“Yes. You?”
That brought me up short. I didn’t have anything to pack. A few dirty articles of clothing, but nothing else. A sense of dread swept over me like a storm on a dark night. The dozen days on the Dreamer were the only permanent home for me. There were a few days on the planetoid military base, but those were a blur of meetings and activity. Returning to the Dreamer was my first experience in returning home.
Now I was about to leave it.
As if to punctuate that idea, the engines shut down.
Bert pinged three times and said, “Shuttle departing. I have ordered another that is due to arrive right after this one is away. Those of us transferring to the Escolta will assemble near the docking bay as quickly as possible.”
Lila and I exchanged excited looks.
Bert pinged again. “For the crew of the Dreamer, representatives of your company will arrive soon. Proceed with your regular duties. It has been a pleasure traveling with you. For the passengers, we are assured that by the end of this day you will be on your way to your original destination. We appreciate your cooperation in foiling the attempted mutiny and if nothing else, you each have an exciting story about pirates to tell your families and friends.”
Lila said, “I only have one small bag to grab. Meet you back at the shuttle bay?”
I agreed and went to our cabin where I found the captain. She stood in the center of the small cabin and said, “In some ways, I’ll miss this place.”
“I have nothing to pack,” I muttered.
She laughed.
That startled me until I realized she believed I had said something funny instead of pathetic. I said, “What?”
“We, and I mean all of my newest crew, are going shopping. Heshmat is full of shops and you need uniforms, underwear, dress outfits, shoes, and a hundred other things.”
“That will cost a lot,” I added.
“Not really. Maybe a fraction of the extra ten percent we got from the cargo salvage would pay for buying a shop. Several of them, and more.”
“How much did the Administrator deduct for the cargo pods you kept?”
“Nothing. I didn’t tell him what we believed inside them. After a brief inspection, he agreed it was a biological gel of undetermined usage, so it could not be valued properly. I may have suggested that when combined with certain scents it could be sold as a cream to soften the skin of most humanoid creatures. A handy profit might be made in the beauty market. I felt his derision from across the cargo bay. He didn’t even attempt to lower his offer.”
I laughed. The arrogant Simian had been bested by my captain on at least three occasions, and probably only recognized one of them. That was the kind of woman I’d be working for. My future was waiting for me to pack and I had nothing, so I was ready.
We made our way to the shuttle bay and found the rest of our friends already gathered. The arriving shuttle matching atmospheric pressure and we were ready to leave the Dreamer for the last time.
The shuttle was a working craft, little more than a metal tube with thin, removable seats bolted to the floor. There were no windows. The pilot sat up front where she watched screens and readouts.
It was odd to have a live pilot. The shuttle flew itself better than any pilot could. The woman in the seat had the most boring job imaginable. I decided it was probably a holdover by a race new to computers and space.
Captain Stone confirmed my ideas when she said, “I’ve never been on a shuttle with a pilot.”
Lila had chosen the seat next to me. The row was two seats wide, and Bill was behind us. I’d noticed the strained expression he wore when she took the seat. Bill and I had a lot of history and he was my best friend. I’d make certain we were together later.
What the shuttle did have were cameras mounted outside the hull and five screens on the inside of each wall, as well as two larger ones directly in front of us. In some ways, it was better than windows.
Heshmat Habitat floated in the dark black of space ahead, a mass of modules connected by tubes. Spikes erupted from several places and ships were coupled to the ends. Flexible tubes allowed movement between ships and the Hab. A large central structure dwarfed even the largest ships and I assumed that it was the mall with the shops, bars, restaurants, and entertainment.
Those things were self-evident, and I ignored them as my eyes searched for and found the Escolta. I held my breath. It was beautiful.
Captain Stone giggled like a young girl at my reaction.
Other ships were either bare metal or painted a dull white or whatever.
The nose of the Escolta’s hull was a deep blue, with dozens of white stars of different sizes painted in random places. The rest of the hull was a pale blue with painted red and yellow flames licking up the sides. They seemed to appear from where the engine discharged particles to push them ahead.
She had said the First Officer had an eye for making her ship stand out. It certainly did that.
Details emerged. It was not too much longer than other ships that I identified as traders. It was wider. Much wider, which gave it a squat appearance. I did some mental juggling and realized the inside was huge.
The ships traders used were typically about ten meters in diameter. The Escolta looked more than twice that. Those numbers were deceiving.
Fang had explained it to me. A typical trader had about seventy square meters of floor space on each of four decks. That included life support equipment, food preparation, engineering, bridge,
