when she forgot she had it during a moment of excitement.
“Depends on whether or not the Ferret is where she's supposed to be. Her Captain has a reputation and I don't want our best pilot shot up.”
“I'll wear my bikini the whole time,” she teased.
Frost turned right around in his seat to face the Captain, who was focusing on the copilot's station. “Can she come along sir? Please?”
“I'll check with Port Control on our way in, see if the Ferret is where we want her. No promises.”
“Aye aye sir,” Ashley replied as the planet loomed larger on the pilot's station.
“Everyone strap in, we're going atmospheric,” Captain Valance announced ship wide. “Retracting engine pods.” He continued as he flipped a number of switches at the small co-pilot's station. The eight engines held away from the ship by fifty meter long arms stretching to the right, left, top and bottom from the main body of the ship retracted so the arms were only ten meters long.
“I don't know why ye warn the crew, with the inertial dampener and gravity systems aboard we've never had a bump,” Frost said as he continued to check the tactical display for known ships.
Captain Valance ignored him and double checked Ashley's course.
“Here we go, one hollow meteor headed landward,” Ashley muttered as the ship began to enter the atmosphere.
The ship shook and the inertial dampeners whined as they tried to adjust to the new gravitational dynamics and turbulence. Captain Valance reached over to the pilot's station and flipped a switch. “You forgot to change modes again,” The ship stopped shaking as the dampening systems switched to atmospheric mode.
“Sorry sir.”
“That's all right, you should have seen the last pilot. He nearly rammed-”
“Straight into a closed port door, so you've told me every time I forget to switch to atmospheric mode. Thanks Frost,” Ashley interrupted.
“Only tryin' ta make ya feel better lass.”
“Extending wings and switching profiles,” Captain Valance announced as he adjusted the controls. The pair of arms extending from the bottom of the craft moved so they stretched out from the sides. He made a few more adjustments at the co-pilot’s station and the arms to the left, right and at the top widened several meters, turning into atmospheric wings.
“No need to make me feel better, I love flying through atmosphere, it's like I'm a bird,” she controlled the ship into a glide and slowly throttled up, levelling out.
“A great big twenty thousand ton bird. Our emissions are less than half of legal port maximum. Hull plating did just fine on entry,” Frost reported.
“Good, last thing I need is a quarter million credit fine. Go get geared up and get me a pulse stunner from the armoury.”
“Pulse stunner?” Frost asked the Captain.
“We do have some left, right?”
“Aye, but what do ye need with a pulse stunner?”
“They outlawed lethal weaponry since we've last been through here.”
“Bloody weapon control fanatics. I'll get us set sir. Who's goin' out into port with us?”
“The Ferret is parked nowhere near where I'd like to see it. Bring the kid, we're just fact finding.”
“Yes sir,” Frost said as he left the bridge.
“If you're just fact finding, what's the harm in me-”
“Not this time Ashley. You'll stay behind and supervise the crew. Someone has to direct maintenance.”
“Yes sir,” she replied, disappointed. “Coming up on platform 233F.” She fired deceleration thrusters and brought short range anti-gravity systems online as the ship descended towards a large, circular landing platform set just above the lush jungle tree line.
Landing gear extended and the feet splayed out for several meters at the ends of the struts. Just a few seconds later they touched down gently, evenly distributing the weight of the ship across the large platform.
“Nice landing,” Captain Valance commented as he made for the bridge doorway.
“I aim to please.”
“Oh, and when you go out to supervise hull inspection bring a deck chair,” The Captain said before closing the hatch behind him.
St. Kitts Port
The main gangway lowered. One of the arms at the end jammed for a few seconds then dropped several centimetres with a sudden gaseous release and a loud clink. The other was working perfectly, lowering its end as smoothly and quietly as it could with the impedance of its counterpart on the other side.
“I guess I'll add that to the list,” Finn said, shaking his head. He followed Frost and the Captain down the ramp.
“We'll never be taken seriously in port with these things,” Frost commented as he re-holstered the slim, elegantly styled silver pulse pistol. He looked up to the Captain, who was in his black form fitted vacuum suit, sealed up to the neck, and thick, long black trench coat. It was loaded with engineering tools and many other useful objects. No one had an accurate inventory of what he kept in that thing but the armoured coat itself was worth more than everything Frost had on him. It could stop most small arms fire, expand into a survival pod with life support and that was only what he had seen the Captain use it for over the last three years. What the white silk scarf he always wore with it was for he didn't know and would never ask.
He looked him up and down again. “Well, maybe they'll take you seriously.”
If Captain Valance heard his comment, he didn't show it. The yellow tinted sunshine, heat and humidity hit them all at once. The tree line was just below their landing platform and the air was thick with the aroma of life. They were close enough to hear the chirps of birds and calls of the small primates that leapt and ran through the uppermost branches.
The port complex consisted of massive pillars with landing platforms jutting out of the sides. Some of the platforms were over five hundred meters across but most were between one and two hundred. They reached a kilometre high, and were spaced out so they wouldn't interfere with the sunlight. Finn looked around, taking it all in with an expression of unrestrained awe and wonder.
“Good thing there aren't any insects up here or our boy here would be catching flies,” Frost said as he followed the Captain on a walk around the outside of the ship. They had to inspect a section of the hull like everyone else before they could continue on their way.
“If you think that's something, kid, look over eastward,” the Captain pointed.
Finn turned away from the jungle. For as far as he could see there was nothing but blue sky and darker blue water. “Oh my God,” he said quietly. “I've never seen anything so beautiful.”
Ashley came down the ramp with an old, beaten up deck chair under one arm all ready to tan in a skimpy dark green bathing suit. She was reviewing a holographic list projected by a small three centimetre data stick.
“You said it kid,” Frost said with a whistle.
“Frost, eyes back on the hull. Sooner we get our part of the inspection done the sooner we can find out how hard it'll be to take the Ferret.”
“Aye sir.”
Finn could hear Ashley giving orders to the rest of the crew, sending them to repair damage and inspect different sections of the hull. “Why aren't I helping with repairs?” He asked.
“Don't ask why kid, just go along with it.” Frost whispered as he inspected the section of hull he and the Captain were responsible for.
“We need someone to get up here and make sure that seam isn't coming loose,” Captain Valance pointed. “There's some kind of corrosion under way.”
“I see it. What do ya make of it kid?”
“Looks like there was fluid between the primary and secondary hull plating. It probably blew the plates part
