Fugitives, p.9
Fugitives, page 9
part #9 of Steven Gordon Series
Chapter 20
The ugliest person any of them had ever seen and a half dozen staff members approached the ramp. The crew were gathered in the shape of a triangle with Charlie and Florina at the apex.
Five steps away she stepped forward. Her right arm crossed her chest at an upward angle, palm straight.
‘Oh fur amah, oh ma ho!’ She bowed low and the gang mirrored her actions. They had a lot of fun practising it the night before.
The examiner stood stock still for a moment. None of the Humans were able to read the expression on his face, but Charlie was already in his mind.
He returned the gesture and half bowed in reply.
‘Goodness, I didn’t expect this. Thank you, may we come onboard?’
She turned to Charlie who stepped forward.
‘The ship is at your disposal inspector, as is the crew. If you require anything, please ask.’
‘Then I require the master of this vessel, the flight crew, and chief engineer.’
‘I double as the master and chief engineer.’ He half turned, ‘Flight crew to your posts.’
They slid their heels together to come to attention, half bowed and quickly moved inside.
‘Goodness, how nice to see such an orderly crew.’
‘What orders shall I give the rest of the crew?’
‘Just to make themselves available if required. Do you have a lounge they can rest in?’
‘We do.’ He half turned again. ‘Fallout to the recreation area. Be there if you are needed.’
They half bowed and turned inside. The inspector’s team followed. He walked around the ship with Charlie on his heels. He used a small device to take pictures. Here and there he checked the stripes that now covered the ship. Instead of the red and yellow that was common on Earth to designate dangerous zones, here it was green and yellow. The strips were highly visible and florescent. As they came around the front, he touched the corner, took out a device and pressed it against the hull.
‘Remarkable. If I am not mistaken, this is Tilanium armour. How did you manage to do it?’
‘Trade secret.’
‘Ah! I don’t blame you Captain. That secret is worth billions, if not more.’ He ran his hands over the corner. I cannot detect a single weld, remarkable! What is your engineering background?’
‘Mining. I have no official qualifications in engineering, mining or anything else. When you live on the rim, you learn, or you die.’
‘You were a soldier if I’m not mistaken.’
‘We all come from the same community, we all served as grunts.’
‘That didn’t translate.’
‘Foot soldiers, Infantry, marines, that kind of thing.’
‘What a waste of talent.’
Charlie shrugged and frowned, ‘I don’t know. We were given no choice in the matter.’ He looked up at the ship, ‘I really wouldn’t want anything that I designed and made to be used for military purposes. I was more than happy to keep my head down, serve my time and keep my mouth shut.’
His mouth dropped open, ‘You designed it.’
‘Yes sir, everything.’
‘There is nothing salvaged on this vessel?’
‘The whole vessel is salvaged, but every component has been engineered from scratch.’
‘I find that hard to believe.’
Charlie shrugged, ‘That’s okay.’
They walked back to the ramp. ‘Your vessel is one of the ugliest I have ever seen.’
Charlie crossed his arms, ‘Sorry!’
‘You found that offensive, how interesting. You shrug off being called a liar but get upset when I call your ship ugly.’ Charlie answered with a sniff. The inspector smiled and looked up. ‘We would call this Killara!’
‘That didn’t translate,’ Charlie was a bit abrupt.
‘It means ugly but with great character. Or more accurate, Its beauty is hidden in its character and strength.’ He reached out and touched the armour. ‘I really like this ship.’
Charlie was able to straighten his face. Then he smiled and finally burst out laughing. The smile on the inspector’s face began to slip.
‘Did I say something funny Captain?’
‘I think sir, that you have just settled an argument.’
He frowned, ‘How so?’
‘We have been arguing over a name for this vessel for months, obsessing even. Killara, what a wonderful name for a ship. Would you be insulted if I suggested that name to the crew?’
The smile had returned, ‘Not at all. I would be honoured.’ He called in reinforcements. Within a short time, more men arrived, they pulled gantries from the wall and attacked the engines. Charlie felt his stress levels rise.
An hour later they sat down at the big table. The inspector looked around with a big smile on his face. Some of the guys were sitting at the table, others were reclining on the soft furnishings. Florina brought him a cup of tea. He was delighted.
They began to go through the paperwork together, and the inspector was pleased with the ring binder full of all the drawing and specifications. Charlie had added a number of pages in the inspector’s own language so he could quickly find up anything he was looking for.
‘I need a diagram of your power step down process.’
Charlie scratched his head, ‘I don’t have one. It wasn’t in the requirements.’
‘Yes, you didn’t expect this inspection. I understand, but you have the wrong requirements Captain. Most of it is the same. I need this and a wiring diagram of your safety systems, in triplicate. All of it.’
‘Holy shit!’ He stood, ‘I will go get some paper.’
‘You are going to hand draw the system!’
‘All of those are hand drawn. Is it a problem?’
He looked down at the binder in front of him and back up to Charlie.
‘Not if they are as accurate as this.’
Charlie came back five minutes later with a good pad and began to draw. The inspector slid up beside him and watched with the same wonder as Steven. It only took him ten minutes to draw the whole thing.
‘We have triple redundancy built into the system. I also have a spare set. Would you like to see them?’
‘Please.’
Charlie left him with the diagrams and returned with a wooden box. The inspector made another call. It wasn’t long before another minion appeared with a device encased in a black shell. The components were placed inside and the inspector surveyed the details on a pad. He did lots of things.
‘May we take these Captain?’
‘May I ask why?’
‘We are going to test them to destruction. I will use it as a basis for all of the other components you have made for this ship.’
‘Then please take them.’
He handed them over to his minion who took it all away. Other minions appeared and handed him reports, he checked over everything and on occasion left to go check on something himself.
Charlie finished up the wiring diagrams and those of the safety systems. The inspector took them and compared them to what he had been given by his inspectors. An hour later he received a call that put a smile on his face.
‘You will be happy to know that we have been unable to destroy your components Captain, congratulations. Your safety systems are on par with any commercial vehicle. We now need to do the load test. I did not notice testing points on the bottom of your ship.’ Charlie’s blank stare answered his question. ‘Don’t worry, we can do it the old-fashioned way. We will load her up with weights. They are waiting outside. Let my people finish up and remove themselves, then we will start.’
It was half an hour before the test began. The first load was put on board then the hanger doors closed.
The inspector sat beside Becca. A device also sat next to her, recording the instrument details.
‘Take her to up to negative gravity. That will give us an accurate assessment of how much power you will have in reserve to reach escape velocity.’
They felt the ship come up on its landing gear.
‘We are at negative G now sir.’
‘Okay, let her back down and let’s get the next load on. You seem to have plenty power in reserve, so we will triple the load.’
This process went on for a while. The inspector then declared the test over.
‘That seems to be your capacity Captain. A moderate load, but not bad.’
‘Actually, we can carry three times that. You are just on the edge of our first power band. If you load another hundred kilos, you will see what I mean.’
The inspector regarded him for a moment. ‘Alright. I will load another hundred on and see what happens.’
The ship detected the extra weight, the nozzles changed configuration, and lifted the heavier wight with ease. He was astonished.
‘You need to show me this.’
Charlie got up and plucked a radio from the dash.
‘When we are ready Becca, test mode please.’
‘Yes Captain.’
A few minutes later they were on a gantry below the starboard engine. Charlie gave the word and the exhaust began to change shape. The inspector almost stuck his head inside to get a better look. Charlie had to pull him back gently.
He eventually leaned back against the gantry, ‘So simple, yet so effective. Would you really like to test this out Captain?’
Charlie couldn’t help but grin, ‘I think that would be wonderful sir.’
‘It has been a long day. We will continue with the testing tomorrow.’ Charlie grimaced, ‘Does that bother you Captain?’
‘We are running really low on funds, but we have a few days’ worth of food left.’
‘You have a job to go to.’
‘If we pass the inspection. It doesn’t pay much, but it will keep us flying. We have about three days to accept the offer or reject it.’
‘Then I understand your consternation. I’m afraid this isn’t a quick process.’
‘It wasn’t one we were expecting.’
‘Patience Captain. When you leave here, it will be with the confidence that you will know exactly what your ship is capable of.’
A slow smile spread across Charlie’s face. ‘That would be nice.’
Chapter 21
The following morning the inspector arrived a little later with a different team. A unit of them went straight to the bridge. The engine testing began in earnest. Charlie was alarmed when huge exhaust ports were fitted to his engines and the full configuration of his engines tested.
Howe had found him outside. ‘Is this a good thing Charlie?’
‘Aye and no. We will know for sure if the ship is a hundred percent safe. The major problem here is they will now know just how fast we can go.’
‘That’s a bad thing.’
‘Faster than anything they have, including their military ships. It isn’t a good thing.’
‘Maybe we have over done it.’
‘I have over done it. My ego and pride at what I designed has put us all in danger.’
‘Think of it as a process. One that couldn’t be avoided. We may end up having to abandon the ship.’
‘Aye, and leave something that they can actually catch us in. I don’t think so. We need a contingency plan Colonel. If this goes wrong, I want those engines melted to slag.’
‘I can do that.’
‘Get in touch with Steven, let’s start preparations.’
‘On it.’
Charlie was left with a sinking feeling in his gut the whole day.
The inspector dined with them and drank tea. He was in high spirits. In the early afternoon he was sitting with a huge printout going over the readings. For a break he changed to his tablet and went through the notes his team sent him.
‘I have only one concern from my people Captain.’
‘Oh!’
‘Your armoury.’
Charlie shrugged, ‘What’s wrong with it? As far as I am aware it conforms to all Imperial standards. We have a range of arms for every individual on board, from side to heavy weapons. None of them are of current military grade. In fact they are old.’
‘May I see them?’
‘Of course.’
Charlie took him through to the armoury and opened it. The inspectors hand reached out but was then snatched back at the last second.
‘If I am not mistaken, these are Tilanium weapons.’
‘We got them from the same source as the rest of the material to build the ship.’
‘You have no real idea of the worth of these do you Captain?’
‘I have to say no.’
‘Nor the history behind the Tilanium people?’
‘Sorry, but I have never heard of them.’
He nodded to himself, ‘This explains a lot. Your weapons of course meet with current standards, they are actually well below the standards. You have the ammunition for them?’
‘Yes of course. It has all been analysed and tested, it is fine.’
‘Some things last well in the vacuum of space.’
‘We haven’t done anything wrong have we?’
‘No not at all. You couldn’t sell me one of these, could you?’
‘I would give you one if I could sir. That would, however, put us outside the law.’
‘There must have been more of these.’
‘Of course. Again, we are licenced as mineral dealers. Carrying any more than we need for self-defence, or selling them, is outside our licence.’
The mood of the inspector seemed to change after that. Charlie kept peeking into his mind. By the end of the day when the inspection was over, Charlie was ready.
The hanger doors slid open letting in fresh air. There was a glowing sunset and the inspector sat down on the edge of the ramp.
‘Sit with me a moment will you Captain.’
Charlie sat down. ‘This is a lovely planet. One of the nicer ones.’
‘It is much nicer than my home planet, that’s for sure. What about yours?’
‘Never really had a planet sir. We were born inside an asteroid, all of us. I never made planetfall until I was drafted. We are all the same.’
‘At home among the stars Captain.’
‘Indeed sir. It has its own beauty, but this is very hard to beat.’
‘Well I have good news for you Captain, and bad. Your ship, despite its appearance, is one of the finest examples of engineering I have ever had the opportunity to witness with my own eyes.’
‘You mean the Killara, sir.’
He barked a laugh, ‘Seriously?’
‘We took a vote on it last night. It is probably the first time we all agreed on anything.’
‘If I put that on record, you will not be able to change it.’
‘Please do. If you would be so kind as to supply the proper spelling of the word.’
‘Give me a moment.’ It was with a huge smile that he tapped the name of the ship into the records and saved it. He sighed. ‘I have never named a ship before. Thank you, it has always been an ambition.’
‘The bad news sir?’
‘It is a standing rule that any ship considered to be of outstanding and advanced engineering quality be sent to the nearest Imperial facility.’
‘I thought this was an Imperial facility?’
‘It is, but it isn’t a military one.’
‘Oh! You mean we are going to lose the ship.’
He sighed. ‘If I put this through, then yes.’
‘I will destroy the ship first.’
‘Why would you go that far Captain? You were a soldier; you served the Empire.’
‘I didn’t want to.’ It was Charlie’s turn to sigh, ‘I have no problems with the Empire sir. We were drafted, it is a simple as that. We survived, many didn’t.’
‘You have lost a lot of friends?’
‘Too many. I designed this ship for us. To provide a life and a living. To travel to our hearts’ content. We served, we did our duty, but I would not wish the military getting their hands on a vessel that I designed, for it to be turned into something that might take the life of others. I just can’t do that.’
‘If you had said that to any other inspector here, they would have had you arrested on the spot. Yet I understand. I too served. I first became an inspector in the military. I inspected ships that then went out and killed. My race is a peaceful race Captain. We will fight to defend ourselves though, and have had to do so in the past. Yet we long to be left alone. I admire your stance on this. It is within my power to downgrade your vessel so that it passes, and you can leave. Yet I am torn.’
‘You are allowed to do that!’
He laughed, ‘Oh yes. I do it all the time to people who piss me off.’
Charlie joined him in laughter, ‘I can see that.’
‘It is my discretion. I need to know something. You found a Tilanium ship and cannibalised it to make this ship. It’s where you also got the weapons.’
‘I think that’s fairly obvious by now.’
‘You don’t know much about them, do you?’
‘Nothing really.’
‘They arrived in this part of the galaxy over a hundred years ago, hell bent on conquering a new star system for themselves. They did not realise that this part of the galaxy was under Imperial rule. It started a long and bitter war. Their ships at fist seemed indestructible. It was soon discovered that it wasn’t their shields but their armour that was exceptional. Their weapons were also antiquated by Imperial standards. A scouting ship was sent after them. They discovered the planet they were from and a huge fleet from the Empire pounded it to a pile of dust. Their fleets that were still left in this part of the galaxy were hunted down and eventually wiped out. There were no survivors. Their race was eradicated as a demonstration of power and justice.’
‘That is brutal.’
‘Indeed. What was lost was their engineering capabilities; the ability to reproduce that kind of armour. It would make Imperial ships almost undefeatable. Until you came along that is. You have discovered a way to manipulate it.’
