Zak Jahns Read online

  “Shortest distance out of the gravity well at five gee over dampers. Jump coordinates laid in.”

  Panther's four huge engines were capable of even greater thrust but five gee over dampers was about all humans could take without permanent damage. Something that few knew about was that Panther was jump capable thanks to the Cyrillium navy who had used her as a test bed.

  “It may not be necessary to jump, we surely are outrunning those two frigates.”

  Pete, who had been sitting at one of the work stations replied.

  “We will outrun the frigates but we will not outrun the missiles they just launched. Looks like thirty incoming, Federated must be real mad this time.”

  Zak grimaced.

  “How long before we can jump and how long till the missiles arrive.”

  “About the same time but our counter measures should take care of at lest a few of them.”

  Uhr, who had been listening in from engineering stated.

  “You realize that after this we will have no counter measures left because you did not restock when I asked you to.”

  Comms were usually open throughout the ship and a few moans and groans were heard around the ship.

  “May I suggest a couple of smart anti-missile missiles. It is a new configuration that needs to be tested anyway.”

  Zak replied.

  “If you think it will work but two against thirty does not sound like good odds.”

  Uhr did not replay, he just waited for the Federated missiles to come in range and the he launched. The two missiles sped towards the incoming and seemed to find a center mass. A brilliant flash lit the dark followed by numerous smaller ones as the Federated missiles detonated. A few missiles continued on but there was nothing for them to lock onto, Panther had jumped. The Federated crews were too far away to confirm anything conclusively and they could not find any real debris field. Hallbrook would not be happy.

  -2-

  Panther ended up out past Edahni near the huge gray nebula that defined the boundary of explored space on the Perseus arm. Very few ships had the capability to make such a tight jump so close to gravity wells. The crew was in various states of recovery from the jump with Zak being in the worst shape. This was something of a phenomenon among Cyrillium people while hegmon and grax showing little reaction to jump space. Humans fared a little worse but not nearly so much as Cyrillium. Hart was at the helm while most of the crew slept off the effects. It was not often that any ships used jump space because it was impossible in most places to to find routes between planets, moons and asteroid fields. On top of this the space lanes were too congested to risk it. It was only out on the fringes that a ship could jump and most ships no longer had the jump drive. Most would never even consider that Panther had a jump drive.

  As they neared Edahni the crew was back to full function. Zak stepped into the fore galley and joined the crew that was there. It was not that big of a crew and Zak knew them all very well so he stopped short when he encountered a short, stocky woman with a deeply scarred face and arm.

  “Who are you and what are you doing on my ship.”

  “My name is Gina and Pete hired me to work in the engine room.”

  “Well Gina, what are you doing in the fore galley.”

  She showed no fear as she pointed to her face and then continued.

  “Sir, I was talking to Hart about this. Federated is not exactly concerned with crew safety, especially around nuclear warheads. Hart said there are treatments that will help with these radiation burns. I am a qualified engineer's mate and Uhr and Dihr do not seem to mind my ugliness.”

  Zak just nodded and went to grab some food, they started talking again and Gina passed her job interview. Pete would get a chewing from Zak, as captain he was the only one could hire or fire. In this case he could understand why Pete did what he did. It was hard to find people to work in engineering, most were terrified of grax. Plus Uhr was quite demanding at times but Gina looked like she could handle herself just fine.

  More of a concern was the information she volunteered that Federated was carrying nuclear warheads, This he would be report immediately to the Cyrillium high council. Nuclear anything was from a time long gone in history. The technology was abandoned centuries ago when anti-mater was mastered. Zak put together a packet of info and sent it out through the Cyrillium comm network and expected the packet would reach the other end of the galaxy in about twelve days. Panther was carrying only two containers although she could carry ten in space. Only two at a time could be delivered into atmosphere. Panther was atmospheric capable but did not fly in the conventional sense. She was really more of a rocket in atmosphere and would shoot straight in under thrust and then flip one eighty and use the main thrusters to brake. With the assistance of the large docking thrusters she could fly across a planet but it was a rough ride. Coming down on Edahni they barely felt it when passing into the thin atmosphere and felt little more when they flipped and slowed. First they would land at the mining site and drop the container of machinery. Then it was a short boost and flip to town. The limited radar systems the colony had barely indicated Panther's arrival before she was on the ground. For all but Gina the landing was normal. Dihr was sitting next Gina in engineering as the ship flipped and slowed dramatically, the dampers accommodated for most of the gee force.

  “Wow, this is not a good feeling.”

  “This is nothing, sometimes we move and change direction at ten gee over dampers. It slams you around so hard you can hardly breath, some even pass out. You will get used to it over time.”

  I suppose, if I am allowed to remain on the crew.”

  “What we have seen so far is positive, just do your job and try not to argue with Uhr too much and you will be fine.”

  Uhr was a difficult person who did not tolerate incompetence very well as the captain knew way too well. If someone was in Uhr's way he would pick them up and toss them aside like nothing, some of the crew had learned the hard way. Panther landed, airlocks opened and ship felt real fresh air for the first time in over six months. The crew slowly stepped out into the crisp, overcast morning of Edahni summer. No one came up to greet them and no one bothered them in any way. This was a universal phenomenon when space crews or spacers went planet-side after months trapped in a metal can, in the deep void of space. The crew just and looked around, and up, sometimes just deeply inhaling the planet's air. Edahni's summer ranged in the fifties and sunlight was scarce but still, it was good. Zak stood back in the open airlock until the crew finished the ritual then made directly for the transport waiting for him. Berdle, the head of the colony was waiting for him to take care of business.

  “Welcome back Zak, it is good to see you again. Were you able to set up a trade negotiation for us.”

  “I believe so although I cannot verify the documents because I do not trust our translators.”

  “You have done well and we are in your debt for all you have done. There are few that can read or speak Moog, that has nothing to do with you.”

  The Moog were a very private people that controlled space on the other side of the Cyrillium worlds and they allowed no one to enter their space.

  Limited trade was conducted at a few border space stations. Moog were humans that lived on what was believed to be heavy gravity planets. This was thought because the Moog people were short , stocky people. No one knew anything for sure as no ship had ever returned from their space. The colony had asked Zak to secure a contract with them for specific minerals and he had done his best despite not being able to speak directly in their language. The Moog negotiators spoke Cyrillium and commons quite well but he was not exactly sure of what was stated on the agreement as it was in Moog. The product the colony was hoping to produce was Azurite, a most rare and valuable mineral. There are very few places in the sixty two known worlds where Azurite was found and even if they produced a small quantity it could make the colony secure for several lifetimes. That is if they could hang on to it. They had no real d
efenses to speak of and if word got out of the find someone would want to take it. So far not even Zak's crew knew about it.

  “We have not reached deep enough to verify, we only have indications. The drilling equipment you brought will get us the rest of the way to collect actual samples.”

  Zak replied.

  “I hope the best for you and offer a word of caution. Federated, specifically Hallbrook, is increasingly curious about why you are out here. I have relayed several messages to him that there is nothing here but do not be surprised if one of his ships comes calling.”

  “Thank you captain, our people know how to keep a low profile and we understand the risks. That is why we will only deal with you and the Moog on this.”

  Zak knew that at some point he would have to present this information about the Azurite to the high council but for now, until they had actual product, he would say nothing. Berdle concluded.

  “Now it is time to for you to join your crew, we have a big celebration getting underway.”

  Panther would spend many days on Edahni while a myriad of long neglected repairs were made. During the course of those repairs Gina and Uhr became embroiled in a loud argument in front of a sizable group of people. Gina kept repeating.

  “Tu te trompes, Tu te trompes, idiot.”

  It was one of the hegmon who suggested that it may be cussing in Moog which got them all laughing. No one had seen a grax so thoroughly cussed in another language and as everybody was laughing until Gina and Uhr stopped and looked at everybody in embarrassment so they turned and went to the ship.

  Once they were out of public view Uhr slammed her up against the wall, hard. Gina pushed his arms away and said.

  “What.”

  “We do not ever, ever argue in public. Do you speak Moog, are you Moog.”

  Gina was a little stunned by the slam and question and took a moment before answering. She took that time to realize that she could have just lost her job.

  “I am part Moog and learned Moog growing up, from my mother, what.”

  “You will go and find the captain and tell him this. After he is finished with you I still expect you to test and calibrate all the airlocks, is that clear.”

  The testing of the airlocks was what the argument was about in the first place. Gina said they did not need testing or calibration because the airlocks had a self diagnostic feature, it had not occurred to her that the diagnostic was unreliable. Later she would find that out, after spending quite some time with the captain and colony leader, Berdle. Gina was a little bleary eyed after reading through the agreement for the tenth time. Nor did the importance of the document escape her. Azurite, here on Edahni would secure them for a long, long time, even if it was just a small amount. The contract was clear, as the Moog had stated and was clear to Berdle as well.

  Azurite is a unique mineral that when slabbed at a certain thickness, and a electron beam is shot through it, results in the base for anti-mater. What happens is the beam splits off the positrons and they are captured. No other method had proven to work in all of the sixty two known worlds.

  Gina did not really know if she was Moog, even in part. She had grown up on various ships with her engineer parents. As a young adult they left her at Colisus Two station, she had not seen them since. The station was familiar to her as she had been there many times before but the last time her ship left without her. Growing up on ships her mother talked to her in Moog so she learned to speak, read and write the language as well as commons and Cyrillium. She had almost fallen prey to a group of thugs on the station until a ships mate intervened. He was ten years older and wiser, generally a mean cuss, he worked on a Federated ship. He turned out to be surprisingly gentle with her when taking her to hid quarters. She accepted this as fate and after a time found herself as a second engineer on that ship, until he turned on her. Now, on Panther she had a new start and a clean slate. All of the crew had been kind to her, even Uhr despite his short temper. One thing that still puzzled her was how the humans and hegmon could understand each other. She could barely the few times that they talked, but she was slowly learning in order to stay on Panther. The weather on Edahni was so fine that Berdle declared a holiday and Zak gave the crew one more day of rest before moving on. This also gave Zak one more day with Sara, a woman of many talents.

  Back on Colisus Two station Hallbrook was fuming. No one wanted to pursue the 'theft' of electronics by the Panther crew and he knew why. In reality there had been no theft and he could not figure out how they pulled it off. He could pressure a few people and find the truth of it but that would still not solve his main problem. Getting rid of Panther and it's entire crew. When word came down from one of his captains that a Federated engineer had defected and joined the crew of Panther he started throwing things. The defection was totally unacceptable. Hallbrook's influence on the station and the planet was considerable but it was no help in ridding him of Zak and his Cyrillium influence. Hallbrook wanted to rule this part of the galaxy and Cyrillium influences got in the way. He called on Hanks, one of his most aggressive and effective captains.

  “Hanks, you have had enough down time, I want you to go out to Edahni and find out what they are up to. At the same time I want you to set them up for protection payments.”

  “Sure boss but what can we do about protection. Edahni has maybe five or six ships visit in a years time. Word has it that it is not even habitable.”

  “Get creative, maybe get some pirates to visit them, I don't care, just find out what they are doing.”

  Hallbrook had been quite creative and successful about getting planets to see things his way. Federated would protect, for a fee or Federated could pirate, they got their money either way. But did Edahni even have any credits to pay with.

  Panther would be stopping at one small moon outpost on the Perseus arm before jumping to the Centauri arm and the grax and hegmon home worlds. They would skirt the rest of the Colisus planets before making the stop at Colisus Fourteen moon. Pete had argued with Zak at stopping at the remote outpost because he had gotten in trouble there last time they stopped.

  “Pete, you have to quit trying to cut corners and treating people poorly, especially the women. One day it will catch up to you. For such a smart and competent man you sure have your troubles. You will just have to stay on the ship, I want no more problems.” Zak informed the crew of the stop and that they would be picking up six containers. These containers were empty and would be returns going to the hegmon worlds for refill of foodstuffs. On a return trip they would pick them up filled for return to the moon colony. The hegmon worlds were the breadbasket of the sixty two known worlds and were a next stop after the grax home world. Panther worked her way along the fringes of known worlds and stopped at small colonies along the way. All the way from the furthest reaches of Perseus to Cyrillium and Moog worlds in closest to the core.

  Panther hailed the moon colony and made to set the ship down. The moon outpost was cold and desolate except under the dome where artificial sunlight supported a nice garden complex that was open to all. One of Zak's first stops was the outpost headquarters to pick up reports for the Cyrillium high council. Mostly there was not much to report but this time they expressed concern about the number of Federated ships visiting and abusing their hospitality. Other than a few mining ships they did not get many visitors.

  “Zak, tell me where Pete is. He has some unfinished personal business to attend to.”

  Zak anticipated this.

  “Is this about a woman and the promises he made.”

  “Yes it is and the young woman's family is not pleased.”

  The governors statement weighed heavy on Zak. As good of a second as he was this type of behavior was getting out of hand.

  “Give me some time to talk to Pete before anybody gets crazy.

  “Very well, you can update me at dinner, the wife expects you and a guest tonight.”

  This was a part of diplomacy that Zak was raised in and he hated it. He had n
o choice after being booted out of the Cyrillium military for behavior much like what Pete was doing. Because of that he sympathized with Pete just a little bit. Going back to the ship who he should bring as a guest. There were a few choices from the outpost but none appealed to him. As he stepped through the airlock he almost ran into Gina, she was so short he did not see her as she sidestepped him in the hallway.

  “Watch where you are going captain.”

  Zak was caught of guard by her abrupt manor.

  “Pardon me, ah, you will be accompanying me to dinner at the governors place for dinner tonight, try to be civilized.”

  “Yourself also, what time.”

  He smiled at her straight forward demeanor, she had guts. Dinner became an interesting thing as he discovered much about Gina through simple conversation. The governor's wife was starved for conversation from outside the outpost community. As the the outpost was mostly scientific the people they tended to be a little stuffy. Gina and Zak were a refreshing change.

  “So Gina, is there anywhere you have not been to over the years.”

  “Well, I have never been to the dead planets the other side of Moog space but I would like to someday. I have not been to the planets on the Norma arm either.”

  Zak was surprised at her answer because few even knew about the dead worlds. Zak had quite a bit of information because his friend and explorer Jings, who had traveled and mapped them years ago. Jings ran a Cyrillium explorer ship, one of only four in operation.

  “So what do you know of the dead worlds Gina.”

  “Not much really other than at one time they were occupied by a great human civilization that eventually destroyed itself and the planets.”

  Zak was impressed as were the governor and his wife, he picked up the story.

  “Captain Jings, the Cyrillium explorer mapped those worlds and managed to gather a fair amount of of history although the Moog would know more as they were neighbors and traded with them. What we know is that when they achieved space travel they united for awhile but one planet had most of the resources and became dominant. The others wanted that planet and set to war, probably with nuclear devices. Jings reported that there is little or no atmosphere on any of the planets. There are remains of great cities with some still complete, like they were abandoned. Zak paused to take a drink and Gina picked it up.