The Forgotten Planet
Chapter 18 – Where We Finally Leave the System

We were all in the cockpit – a little rectangular box stuck to one end of a bigger rectangular box, on the ugliest ship in the galaxy. The pilot’s chair was in the nose, with one hundred and eighty degrees of vision available behind a paneled half-bubble of reinforced glass. The standard navigation system was so bad that the pilot actually needed to see where she was going with her own naked eyes. I’m told fighter pilots actually prefer this tip-of-the-nose style cockpit, but it’s a strange setup for a cargo vessel. I assume it was one of the many reasons this model wasn’t particularly popular.

Maxine sat in the pilot seat and began to familiarize herself with the displays and controls. I manned the console behind her, cycling through the various systems in a valiant effort to prep this colossal heap for the vacuum of space. My implants were having trouble syncing with the ship, so I was doing it the old-fashioned way with eyes and fingers. There were layers of overlapping, ancient security protocols from god-knows-how-many previous ship owners that I didn’t have the time to tussle with. Plus, the ships systems were so jerry rigged with pick-and-pull parts that it could barely talk to itself. Adan continued his attempt to install the nav system, while Russell walked around the cabin micromanaging.

“It’s been thirty minutes,” Russell said, taking a break from bossing to look out the window at the medium-sized frigate Veesil had disappeared into earlier.

“That’s a good sign,” I said, more hopeful than sure. “It means they’re discussing options.”

“Yeah, like which directions to flank us from,” he answered wryly. “How’s the nav coming along?”

“We can fly blind in any direction you like,” Adan answered from elbows deep in ancient machinery and suspect wiring.

“That’s reassuring,” Russell answered. “Keep working on it.”

“That’s a fantastic idea, boss,” Adan answered. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“The cat’s coming,” Maxine called out, and I ran to the window to look. I could see a blue figure in a thigh-cut trench coat and a flat-topped, wide brimmed hat moving away from the sleek and deadly-looking Servine ship. She was carrying a long, red duffle in one hand and had a pink pack on her back.

“By the amount of gear she’s packing, it looks like she’s staying for a while,” I added.

Veesil hadn’t walked more than a few tens of meters from her ship before an explosion in the craft’s engine compartment rocked the dock area. Veesil didn’t look back, but she did begin running towards our ship, one hand holding the hat on her head, the other clutching the duffel to her chest. A number of autonomous firebots appeared from somewhere above and descended towards the open flames in the rear of her people’s ship, spraying the area with a foamy blue-white liquid.

“Max, contact station command and prepare for takeoff. We’re leaving as soon as the cat’s onboard,” Russell ordered in an even more gruff and bossy tone that usual. I was sure Max’s eyes got a good workout from all the eye rolling they must have done on a daily basis.

Station command was a half-circled compartment built into the wall high above the entrance to the dock. Maxine spoke quietly into a headset, then listened for a moment.

“They’re saying the station is on lockdown due to the explosion, but someone up there is running a little late on locking down the EM gate. That’s why we make friends and grease palms people,” Max said. She craned her neck to get a better view before adding, “We’ve got armored hostiles pouring out of the frigate, and they appear to be very interested in us.”

“Get the weapons online,” Russell ordered.

“You mean the broken weapons with the empty ammo clips,” I answered bravely, though not bravely enough to make eye contact. I’m sarcastic, not suicidal.

“Wonderful,” Russell replied. “Well, if we can’t repel boarders then it’s best if we’re on our way. Is the she-devil onboard?”

The sound of Poochy barking and Veesil yelling ‘bad dog’ filled the cabin.

“I’m going back there to make sure Veesil gets past Poochy without getting eaten,” I said. I got up and left the room at a run without waiting for a response.

As I left the cockpit I felt the ship lurch laterally, and I had to lean on the wall to keep from falling over. After that, the ship corrected and began to lift evenly. As I stepped into the common area, I saw Veesil enter the other end of the room at a sprint with Poochy nipping at her heels.

“Dammit Poochy, sit!” I yelled. Poochy screeched to a halt and sat all nice and pretty. Veezil’s momentum brought her straight into my arms, and I caught her, drawing her in farther than was absolutely necessary. She was breathless and turned her head to mutter, “Bad dog,” at Poochy. Then she turned back and looked up at me. Her forehead reached about to my chin, and when she looked up at me, my breath caught in my throat.

“Tiger, you just hit the jackpot,” she said softly.

And then time slowed. The ship was gone, the danger forgotten.

’Six things without fail you must do,

So that your woman loves just you...’

Jules again crooning unbidden, but I went with it. I realized as my eyes closed, and our lips touched, that I was starting to like this version of the song.

“Hey bro, where are – oh...”

Like a bucket of cold water to the face, reality came crashing back. I felt the vibration of the deck plates below my feet and smelled the musty ship and the unbathed dog. Jules was gone too, leaving only the slight background tinnitus I’d had for the last seven years. Poochy and Adan were both staring at me with the same goofy look. I’ve heard that dogs sometimes look like their owners, but the resemblance was so uncanny that it was ridiculous.

“Sandpaper?” he asked with a grin.

I stood there speechless. He’s such a jackass sometimes. Though I have to admit, her tongue was a little rough.

“What am I missing?” Veesil asked, eyes narrowed.

“Who knows – he’s crazy.” I glared at Adan’s smiling face. “Why don’t we go to the cockpit and discuss our next step.”

“You guys can have a few more minutes if you like. I can tell them you’re helping Veesil with her equipment.”

Ba-dum-bum.

“That would be great. I do have a sticky-wicket that needs oiling,” Veesil said.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Was she making a joke? Flirting? Being incredibly naive? I wasn’t sure. Her face was neutral and if she was blushing, only she would know. Then she winked at me and slapped me on the butt, before walking past Adan and down the hallway towards the cockpit.

“Ooh, little brother,” he said, putting his arm around me. Veesil had disappeared through the doorway, “you’re in for something. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’s bound to be memorable.”

I was pretty sure it was gonna be good. What can I say? I’m a romantic deep down. Of course, the surface layer is a slightly antisocial, border-line loner, but I at least appreciate the idea of true love – even if I’d never logically believed that it was anything more than hormones and an overactive id hopped up on delusions of grandeur. Regardless of past preconceptions, I was thawing to the possibility that my soul mate was a blue-furred pixie who enjoys slapping my skinny buttocks. I could think of worse things.

When hermano and me entered the cockpit, Max was saying, “the station doors locked right after we passed through. We won’t have any pursuit for hours.”

Looking out the pilot’s window, the gas giant Simpus was a small orange ball floating among the dense pack of core stars. We crawled away from the station at only a fraction of light-speed – the ancient fusion engines slowly accelerating while the inertial dampeners in the old bucket surprisingly worked as intended, keeping the laws of physics from pinning us against the bulkhead.

“Your compatriots didn’t like our idea, I take it?” Russell asked Veesil.

“No, they mostly hated it,” Vee replied. None of them have ever seen Earth and I don’t know how seriously they take the old stories. They just thought I was being difficult. Their plan was to terminate all of you and wipe the data,” she said with a comically guilty look on her face. Veesil had the air of someone that took no situation completely seriously, which I could totally appreciate. “So, I decided military intelligence wasn’t the career for me any longer. I blew the engine and monkeyed around with the sensor array, so they’d have a hell of a time following us.”

“Well, welcome to the team Veesil,” Russ said. He looked around the room and added, “such as it is,” under his breath. “I’m Russell and that’s my partner Maxine,” he said, hooking a thumb towards the pilot seat.

Maxine was still sitting in the pilot’s seat, apparently not feeling the need to rise and greet our newest crew member. She did at least turn around and glare. They were fist-fighting earlier, so I couldn’t completely blame her for the cold reception. Veesil directed a warm smile at Max, who returned fire with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. The competing weather fronts bounced off each other, grappling for position. I worried a tornado would form between the two conflicting pressure gradients at any moment.

Russell continued the introductions, “And these two fellas are Adan and Galen.” He gestured at us with an open palm.

“Yes, I’ve made Galen’s acquaintance already,” Veesil said with a roguish half-smile.

“I can vouch for that,” Adan added obnoxiously. He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a brotherly shake.

Veesil, not appearing to be embarrassed in the slightest, winked at me and I blushed and momentarily felt the need to check the condition of my shoes. Russell looked a bit confused. If Maxine cared in the least, she didn’t show it. I was pretty sure beams of crystalized hate were going to shoot out of her eyes at any moment and freeze the entire room solid.

“So, have you been working together a while?” Veesil asked while looking from face to face.

“I’ve known these two crazy kids,” Adan gestured lazily with a finger at Max and Russ. He does everything lazily, “since they blew the door of my sweet bachelor pad yesterday morning.”

Veesil giggled into her hand, then stopped when she realized no one else was laughing. “Oh, I see. And you all trust each other.”

I think everyone looked at their shoes at that point except Adan.

“I trust the big guy possibly as far as I can throw him, but Maxine and I have been working closely with on private, trust-building activities,” he raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times and added, “if you know what I mean.”

Veesil scrunched up her face and shook her head no. Then she looked at Maxine, who now had her face buried in her hands, and then at Russell, who was glaring daggers at Adan and fingering the hilt of his plasma pistol. Veesil’s eyes widened, and she smiled as awareness finally dawned.

“Oh, you mean physical affection.” She glanced back at me and winked before adding, “That’s my plan for this evening as well.”

“Nice,” Adan answered. “High five!”

He raised his hand and Veesil slapped it. Russell stared in disbelief. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Veesil smiled at my discomfort but when she saw Russell, she changed tact.

“Sir, I’m certain Adan thinks the world of your daughter, and I’m equally certain he’s a caring and considerate lover.”

I think she was probably being sincere, but who knows. Russell stared at her in disbelief, while Adan cackled like a madman. Even Maxine’s frown had turned at least partially upside down.

When Adan recovered, he said, “Galen here’s my little brother by the way.”

“I figured there was some sort of connection,” she said touching my arm. It felt like electricity traveled up my arm and then branched out… to various organs and appendages. She continued, “Though I see which brother got the good looks.”

“Thanks,” Adan, said, then added, “wait, what?” when he realized she was looking at me and not him.

“I don’t know how the hell we got started this tangent-” Russell said with a raised voice.

“Well, when I walked in on Galen-” Adan started to answer.

“-and at this point I don’t care,” Russell continued, holding up a hand to ward off backtalk. “What we need to do is focus on where we are going to get those magic particles that Galen needs.”

“There’s no magic involved whatsoever,” I said.

Russell shooed my comments with a wave of his hand and a crinkle of his nose.

“I researched that before I left the ship,” Veesil answered, “and I narrowed it down to three locales that have worked with tachyons in the recent past and have a wormhole connection near to our current position.” She jutted one hip out to the side and counted out the potential destinations on her hand. “Paasa, Terminus and the colony on Lyonel. Paasa is of course my home-world, and we would be arrested the moment we entered the system, and probably executed within the week.”

“Lyonel has a Salarian Garrison in orbit above it,” Maxine said. “And the jump gates in that sector are synonymous with pirate activity. What’s Terminus?”

“It’s a Consortium world on the edge of Salarian space,” Russell answered. “We would need something major to trade.”

The Consortium is a loose group of worlds that came over to the Empire voluntarily led by the Vox many eons prior. They became an economic power by trading raw materials for finished products with the worlds under Salarian control.

“Such as a Golden Record with the coordinates to Earth?” Adan said.

“That record is a priceless relic,” I said, feeling a sense of déjà vu. Then I looked at Veesil and asked, “Do you still have it?”

“Sure do, sweetie,” she said with a smile. “It’s in my bag.”

“I don’t think my brother knows what priceless means,” Adan said.

“Just because you can put a monetary value on something, doesn’t mean that it’s not priceless,” I answered, slightly defensive.

“See.” Adan said with a smile. I sighed and wondered about our shared parentage. How could packets of essentially identical DNA arrange themselves so differently? At times like this I like to remind myself that half of humanity’s genes are shared with the banana.

“I tend to agree with Galen,” Russell said, “but for a different reason. If there are riches to be found on Earth, I don’t want to give a map leading there to a bunch of treasure hunters.”

This comment got Maxine’s attention, and she gave Russ a strange look, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. There was something going on between these two that they were keeping from us, but I couldn’t figure it out. We’d only met them yesterday, and at gunpoint no less. I’m a wizard with machines, not personalities. That’s not to say I didn’t have a plan to replace out.

“Well then, that just leaves Lyonel,” Max said, “and that’s a suicide mission.”

“We might be able to get around the Pirate problem,” Russell said. “I know a guy that might be able to help with that.”

“Philip?” Maxine asked, brow furrowed.

“Yep,” he answered. “You met him once”

“Oh, I remember.”

I’d been running trajectories on the fly while this was all going on, and I wanted Lyonel as well. I didn’t trust the Consortium. It was just as likely that they would sell us out to the Vox or the Salarians, as it was that they would deal with us straight up. And they weren’t getting the record, regardless of what anyone on this ship said. I’d melt it down before I would turn it over to those scumbags. Besides, it’s not like we would pull up in orbit and say, “Take us to your leader.” It could literally take months if not years to set up the right contacts. But that was all secondary.

I wanted to go to Richi, and it was a short jump from there to Lyonel. We were going to replace Martel and Adan was going to shoot him dead. He would introduce us, and when the realization dawned on his face it would be his last thought. We both needed the closure before we could give this new quest our full attention.

“So, I figure,” Russell continued, “as long as we don’t bring any undue attention to ourselves, the lizards up in the garrison won’t pay us any mind.”

“I think stealing magic particles from their applied sciences division will probably draw their attention,” Max answered.

“And they’re not magic,” I said in my lilting, passive-aggressive voice.

“Yes, we’re all well aware Galen,” Russell said, placating me. I glared at him extra hard when his gaze shifted from me to Max. Yes I realize it was childish. “In the meantime, let’s get all the new components installed. The sooner we get the nav online, the sooner we can get underway to Lyonel.”

I figured now was as good a time as any to drop my bombshell. “Hey guys, sorry to spring this on you all out of the blue, but how would you feel about making a quick stop at a black market station near Lyonel so Adan and I can kill a man?”

“You found him?” Adan exclaimed. I nodded. “Hot damn!” he exclaimed, slapping his knee.

Russell asked, “Are you talking about Richi?”

“Richi’s a myth,” Maxine said.

“Apparently it’s not,” I answered, before asking Russell, “Have you been there before?”

“No, but I’m aware of it,” Russell said. “It’s legit, Max.”

Vee tipped her head to the side and said, “You don’t strike me as the killing type handsome. What’s going on?”

“Well Adan’s going to be doing the killing,” I said. “I’m there for emotional support.”

“That’s actually the definition of an accomplice,” Maxine said. “What exactly are you planning on dragging us into?”

Adan groaned and asked, “You wanna tell the story, or should I?”

I sighed. “You embellish too much,” I said. And so, I was compelled to tell the sad story of my childhood.