Chapter VIII: Planetfall

“Time to slingshot?” requested Rick.

“Five minutes, thirty-two seconds to perigee. Shields holding, but failure expected in four minutes, fifty-five seconds,” reported Aia.

“Great. Can we speed up any more?” asked Rick.

“Full thrust currently being applied. Gravitational variations will change outcome. Course committed. No other options now available.”

“Great. No other choice. Just hang on and pray,” said Rick. He clung to the sides of the chair as the image of the blue sun raced towards the ship. It appeared that the ship was heading right for the center of the sun, but as the ship approached, the image veered off to the left as the ship grazed the outer edges of the sun’s corona. The screen went black, and the image on the screen became a tactical view, showing the ship reaching perigee and then arcing outward away from the sun, thrusters still at maximum.

“Are we safe yet?” asked Rick.

“Shields held out fifty-three percent beyond calculated fail rate, and still operational. Power being decreased as threat of star passes. We will be free of the gravitational well in thirty minutes.” Aia was quiet for a moment. “We hit a new speed record in normal space, Rick. Point five six of Cee. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, but you deserve the credit, Aia. I don’t think I could have piloted us through that.”

“Thank you, Rick. What course shall I set once we’re free of the well?”

“I don’t know. Scan for Blackcoat’s ship, and follow it if you spot it. Otherwise, head out on their last known course, fully cloaked.”

“Yes, Rick. Will comply.”

“Great.” Rick began looking over the ship’s indicators to see if their close pass to the star had inflicted any more damage. “Aia, run everything through a level one diagnostic. I want to make sure that everything’s okay before we have to deal with Blackcoat again.”

“Level one of all systems will take fifteen minutes. Visual display?”

“Please.” Rick watched and examined the diagnostic reports as Aia went through every system in the ship. The whole process took about an hour and a half as Rick kept stopping and examined several components, and made notes for replacements and modifications. Aia interrupted the reports to announce that there was no trace of Blackcoat’s ship. Finally Rick sat back and sighed. “Well, we’re all set. Now all we need is to find Blackcoat again.”

“Rest and nourishment would be in order,” suggested Aia.

“That,” said Rick as he stood up and stretched for a minute, “sounds like a good idea. Holler if anything comes up.”

“Will do,” replied Aia. Rick went down to the cabin and entered. “Hi honey, I’m home.”

Jamie was sitting on the bunk, playing cards on the table. “Everything all right?” She patted a place on the bunk next to her.

Rick sat down and she started to massage his back and shoulders. “Sorry I took so long, but I wanted to make sure that everything was operational.”

“Is it?” asked Jamie.

Rick nodded and let his head fall forward as Jamie’s gentle yet firm hands stroked the tension out of his neck. “There are a few things that need to be replaced, but nothing that can’t wait until we’re on planet. Blackcoat got away, however. Can’t find a trace of his ship. We’re currently heading on the old course.”

Jamie placed her mouth next to Rick’s ear and whispered, “I know where they are going.” Her hot breath tickled his ear.

Rick pulled her around and set her on his lap. “How do you know?”

Jamie looked down at his chest and traced the outlines of his muscles. “That last night on the pirate ship when Vishy took me to Blackcoat’s cabin. He told the garasian on duty to set a course for Jameson Three. They had an important cargo to pick up, and it had something to do with whatever they’re searching for.”

Rick leaned over and kissed her deep on the mouth. “That is wonderful news. This ship is really fast. Now that we know where they’re going, we can probably beat them there, and set up an ambush.” Rick moved her off his lap and moved over to the terminal. He brought up the star atlas, and looked up Jameson Three. Aia quietly showed their current course, and he discovered that Jameson Three was very close to their present course, needing only minor adjustments to arrive there. Rick tapped in a command to Aia to proceed there at full speed, then called up planetary statistics.

Jameson Three was a hot, dry world with no indigenous life. The planet barely fell into the colonization parameters. Mean temperature was about 35 degrees centigrade, with an almost constant wind of about thirty kilometers an hour. It did have full starport facilities, as it was on the frontier close to the Erscan border, which made it a popular trading point. The one other disappointing fact was an SP notice that Jameson Three was a notorious pirate hangout, and SP officers generally did not go in without backup.

“Just ducky,” commented Rick as he switched off the terminal.

“What’s the matter?” asked Jamie, who had been reading the screen along with Rick, with her head resting on his lap.

“Not a safe place to visit. Well, this ship isn’t a known SP design, and the shipsuit is pretty generic if I remove the patches. I may not be able to catch him there, but I might be able to discover what he’s up to.”

“You mean, we might discover what he’s up to,” corrected Jamie.

Rick looked down at her and stroked her face. She closed her eyes and purred. “I would love to have you with me, Jamie, but it isn’t possible.”

Jamie’s eyes opened, looking sad. “Why not, Rick?”

“It’s too dangerous for you. You’re just a civilian. This is my job, and I don’t want to see you hurt. Jameson Three has full spaceport facilities, so the first thing that we do once we arrive, is get you back on a liner for Earth or Calasia. When you get there, go to the nearest SP office and fill out a report.”

“But, Rick,” pouted Jamie. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t want you to go either, my love, but there isn’t any other choice. It will take Blackcoat eight days to get to Jameson Three, and we’ll get there in only six.” Jamie looked as if she was going to cry. “At least we’ll have six days together, with no more interruptions.”

Jamie managed a weak smile. “I guess you’re right, love. But you will look for me after this is all over, won’t you?”

Rick kissed her again. “Of course I will. Just leave me a letter at any SP office telling me where you are, and I’m come find you as soon as I can. I promise.” He kissed her again to seal his promise, and their arms embraced each other.

Over the course of the next six days, Rick prepared the ship for arrival at Jameson Space port. With the help of Aia, he modified the transponder to broadcast a different ship’s registry number, and modified the hull markings to match. He duplicated his papers with another name to disguise his identity as a SP officer, and matched the papers to the ship’s new identity.

“Jameson Three space authority to inbound ship on vector zero eight seven, identify, please.”

“Jameson Three space authority, this is Voyager, freelance scout ES-zero four five. Nick Silver commanding. Request permission to land,” replied Rick.

“Permission granted, Voyager. Welcome to Jameson Three. Follow beacon Alpha Tango.”

“Thank you, Space control. Voyager out.” Rick clicked off the comm. “Do you think this will really work?”

“Probability high. Contact with Earth is minimal. Papers will pass visually, and will match our transponder code. Unless something happens to create suspicion, there should be no problems.”

“I hope you’re right, Aia. This isn’t the kind of place I want to be discovered in.” Rick stared at the viewscreen, watching the image of Jameson Three slowly grow. “Once we’re down, monitor a frequency of one zero nine point three. It’s an emergency frequency that SP officers use in unfriendly areas. If there are any agents here, they will be monitoring that frequency. Maybe we can make contact with the agent, and arrange to send a report to Earth.”

“I have no knowledge of that procedure, Rick. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. That’s what they told us in the officer’s security briefing.”

“Will comply. Do you wish to transmit a message to an agent?” asked Aia.

“No. If we transmit, it might attract attention. I want to trace any transmissions and locate the source. I want to make a personal contact. It would be safer than a transmission,” said Rick.

“Yes, Rick. There is a model six portable sensor unit that can search for that frequency. It is in the engineering deck, Third locker.”

“Great. Thanks, Aia.”

“You’re welcome, Rick.”

Rick smiled in amusement. Aia was getting better in her language, slowly sounding more natural. It was becoming harder to identify the voice with the AIATV3 computer core. Aia’s voice brought an image of a slender, cute, brown-hair, brown-eyed woman to mind. Not one that he recognized from his past, but the voice just sounded like it would come from someone that looked like that.

The intercom made a clicking noise. “Rick, darling, are we almost there?” asked Jamie.

“We’ll be down in an hour, darling.”

“Can I come up and watch?”

“Sure.” Rick shut off the intercom. “You don’t mind, do you, Aia?”

“No, but I will need to shut down some displays.”

“That’s okay. You have control anyway. Just make it a soft landing, please.”

“Yes, Rick,” replied Aia. There was a noise at the hatch, and Aia darkened the displays, except for the viewscreen showing the approaching planet. The hatch opened, and Jamie came through, and climbed into the right hand seat.

She reached over and held Rick’s hand. They stared at each other for a moment, then turned to view the display. “Do I really have to go, Rick?”

“I can’t let you stay. It’s too dangerous, and I couldn’t bear to think that you might get hurt any more than you have already. You’ve done your part. Now it’s time for me to do mine.”

Jamie lowered her head. “I understand. I hope you catch him and skin him alive.”

“As much as the law will allow, my love. I promise.” Rick gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I won’t let him hurt anyone else.”

They watched the planet approach. As the ship started its descent, Jamie began to look a little concerned. “Rick, are you going to land the ship?”

“It’ll handle itself. The autopilot is smart enough.”

“Oh.” Jamie was silent for a moment. “Rick, just how advanced is this ship, anyway?”

Rick cringed a little. He hated to keep secrets from Jamie. It didn’t matter how he felt about her, she was still a civilian, and the secrets of this ship were on a need-to-know basis only. “I’m sorry, love. I can’t tell you. I don’t think I’m even supposed to know about some of it.”

“I know, Rick. It’s just that I hated being cramped up in the cabin everytime you had something to do.” She looked over at him and winked. “At least I wasn’t bored when you were in there with me.”

Rick blushed. The education that he had received over the past week still amazed him. He didn’t realize before how flexible the human body really was, and how many ways two people could share cramped quarters. “I wasn’t bored, either, Jamie. Thanks for a wonderful week. I’ll miss you, you know.”

“I’ll miss you too, Rick.”

The landing warning lights began to flash, and they could feel the ship adjusting its attitude for entry into the planetary atmosphere. The viewscreen showed a featureless expanse of yellow orange, the color of the sand that covered the planet. A green image of the flight path and glide slope were superimposed over the image. The ship crested a small hill, and sharply descended. A spaceport field became visible as they entered the shelter of the surrounding hills. The wind dropped off, allowing a degree of visibility. The Star Ghost, under the name of the Voyager, settled into its assigned landing berth.

Both Rick and Jamie were wearing the shipsuits. Rick made sure that he removed all the identification from the suits before they disembarked. He presented Jamie with a breathing and face protector.

“What are these for?” She looked it over. It was a faceplate with scratchproof goggles and a breathing filter. It resembled some ancient tribal mask.

“To protect your good looks, dear. The valley is quiet right now, but if a gust of wind should come up, you’d be breathing sand without it. Even without the wind, the air keeps particles in suspension that aren’t healthy to breath.” Jamie still looked suspicious. “Trust me, It’s all the rage here. The latest, and only fashion.” To demonstrate, Rick donned the protective facepiece.

Jamie laughed. “Okay. If you can look like a witchdoctor, then I guess I can too.” She pulled the faceplate over her head, and Rick checked its fitting.

“Comfortable?” asked Rick. She heard a tinny version of his voice coming from a small receiver in the mask next to her ear.

Jamie nodded. “For now, but I don’t think I want to make a habit of it.”

“Well, you can take it off as soon as we reach the terminal building. Let’s go.” Rick punched the airlock controls, and the hot, dry air washed over them. When the door opened wide enough, they left the ship and allowed the door to shut. There was a slight breeze, but nothing compared to what Aia displayed on the screen during descent. Holding hands, Rick led the way to the terminal building, following directions picked off the planetary tourist computer link.

They reached the terminal building in a few minutes, and Jamie ripped off her mask just as the door sealed itself against the outside elements. They could hear the wheeze of the air system as it struggled to cope with maintaining a comfortable temperature within the building. As they passed through the security scanners and into the main thoroughfare of the building, the odors and noises of a dozen races assaulted their senses.

They looked around, and Rick spotted a shop sign he was looking for. He pulled on Jamie’s arm to get her attention, and she followed his gaze. She smiled and practically dragged Rick over to the shop. The store was presenting the latest in galactic fashions, and Jamie started pawing through the selections, looking for something more suitable than her ill-fitting shipsuit.

While Jamie hunted in the store for somthing suitable to wear, Rick looked for a banking terminal.

Finally, an hour and two hundred credits later, Jamie walked out of the store, followed by Rick, his arms full up to his nose with packages.

“Are you really going to be wearing all this stuff?” asked Rick.

“Of course. Thanks for buying them for me.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“Now what? Something to eat?” suggested Jamie.

“Now we have to get you home. Let’s go buy a ticket for Calasia. Galstar has a flight leaving in three hours at terminal six.”

“How do you know that?”

“I looked it up in the public information terminal while you were picking out stuff.” Rick shifted the load a little. “Come on, These things aren’t getting any lighter.”

“Okay. Where’s terminal six?”

Rick pointed to the left, and the top package began to slip off. He corrected his balance, but that upset the balance of the packages underneath, and the whole stack slid to the floor. “Sorry.”

Jamie helped pick up the packages, and took half the load. “I’m sorry Rick. I didn’t mean to make you carry the entire load.”

They walked down the main hall of the terminal. Jamie was heading straight for the ticket area. Rick was looking around at all the strange sights and sounds. He had to run a little to catch up to Jamie. She was standing in front of a ticket booth.

Rick placed the packages down on the floor and looked over the menu. There were three flights heading to Calasia. The Galstar liner, a tramp freighter, and a tanker. He punched in the code for the liner, but the screen informed him that there were no berths available. Rick queried the other two ships. Both were listed as having vacant cabins.

“Well, Jamie? The freighter or the tanker?”

“That’s easy. The freighter. Tankers are a lot worse for space. At least in a freighter, if there’s a little dead space, you have room to move around in. Tankers have cabins smaller than yours.”

“Okay.” Rick purchased a ticket for Jamie on the Vegan Queen, a small freighter with six crew. Here. They’re almost ready to leave. Berth one zero two. That’s this way.”

They came to the berth. The berth hatch and tube connected the ship's airlock to the terminal building. A woman was waiting by the hatch. “Hurry up. We were just about to leave when we jot the message that you bought a ticket. Here, I’ll take those,” she said as she took the packages Rick was carrying. She was of average height and weight, and had a spacer’s tan on her face. She looked over at Jamie and stuck out her hand. “I’m Helen O’Rorke. First mate aboard this tub. Welcome aboard, Jasmine Howard.”

Jamie returned the handshake. “Thanks.”

“Now hurry. The captain wanted to take off a half hour ago, and he hates pushing the delivery envelope,” said Helen.

Jamie gave Rick one last kiss, then she vanished aboard the ship. Helen looked at Rick, glanced at the back of Jamie as she disappeared into the ship, and back at Rick. “Don’t worry, son. We haven’t lost a passenger yet. I’ll keep an eye on her for you.”

Rick smiled at her, trying not to feel like he was sending his heart into space. He promised himself that he would see her again after he brought Blackcoat in. “Thanks, Ms. O’Rorke.”

She smiled back at him, and shut the hatch. Rick stepped back out of the connecting tube into the terminal building, and stood by, looking out at the ship through a sand-scarred window. The wind was picking up a little, creating little eddies and dust devils between the parked ships. He felt the vibration in the floor and walls as the ship powered up, and within five minutes, he could hear the muted sound of the takeoff warning alarm. The ship rose out of its berth, and vanished into the dust.

Rick turned and watched the departure screens until it announced that Vegan Queen had left the atmosphere, and was on course to a point far enough away from the planets and star to activate its hyperdrive. The display announced that Hyperspace conversion for the Queen was six hours away.

Rick sighed and decided that he needed something to eat. He was feeling all knotted up inside and wasn’t quite sure why. He headed down towards the food courts, when he felt the sharp point of a knife touch his back and a soft voice telling him to turn right.

To Be Continued...