Three Months and A Trip To Hell.

A lot of time has passed. In that time there were near misses and direct hits among all the events that transpired and even some time for love and solace. But inside all of that I learned a lot about that stealth fleet. It seems the hole I'm falling down seems to get deeper and deeper with every revelation.

I've been getting used to my new ship pretty easily and Jan loves everything about it. It doesn't have the charm of the Morningstar but I think those things come with age.

I like my quarters. About the same as before but this one has that factory smell in the air. It'll pass over time as well.

Right now, we're headed to the Demilitarized Zone, the front line of the war with the Sprykon Empire. From the news reels it doesn't look pretty. It's been a war of attrition for the last six months. I've never seen the Sprykon put up this kind of fight before- I don't think anyone in the Commonwealth has. It made me wonder if Jan's Grandfather saw this type of thing in the first Border War fifty years ago.

Jan rapped a couple knuckles on the bulkhead between my room and the hall outside as she poked her head in. “You free? Chalk, Davin and I are gonna dinner soon.”

“You go on,” I said, “I've got to update this entry. It's been a while.”

“You haven't written in that thing since Teague's Doorstop, Jack.”

“Ugh I know; don't remind me.”

Jan grinned and disappeared from the entryway.

Teague's Doorstop seems like forever ago but it's only been a few months. Funny how time seems to be so fluid like that- one moment it speeds by and next minutes seem like hours. I suppose I had my fair share of adventure to keep me distracted and it was the doing of Nirov that provided it.

I never became comfortable being around Nirov. He kind of creeped me out; like he was always holding an extra card up his sleeve. His calculating nature seemed to warrant such behavior but nevertheless, I wasn't a fan and made my contact with him as brief as possible. It was a real balancing act, though. He was a powerful man and had a lot of influence in different sectors of politics and industry. I had to admit I was a bit impressed with network he'd built for himself even though he wasn't that high an officer in the military.

The time that I did spend with him I tried to meet as many people as possible. Nirov didn't seem to mind too much but his cohorts mostly entertained me for Nirov's sake. Despite my efforts I ultimately felt like that guy in the bar hitting on the girl way out of his league and she giving me her 'name'. I'm not sure these contacts would ever pan out and I will likely put them on the plan 'D' list.

Although one person I didn't mind hanging around was my friend Evah. During my time operating off Teague's Doorstop she routinely made port and even worked out a nice trade deal with one of Nirov's industrial contacts for some 'back room' trading.

There was one time she and I took a trip out to a remote location in Outspace. Jan kept refering to it as a date, but I wouldn't think of it like that. Anyways, it was this beautiful white dwarf star nestled deep inside it's blown off outer layer of constituent gases. Over time it had gathered interstellar debris to create this jagged necklace of asteroids and half sheared dwarf planets.

Everything gave had this icy blue glow with wisps of green gas filaments that leisurely wrapped around the star like ribbons.

“The pirate's call it The Devil's Pearl,” Evah added after a few moments of soaking up the view from the observation deck of the Gossamer Willow.

“That name doesn't really seem to fit what I'm looking at,” I retorted.

“Oh it's an old pirate name. Back before astrometric algorithms were improved to make adjustments to filter magnetic noise from K1 type white dwarfs, pirates would often try to use the cloud debris surrounding the star to hide from rivals or whoever. The problem was that the computers at the time couldn't parse all the noise from the magnetic field to lay in a correct course trajectory. Pirates would find themselves in deep shit.”

“So why did they go in here in the first place? Wouldn't they know it was a dangerous star?” I asked.

“In that time the subtle differences of K1 and K types white dwarfs hadn't been clarified. And on top of the fact that K1's are quite rare to begin with.”

“So have you ever had to hide here?” I said with a smirk.

Evah grinned slightly, “No. But I sometimes come here when I want to be alone.”

I put my arm around her waist and held her near me. “I hate to break it to you, Evah but you're not alone this time.”

Evah coyly gazed up at me and gave me the look and I softly held her cheek with my other hand and pressed my lips to her's. We spent some more time in the lounge with her in my arms. We exchanged some stories and more kisses before we retired to her room for the night.

I'm sure I'll see her again. The matter is when given how long we'll be in the DMZ. It sounds crazy to be going there – where open fighting is the new norm in an eighteen thousand lightyear strip of space- but our current objective lies in that direction.

While in Nirov's base of operations inside Teague's Doorstop we learned of a certain individual in the DMZ that could be the nail in the coffin for the Commonwealth government. And Nirov was excited at that prospect.

His 'war room' as he noted it, was really just a converted cargo bay they lay deep inside Teague's. It was shielded from eavesdropping technology because of the cocktail of different ores in the sediment and only had two ways in or out.

As like all the rest of the station the lighting was dim and red. Only desk lamps really emitted the light worth seeing with. The chamber was scattered with computer equipment, military in origin, that had been jury rigged to the stations primary power generators. Many of Nirov's loyalist 'ex-pats', as they referred to themselves, commanded the myriad of consoles doing I don't know what.

Off to one corner of the bay was a large circular table that projected holographic consoles and other imagery where Nirov could conduct wide scale plans or network with other people friendly to his cause. This section of the room was also equipped with an anti-vocal amplifier that could cancel out the noise outside of the field and vice verse.

I remember clearly standing at that table many times with Nirov and Davin working out ideas and plans for the immediate future. It was the same spot where I learned I'd be going to the DMZ.

“Given the intelligence I have on hand. I would have to conclude that that chances of us finding this person aren't good,” Nirov spoke aloud as he studied the streaming information floating above the table before him.

“It's still very possible. It's not like we're looking at one in a thousand odds here,” Davin through back as he leaned against a power conduit across from Nirov.

Nirov nodded vigorously. “I know that. But we have to go into this with the attitude that we may not find her at all. The DMZ is very big.”

I leaned on the table with my hands and I admit, I was a little dubious of this whole thing. “Nirov, the intel is based on the merit of a few gas miners and a faint signal, so yeah, I wouldn't say the odds aren't one in a thousand but more like one in a million. Are we really gonna risk sticking our asses out in the wind for this?”

“My lead analyst confirms that the signal will strengthen as we near it's source and the information from the gas miners appears legitimate enough to make an operation worthwhile.” Nirov replied while he manipulated some information before him.

“Everyone thinks she's dead, Nirov.” I said flatly. I had to make sure that Nirov knew what he- what we were getting ourselves into. This place we are going to is a war zone for God's sake. “It's been over a year since the news came out; what makes you think Captain Riarstedt is still alive?”

Davin quietly looked over at Nirov waiting for his answer. His safety was at risk just as much as anyone else's at the table, not to mention he's already a wanted criminal.

Nirov paused for a moment and thought. “A gut feeling. I know that sounds horrible, but I've always followed my instincts and they've never let me down before. And the manner and timing which she vanished just doesn't feel right. This whole war doesn't feel right. If Captain Riarstedlt is a piece of this whole puzzle then we have to take that risk.”

I remained silent and I peered over at Davin to see his reaction but he looked to be less thrilled than before.

Nirov promptly accessed the a news archive of the SCNA, the news conglomerate that covered the story. “Look at this. She disappeared while patrolling the DMZ in response to the fleet build up by the Sprykons. Not to mention that she's missing not dead. Even if you look up the casualty roster from the war she's not listed on the death lists.”

“She went missing before the war officially started, though. And how does she connect to what we learned about the stealth fleet?” Davin asked.

Nirov threw out an irritated wrinkle on his forehead, “when she went miss is irrelevant, the point it's very possible she's alive.”

“Okay, but what makes her relevant to the stealth fleet?” I repeated.

“That's why we have to find her. It's the manner she vanished and the time that it happened that is giving me this instinct she could be connected.”

“Think about it, guys. We've all seen first hand how the government will lie to it's people to meet it's own ends. That's not the Commonwealth I swore an oath to when I joined up. That's why all the people who follow me expatriated themselves. It's why you're wanted and looking for justice for your family,” Nirov turned to Davin, “and why you're living the life you live.”

Davin sighed, “well, fuck it.”

“I guess we're going to look for Ashli.”

J.

Teague's Doorstop

There are things in life that I've come to expect to be worth face value, and then there are those things that you expect to be worth what you expect and then find to the contrary it isn't.

Teague's Doorstop was one of these places. I'd been here for a while a now, with hell to do but sit around. Why sit around when I've been trying to find this sprykon fleet that paved over my parent's colony? That's easy. I don't exactly have a ship available to me at the moment and I haven't heard from Davin either. How could I have known I'd be stranded when Evah took us here?

We'd just ended Rugburn's plans to 'foreclose' on the Morningstar and we'd just learned that Chalk was Rugburn's son- strange he bared no resemblance, but who knows how Ibzaan genetics work?

I had left the bridge and was meandering through the corridors of the Gossamer Willow, content that there was nothing between me and Teague's Doorstop but time to spare.

It was then when I bumped into Evah. She excused herself and started around me when she noticed I was wasn't one of her crew.

“Oh Jack, I was just on my way to my room. Would you like to join me?” She gestured down the hall that led to her quarters. “It's been a while since I've had the company of someone from my own species; I'd like to savor it a bit longer- that is if you don't mind, of course.”

I thought about it, but then again I didn't really have anything to do. “Sure, sounds good,” I grinned and stepped to the side. “Lead the way.”

The conversation didn't wait before reaching Evah's room and it was mostly one sided, with me asking the questions. She was more than happy to answer whatever I asked, which was usually just a long string of questions meant to perpetuate the topic so I wouldn't have to divulge anything of myself she didn't already know.

“So you've had this ship for a while?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. About three years; well coming up on three years.”

“I bought it used, from a small mining company that was upgrading their fleet. I had to sell everything I owned; very nearly down to the shirt on my back to buy this bucket,” Evah chortled, “But, she's all mine, and I can take her where I want when I want; no corporate ass kissing or having to follow some mining route that was drawn up by some desk jockey on a core world who'd never done a day of mining in their life.”

“I suppose the freedom is worthwhile.” I added as we strolled along.

“Yes, it is, even when everything goes to shit, and I'm close to regretting my actions; at the end of the day laying back on my bed and knowing that my future is my own suddenly makes it all pale a little.” She grinned and seemed to stare at the walls of the Willow as if she was appreciating all the ups and downs and near deaths she'd had with the ship and crew. Her revere was broken when we arrived at the hatch to her room.

“Here we are!” She said while pulling a keycard from her work belt and inserting it into the locking mechanism in the door. The keycard was affixed to a wire that was in turn attached to a spindle that allowed the card to automatically recoil back to the belt. It made a little 'zipping' sound as it left Evah's grasp.

The door made some metallic noises of the locks disengaging and then it slid open with the gusto of an energetic old man.

I entered after Evah and the motion sensors in the room activated the lighting on the ceiling and units embedded in the bulkheads. The ceiling lights glowed with yellow-white bloom, illuminating the place quite efficiently while the lights in the bulkhead seemed to be more accent than functional lighting. They emitted a soft lavender glow. I Imagined that they made the room quite pleasant when everything else was turned off.

Evah, exhausted, fell into a chair that was just off to my left. “Ahh this feels good,” she cooed. The furniture she lounged in did not appear to be part of the original ship's furnishings. It had more personality with it's bright blue upholstery and big, stuffed pillows that let Evah seem to nearly vanish within. Off to my right was a small kitchen- if it could be called that. It consisted of a counter that ran against the wall of the room and than made an 'L' turn about a meter out towards the middle of the living space. Some cupboards paralleled the portion of the counter that was against the wall and was capped with a refrigerating unit in the corner. On the far end of the wall there was a space for a shower who's only means of separating oneself from the rest of the room was a white plastic curtain. Evah's bed sat off to my left in the far left corner that was the only part of the space that was elevated with a couple steps. Resting on the bed was a thick beige comforter and several colorful day pillows. A large window was just above the bed in the wall between two bulkheads. To my immediate left, in the corner, was a sofa with cyan colored cushions and beige pillows. The frame of the sofa itself was built into the structure of the room but anything of color appeared to have been added separately by Evah. There was a octagonal coffee table in the center that was constructed of thick chocolate brown wood of some sort with a chrome base in the center that split like shiny flower petals to the floor. There was a small glass vase in the center with some pebbles filling it half way and some colored ceramic sticks coming out of the top.

The space itself was very clean and well kept, and it showed that she ran a well maintained ship. The mundane white walls were given a little more personality with some pictures Evah had hung up. Some were photos, others were prints of paintings, but all were colorful.

I stood just short of the door and soaked up the new surroundings. I noticed that Evah liked to have the air of her personal space filled with a mild, sweet scent. It was a nice surprise to my nose from the stuffy, sterile, and scrubbed atmosphere in the rest of the ship.

“Nice place. It's bigger than my room on the Morningstar, that's for sure.” I took a few steps further into the room and leaned against the end of the counter that jutted out from the wall.

Evah grinned, “Well it's the perks of being the Captain of a mining rig.”

“Apparently,” I retorted with a smirk.

Evah shot up from her cozy spot, “I'm thirsty! Do you want anything?” She went over to her fridge and pulled out a transparent container holding a yellow liquid.

“Yeah, sure, I could have a drink I suppose.”

“It's not like we'll be at Teague's anytime soon, you know?” Evah laughed as she pulled two classes from the cupboard above her.

“So, how long is it going to be?” I inquired, while I watched Evah pour the beverages.

She shrugged and finished pouring the second drink into the short glass. “Oh maybe a week. A little shorter maybe?” She turned and handed me one of the drinks, “I've never been there, so I'm not exactly sure.”

“So what is this?” I asked while I sniffed it.

“It's peach juice. What you think I was gonna poison you or something?” She took a sip. “C'mon, let's have a seat.”

Evah moved over to the sofa in the corner near the entrance, kicked off her boots, and threw her feet up under her legs on the cushions. I joined her and placed my drink on the coffee table before me. “Nice sofa. It's pretty comfortable.”

“Yeah I suppose so,” Evah said without much thought.

“I've been curious, what's with the void outside? The Ink, you called it? I've never seen anything like it.”

Evah nodded, “Well, unless you leave the metaspace umbrellas you wouldn't. The longer term for it is 'Inkspace' actually, but most just call it The Ink for short.”

“Appropriate name,” I added as I grabbed my drink for another swallow.

“Inkspace doesn't allow travel faster than Metaspace, or The Ocean as some have come to call it, but it does make a ship nearly undetectable, and that's handy when there's pirates all over the place out here in Outspace.”

“Nearly undetectable, huh? How's that possible?”

“Has to do with the fundamentals of how we go superluminal.” Evah took a sip of her drink and placed it on the coffee table, “see, without the Metaspace umbrellas to generate FTL fields, the only other way to safely travel FTL is via Inkspace. It's actually the way we used to travel- all civilizations used to travel- before the onset of the Ocean. FTL in the Inkspace works by generating a focused radiar field to form a space of pure nothingness around the ship.”

“Wait, nothingness?” I said with a bit of confusion.

“Creating a pocket of pure nothing, a bubble where not even light or any radiation can exist, you change the constant of light. It literally becomes meaningless. Spacetime changes in ways, that I can't adequately describe, but the end result is the ability to travel faster than light. There's also something about vacuum energy but like I said, I'm no scientist.”

“But if light or anything on the EM spectrum can't penetrate this 'bubble' then how does that make you nearly undetectable?”

“Well, technically nothingness can't truly exist. It's like turning matter into nothing without energy as a byproduct. It just doesn't work that way. So, the energy being used to sustain the radiar field bleeds off and the end result is matter- small pockets of sub-atomic matter. If your sensors are sensitive enough, and you know what you're looking at you can track a ship in The Ink.”

“That's pretty damned handy.”

“Except the technology has been around for so long that any vessel with a half decent sensor array can sniff out a ship in Inkspace. There are some ways to fool ships, pirates and such, but eventually they'll find you.”

There was a lull a for a moment. It wasn't one of those lulls that just happen when people suddenly don't have anything say either, but more like one that's deliberate. I got this feeling that Evah was waiting for something.

It was getting a little awkward.

“What?” I said finally.

Evah smiled and put her arm upon the top of the sofa. “Well, I'm just waiting to see if you're going to ask more arbitrary questions or get to the point.”

“Uh, I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now, if that's what you're alluding to.” I shuffled my position on the sofa a little as if the cushions suddenly became hot coals.

Evah laughed heartily. “Wow, Jack.”

“Ok what then?”

“I'm not looking for a boyfriend either.”

Man, I'm a moron. “Ohh... I've not been in that mind set for quite a while. I mean, when you're wanted by the ISF and Government-,” Evah interrupted, “Jack, you're a good man. And I don't come across many men who I can trust.” Evah gave me a longing stare, “Besides, you've been running all these months avoiding people; you must be feeling the same thing.” She was right about that. I'd felt pretty empty lately, especially with all the pain from dealing with the loss of my parents and seeing the look of longing in Jan's eyes whenever she spoke of Davin. I hadn't really given it much thought; I couldn't. But now that I had shone a light on that part of myself I found that I was a little lonely. When I looked back at Evah, I saw her differently. As someone who was a kindred, in a manner of speaking.

She had tilted her head in a submissive manner and her eyes gazed up at me. God, I hadn't noticed how beautiful they were; so deep and sparkling with the shimmer of a thousand stars. I felt the temptation pulling me toward her. Why was I fighting this? No, I decided that I wanted this, I needed this and she was inviting me to share a night with her. I gave in and let her gravity draw me in. When our lips touched it felt right. And it felt good.

I would have written about the next few days but they were full of nothing but exploring the Willow, hanging out with Jan, and more the same with Evah. And you wouldn't want to here all those details would you?

On to the important stuff.

The bridge was abuzz with activity as telemetry reported Teague's Doorstop had reached minimum detection distance to the Gossamer Willow.

“Okay, pull out of the Ink, helm. Be ready for evasive maneuvers and emergency FTL if the shit hits the fan,” Evah ordered firmly.

“Here we go,” I said aloud to myself. Jan gave me a pat on the back and Evah gave the order to disengage the FTL.

There was a flash of brilliant light as the ship reemerged from Inkspace. Stars filled the view ahead and a feint ripple of blue gaseous nebula streaked across the scape. The helmsman maneuvered the ship around to face the nefarious station I had often wondered I'd ever see.

Teague's Doorstop came into view. It was a giant asteroid with constructed habitat modules nestled along its surface like metallic acne. On the far side of the station there appeared to be a huge docking structure built into the rock that was open to space. It's slow rotation eventually allowed us to see the motley crew of ships birthed within. I figured that much more of the station was deep inside the asteroid. There were a few other ships on a slow orbit of the station. Probably sentries.

“Heik, give me a sensor sweep of the ships outside the station and the station itself,” Evah ordered.

Heik's larg blue hands deftly danced across the controls. A list of sensor data appeared on the large monitor above us. “Manaat Cruisers with what appears to be highly modified directed energy turrets,” Evah said aloud.

Jan turned to the holographic light table at the rear of the bridge with Chalk. She brought up a hologram of the cruiser and manipulated the image with her fingers. “What's up, Jan?” Evah asked. “These ships should have a modified galanthium manifold on their aft dorsal section if they are using high energy based weapons.” She promptly stopped rotating the illuminated model, “And there it is.”

“That's a wonderful demonstration of your technical knowledge, Jan but what does that mean?” Chalk huffed through his translator.

“Manaat cruisers have a limited power plant that don't have the yield to come anywhere close to hosting high energy weapons our friends out there have. This means they have to modify the galanthium manifold so that some of the energy that's shunted to the FTL drive is also repurposed to the batteries to power those turrets. Even with a modification like that they won't be able to fire both turrets at full power.”

I looked at her as if I'd just been spoken to in a foreign language.

Jan shrugged, “I'd say they'd have to split the battery power fifty fifty. It'll give us time to escape if we have to.”

“You could'a just told us that,” I said while folding my arms.

Jan greeted me with her typical big smile and middle finger.

“Captain, one of the cruisers is turning to intercept us,” the helmsman shouted.

“Are there any energy spikes in their turrets?” Evah asked.

“No, Captain, their weapons are still powered down.”

Evah headed over to the communications station and plied some controls. “This is the gas mining vessel Gossamer Willow. We request permission to dock and make commerce. We are also ferrying some individuals who seek passage here.”

A few moments passed.

“The cruiser is holding at ten thousand meters.” Heik growled.

I couldn't speak for everyone but I was weighing in what our chances were of being blown to hell. This ship had no weapons and the cruisers outside clearly had us dead to rights, so what could I do but just stand here and wait. I figured Evah was no newcomer to situations like this; afterall living one's life here in Outspace required at least some level of balls and confidence.

I glanced around the bridge in a casual manner and wondered if Chalk or Jan seemed to be affected at all by this sudden death moment that Evah seemed so accustomed. Jan didn't appear to be bothered, but then she was dating a smuggler, so maybe having some balls rubbed off on her? Chalk was harder to read.

Ibzaan have such strange faces that it's difficult to associate an expression with the kind I'm familiar with, but if I was to guess, I'd say he was at least a little anxious.

Over at the communications terminal, Hoc worked the controls as a reply from the cruiser came through, “We've cross referenced your inventory manifest with our sensor inputs and have no interest in anything you have to offer,” The disembodied voice declared, “Who are the passengers you carry with you who wish to disembark onto the station?”

“Two Belkuri and an Ibzaan. They have a rendezvous with someone there,” Evah quipped matter of factly.

“Who is their contact?”

Evah turned to me for an answer. I felt like we shouldn't be telling these people our business but since we didn't have an option, I couldn't help it. “Davin Caracas,” I shouted aloud.

A moment passed with the cruiser still before us. “Stand by.”

I stood there wondering what pirate station required such information. Most places I'd visited just let you make port and that was it; your motive was your own. These guys, though, were a different batch altogether- it wasn't what I expected from the vibe I had previously of the station, not to mention the ships.

While I had seen Manaat cruisers, these were a sort I'd not yet encountered. Their hulls were red with angular orange and yellow stripes, like a tiger, down the length of the hull. And they had a white insignia that I'd not seen around Alpha Sector before.

The crackled voice of the cruiser officer popped back on.

“You're cleared to dock. Use birth ten-B.” The channel promptly squealed to a close just as fast as they replied.

“That was easy,” Evah said with a dash of confusion.

“Maybe everyone coming here needs to register? Perhaps Davin notified them earlier about our arrival?” Jan said, who was throwing ideas out like darts. I guess she was still holding some hope that maybe Davin would be on the station waiting for her when we disembarked.

I was a little curious what had happened to that guy too. We hadn't heard from him for literally months. He just dropped of the scope one day and all we've had to go on was that message about getting to this station to meet someone, who by the way, probably left a long time ago.

The Willow slowly maneuvered it's fat ass into the designated docking birth which was situated outside the primary holding pads that dwelled within the asteroid. The birthing calipers locked into place and the helm gave the green light all was secure.

It was nice to finally arrive at the destination I'd been working for for the last several months but it was also strange now too. All this time it felt like my endeavor that I began last year was back on track and now I was going to face new challenges and likely new fears.

This was a life that I never really wanted to live but I chose it anyway because I knew that to bring to light the wrongs of the deaths everyone, including my parents, experienced required a hefty chunk of courage that I hadn't ever exercised. I was going to have to be believe in myself in ways that I thought I'd never have to confront. “This is a good thing,” I tell myself, but change is hard- especially when it's on a path that builds itself as I go.

I crossed the gantry from the Willow over to Teague's Doorstop with Jan and Chalk leisurely trailing behind me. The large doors that sealed the station's airlock just beyond cycled and opened and we stepped through. The sterilization process was familiar and we could hear the atmosphere cycling to equalize the pressure in the station.

My ears popped, which always annoyed me but I was soon over it. The environmental equipment finished their whirring and humming, and ended with the doors ahead of us parting with a hefty woosh.

There it was. The station. And I stepped out of the airlock and took my first look at this place of intrigue. It wasn't as busy as I imagined, although I suppose only a select few are allowed entry considering the security outside this place.

It was a moody place. The halls and chambers I could see were dull and very metallic that contrasted the jagged and cracked sediments of the asteroid's innards that seemed to defy conceding to the brute force of man's invasion- everywhere in arbitrary places the grey-brown rock broke out of the ceiling, the floor, or walls and almost seemed to make the structure of the station adapt whenever it felt like it.

Dimly lit lamps stuck to the walls in random places; almost as if it was the only place a conduit could be maintained for steady power. They flickered randomly trying to eek out a living in these cold, dark corridors and casted shadows that danced along the nooks and pits of the rock.

Bulkheads occasionally had some sort of power juncture whose ports glowed an intense blood red which bathed almost everything in the vicinity in a crimson blanket. It made everything very intimidating and quite uninviting which I guess was the idea. It is a pirate station.

The gang and I began walking in an random direction seemingly chosen by our lack of any idea where to start and it was then I noticed the cold, metallic odor of the place and it bit at my nostrils. The floor was either laid ceramic-metal plating or bare rock that was drilled down to a smooth and level grade.

All the while we explored this place, I increasingly felt my preconceived notions here being squashed one after another. I had this idea, from stories and rumor, that Teague's Doorstop was a place of thievery and danger, but I didn't really see any of that here. In fact the whole atmosphere of the station felt rather peaceful.

The denizens of the station didn't give much of a pirate vibe if at all. They looked to be rather normal looking individuals- and by normal I mean some of them looked like they could be your neighbor save the occasional weapon a few had affixed to themselves. These where a whole other breed of pirate that I wasn't used to being around.

“So what's with the scary reputation of this place?” Jan lamented alloud, “I've been to funerals with more going on than this place.”

“I know what you mean,” I replied as I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket, “this is really strange.”

“So now what?” Jan asked.

I knew what she was implying and I agreed. We had no contact to meet and this station was huge. I wondered if there was a directory or something that we could access in order to get a better idea of how this place worked.

I removed my tRib from my pocket and the screen whizzed to life and looked for an open access portal where I could get some kind of network connection on this place. It didn't take too long and I had dialed in a guest address to access the network of the station. As I began browsing the different directories, I was suddenly presented with a new window that popped up implying that I had a message waiting for me. “Huh,” I muffled out from my lips.

Chalk took an interest in my tone and turned to face me, “You have found something of note?” His translator chummed.

“Looks like I have a message waiting here.” I logged in to the message and it opened up to an audio message that autoexecuted itself.

“Jack, I have been waiting for your landing here at Teague's. I had begun to think you weren't going to arrive. We have much to discuss and I'll need you to come by as soon possible,” the voice was Belkuri and sounded Aiqoo in accent, “You should be on the main deck of the station, so head to a lift and dial in the code 'ten-six-dash-nine-xray'. This should take you a location where we can finally meet. I look forward to seeing you in person.” There was a small pause and the voice laughed, “Forgive my rudeness. I'm Nirov. Nirov Benoit.”

By this time Jan was listening to the message with Chalk and I. We all seemed rather surprised, by the contents of the message. It seemed our contact Davin wanted us to meet was Nirov, the traitor of the Commonwealth!

I put the tRib back in my pocket, “this just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

“Interesting isn't the word I'd choose, Jack,” Jan retorted, “I mean it's Nirov we're going to meet. We're already wanted by the government, but colluding with a traitor? This is starting to get a little crazy.” She put her hands on her head and paced back and forth.

“Why would your friend refer you to an enemy of the state?” Chalk asked.

“Davin must've had his reasons. He's kept us alive somehow when we needed it. We just have to, have to trust him.”

Standing around debating the motives of Jan's boyfriend wasn't going to get us anywhere, so I decided to get this over with and find a lift.

When we finally found one, we hopped in and I entered the code on the key pad just next to the doors. The buttons made a clicking noise with each push and when I concluded the code the lift began to lurch along to it's destination.

“So, stud, where's Evah?” Jan asked so eloquently.

“She's with her ship.”

“Ha.. she's probably waiting for you on her bed,” she giggled.

I looked over at her and replied with a my 'up yours' expression. Which only seemed to encourage the subject further.

“You know, you should really hook up with her. I mean on a more permanent basis.”

I shrugged, “I don't have time.”

“Oh, but you had time to do some bareback riding, huh?” She leaned against the wall of the lift and smirked.

“She came onto me, alright? It was her idea.”

“Yeah-huh,” Jan quipped sarcastically. She was a real ass when she wanted to be and I know she enjoyed it.

“What's it matter to you anyway?” I spat out.

Jan shrugged and stood back up from the wall again, “Nothing. I'm just happy for you, you know? I mean, you finally got laid.”

“You're an ass.”

The lift began to settle and quickly came to a stop. The doors hummed and then promptly opened. We stepped out into a room that looked like an apartment of some kind. There was a living area to our left with an old but well cared for sofa and a large screen hanging from the rock strewn ceiling. There was a passage that lead to more rooms from the wall that shared the lift to my right and dead head was a huge angular window interspaced by hefty bulkheads that occupied the whole wall. It was a pretty nice view actually of the ships outside. The lighting here was still meager and full of mood.

At the kitchen area to the right was a counter with some stools where a young man sat with two others who looked like soldiers carrying SMGs. They looked pretty gruff but the one sitting on the stool was dressed in nicer casual clothing and didn't appear armed.

He smiled and stood to greet us.

“Nirov, I presume?” I said.

He chuckled and grinned while he approached me, “Yes, that's correct.”

He offered his hand and I shook it. His grip was firm and confident. I always thought you could read a part of a man by the way he shook your hand. Sometimes you encounter the limp, dead hand that shows no real confidence or a lack of commitment, but Nirov's was strong, deliberate. His poise was impressive as well and I could get a feeling from him that whatever he put his mind to it was for the long haul.

“And you must be Jack Spenn?”

“Yeah, these are my cohorts,” I motioned to my left, “this is Jan, the engineer of my ship, and this one to my left is simply Chalk.”

Nirov greeted them both pleasantly and put his hands together, “Would you like a beverage? Food?”

I waved my hand declining the offer but Jan jumped at the chance for some booze.

“So, are those guys really necessary?” I asked as I pointed over to the armed men, “I mean, it's not like I'm a killer or anything.”

“The news says otherwise,” Nirov replied dryly.

“Oh come on, you don't really believe that do you? Do I look like the kind of guy who shoots a professor point blank in the back of the head?”

“Do I look a traitor?”

I wasn't really sure how to respond to Nirov's reply. I didn't know if he was implying that he believed me or that he didn't. I decided to let it go.

“I can only assume that Davin is the one who contacted you about me? We weren't even allowed to make port until we mentioned his name.”

Nirov returned to the counter and rested his arm on the top. “Yes, that's correct. I don't know him personally but he says that we may be able to help each other. So who am I to argue?”

I folded my arms, “What makes you think I'd help a traitor?”

“We aren't going to keep returning to that are we? We might not like working together but we're both wanted by the same government. And I think after some thought you'd find that we have a common ground.”

“How could I have anything in common with you? I'm innocent; I didn't kill that man!”

“You think I did all those things that the news has been broadcasting? We're both on a path with a similar destinies, Jack.” Nirov took a few steps towards me, “I know you didn't murder that professor. And I'm not the traitor that I've been painted to be by state sponsored media.”

He raised his arms and rested them on my shoulders. I continued to listen to Nirov's words with as much of an open mind as possible for me at the time. “There is a reason the Commonwealth wants us to play these roles, Jack. That must have crossed you mind at some point?”

“Yes, it has.” I replied.

“Davin told me of your journey to bring those responsible for the destruction of your parent's colony to justice. I want the same thing, but for every citizen of the Commonwealth.”

Nirov turned and approached the large window across the room. He gazed out at the stars and seemed to pondering his own path. “This war with the sprykon is wrong. The Government jumped into this war too quickly and it's costing us- things aren't appearing to be what they seem. I can't prove it yet, but I know in my gut that something is not right, and together, Jack, we can figure this out.”

“If you say so. All I want is the fleet that cooked my parent's colony,” I added gruffly. I could feel that familiar twinge of cold ice in my gut thinking of my folks again. It felt like the fuel that pushed me to go onward.

Nirov turned from the window and moved towards the lift. “Yes, the sprykon stealth fleet; I want to talk to you further about that, but it will wait until tomorrow.” He motioned for the two guards to come with him. “Think about what I've said, Jack.”

The doors to the lift opened and he started inside. “This apartment is your living space for the time being. You'll find separate accommodations for sleeping down the hall. I'll notify you tomorrow. Good night.”

The guards stepped in after him and the lift whirred away.

“He is quite an interesting fellow,” Chalk hummed.

“I don't know if I trust him,” I huffed, “but he seems interested with helping me find those sprykon ships. So for now I guess we'll go along with it.”

“That and the fact that we're locked in here.” Jan replied as she examined the controls to the lift.

“It seems the trust is not completely reciprocal,” Chalk added.

J.

Family Dysfunction

Rugburn had found us and was heading straight for the ship. I was sure that we'd eluded him; that he wouldn't follow us into this nebula, but it appears he's revealed his resolve for our capture by coming in after us.

He was about two hours outside of visual range and Evah was already quick to work at the back of the bridge where a large metallic brick of an island lay. The top was semi-glossy and was smudged up from people using it constantly. Pockmarked beverage rings stained the surface like two dimensional craters. Under the flat surface was a brilliant light that made the surface glow a soft orange and as Evah danced her fingers over an attached console a wiry orange hologram resolved in the air.

I walked over to the island opposite of Evah and looked upon the data that floated before me. There was telemetry information and other data that I wasn't recognizing right away. Evah was busily absorbing what the computer had to offer in hopes that she could find a solution to the coming problem.

“This Rugburn- you don't know if he has weapons equipped on his rig do you?” she asked while studying the ghostly tables and diagrams.

“No, I don't. While Jan and I were aboard he never used them. His crew was armed though,” I replied promptly. I wanted to be as of much assistance as I could.

“We'll have to assume his ship is armed then,” she quipped, “better safe than sorry in Outspace.”

She paused for a moment and stared into nothingness while she tickled her chin with her thumb and then craned her head up at me.

“What do know of this guy? What's he like? I want to know if he'll blink if I bluff him.”

I folded my arms as I turned my mind backwards to the time I spent on his vessel. “It's hard to tell, honestly. I didn't have a lot of time with him, and when I did it was all business. He wasn't interested in the slightest for small talk. I do remember that was considerate but in hindsight that was probably to passify any desires Jan and I had to escape.”

“All business, eh?” Evah huffed.

I nodded.

For a moment only the moans of the Gossamer Willow were audible. Occasionally a computer console would chirp and bark notifications. I impulsively checked the time on my tRib. Only a few moments had passed but knowing there was an inevitability to this situation made me fidgety.

I turned my head over my shoulder to the screen at Heik's console that displayed the mooring work on the Morningstar. The Helthex busily zipped back and forth in their EVA suits and Jan was busy with a spanner on one of the locking mechanisms. “I hope they finish soon,” I thought.

My attention was brought back to the holograms as Evah spoke. “Looking over these calculations, Rugburn's ship is faster than mine. We're going to have to find a way to slow him down so we can gain an escape advantage. If we outright run for it, he'll catch us within another forty five minutes.”

“Have any ideas?”

Evah's brow furrowed a little. “Mmm.. we'll, I have one idea but it won't be effective until he's right on top of us; it'll be cutting it close.”

I smirked a little, “Why does it always have to be close...”

“Hah- you'd think we were in a movie,” Evah chuckled. “Strictly speaking, my optimum choice would be to have a long distance solution- but given that I'm not armed. My options are limited.”

The ship lurched to the stern abruptly and the Willow's superstructure moaned as welding points and bulkheads contorted. We had to hang on to the bevel of the island for balance.

“What was that!” Evah shouted.

Hoc, deftly plied his controls. New information popped onto his screens. “Captain, there's been a minor gas explosion in the processing bay. No casualties, but they are requesting your presence below.”

“Alright, tell them I'm on my way.” Evah made her way for the exit of the bridge. “Jack, pay attention to what's goin' on up here,” she ordered as she stepped out.

My tRib began chirping soon afterward. I knew who it would be.

“Jan, how's everything?”

“What the hell was that? This whole ship listed fifteen degrees.” Her voice popped and crackled over the communication channel.

“There's been an explosion in the processing bay. Evah's gone below to take care of it.”

“Holy shit!” Jan shouted, “Is everything alright? How far out is Rugburn?”

I took a quick glance at the telemetry feed displayed in one of the holograms before me, “You've still got about ninety minutes left; you're good so far.”

“Alright,” Jan answered, “Out.”

I shoved my tRib back in my coat pocket and attempted to make sense of all the glowing data before me.

During the time Evah was below ship helping repair whatever damaged had occurred, I had caught up on the situation at hand the information about Evah's ship. She was right- there wasn't much we were going to be able to do in regards to Rugburn. If he's got weapons we were in pretty much deep shit. At the minimum, he could board the ship. Although part of me relished the thought of those Ibzaan trying to take down husky Taurbeshi crew we have here.

Out of curiosity I began to search the manifest list of the gases that Evah's crew had been trawling. Turns out there was quite a bit of hydrogen that was listed to be converted to deuterium. There some other gases of no real interest that had been gathered that I figured had some worth since Evah seemed to know what she was doing. What did get my interest was that one of the tanks held quite a good supply of Galanthium.

I had a pretty good grasp of the behaviors of the stuff and an idea had sparked in my head. I wasn't quite sure what the exact figures where of the energy yield of the mineral so I quickly accessed the Accessible Information Open Database, or AIOD for short. It's a little archive the Commonwealth has been setting up for cultural and academic enrichment for their civilian population.

I was able to look up Galanthium rather quickly and recorded the information I required. I switched back to the other hologram of a database window where I was putting in some calculations. It'd been awhile since I'd done mathematics this complex so having the computer handy was advantageous.

The ship board communication channel opened with a pop. “Jack, how's the situation?” Evah asked. There was a lot of background noise in her part of the ship and she was shouting to be heard.

“Ok I guess. Rugburn is still on intercept.”

“Alright. I've been trying to think up some alternate solutions but the repairs here have been keeping me busy.”

“Is everything safe down there?” I asked.

“Oh yes, it's fine. A heavy manifold exploded, nothing life threatening. Ships are always trying to return to their component parts,” she added with a chuckle. “Alright, I should be up there in another twenty minutes or so.”

I'd almost forgot to ask Evah something, “Hey, one thing-”

“What's up?”

“What's the pressure tolerances of your containment pods?”

“Uhh... they're reinforced titan-dualinide composites.” There was a suspicious pause, “Why?”

“Would they contain an explosion of a thousand metric tons of Galanthium?”

“What are you doing??” Evah shouted back in a bewildered and confused voice.

“I've got an idea. Oh and you'll need to sacrifice one of your drones.”

“I'll be up in twenty minutes.” The channel popped to a close.

I wasn't sure if she was entirely cool with this plan so far, since she was the one who was gonna lose out on some equipment. I went ahead with it anyway since we only had forty five minutes left.

A few moments later Jan pinged me. “What have you got?” I asked as I continued to work on my plan.

Jan sounded spent but she was a diligent engineer. “We've got all but one moor locked in and that one is nearing completion. We should be good to go in the next few minutes.”

“That's perfect, Jan! Get back in here ASAP.”

“Like I'm gonna hang out here and admire the view, Jack.”

I laughed and was about to cut the channel when Hoc interupted. “Jack,” He said via his gruff translator, “I've received a recorded message from the Ibzaan vessel. It's directed to you.”

“Oh?” I wasn't sure what Rugburn had to say, but I knew it'd be interesting. I left the channel with Jan open so she could listen in.

Hoc threw some switches and the familiar, sand paper voice of Rugburn filled the air of the bridge. “Jack Spenn. I give you more credit than I had originally. I had always thought the Belkuri were gullible; easy to manipulate, but you proved me wrong. I'm coming for my ship and the bounty on your head.”

The message whistled out as the channel ended.

“Sonofabitch. He's such a racist prick!” Jan shouted.

“Just get the job done, Jan and get aboard. Oh and get Chalk up here. I wanna talk to him.”

“Sure thing.”

Looks like it was back to work with me. I had better have this plan of mine figured out before ol' lobster head showed up.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Chalk. Had time flown that fast?

“Chalk? Is Jan finished?”

“Yes. Your ship is successfully moored to this ship's hull.” He replied plainly. “She said you wanted to speak with me.”

“Yes. Yes, I did. I need to ask you a few questions about Rugburn's ship. You were an engineer, do you know of any weak spots that may be especially sensitive to high energy discharges?”

Chalk's buggy eyes wiggled around for a moment. I guess that's what he does when he's thinking.

“Yes, now that I recall. Why?”

“Take a look at this idea I've got.”

it seemed like no time at all had passed before we could see Rugburn on visual. Seeing that ship again made me feel pissed and and scared at the same time. I can't say it was a comfortable sensation.

Evah had returned to the bridge just moments before and had grilled me on this crazy, insane plan, as she put it. She wasn't too keen on the idea of foregoing her supplies like that but as crazy as the plan sounded she admitted it might actually work and it was better than her's.

Rugburn was fast approaching and he'd be on top of us at any moment. This was it; now or never.

“Distance, Heik,” I asked.

“The ship is slowing to four hundred KPH and is bearing out at ten thousand meters at zero-nine-two degrees.”

“Alright. Helm, our engines nice and warm?”

“Yes. Idling and ready for full power. Escape course is plotted.”

Evah looked over at me with an anxiousness in her eyes. “You know this is a class D neb, right? It crawling with Rhodite.”

“I know that. I've plotted a course to the nearest pocket in the nebula with the lowest concentration of the stuff.” I tried to be as reassuring as possible given the obvious dangers we were facing.

“The outside vessel is at seven thousand meters and slowing,” Heik growled.

“Okay, Hiek, release the mooring locks on the forward tank number three-A. Afterwards pilot the drone to connect with the tank and reorient it's axis to these new coordinates.” I had them written on a piece of scratch paper and placed the wrinkled piece on Heik's console. He gave me this look as if I was supposed to send them over via computer. His large hand grabbed the scrap and slid it over to where he could see it the numbers better. A subdued growl silently echoed deep in his thick neck.

We looked out the window in front of the bridge as the drone slowly pushed the tank free from the holding calipers of the ship. So far everything was going smoothly, and I hoped, for all our sakes this goes the way I hoped it would.

“If this works I'm getting a really big beer afterwards,” Evah stated flatly.

“If this works I should be a math professor,” I dryly replied.

“The tank is in position,” Heik huffed aloud.

Chalk leaned over to me, “you do realize that Rugburn will be trying to anticipate what you're doing.”

“I know,” I nodded.

“They're at five thousand meters.”

I took a big breath and stared down the tank. “Okay. Do it.”

Hiek worked his controls and the drone began to open the seal on the tank and then maneuvered inside. There was a strobe like flash of white blue light and then a brilliant violet blue column of plasma at least sixty meters in length erupted from the small opening in the tank. The light bathed the bridge like a supernova had gone off.

“Helm now! Execute! Execute!” I shouted.

The nose of the Gossamer Willow began to lurch away to the right. As I squinted my eyes I could see the tank rocketing off toward the anticipated position Rugburn would be. I could see his ship attempting to maneuver out of the way but his freighter was just as lumbering as Evah's. Before we lost sight of the view I saw the tank smash right into the sensor array of the ship. The tank exploded in a shower of plasma and sparks.

Apparently there was enough constituent gases in the nebula to carry a blast wave towards us. The ship rocked gently while we pushed away from Rugburn at full power.

“Heik, put on the aft cam,” Evah ordered.

On the main screen suspended above the bridge a view of Rugburn appeared. His ship had been put into a slow, rolling list and the impact point left a charred deformed depression in the hull. Arcs of excited rhodite danced across the damaged ship and a trail of sparks left a path of destruction.

“Ha! It worked,” Evah gasped.

“We're not done yet,” I continued, “we still have to get to the extraction coordinates for FTL.”

“The Ibzaan ship is hailing us,” Hoc interupted gruffly.

Evah peered over at me with an expectant look on her face. “You want to answer?”

I thought about it for a moment. Should I gloat? Tell that lobster head to go to hell? I'm not the type. But I was curious about what he had to say. I imagined he was pissed.

I motioned for Hoc to open the channel. And it popped to life. Immediately the sounds of klaxons blaring and crew shouting in their native dialect showered the background.

“It looks like you win, Jack. My ship is crippled and adrift. Interesting how fate has switched our roles.”

Wait he's crippled? I only wanted to take out his sensors. I looked over at Chalk who folded his arms and stared me down. “That spot we targeted wasn't the sensors was it, Chalk?”

He was silent.

“Ha!” Rugburn cackled. “Chalk. I never should have let you come along. The moment you boarded the ship I could smell your stink of resentment all over the halls.”

What the hell? I was always curious as to why Chalk was so eager to get off that ship. It seemed the answer was at hand.

Chalk remained still with his arms folded and he stared out of the window at the nebula ahead. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“I should have made your Mother abort you.”

Whooaa. I spun my head over at Chalk. I wasn't expecting that one at all. “Is he your... Father?” I silently whispered.

Chalk eyed me subtly with his eye stalks and then turned and left the bridge.

The comm channel was becoming increasingly difficult to hold. All I could do was stare at screen. Watching that ship tumbling on fire in space; I wasn't sure what to feel about Rugburn now. I knew he was a bastard to me but what kind of dynamic did he and Chalk have that caused such a rift?

The ships comm array auto-killed the channel when it degraded too badly. And the bridge was once again quiet.

“We're nearing the extraction point for FTL,” The helmsman stated.

Evah stepped forward and killed the aft cam and the screen flickered back to ambiguous data. “Helm when you're ready engage the drive, input new coordinates and prepare for FTL. Engage at will.”

The ship came to a stop and the familiar drone of the massive FTL drive could become felt through the vibrations of the ship. They weren't using a conventional Metaspace drive because we were in Outspace, so I was curious to see what this would feel like. The hair on my arms began to stand up and I got goose bumps all over my body. It must have been the electrical reaction to the drive generating some kind of FTL field.

“Engaging.”

I was expecting some great flash or an event of equal panache but instead the view outside when to black. Inky black. It was like all the stars in the universe just blinked out of existence and there was nothing but an endless void outside.

“Uh.. are we FTL?”

Evah turned and sighed a heavy breath of relief. “Yes, finally.”

“It's completely dark outside. Where are we?”

“I have no idea. Anyone who travels Outspace calls it The Ink.”

“Where are we going?”

Evah paused at the bulkhead leading out of the bridge. “Teague's Doorstop.”

J.

And Another One...

Upon hearing from Evah's crewman that the Morningstar would need a drydock for the required repairs, I thoroughly wondered if I really was ever going to get to Teague's Doorstop- with my ship.

Life isn't like it is in the movies where the protagonist faces challenge after challenge only to, at the last impossible moment, gains victory. This is reality, and sometimes the good guy gets his ass canned. I was considering giving up on getting to the crusty pirate station and just going somewhere else, but whenever I felt that ball of energy in my gut encouraging me, my brain suddenly reminded me I'm wanted by the Commonwealth and the ISF, and going anywhere but a pirate station was probably a bad idea, so it was back to problem solving- again.

I stood with Evah in the guts of her ship, humming and moaning it's mechanical processes all around us. She had her arms folded and stood with me silently as I thought. Taurbeshi and Helthex crew occasionally strode between us as they headed off around a corner, down a ladder, or into a lift.

"I can give you a ride to where you need to go," Evah kindly offered. "We're almost done mining here and we'll be heading back to Juno in a few hours. It's in Commonwealth space, but it's controlled by the Torpin Syndicate."

I thought about it but then shook my head, "No, I can't go there, I have to go to Teague's Doorstop. I can't risk going to a Syndicate held station in the Commonwealth with my wanted status."

Evah's brow furrowed a little, "Teague's Doorstop, huh? You have a death wish or something?"

"My contact told me to go there. I've been trying to get there the last few months."

Evah chuckled under her breath. "A few months ago? I think you're a little truant."

"It doesn't matter, I have to go there," I added stubbornly.

"Why?" Evah snapped, "What's so important there? There's a lot of other stations held by questionable people here in Outspace other than Teague's Doorstop, ya know. And less dangerous."

I sighed a little as I was forced to confront my insecurity. "I have to be honest with you, Evah, I've never really done a bad thing in my life, hell the thing I'm wanted for I didn't even do. I'm in uncharted waters now and the only reason I'm still a free person is because of another man. He told me I had to go to Teague's Doorstop, and I'm going to go there no matter how late I am- because I don't know anywhere else to go.
I can't get caught; not now, not ever. The whole reason I'm even out here is because I'm trying to put some meaning to my parent's death and the death of all the people who died when the Sprykon ambushed the colonies in the Jamul system. I want to give their deaths worth instead of being some senseless statistic in this whole war. I have to bring those Sprykon who attack those colonies to justice. I don't know I'm going to do that but I'm going to try, and I can't do that in a six by six cell."

Evah looked at me for a long moment. She stared into my eyes, judging me it seemed. Then she rubbed the back of her neck as if to rub off the stress that had suddenly appeared there and stared down at the floor.

"I don't know you all that well, but I can tell you're an honest person. I believe you, Jack. I don't know who would try to frame you for that murder, but when I look in your eyes I don't see a killer."

"Thanks," I said with a subtle grin.

Evah put her hands on her hips hardily and huffed, "So, I can assume that leaving your ship and coming with me is pretty much out of the question?"

"Yes," I added flatly.

"I don't blame you."

We began walking again down the hallway, only this time it seemed I was following Evah to a specific place as her pace had quickened from before. "You'll have to disconnect from the Gossamer Willow as we can't go superluminal with your vessel attached to us, so we're going to have to figure something out."

"Where are we going?" I asked her as I followed behind. Just then we reached a large door that was different from the others.

"Right here," Evah said as she input a code on a keypad nearby. The doors opened with the heft of big metal plates whose actuators had long since tired. I was presented with the bridge of the ship.

It was rectangular- longer than it was wide- but almost square. There were two rows of stations, each one descending a step lower than the one before it. At the very front was a helm control that was about three meters below me. A large bubble of a window gave an amazing view of the rest of the ship before us and the glimmering nebula beyond. The lighting in here was a little bit darker than it was in the halls. All of the ambient light either poured in from the window up front or the rim of accented magenta strips of light near the ceiling.

The bridge crew was entirely Taurbeshi and seemed to dwarf the consoles they managed that were obviously intended for Belkuri. Their consoles glowed from the screens and buttons.

We stepped inside and Evah approached one of her bridge crew's stations. "If we're going take your ship with us and still achieve FTL, we're going to have to think this through." She turned to the Taurbeshi at the station, "Heik, bring up the dimensions of the ship outside from the sensor logs." The large blue alien did so and on a large screen orthographic views of the Morningstar appeared along with a list of dimensions for every angle.

Evah studied the ship for a few moments. "Hmm, alright, now Heik, bring up the dimensions for the Gossamer Willow." As I watched the screen resolved the schematics for Evah's ship.

"What are you playing at?" I asked.

"I want to see if there's negative space in the hull geometry of the Willow to fit the Morningstar, so that when we generate a superluminal field, your ship will fit inside."

Heik set up a computer simulation algorithm that asked the question to the computer where on the Gossamer Willow the Morningstar could fit. The screen flicked madly as the computer began trying different positions and orientations of my ship coupled to Evah's. As soon as it started the simulation was complete.

"Ah, it looks like there's three places on the Willow we could place the Morningstar and not compromise the FTL field," Evah said as she pointed to the graphics on the screen.

"Excellent," I grinned and felt that this wasn't going to be too difficult- a welcome change.

"It looks like the spot just behind the bridge is the best spot, I think; there's an emergency hatch just out side here where access can be made via EVA suit." Evah turned to me, "Is your engineer still on board?"

"Yes, I could have her position the ship and then board once ship is moored in place."

Evah nodded her head and gently slapped the top of Heik's station in approval, "Excellent, let's do this."

I pulled out my tRib and called Jan. "What's up?" She replied with a static filled pop.

"Jan, we're going to moor the Morningstar to the aft dorsal section of this ship- just behind the bridge. I need you to get on this ASAP."

Jan popped back on. "No problem. Mooring the ship is going to take a while. The Morningstar isn't exactly small-", Evah interrupted, "I can have some of my men help her to speed things up."

"Excellent," I said, "Jan you hear that?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get started right away. You want me to send Chalk back through the umbilical before I detach?"

"Yeah, get him over here. Jack, out." The signal popped as I deactivated the communication channel and placed it back in my coat pocket.

"Jack, I have to check up on final mining operations in the lower decks. If you're hungry or anything make yourself at home in the mess. You should be able to find it if you follow the directions printed on the bulkheads."

I nodded and Evah stepped out of the bridge. She seemed like a really kind person and a bit of an oasis in this desert of selfishness that I'd found myself in lately. In the back of my mind I secretly worried that she was going to pull the same trick that Rugburn did. I felt a little bad thinking that someone as kind as Evah could plot something like that, but I wasn't willing to take chances.

By the time Chalk joined me on the bridge to oversee the mooring operations, we'd already de-coupled from the Gossamer Willow and Jan was slowly maneuvering the Morningstar into it's new parking spot. Heik, had re-purposed a mining drone that had been relieved from mining operations to transmit video of the mooring to his station for us to see.

After about an hour Jan had the Morningstar positioned perfectly over the hull where she'd be moored down. Chalk and a few other Helthex from Evah's crew headed outside in EVA suits to help Jan speed things along.

The Helthex that went a long were led by Therin and he'd advised mooring the Morningstar to the hull via magnetic locks. Other Helthex floated outside with large, flat cylinders with locking mechanisms on them. They looked about a meter and a half in diameter.

They EVA teams went about securing the magnetic discs to the hull of the Morningstar and the Willow where each one had a partner magnet that it would link to and fasten the Morningstar down to the ship. It took a while to fasten the pairs together because occasionally they wouldn't be facing each other correctly- a disc on the Willow would be facing straight up at ninety degrees will it's pair on the Morningstar was fastened at a forty five degree angle. This meant that bearings had to be brought in and fastened to both discs to fix the forty five degree error.

"Jan, how many more to go?" I asked over the Willow's communication array.

Jan's voice squawked back at me in a mish mash of noise, "We've got five locked in place, four more to go."

"How long is that gonna take to get the rest?"

"I dunno, we have to jury rig some of the locks. I'd say maybe another three hours, give or take an hour."

"Alright keep me posted." I switched off the channel and stared back up at the video screen. It was like looking through a fish-eye lense at my ship. I felt like I could do much here and it seemed Jan and Therin had a good grasp of what was going on, so I decided to take Evah up on her offer and head down to the mess.

When I stepped out of the bridge I saw my first direction, printed in yellow paint with an arrow, pointing in the direction to the mess. There were also other directions printed on the bulkhead like, engineering, medical, mining ops, and living quarters.

I felt like I was walking about the ship following breadcrumbs painted on bulkheads, but I finally arrived. The mess held about fifty people perhaps. At the moment it was mostly empty. A few Taurbeshi lounged around and a Helthex cook sat behind a counter with a glass wall that had a cyan tint to it. It was rather quiet down here except for the occasional noises the Taurbeshi made talking and a video monitor that hung from the ceiling. It looked like it was playing a rerun of a Grit race from last weekend but no one in the mess seemed interested in it.

As I grabbed a drink from the counter near the cook I took a seat and sat back to watch the race on the monitor. It wasn't then that I noticed that all the yellow-white light that dominated the ship there were red lamps as well. I imagined this was for the Helthex crew so they could see where they were going. It didn't dawn on me that a Belkuri ship would have to be refitted for people who didn't see in the visible spectrum.

I had been enjoying the Grit race for an hour or so when Evah entered the mess. She looked tired- like someone who just finished a long day. She spotted me, which wasn't hard considering how empty the place was, and came over to sit with me.

"How's the mining?" I said leisurely.

Evah fell into her chair and slouched into with a huff. She had a beer in her hand and put the icy beverage up to her neck to cool off a little. "Hot," she muttered.

"The processing equipment can get pretty warm and we can't afford cooling down there because my main power core can't handle the stress with everything else going on."

"By the looks of you, I'd say it's rough down there," I added as I toyed with my empty glass.

"Well that's why it's nice to have Taurbeshi crew. They can handle higher temperatures with much more finesse that us frail Belkuri," she lamented as she cracked open the beer and took a deep swig.

I chuckled, "speak for yourself, lady."

A lull quickly descended on us as we enjoyed the mediocre silence.

Evah brushed some sweaty hair from her eyes and peered over at me, "So, what's your plan for bringing these Sprykon that murdered your parents to justice?"

She asked it as if she didn't really believe I could do it. Part of me believed her.

I rubbed my eyes, "I don't know honestly. I'm just going from day to day. It's all become so much more than about justice now. When I lay alone in bed I think about what's become of things, and I just get this instinct that I've pulled Jan and Davin, maybe, into a deeper hole that I wanted. I never thought going after those Sprykon would cause so much... shit to happen."

"Who's Davin?" Evah asked.

"Huh? Oh. He's this strange smuggler guy Jan is dating. He's helped me and Jan out a lot but recently he's just sorta vanished off the charts. The last bit of assistance he left us was to go to Teague's Doorstop."

Evah nodded as she put the pieces together. "I see now why you're so bent on going to that place."

"Yeah."

"Why are you wanted for the murder of that university professor? I mean I'm not saying you do it, but-," Evah asked gently.

"I have something. An energy signature that was caught by some Pelthoran scientists that might give away how the Sprykon stealth fleet- the ships that murdered my parents- can be tracked. I wanted to get it decoded so that I could use it to find them. I had hired this university professor to decode it when I found him shot in the head and the data gone."

"Shit," Evah muttered in amazement.

"Next thing I know me, Jan and Davin's faces are plastered all over the Commonwealth and we're trying to escape."

"All that for some data?" Evah said with a bewildered tone. "Why would you be framed for that? And do you know who really did it?"

"I have no idea. But I've still got a copy of the data in my personal computer on my ship."

"You know, Jack, it seems to me that you should probably try to find out who is framing you first."

"Ha! At this point I'm just trying to stay alive and at large."

Evah's tRib chirped and she pulled it out of her pocket. "I can never catch a break too long on this ship; someone always is needing me somewhere. This is Evah."

"This is Hoc, you should come to the bridge." It was that gruff Taurbeshi's voice that Jan and I first encountered when we approached Evah's ship.

"Why, what's going on? Is the Mooring operation alright?"

Hoc's voice snapped back, "Sensor's have detected a ship on intercept course with us. It's transponder is Ibzaan."

"Ah fuck," I moaned as I let my head fall back.

"Alright, Hoc, thanks. I'm on my way up." She stowed away her tRib and stood up. "I have a feeling you know this ship," Evah said as she stared down at me.

I got up and straightened my jacket. "Yeah. It's the ship we were hiding from in this nebula."

"Walk with me, Jack." We headed out of the mess into the corridors headed back to the bridge.

"You never told me you were hiding," Evah's voice had a hint of frustration in it. I didn't blame her.

"I didn't think it was prudent to say anything. I thought they'd stay out of the nebula."

"So who's this we suddenly have to worry about? Are they dangerous? Pirates? I've never even heard of the Ibzaan before."

"It's a salvage ship, run entire by an Ibzaan crew- Chalk, my other passenger, is an ex crew member from that ship."

"Is Chalk a threat?" She asked.

"No, no." Fuck, I hope he isn't I thought. "The Ibzaan come from the Zeta sector, upspin from us."

"Alright. So, what do they want with you?"

We turned a corner and our pace was much faster than it was the first time I'd encountered Evah. She definitely was all business this time.

"My ship was adrift in space and they picked us up. Rugburn, their leader, claimed salvage rights on my ship, but his real motive was to turn Jan and myself in to the ISF for bounty money. When I found out, Jan and I, with the help of Chalk, escaped. Rugburn's been after us since."

"Alright. Now that we're on the same the page, do you have any other secrets you want to tell me that could endanger myself, my ship, and crew?" She had a command in her voice that was intimidating but also very maternal.

"Uh no."

By now we'd reached the bridge and the main screen above and just behind the helm control was displaying the telemetry of Rugburn's ship and us.

"Heik, when will they be in visual range?" Evah ordered as she took assessment of the situation.

"Two hours, Captain."

I opened my tRib and opened a channel to Jan. "Hey, how long until you guys are done out there?"

"Shit, Jack, we're going already."

"Jan, Rugburn is on an intercept course and will be visual in two hours."

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

There was a sigh and then Jan spoke up, "Ok, alright, we'll try to go faster. These Helthex don't exactly like being hurried though."

"Do what you can." I closed the channel and looked back up on that telemetry. As I stared at the little blip that represented Rugburn all I could think about was how I'd just put Evah and her crew in danger. First Jan, then Davin, Chalk, and now Evah. I'm getting really good at this.

"Evah, I'm sorry for getting you involv-," She turned to me with a stern finger in the air, but she didn't look angry. "Jack, it's Outspace. Shit happens. You don't need to apologize. Let's just deal with the issue right now; that's the important thing."

J.