I bought a spaceship 2, p.1
I Bought a Spaceship 2, page 1
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Chapter 1
“Captain, we are about to exit subspace,” my ship’s voice came over the speaker system.
“Already?” I asked.
I looked up from the clear plastic tablet with glowing symbols that worked like an intergalactic iPad and stared out of the wide front window of my spaceship. The inky blackness of subspace opened up to reveal the bright light from Alpha Centauri’s two suns, but the UV protection from the windshield darkened enough for my eyes to adjust.
The last part of our journey from Alnora didn’t have the usual strange planets and stars that subspace usually had, so I’d decided to brush up on some of the alphabet used at most of the space stations. It was harder than when I’d learned Spanish in high school, but it was coming along, and my robots were always ready to answer any questions.
“The new black hole drive is wonderful,” the female A.I. said with a proud tone. “The cyborgs were very generous with their repairs.”
“Even after you added more,” my other A.I. huffed from the co-pilot’s chair. “I would’ve told you to stuff it. Two days of repairs. Two days. And then you decided that you needed even more changes? Ridiculous. There’s no amount of facelifts that’s gonna make your old bones any younger.”
“Alright, guys,” I said with a shake of my head. “Let’s take it easy. Carina worked hard over the last couple of weeks, and she deserves the upgrades that she wanted.”
“That’s right,” the ship said in a smug tone. “Unlike some robots, I actually have some use and don’t just sit around in the co-pilot’s chair like a baseball-looking lump of metal.”
“Oh, really? Well, next time I’m going to let you catch fire and not put you out,” the small round robot huffed and crossed his cable arms.
“Carina, Ara,” I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. “Really?”
“She’s being a jerk,” Ara pouted, and the blue lights that acted as his eyes glared at the control panel like that was the A.I. and not the entire ship.
The two robots bickered like an old married couple, but if I’d been with someone for over a thousand years, then I’d probably have the same issues. At least they always came together when it counted, and there were no A.I.s in the Milky Way better than Carina and Ara, especially in a fight or on a job.
I’d found Carina in Old Jerry’s junkyard back on Earth only a couple of weeks before, and the ship and Ara had immediately convinced me to go into space. It hadn’t been hard for them because I’d always wanted to be an astronaut, but my father’s business had called my name long before NASA. I’d taken over the tow truck business when my parents went to Florida, and if I hadn’t, then the titanium spaceship would probably still be gathering dust out in the desert.
There hadn’t been a lot of downtime to adjust to the new life, especially since the first job that I’d taken had led to a bunch of side quests and a full-blown rebellion. Not that I minded, because it was a hell of a lot more fun to push back against the evil Montelabras company and the corrupt Star Republic that governed pretty much the entire galaxy than do a repo. I’d even spent some time with the gorgeous cyborg that led the rebellion after we’d set her people free.
“Welcome back to Space Station 1048, Captain,” Carina said as we came around the side of a large asteroid.
The space station reminded me of Saturn with its two-mile wide and two-mile deep ring around a half-sphere covered in a glass dome. There was a smaller ring that ran on tracks around the outside of the entire structure. Carina said that the scientists and experiments were housed there so that it could be detached if something went wrong, but my last trip had only taken me into the main city and the slums that filled the larger ring.
“Welcome to Space Station 1048,” a robotic female voice droned over the speaker. “Please state your business.”
“Just coming to restock,” I said with a smile that the robot couldn’t see. “Won’t be here for more than a day or two.”
“Officer Trasn will meet you in dock seven,” the robot said.
The speakers cut out as Carina severed the connection, and I let out a sigh of relief. Space Station 1048 was technically part of the Star Republic, but it was far enough away that the core planets didn’t hold as much sway. Still, I’d been nervous that the S.R. would send soldiers to detain us after we aided the rebellion on Alnora.
I’d learned pretty fast that the S.R. was basically an oligarchy pretending to be a democracy, but there were plenty of those on Earth, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out a way around it. The outer planets all had their own societies, and some played ball with the three major corporations so that they could have food and medical supplies, but they only worked with the Star Republic enough so that they could survive and then did things their own way. I had to admit that was my preferred way of dealing with governments, and it hadn’t taken a lot of effort for the cyborgs to convince me to help their rebellion.
Montelabras’ goon, Jude Hunt, had stolen their planet and enslaved almost all of the cyborgs so that he could mine the metal ores that were deposited below Alnora’s rough surface. Apparently, if an alien species had more than half of their bodies replaced with cybernetics, then they could legally be considered property and not a living organism, and that was a law I definitely disagreed with. Jude’s treatment reminded me of the pictures of slaves that I’d seen in my textbooks, and there was no way for me to look the other way.
“I’ll still do all the talking,” Ara said as Carina glided into dock seven.
The large metal square was filled with small ships like Carina, and there were so many alien species that it was like visiting Disneyland. I noticed that there were more of the furball creatures that rushed around as if the space station was about to blow up than I’d seen before. I grinned as I thought about the tribbles in Star Trek, though the aliens below were closer to Cousin Itt from The Addams Family.
“I think that I can handle a conversation with Officer Trasn,” I said as I climbed out of the pilot’s seat.
My clothes were completely wrinkled after a few hours of being slouched down in my chair with the tablet balanced on my knees, but the fabric quickly smoothed out after a few tugs. It was made out of some kind of cybernetic material that the cyborgs had invented, and my new friends had made sure to load me up with a new wardrobe before I left. Alrin said something about appearances, and after years of nothing but oil-stained overalls, it was nice to have clothes that were clean and made me look like a GQ model.
“Of course, Captain,” Ara said as he climbed onto my shoulder. “But you know how the Unsar are. They’re all business and boring. And we don’t know if Montelabras and the S.R. have already spread rumors about your involvement in the rebellion. It’s just better to have him focus on me.”
“Fair point,” I laughed and shook my head. “But don’t think that you’re fooling me. I know that you like to be the ambassador.”
“I do,” the little A.I. said and made a noise that sounded like gears grinding against each other. “It’s one of the little joys in my life.”
“Have at it,” I said and then hit the button to open the heavy metal door.
There was a soft click and the whoosh of air as the cabin unsealed, and I grinned at how well the new additions worked. Carina had been on Earth for hundreds of years before I stumbled across her, and then there were all of the shootouts that we’d been in since we joined forces with the rebellion. The old girl had needed a full overhaul, and the cyborgs had been more than willing to give it to her.
“Welcome to Space Station 1048,” a deep voice droned as I walked down the metal stairs to the hangar floor.
Officer Trasn was almost a carbon copy of the last inspection officer that had greeted us. The Unsar species were the ones in charge of checking in new ships, and the elephant-like people were known for their dull disposition. Trasn didn’t have glasses like Prlan, but the bored look behind his black eyes was the same, and they both had the same build and thick gray skin.
“Hello,” Ara said in his best ambassador voice. “It’s so nice to be back.”
“State your business,” the gray-skinned man said and tapped on his clear plastic screen.
“Just restocking our supplies,” the baseball-sized A.I. said
The Unsar flicked his large prehensile nose as if he was trying to sniff out a lie, but that was the only sign of emotion on the elephant-like man’s face. I’d learned how to read the faces of cyborgs, merpeople, and swamp men, but the inspection officers were a whole different ball game.
“Hand,” he said and presented me with the plastic pad.
“Sure,” I said and glanced over at Ara.
There weren’t any soldiers in dock seven, but that could change as soon as the scanner read my biometrics. The news of Alnora and the rebellion had to have reached the space station, though hopefully everyone was more interested in Chloe and how she’d taken out the evil Jude Hunt. With any luck, no one would’ve heard my name at all, and I could find another job without any problems from the Star Republic.
I took a deep breath, reached out my hand, and put it on the scanner. Warmth washed over my sweaty palm as it registered who I was and the name of my ship, but no red alarms went off, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“The charge for docking has been added to your acco
The Unsar strolled off toward the next ship without another word, and I turned back to Carina. She’d be fine in the hangar without us, but it still made me nervous to leave the girl behind. Not that there was any way to take the spaceship with Ara and me, but we’d been through a lot together, so I was a little protective.
“I’ve already connected to the space station’s mainframe,” Carina said as Ara and I climbed the steps to the cabin. “There’s not nearly as much information to update as there was last time, but it’s only been a couple of weeks instead of a few hundred years.”
“Anything on Montelabras?” I asked as I grabbed my leather sling, sawed-off shotgun, and laser cutlass.
The space station wasn’t as dangerous as the outer planets, but the city on the ring was a bit of a no man’s land. Even the soldiers spent more time in the main city under the glass dome where the S.R. lackeys lived. The ring reminded me of the slums in movies where everything was patched together with rusted metal and everyone was fighting for survival.
“They’ve offered a reward for any information that leads to your arrest,” the ship said in a proud tone. “It’s only five thousand novas, and there’s no mention of Ara or me, but the bounty does have the seal of the Star Republic, so it’s officially government sanctioned.”
“Five thousand novas?” I asked and grabbed some extra shotgun shells. “That’s pretty steep. We only got paid four thousand for that first job bringing supplies to Alnora.”
“Which was a terrible choice on their part,” Ara said from my shoulder. “If they hadn’t brought you over there, then you wouldn’t have seen the cyborg slaves. I’m not sure if I’ve told you this, Captain, but you’re definitely one of my favorites that we’ve had. Except for our creator, obviously.”
“Obviously,” I chuckled and checked my gravity boots, just in case. “I like you guys, too. Carina, do you know if any of the bounty hunters in this sector have picked up the job?”
“Nothing official,” the female A.I. said. “At least, if they have, then they’re keeping it off of the mainframe.”
“Makes sense,” I said and glanced out into the hangar. “Well, this may end up being a short trip. I’m going to grab us some more monexl kabobs from that stall and then check the job board in the dome city. Be ready to make a break for it if things go wrong, but don’t make it obvious.”
“I got this, Captain,” the ship said, and the running lights blinked like they did when Carina was excited. “I can’t wait to find out what our next job is going to be.”
“Me, too,” I said and then started down the stairs.
A few of the Cousin Itt-like aliens chittered away at each other as I walked past them. There were a few eldox in the back corner, but the short armadillo beings barely gave me anything more than a passing glance. It was rare to see an Earthling in space, but the core planets were inhabited by humans, and I chalked the armored aliens’ reaction up to being part of the S.R., so they could stay in their little area all they wanted.
The metal tubes that connected the ringed city to the domed one reminded me of the corridors that airports used to load passengers onto airplanes from the terminal. There were exposed wires and running lights everywhere, but at least nothing sparked like it was about to blow up, and the passage was wide enough for even the larger aliens to pass by without running into each other. I still felt like we were in a sardine can as I followed the crowd to the ring city, but it was like trying to get through a bunch of football fans on Friday night at a bar, and I’d learned how to do that in my early twenties.
I took a deep breath of recycled air as soon as the tube opened up into the ring city. A hovercraft zoomed past and almost knocked me back into the tunnel, but one quick spin later, and I was nearer to the railing. Crowds had never been my favorite, which was why the desert and my father’s tow truck business had been ideal, but I’d happily deal with thousands of aliens if it meant being able to live in space and travel the Milky Way.
Some sunlight from the nearby suns peeked through UV-protected windows in the metal walls, but it was so far away that most of the light near me was provided by warm yellow and purple lights that reminded me of a grow room. A cleaning robot rolled underneath one of the violet lamps as it muttered about the messes that everyone left, and I was almost positive that it was the same one that had cleaned up the guts from the guy who’d attacked me the last time I’d been on the space station. Its rusted metal exterior looked like it was covered in blood under the fake sunlight, but I didn’t think the little bot had actually taken its vengeance on a litterbug. The thing was just naturally grumpy, and it didn’t even seem to have weapons it could use.
“Where to first?” Ara asked and rolled his eyes at the grouchy trashcan-like cleaner bot.
“Monexl kabobs,” I said and headed to the elevator.
The honeycomb-patterned walkway groaned under the weight of all of the shoppers, but it was the one thing in the space station that wasn’t rusted, so we were mostly safe. I sincerely doubted that the waist-high rails would hold if someone was thrown against them, and some of the nearby walls were ready to crumble back into dust. Workers rushed around with new slabs of metal to make repairs as they tried to keep the place from falling apart, and I flashed a reassuring smile at a tick-like alien with a soldering gun for an arm.
The creature made a chittering noise with its mouth pieces while its stalk eyes swiveled to look at a wanted poster with my face on it. I took a step closer to the image as the insect alien went back to its work as if its new goal was just to finish the job and get away from me.
My face shimmered in a hologram picture of me on Alnora with a terrifying expression. There was a sawed-off shotgun in my hand and blood splattered across a battlefield where dead bodies added to the scary motif that Montelabras was going for. I had to admit that I looked like the crazed maniac that they described on the poster, and a small smile curled one side of my lips at the sight of me as a legitimate outlaw with a five thousand nova reward.
“Not bad, Captain,” Ara said with an impressed bob of his baseball-like body. “You’ve only been in space for a couple of weeks, and you’ve already become a legend. I don’t think that any other Earthling has made a splash quite like that.”
“I don’t know,” I chuckled and stepped into the elevator as it opened. “They really love those movies about John Wayne.”
“Ah, yes,” the A.I. said with a roll of his eyes. “The documentaries. I should’ve known that the aliens on Earth would spread your movies around like they were real. Nothing but propaganda so that no one comes and steals their perfect little hideaway planet.”
“It’s a good idea,” I said with a shrug. “Except for Mayor Krie, there aren’t a lot of consistent visitors.”
The elevator doors whined as they closed, and the metal box slowly started to descend to the market level. No one talked, but they all stared at me like they weren’t sure if they should be afraid or impressed. It was an odd combination to see directed at me, but pride still swelled in my chest at how far I’d come in such a short time.
Most of the aliens on board with me were five feet tall with dark blue skin and silver eyes that reminded me of moonlight. Their round bodies were like soap bubbles and seemed just as fragile as they scooted closer to the wall like I might reach out and attack them. One of the younger ones flashed an all-black grin at me and even waved before its parent slapped its hand down.
A ding sounded through the silence right before the doors groaned open, and the shorter aliens rushed forward like they were being chased. I shook my head and followed at a distance. It would be a problem if everyone was terrified of me because then no one would want to hire me, but most of the faces in the crowd were filled with awe, and it was good for a freelance runner to have a little bit of a violent reputation so that no one would try to steal my cargo.
“It’s him, I swear it,” someone said from behind me.
I was only a few stalls away from the swamp woman’s stall with the monexl kabobs, but the excited whispers from behind me were too much to resist. The voice was young enough that its owner had to be a teenager, and a quick glance over my shoulder revealed the same kids that had been in my first elevator ride with me. I was about to continue toward my destination when thin black fingers reached over my shoulder to hold me back.
