second beast came over the dune and crashed into the first. They barked and growled at each other, then their attention was back on Vic. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t just imagining all this.

“Talk to them son. I think they want to hear you out.”

“Yeah. Right.” Vic stood up and held his open palms out. God I hope this shows them I mean no harm.- “I think, with your help, all four of us can get out of here.”

The beasts exchanged glances. One looked back and nodded for Vic to go on.

“These things don’t like noise. Maybe if we make enough of it, they’ll get so scared they’ll run away.”

One of them snarled. Well to Vic it made sense.

“No, we just go into the stands and make a lot of noise. They’re not going to be expecting it. If we can get a weapon or two from a guard, we’ll be in luck.”

The beasts were shaking their heads.

“Are you an idiot?” Vic’s father asked. “Make a lot of noise? What kind of a plan is that?”

“It’s the best I’ve got. Work with me, dad.”

“I’ve got a plan. Chase us, but let us get far enough away that it looks good, then chase us up into the stands. The wall is low enough and we can scare them away and be down an exit tunnel before they know what happened.”

“That sounds a lot like my plan.”

“Yes, but we don’t have to worry about the making a lot of noise part.”

One of the beasts nodded and pointed to the right.

“Come on Victor, we’re running this way.”

Hector grabbed Vic’s arm and pulled him along. The sand wasn’t the easiest thing to run through, but at least they weren’t running for their lives anymore. Well, not death from those beasts anyway. Is this even going to work?–

The side of the arena neared and Vic could see the low wall. The spectators, with their wriggling tentacles, looked as if they were cheering. The two beasts were coming up from behind and coming up quickly once again. There were no guards in the immediate vicinity of where they were planning to run.

Hector cleared the low wall without breaking stride. Vic wasn’t nearly as graceful. His foot caught the top of the wall and he fell onto the stairs. The seats near where he fell were now vacant and more clearing as the two beasts pounded up the sand to the wall.

The first leapt and appeared to be taking chase of Hector. These two were good at this. They looked really convincing.

Four hands grabbed Vic and he was hefted into the air. The second beast held Vic aloft and shook him and howled. If there was any moment when the plan could have gone horribly wrong, this was it. Hadn’t the stupid creature understood? They weren’t really supposed to fight, just run.

“Put me down!”

The creatures nearby cringed away. They were scared of the sound the dog thing made.

Vic screamed as if he was being torn apart. They pressed away even further.

The beast slung Vic over one shoulder and pounded up the steps after the others. It wasn’t stupid. It was putting on a show. It wanted everyone to think this was all part of the killing.

The steps and subsequent passageway were empty. They sped down the passageway and Vic could hear his father scream. That’s what was helping clear the way. After several twists and turns they were outside. For the first time Vic got a glimpse of the sun. It was distant and dark. Barely more than a blue ball in the sky.

The two beasts were now carrying Vic and his dad. They ran as if they knew where they were headed, growling and barking all the way down the cobbled streets and any of the tentacle creatures that the encountered quickly moved aside. Apparently his idea of making a lot of noise was what they needed to do.

The squat buildings all looked the same, but there was something in the way that they ran and turned that Vic knew everything was going to be alright. Suddenly it didn’t matter that his dad was really old, he was here and he was back together with him. He was going to be able to talk to his dad. They could zip around space and even go back to Earth and get mom. This was the best.

A building larger than all other buildings came into view. There was a sign upon it, but Vic couldn’t make out what it said.

“What’s that?”

The beast growled.

“Um, I didn’t get that.”

It growled louder.

“Oh, um. So what’s your name?”

“Argmon,” it grunted and ran on.

Well, at least he knew this things name now. Didn’t know what good that would do, but it was something.

The first beast had stopped at the entrance to the building and was in the process of wrestling with the door. The second, Argmon, joined in and they tore the door off its hinges. All four ran inside.

The building was one massive room inside. It was filled with spaceships. Vic had seen enough movies that he knew what a spaceship looked like and these were even better than anything he’d expected. If the two beasts were also prisoners, this must be some type of impound yard or something like that.

The first beast pointed to Argmon and a ship. It was a huge ship. Next to it was a similar ship, but smaller. Vic wanted to stop and look all around, but the first beast and his father had already run into the smaller ship and Argmon was almost at the larger ship. Vic rushed to catch up.

A shower of sparks descended down upon him. He hadn’t heard anything, but when he looked back, four tentacled beasts were aiming weapons and preparing to fire. They even had silent weapons. That was weird. How’d they manage that?

All thoughts of silent weapons were put out of his mind when the second shot came a little too close. He followed Argmon up a small ladder into the ship. When he was nearly at the top, Argmon reached down and pulled him inside and slammed the door closed with a resounding clang.

It was so nice to have sound back. Vic had though he was going to go insane from all the silence and quiet.

Argmon wasted no such time with contemplation. Instead he pounded along the passageway. Vic tried to keep up, but kept stopping to look at everything he passed. He didn’t want to miss anything. Argmon turned and growled to get him to go faster. Vic complied.

They stopped in the cockpit that would become very familiar to Vic over the years. He strapped in and Argmon launched the ship through the roof of the impound building. Out the view port just behind them the smaller ship followed. They were getting away. This was great. Vic felt alive and vitalized. This was the best time of his life. He and his dad were going to be renegades on the run! His father was alive. What an incredible feeling.

A bright flash of light off the side of the ship blinded Vic for a moment. When his vision cleared he could see debris of the smaller ship drifting back down toward the planet.

---

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Chapter 21

“So what do you think?”

Argmon shrugged his shoulders.

“Lot of help you are. Keep an eye on things up here. I’m going to go back and see what’s up with the kid. If there’s anything interesting other than all that black to look at, let me know.”

Argmon barked.

“Well if you’re hungry, go get something to eat.” Vic got up and walked back to the kitchen. He’d heard June talking with Joey and he’d even heard the metal feet of SPX-39 clatter down the hall. Hopefully the little machine was finally talking with Tootsie and getting her straightened out.

“Why I ever spent so much on that neurotic bucket of bolts is beyond me.”

June and Joey were still sitting at the table in the kitchen talking. June was eating, but not Joey. The kid had tried to jump him. It was an impressive jump. It was doubtful he could do it again on a whim though.

None of that mattered though. Joey was here and he was here to stay. There was no going back. If he was here to stay, he needed to be prepared. There was only one thing that was going to prepare him. Vic had to tell him everything that had happened. That wasn’t going to be easy to hear.

“Hey.”

They both looked up. June smiled. Joey looked up. His eyes were full of fear. Maybe if I smile like Argmon did. Vic made himself laugh at that. That eased Joey’s expression. He didn’t want the kid scared anymore than he needed to be.

“So June, you want to hang around and hear this? I know you didn’t do so good the first time I told you.”

He wanted her to stay. He knew she didn’t like him the way he wanted her to like him, but she didn’t dislike him. He was hard on her from time to time, but he had to be. If he let up even a little bit, she’d be sure to slide back into her depression. The only reason she didn’t was because of his intervention. He’d seen how bad it could get and she had to know things here aboard the SS Acid Rat were great compared to where she could have wound up.

“I would, Vic, but, I’ve got to go and take care of some things.”

Figures. “Then can you get me a beer? I want to relax when I tell this one.”

June returned with a beer and promptly left. Vic put his feet up on the table and cracked the beer.

“Kid, I got here much the same way you did. Only thing was that I thought I’d find my old man. I mean, where else would that machine put me except somewhere near my dad, right? Seems my mom thought the same thing. Plus she was getting really tired of me going out all the time and getting myself into trouble. I guess she thought my dad would shape me up. So she puts me into that machine and…”

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Chapter 22

Vic was certain that his eyes had been turned inside out. Not only his eyes, but the rest of his body as well. He wanted to vomit, but his stomach wasn’t in the right place. Or was it? His arms wanted to search for his body, but couldn’t. Instead they flopped about helplessly.

The room was cold and dark, but not nearly as cold as he’d been just a few minutes ago. Vic shivered and suddenly longed to be back home. After several convulsions he was able to get control of himself.

“Where am I?” Vic asked rhetorically, but he got an answer.

“Don’t talk,” a hushed voice said. “They’ll come if you talk.”

The rough and weary voice was oddly familiar. It sounded like the voice of an ancient man who’d been sent to this hole to die. Despite the warning not to talk, Vic felt the urge to do so.

“Who are you?” he tried to keep his voice at a whisper.

The man shushed. The room’s acoustics dulled all sound. Even so, Vic was able to tell the person was close by because he could hear him breathing.

Vic’s mind refused to accept what had just happened. He’d traveled somehow and his mother said his father had built a machine to send people into space. Being in a dark room with a strange person was not what he’d expected. He had visions of Star Trek-type ships flying around the galaxy or at the very least Flash Gordon ships. Anything but a dark, quiet room with an old man in it.

A warm hand touched his arm and helped him to his feet. Vic opened his mouth to say “Thank you” but he refrained.

The old man put his lips to Vic’s ear. Whiskers brushed his ear and he could smell the man’s foul breath as he whispered so softly Vic wasn’t sure he had intended to speak.

“You are in a Drogian prison. They abhor sound. Here sound is a crime.”

“Why?” Vic asked in a whisper and the man nudged him.

“You must speak as quietly as you can or they will come.”

Vic turned to the man. His head wobbled slightly as if he’d been drinking far too much the night before. His body felt weak. Talking, even in whispers was a struggle.

They took turns whispering to each other.

“Where am I?”

“On a planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. You’re as far from GCP as you can be.”

“GCP?”

“Galactic Central Point.”

That still meant nothing to him, but he didn’t want to belabor the topic. “What’s going to happen to us?”

“If we’re lucky, nothing.”

Vic felt the urge to retch and gagged. He had a coughing fit. The old man covered Vic’s head with a rough blanket to muffle the sound further. Vic wasn’t sure if it did any good or not.

White spots danced in his eyes for several seconds afterwards and he heard a ringing in his ears. He’d never coughed so hard. It was as if his body was rebelling against him. His breath rattled in his chest afterwards.

The old man removed the blanket.

“They’re coming,” the man whispered.

A tiny, white light on the wall in front of the cell flashed on and off.

The door swished open with a gentle gust of fresh smelling air. Vic felt something that wasn’t a hand grab his arms and lift him up. Thankfully they were strong enough to carry him for his body wasn’t about to function. Something pushed into his neck and he lost time.

When Vic came around he felt much better and could see though there was little to look at. Everything had a pale glow about it and for the most part was either black or a dark gray. The walls had a strange textured pattern that must be for muffling the sound. Who would find sound so offensive that it would be a crime just to speak?

Vic tried to move his arms. He was strapped in by large manacles that were constructed of a soft material. When he tried to pull away from the wall he was drawn back to it with a soft thud. He tried this twice more with no luck.

“Damn!”

“Shhh.”

The old man was strapped to the wall next to Vic. Why the old guy was shushing him now didn’t make any sense. They were obviously already in more trouble. Vic wanted to scream and his body felt good enough to do just that.

The man’s face had a familiar look to it. In a strange way, it reminded him of his grandfather, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

Before he had a chance to dwell on it further two beings with large heads, beady eyes, dark-gray skin, and tentacles came to pull Vic and his unknown partner off the wall. The beings had swords of some type with jagged edges that looked like over-sized saws. Vic wondered how quietly those worked.

Nothing was said as Vic and the old man were dragged down a dimly lit hallway. Despite his struggling efforts Vic couldn’t free himself. The beings didn’t even flinch when he pulled. He tried to plant his feet, but they were picking up speed and he had to fight just to maintain his balance.

The two were unceremoniously pushed through a set of double doors and onto a field of sand. At least it looked like a field. That was before Vic noticed, thanks to the slightly brighter lighting, it was surrounded by a stadium. He got up and brushed himself off then helped the old man.

One of the beings jabbed Vic in the back. He jumped forward and turned around. It prompted him again and he started walking into the middle of the sand-covered arena.

Every seat in the arena was filled. Tentacles waved excitedly or threw objects down to the sand. They were taunting. That’s what they were doing. By tossing things to the sand they wanted to degrade the prisoners. Vic was repulsed. He’d done nothing wrong. This was stupid. He spun around and faced the beings.

“What did I do?”

The two beings exchanged glances and actually fell back a few feet. Vic pressed forward, but was halted by their weapons. He could have been mistaken, but they actually looked afraid and confused with their beady little eyes shifting from side to side and pushing their swords forward.

Vic turned and continued plodding deeper into the sandy arena. When they finally stopped they were just shy of being halfway across the arena. He squinted and could see two other people standing about a hundred feet away. In the low light it was difficult to make out what they looked like, but they seemed to be naked. At least he still had his clothes on. Vic turned around to yell at the guards, but they were gone.

The other two people were still standing and waiting. His heart beat faster. He was going to have to fight. He was in an arena and he was about to have to fight and possibly for his life. He might end up dead when this was over. He and this old guy that looked like his grandfather.

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