Captain’s Claimed Property Read online

  Most of the crew accepted the story outright. Only a few peppered the captain with questions at the end of his speech, all of which he answered honestly and without hesitation. It seemed everyone was satisfied with Grom’s explanation, and seeing as how they all hated Jent anyway, nobody would’ve cared if the captain had been lying and the Selachi ’s death had, in fact, been the result of some foul play.

  Some of them spoke to Sarah as they filed out of the room, asking her how she had gotten the jump on Jent, or requesting that she come take a look at something of theirs that was broken. One crew member even ventured to ask if she wished to stay the night in his chambers, to which Grom answered for her by heatedly telling the alien it was time he headed back to bed. Reema didn’t say anything, but she did give Sarah a long, searching look, followed by a curt, humble nod—a gesture that spoke volumes. Only Nickle and Wex asked if she was okay.

  Am I okay? Sarah was back in her chambers, it was almost morning. She had been far too wired to sleep. A part of her felt content, happy even, that the crew was starting to respect her. Not to mention the powerful sense of pride she felt from knowing she saved Grom’s life. It felt thick, warm, and sweet. It melted through her heart like honey spread on a biscuit fresh from the oven. And yet, she couldn’t enjoy the flakey, syrupy treat. Each bite tasted bland, and no matter how many she took, her mouth remained dry and her stomach unsatisfied. She wanted to go home. It didn’t matter that these people were beginning to like her; they weren’t her family. This wasn’t her life.

  Finally, in the early hours of the next day, exhaustion conquered Sarah’s over active mind, and she sank into a dreamless void.

  The next few weeks passed through Sarah like a ghost through walls. She registered some sensation, the vague sense of time passing, but the days held no form, and her presence seemed weightless and unreal. They had completed the job for Mr. R and had picked up a few smaller gigs afterwards, but the ship was in bad shape. Going through so many jump points in such a short period of time had really taken its toll on the old F6 and every day it seemed there was a new issue to report. The most concerning of which regarded the thrusters and stabilizers.

  When heading into a jump point, the pilot to take the ship into full throttle, which meant heneeded to slam the thrusters into the highest gear and get that acceleration going at max speed. Although this put a major strain on the thrusters, it’s only supposed to last a few seconds, and then, once through the jump point, the pilot would immediately slow down and give the poor babies a break. But they had been behind schedule on their last two assignments and were therefore using the thrusters more and more in between jumps. The stabilizers were working overtime as well. They had one really nasty landing that took out the left side stabilizer which meant the other three were forced to overcompensate. If they didn’t replace the left one soon, it was only a matter of time before they blew another, which would make landing near impossible.

  “So how much will it cost to get two new thrusters and replace the missing stabilizer?” Grom, Sarah, and Wex were in the kitchen, talking over dinner.

  “Well, I’m not sure about the stabilizer,” Wex said. “It depends on if we can find a used one or not. The thrusters will be over a thousand pinches each.”

  “A thousand?” Grom nearly choked on his beef.

  Wex shrugged. “Yeah, and that’s if we get cheap ones. We really should shell out for nicer ones though, considering all the jobs we’ve got lined up.”

  “Those will be closer to two thousand,” Sarah added.

  “And a used stabilizer?” Grom looked at Sarah. “Do I even want to know what that is going to cost me?”

  “Stabilizers that fit Slipsteams are rare.” She looked down at her plate of pasta that Nickle had stashed and which he reluctantly let Sarah dip into. “Even used ones will be expensive. We’d be hard pressed to find one for under three thousand pinches.”

  “What? It’s more than a new thruster?” Grom’s eyes darted back and forth between Sarah and Wex. “But a stabilizer is so tiny and thrusters are huge!”

  “You can fly without thrusters,” Wex explained. “Sure, it makes going through jumps hard, but it’s doable. And if you’re someone who only uses the ship to travel short distances, thrusters are completely unnecessary.”

  “But every ship needs stabilizers,” Sarah added. “No matter how big or small, no matter where it’s going, what it’s carrying, every ship needs stabilizers. You can’t land without them, and you can’t fly if you can’t land.”

  “So they’re expensive because they can be,” Grom concluded.

  “Exactly.” Wex got up to clean his plate. “Sellers know how important stabilizers are, and they set the prices accordingly. The actual mechanics and material that go into making one are really quite cheap.”

  “Then why don’t you just make us a new one?” The captain suggested.

  “You can’t buy stabilizer parts individually.” Wex did a half ass job rinsing his plate then left it in the sink for someone else to deal with. “You have to be a certified mechanic that works for one of the companies that makes the stabilizers. It’s all very rigged and very stupid, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” Wex leaned against the sink.

  “And how much would it be to buy a whole new ship?” Grom asked. “One big enough to hold the whole crew and maybe one that didn’t fall apart all the damn time!”

  Wex’s face lit up with excitement. “A new ship?” He thought for a moment. “That really depends.”

  “Could I get one for under ten thousand pinches?”

  “Yes. Maybes” Said Wex.

  “Definitely,” Sarah corrected. They both looked at her. “If you know how to haggle.”

  “Well, I don’t.” Grom laughed. “But you do.”

  “So,” Wex gave the captain a look of childlike anticipation, “we’re getting a new ship?’

  Grom nodded. “We’re getting a new ship.”

  “Oh, thank god.” Wex feigned the gesture of wiping sweat from his forehead. “Because I wasn’t going to say anything, but this ship does not have much more in her. Honestly, I was surprised we even made it through that last jump point in one piece.”

  “Wex!” Grom looked angry, but there was amusement in his voice. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “No offense, Captain, but I’m always surprised we make it through the jump points in one piece. This ship is garbage.”

  Grom laughed and looked to Sarah. “And what’s your excuse? Why didn’t you tell me how bad of shape we were really in?”

  “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the apprentice.” Sarah flashed Grom a small, sarcastic smile. “How was I supposed to know?”

  But she did know. She had known for a while. The truth was, she didn’t care. If the ship made it through the next jump point, great. And if it didn’t, that was fine too. She was so far away from her family, her friends, from anything and everything that made her feel alive, Sarah often thought it wouldn’t matter if she died. But a part of her did care about Grom, which is why she didn’t say any of this out loud.

  “Well, on that note, I’m off to bed.” Wex grabbed himself a second can of beer from the fridge, said good night to Sarah and the captain, and left.

  Sarah picked at her unnaturally orange dinner and sighed.

  “What’s wrong?” Grom had tried to start many conversations with her since the night of Jent’s death, but Sarah always found a way to avoid them.

  “Just sick of only having meals that come from a dusty box or a frozen bag.” Sarah put a single elbow noodle into her mouth and frowned.

  “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting to pick up human food when we stop to refuel and restock. I’ve just gotten so used to getting all the alien basics. But we’re stopping tomorrow. You can come shopping with me.”

  “Alright.” Sarah took one last bite, and, finding it just as disappointing as the previous ten, she promptly stood up and threw the rest of her pasta in the trash. She washed h
er plate in silence then finished washing Wex’s and put them both on the drying rack. “I’m going to bed,” she said softly and turned to leave.

  “Wait.” Sarah could hear a bit of frustration in Grom’s voice underneath all the obvious desperation.

  She turned back to face him. “What?”

  “I was hoping you would stay a while.”

  “I’m tired.”

  “Oh. Okay. Well then I won’t keep you.”

  Sarah headed towards the door and just before she turned into the hallway, she heard Grom call sadly, “See you tomorrow.”

  “Yup. Tomorrow,” she called back. Then, feeling sorry for the captain, she added, “sleep tight,” and left.

  23

  The Slipsteam’s Last Ride

  In order to get to the nearest planet with a ship shop, they had to take the Slipsteam through one last jump point. Grom’s hands were shaking a bit as he listened to Slick explain how tricky this particular jump was going to be. It was early in the morning and most of the crew was still asleep, save himself, the pilot, Wex, Nickle, and Sarah, all of whom had crowded themselves into the cockpit.

  “If what Wex says is true,” Slick pointed to the maintenance man, “and our thrusters are basically shot, this is going to be a bumpy ride. Without the thrusters propelling us, it will take about three times as long to travel through the jump. Now, have any of you experienced a prolonged jump before?” Everyone shook their heads. “I figured as much. Well, it’s going to feel weird. That’s all I can say. You don’t normally feel the effects of jumping because it happens so quick, but this time you’ll feel it.”

  “And you might get sick,” Nickle added. The sleepy crewmembers all looked at him. “When you go through a wormhole, everything contracts and shifts, including all the molecules in the air and in your body. Our ships may be made to handle this type of trauma, but our bodies aren’t.”

  “The doc’s right,” the pilot said. “You can experience something called decompression sickness, which happens when the uh, hydrogen, no wait, oxygen—”

  “Nitrogen.” Nickle came to Slick’s rescue. “It happens when the nitrogen in your blood contracts. In most cases it just makes you feel woozy, you might faint even. In more serious cases, your blood can clot.”

  “And then what?” Wex asked.

  “Well...” Nickle looked to the pilot for help.

  “Let’s just not worry about that.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’m sure everyone will be fine. Now, I’ve chosen to let the rest the crew sleep through this because it will best for them not to be awake if anything goes wrong.”

  “So why are we here?” Wex asked before breaking into a very animated yawn.

  “Well, you and Sarah are here in case something goes wrong with the ship.”

  “Not that we could do anything,” Sarah said.

  “Right, well,” Slick smiled awkwardly, “regardless, I feel better having you here. And the doc, well, you know…just in case.”

  The pilot’s words dropped like a rock into Grom’s stomach. It began to dawn on him how much danger they were all in, and he felt personally responsible for getting his crew into such a terrible situation. Why didn’t I do proper maintenance on this thing. He silently berated himself. All of this could have been avoided if I hadn’t been such a cheap bastard. He looked at Sarah and the rock grew infinitely heavier. If she dies, I’ll never forgive myself.

  “So, is everyone ready?” Slick scanned the faces of his audience, stopping on Grom’s. “Captain?”

  “Yes, sorry.” He pulled his eyes from Sarah. “Ready.”

  “Then let’s get this hunk of junk jumping.”

  The Slipsteam shook violently from the pressure of the wormhole. Grom had insisted that everyone strap themselves into the extra seats in the cockpit, but there were only three, meaning he had to go without. Wex tried to argue with him at first, saying something about him having a lower center of gravity than Grom and therefore had better balance, but the captain was having none of it. He braced himself as best he could, leaning against the wall and hanging onto the back of Sarah’s chair which sat directly in front of him, but once the ship slid into the jump, he was thrown to the ground.

  “Grom?” Sarah tried to look around, but the seatbelt kept her from seeing anything. “Are you okay?”

  He coughed a few times, then said, “Yes, I’m fine. Just got the air knocked out of me.”

  “Stay on the ground.” It was getting harder and harder to speak. The shaking was causing Sarah’s brain to rattle around in her skull, and her muscles were all tensed with fear. “Just hang on to the bottom of my chair.”

  Grom didn’t answer. Every inch of Sarah’s body felt like it was being squeezed. Her veins struggled to keep her blood coursing. Her eyes produced tears but she kept her eyelids shut so tight, none of them could escape. For a moment, she truly believed she was going to die, and once she believed it, she no longer wanted it. She realized, with bone-deep dread that she wanted to live even if living meant she would be stuck on this godforsaken ship forever. With great effort, she reached a hand down and felt around for his. He had both his hands gripped tightly around the metal pole that cemented Sarah’s chair into the ship, and, not wanting him to let go, she simply laid her hand atop his.

  The shaking only lasted a few seconds longer though the horrible, bodily sensation continued to paralyze the crew until they were completely out of the wormhole and a good thousand kilometers away. Sarah pulled her hand back from Grom’s before anyone could see, and a second later the captain was standing up.

  “Is everyone okay?” His voice sounded strained, but otherwise Grom appeared unharmed. He looked to Sarah first, who answered in the affirmative. Nickle and Wex both called out to say they were fine. “Slick?” There was no answer or movement from the pilot’s chair. Grom hurried over with Nickle right on his heels. Sarah got out of her seat and watched as Grom reached down and grabbed the pilot by the shoulders.

  “Don’t,” Nickle said and pushed himself in between Slick and the captain. Grom took a few steps back. “He’s out cold.”

  “But he’s okay, right?” Grom asked.

  “I don’t know. I need to take him back to my chambers now.” Nickle unclicked the pilot’s seat belt. “Can you?” He motioned for Grom to pick Slick up. The captain moved to grab the body quickly while Nickle coached him to be careful. “Hold him stead, under the knees and back, yes, like that. Okay, now we need to go as fast as we can, but don’t swing his body at all, understand? We need to keep him as still as possible.”

  “Got it.” Grom held the pilot as if he was weightless and carried him out of the cockpit with unexpected grace.

  Nickle followed him and called back to the others while he was running down the hall. “Get the ship in order then check on the others. Bring anyone who seems hurt or who’s passed out directly to me!”

  They checked on Reema first. Save the pilot himself, Reema possessed the most flying experience out of anyone else on board, and she had been trained to take over should Slick ever become incapacitated. The Haraldie wanted to visit Slick, but Wex told her there wasn’t any time. They were due to land in a matter of minutes, and she was needed behind the wheel.

  Sarah could feel the ship jerk as Reema shifted it from auto pilot back into her control. The stabilizers took a few moments to recalibrate, and then they were steady. She and Wex continued with their rounds and headed to Nickle’s chambers and makeshift emergency room.

  “Everyone else is fine,” Sarah announced as they entered.

  “Good.” Nickle was checking the liquid levels in an IV bag next to the bunk where Slick lay motionless. “That’s good.” Satisfied with the bag, he took the IV, quickly found a vein in Slick’s arm, and plunged the needle through the pilot’s skin. Sarah turned her head and cupped a hand over her eyes which made Grom laugh.

  “What? You have no trouble putting a hole through an alien’s stomach, but you’re afraid of needles?”

 
; Sarah shrugged. “I’m a complicated woman.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Sarah ignored Grom’s comment and walked over to the side of the bunk. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’ll be fine.” Nickle looked up and smiled. “I don’t think he suffered any clotting. He’ll likely be a bit woozy and nauseous for a few days, so Reema will have to take over flying the Slipsteam for a bit.”

  “Didn’t you hear?” Wex interrupted, “We’re trading the old girl in.”

  “Excuse me?” The doctor looked to Grom.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything just yet.” Grom threw Wex a look. “But yes. I was planning on purchasing a new ship at this next planet.”

  “Huh.” Nickle thought about this for a moment. “Okay.” He put his stethoscope on and listened to Slick’s chest.

  “Okay?” Wex scoffed. “That’s all you can say? We’re getting a new ship!”

  “Well, new to us,” said Sarah. “But it won’t be brand new.”

  “Still!” Wex looked from the doctor to Grom to Sarah. “Am I the only one that’s excited?”

  “It would appear so,” Nickle answered. Sarah noticed a dramatic shift in his demeanor, as if he had just been told they were getting a new ship but the floors of the ship would all be made of fiery, skin-melting lava. She understood exactly what he was feeling. It’s hard to get excited about a new ship when all you want is to be back home, as far away from these broken down vessels and homicidal crew as possible. But before Sarah could offer any words or gestures of condolence, the Slipsteam lurched and the ear-splitting sound of metal scraping metal reverberated off the walls.