“You are ordered to shut down your engines.” Ground Control told me immediately after I fired up the fusion reactor. Couldn't a guy just be warming up his power plant or maybe working on it or something like that? Apparently not. “You do not have clearance to depart.” Insistent bastards weren't they.
Yeah I'd gotten my ship, the biggest score I'd ever pulled, I even owned it legally, but was I going to get away with her. The old bastard I had blackmailed- in other words stole the ship from- still appeared to have an ace up his sleeve. It wasn't my fault the guy was a despicable example of humanity and had left himself wide open to it. In any case there really wasn't much else left to me. What other option did I have? It wasn't as if I could stay here further. That was a death sentence. This? I wasn't quite sure yet but I was still breathing and with the ability to breathe comes the will to fight.
So possibly it was just red tape and not the old bastard but either way I was in the same boat. Up shit creek without a paddle. Obviously there was no way in hell I was shutting down my engines. My right hand rested upon the control yoke and seemingly of its own volition my ship began to rise from the tarmac. Having made the decision there was now no further time to delay.
Of course I'm no pilot. I've never even been in a ship before much less piloted one but a crash course at the local library had given me the essentials and I was now airborne and soon to be spaceborne- if I wasn't shot down first. I wasn't sure I wouldn't be. Like I said, I'm new to this and governments could do whatever they wanted- like shoot down ships that were leaving without departure clearance.
It hadn't occurred to me to research how to use my weapons. I had figured I would have the time for that. That I might have to fight my way out had not occurred to me. I did have a receipt for the damn ship after all, even if that receipt was only given reluctantly. People of my caste don't ordinarily end up owning armed space yachts and I had never received the requisite training. In fact I have never received any training or schooling at all. I was the product of a tax-free zone and lucky to have even survived in the first place.
“I own this ship. It's registered legally.” I told Ground Control. I had in fact already changed the registration and hadn't been expecting any glitches. The com was easy enough to figure out in any case and a fight with the local authorities would only leave me dead. I was one ship against an entire planet's Coast Guard. I would have no chance at all. It was time to use my greatest asset. “I don't know how to fly this. It's doing whatever it wants.” I added. “How do I get it to go down?”
The ship and I were rising as quickly as our propulsion would accelerate us.
“Transfer control to us immediately.” Ground Control said. “We'll bring you down.”
“Yes sir.” I said. “How do I do that?” We were about a kilometer off the ground by this point and accelerating rapidly. The velocity indicator must not be working because it said we were already moving at mach eleven. Now twelve. Wow. Now fifteen. Suddenly we were in space. Below me hundreds of Coast Guard ships were rapidly rising to intercept me. The one other thing I had studied was how to activate the warp drive. The sickness was horrible. Of course I didn't learn this until later but you never want to activate your warp drive within a gravitational field, like that of a planet, for instance. When I awoke we were somewhere else.
I was covered in the meal I had eaten before departure. Apparently I had also decided to roll around in it after I had puked it up. I didn't remember puking or deciding to roll around in it but when I awoke that's the state I found myself in. On the deck and covered in my own puke. I got up and looked at the main viewscreen. Open space with nothing to be seen. After a shower and some clean clothes I found in a closet I was back on the bridge and studying the scan. There was nothing to be seen. The Coast Guard ships weren't equipped with warp drives but that didn't mean higher authorities wouldn't now be involved though far as I could tell the only law I had broken was a departure without clearance. If there was one thing I knew for a certainty though it was how treacherous governments could be. If they could find a way to confiscate my ship they'd do it. Through fees you can't pay and then confiscation of your belongings to pay their fees. Treachery at its worst.
“Where in the hell do we go though?” I asked myself. I'd gotten away with the goods but now what. Clearly I was going to be banned from human worlds. Suddenly I wasn't sure of anything.
“We haven't even named you yet.” I mused thinking about the ship around me and the fact that she was now mine. Looking at her parked at the spaceport hadn't been exactly the same. I hadn't even really believed she was mine. Now she was mine but could I keep her. “This is our last chance old girl. First and last. What do we do?”
She didn't answer of course. The previous owner hadn't been stupid enough to install an AI. If she had been so equipped I would have never gotten away with her either- an AI would have obeyed Ground Control. Not good. The uses to which the previous owner had put this ship were revolting and not repeatable and not things you would practice in front of an AI. In any case there was no AI to turn against me. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.
“Last Chance.” I mused. It was both mine and the previous owners'. To give me this ship had been his last chance and this was my last chance to make good. Making good in this Universe basically means just surviving. After angering the old bastard gentleman in question staying on the same planet with him was obviously out of the question, so last chance it was. “Last Chance.” I added. I had just named my ship.
“Where do we go now Last Chance.” She did not answer of course. Full of computer stuff but not the kind of computer stuff that talked back. Her ability to interact had been disabled in any case, though with a simple program like this the only talking she would do was of the inconsequential variety. Course altered, fuel status, crap like that. I wouldn't miss it.
She was a cream-pie though. I hate to even admit where I came from now that I have Last Chance. Luxury yacht didn't even begin to explain her. How to make her pay was the next question. She was supplied for years at space, had an auto-doc, there was no hurry to do anything, but I am generally the hurrying type. At least I had been, I mused. I had noticed the supply of hard liquor in storage.
I had heard of the Kievor Trade Stations, of course. Who hadn't though I had never given much thought to alien life previously as I'd had no reason to think about the subject. It seemed times were changing. It was a place safe from human law in any case. A place to rest and catch my wits, figure out what in the hell I was going to do next. Not that I had ever known a moments rest. Now for the first time ever I had some choices. Choices I had never had before to be certain, and namely, that now I had Last Chance.
So why not check out some alien life. It took a bit but I figured it out and I set course for the closest Kievor Trade Station. It wasn't all that hard to figure out, I amended, never trying to praise myself too much. The gentleman had visited on numerous occasions. The coordinates were a preset to drop us right at the Kievor's doorstep. Or I doubt I could have figured it out. In any case we were off.
Yeah I'd gotten my ship, the biggest score I'd ever pulled, I even owned it legally, but was I going to get away with her. The old bastard I had blackmailed- in other words stole the ship from- still appeared to have an ace up his sleeve. It wasn't my fault the guy was a despicable example of humanity and had left himself wide open to it. In any case there really wasn't much else left to me. What other option did I have? It wasn't as if I could stay here further. That was a death sentence. This? I wasn't quite sure yet but I was still breathing and with the ability to breathe comes the will to fight.
So possibly it was just red tape and not the old bastard but either way I was in the same boat. Up shit creek without a paddle. Obviously there was no way in hell I was shutting down my engines. My right hand rested upon the control yoke and seemingly of its own volition my ship began to rise from the tarmac. Having made the decision there was now no further time to delay.
Of course I'm no pilot. I've never even been in a ship before much less piloted one but a crash course at the local library had given me the essentials and I was now airborne and soon to be spaceborne- if I wasn't shot down first. I wasn't sure I wouldn't be. Like I said, I'm new to this and governments could do whatever they wanted- like shoot down ships that were leaving without departure clearance.
It hadn't occurred to me to research how to use my weapons. I had figured I would have the time for that. That I might have to fight my way out had not occurred to me. I did have a receipt for the damn ship after all, even if that receipt was only given reluctantly. People of my caste don't ordinarily end up owning armed space yachts and I had never received the requisite training. In fact I have never received any training or schooling at all. I was the product of a tax-free zone and lucky to have even survived in the first place.
“I own this ship. It's registered legally.” I told Ground Control. I had in fact already changed the registration and hadn't been expecting any glitches. The com was easy enough to figure out in any case and a fight with the local authorities would only leave me dead. I was one ship against an entire planet's Coast Guard. I would have no chance at all. It was time to use my greatest asset. “I don't know how to fly this. It's doing whatever it wants.” I added. “How do I get it to go down?”
The ship and I were rising as quickly as our propulsion would accelerate us.
“Transfer control to us immediately.” Ground Control said. “We'll bring you down.”
“Yes sir.” I said. “How do I do that?” We were about a kilometer off the ground by this point and accelerating rapidly. The velocity indicator must not be working because it said we were already moving at mach eleven. Now twelve. Wow. Now fifteen. Suddenly we were in space. Below me hundreds of Coast Guard ships were rapidly rising to intercept me. The one other thing I had studied was how to activate the warp drive. The sickness was horrible. Of course I didn't learn this until later but you never want to activate your warp drive within a gravitational field, like that of a planet, for instance. When I awoke we were somewhere else.
I was covered in the meal I had eaten before departure. Apparently I had also decided to roll around in it after I had puked it up. I didn't remember puking or deciding to roll around in it but when I awoke that's the state I found myself in. On the deck and covered in my own puke. I got up and looked at the main viewscreen. Open space with nothing to be seen. After a shower and some clean clothes I found in a closet I was back on the bridge and studying the scan. There was nothing to be seen. The Coast Guard ships weren't equipped with warp drives but that didn't mean higher authorities wouldn't now be involved though far as I could tell the only law I had broken was a departure without clearance. If there was one thing I knew for a certainty though it was how treacherous governments could be. If they could find a way to confiscate my ship they'd do it. Through fees you can't pay and then confiscation of your belongings to pay their fees. Treachery at its worst.
“Where in the hell do we go though?” I asked myself. I'd gotten away with the goods but now what. Clearly I was going to be banned from human worlds. Suddenly I wasn't sure of anything.
“We haven't even named you yet.” I mused thinking about the ship around me and the fact that she was now mine. Looking at her parked at the spaceport hadn't been exactly the same. I hadn't even really believed she was mine. Now she was mine but could I keep her. “This is our last chance old girl. First and last. What do we do?”
She didn't answer of course. The previous owner hadn't been stupid enough to install an AI. If she had been so equipped I would have never gotten away with her either- an AI would have obeyed Ground Control. Not good. The uses to which the previous owner had put this ship were revolting and not repeatable and not things you would practice in front of an AI. In any case there was no AI to turn against me. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.
“Last Chance.” I mused. It was both mine and the previous owners'. To give me this ship had been his last chance and this was my last chance to make good. Making good in this Universe basically means just surviving. After angering the old bastard gentleman in question staying on the same planet with him was obviously out of the question, so last chance it was. “Last Chance.” I added. I had just named my ship.
“Where do we go now Last Chance.” She did not answer of course. Full of computer stuff but not the kind of computer stuff that talked back. Her ability to interact had been disabled in any case, though with a simple program like this the only talking she would do was of the inconsequential variety. Course altered, fuel status, crap like that. I wouldn't miss it.
She was a cream-pie though. I hate to even admit where I came from now that I have Last Chance. Luxury yacht didn't even begin to explain her. How to make her pay was the next question. She was supplied for years at space, had an auto-doc, there was no hurry to do anything, but I am generally the hurrying type. At least I had been, I mused. I had noticed the supply of hard liquor in storage.
I had heard of the Kievor Trade Stations, of course. Who hadn't though I had never given much thought to alien life previously as I'd had no reason to think about the subject. It seemed times were changing. It was a place safe from human law in any case. A place to rest and catch my wits, figure out what in the hell I was going to do next. Not that I had ever known a moments rest. Now for the first time ever I had some choices. Choices I had never had before to be certain, and namely, that now I had Last Chance.
So why not check out some alien life. It took a bit but I figured it out and I set course for the closest Kievor Trade Station. It wasn't all that hard to figure out, I amended, never trying to praise myself too much. The gentleman had visited on numerous occasions. The coordinates were a preset to drop us right at the Kievor's doorstep. Or I doubt I could have figured it out. In any case we were off.
We met Whelan in Apes and since this was my first visit today shortly thereafter I had a steamer in front of me. Melanie ordered the same. I had created a monster. Whelan ordered a regular mixer, we all took sips or gulps depending on the person and then looked at one another.
“She can fly the ship.” I said. “We took it out for a jump.”
“She learned everything already?” Whelan said. “Even how to use the weapons?”
“Even how to use the weapons.” I agreed.
“I was a gamer.” Melanie said.
“They had some primitive games when I was a boy.” Whelan said. “Nothing like what they have now.”
“I've never played a video game.” I said.
“It's little different than flying your ship.” Melanie said. “Except without the chance of being killed for real. When you are killed in a video game you just push the restart button and you restart being alive again.”
“Well please don't confuse reality with gaming because in the game we play there is no restart button.” I said. “Not unless there's reincarnation and I'm not sure I believe in that. If it is real I don't think you get a choice in what you come back as and from what I have heard is that if you were a bad boy during life you very well might come back as something you don't want to come back as.”
“A lot of people believe that Marc.” Whelan said. “In your case in particular I would suggest staying alive as a human. Probably as long as eternity.”
“Oh thanks for your vote of confidence.” I said. “Knowing I would be reincarnated as a rat or something equally detestable.”
“Has Marc been a bad boy?” Melanie asked Whelan.
“I wouldn't exactly say he's been a good boy.” Whelan said. “Siccing the Tssah on that group of miners, most of whom probably had no idea how the mine had been acquired, was by far the most ruthless thing I've seen him do. Conversely human world courts probably would have done the same, convicting all of them for association, all I'm saying is that that was the worst I've seen Marc do and I've seen Marc do a lot of things. Sometimes I would see him kill as many as ten lizards a week, but in all fairness it was sometimes in my defense, like the time we pissed off a whole clan of them.” “I think I would have done the same.” Melanie said as she finished her steamer, not reacting to Whelan's comment about the ten lizards. After all, she had watched me kill three of them in the space of about fifteen minutes. “Another of those steamer things.” She called out to Ape. Ape only shook his head and in a moment had her favorite normal drink sitting in front of her. She turned to me; “You owe me for cutting off my steamers.”
“I owe you for everything I do.” I said.
“Believe me it's for your own good.” Whelan told her. “Drink a few of those and you'll literally lose your mind. At least until you sober up and in the meantime you will do lots of stupid things. Marc keeps his safe on a twelve hour lock-down when he's out drinking if that tells you anything.”
“Why do you do that?” Melanie asked with a funny look. “You don't trust yourself?”
“Not when I've had a few of those steamers I don't.” I said. “I did something very stupid once and I cannot allow that to happen again. As a matter a fact I have let my Kievor account build up again. I need to put that in vouchers and lock them in my safe. In fact I'm going to need a bigger safe shortly actually.”
“So if I was a safe cracker I could get extremely rich?” Melanie asked with a laugh.
“Or extremely dead.” Whelan said. “Don't forget it's Marc you are talking about.”
“I'm only joking and from the sound of it the two of you are going to help me make my own fortune.” Melanie said. “I'm still baffled why when you could have had me for the price of crew, even flying the other ship if those were my duties.”
“No one fights as hard as he who fights for his own property.” I said.
“Or she.” Melanie said.
“We're counting on you to save our lives one day.” Whelan said. “You already saved mine once. They would have never let me go free. Not ever, and I really don't see how Marc would have been able to locate me. I still don't know how they got in my ship. I've upgraded the locking program now but it should have been impossible.”
“Well I would have had to grab them one by one until either I found out where you were or got found out, arrested and executed myself.” I said.
“What would you have done?” Melanie said. “Keep them locked in your ship?”
“I don't think that would have been feasible.” I said. Whelan and Melanie looked at one another. They knew what I meant. I would have gotten Whelan out or died trying and I wouldn't have been nice about it. There wouldn't have been any other options.
“Well when are we going mining?” Melanie asked. “It doesn't sound very difficult if the machines do all the work and I just sit in the ship getting drunk.”
“That's the way Marc does it. I'm stretching my legs for a couple more days though.” Whelan said. “I guess we'll go then.”
“Drink.” I hollered.
It was probably a good thing that both Whelan and I were alert when it happened. It was still an hour before the end of his shift when the two Tssah ships flew over us. They were moving slowly and hadn't detected us. Didn't detect us until I opened fire. As soon as I opened fire I slapped ships activation and it came instantly to life. I had fired before Whelan, hitting the closest ship with the guns from both Last Chance and Lancelot simultaneously. Luckily Whelan was alert and not in the head or something because he opened fire on the second ship a nanosecond after I had fired. As chance would have it my plasma-cannon fire knocked the first ship into position for a photon strike. The photon cannons of both Lancelot and Last chance struck it simultaneously, bow and stern. The explosion was brilliant and tossed the second ship spinning. Then both Whelan and I were hitting it with plasma fire. Apparently having lost its equilibrium it didn't get a chance to return fire and within moments joined its companion in another brilliant explosion. I looked at Melanie and saw a person with her jaw hanging in what could only be described as shock.