Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (42 page)

"Does
he have his new arm?"

"Not
yet, Pappy," answered Mike. "They're still working on it.
He'll
get
it in a day or so." The four men chatted comfortably as they
strolled across the bay toward the elevator which would take them to
the galley, the one place on the ship which had been properly
maintained. "I don't get it," queried Mike, "only
four
birds to fly?"

"Yep,"
nodded Brian, "and one wreck to pull parts from."

"Once
upon a time," ventured Paul, "this ship probably held
fifteen
to
twenty. Probably different types too."

"Old
records," began Jack, "showed it originally held fourteen.
There
were
twelve active, with two additional in reserve. Look, don't worry
about it," he promised. "We'll acquire a few more."

Brian
pushed the button for the elevator. "How?"

Jack
smirked as they stepped into the lift, "Oh, I've got an idea or
two."

Paul
groaned, "I don't think I like the sound of that."

Mike
rubbed his ribs absentmindedly. "I didn't like the sound of it
last
time." Their laughter echoed in the elevator car.

■ ■ ■

Lunch
was a pretty substantial spread, delicious food and lots of it. Well
laid
out,
it delighted the eyes, the aromas enticed the nose, and the flavors
didn't disappoint. Marna, the chef, was a rather small, odd looking
woman with shiny gray skin and deep-set glassy eyes. She demanded
perfection, controlling the kitchen and dining area like a croupier
handling a deck of cards. She watched the food preparers and porters
like a hawk. No wine glass went unfilled. No table wanted for
anything.

As
she explained to Jack, though it was not normally quite this
extravagant,
the one thing pirates did very well was eat. She had wanted to show
the combined appreciation of the female portion of the crew for
their freedom, and this was the best way that they could think of to
make the new officers and crew feel welcome.

Jack
looked around him... there were his people, members of the old
pirate
crew and members of the Princess's crew that were helping out. All
of them chatting amiably and eating happily. But other than the
porters, there were no women to be seen, save Maria,
Raulya
and Myomerr
.
Jack inquired about this and was told females had never been allowed
to dine with the crew they ate what was left, after everyone else
was finished.

Jack
stood up and raised his glass, ringing it like a bell with a
spoon.
Everyone stopped eating and the room grew quiet. He saw Ragnaar at
the next table watching him closely. "I have been told the
Captain used to kill people at dinner." There was silence. "I
find that to be a
very
rude
habit...” Light scattered laughter spread through the group.
"Well that type of behavior will
not
be tolerated on this ship!" There was more scattered laughter
and applause, but Jack raised his hand to quiet them down, which
they did. "I have also been told, women were not allowed in the
galley until the men are finished eating.” He looked around.
“What the hell? Seriously? You don't like girls? Whose
dumbass
idea was
that
?"
Laughter rolled through the galley, the idea had been Kidd's of
course. "
Well
that stops now! And," he added, grinning, "anyone who
doesn't like that, I
will
kill... out in the corridor of course, and
after
dinner." The laughter now came easily to them and Jack realized
he'd succeeded in breaking the ice, making them all a bit more
comfortable.

Minutes
later when the women filed in, the atmosphere was light
and
friendly. The women became at ease when they saw how happily the men
made room for them at the crowded tables. They were finally part of
the crew.

■ ■ ■

The
rest of that week, work on the Freedom went well, she began
to
take on a new look, inside and out. Pirate insignias were removed
from every surface that they appeared. In their place, the
silhouette of a gold winged horse against a crimson rising sun.
Under each, the name
FREEDOM
in white capital letters.

Jack
and the other pilots stood outside the Freedom and stared at
the
new emblem emblazoned on the hull of their ship. It was then that
they came to the realization that this was
their
ship, it would take them wherever they decided to go. And that soon
it would be time to leave. Time to leave the place they'd called
home for what seemed to be much longer than the few short months
they'd actually spent there. But they also realized it
was
time after all this is what they had in mind wasn't it?

The
most difficult part would be saying goodbye, to all those
people
who had given and done so much. Jack hoped he had done as much for
them as they had for him. He truly did not consider that he had
actually done more.

"Well,
she's gettin' there..." Trigoss had strolled up from behind
the
pilots.

"I
keep wondering how we're going to drive something that big,"
said
Maria
as she turned to greet the new Chief Engineer.

"Well
first, you don't
drive
it, you
navigate
it," pointed out Brian.

"Thank
you," dittoed Jack.

Maria
sighed, "Well
excuse
me
,
for being terminologically
incorrect!
So shoot me!" Miffed, she walked away to survey the work on her
own.

Puzzled,
Brian looked at the other men. "What'd I say?"

"Forget
it," waved Jack.

"That's
right, old boy," chimed Derrik. "Don't waste any brain
power
`bout
it. Won't do any good if you did. Women are like a Mobius strip...
you never know if you're on the good side or the bad side."

Jack
smiled at Derrik's curious philosophy but actually felt a bit
guilty.
He'd been so all-consumed with the work and progress on the Freedom
that he'd been neglecting, even ignoring Maria. He came to the
realization some time ago that Maria was a high maintenance woman,
due more to her personal insecurities than any other reason. He
promised himself he would make an effort to reassure her it wasn't
intentional and spend some time with her very soon.

"Well..."
Trigoss interrupted Jack's train of thought, "as I was
saying,
she's getting there, but we have a few serious problems. And then,
of course, a few minor ones."

"Like
what?" asked Paul.

Trigoss
started walking. "Follow me. We'll walk, we'll talk." They
strolled
leisurely away from the stern of the ship toward the bow and the
loading ramps. "First," he paused, "well, let's just
say a ship lives on it's generator power. It runs absolutely
everything. This particular ship has five main generators and two
smaller generators for miscellaneous items. Each genny, has a
specific duty, things it supplies with power. If you take a genny
away, the others pick up the slack but, of course, they have to work
harder."

"So
what's your point?" asked Mike.

"Hold
on, I'm getting to it." The engineer cleared his throat. "The
point
is, the ship can safely run on a diminished number of power sources.
After that, systems suffer lag time, power losses, even shutdowns."

"So
what's the bottom line?" inquired Jack.

"The
bottom line is this ship is equipped with five large and two
small.
Borderline adequate would be three large and two small... you'd have
to be very careful in any type of conflict."

Jack
was getting concerned. "And we have..?"

Trigoss
finished his sentence. "One large and two small."

"
Whaaat
?!"
Jack threw up his hands. "
Holy
Shit
,
that’s it?!"

Mike
shook his head. "We're
screwed.
"

"Wait
a minute," said Paul, stopping in his tracks. "Then how
did
this
clown, Kidd get away with it?" Everyone else stopped walking,
their attention on the engineer.

"Bluffing,"
answered Trigoss. "The ship will operate. But if you
need
to use a large system, say shields for instance, you'd have no guns,
no launch capabilities, etc."

"Can
they be repaired even temporarily?" asked Pappy.

"Nope,"
countered the engineer, "they're totally hopeless."

The
men resumed walking and Jack threw up his hands again. "Well I
guess
we
really
need to find a bone-yard, and fast."

Mike
scratched his head. "A bone-yard? Y'mean like a junkyard?"

"That’s
right," injected Trigoss.

"Yeah
right," said Mike sarcastically. "You mean to tell me we
just
look
in the yellow pages for a spaceship junkyard?" He added a
hillbilly cartoon voice and continued, "Hey `yall, my name is
Mel. I got this `53 Desoto Spaceship, and I need an alternator, well
actually y`see, I need four..." He looked at the others,
"Seriously you guys gotta be pullin' my leg."

"Nope."

Mike
rubbed his forehead, "Now I've heard everything."

“
And
as long as we're there..." added Trigoss.

Jack
shot him a wounded look. "You mean there's more?"

Trigoss
nodded, "I'm afraid so." He inhaled deeply. "The
engines
need
parts too..."

Jack
held his head as he walked, "I don't think I want to hear this,
I
know I don't want to hear this." He sighed. "Ok, I know
I'm gonna regret this... What parts do they need?"

Like
the dutiful Chief Engineer he was, Trigoss continued to explain
the
needs of the engines. It seemed much of the mechanical problems with
the ship could be blamed on the battle it survived before
disappearing. But, like the rest of the ship, almost as much could
be blamed on neglect.

Much
of the plasma fuel feed systems for the Freedom's four
low-speed
thrust engines sorely needed to be rebuilt. Their valves and flow
meters no longer accurately regulated fuel use, and many fuel line
connectors leaked. The internal reflectors for the three main ion
drive engines needed to be completely realigned and refocused. The
outer forcing cones, which adjusted to control the concentration and
dispersal of thrust, were badly burnt, were no longer adjusted and
needed immediate replacement. The good news was they still ran. The
bad news was, not at more than half capacity and not for long.

They
all agreed, the first chore at hand upon departing, would be to
locate
and make all good speed to a place where parts could be found. Jack
hoped, that same location would prove an opportunity for additional
fighter craft, or at least parts for those he had, as well.

Trigoss
had led the men along the length of the ship, up the
Freedom's
cargo ramp, and wound through the various contents of the bay to the
furthest, darkest reaches of its interior. There, in a darkened
corner, hidden by tarps, crates and supplies, sat the stolen shuttle
of the Princess Hedonist.