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V&A Shipping 2: Hollow – Chapter 6
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/VA-Shipping-2-Hollow—Chapter-6-e1ebhh8
Nearly six months turning big rocks into little rocks. A year of rehabilitation after his incarceration. Finally, after all that time, he was back on the Police Cruiser Apprehension. Albeit under supervision from an officer with an untarnished reputation, but he was back. The sound of his boots clacking on the metal deck was music to his ears. Only one thing was missing, what could that be?
“Junior?”
How easily it had been to convince those fools back on Bamda to allow him to ride under the supervision of his son. Did they think he would be on a ship with anyone else? And the GCP Central Office didn’t need to know about the little arrangement. As long as they kept to their system, nothing could go wrong. He would have his position back after another twelve months of probation and everything would be right in the universe once more.
“Yes, Daddy?”
“Boy, how many times do I have to tell you? Don’t call me that. We’re not at a family picnic, are we? Do you see any potato salad anywhere? Blankets? Picnic tables?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you call me sir! Or you call me Sheriff Justice. You do not call me ‘daddy’. We’re on board an official police vehicle. I know it’s been a while son, but you’ll remember quickly enough.” To emphasize his point, B.T. Justice slapped his riding crop on the side of his freshly pressed uniform.
“Yes, sir?”
“Better. Next time just try not to ask like you’re confused as to why you’re even in my presence in the first place, alright?”
“Okay.”
B.T. sighed. “Okay? Okay? Didn’t I raise you better than that, boy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have a little task for you. Do you think you can handle it?”
Finally, Junior stood up tall and looked like he was ready. “I can handle it. What can I do?”
“Junior, bring me a hamburger.”
The boy’s eyes looked up, then looked down, the gears were turning, and finally, his eyes lit up. “Yes, sir!”
“That’s a good boy.”
It impressed Sheriff Justice that his son had been able to take over on the Apprehension. It couldn’t possibly be that the kid had done something outstanding. It had to be the boy’s lineage. The Justice line went back seven generations in the Bamda system and would carry on far into the future. It made him proud that his line would continue. He just needed to find a bride for his idiot son. The boy surely couldn’t find a woman on his own. After their two-week stint around the solar system, he would take some time off with the boy. He deserved at least that.
“No, just wait here. I’ll be back.”
“Junior, who are you talking to?”
“Nobody, sir. Here’s your drink.”
An officer B.T. Justice didn’t recognize stayed in the passageway, a young officer with sandy-blond hair, a small chin, and a scowl on his face. Junior closed the door and handed a glass with clear liquid to B.T.
After a long swig, Justice swirled his finger around the glass. “I think I might need another one of these. And some time alone. I need to plan a little vacation for us. How’s that sound?”
“I…well…if I have some time off, maybe we can do that.”
“I’ve been gone for how long? Now I want to spend a little time with my boy and you’re not sure if you’ll have time off? Do I mean so little to you?” Sheriff Justice poked Junior in the chest. “Maybe you’re getting a little too big for your britches. Remember where you came from, boy. Just go make some calls to make sure you can have a week or two to spend with your old man. I’ll make some calls and set us up on a nice vacation on the Corola Shores.”
Bamda had many fine vacation spots. The Corola Shores was where B.T. had met his wife. Junior might not be so lucky, but at least it’d be a start. All work and no play would make Junior a dull boy.
“I’ll work on that. I’d better get back. I have duties to attend to.” Junior backed toward the door and left the room.
Even though he wasn’t officially the captain of the ship, he’d been given his old quarters. Junior hadn’t felt right in taking his father’s room. Everything was just as he’d left it. Perhaps now was a good time to take a bath. There was ample time and Junior had things under control for the moment.
He sat on the edge of the bed and started to take off his boots. Just as he was about to take off his socks, an alarm went off.
“Junior! What’s happening?”
The intercom crackled and Junior’s voice yelled, “Brace for impact. Collision highly possible.”
“Collision? With what? We’re in the middle of our system.” Justice started to put his boots back on.
“Collision averted.”
“Junior, I want a report. What’s going on? A comet? Stray asteroid?” Without bothering to tie his boots, Sheriff Justice strode out of the room, grabbing his hat and riding crop off the table next to the door as he exited the room.
“Another ship towing something.”
B.T. Justice stomped onto the bridge. He half expected soldiers to sit up and take notice, but he needed to keep in mind that he wasn’t officially in charge. Under his current station, he was just another officer on the ship. He put his hat on his head and walked over to stand behind Junior.
“Did you say a ship towing something? It couldn’t have been moving that fast through our system. Why didn’t we notice it sooner?”
The officer with the sandy-blond hair that had been with Junior pointed at the screen. “They were jumping in spurts. They only made small jumps. It appears they’ve got a planetoid orbiting their ship. That’s what almost hit us.”
“Any idea what could possibly be traveling through our system? No one should be going through our system like that without proper approval.”
“Well, officer Justice, I’m trying to get the ship’s call sign. I should have it in a few moments.”
“Junior, did you hail the ship? Try to get them to stop?”
“Daddy, sir, there wasn’t time. I barely had time to make the announcement.”
Good enough excuse. “So why are you still standing here? Do I need to do it myself?”
“I’m on it.” Junior ran across the bridge to the communication station.
“Do you have that call sign yet? Are we in pursuit? Is anyone doing anything?”
“I’ve got the ship’s identification. Looks like it was the SS Acid Rat.”
Justice dropped his riding crop. “Tell me you didn’t just say that.”
“Looks like it, sir. Their ship has taken some minor damage. Perhaps that threw them off course.”
Junior came back over from the communication station. “There’s no response. I think they might be in trouble. We should…”
“We should catch them and arrest them. That’s what we should do.” Justice pushed past his son. “Set in a course to intercept. Follow that ship! Apprehend them!”
A couple of officers jumped, a few just looked at him blankly.
“Did I stutter? Let’s go.”
“Daddy.”
“Don’t you call me that while we’re on the bridge.”
“Sir, they’ve already left our system, we can’t go after them.”
“Don’t tell me what we can and what we can’t do. They broke the law. They almost crashed into an official police vehicle. We will take pursuit and we will arrest them. Junior, contact the home planet that we’re going to…”
He needed to play this one right. He was still under probation. If he took pursuit again, he might never be allowed to wear a badge again. If he were to provide the ship with assistance, that was a different story.
“Junior, contact the home planet. We’re going to help the ship.” Justice pointed at the communication officer. “You, contact that ship, let them know we’re en route to help them. Do not tell them who we are no matter how many times they may ask. Junior, contact GCP and let them know we’re leaving our system to assist a ship in distress. Let them know what ship we’re in pursuit of and that we do not need any assistance. We will handle it.”
Justice walked away from everyone and toward the monitor. He looked out at the stars in front of the ship. A second chance. That’s what he’d been given. Finally, he’d be able to extract justice on the crew of the SS Acid Rat. He would not have this opportunity taken away from him. It took long enough, but finally, the ship made a turn, and the stars blurred.
“Here I come.”
V&A Shipping 2: Hollow – Chapter 4
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/VA-Shipping-2-Hollow—Chapter-4-e1e1cfa
“What the hell was that?”
All he wanted to do was get a little more sleep. It was like having a party of ten-year-olds. All the banging and crashing and he’d only been asleep for a few minutes. He knew Muffin had given him something to keep him from getting a hangover because it always gave him a worse headache if it hadn’t taken full effect.
“Victor, B.O.B. was trying to clean the lounge. I’ve told him numerous times not to do that. He broke the glass on the beer dispenser. I’m afraid we’ll have to figure out how to keep your beer at the proper temperature.”
“Fine, so B.O.B. is doing his best. What else is banging around? That last one didn’t sound like it came from the lounge.”
Vic liked B.O.B. The robot tried so hard and was just so darned polite. Besides, they needed an artificial life form on board. It was almost an unwritten rule. SPX-39 had been scared of its own shadow, but still did some things they needed from time to time. B.O.B. was the same even if it proved to be the clumsiest bot in the galaxy. At least it was mostly harmless.
“The last impact was on the outside of the ship toward the aft section.”
“Okay, and what hit us?”
“I’m calculating that, Victor. Once I know I will let you know.”
Vic fought his way off his water bed, the best improvement he could have possibly asked for on this ship, and up the ladder to the navigation level. The new crew quarters that gave each person their own room was much bigger and a whole level down from the navigation, galley, and lounge. Sure it was a little more difficult if you had to get from your bed to the storage area, but everyone having their own room made life so much better on the ship.
After getting to the top of the ladder, he saw B.O.B. standing in the passageway between the galley and the lounge. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Vic. I was just trying to clean as quickly as I could and, well, you know how I get nervous sometimes when I’m in a hurry and trying to do a good job and my arms just go all wonky on me…”
Vic put a hand on the robot’s shoulder. “I understand B.O.B. Now please try to relax and just go sit down. We’ll figure everything out.”
B.O.B. started to say something, but Vic held up a hand and pointed to the lounge. The bot lowered its head and sulked into the lounge. It didn’t sit, it didn’t turn around, it didn’t even move once it had found a spot to stand. It was like scolding a child when all it wanted to do was help you do the dishes.
“June, Joey, where are you two?”
“We’re in here.”
Vic followed June’s voice into the galley. Joey still looked scared, or tired, but at least he wasn’t catatonic anymore. June stood with her hands on the table leaning down as if she were talking to Joey.
“Any idea what hit us?” Vic asked as he sat across from Joey.
“We’re still waiting for Muffin to tell us what happened.”
“It’s probably that black hole engine we’ve got. It’s sucking in debris from the planet we’re towing.”
June smacked Joey on the back of the head. “Stop that. I told you already we have that under control.”
Joey crossed his arms on the table and put his head down. “Fine.”
“Vic, why did you have to show him the drive while we’re out in the middle of space?”
“How was I supposed to know the kid was going to freak out? I mean he’s been all googly-eyed at everything else he’s seen since he got here. I thought he’d be all excited to see it. It’s not like I’ve been able to spend much time showing him things while we’re in port. The two of you keep taking off and usually take Dexter with you.”
“What, now you feel like Joey and I are abandoning you?”
This wasn’t the time or place for a discussion like this. Vic rubbed his head. Hopefully, this headache would go away soon. Why did Muffin need to keep spritzing him with that stuff?
“Okay, look. We’ll all have a nice sit-down soon enough. But right now we need to figure out what hit the ship and if there’s anything else that’s going to hit the ship. I’d like to make this delivery and have the ship still in one piece.”
Something banged loudly on the hull. The dampers on the ship kept them from feeling the vibration, but Vic could swear he felt the ship lurch sideways a little bit.
“Muffin! What’s going on?”
“I’m trying to calculate the trajectory of the objects coming in, Victor. Please be patient.”
“We don’t have time for patience. Is there any damage to the exterior?”
Muffin beeped. “To check the damage to the hull, I’ll need to spend less time calculating the trajectory of what hit us and take time to investigate the exterior of the ship. I’m already spending time talking to you which is taking away from my calculations. What would you like to do, Victor?”
What he wouldn’t do to have Tootsie back. At least that one knew how to take an order. This replacement only served to aggravate him. It was as if June had programmed it.
“Eep. Eep. Eep.”
“We’re trying to figure that out, Dexter.” June sat down next to Joey and bumped him so the kid sat up.
“Dexter, suit up. We need to go look at the outside of the ship. Muffin is busy trying to figure out what hit us and where it’s coming from. I’m not going to have anything happen to this ship while we’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Eep. Eep. Eep.”
“Joey, you up for a spacewalk? Maybe the fresh air will do you some good.” Vic thought the joke would go over well.
June glared at Vic. The joke hadn’t gone over well with her.
“Sure. Let’s go.” Joey looked pale and on the verge of being sick, but he was the first one to leave the room.
“Seriously? You’re going to take him on a spacewalk in this condition?”
“Hey, look. He needs to do something to get his mind off whatever his problem is with the black hole drive. This is just the thing he needs. Let’s go Dex.”
“I was about to make breakfast. At least you can wait until Muffin has analyzed whatever hit us.”
Another boom echoed throughout the ship. “We don’t have time and she’s busy enough as it is.”
“I thought we had other sensors to monitor what’s happening on the outside of the ship. Why don’t we just turn on the cameras and watch?”
“That sounds like a lovely idea, but we can get out there with blasters and shoot away whatever is hitting the ship. Whatever is hitting us, it’s too big for the standard deflectors to fend off. We need to get out there, do a little walking around, check the damage, and hopefully figure out what’s going on. We’ll be alright. Just cool your little head.”
Vic decided to leave the room before June’s glare burned a hole through his skull. It wasn’t like they’d be in that much danger anyway. The ship was pretty big and anything hitting the ship would likely miss them. Even if they did get hit by something, the hard suits would protect them. They just needed to make sure to stay tied off so they didn’t drift away. June worried too much. Maybe that’s what had gotten Joey all worked up over the black hole drive.
Dexter, Joey, and B.O.B. were all in the weapons locker. Dexter and Joey were getting suited up. B.O.B. appeared to be helping them, but Vic had told the bot to stay in the lounge.
“What’s going on?”
“Eep. Eep. Eep.”
“Not you, Dex. B.O.B., what are you doing down here? We’re about to take a walk on the hull. You need to stay inside. I thought you were going to stay in the lounge.”
“Vic, please let me go with you. I’m sure I can be of help and if anything goes wrong, well, I don’t need air. I’ve got magnetic feet so I won’t fly away. I just want to be there to help you. I’ve got great eyesight and it’s easy for me to see anything that’s moving. You can count on me to stay out of your way unless you need me…”
“Thank you, but please stay inside. I don’t know what’s going on out there yet, and we just need to assess the damage. Muffin is busy, so the three of us are going to go out there. Do you think you can stay by the airlock in case we need emergency help once we come back?”
“Oh! Certainly, I can do that, Vic. I’ll go get the medical kit and I’ll wait right next to the airlock waiting…” B.O.B. kept on talking as it exited the room in search of the medical kit that Vic doubted they would need.
“Are you two almost ready?” Vic asked as he started putting his suit on. He hadn’t worn the hard suit in a long time. June and Dexter were in charge of making sure the gear was always in ready condition so there was no doubt in his mind it would be safe.
“What is it we’re going to be doing out there?”
“Kid, I thought you were listening. We need to go out and check the hull for damage. If there was a hull breach, we’d be hearing all kinds of alarms, but I want to know what we’re dealing with so we’re going to go out and take a quick look around.”
“Oh.”
“Eep. Eep. Eep.” Dexter’s eyes blinked out of unison as he cocked his head to the side.
“Yes, you can take the lead.”
They finished donning their suits and made their way to the airlock. B.O.B.’s mouth grill glowed showing he was talking and Vic just nodded as the airlock door opened. B.O.B. continued to talk even after the airlock door had been closed. Vic waved and smiled.
“June, can you hear me?”
“Got you, Vic. You guys be careful out there.”
“Let me know if you hear anything else hit the hull.”
“Will do.”
“Hey, kid! Look up there.”
Joey turned around and followed Vic’s hand. The planet blocked out the stars allowing them to see its progress. Vic watched Joey and the kid smiled.
“Looks like fresh air was just what the doctor ordered, eh?” That got a laugh out of the kid.
It didn’t take long to get to the top of the SS Acid Rat and check out the top. The first spot they came across looked as if whatever hit them had deflected off nicely. No major damage.
“June, can you see a visual? This one doesn’t look too bad. If you grab my coordinates you can check to see if there’s any interior damage we’re not seeing from this point.”
“I’m checking, just hold that position for a minute.”
“Vic!” Joey pointed at something. Vic looked, but at first, couldn’t make out just what it was. Stars blinked on and off. Was this thing moving toward them?
“What is that?”
“Eep. Eep. Eep!” Dexter hopped, but the tether attached to Joey pulled the tri-ped to a stop. Why would Dexter be trying to…
V&A Shipping 2: Hollow – Chapter 3
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/VA-Shipping-2-Hollow—Chapter-3-e1dq15k
“Have the boys picked up our lost shipment yet?” June picked at something under her nails. She needed to take a shower.
Muffin beeped. “The boys aren’t the ones fetching the shipment. Argmon has redirected the ship. I’m performing calculations to ensure it will stay in orbit.”
“Didn’t you already do those calculations?”
“Of course I did. Victor failed to tell me that he wanted an alarm in case we lost it.”
Why were the navigation computers always so literal? The last one had nearly gotten them all killed trying to obey an order from Vic. Hopefully, Vic learned from that mistake. She didn’t want a repeat performance with Muffin.
“So how did we lose it in the first place? You were able to trace when we lost it. Why did we lose it?”
For the first time, Muffin started making clicking noises. Usually, it had an answer or just went silent. June didn’t like the sounds it made.
“June, what are you doing to Muffin? I thought we had all agreed not to give our new computer anything difficult to do.” Vic didn’t look happy. It probably had something to do with the few beers he’d had since he woke up. Not enough sleep combined with alcohol never did him any good.
“I think you just need to go back to bed. Things are under control.”
Joey wasn’t anywhere in sight, but she could feel him. He’d gone to the break room and his mind was filled with worry. Vic had done something stupid. Hopefully, it didn’t involve Dexter. Joey always had a way of getting hurt along with Vic whenever he’d pull one of his pranks on Dex.
“What did you do to Joey this time?”
“I just explained to him about the black hole drive. That’s all. Something in his mind snapped like having a black hole on board the ship was dangerous or something. Hey, what’s an Iron Maiden anyway?”
“You can be so stupid sometimes.” June started to get up, but Muffin finally came back with an answer.
“June, Victor, I tried to determine why we lost our shipment. I am unable to come up with a solution. All I can determine from the data I have available is it changed orbit and broke free. By all calculations, it shouldn’t have changed direction.”
“Well do we have it back yet?”
“Victor, it will be back in orbit around the ship in the next few minutes. Shall I notify you as soon as we have it?”
Vic finished off his beer and let out a loud belch. “Nah, I’m going back to bed. June, can you take over for Joey?”
“What about Argmon? He’s already here. I’m sure he doesn’t mind. Do you big boy?” June stroked Argmon’s arm.
Argmon snorted.
“Fine, as long as someone is up here. I don’t think Joey is right in the head at the moment. I don’t know why, but I think he needs some time to digest the whole blackhole thing. Why is that so hard for him…”
Vic kept on talking as he walked away.
“Argmon, let me know if you need anything. I’m going to go take care of the two babies.”
The Shathar gave a little growl but didn’t look away from the controls.
“June, dear. We have the planet back in orbit. I just thought someone might want to know.”
“Thank you, Muffin. I’ll let you and Argmon get us back on course.”
June needed to go back and check on Joey. The best she could tell he’d gone into a state somewhat related to shock. He’d always been so accepting of everything around him, why would this one little thing suddenly make him worry so much. It wasn’t as if it had just appeared. It’d been there the whole time. He was smart and understood a lot of things, why would the propulsion system of a spaceship scare him so much? She’d just have to get in there and talk to him.
She liked the way the lounge had been upgraded. It still had much of the same furnishings as it did before, but now it was so much bigger. They weren’t cramped in with their knees bumping the small, central table and with nothing but Vic’s beer machine on one wall. Now they had a wide variety of refreshments to choose from. They didn’t even have to hang out in the galley to eat. They could cook there, and bring it to the lounge and just sit back and relax. They even had a floor-to-ceiling entertainment screen in case there was something they wanted to watch, though it seldom got turned on.
Joey sat in a chair and turned himself in circles. It was worse than she thought.
“Hey there. How are you?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t even look up. He would just spin, slow down, spin again. Something drastic had to be done to get his attention. She walked across the room, put her boot on the chair to stop him, and gave him a good slap.
“What did you do that for?” He almost jumped up out of the chair, but she put her boot in his chest and pushed him back down.
“Are you thinking clearly now?”
He rubbed his cheek. “Yes.”
“What’s the problem here? It’s not like you haven’t seen strange new technology before. Why is the fact that the ship is powered by a black hole so disconcerting to you?”
“Why? Because black holes destroy everything. It doesn’t matter how big or how small they are, they exist for destroying. That’s why. We’re carrying around the source of our destruction. One small failure on my part as Ship’s Engineer and we’re all dead. How could Vic put that responsibility on me? What if I did something wrong or if I pushed the wrong button. We’d all be dead. In a fraction of a second, this ship would just disappear.”
“I think you’re overreacting just a little bit.”
“Overreacting? We’re all that’s left of Earth. The three of us are the only humans in the galaxy. If we die it’s all over. Then what?”
“No, really. You’re overreacting. There are so many safety precautions in place that you’d have to make about a hundred mistakes before anything bad could happen to this ship.”
“But we just lost a planet. Not that many things needed to go wrong for that.”
June shook her head. “Muffin is trying to figure out how we lost that planet. From all her calculations and monitoring of the situation, it shouldn’t have veered off like it did.”
Joey sat up and ran his hands through his hair. “But it did! And while I was supposed to be watching it. How can I take that knowledge and go back to the engineering room and know it’s not going to happen with the engine.”
Joey started to cry. June got up and hugged him. He was still having a hard time adjusting to being in space. Most of the time there wasn’t anything to do and even though he’d taken to studying the ship, he still didn’t know a lot about it. Perhaps it was just all the pressure of the situation. Maybe it was because he was still so young for everything he’d been through in such a short time, and for the most part, he’d held up well. It was just this one little thing he couldn’t get past.
She took a deep breath and pushed relaxation into Joey’s mind. With each breath, she could feel his anxiety flowing away. His crying stopped. His heartbeat returned to normal.
“Thank you.”
She kissed him on the head. “I know it’s still early, but I think we should get some breakfast.”
“June, I thought you would like to know that we’re back on course.”
“Thank you, Muffin. Please let Vic know.”
“He’s already asleep. I’ve administered a gas that will ease the effects of the alcohol he drank.”
June laughed. Muffin was good at doing things like that. Vic would probably be upset, but at least he wouldn’t wake up with a hangover.
“Hungry?”
“A little.”
The two made their way from the lounge to the galley. The galley was one of the only places that remained similar in construction. It still had the same benches with the long table down the middle. The food storage had been greatly improved and they had more means to cook food. Argmon still did a lot of the cooking, but June had started to get the cooking bug. She figured now would be a great time to cook some breakfast.
For the most part, they could find foods similar to what could be found on Earth. As long as June had spent in space it didn’t matter much anymore. As long there was food to eat, she was happy enough.
The hardest thing to do was to fight off the boredom and that was never a small task. Even though it was trying at times, she liked it when things went wrong. The last couple of shipments had been so routine that they were downright dull. She’d hoped they could take a few weeks off to regain their sanity, but Vic insisted they do one more run before taking some time off. It wasn’t like the supply of undeveloped planets from the star cluster was going to slow down any time soon. They couldn’t even get up to full speed with a planet in tow which meant it would take that much longer for the trip back.
“What do you feel like eating?” She asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we’re fresh out of that so you’ll have to pick from what we do have.” June pulled in Joey and kissed him on the cheek. She’d hoped this would break him out of this weird funk because of the black hole issue.
He sighed. Seemed like that didn’t help very much.
“Fine, sit, and be quiet. I’m going to make some food.”
“I’d love to help!” A golden robot with bright-blue accents popped up from the corner of the galley and nearly scared June out of her skin. Joey let out a squeal as well.
“B.O.B! What are you doing hiding over there?”
B.O.B. stood for Binary Obedient Butler, but for June the robot was just a pain in the rear. If it heard you in the same room it would pop up like it just had and try to be helpful. More often than not that just ended in disaster. Vic and his hopeless causes.
“Ms. June, I only want to help. Vic said I should be earning my keep and if there’s anything I can do, anything at all, please just let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
Its friendly voice only grated on June’s nerves. More than once she’d tried to eject the thing out of the airlock, but Muffin wouldn’t allow opening the exterior doors to purge the robot off the ship. She didn’t know if they stuck together because they were both artificial life forms or if Muffin really would keep any crew member from being ejected into space.
Beyond just being annoying, June didn’t like that a presence was in the room and moved about the ship and she couldn’t keep track of it. She liked to be able to walk into any compartment on the ship and have a good idea of who was there and not be surprised. Even though this bothered Vic as he couldn’t surprise her, she liked knowing where everyone was.
“B.O.B. why don’t you go clean the lounge while I prepare some breakfast for Joey and me?”
“Absolutely Ms. June. I would love to do that for you. Is there anyone in there? Should I go right away? Will Vic be pleased if I do a good job? I think he will. I should take care of that straight away. Thank you ever so much for the suggestion. I know exactly where all the cleaning supplies are…”
“B.O.B! Go now or Vic will be most displeased!”
B.O.B. scurried out of the galley. Clangs and clatters came from the lounge and something crashed on the floor.
Muffin beeped. “B.O.B. stop whatever you’re doing! I will need to get the cleaner bots to clean that up now.”
“You could try being nice to him you know.” Joey’s muffled voice came from his head being wrapped in his arms and resting on the table.
“I don’t have to…”
Something banged loudly on the outside of the ship.
V&A Shipping 2: Hollow – Chapter 2
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/VA-Shipping-2-Hollow—Chapter-2-e1d0q6v
https://smile.amazon.com/Hollow-Shipping-Book-J-R-Murdock-ebook/dp/B00GT9H4JQ – Grab a copy of your own!
The beer tasted so good as Vic finished off the last bit left in his can. He stopped by the break room to grab another. Vic had asked Joey on many occasions if the beer on Earth had ever gotten any better, but apparently, the drinking age had changed and Joey wasn’t even old enough to drink.
“You sure you don’t want to grab something kid?”
Not only had the break room been completely remodeled and provided them more space to spread out and relax as a crew, but it had also been fully stocked with part of the shipment that had been intended for Almo Petrino. Almo had good taste when it came to beer. Too bad it was illegal in some parts of the galaxy.
Joey got himself a soft beverage. Someday Vic would get the kid to graduate to something stronger. If Joey wanted to avoid the good stuff, he wasn’t going to push him.
“So I’ve done some reading on the SS Acid Rat’s propulsion system, but nothing I’m reading makes any sense.”
“It’s not like your Star Trek engine kid. Those things were close to magic.”
“Actually, on subsequent versions of the show, they explained pretty well how a warp core worked with the matter and anti-matter streams…”
“Kid, I’m sure those things were well-thought-out and someone thought they would provide a lot of power. Tell me a little about what you read about this ship. This one works. The ones on TV were just that, spaceships on TV.”
Joey had done a good job learning as much as he had about the ship, but he had some big shoes to fill. Mike had been a great engineer on the ship even though in the end he’d become psychotic. Vic blamed all that on his father, not on Mike. Heck, it had been Joey that saved the crew from Mike. The kid was smart and had proved himself in a fight. What else could you ask for in a crew member?
“So what you’re saying is I should just throw all those ideas out?” Joey took a drink from his beverage. It smelled like some kind of juice.
Vic took a long swig off his beer to give him a minute to figure out how to answer that. “No, I’m not saying throw everything out. Just don’t take it as gospel. A lot of what is in those shows is based on science. What I’m saying is that you’re looking at a technology that no one back on Earth ever dreamed of.”
“That much I’ve noticed. I’m still not even sure what powers the ship.”
“Really? After a year and you haven’t even gotten that far?”
Joey shrugged. “I mean, I’ve read a lot about the systems on the ship. Things I was able to understand and piece together, but the propulsion is something way beyond me. I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’m glad you said that. Let’s see if we can educate you.”
The two took the ladder down to the storage area of the ship. This was one of the only parts of the ship that hadn’t been changed. The top of the ship, the living quarters, had been destroyed in the crash. This part of the ship had remained mostly intact. Vic often wondered why Verbiddi had decided to repair the ship rather than just scrap it and buy them a new one. Not that it mattered. Vic might have likely fought to keep the SS Acid Rat flying. It was the first ship he’d flown into space and he hoped it would be the only one.
As they made their way across the storage area, only a few crates locked down in the middle and the Iron Butterfly off in the far corner, Vic knew he had to go mess with Dexter. The tri-ped was the only one that slept down in the hangar. Sometimes the little guy would sleep standing up. It was times like that Vic would play a little joke on the fellow.
“Hey, one sec. We need to have us a little fun first.”
“Vic, my arm is still sore from the last time.”
“You just need to hold on tighter. That’s all. Come on, this’ll be fun. Trust me.”
“That’s what got me into trouble the last time. I couldn’t move my arm for a week.”
It had been funny seeing Dexter hop around with Joey in tow. The kid had let go at the wrong moment and fell about fifteen feet. The dislocated shoulder had been easy to put back, but Joey took a while to heal. That was almost two weeks ago. Surely the kid could handle another go. Vic put his arm around Joey’s shoulder and pulled him toward the weapons locker.
It was more of a weapons room. They each had gear in there, but only Dexter and June ever suited up. Joey had tried once to help with keeping a shipment secured. That hadn’t ended well and the scar on Joey’s wrist was a testament to how poorly it had gone. At least he hadn’t been as stubborn about getting an artificial hand to replace it, unlike Argmon.
When they got to the open doorway, Vic could see Dexter standing in the corner. “Maybe if we belt you to him this time…’
“No! You go mess with him. I’ll wait over here. Dexter already hates me enough as it is.” Vic set his beer down next to the weapons room doorway.
“He doesn’t hate you, kid. He likes this little game we play.”
“How do you know that if June is the only one that can talk to him?”
“I just know. If you don’t want in on this, then just wait over there. Better yet, grab that cargo net and hold it over the doorway. This will be so funny.”
Even though the kid complained, he set his drink down next to Vic’s, got the cargo net, and stood next to the doorway. Vic reached inside and turned the lights off. Dexter was a strong sleeper on trips like this. Something in his body just shut down until he needed to wake up. Vic had made sure that Dexter woke up on more than on occasion.
He nodded to Joey. The kid shrugged.
“Muffin, Fire Drill! In the weapons room!” This was how Vic had gotten Muffin to help with his plan.
There was a pause. “No Victor, there isn’t a fire in the weapons room.”
“Muffin, now! Fire Drill!”
Again a pause. “Victor, I do not detect a fire in the weapons room. The last time I didn’t detect a fire in the weapons room.”
“I can see it.” She was starting to get on his nerves. Why wouldn’t she just release a stream of water like she’d done the last time?
“I have no visual detection of a fire either.” Muffin beeped.
This wasn’t going to work. All he wanted to do was give Dexter a little wake-up shower and watch him bounce around a little bit. There was something funny and beautiful the way Dexter bounced all over like that. June said that Dexter didn’t like getting wet, but it was just too funny not to pull this joke on him again. If everything worked out right, Joey would toss the cargo net over the little tri-ped and they could ride him as he ran around the room. It wasn’t like they were hurting the little guy or anything like that. Why is everyone trying to ruin my good time?
June’s voice came over the intercom. “I told you to leave him alone. You’re going to make him angry one of these days and then you’ll be sorry you messed with him.”
Vic leaned down, picked up the drinks. Joey had put the cargo net away. They continued their way to the engineering room.
“Well, that went over like a lead balloon.” Vic drained his beer.
“Don’t you mean a lead zeppelin?”
“What? Like the band? They went over great. Maybe it went over like an Iron Butterfly.”
“That also went over well.” Joey sipped his drink. “Maybe it went over like an Iron Maiden?”
Joey was always saying things like this as if Vic would get the reference. “Let me guess, that’s another band from what, the nineties?”
“Actually, Iron Maiden was still pretty popular after I left. I think they got their start sometime in the eighties. Maybe June knows. I only listened to a little of their stuff.”
“Well, we’re not changing the name of the Iron Butterfly to the Iron Maiden. Butterflies can, well, fly.”
“I wasn’t suggesting that we change the name. I was… whatever. Never mind. Let’s check out the engine. How do you plan to use it to make sure we don’t lose the planet again? Do we have a tractor beam or something?”
“A tractor what? No? We’ll just use the ship’s power source. You don’t have a clue, do you?”
“No, not really.”
The kid looked as if he were about to explode, like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to open his presents. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be disappointed. Vic didn’t think the kid would be disappointed.
“So you understand that the planet we’re about to recapture is orbiting the ship, right?”
The kid nodded. “I’ve got that much down, I just don’t understand how or why. I thought maybe we caught it with some beam or laser or something.”
“Light isn’t gravity, kid. That’s the only way a planet, even a small one, is going to orbit the ship. Therefore we need to generate a huge amount of gravity to keep this thing orbiting. Got it.”
Another nod.
“So how do you think a ship like this is going to generate gravity?”
Joey looked at the ceiling. He did that in a cute way when thinking. “I don’t know. How can we generate gravity? I mean, if we had gravity it would hinder our ability to land on a planet not to mention make flight nearly impossible.”
“Well, not really. See, there is shielding on the ship to contain the gravity when we need to. We move the shielding just right and we can control the orbit of the planet around the ship. That’s why we need to keep a constant watch when we transport a planet like we’re doing. We don’t want it to just fly off into space. Rogue planets are dangerous.”
“Okay, so how do we keep a planet in orbit around us?”
“A black hole.”
Vic thought Joey was either going to laugh or throw up.
“There can’t be a black hole on this ship,” the kid said and started to turn white.
“We’ve got one. It’s a power source that gives off so much radiation that the ship always had power.”
“You mean we’ve got something on board that could destroy us all?” Joey dropped his drink and walked out of the room.
The kid had gone pale. Vic thought the kid would be happy to hear the news of something like that. Maybe even be impressed with the technology used to control it. Instead, the kid looked as if someone had just signed his death warrant.
“Kid, where you going? Don’t you even want to see it?”
Joey spun around. “See it? What, the harbinger of death riding on the tail of the Acid Rat? No thank you. I think I’ll spend as much time as I can far from this side of the ship, thank you.”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little bit? I mean, think of how long this technology has been around. We’re not going to get much safer than we are.”
“I don’t want to hear about this. I need to process this all. Black holes are nothing more than death in every sense of the word. They suck things in, crush them, give off massive amounts of radiation and jets of material. No, I can’t, no… I just…”
The kid walked off, not looking back. Vic tried to get a few more drops out of his beer and decided to follow the kid back up to the break room. Perhaps there’d be a chance to talk some sense into the kid.
A new week, a new sale!
Good Morning and Happy Labor Day (in the US). I hope your week is starting out great!
Gracie (aka Abby) has been renamed. I don’t know we’re firm on that as her name yet. She’s still growing into her name. We shall see.
Yesterday we took her to the park to meet Mya and Koda. Mya, being a Blue Heeler and Australian Sheppard mix, saw a new dog from across the park and shot like a silent rocket across the park and scared the pee out of Gracie, literally. When not in an open area, the two got along great because Mya couldn’t rush into Gracie’s face and say hello aggressively.
With Koda being a teacup Yorkie, Gracie spent time getting to know her quietly while watching Mya and avoiding her as much as possible.
Then, because that wasn’t enough trauma on the day, we went to Abuelito’s house. My Favorite Daughter and Hijo were already there with Mya and Koda at the pool. Being on the other side of the fence, Gracie was more brave and sniffed noses with Mya and TJ (Koda can walk through the fence). TJ is much more calm with new dogs. He’s a Boxer and knows Mya well so those two play rough. Alone, TJ did great with Gracie. Mya still needs to learn about personal space and approaching in a less aggressive manner. Gracie did snap at her a few times.
We spent a good deal of time walking all the dogs around the backyard to get them better acquainted. It’ll take time.
Oh, and even Zion showed up. That’s Hijo’s mom’s dog who doesn’t like anyone except for Hijo. Not even other dogs.
Mya and Koda spent time in the pool. Gracie and TJ got along great. Zion spent as much time hiding as possible. It was a good day.
That brings us to the title of this post!
Today, Paradise Palms is only 99 cents. It will be until next Monday. This is my SciFi murder mystery. It’s my only foray into this genre. I never intended to write a sequel, and I’ve seen more than one comment asking if the story continues and wishing the story would continue. Perhaps one day, there will be a Paradise Palms Two.
One a side note, for some reason, the paperback prices for Golden West fluctuate wildly. Book 1 is currently $5.60 and book 2 is $2.80. I have no idea why, but if you want to take advantage and pick up a hard copy of either of those books, have at it! Nothing better than inexpensive print books! From what I can tell, these are new versions, not used. I haven’t seen book 3 drop below the $7.99 price point. Here’s a link if you need it.
https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=murdock+golden+west&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
I’m off to spend some time with Gracie, who just learned she can go down the stairs on her own. She learned up the stairs yesterday. I don’t think she’s ever been around stairs.
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
7 days out.
One week. How fast we got here. Next Wednesday is May 5th. The day I start dropping content like crazy. It’s something I’ve wanted to do and talked about doing for a very long time. In the video, I do some reflection on this point.
Yes, over the years of me publishing books, I’ve made many mistakes along the way. One of the biggest mistakes was stopping and starting and starting over again trying to reboot something that never got off the ground in the first place.
The other major mistake I made was throwing everything at the wall and seeing what stuck without giving anything a chance to find an audience.
I accept that I did this and I’m moving past those failures. There’s nothing I can do about the bad books I put out or the poor editing I did in those books. What I can do is clean up what I did, and let them be. That’s what I’ve done and it’s time to move forward.
For the most part, the next 2 months of content is already scheduled. I’ve one more upload to do and I need to order print copies so I can verify the print proof. Other than that, we’re on auto-pilot.
In the past, many authors would have a lot of fanfare for what they were doing. Book trailers. All day events and giveaways. Video chats. You know the like.
I’m not doing that. I’m not ready to start shouting to the heavens that it’s all there. I’m doing this, no quietly, but I’m also not shouting from the rooftops. I’ll post across all my social media accounts. That I’ll do. But I’m not going to try and generate a fuss about what I’m doing.
I’m a small fish in a big pond and the best thing I can do is drop book, after book, after book. Let others make the noise for me. Again, I’ll promote to my current platform, but I’m going to do a slow burn. As we get closer to the first 12 books in this major arc out there, then I’ll start to make some noise. Why? Cuz we’ll be getting the something major happening and I’ll have a lot of books for people to buy and read. That’s when it’ll get interesting.
What does that mean? It means I’m ready for many months of slow sales and little movement. I’m prepared for that. Mentally. Before when I launched books, I wanted to ride in a limo lighting cigars with $100 bills. Yes, I’d bought into the myth. I’ve matured since there and I’ve got my head back on the ground and out of the clouds.
Not only have I seen what my mistakes have wrought, I’ve also watched my friends succeed and how they succeeded. What they did to get to the level they’re at. It’s time for me to be consistent and push forward. It’s going to be a tough couple of years getting the ball rolling. I may slip a time of two, but as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I’ll make it up that hill.
I’ve said this before and I’ll continue to say it, thank you for coming along on this ride with me. It’s going to be exciting!
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/5-a-Day-With-Jay—0126-evv8kj
The first Sci-Fi book I ever read!
Growing up in a small town with only the school library as a source of entertainment, finding content wasn’t always easy. In elementary school, I read lots of books about dinosaurs. Like, EVERY book the library had about dinosaurs. Maybe this is why I associate with Calvin so well. Hmmm.
At any rate, when I got to 7th grade, I was permitted access to the rest of the school library. Yes, McGregor had one school with K-12 all in one school.
Over there, I discovered so many books I couldn’t read. I had severe dyslexia and that made reading difficult for me. Longer works I could never get through because I believe I had ADD as well (Jay! Have you got ants in your pants? Sit down!). That meant I was on the hunt for shorter books all the time.
The book I discovered and read multiple times was Mirror Friend Mirror Foe.
Now, for the record, I don’t remember the plot of this book at all. All I remember is a sword fighting robot. And that it was written by George Takei. At the time, I hadn’t seen Star Trek so I had no idea who he was. It was co-written by Robert Asprin. I had no idea who he was at the time, but Robert would be in my library with so many books.
Being that this was the first book I remember reading that was sci-fi, I’ve been on a LONG journey to track down a copy. Like many books from that era, unless you remember the title and/or author, it’s probably forgotten to the sands of time. Thankfully, I did remember. I’ve wanted this on ebook forever, but it’s been long out of print. Copies that showed up on Amazon would disappear quickly.
So, I decided to look again a couple of weeks ago because, that’s what the internet is for.
And I found a copy for $5.
Purchase made!
I now have a copy of the book and I’m itching to read it. I really am. But I can’t bring myself to crack the book open. You know, like what happens with new books? Yeah. This books spine hasn’t been “cracked” yet. Printed in 1979, this book is in mint condition. No creases. No dog ears. Yes, yellowed with age, but it’s still got the gloss on the cover. Whoever has owned this book over the years either never read it, or did so very carefully.
That’s my intent, to read this book carefully and take great care of it. I’m going to keep this one in my library for a long time. Who knows. I might one day track down George and have him sign it. 🙂
Until Next Time!
Stay Awesome!
Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/etequ2
J.R. Murdock 