Chapter 43

Joey sat up, banged his head against the upper bunk’s metal frame, and fell back down.

“Damn!”

“Joey, are you awake?” June asked from another bunk.

“No, I always bump my head and curse in my sleep.”

He shouldn’t have snapped at June like that. She’d been so nice to him since he’d been here. He just wasn’t handling this situation as well as he thought he might be able to. The worst part was he discovered he was prone to passing out under duress. That sucked. June must think he was such a wimp.

June’s face appeared from the top bunk. “Did you stay awake long enough to see what happened to Vic?”

That’s right. Mike, the big spider thing, had bitten Vic. Maybe even killed him! “Yes.”

“You’ve been out for a long time. A few hours. We’ve already stopped and gotten the anti-venom for Vic. He’s still out cold.”

“Did a doctor see him?”

“We didn’t have time to stop and see a doctor. I know Vic put a lot on the line for this and we just stopped and got it. I think we’re only about fifteen minutes off schedule. Argmon made great time stopping and getting us back on course.”

Joey leaned up on one arm. His face got closer to June’s than he intended. He scooted back slightly. She frowned slightly.

“So, um, how is he?”

“He’s still out.”

“What about this trip we’re taking. Can he handle it?”

“The person I got the anti-venom from said it’d be a few hours before we see improvement. He’s got to pull out of this and soon. We’re only about thirty minutes out from Raado. He needs to wake up and take care of this.”

“Why can’t you or Argmon take care of it?”

“This is his deal. He’s the captain of the ship. That’s his job.”

“Can’t you pose as the captain and just take care of it? Who’s going to know?”

“Do I look like a Vic? The ship’s manifest is broadcast to the planet before we land. They’ll know what’s going on.”

“So just get Tootsie to change it. Didn’t Vic do that before?”

June mulled the idea over for a moment. “Let’s go check on Vic. If he doesn’t wake up in the next fifteen minutes, we’ll do just that. I just feel weird making myself captain of the SS Acid Rat with Vic incapacitated.”

Joey got up and followed June out of the sleeping quarters. “Someone’s got to do it. Argmon will only scare people we deal with. Who better to do it?”

June stopped and put her hand on Joey’s shoulder. “Thanks Joey.”

Joey couldn’t help but flush. June’s touch felt good. He’d never had a girl, let alone a woman, be so nice to him. What a change from Earth.

“Sure thing. Let’s go check on Vic.”

June’s smile faded and she turned and sighed. “Yeah, let’s.”

Vic’s lifeless body had been laid out in the kitchen. His face was pallid and sweaty. Either side of his neck had been heavily bandaged and spots of red soaked through. Until this moment Joey had almost thought of Vic as invincible. Stupid thought. No one is invincible. Seeing Vic like this ran the point home.

The only other person in the room was Dexter who stood vigilant over Vic’s body. His three independently blinking eyes looked fretful.

“Isn’t there anything else we can do for him?” Joey asked as he sat on the bench next to Vic but far enough away from Dexter.

“Nope. It’s a waiting game now.” June fixed two glassed of steaming liquid. She offered one to Joey.

“What’s this?”

“Don’t ask. One thing you’ll learn out here is that the less you know about what you put in your mouth the better. If it smells good and tastes good, eat it.”

The liquid’s black surface swirled and streaked. A sniff reminded him of solder flux, but in a good way. It didn’t sting or burn. A sip and his tongue came to life; the metallic taste a pleasant surprise. When he swallowed his entire insides warmed.

“This is good. Thanks.”

June only smiled and took a sip of her own.

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

June looked at Vic.

“June,” Vic said weakly. “June, I need a hangover pill. Quick.”

June stood up and hovered over Vic’s face. Her smile fled and she spoke matter-of-factly to Vic. “It’s not a hangover. Mike bit you.”

Vic opened his eyes. His green eyes were no longer green. The pigment form his eyes had been replaced by a steely gray. “Bit?”

“Yes. I told you Mike was trouble when you brought him onto this ship. Do you remember what you told me?”

“Mike’s just a little off kilter. He’s not any danger.”

“That’s exactly what you told me. Now what do you think?”

Vic closed his eyes. He looked like he was sleeping, but he still spoke. “He didn’t mean to do it. Mike’s not a bad guy.”

“You stubborn idiot. Is Mike going to have to kill you before you’ll accept that he’s dangerous?”

“Why do my shoulders hurt so bad?”

“I told you. Mike bit you.”

“With what?”

“His teeth. Are you paying attention?”

Joey put his hand on June’s shoulder. “He’s delirious.”

June pulled away and left the room.

Vic took a haggard breath. “Kid, what happened?”

“It’s like June just told you. Mike built the strange web…”

“No!”

Vic’s eyes snapped open and he lurched forward. His scream brought June back into the kitchen.

“What happened?” She asked, frantic.

“I don’t know. He just asked…” June pushed him away.

Her touch, so tender just a few moments ago, pained him. Sure Vic was hurt, but he’d get better. Vic had already adjusted to this place. Seeing June and Vic from the corner of the room Joey felt alone. Very alone. Nothing but a third wheel. Why did he ever push that button? Why?

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Chapter 42

Huge. That’s all June could think. Huge. Mike created a massive web all in a matter of minutes. She’d known him for a year and he’d never done anything this big. Sure he had that little web back in his engineering room and all the little webbing across the ceilings, but those didn’t come close to comparing to this full blown spider web. She had trouble imagining Mike actually catching and eating something from it. Mike had always eaten with the rest of the crew and done so in relative politeness. He didn’t even have fangs like a normal spider.

Of course Vic’s standard response when Mike did things a little out of the ordinary went something like “You know Mike. He’s a little off kilter.” This fit the bill for off kilter, no doubt about that. The cargo bay stood nearly two hundred feet tall and Mike dangled precariously, or so it looked, in his web. He looked like he was asleep or in some sort of trance.

“What the hell did he do?” Vic asked.

June started. She hadn’t heard Vic approach. “He built a web.”

“I see that.” Vic stared up with the rest and his tone showed his amazement. “How do we get him down?”

Leave it to Vic. “You’re the captain. You figure it out.” She wanted to turn and leave, but she also wanted to see how Vic was going to deal with this situation.

“Alright. I guess I’ll shake him down. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to shoot the web out from under him.”

“Vic!”

“I’m kidding.” Vic shrugged and shook his head innocently at Joey.

“It’s creeping me out,” June said. “Just get him down.”

Vic took several slow steps toward the web. He stamped his foot on the floor and watched for a response from Mike. There was none. When he got closer to one of the web’s strands on the floor, he gave it a quick poke and jumped back. Still no response.

“He’s a big spider and probably waiting for big prey. Give it a good shake.”

Vic turned around and laughed. “Yeah right. What if I get stuck?”

“All the better.” June smiled wickedly at him.

Vic’s jovial laughter changed to stressed. He returned to the task and gripped the web strand with both hands. Taking a deep breath he shook the web violently. Back and forth he shook it. June looked up and Mike still hadn’t moved. Not yet. Then all at once his eyes snapped open and he plunged to the floor with frightening speed. With his mouth wide open it was easy to see the retractable fangs pop down like massive daggers.

Vic still shook the web.

“Get out of there!” June yelled. Why wasn’t he moving? “Oh God!” Vic’s hands stuck fast. He wasn’t going to get out of the way. Mike had flipped out and was going to eat Vic.

“Help! Get me off this thing!”

There wasn’t any time to react. None at all. By the time any of them could react Mike reached Vic and clung to Vic’s back. For the first time since she’d met Vic she heard him scream and for the first time in her life, she felt sorry for him. Being eaten alive. What a horrible way to die.

She did the only thing she could do. Yell. “Mike! Get off him! That’s Vic. Don’t bite him. Mike! Stop!”

Vic’s body slackened and fell to the floor, his hands still stuck to the web. He’s dead. Oh God he’s dead. He’s dead and Mike killed him! There’s a killer on the ship. What are we going to do?

Mike wheeled around, his eyes wide and yellow. Crimson blood and yellowish venom dripped from his fangs. He snorted twice, twitched nervously, then launched himself. June gasped. He was coming at her.

“Eep! Eep! Eep!”

A blur shot from the side and Mike fell to the floor. Dexter stood over Mike’s body. June’s breath came in short gasps. What happened?

Vic was down. Mike was down. What to do next? Vic always made the decisions. He knew what to do. The robot!

“SPX-39, come to the cargo bay. Now!” And what to do with Vic? “Tootsie! Is there any anti-venom on the ship? Vic’s been bitten by Mike.”

A click. A whir. “There is no anti-venom onboard. We’ll have to put Vic into a stasis field. That will keep the venom from spreading.”

“Tootsie. Put Vic in a stasis field and redirect our course for the nearest system with anti-venom. And Put Mike in a stasis field until we can figure out what to do with him.”

“Are you sure Vic wants to redirect the ship?”

“Tootsie! I’m in command now that Vic is down.”

“Isn’t Argmon the second in command?”

“Tootsie! Just do it. Argmon would want to do the same thing.”

Argmon howled agreement from the ship’s bridge.

“Course changed for the Veneno system. We’ll arrive there in one hour.”

Vic’s going to be pissed. He’s got that bet and we don’t have any time to waste.

“Tootsie. Is there a system closer to where we’re going? Or on the way.”

“The Veneno system is along our path.”

“Perfect. Thank you.” June knelt down and hugged Dexter. “And thank you.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

A shimmer appeared over both Vic and Mike. The stasis fields would keep them both contained and safe until they landed. Joop-Nop inspected the fields with branch-like protrusions. Its green body had mostly disappeared and it used a pair of the branches to move itself along. June didn’t know which was creepier, the green, slime version of Joop-Nop or this.

“Joey, why don’t you…” June turned around and saw Joey flat on the ground. She thought she felt his consciousness disappear. “This is a habit you’re going to have to break if you’re going to make it on this crew.”

Several clanks rattled across the floor. SPX-39 came to a stop in front of June. “You called?”

“Take Joey up and put him in a rack. He needs some rest. Then come back down here and keep an eye on Vic and Mike and make sure they don’t go anywhere. If they do, come and let me know straight away.”

“What happened?”

June decided not to tell the robot. Its paranoia could be contagious and she didn’t need anything going wrong. Anything more than had already gone wrong. It looked like they weren’t going to be getting paid this time around.

“Tootsie, signal ahead and make sure we can get a doctor and anti-venom as soon as we land.”

Vic only had a little bit of time for this run and if anyone could figure out how to get back on time, it was Vic. He’d gotten them out of several tight spots before. They were all his fault, of course, but he was good. She had to give him that. She just hoped he’d make it out of this one.

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Chapter 41

A thin wisp of smoke wound up from Vic’s mouth, though his moustache, across his nose, and dissipated above his head. Argmon was flying and Vic wasn’t needed. Vic’s part would come later, not now. Now he needed to think. Everyone had left the lounge except Joey. The kid just sat and stared at the wall.

“What do you think, kid?” Vic took another drag off his cigarette.

“I think if you keep smoking those it’ll kill you.”

The kid had a sense of humor in a crisis. Vic laughed. “That’s a good one kid. But like a lot of things, you’ll find they’ve got a pill for everything these days. My dad used to say ‘they’ll make a pill to cure everything someday.’ I guess he was right. These ones aren’t even real. They’re synthetic so they don’t have all those damaging chemicals Earth cigarettes had.”

“It’s still a bad habit.”

“Well I’m not going to discuss my smoking or my drinking with you, kid. I want to know what you think can be done to get us back to Planchar on time?”

“Why are you asking me? I didn’t even get a good look at the planet.”

“True, but hey, I’m open to suggestions.”

Joey scratched his head. “Can you ask for a little more time?”

“Not hardly. This isn’t a regular job. This one is a bet. A challenge. Almo sounded like he was daring me to take it. I just have trouble turning down bushels of money. It’s probably my biggest weakness.”

“What could we use to go faster? Are there any wormholes or anything like that?”

“What’s a wormhole?”

“Like on Star Trek.”

“There was never anything like that on Star Trek.”

“Sure there was, when Captain Picard…”

“You mean Kirk.”

“Who? Oh! You never saw the Next Generation.”

“The what?”

“Never mind. There were a few more Star Trek shows after the seventies. But there’s a lot of theory around wormholes.”

“So what is it?”

“It’s a sort of tunnel in space. You go in one spot and come out the other end instantly, but really far away from where you went it.”

“Sounds like a nice theory, but out here, there’s nothing like that. What else have you got?”

“Um… I don’t know. Can we go closer to those black holes that Tootsie mentioned to help speed us up? Black holes warp space and maybe even warp time so we could come out on the other side faster.”

“Say what?”

“Black holes…”

“I heard you. Tootsie. Did you hear what the kid said?”

“The kid?”

“Yeah, Joey. Did you hear what he said? Is that possible?”

Tootsie beeped and chirped. “The ship isn’t equipped to handle the stresses of going near a black hole.”

There had to be something there. The kid was on to something. “What about the neutron star? Its gravity isn’t as strong as a black hole.”

“The SS Acid Rat isn’t designed for such things. It’s designed to haul, not explore.”

“Damn! Kid, I really thought we were onto something.” Vic slumped back into his chair. Maybe something would come to him later in the trip. He’d taken this challenge and he would figure this out. The solution eluded him, but he always found a way. He would this time too.

Joey ran his hand though his moppy hair. “So Vic, what do you think we should do?”

Vic laughed involuntarily. “Kid, if I knew that I wouldn’t be asking you. So hey, how are you getting along? I never asked.”

“I’m still having a tough time dealing with all of this. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of it. Still feels like some weird dream that I’m going to wake up from at any moment.”

“Me and June got over all that. You will to. It’s really not such a big deal.”

“Not such a big deal? I’m thousands of years in the future in outer space. Just a couple of days ago I was at home trying to listen to Iron Butterfly, now I’m flying around the galaxy on a beer run. What’s your idea of a big deal?” Joey had nudged little by little as he ranted until he was sitting on the very edge of his seat waving his hands in the air. It was quite comical, but Vic refrained from laughing.

Instead of responding, Vic got up and got himself a beer. A smoke and beer. That’s what he needed. He turned and tossed the beer to Joey and fetched another.

“You see, kid, it’s like this. At no point during your time on this ship has your life been in danger.” Vic snuffed out his cigarette. “You get easily riled up. You’re quick to fly off the handle. That’s immaturity.”

“What?” Joey sounded offended.

Vic tried to back pedal. “Look, what I’m saying is your reactions are because you’re out of your element. This is all new to you. June was all jumpy when she first got here too. Hell, I wasn’t in any condition to handle where I wound up. Who could be? I had a dog thing help me out and I had to figure out what he was saying. At least you’ve got a couple of people here you can talk to.”

Joey stood up. “What kind of a jerk are you?”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help you out here. See what I mean about you getting all worked up over little things.”

Joey huffed and dropped the beer on the floor. “I’ll leave you alone so you can figure out how to get out of this mess you got yourself into.” Joey walked out of the lounge.

“This is your problem too!”

So weak Vic you idiot. Here he was trying to help the kid out and get him to adjust to the situation and all he’d done is get another crew member mad. At least the rest weren’t mad at him, but somehow it hurt more knowing that the two people who were mad at him were from his home planet. Did he get along better with aliens?

He lowered himself into a seat and cracked the beer. As he reached for another cigarette June’s voice squawked over the con. “Vic, get down to the cargo bay. You’ve got to see what Mike did.”

“What did he do?”

Her tone betrayed her annoyance. “Just get down here.”

Great. He needed time to relax and figure this out. He didn’t need to be getting distracted. Not now. How bad could Mike’s timing be to pull something random? He was strange and did stuff once in a while, but he’d always done it when things were slow, not when they were in pressed for time.

Vic stopped at the ladder looking down into the cargo hold. June, Joey, Joop-Nop, and Dexter were on the floor looking up at the far corner of the bay. They were looking at Mike on a web. An incredibly massive web. Bad timing Mike. Really bad timing to go and pull something like this.

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Chapter 39

“We’re approaching the Planet Planchar,” one of the deck officers announced.

Any minute now and the planet would be in sight. Finally this pursuit would come to an end. He could capture the SS Acid Rat, tow it back to Bamda and make a proper arrest.

B.T. Justice sat in his command chair. He couldn’t have been more proud. He pulled a cigar out of the compartment in the arm of his chair.

“Junior,” he said kindly. “bring me a drink.”

He didn’t care if the crew knew. He deserved a celebratory drink. After a momentary thought to allow the crew to join him, he decided it’d be best if they had a party after they were towing the crooks back to Bamda. He didn’t even care if they had offloaded already. It wasn’t the material he was after, it was the culprits.

“How long until we make landfall?”

“We’ll be on the ground in twenty minutes.”

“And you have the coordinates of the SS Acid Rat?”

“Yes sir.”

“And it’s still on the ground?”

“According to the planet’s flight log, yes.”

“And how long ago did you check that log?”

“I checked before we left the Munchkada System.”

“Check it again. It’s been a few hours. ” -Perhaps it is too soon for that drink.-

Junior delivered it anyway and B.T. Justice took a sip. The taste wasn’t right. The drink didn’t sit well with the dryness of his mouth. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Even before he heard the news he put the drink down on one arm rest, the cigar on the other, and stood up. Before the news was delivered he picked up his riding crop.

“Sir,” the officer said softly.

Sheriff Justice put his hands behind his back, puffed up his chest with a deep breath, and turned around. “Yes.”

“The SS Acid Rat is no longer on Planchar. The ship left about ten minutes ago.”

Ten minutes. That wasn’t so bad. His frown deepened and he narrowed his eyes at the officer. “And you’re already pulling up their last known trajectory and course projections and setting up our navigation system to follow them. Right?” It was all he could do to keep from screaming. He was already out on a limb chasing them to Munchkada and doubly so being here in Planchar, a much more populous system. Now the chase was going to continue to yet a third system.

“That is being calculated now sir.”

B.T. Justice relaxed slightly. A ten minute head start could mean several light years, but as long as they knew the ship’s course, they could follow. What could have prompted them to leave in such a hurry? Surely they couldn’t have been alerted to his arrival. They hadn’t told anyone where they were? The crew of the SS Acid Rat had outsmarted him once with their multiple trails, but they wouldn’t outsmart him a second time. Oh no they wouldn’t.

“Sir, we have their course.”

“Are the ship’s computers set up to follow?”

“I don’t know if this is the best place for us to go, sir.”

“That’s my call to make. Set the course.”

“Sir, they’re headed to the Rocmou system.”

“So what. Get us over there.”

“The system has a standing blockade. We’ll need to pass through the blockade to get to the Raado planet. If we go through the blockade…”

“GCP Central Office will be alerted that we’ve overstepped our bounds. Is there any way around?”

“Yes sir, but it’ll take twice as long if not longer to get there.”

“I don’t care. Plot the course and take us around that blockade. We’ll catch them on Raado.”

Why were they on their way to Raado? The only thing that Raado produces as an export is beer. What good would that do them?

“Sir, I’ve plotted the course. If they’re picking up something from Raado, they’ll have to go around the blockade to get back to Planchar, if that’s where they’re headed.”

“Explain.”

“The blockade doesn’t allow the transport of such beverages and searches each ship that passes through. They’ll have to go around the system. The course we’ve plotted is the fastest course going around the blockade. They’re sure to use the same route.”

“Perfect. Get us there now. Perhaps if we’re fast enough we’ll catch them while they’re still on Raado. Junior!”

Junior picked up the drink from Justice’s chair and hustled over with it, spilling some in his haste. There would be plenty of time for more drinks. The crew of the SS Acid Rat is going slip up sooner or later and I’ll be there to tighten the noose. Oh yes, I’ll be there. They aren’t going to make a fool out of B.T. Justice. This little game of cat and mouse, or should I say cat and rat?, won’t last forever and the cat always wins.

Once again the Apprehension slinked away after the SS Acid Rat’s tail.

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Chapter 40

“Boss this is Mike.”

Vic took the challenge. Hopefully the boss hadn’t heard about the near bungle of the situation. Mike had spent far too much time with this crew that lying was difficult at best. He didn’t like any of them, did he? He had a job to do and didn’t have time for relationship entanglements.

The static from the box started. This confrontation could turn out badly if the boss heard about what transpired planet-side. The boss had only ever wanted reports as to what was going on in the ship. This was the first time in the year Mike had been on the ship he’d been asked to do something else. He did the best he could. What did it matter, Vic had taken the challenge.

“Report.” The boss’s voice was quiet but still had that same gravely tone.

“Vic took the challenge and we’re en route.”

“Is there anything else to report at this time?” asked the boss in the same quiet tone.

“Nothing.”

The machine spat static for several seconds and fell silent.

“Well that was strange.” The boss had never been so distant. Usually he would take at least a little time to talk. And what to make of his tone? Was he upset? Distracted? Something else entirely? Without ever having seen the boss’ face, Mike could only rely on the man’s voice to get a reading on him, but this time he’d spoken so drastically different Mike wasn’t even sure it was the boss at all.

“You’re getting paranoid. That’s all. Just need to proceed as planned. Everything will work out.” Mike closed his eyes and continued to talk to himself. With the communication box hidden in his web Mike didn’t feel comfortable at all.

Even after exiting the web, the control room felt constricting. Are the walls closing in? The experience of claustrophobia was foreign to Mike. He needed to be outside. He needed to get out of this little room. Even in the cargo hold the ship felt too small. What to do? Where to go? To ease his nerves Mike raced up to the ceiling of the ship, planted the base of a web on the wall with his spinners and dove off the wall.

The plunge down should clear my head. That’s all I need. A little air on my face. That’s all. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. Just a little air. A little air.

Mike stopped spinning and let the web stretch toward the floor. It took several trips up and down and he had the beginnings of a web when he was done. Rather than let good webbing go to waste, he formed his first full web in the ship’s cargo hold. Circling around and around connecting all the strands helped him calm down and relax.

It had only taken ten or maybe fifteen minutes, but when he finally finished the web he was exhausted. Mike made his way to the center of the web, tucked his legs in, and closed his eyes.

It had to be the pressure of a year without working a job. Oh, he’d worked on the Acid Rat, sure, but not his line of work. Am I too rusty for this job?- Mike knew that wasn’t the case. He’d done far too much work to let a little thing like time off stop him. Deep breaths and a clear mind, that’s all he needed. That was it. Just clear his mind and let his actions dictate. Training would all come back. The boss would give the signal and everything would work out.

Mike slept.

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Chapter 38

Joey could feel someone touching his face, but everything was black. What happened? Where am I?- His mind was muddled. He coughed. He rolled over. He finally opened his eyes.

“Good, you’re awake. Vic wants to talk to everyone. I personally don’t like the tone of his voice at the moment. He sounds too happy.”

June talked, but the words didn’t register right away. She had her helmet off, but still had the tight, black outfit on. Joey looked from her waist up to her face. His head felt full of lead and his eyes drooped.

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

She tucked her arm under his and pulled him to his feet. His head banged into the upper bunk. She apologized and dragged him across the narrow passageway and into the lounge. Everyone, including SPX-39 with its suspicious glare, sat waiting. Vic stood up.

“Great, you’re awake. Kid, I wanted you to hear this too because you’re part of the crew now.”

“What did you get us into this time, Vic? I don’t like that gleam in your eye.”

“June, I just made a deal for this crew that I couldn’t turn down. Tootsie, I need a timer set for twenty-four standard hours and I need it to start counting down now.”

“You got it, Vic.”

“Ok, we’re about to get instructions from one Almo Petrino. Those instructions will include directions, an inventory list, and verification of funds to be deposited.”

“Vic,” June said, shaking her head. “What’s going on? I thought you were going to a party.”

“We’re all going to that party June.” Vic frowned. “I want you to go to. The celebration is for all of us.”

“Whatever.”

“Just sit down and let me tell you guys the deal. Mr. Petrino has offered to triple the pay for this job, if we get him his items and get back in twenty-four standard hours.”

“Or?”

“Or? What do you mean or?”

“There had to be an ultimatum. He’s not just going to give us triple pay for getting some stuff in a short amount of time.”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

Vic looked at the floor. Joey, his head still not fully aware yet, tried to figure out what was going on. Obviously they had made the delivery and there was going to be some sort of party, and this Almo guy needed something. It was all confusing.

“He did say something about double or nothing at first, but now it’s triple.”

“Or nothing?” June snapped.

“Well, yes. But it’s going to be really easy. He just needs stuff for his party. It’ll be a snap.”

“Getting the tonindrium was supposed to be a snap, Vic. It took us two weeks just to find a supplier. It sounds like this Almo person is trying to screw us out of our money. What did you get us into?”

Vic rubbed his mouth. He looked like someone who’d been caught making a terrible decision. Three times he tried to respond, but had nothing to say.

“Vic, you idiot. This guy is going to send us all over and we’re going to lose the pay for this job. Not to mention we’ve got a police cruiser waiting for us back at Munchkada, and you ruined my plans for when we get back. How stupid could you be?”

“This is going work,” Vic said weakly.

June snorted in disgust and left.

“Um, Vic.”

“Yeah, kid.” Vic had lost all his prior enthusiasm.

“I was out for a little bit, but what’s going on? You got another job?”

“Sort of.” Vic filled Joey into all the details about the job in question. Something didn’t feel right.

“So you see, kid, I thought it would be best for everyone if we took this job. I mean, we’re not just getting paid double or triple. We’re getting paid double already, and this guy is going to triple that pay. We’re making six times our usual rate. That’s a lot of money. How could I turn it down?”

“Eep. Eep. Eep.”

“Thank you Dexter. See, he’s up for a challenge.”

“But you get nothing for the delivery or the delivery of tonindrium if you don’t make it back in time.”

“I think the guy is just being dramatic. It doesn’t matter. The government is already paying us their part, so even if we don’t make it, we’re still even.”

Joey’s head finally started clearing. “But why would he make that kind of deal if there wasn’t a risk involved?”

“That’s what’ll make this fun.” Joey didn’t like the glint in Vic’s eye. It gleamed of trouble.

“So Vic,” Mike chimed up. “How long until we hear about the details for the job?”

Joey gave Mike a dubious look. Mike had been outside while the deal was made. Why didn’t he know what was going on? If anything, Vic, Argmon, Dexter, and Mike should all know what was going on. Only June, Joop-Nop, SPX-39, Tootsie, and Joey were inside while the deal was being made.

The sweet voice of Tootsie filled the chamber. “Vic, you’ve got a call coming through.”

“Put it through in here.”

A fat man in a white suit appeared in the middle of the lounge. Joey nearly leapt out of his skin. It looked so real. So life-like. It was disturbing.

“Ah, Vic. I see you’re back on your ship. I hope you have notified your crew and they’re all ready to go.”

“They are.”

Joey knew he was ready to leave this planet. The pollution took its toll on his senses and he wanted to see a different planet. Hopefully something more like Earth. June poked her head around the corner and watched. Joey felt better knowing she didn’t stray far. Her presence was the most comforting.

“My computer is talking with your computer right now and giving it the coordinates. It’s only one place I need you to go.”

Vic leaned back in his chair and tried to look relaxed. “What are we picking up?”

“It’ll be a shipment from the Rocmou system. In that system is a planet covered completely in ice and snow, the Raado Planet, and their chief export is beer. My favorite beer. I want you to get me as much as your ship can carry.”

“That’s it? Pick up some beer for your party.”

“That’s it. And be back here in twenty-four standard hours.”

“I don’t think we’ll need the full twenty-four standard hours, but we’ll take them all the same.”

“Your computer should have all the details by now. I suggest you get going, and soon.”

The image of the fat man in the white suit disappeared.

“Tootsie, are you working out the course yet?”

“Vic, I’ve got bad news.” Tootsie ticked and dinged several times. “We won’t be able to make it there and back in twenty-four standard hours based on the route I’ve plotted out.”

“I knew it!” June shouted from the doorway.

“Tootsie, how is that possible. He said it was just a couple of systems over.”

“It is. We’ll be able to get there quickly enough. The problem it that the sector we go through to get there doesn’t allow transport of such beverages and has a standing blockade to enforce that law. We’ll have to go around the sector to get back and going around that sector takes us past two black holes and a neutron star with such gravitational forces that we’ll be forced to make additional course corrections. The best course I have plotted, which skirts the very outside edge of that sector brings us back in twenty-six hours and ten minutes.”

Vic stood up. “We’d better get going. We’ll find somewhere to make up the time once we have the load. Everyone get buckled in. Argmon! Let’s go.”

---

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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.

---

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.

---

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.

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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.

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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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