Voyages of the Solar Wind 1: A Fire in Heaven Read online

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  "Thanks, Jeka. Hey, do you know Rick is here and working up in Traffic Control?" I asked as we concluded our business.

  "Yeah, he showed up about a month ago and was in really bad shape. He had to scuttle Founder's Fortune outside the station after he and his crew ejected in escape pods. Luckily, he had good insurance on it. We started talking again when he was in the hospital." Jeka shrugged. "I hooked him up in Control, and he likes it as far as I can tell. It's safer than his previous jobs." She rolled her eyes.

  "Wasn't he a Privateer?" I asked. “I heard he went Privateer after getting out of the Navy.”

  "Yeah, for about six months. Then he took his destroyer and went rogue. Full on pirate. Hooked up with Harrana Bloodskull and her crew for a bit, then struck out on his own. He got nailed by some System Patrol Cutters out by Harad's Reach. From what he said, they barely made it out alive after destroying two of the Cutters. The third was about to board him, but he was able to enter the slipstream when they dropped the tractor bubble to board his ship. He lost both legs, Dex." Jeka sounded concerned for him.

  Rick used to be her gunner aboard the CSS Zhao Yun, and Jeka had been a shit hot pilot back in the day. She'd made a pass at me once, but I had said not just no but 'ohhh fuck no' to her. It's not that she's ugly. She's a stone fox if you're into the extreme goth look with fangs. Not my type, but Rick seemed to like her back then.

  "Does he have cyberlegs yet?" I asked. Rick was a friend, pirate or no. We'd saved each others' lives at the Battle of Harad's Reach. He'd shot down a cruiser that Ri had been popping but wat about to kick our asses, and we'd shot down a destroyer that'd had the Zhao Yun dead to rights.

  "Yeah, they should be arriving tomorrow, when he goes back into the hospital and gets out of that blasted hoverchair." Jeka looked really distraught over the whole thing.

  "Jeka, you're in love with him, aren't you?" Rilar asked with a smile. I'd just thought she was concerned for a friend.

  Jeka nodded. Selarians can't blush, but if they could, Jeka would have been blushing... I think.

  "We're kinda seeing each other now." She admitted with a little smile. "But if you tell anyone.."

  "You'll bleed us dry, we know." I chuckled.

  It was an old joke going back to flight training. It was her favorite threat, and had worked well on me back then. Jeka and I had worked together over the past year when Ri and me were restoring Solar Wind, and she had expedited our permits for landing and our fee for admittance into the Free Trade Alliance.

  She'd also sent me a copy of the CCSJ, and I had memorized every section. It's what protects us Free Traders from military strong-arming. They can't illegally board and seize my ship, and I found out why. I read the booklet cover to cover, over and over until I could recite every paragraph and subsection by heart. It would come in handy on more than a few occasions, I was sure.

  "We're going to meet him in a bit for drinks at the Jolly Roger pub, Jeka." Rilar said. "Wanna come along?"

  "Sure, guys. I get off here in about a half hour." Jeka smiled. As far as Selarians go, who are actually pretty nice people for the most part, Jeka was a cut above even the rest of her species. While they look like vampires, and really are vampires, they don't have the 'blaaah blaah I vant to suck your blood' thing going on. They're just average everyday bloodsucking vampires... err, people, and I really have an irrational fear of them. Jeka is one of the few that I don't really fear, since we've known each other forever.

  We sat and traded stories for a bit until 1700 hours rolled around and Jeka shut up the office and we all left. Rela had to get home to her hubby, when Jeka asked if she wanted to join us.

  "She seems nice," I remarked to Jeka.

  "She's a sweetheart, Dex. Her boyfriend is Human, by the way." Jeka grinned.

  "To each, their own, Jeka." I shrugged. Not my thing, but I could see the attraction for some guys.

  "Are you two still cuddling naked at night?" Jeka asked us with a giggle.

  "Yep. No pressure for anything but mutual comfort." I said with a smile.

  Jeka looked like she wanted to say something, but shook her head and smiled as we walked into the 'Roger. We saw Rick come in from the other entrance and he steered his hover chair towards us.

  "Dex! Rilar! Good to see you guys!" He grinned as he came to a stop in front of us. I shook his hand and Rilar bent down to give him a hug.

  "Good to see you too, Rick. Jeka filled us in on your after war activities, so to speak. You really are one tough ornery sonuvabitch!" I laughed along with him. As we sat and had some beers brought to us, Rick recounted his story.

  "Yeah, I know. I barely managed to crawl back to the cockpit from engineering after the bulkhead collapsed on my legs. Crushed and amputated clean. I would have bled out if not for finding the medkit in the cockpit after my pilot and gunner died. I managed to hit Slip and made it out of there." Rick shuddered a bit at the memory.

  "Well, I'm glad you're ok, brother." I clinked bottles with him as we sat around what was to become our favorite table.

  The first time I had seen Humanity Prime was in the Jolly Roger. They had a 'chapel' on Port Royal so they could preach their bigotry and hate for anyone not of the Human persuasion. They were barely tolerated as it was, since they paid all the legal permit fees and didn't usually cause trouble that could be traced back to them.

  They saw me and Rick with Ri and Jeka and came towards our table. "Shit," Rick muttered. "Here we fucking go."

  "My friends," said the first one in a really slimy voice that made me feel like I needed a fuckin' shower. "Why waste time with alien hookers when there are plenty of Human women more than willing to satisfy your needs?"

  I decided to have a bit of fun with ol' douchebag. "Well, the last Human woman I dated turned into a fuckin' psycho. Last I heard she got promoted to Commander in the Confederate Navy. As far as Ri here, we're best friends, so if I were you, I'd keep my lip holstered before her pistol becomes unholstered and you get unalive. Comprende, dingletard?" I had slipped back into Helliotian dialect since it had some colorful words that didn't let the insulted idiot even realize he'd been insulted until (sometimes) days later.

  This insulted idiot was a bit sharper than most, though. "Watch your tongue, alien-lover!"

  "Or what, homeskillet? Rilar here is the fastest shot in the galaxy, except for MAYBE Bili the Bullet, but I'd still put my money on her." I grinned my best shit eatin' grin.

  Well, it turns out ol' boy wasn't as smart as I had originally thought. He went for his pistol and saw Rilar's sidearm already aimed at him. He wouldn't have even cleared leather, and he knew it. I had mine trained on his butt buddy, so he wasn't gonna even try and skin his.

  "Walk away, boys. You won't get a proper Human burial if they know you got gunned down by a female Gurinkan." Rilar smiled so sweetly at them, I wanted to laugh, but settled for my shit eatin' grin.

  Rick did laugh at that, though. He revved backward in his hoverchair, and rammed forward into the non-speaking partner of K,K &K Inc. He let out a yelp as he lost his balance and fell into his buddy, and they both fell down.

  "Oops. Still trying to get the hang of this thing." Rick grinned down at them both. He then proceeded to run over them both several times just for shits and grins.

  Jeka grinned and snickered. "Ok, Rick. Park it so I can bleed them both.” She looked at them and bared her fangs in a snarl that made me just about shit myself.

  Both the HP Loony Toons realized their lives were in grave danger and ran for it.

  "I fuckin' hate those guys already." I said.

  "Humanity Prime. The Godsdamned KKK of the 28th Century," said Rick. "If you go to Mars or Alpha Centauri IV for a job, watch out for them. They have no problem with kidnapping non-humans and torturing them to death."

  Since ancient Earth isn't inhabitable anymore, most Sol system civilization is on Mars now and on Europa in orbit around Jupiter.

  "Then Ri stays aboard ship when we go to eith
er of those places unless we stick together." I laid down the law.

  "We actually have some HP contracts on the board, guys." Jeka informed us. "Mostly weapons and medicine. They're scum, but they pay well."

  "I'll take the medicine jobs if we're desperate, but no way in hell will I help arm those sickos." I confirmed my ability to see Green as the only color a Free Trader should care about. I would take credits from my enemies. It's just business.

  "Well, come by the office in the morning and we'll check the job boards to see if we can get you a solid run to start things off." Jeka smiled.

  "Sounds good, Jeka. We're gonna go back and get some shuteye, so we'll see ya in the A M." Ri and I stood up to go.

  As we walked out we saw about twenty Humanity Prime assholes coming towards us. They were reaching for their pistols when we both drew and fired. Ri was faster than fast. She dropped 8 of them before they could clear leather, and two more as they got theirs clear and were taking aim. I popped six of them by aiming and shooting, then two more as I dove to the side to avoid their Pulsar NanoCharged Heat pistol shots. The PuNCH laser pistols and rifles are the preferred firearms of the Confederate Navy, while Rilar and I are partial to Rails which her dad General Keldor got us up on, since the Confederate Army uses them over PuNCH weapons. I'm nowhere near the fastdraw expert that Ri is, but I was doing well, and We split the last four of them two apiece. I'd miscounted by two, but that was ok. We won.

  Rilar twirled and holstered her weapon without even looking. The short white hair on her head gave her a sexy tom-boy type look, and I was down with that. She's the sexiest best buddy I've ever had!

  "Great shooting as always, Ri." I grinned and hugged her.

  "Thanks, Dex." Ri grinned and hugged me back. "That felt good!"

  "Killing bad guys usually does." I admitted.

  We got the rest of the way back to the ship after watching the cleaning droids remove the bodies and Port Royal Security get there, late as usual.

  Rilar decided then and there that she didn't like Port Royal station. "If this is going to become a regular thing, I would prefer that we not come here to get contracts, Dex. You never know when someone might get the drop on us."

  She had a point. "I know, Ri. I hear ya on that."

  We got aboard and back to our quarters. We had to get some shuteye. We stripped down to our birthday suits and got under the sheet on our bunk. Rilar cuddled close to my chest that night, and I fell asleep with her breath on my chest.

  We awoke the next morning to the com beeping in the cockpit. I got up, stretched, then pulled on a flight suit as Rilar slept on. I looked at her and admired her beauty. Then the beeping cut through my daydreams and I ran up to the cockpit to answer the call.

  "Solar Wind, this is Administrator Jeka. Come in, Dex."

  "Go ahead, Jeka. Sup?" I asked, still shaking off the sleep.

  "There you are, I thought you and Rilar had finally quenched your unrequited lust for each other." She joked.

  "Ha ha. You know that's not gonna happen. What's the skinny, Minnie?" I chuckled.

  "Got a job for you, Pick-up is on New Haven, and the drop-off is on Gurhin. Half hour trip after the two and a half from here. Pretty quick." She informed me.

  "What's the payout, darlin'?"

  "Two K. Interested?" She asked. Two K was a lot to me back then, and would go a ways toward refilling me and Ri's account after refurbing the ship.

  "Lords, yes! Send me the veggies, and we're on it. Thanks, Jeka!" I like Jeka. She still creeps me out slightly, but hey. I'll take any friends I can get, and she's one of the best!

  She sent the file and I scanned it. Food run, high end. Two crates for some Gurinkan big wig's retirement party from the planetary government. I grabbed the contract in a mad second.

  "Ri! We got a gig! You ready, sweety?" I shouted back towards our quarters.

  "Mmppphhh. Mmk, Dex. Mm'll be up inna moment." Her soft and groggy voice came back. I smiled. She's just adorable.

  I did the preflight checks myself, jumping from my seat to Ri's and back. I got everything good to go and lifted. I plotted a course for New Haven as we exited the docking bay into space and hit the Slipdrive.

  Ri staggered up to the cockpit as we entered the slipstream.

  "What's the gig, hon?" She asked.

  "Food run from NH to Gurhin City. Two K paycheck." I smiled at her, and she smiled back, now fully awake.

  "Our first paycheck, sweety!" She jumped into my lap and hugged me. I hugged her to me and we were now seeing our dreams become reality. We were gonna get paid to have fun!

  We talked and ate and drank a few beers, wondering how we were going to spend our new money.

  "First of all, we need beer," she said, and I agreed. We only had a six-pack left from Helliot II.

  "After beer, we need food." I have my priorities straight. Trust me on this.

  "After food, we need better sidearms and ammo." Ri said. She's a gunner. It's in her blood. Her father, General Keldor, came up as a Gunner in the Confederate Army, Armored Cavalry. It was in her genetics.

  "Ok, so after beer, food for what? Six months just so we don't have to buy it every time we dock?" I asked and she nodded enthusiastically. "Then some RailPistols and a few thousand MagPellets in the right caliber. Anything else?"

  "Ground transportation in case we want to go sight-seeing." I hadn't thought of that! That's one reason I love my best buddy.

  "Hovercycles?" I grinned.

  "Fuck yes!" She grinned back at me.

  "Sweet!" We were both happy now.

  We had our priorities straight when we dropped out of the slipstream around New Haven.

  "New Haven Control, this is the SS Solar Wind out of Helliot II and Port Royal, requesting permission to land." It felt good to say that.

  "Solar Wind, this is New Haven Control, what is the nature of your visit?" He asked.

  "Business, Control. Free Trader picking up a delivery for transport to Gurhin. I'll send you the details." I transmitted the pickup order.

  "Very well, Solar Wind. You are cleared to land at Landing Bay 8 at Haven City Spaceport." He confirmed.

  "Thank you, Control. Received route, and coming in. Solar Wind, out." I cut the com, and Ri was as giddy as I was!

  I landed at Bay 8 and contacted our client. "Solar Wind to Syl Nyles. We are docked at Bay 8 at Haven City Spaceport and awaiting delivery of the shipment."

  "This is Nyles. Very well, Captain Relway. The shipment will be there in five minutes." He said.

  "We'll await delivery, sir." I answered. It would always pay to be polite to a client, I figured.

  We twiddled our thumbs and waited in the cockpit until until we saw them enter the bay. "We're up, Dex!" Ri bounced out of her seat and so did I. We were both grinning like Cheshire Cats when we lowered the boarding ramp and went down to receive the shipment on the hovercart. Two crates of food and a half hour trip to Gurhin, Rilar's home planet, for two K credits. Sweet deal!

  "Here you go, Captain." Nyles handed me the signover log, and I signed my Dex Relway to it.

  "Pleasure doing business, sir. We will have it delivered within the hour." I shook his hand and we carted the shipment up into the ship and down the corridor past our quarters to the hold. Once it was secured, we went back up to the cockpit and lifted after pre-flight.

  We grabbed sky once we were clear of the bay, and I hit Flank Burn all the way out. We broke atmo in less than thirty seconds.

  "OOoooh, Dex! I will NEVER get tired of this speed!" Rilar was even more giddy now.

  "I know, sweety. Neither will I!" I plotted a course for Gurhin and engaged the Slipdrive, entering the slipstream and shooting towards our first payday.

  We exited the slipstream over the tropical paradise that is Gurhin, and hailed Control.

  "Solar Wind, this is Gurhin City Control. What is the nature of your stay?"

  "Business, Control. Delivery of high end foodstuffs for a retirement party. Collection agent is Mr. Led
dor." I said.

  "Good copy, Solar Wind. You are clear to land at landing bay 2. Welcome to Gurhin." I'd been there before, but thanked him nonetheless.

  When we landed, our client was waiting for us already. Wow, the Gurinkans take their food seriously!

  We brought our cargo out and signed it over, collecting our payment. "Pleasure doing business, Mr. Keddor."

  "Thank you, Captain. First Officer." He nodded to me and gave a leering bow to Rilar. As he left, I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

  "No way, Dex. I'm saving myself for the right guy. He is NOT the right guy." She rolled her eyes.

  "Hey, Ri," I said as we walked up the ramp. "I just wanna see you happy."

  She looked at me through narrowed lids as if she wanted to say something, then shrugged and let it go. She slipped her arm around my waist and gave me a hug as we got inside and I raised the ramp and secured the hatch.

  "I know, Dex. I wanna see you happy too." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

  "You're the best friend I've ever had, Ri." I hugged her back and kissed her cheek too.

  "And don't you forget it, flyboy!" She laughed.

  "Ok, let's break atmo and go contact Jeka for another job." I grinned. We were now two thousand credits richer!

  Ri grinned back at me. "Yes!"

  We broke atmo at breakneck speed again and some fireworks off our port bow caught my attention. "Ri, we got a battle going on over there." I nodded my head, and Rilar was on her scopes immediately.

  "Looks like a cruiser is getting pounded by another cruiser and some fighters. Not sure who the victim is, but the attackers look like Silver Leopards, Dex!" Oh shit. Silver Leopards were Hegemony funded pirates. We'd fought them during the war.

  "Ri, wanna give Hugs and Kisses a workout?" I raised an eyebrow and smirked. I already knew what her answer would be.

  "Fuck yes, Dex! Let's light those fuckers up!" That's my best buddy! She HATES Silver Leopards with a blinding vengeance.

  "Then fire up your guns, energize armor, and hang the fuck on, sweety! Let's get some!" I shoved the throttle to Flank and hit the Burner at the same time. We shot towards the pirates.