Dar's Adventures in Space 1: Space Crazy (8 page)

Vikkis speared a piece of meat from a platter in the center of the table. “They’re whores, there’s no love in that. They simply provide a service.”

“Kikka didn’t seem like that.”

Jartis wagged his finger. “Oh, no, she’s high class. A night with her is special.”

“Did you set me up?” Dar asked.

“Well, I…uh…”

“You set me up!” he barked.

Gwog leaned forward. “Little one, we all set you up…A night with Kikka would cost more than you make in a year.” He stood. “Now, that’s rule number two of being a freighter captain: take good care of your crew and they’ll take good care of you.”

He was silent for a moment. “I wondered why she didn’t charge me much.”

“We figured for your first time it damn well better be special.”

Dar looked around the room at everyone. “Thanks,” he said softly, knowing that he had a dozen
fathers
watching out for him. Life had never been so awesome.

8

As the months flew by, Dar found himself very busy. Gwog had him on the bridge for three months, learning everything he could. Then he moved on to the engine room. He especially liked watching Rokit, the Gundin Tree Dweller, with his massive ears, soaring around the rafters. He’d drop down on top of the huge engines, and fixing things that were out of easy reach. They became good friends. And Dar became very close with Jartis, since they shared so much of their background, and were at least half of the same species.

Dar ducked as Rokit zoomed over, giving him a smack on the head. They were playing a rather convoluted game of tag in the engine room. Jartis tried to hurry along a catwalk, but Rokit caught him too. Fun and games weren’t the normal part of being on a freighter, but Jartis realized Dar was still somewhat of a youngling and needed the occasional play time.

“Tag! You’re it!” Rokit called as he swooped past Dar again.

“Hey! Not fair, you can fly!” Dar called as he ran up the stairs, trying to get as high as he could.

“Well, you’d better figure out a way to sprout wings then, huh?” He hovered in the air for a moment before landing on a railing on the opposite side of the huge room.

“Yeah, when porcinis fly!”

Rokit wagged his finger. “I didn’t say it would be easy.” He flapped his huge ears and took off, buzzing near Dar. “Come on, tag me!”

Gwog walked into the engine room. “What’s going on here?”

Jartis looked down. “Oh, just a little play time for the youngling.”

“
Play?
” Gwog gazed up, seeing Dar high in the catwalks. “I’m supposed to be making an adult of him; instead, you let him play like a youngling?”

“Oh, take it easy; it was just a few minutes. We’ll get started on the Ceriddium intake line…Come on, Dar, back to work.”

“Yes, sir!” Dar called, heading down to the floor. Rokit flew up and landed next to Jartis. Gwog wandered out, returning to the bridge.

Dar enjoyed his time in the navigation section, but engineering proved that he had much to learn. The massive warp engines were complicated monsters prone to malfunctions. It didn’t help that the Cunik was close to fifty years old. Built at a time in Ontarrin history where trade boomed. Four massive ships were built by the Crinians: The Ragnik, the Farnik, the Ernik, and the Cunik. Over time, the Soothian pirates captured and lay waste to the other freighters, the Cunik was the sole survivor, and Gwog made sure the pirates wouldn’t get his precious ship, or its cargo.

Jartis grabbed a small drill and worked to remove a hatch cover. “Damned Crinian screws, don’t match anything we have now,” he grumbled.

“Well, they are old,” Rokit replied, waiting patiently.

“Yeah, and of course there aren’t many Crinians left.”

He shook his head, accidentally smacking Jartis with an ear. “No, and with threats from Versith over Thidium, who knows how long some planets have.”

“Mmm, and I’ve heard those Versithians are brutal.”

“Not so much them, but their hired thugs, the Renthids.”

Jartis finally got the cover off and inspected the pipe. “Great, the interlink coupling is really loose, that explains why the Ceriddium wasn’t mixing correctly.”

“Interlink wrench?”

“Yup.” He stood up and leaned over the railing. “Dar?” Jartis hollered.

“Yes?”

“Rokit will be coming down; can you find the interlink wrench and set it out?”

“Okay!”

Rokit climbed over the railing and took off.

Just as Dar reached the toolbox, the ship was rocked by a huge impact, knocking him off his feet. “Hey!” He scrambled up, and got knocked down by another collision. “What the—?!”

“Asteroids!” Jartis hollered. “Stay down!”

Rokit was mid-flight when another struck the ship. The Cunik lurched to one side and Rokit was slammed into a support column. He hit the ground in a crumpled, lifeless mass about thirty feet from Dar. “Rokit! Rokit!” Dar called, trying to reach him. The ship bucked and bounced a few more times before sailing into empty space. He climbed over and dropped next to his fallen friend. “Rokit?” he said softly, grabbing the Gundin’s huge ear and moving it off his face. Blood ran from a wound on his head and from his mouth.

“Dar! How is he?” Jartis yelled, trying to get down as quickly as he could.

Dar moved his hand around his friend’s neck, he could feel nothing. He bent down, putting his face close to Rokit’s, he felt no breath. “I’m afraid he might be dead.”

“Oh no!” Jartis moved as fast as his tired old body would allow. It took a few minutes, but he finally reached Dar. Lowering himself to his knees, Jartis checked over Rokit. “I think you’re right, he’s dead.”

“I wonder what happened? We should’ve had clear sailing.” Dar collapsed back against the support column. “Gwog’s gonna be pissed.”

“Accidents happen. This is space. We all knew it could be dangerous when we signed on.”

“You just never think…” he said softly, reaching over to flip Rokit’s ear back over his face. Dar had never seen someone dead before, his emotions were confused. He wanted his friend to come back to life, he was learning so much. And he loved watching him fly around the engine room. Now he was gone—in the blink of an eye.

Jartis stood and went over to the communications panel. “Jartis to Gwog.”

“Go ahead.”

“What in Carfidius just happened?”

“Hit an asteroid storm; came outta nowhere,” Gwog replied.

“Rokit’s dead.”

“What?! What happened?”

“He was gliding down to get a wrench and when the ship was hit, he got slammed head first into a beam…Pretty sure he died instantly.”

“Have Karnis help you prepare the body for burial.”

“Yes, sir.” Jartis pushed the button, ending the transmission.

“I’ll help you,” Dar said. “He was my friend too.”

“You don’t have to, Dar, it’s okay. I’ve seen my share of death on this ship.”

He fought back the lump forming in his throat. “It’s part of my life now, too.” Pausing for a few moments, he took a deep breath, and began to help Jartis. “Are we going to take him back to Gundis?”

“No, he’ll be buried in space.”

“Why?”

Jartis laid Rokit on his back and began to furl his ears up so he could be wrapped in a shroud. “Because it was his wish to be buried in space.”

“Oh…If I died, Gwog said he would’ve taken me home to my mother.”

“Because you’re still kind of a youngling. He’ll always take you home.” He went and got a sheet out of a cabinet, laying it on the floor next to Rokit. “You’ll reach a time when Gwog will ask you…As it is now, you’re not a youngling, and not really an adult.”

“How long must I live in this ‘in between’ life?” Dar asked. He helped lift Rokit onto the sheet.

“Until Gwog feels you are ready.” He carefully folded the sheet over, and took some straps to secure it. “Come, help me get him to the weapons bay.”

“Yes, sir,” he said softly, grabbing Rokit around the waist. The Gundin’s hollow bones made him lightweight and not much to carry; Dar could’ve managed on his own.

Twenty minutes later, the entire crew of the Cunik was in the weapons bay. They stood around the shrouded body of Rokit. Gwog stepped forward. “My friends and crew, we all know space is a dangerous place…And there are times we’ll go out and not come back…This is what has happened to our friend Rokit…He died doing what he loved…So, we will follow his wishes and send his body into space.” He motioned to Ethoic and Pthoic to place the body on the torpedo loading ramp. They gently lay Rokit down and slid him inside the large tube, closing the breech. Everyone was silent while Gwog pushed the button, sending Rokit into space.

After, they went back to work. Gwog walked along with Dar. “Are you okay, little one?”

“Yes, sir, I’m fine.”

“Have you seen death before?”

Dar shook his head. “No, sir.”

“What are your feelings?”

“Confused and a little angry. Rokit was my friend.”

“Understandable. But you know now what it means to be part of a freighter crew…Not all is Kruelian roses in this job.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll be putting into Cataris, and they have a pretty good shopping area…How much drig do you have?”

Dar cocked his head in contemplation. “About five hundred.”

“Enough to get your Catarin hide clothes you’ve been wanting.”

“Yes!”

“I’ll take you ’round to the place I get mine…He’s a good friend, and I usually get a deal.”

“Thank you.”

Gwog stopped for a moment. “Continue working with Jartis. Now that I’m down an assistant engineer, he’s going to need help.”

“Yes, sir, I will.”

Jartis hurried toward them. “Captain, we have a little problem.”

“What?” Gwog replied.

“I tried to bring the warp engines on line and I got nothing.”

“Think it was from the asteroid hit?”

“Probably,” Jartis said. “May have damaged the external flux intake.”

“Well, can you go out and have a look?”

“I was hoping to avoid that.”

Dar looked at Jartis. “Out?”

“Yes, out looking for damage to the ship.”

“A spacewalk?”

Gwog studied Dar for a moment. “Might as well take him, he’s gonna have to learn some time.”

“I get to go out in space?” Dar said excitedly.

“Yes, yes—and it’s not just fun and games, this is truly dangerous,” Jartis stated. “Come on, let’s get going. I wanna get to Cataris.”

Dar followed Jartis to the crew equipment room. Jartis dug around until he found a spacesuit that would fit Dar. He helped him into it, then dressed in his own. They clonked along the catwalks, heading toward the shuttle bay. There, they would leave the safety of the ship via the containment field, and make their way to where Jartis suspected damage.

“Mark my word, Dar; one wrong step and you’ll be floating lost in space…The Ontarrin solar winds are strong in these parts, no wonder we ran into an asteroid belt, probably got blown off course.”

“It can do that?” he asked.

“Yes, it can. A really strong solar eruption can even knock a planet off axis or out of alignment.” They stopped in the shuttle bay and Jartis put on his helmet. “Come on, let’s go.” He helped Dar with his helmet. “We have quite a walk ahead of us. There isn’t any place to run a safety line, so you better be careful with your magnetic boots—they are your lifeline.”

Dar nodded. “Yes, sir.” He followed Jartis to the edge of the shuttle bay. Ahead of him: the blackness of space. A few stars shined, but mostly it felt like a piece of black cloth had been draped over his face. He reached down and switched the electro-magnets on his boots.

“Ready?” Jartis asked as he checked Dar over one more time. It was bad enough losing one crew member today, he didn’t want to lose another. And he liked the youngling anyways.

“Ready.”

“Let’s go.” He stepped outside of the protective force field, his boots making loud clacking noises as they contacted the metal hull of the ship.

Dar waited a moment, watching Jartis. He didn’t want to make any mistakes. Taking in a deep breath, he stepped out. “Oh,” he said softly.

“Feels funny, huh?”

“I’m floating in my suit.” He took a few steps toward Jartis.

“As long as you’re not in your suit and floating away, we’re fine.”

Dar laughed, it felt strange. “This is so cool!”

“Ah, ah, remember, we’re here to work.”

“Yes, but this is really fun.”

“No it’s not. One wrong step and you join Rokit in the frozen depths of space.”

“I’m being careful,” Dar replied. They walked along for quite some time. “Do we have enough air?”