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Snapshots - Chapter 3
Day Two
Time: CY10088 Oct 8 5165 0700Location: The Eureka Maru's cargo pod
"You've got it, Trance," said Beka as she handed the communications headset to the younger woman. "I'll be safety observer while you bring the load in."
As Trance put the headset on and adjusted the earphones and microphone, Beka activated the controls that opened the cargo pod’s upper loading doors.
"Hello, Mr. Lifter Driver," said Trance once she had the headset adjusted to her satisfaction, "We're ready for you to load the first crate."
"That's Mrs. Lifter Driver to you, young lady," came an older female voice over the headset. "I copy that you are ready to receive." A moment later, the first crate began to descend into the cargo pod.
Unlike their larger cousins, such as the Abernathy family's Sassy Sue, Maru class vessels were not designed to carry their cargo internally—rather, they were designed to have a cargo pod attached to their dorsal surface. The advantage of such an arrangement was flexibility. Ships that carried their cargo internally were designed to carry only a specific type of cargo and only that type of cargo. A bulk hauler couldn't haul liquids and neither would work as a passenger liner. A Maru class could carry just about anything as it was the cargo pod that was specialized, not the ship. They could carry dry goods, liquids, passengers, or anything else that could be put into a pod designed to carry that particular cargo. There had even been an attempt to modify them as warships by making the cargo pod a weapons pod. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, the plan had failed as the ships themselves were too small to have redundant critical equipment, and a single well-placed missile could cripple the vessel. Ships the size of the Sassy Sue could be modified into second-rate warships, but a Maru class was a cargo hauler and nothing more.
"You need to move, Trance," said Beka as she watched the cargo box begin to descend. "You're directly underneath the container."
"But this is the best spot to direct the lifter, Beka," complained Trance. "I have plenty of time to get out of the way."
"Not if the lift operator makes a mistake or the magnetic grapples fail," retorted Beka, a touch of annoyance in her voice at Trance's inability to see what should have been obvious. "If one of those happen, Harper will be cleaning up what's left of you with a mop. Now get out from under the container."
Beka's graphic description was enough to get Trance to move. A few moments later, the box was on the deck of the cargo pod, nestled up to the Maru's towing assembly.
The first Maru class vessel to be built had been named the Hakudo Maru. Beka's father, like most other purchasers of Maru class vessels, had kept the Maru designation when naming the Eureka Maru. They were also referred to as class "C" freighters, but this was actually a power plant rating and not unique to a particular class of vessel. To use Harper's words, it referred to 'how big an explosion we'll make if I don't maintain the anti-matter containment unit properly.’
Despite being a class of ships, Maru class vessels were all practically custom built. They all had a standard hull configuration, but the engines, avionics, life support, and to some extent even the hull length could all be specified by the purchaser. They were sometimes called kit built because a purchaser—if he, she, or it desired—could actually have the vessel’s components delivered to him or her or it, whereupon the purchaser could assemble the vessel from the components. They could also be purchased fully assembled, at an additional cost. Beka's father and her Uncle Sid had designed and built the Eureka Maru as a kit. They had also added some modifications that would have raised the eyebrows of a customs inspector, and most likely would have gotten them arrested if they had been detected. After her father's death, Beka then further modified the Maru to be a salvage/tow vessel as well as cargo carrier. Towing crippled vessels was lucrative but extremely hazardous, and generally only top-notch pilots would undertake such an operation. Beka was one of those pilots.
"The first crate is down, Mrs. Lifter Driver," said Trance to the lift operator. "We're ready for the second one."
"Understood," came the voice of the lift operator. "You're ready for the second crate. You did a good job of guiding that first crate in, girl. Was that your mother I was talking to earlier before you took over? When we're done, give the headset back to her. I have some news she might find interesting." She paused for a second, then continued. "Commencing loading of second container."
The second container began to descend into the cargo pod.
Time: CY10088 Oct 8 5165 1300
Location: The Sassy Sue
"Captain Owner Rebecca Valentine, House of Valentine, here to pay respects to Captain Owner George Abernathy, House of Abernathy," said Beka, reciting the traditional greeting to the petite dark-haired woman standing in the airlock entrance.
The woman, who was somewhere between Trance and Beka in age, curtsied deeply after Beka's introduction. "Welcome, Captain Valentine," she said, returning the traditional response. "Captain Abernathy bids you welcome and extends to you and your companions the hospitality of the Sassy Sue."
Unlike Trance, who was wearing one of the brightly coloured jumpsuits that had become fashionable with the young members of the Salvagers Guild, and Beka, who was wearing one of her ubiquitous flight suits, the woman was dressed to impress, wearing a dress that came down to mid-thigh with flowing sleeves and a pair of matching slacks. Harper, of course, was wearing an outfit that, if he was anywhere else but on Fenree, would make people who didn't know him wonder if he was totally colour blind. In this case, a passionate pink shirt combined with a pair of bright red trousers.
The woman straightened up and then added in a much less formal tone of voice, "It's good to see you again, Beka. You're just in time for lunch." She looked at Harper. "I bet you're the one who convinced Beka to visit at this time of day. I've never known you to turn down an opportunity to eat someone else's food." She then turned her attention to Trance. "I heard that the Maru had a new crew member. You must be her. They said you'd be impossible to miss." At Trance's affirmative, the woman continued. "I'm Carla. We can talk later but right now, let's get aboard. Dinner's on the table in the common room, and Mom hates it when things get cold."
The common room table was so loaded with food it was nearly groaning under the weight of the edibles. The rest of the common room was just as thoroughly packed. Every member of the crew, including the children, was present. It had been nearly two years since the two ships had last crossed paths, and everyone wanted to catch up on news and gossip. In addition to Carla and her parents, there was her brother Eric, George's cousin Nate, and his wife Aeryrn. There was also George’s nephew Harold and Elaine, a raven-haired beauty not much older than Trance, who was the daughter of one of George's cousins and who was on her journeyman voyage after completing her apprenticeship aboard the Wen family's Audacious.
There were several non-family members present as well, whom George introduced as Yumiko and her husband Iosif from the Takahashi family, who were working aboard the Sue while their own vessel was undergoing an extensive engine and sensor suite overhaul, as well as Yong, another member of the Takahashis who was serving his journeyman voyage on the Sassy Sue. There was another young man about the same age as Harper with red hair and enough freckles to cover two faces who was a complete stranger to Beka. He was introduced as Chase Randolph, whom Eric had sponsored for membership in the Guild and had just finished his probationary period. And then there were the children: Nate Jr., Katya, Sofia, Haji, and Meridith, who had just recently arrived aboard from the Hightower family vessel Janowet to begin her apprenticeship aboard the Sassy Sue.
The Abernathys had heard that the Maru had acquired a new crew member and wanted to meet her. They had also heard tales about the Maru's adventures on Felicity and the last time the Maru was on Fenree and wanted to know what had really happened. For their part, the Maru's crew was equally excited. They had heard that the Abernathys had acquired a new vessel, the Willow, and wanted to hear the story behind the acquisition. Beka was looking forward to talking business with George and having a bit of girl talk with the female members of the Sue. Harper was looking forward to a boys’ night out with old friends while Trance was simply looking forward to making new friends and meeting the family who was so important to Beka and the Maru.
At Beka's introduction, Trance started to curtsey, only to be stopped by George telling her there was no need for formalities since she was among family. Beka's statement that Trance and Harper were engaged naturally brought up the question of when they were going to get married. Beka's response that it would be no later than seven months from now took a moment to sink in before the table broke into laughter, congratulations, and a few uh-oh's. Trance blushed so hard her normally lavender complexion turned indigo. Even Harper turned red. When the laughter died down, Beka gave a highly edited version of how Trance had become part of the Maru's crew, telling how she had met her on Bathsheba looking for a ride off planet, that she had offered Trance working passage to Dawkinstown Drift and that once they had arrived on the drift, she had offered Trance a job, which the girl had accepted. There was another round of congratulations and a chorus of welcome to the family.
The pearmaine cobbler was every bit as good as Harper promised it would be.
Time: CY10088 Oct 8 5165 2200
Location: Fenree spaceport, entertainment district
"…sho," said Harper, "when I told her as shoon as poshible meansh right now, she ran up to the command deck shtark naked and dripping wet."
It was boys’ night out. After lunch, Eric, Chase, Harold, Harper, and Yong had left the Sassy Sue to do a bit of traditional male bonding via pub crawling and tall tales. It was now mid-evening and the group had lost count of how many pitchers of beer they had consumed and were all at least two sheets into the wind. If anyone had asked them the name of the bar they were in, they wouldn't have been able to answer. They had chosen it solely on the looks of the barmaid they had seen standing in the doorway as they were cruising the entertainment section of the port area. The only other patrons in the establishment were a group of spacers sitting on stools by the bar. They were from a merchant vessel named the Mary Knyght. The boys knew the name of the vessel as one of her crew members had explained loudly, but not too coherently, to all listening what ship he and his companions were from and how you spelled her name.
There was a chorus of laughter and 'oh you sly dog's from the table after Harper’s tale then Harold began his own story. "That's nothin’," he began. "When I was doin’ my… app… app… appapprenticeship on the Comoran, the captain and his mistress—" Whatever scandalous tale he was about to tell was interrupted by the arrival of one of the crew members from the Mary Knyght.
"We're going to have a fight," said the man as he approached the table. "I was sent over to make the sides even."
Harper was drunk but not so drunk as to not realize that this wasn't going to be a fight to the death. After spending most of his life on Nietzschean-occupied Earth and as a member of the Earth resistance movement, he could gouge eyes, throw knees, and stomp insteps with the best of them, but this wasn't going to be that sort of fight. He shook has sleeve and dislodged a wooden rod about a foot long and about as big in diameter as his little finger. It was sharpened on one end. The rod was made of Makrai iron wood—so named because the wood was nearly as hard as iron. The wood was strong enough that the inhabitants of Makrai had used the wood for weapons even after they had learned how to smelt metals. Yong's eyes widened slightly when Harper laid the weapon down on the table. They opened even wider when Eric reached into one of his boots and placed a similar weapon on the table. Meanwhile, at the bar, the Mary Knyght crew members were similarly disarming themselves.
A minute later, the brawl was on. Harper picked out a man about his own size and started swinging. A moment later, both men were on the floor as his opponent turned the boxing match into a wrestling match. Both men rolled around on the floor exchanging ineffective punches and knees and generally getting underfoot of the other fighters. What little organization there had been at the beginning of the fight quickly disintegrated as the combatants were sufficiently drunk that the majority of them would have had trouble standing up without assistance let alone coordinate a fight. The combatants did more damage to themselves by stumbling into furniture or by stepping on each other than they received from their opponents. After a few minutes, the only two combatants standing were Chase and a crew member from the Mary Knyght, and that was because they were supporting each other. It was at this point that the police arrived.
While the boys were busy painting the spaceport red, Beka and Trance were spending the evening gossiping and exchanging stories with the remainder of the Sassy Sue's crew. Beka was in the process of telling the others the tale of the Maru's ill-fated attempt to locate the Andromeda Ascendant and of Gerentex's unfortunately-timed death at the hands of bounty hunters. Trance, for her part, was nursing a sore tail and wishing that she had worn clothing that had hid its presence. Every one of the children aboard the Sassy Sue had pulled on it at least once, trying to determine if it was real and if it would come off. Beka had just gotten to the climatic portion of the tale where the bounty hunters had thrown a grenade when the ship-to-planet communicator alert chimed.
"I'll get it," said George as he got up and made his way to the Sassy Sue's command deck. A few minutes later, he returned. The expression on his face was a mixture of anger and concern.
"Trouble, George?" asked Sarah as she got out of her seat and approached her husband.
"Not really," said George. "Well, nothing more than we should have expected when we let those lunkheads out without adult supervision. They got into a fight with some of the locals and are now in the care of the spaceport police. The police are on their way here now with our errant sheep in tow."
A few minutes later, George was at the airlock entrance casting a baleful glare at the now subdued quintet, which was being herded along by a trio of police officers. Harper's left eye was swollen nearly shut, Eric's nose was still dribbling blood, and Yong's smile was now missing a tooth. The others were equally battle damaged, as were their clothes. What articles of clothing weren't torn were stained beyond hope of recovery.
"Do these belong to you?" asked the police officer in charge, waving a hand to indicate the still inebriated warriors.
"Unfortunately yes," answered George, shaking his head ruefully. "How much damage did they cause?"
"They already paid up, sir," said the officer. "If they hadn't, you and the captain of the Mary Knyght would be picking them up at the station house, rather than having them delivered to you. You will of course restrict the lot of them to your vessel until your departure."
"Of course," answered George. "Thank you for returning them."
"Not at all, sir," said the police officer, his voice practically dripping irony. "After all, we can't have them going around getting drunk in public. They might do something stupid like get into fights and tear up a bar." With that, he gave George a semi-salute and turned as he and the rest of his command departed the Sassy Sue.
"I should have known better than to let the bunch of you loose on the town," said George to his crew members and Harper. "Come on, let's get you into the common room where the ladies can clean you up."
"You should see what the other guys look like, Dad," said Eric. Then, he noticed the man from the Mary Knyght who had joined him and his friends. "Hey! You are one of the other guys."
"No, I'm not," protested the man. "I was on your side. Remember?"
"That's right," said Harper, one arm draped around Chase to steady himself. "You were." He disentangled himself from Chase and tried to stand erect without swaying. "George, I'd like you to meet… to meet… Oh hell, I'd like you to meet whoever this is."
"‘Oh hell’ is right," said George disgustedly. "Come on, whoever you are. We'll get you patched up as well and then let your ship know where you are so they can send someone to pick you up."
When the men arrived in the common room, they saw that Sarah had laid out a collection of first aid materials on the common room table. "I suspected we'd be needing these after we received that message," she explained. She gave George a questioning look when she saw the crew member from the Mary Knyght.
"I haven't a clue," said George in response to the unasked question.
"Archibald Compton at your service, ma'am," said the Mary Knyght crewman, correctly interpreting Sarah's look. He attempted to bow but lost his balance and would have fallen if Yong hadn't caught him.
"I'll take over from here," said Sarah. She looked at the gaggle of drunken men. "The lot of you, sit down so I and the others can take a look at you." When the men didn't move, she snapped, "What part of ‘sit down’ didn't you understand? Sit down so we a can fix you up and get you to stop bleeding on my deck."
The men took seats, and the Sassy Sue's distaff half commenced repair work. Trance began treating Harper's injuries, applying a cold pack to his eye and cleaning and bandaging where needed, all the while calling him six types of an idiot and muttering that he didn't need a spouse, he needed a babysitter. Elaine began to treat Chase's wounds, but her idea of first aid seemed to be, 'Tell me where it hurts so I can kiss it and make it better.' Chase, for his part, seemed to think that this was a perfectly acceptable form of first aid and was enthusiastically returning kisses of his own.
Carla took the Mary Knyght crewman under her care while Yumiko began to treat Yong. Sarah, with Meredith in tow, took charge of her son and her nephew. "It's never too early to learn how to stitch up a wound," she explained to the girl. However, from the yelps of pain coming from Eric, it seemed that Sarah didn't feel that it was time for Meredith to learn how to use a local anesthetic.
The remainder of the Sassy Sue's crew and Beka scattered themselves along the edges of the common room where they were out of the way but could still watch and make derisive comments about the fighting abilities of the men being treated. The good-natured ribbing continued until Chase interrupted it with a loud whistle.
"I am pleased to announce," he said as he got up from his chair, "that Elaine has just agreed to be my wife."
There was a round of cheers and applause. When it died down, Harper asked the expected question. "When's the baby due?"
Elaine didn't miss a beat. "Nine months from tonight," was her reply
The announcement, of course, was cause for celebration. When Archibald’s shipmates arrived to pick him up, they returned home to the Mary Knyght much later than anticipated, singing praises to the hospitality of the crew of the Sassy Sue and how the Salvagers Guild really knew how to throw a party.
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